RABI ALAWWAL 16, 1439 AH MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2017 Max 23º 32 Pages 150 Fils Established 1961 Min 06º ISSUE NO: 17397 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net MoI blocks some roads on Trump denies asking FBI to Buy it with bitcoin in Silva goal extends City’s 3 Tuesday for GCC Summit 6 drop probe; obstruction seen 22 NY, but it’s not cheap 16 winning run to 13 games Assembly passes new sports law with landslide majority Interior ministry scraps vehicle impoundment decision By B Izzak Other major international sports federa- tions slapped similar suspensions on the KUWAIT: The National Assembly yes- country, which barred the Kuwaiti foot- terday passed a new sports legislation ball team from taking part in World Cup Amir meets with an overwhelming majority that the qualifying rounds. government and Assembly speaker said Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al- will pave the way for FIFA and the Ghanem said he hoped the new legisla- GCC chief; International Olympic Committee to lift tion, which was approved in the required Kuwait’s two-year suspension from two rounds, will end Kuwait’s absence Qatar emir to international sports. Forty-seven MPs, from international sports. The session including resigned Cabinet ministers, however did not pass without tensions. voted for the law, three voted against Several lawmakers said they will grill attend summit and one lawmaker abstained. Roudhan if the ban is not lifted following Minister of Commerce and Industry the approval of the legislation. A number DOHA: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al- and State Minister for Youth Affairs of lawmakers said they doubt that the Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received yester- Khaled Al-Roudhan told the Assembly new law is sufficient to secure ending the day at Bayan Palace Secretary General of that they had extensive meetings in Doha suspension, because it does not respond the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Dr with the world’s football governing body to the international sports bodies’ three Abdullatif Al-Zayani. During the meeting, FIFA to study ways to end Kuwait’s sus- conditions. Zayani briefed HH the Amir on ongoing pension. He said that FIFA informed The world bodies have set out three preparations for the 38th GCC Summit to them that Kuwait should scrap 13 exist- conditions for accepting Kuwait back: It be held in Kuwait on Dec 5-6. ing laws that govern sports and replace must issue a new sports law in line with Qatar’s foreign minister said yesterday them with the new law for the ban to be international treaties, drop lawsuits it KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah receives Secretary General of Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al- lifted. He said FIFA asked for the law to brought against the world governing the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Dr Abdullatif Al-Zayani at Bayan Palace yesterday. — KUNA Thani is expected to attend the annual sum- be passed before Dec 4. bodies and reinstate its original sports mit, despite a deep dispute within the Roudhan however said that the committees. Roudhan however said that group. “The ministerial meeting will be minister. The emir received an invitation 46th National Day celebrations at the coun- approval of the law does not guarantee a FIFA delegation reviewed the draft law attended tomorrow, and (for) the summit, from Kuwait at the end of last month to try’s embassy in Kuwait, he said “Kuwait will an automatic end to Kuwait’s suspension and said it was sufficient. God willing, the Emir,” Sheikh Mohammed attend the GCC summit. welcome GCC leaders on Tuesday and from international football, which began In another development, 12 lawmakers bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said in a speech. Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Wednesday”. The rift between the six-nation in Oct 2015 over alleged Kuwaiti gov- filed a request calling to hold a special He added that Qatar had not yet seen the Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah said yester- GCC members Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the ernment meddling in local sports. A ban session on Dec 10 to study the appeals summit agenda, but the current crisis would day that Kuwait has completed preparations UAE, on one side, and Qatar on the other was also imposed by the International court jail terms on 67 current and former be discussed at the meeting. “It is important for the hosting of the summit. During his had put this year’s annual meeting in doubt. Olympic Committee (IOC), and as a MPs and activists for storming the that the GCC system remains alive,” said the attendance of the United Arab Emirates’ Continued on Page 11 result, Kuwait was banned from partici- Assembly six years ago. pating in last year’s Olympic Games. Continued on Page 11 Mattis in Kuwait UAE denies attack on nuclear plant; Coalition hits Sanaa amid ‘street war’ ADEN: The United Arab Emirates yesterday denied a claim by Yemen’s Houthi rebels that they fired a cruise missile toward an under-construction Emirati nuclear plant. The denial came as a Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes on Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, local media said, lending support to former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh after he signaled he was abandoning his support of the Iran-aligned Houthis - a shift that could pave the way to end three years of war. Meanwhile, gun battles forced shops and schools to close in Sanaa as residents warned the rebel alliance was collapsing into a “street war”. KUWAIT: US Secretary of Defense James Mattis In a speech on Saturday, Saleh appeared to indicate SANAA: Houthi fighters patrol a street in the Yemeni capital yesterday during clashes with supporters of Yemeni arrived in Kuwait yesterday as part of a regional tour. the end of his loyalists’ alliance with Houthi fighters. He ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh. —AFP The US secretary was welcomed by Chief of the said he was ready to turn a “new page” in ties with the Kuwaiti Army General Staff Lt Gen Mohammad Al- Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis, if it stopped The Houthis said the missile fired yesterday was the Al-Barakah plant was well protected and urged the Khodhr, US Ambassador to Kuwait Lawrence attacks on Yemeni citizens and lifted a siege. Saudi- directed towards the Al-Barakah nuclear power plant in public not to listen to rumors. Silverman and Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations owned Al-Arabiya television said yesterday coalition Abu Dhabi, but provided no evidence of any attack. “The National Emergency Crisis and Disasters and Plans Brig Mohammad Al-Kandari, the Ministry of aircraft pounded Houthi outposts in southern Sanaa There were no reports of any missiles reaching Abu Management Authority denies claims by the coup Defense said in a press release. — KUNA overnight, but gave no details on casualties. Dhabi. The country’s crisis management authority said Continued on Page 11 Whereabouts of Iran inaugurates Shafiq unknown Indian Ocean port TEHRAN: Iran inaugurated a long-awaited new port after return home at Chabahar in the southeast yesterday, which it is hoped will be a major new trade hub linking India and CAIRO: The family of former Egyptian prime minister Africa with Central Asia. The first three shipments of Ahmed Shafiq said yesterday it has lost contact with Indian wheat to Afghanistan were unloaded in the him since they say he was deported from the United morning, according to the Iranian ports organization. Arab Emirates to Cairo days after announcing his inten- “Through this port, goods will be delivered to neigh- tion to run for president next year. Shafiq, a former air boring countries at cheaper prices and in a shorter force chief and government minister, has been seen by time,” President Hassan Rouhani said at the port, in a critics of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi as a potential speech carried by the state broadcaster. challenger to the former military commander who is The project was first conceived in 2003 and has so widely expected to run for a second term next year. far cost around $1 billion, with India providing $235 Supporters see Sisi, who is allied with UAE and million of the financing as it seeks routes that bypass Saudi Arabia, as key for Egypt’s stability. But critics say regional rival Pakistan. The port has been under con- he has jailed hundreds of dissidents and eroded free- struction for a decade by Khatam al-Anbia, the giant doms gained after the 2011 uprising that ousted former conglomerate owned by the elite Revolutionary Guards. CHABAHAR: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani inaugurates the first phase of Chabahar (Shahid Beheshti) Port in leader Hosni Mubarak. Details about what happened to It can accommodate giant ships up to a dry weight of this southern Iranian coastal city yesterday. — AFP Shafiq were unclear yesterday. He made his surprise 120,000 tonnes, with further stages of development announcement about running in the 2018 election from due to expand the port over the next 14 years. the Indian Ocean port with a railway through Zahedan the ground. Rouhani also underlined the importance of the United Arab Emirates, where he has been based “Chabahar will soon become an important commer- on the Pakistani border up to Mashhad in the northeast. Chabahar as Iran’s only port outside the Gulf, and there- with his family, on Wednesday. cial hub for Iran,” Transport Minister Abbas Akhoundi But the project, aimed at facilitating trade with fore outside an area that is often the locus of tensions Continued on Page 11 said at the ceremony. Iran has a broader vision of linking Afghanistan and Central Asia, has been slow to get off with the US Navy and Iran’s regional rivals.