SUBSCRIPTION MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2015 RABI ALAWWAL 10, 1437 AH www.kuwaittimes.net KFAED Democrats Bale scores Messi, Suarez contributes hit Trump, four as Real fire Barca to $1bn for clash over stick 10 past third Club Sinai projects2 jihadist9 fight nine-man20 Rayo World20 Cup Anti-graft body scrapped, Min 07º Max 18º MPs rush to fill vacuum High Tide 07:52 & 19:53 Panel cuts additional defense budget to KD 3.2bn Low Tide 01:42 & 13:40 40 PAGES NO: 16734 150 FILS By B Izzak Top Hezb militant killed in Israeli raid KUWAIT: The constitutional court yesterday ruled that an Amiri decree establishing the Anti-Corruption Authority BEIRUT: Samir Kantar, a Lebanese who was convicted is not in line with the constitution, which means the exis- of carrying out one of the most notorious attacks in tence of the authority is illegal. The court said that the Israeli history and spent nearly three decades in an decree was issued in 2012 as an emergency decree in the Israeli prison, has been killed by an Israeli airstrike near absence of the National Assembly, adding that there was the Syrian capital, the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah no urgency in issuing the decree and the government group said yesterday. Hezbollah said Kantar, known in should have waited for the Assembly to meet. Lebanon as “The Dean of Lebanese Prisoners” for The establishment of the authority, hailed as a land- being the longest-held prisoner in Israel, was killed mark achievement for Kuwait, started operations about a along with eight others in the strike in the Damascus year ago after completing the appointment of its staff. It suburb of Jaramana Saturday night. launched its operations by demanding that all ministers, Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV said two Israeli warplanes MPs and top bureaucrats submit their wealth disclosures that violated Syrian airspace fired four long-range mis- in accordance with the law. Those who submitted their siles at the residential building in Jaramana. It aired wealth disclosures include the prime minister and footage of what it said was the building, which Assembly speaker and many ministers and MPs. The appeared to be destroyed. Kantar’s brother, Bassam, authority had also begun investigations into a number of confirmed his “martyrdom” in a Facebook post yester- alleged corruption cases. day. Syrian state news agency SANA said Kantar was The government and Assembly were supposed to killed in a “terrorist and hostile missile attack on a resi- issue a new law for the authority last week but decided to dential building.” SANA did not mention Israel in its delay any action until after the ruling. A number of MPs report on the strike, which it said killed several people. demanded after the ruling that the government must Late yesterday, at least two rockets were fired into issue a new law immediately in order to fill the legislative Israel from the Hezbollah heartland of south Lebanon, vacuum, which effectively means that the authority has security sources on both sides of the border said. no legal status. The government is scheduled to submit a There were no immediate reports of casualties. “Two new draft law on corruption today which will be Katyusha rockets were fired from a Lebanese village A bulldozer clears debris from the site of a reported Israeli air raid that killed a reviewed and approved by the legal and legislative com- five kilometers from the border with Israel,” the senior figure in the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, Samir Kantar, in mittee and then sent for debate to the Assembly tomor- Lebanese source told AFP. A statement from Israel’s Jaramana, southeast of the Syrian capital Damascus. (Inset) In this July 16, 2008 row. The approval of the law means that the anti-corrup- military suggested that three rockets were fired. file photo, Kantar salutes people during celebrations in the coastal border town of tion authority can continue operations. Continued on Page 13 Naqoura in Lebanon after his release from Israel. — AFP Continued on Page 13 Fury as Delhi gang-rapist freed NEW DELHI: The youngest convict in an meaning he is a free man. infamous fatal gang-rape in New Delhi has The prospect of the attacker walking Malaysian ‘halal’ been released from a youth correctional free has revived public anger over the facility, police said yesterday, sparking furi- attack, with fresh protests being held yes- airline takes off ous condemnation from the victim’s par- terday near the iconic India Gate monu- KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s first Islamic-compliant airline ents. Only days after the third anniversary ment in the center of the capital. “The con- Rayani Air began operations yesterday with its maiden of the attack on a moving bus, Indian vict was handed over to an NGO. He is no flight taking off from the capital to the resort island of police confirmed that the rapist - who is longer under the jurisdiction of the police,” Langkawi, local media reported. In-flight meals served on now aged 20 - had completed his spell Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat told board its flights are completely halal, with alcohol con- behind bars even though a court ruling on AFP. “He has been given a new identity sumption strictly prohibited. Muslim flight crew must don an appeal against his release is due to be and his criminal record has been the hijab while non-Muslim crew are to be decently heard today. He is now being supervised expunged,” a police source added. dressed, managing director Jaafar Zamhari told reporters. by a non-governmental agency, effectively Continued on Page 13 There will also be prayer recitals before takeoff. MOMBASA: An Air France flight from Mauritius to Paris is grounded at Moi “We are the first Malaysian airline to be sharia-compliant Internaitonal Airport yesterday after a suspected bomb was found on board. — AFP based on guidelines by relevant authorities. We are proud of this,” Jaffar was quoted as saying by The Star newspaper. “The sharia-compliant aspects will be refined as time goes Fake bomb scare on by,” he added, using the Arabic word for Islamic law. There are already other sharia-friendly carriers operating around the world, and UK-based Firnas Airways is planning Air France flight to offer similar flights next year, according to a Bloomberg news agency report. Under the concept of halal - meaning PARIS: A suspicious object made of card- ble of causing an explosion that would “permissible” in Arabic - pork and its by-products, alcohol board and a kitchen timer sparked a damage the plane but was rather a mix- and animals not slaughtered according to Islamic proce- bomb scare on an Air France flight yester- ture of cardboard, pieces of paper as well dures are all “haram” or forbidden. Halal standards also day, forcing it to make an emergency as a timer,” he said. He said the “deduction” apply to products such as cosmetics, which may contain landing in Kenya. A passenger alerted was that the item had been placed in a animal-derived ingredients, and the conditions under crew members to the item found inside a toilet cupboard by one of the passengers. which they are prepared and stored. toilet cubicle on board the Boeing 777, France is on high alert after jihadist Muslim-majority Malaysia has long practiced a moderate which was carrying 459 passengers and attacks in Paris in November left 130 peo- form of Islam but conservative attitudes are rising. A compa- 14 crew members from Mauritius to Paris. ple dead, and is one of many countries ny recently introduced halal bottled mineral water in “After analysis it has been indicated that taking extra security precautions. Airlines Malaysia, and Islamic speed dating sessions - where single (the bomb scare) was a false alarm,” Air are especially jittery after Islamic State women are chaperoned - have been embraced. A halal con- France chief executive Frederic Gagey told jihadists who claimed the Paris attacks vention in Kuala Lumpur earlier this year, which drew thou- sands of delegates and hundreds of exhibitors, showcased a press conference in Paris. also said they were responsible for down- products ranging from food and cosmetics to collagen pro- “All the information we have at this ing a Russian jet in Egypt in October after duced from yaks in Tibet. — AFP NEW DELHI: Indian demonstrators shout slogans during a rally held yesterday to stage shows that the object was not capa- Continued on Page 13 protest the release of a juvenile rapist. — AFP 2015, the year that IS terror went global PARIS: From the blood spilled in the streets of Paris is not solving the problem, it’s even making it a little to the San Bernardino shootings, the world in 2015 bit worse.” showed its vulnerability to the brand of terror perpe- Perhaps the key difference between IS and the trated by Islamic State jihadists. Over the past 12 extremist groups that have gone before it, is that it months, the group that took root in Iraq and in the can call on agents that it dispatches from its self- chaos of the Syrian war has turned its focus from ter- declared “caliphate” as well as sympathizers in the ritorial gains to hitting at “distant enemies”. “The countries it is attacking. As the year closed, even Islamic State... has gone global,” said Richard Barrett, California appeared to have become a target, when a former head of Britain’s global counter-terrorism the married couple Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik operations who is now vice-president of the New killed 14 people in San Bernardino. Although the York-based think-tank Soufan Group.