ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER

Thursday 26 December 2013 22 Safar 1435 - Volume 18 Number 5925 Price: QR2

New identity for Last minute goal Ezdan Holding, helps Qatar edge subsidiaries Palestine 1-0

Business | 17 Sport | 28

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780

Emir receives message from Sudan President Qatar expects Healthcare budget surplus of QR80bn

DOHA: Qatar is expected facilities to to post a budget surplus of over QR80bn ($21.97bn) in the current fiscal year as the budget was based on an oil price of $65 per bar- be expanded rel while the average crude prices in the international markets have been ruling at $105, financial experts and Specialised hospitals to come up economists told Al Sharq yesterday. DOHA: Qatar will see a mas- the past years has made such The surplus estimates were sive expansion of health care expansion a necessity. actually QR7.4bn (based on facilities in the next few years, The Minister said the Public an oil price of $65 per barrel) including several specialised Works Authority (Ashghal) will in the current financial year, hospitals to treat life-threaten- hand over the new hospitals while in the previous budget ing diseases that are relevant to under construction at the Hamad the surplus estimated was the country. Medical City by the end of 2014 The Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani receiving a message from Sudanese President Omar Hassan QR27.7bn. However, setting up of spe- and the facilities will be ready for Al Bashir. The message was handed over by Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Karti yesterday. THE PENINSULA cialised facilities is based on a operation by mid-2015. thorough review of the diseases The QR2.13bn hospital project and health requirements of the include the new Women’s citizens, the Minister of Public Hospital, the Ambulatory and Health H E Abdullah bin Khalid Minimally Invasive Surgical Al Qahtani has said. Hospital, the Physical Medicine Brotherhood declared a terrorist group The Minister said that the next and Rehabilitation Hospital, few years will see completion of and the Translational Research CAIRO: Egypt’s military- the restive Sinai Peninsula. the Brotherhood to have avoided several major projects in health Institute and Bio-Bank. installed rulers declared the “All of Egypt was horrified by prison told AFP the Islamists sector that are currently in differ- Asked if the new hospital Muslim Brotherhood of ousted the ugly crime committed by the would continue with their ent phases of construction. They projects once completed would president Mohammed Mursi a Muslim Brotherhood on Tuesday protests. include an additional hospital reduce the number of citizens “terrorist” organisation yester- morning, when it blew up the “The protests will continue, in Al Khor, a new cancer hospi- seeking treatment abroad, the day, signalling a wider crack- Daqhaleya police headquarters,” certainly,” said Ibrahim Munir, tal and another for dental care, Minister explained that the coun- down after blaming it for a the cabinet said in a statement. a member of the group’s execu- besides expansion of the Heart try had a clear policy on estab- deadly police station bombing “The government has decided to tive council who is in exile in Hospital. The new hospitals at the lishing specialised clinics and claimed by jihadists. Egypt Army Chief Former president declare the Muslim Brotherhood London, adding the move was Hamad Medical City will be ready hospitals. “We have reviewed A Muslim Brotherhood leader Abdel Fattah Al Sisi Mohammed Mursi movement a terrorist organisa- “illegitimate”. for operation by mid-2015 while the profiles of each person sent lambasted the “drastic” deci- It lumps together Al Qaeda- tion,” it said, referring to ter- “This is an attempt to frame construction of three workers’ abroad for treatment to know sion and vowed the movement inspired militants who have rorism clauses in the country’s the Brotherhood.” hospitals and 17 new health cent- why he had been sent and to see if would keep up its protests across killed scores of policemen and penal code. Mursi’s supporters, who con- ers is in progress, the Minister it is possible to provide that treat- Egypt, despite the move which is soldiers with the more moderate “Members who continue to tinue to organise near-daily said, talking to the media during ment here,” said the Minister. unprecedented for the 85-year- Brotherhood movement, although belong to this group or organi- demonstrations demanding his a visit to the Hamad Medical City “If the number of patients old movement. authorities have provided no proof sation following the release of reinstatement, insist they are on Tuesday. (with certain disease) is high we The decision is likely to accel- the groups are related. this statement will be punished committed to peaceful protest. “This means that the forthcom- will try to establish a facility (to erate a crackdown on the move- The announcement comes a according to the law,” said the But their demonstrations have ing health projects will be bigger treat that disease) here. If it is ment that has killed more than day after a suicide car bombing statement. The Brotherhood has dwindled in size due to the secu- than the existing ones. This poses not feasible to set up specialised 1,000 people, mostly Islamists, of a police station killed 15 people, condemned yesterday’s power- rity crackdown, and civilian oppo- a major challenge to us,” said the sections, it is preferable to send in street clashes and seen thou- in an attack condemned by the ful bomb attack in the city of nents who oppose the Islamists Minister. He said a rapid growth the patients abroad,” he added. sands imprisoned since Mursi’s Brotherhood and claimed by an Mansoura, north of Cairo. often attack the rallies. AFP in the country’s population over THE PENINSULA overthrow by the military in July. Al Qaeda-inspired group based in One of the few senior leaders of See also page 7

Wave lash Four-year-old Charity plans drive against bank debt run over by car DOHA: A local charitable RAF (Sheikh Thani Bin print and electronic media as well DOHA: A four-year-child suf- organisation has plans to start Abdullah Foundation for as videos showcasing the nega- fered skull fractures after being an awareness drive against ris- Humanitarian Services) said tive impact of debt and luxurious run over by a speeding car here ing consumerism in the Qatari campaigns will be on for a month lifestyle. yesterday. The child was caught community that has an increas- highlighting the social curse of Much money sought through unawares while playing in the ing number of families trapped debt taken just to splurge on bank loan is spent on entertain- street when the car hit him. in a bank debt spiral. unwanted luxuries, targeting ment, RAF said, implying over- The police are looking for the Studies have earlier shown that Qatari and other GCC commu- seas trips made by many Qatari motorist who sped away after some three-fourths of Qatari fam- nities here. and GCC families for shopping leaving the child severly injured, ilies are in debt and keep strug- The CEO of RAF, Dr Mohamed and fun—mostly with the money reports Al Sharq. The boy is gling to fight their way out of a Saleh Ibrahim, said the cam- sought from banks as loan. battling for life in the intensive vicious debt cycle. paigns will be launched using the THE PENINSULA critical care unit (ICCU) of the accident and emergency unit of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), the daily said. THE PENINSULA Snowden worried Erdogan replaces Saudi Arabia recalls 10 ministers 400,000 Toyota cars over loss of privacy ISTANBUL: Turkey’s Prime RIYADH: Saudi Arabia yes- Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan terday announced the recall of LONDON: Former US National — microphones and video cam- said he replaced 10 cabinet min- more than 400,000 Toyota cars Security Agency contractor eras, TVs that watch us are noth- isters, half of his total roster, for alleged problems with unin- Edward Snowden, who revealed ing compared to what we have after three ministers resigned tended acceleration, a statement details of electronic surveil- available today.” over a high-level graft inquiry from the country’s ministry of lance by American and British “We have sensors in our pock- yesterday. commerce and industry said. spy services, warned of the dan- ets that track us everywhere we The replaced ministers It said the vehicles will be gers posed by a loss of privacy in go. Think about what this means included EU Minister Egemen equipped with a break override a message broadcast to Britain for the privacy of the average per- Bagis, who was allegedly named system to “reduce the risk of on Christmas Day. son,” he said. in the corruption probe but had sudden unintended acceleration In a two-minute video recorded “A child born today will grow not resigned yet, and key posi- without the ability to stop or con- in Moscow, where Snowden has up with no conception of privacy tions such as the Economy and trol it.” been granted temporary asylum, at all,” said Snowden. justice ministers. The ministry said 10 models, he spoke of concerns over surveil- “They’ll never know what it One of the three ministers manufactured between 2005 and lance and appeared to draw com- means to have a private moment called on Erdogan to step down in 2010, would be recalled. parison with the dystopian tale to themselves, an unrecorded, a major escalation of the biggest In October, a US court found “1984” which described a fictional unanalysed thought. And that’s scandal to hit the government in Toyota was not to blame for a state which operates widespread a problem because privacy mat- years. After announcing his res- fatal crash involving claims of surveillance of its citizens. ters, privacy is what allows us to ignation, Environment Minister unintended acceleration, a case Waves hit the jetty in the port of A Guarda in northwestern Spain yes- “Great Britain’s George determine who we are and who Erdogan Bayraktar raised the that sparked huge global recalls terday. High winds and heavy rain battered parts of Europe, with some Orwell warned us of the danger we want to be,” the internation- stakes by calling on Erdogan to and badly dented the company’s areas still reeling from the aftermath. See also page 11 of this kind of information. The ally renowned whistleblower said. follow suit. REUTERS reputation for safety. AFP types of collection in the book REUTERS See also page 10 THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013 02 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com HOME

A scene from the film Fruitvale Station. DFI to start New Year with Fruitvale Station Award-winning drama film based on a true US story DOHA: Katara DFI Cinema It is Coogler’s first feature- Station has won accolades, includ- starts the New Year with the length film, based on the true ing Best First Film at 2013 Cannes Qatar premiere of the award- story of Oscar Grant, a 22-year- Film Festival. winning drama film Fruitvale old African-American man who For tickets, box office tim- Station by Ryan Coogler (2013, was shot by police on the San ings and full film listing, log in the US) from January 2 to 7 Francisco transit system on New to www.dohafilminstitute.com at Katara Drama Theatre, Year’s Day in 2009. http://www.dohafilminstitute. Building 16. His tragic death shook the San com/arab-voices or visit the DFI Recognised as one of the most Francisco Bay Area – and the Ticket Outlet in Katara, Building moving and essential films of 2013 entire American nation – to its 26 where tickets will be on sale and widely touted as the ‘Film very core. from December 29 to 31 from of the Year’, Fruitvale Station The film stars Michael B 1pm to 7pm. The Katara Drama debuted at the 2013 Sundance Jordan, Melonie Diaz, Kevin Theatre Ticket Outlet at Building Film Festival and won the Grand Durand and Oscar-winner 16 will be open from January 2 to Jury Prize for Best Dramatic Octavia Spencer, among others. 7, one hour prior to the day’s first Feature and the Audience Award Produced by Academy Award screening time. for US Dramatic Film. winner Forest Whitaker, Fruitvale THE PENINSULA THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013 HOME www.thepeninsulaqatar.com 03 Mobile learning app to improve training QU project targets employees in oil and gas sector

DOHA: A mobile learning of mobile learning applications their pace and convenience. application being developed utilised to train employees in the “We are not looking to replace by Qatar University (QU) is work place in Qatar. This project conventional classroom teaching,” expected to change the face of is novel,” said Dr Samaka. explains Dr Samaka. corporate technical training in “During our most recent lit- “‘m-learning’ complements the country’s oil and gas sector. erature review, a hunt for exist- face-to-face teaching by enhanc- The application is designed to ing applications yielded nothing, ing the educational experience help employees familiarise them- indicating that this could be the through our developed interac- selves with technical English lan- first mobile learning application tive multimedia content, based on guage terms specific to the energy under development in the oil and existing course material.” sector to enhance their profes- gas industry worldwide.” The QNRF-funded project sional communication. Testing of the project was con- is aligned with Qatar National The ‘m-learning’ project, which ducted on a pool of around 30 Vision 2030; it is a contribution recently received an honour- Qatari trainees at five different to Qatar’s advancement towards able mention by International Qatar Petroleum (QP) sites as a a knowledge-based economy by e-Learning Association, was supplementary element to their facilitating learning and knowl- awarded a three-year grant ongoing corporate training. edge dissemination. under Qatar National Research “Mobile learning is an evolv- Although ‘m-learning’ is in Fund’s (QNRF) flagship National ing style of education delivery the fine-tuning stages of fur- Priorities Research Programme and through ‘m-learning’ we are ther development and testing, (NPRP). The research is under establishing instruction methods Dr Samaka is confident benefits way in partnership with Canada’s to suit professional training at the of this tailor-made application Athabasca University and is led corporate level,” said Dr Samaka. could extend beyond the oil and by Dr Mohamed Ally from the “The innovative aspect of this gas industry. “We are testing same university. project is the marriage of peda- ‘m-learning’ on QU’s foundation According to Dr Mohammad gogy and technology to develop an level students learning English. Samaka, co-lead researcher for entire solution for QP’s employee “I am sure once it is fully devel- the ‘m-learning’ project, the training needs.” oped, ‘m-learning’ can be deployed research, now in its second year, ‘m-learning’ uses a blended to other areas of society, at school is the first of its kind to be used approach to deliver specialised or university level, due to the for professional training in Qatar content on mobile devices with nature of its interchangeable and and possibly the world’s oil and unlimited access to the material, adaptable content,” he added. gas sector. There is no history allowing learners to advance at THE PENINSULA Moroccan minister briefed on QF mission, vision

DOHA: Qatar Foundation hosted Morocco’s development plans and scientific research pro- Minister of Handicrafts, Social Economy and grammes. Appointed to her post earlier this year, Solidarity, Fatima Marouane, yesterday. Marouane is a member of Morocco’s National Council She is in Doha at the head of an official delegation of the National Assembly of Independents and the to foster greater commercial and industrial business Council of the Region of Casablanca City. She is also cooperation. Qatar and Morocco are already linked a laureate at the Faculty of Medicine of Lyon and through agreements in various areas. former president of the Moroccan Endocrinology A welcoming committee led by Engineer Saad Al Diabetes and Nutrition Society. She was also briefed Muhannadi, President of Qatar Foundation, received on QF’s sustainability initiatives and green solutions Marouane at the QF Visitors Centre. She and her and shown a 3D scale model of current buildings and delegation were given a presentation on QF vision construction projects under way at QF. and mission, educational initiatives, community THE PENINSULA THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013 04 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com HOME PSG team arriving for training camp, match with Real Madrid FC DOHA: Paris Saint-Germain’s The commercial aims at captur- qa — which will be the primary talented fan get selected as the men’s football team is arriving ing the fun and passion embodied source of continuing tourist and official fan reporter who will fol- in Doha on Sunday for their by the fans of the club and Paris. fan promotions and exclusive con- low his favourite to Qatar and annual Winter Tour and train- Although the game is expected to tent on the partnership with PSG. report live on social media about ing camp which will culminate draw thousands of fans in Qatar Utilising platforms, including the team’s activities and tourist in the much awaited friendly and from other countries, he said social media, TV, large format and outings. game with Real Madrid FC on the programmes in connection print advertising, on-ground acti- The winner, Sébastien Prigent, January 2. with the partnership aimed at vations and tourist promotions, won the competition from over Announcing Qatar Tourism “the long-term brand equity value QTA marketed Qatar to millions 700 contestants. Authority’s (QTA) activities in for Qatar as a tourist destination. of PSG fans around the world, The second competition, an partnership with PSG, Rashed “We capitalise on this and do especially in France, where QTA in-stadium contest to select five Al Qurese, Director of Marketing activities to showcase the desti- opened a representative office this lucky fans and their guests to and Promotions at QTA, said the nation; people will not only know September. follow their team to Qatar, was long-term strategic partnership PSG is coming to Qatar but also Over the past few months, also hugely popular with over 800 has been an excellent platform see other tourist destinations, Parisians have seen advertising participants taking part within to promote Qatar as a tourist thus increasing the number of about Qatar across their city — one-and-a-half hours. destination. potential tourists who consider from large-scale billboards in QTA has also launched a GCC “This not only targets football Qatar a choice destination. high-traffic spots to the Charles social media competition to select fans but also is a medium to pro- “QTA and PSG have launched De Gaulle Airport. They feature a fan to win an all-inclusive trip mote Qatar’s tourism,” Al Qurese programmes, campaigns and fan Rashed Al Qurese, Director of Marketing and Promotions at Qatar Tourism PSG players with iconic Qatar to Qatar for the friendly game. told a press conference yesterday competitions as part of the second Authority, addressing the press conference yesterday. ABDUL BASIT landmarks. Details about the competition can which also saw the launch of a TV phase of the partnership. These QTA also launched two con- be found on QTA’s Facebook and commercial of the Qatar Winter provide a unique experience for highlighting Qatar as tourist des- QTA has also launched the tests for fans. The Fan Reporter Twitter pages. Tour ‘Paris Comes to Doha.’ fans and business partners while tination,” added Al Qurese. website — psg.qatartourism.gov. competition saw one lucky but THE PENINSULA Moroccan Handicraft Jet Airways to start two more Week opens at Katara flights to India from Qatar BY MOHAMMAD SHOEB India to Nepal. “We are going to DOHA: The first Moroccan start one more flight from Delhi Handicraft Week opens tonight DOHA: Jet Airways, India’s sec- to Katmandu from January 25. at Katara Building 3, featuring ond largest carrier, will resume This will provide more connec- more than 55 craftsmen, artists its Calicut flight and start an tivity to Nepalese passengers from and folk singers representing additional flight from Doha to Doha to Katmandu via Delhi.” different regions of Morocco. Mumbai. But these flights will With this additional flight, Running until January 5, the probably be possible only with Katmandu will have five daily expo provides visitors with a the opening of the new airport flights of Jet Airways from India, glimpse of Morocco’s traditions, (Hamad International) as there three from Delhi and two from culture and socio-economic are no free-time slots in the Mumbai. activities. existing airport, a senior official The airline also announced to Two bands will present the of the airline said yesterday. add two new routes, one from traditional music of southern “We have three daily flights Kochin-Abu Dhabi-Dammam and northern Morocco at the from Doha to India’s three stra- and another from Chennai-Abu event which will be inaugurated tegic cities — Delhi, Mumbai Dhabi-Dammam, both slated to by Katara General Manager Dr and Cochin, and with the latest slots from Qatar Civil Aviation start operation from January 15. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti in announcement, Mumbai will get Authority (QCAA) for a long Jet reported its worst quar- the presence of Moroccan Qatari an additional frequency from time, but it was given day slots terly loss on record, squeezed by Friendship Club Chairman Dr The Moroccan Minister of Handicrafts, Social Economy and Solidarity, Doha and the second one will which did not suit the carrier. high fuel costs and a weaker local Shaham Al Ashrafi and other fly to Calicut, which will be our “There is very good traffic from currency. Fatima Marouane, with Katara General Manager, Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al officials and representatives of fourth destination in India from Doha to India. We are running The net loss was $145m for the Sulaiti, during a visit to Katara. diplomatic missions. Doha, and second in the south- full capacity, and December, being three months ended September Meanwhile, Dr Al Sulaiti ern Indian state of Kerala,” Anil the holiday and New Year season, 30, compared with a net loss of received the Moroccan Minister countries and bring together civi- sector of the country’s economy Srinivasan, Country Manager has been extremely good. But we about $16m a year earlier. The of Handicrafts, Social Economy lisations and traditions, including which has 2.2m people working in (pictured), told The Peninsula. are loosing business. Given the private carrier recently sold 24 and Solidarity, Fatima Marouane Arab-Islamic civilisation. the sector, equivalent to 20 per- Asked about the date of these existing airport is running at full percent stake to Abu Dhabi’s and discussed ways of strengthen- He praised the Moroccan craft cent of the economically active additional flights, he said: “This capacity, we are not able to start Etihad at $335m. ing cultural relations. gallery which features cultural population. can be any day. In fact, we have these new flights as per our pref- Asked if Jet had plans to She also toured Katara, includ- and historical aspects and handi- She said the sector had an been waiting for time slots for erence,” he added. announce fare hike to come to ing the Moroccan craft gallery. craft activities, and said Katara is annual growth of 13 percent and long. But I think this will be pos- He said that given the rising recover some losses, he ruled Dr Al Sulaiti said Katara was always ready to host such events promoting and reviving the tour- sible only with the opening of the influx of foreign construction out any such possibility and said: keen to host cultural events such to consolidate relations between ism sector which is one of the HIA or if we are allotted evening workers to Doha, Jet Airways, “Since we are entering a low traf- as the Moroccan Handicraft two countries. ways of linking people in differ- slots in the existing airport.” which has two daily flights from fic season, it will not be possible Week to promote communica- The minister said Moroccan ent parts of the world. Srinivasan said Jet Airways had Delhi to Katmandu, has decided to have fare hike any time soon.” tion among people of different traditional industry is a very vital THE PENINSULA been requesting for evening time to start an additional flight from THE PENINSULA Qatar to get educational robot equipment from Korean firm

DOHA: Korean robot com- the utilisation of educational pany RoboBuilder will provide equipment in the country. The educational robot equipment second phase of the agreement to Qatar. will see the distribution of edu- A total of 300 robot equip- cational robots to other GCC ment will be provided during countries, said Al Harib. the first phase under an agree- The company will also pro- ment recently signed between vide training programmes for Al Harib Technologies and teachers and students and give RoboBuilder. expert support, in collaboration Al Harib Chairman Ali with Qatar Scientific Club. officials visited Qatar University, Scientific Club, attended by the Al Harib and RoboBuilder Next year Doha will host the Supreme Education Council and Korean Ambassador, Chung Executive Director Chang Bae World Robot Olympiad in coop- Barzan Youth Centre to pro- Keejong (pictured). They dis- Park signed the deal. eration with RoboBuilder, the mote the project and the avail- cussed, among others, the estab- Al Harib will be responsible prize of which includes a visit able educational robots. lishment of a national centre for for distributing educational to Korea. The two companies also robots. robots in Qatar and will promote Al Harib company organised workshops at Qatar THE PENINSULA

Matar Qadeem without civic amenities

The Matar Qadeem Zone 45, which is one of the oldest areas of Doha, has no proper streetlights, footpaths and parking facilities. ABDUL BASIT THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013 HOME www.thepeninsulaqatar.com 05 New QC initiative for orphans and children Global Child Protection Initiative to focus on rehabilitation

Sheikh Aidh Al Qarni and Yousef bin Ahmed Al Kuwari at the press conference yesterday.

DOHA: The Qatar Charity health, education and sports,” summits of Denali, Alaska and (QC) yesterday announced a Qatar Charity CEO Yousef bin Everest. new initiative for sponsorship, Ahmed Al Kuwari told a press QC launched the first phase of protection and care of orphans conference yesterday. the campaign two years ago when and children across the world. The initiative will be launched Qatari athletes Albuanin and The Global Child Protection with a promotional match Talal Fahad Al Emadi climbed Initiative (Friends of Children) between Association of Muslim Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in will focus on the welfare, pro- Football Players (AMF) and Africa, to highlight the food crisis tection and rehabilitation of stars of the Football League, in in West Africa. orphaned children through pro- Saudi Arabia on December 30, at QC sponsors around 57,100 grammes that contribute to King Abdulaziz court in Makkah, orphans in 34 countries in three improving the standard of living which can accommodate 45,000 continents. The sponsored peo- of orphans and children. spectators. ple total 65,424, including the It will also highlight the impor- The second phase of the cam- disabled, teachers, preachers, tance of humanitarian action and paign will be held in January with students and underprivileged active participation in the devel- a tri-diagonal climbing team com- families. opment of society. prising Ahmed Salim Ibrahim, Besides providing care for the The initiative will be car- Fahd Mohammed Albuanin and orphans and monthly cash, QC ried out under the supervision Talal Al Emadi who will climb the also provides educational oppor- of Sheikh Dr Aidh Al Qarni, a Aconcagua summit in Argentina tunities, organises courses, sports prominent Saudi-based Islamic to raise awareness of the suffering and other recreational activi- scholar and author. of the children of Yemen and col- ties and support the families of “The initiative is characterised lect funds for open-heart surgery orphans. It has also established by special projects for orphans, for Yemeni children with heart schools and healthcare centres for including sponsorship, health- problems. children and young people and has care, rehabilitation and training Later stages of the campaign projects to combat malnutrition. in various fields with a focus on will include the climbing of the THE PENINSULA THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013 06 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com HOME

Emir receives message from Poland Premier meets Sudanese FM

The Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani received yesterday a written message from the Polish President, Bronislaw Komorowski, on means of bolstering relations. The outgoing Polish Ambassador, Robert Rostek, presented the message during a meeting. The Emir conferred on him the Sash of Merit in recognition of his The Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani met yesterday efforts to enhance ties, wishing him success in his future missions and bilateral relations further development. the Sudanese Foreign Minister, Ali Karti, and his delegation and reviewed cooperation.

Emir ratifies Emiri order for share allocations hailed Cabinet decisions DOHA: The Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani Directives aim at providing all requirements for decent and stable living for citizens: Cabinet yesterday ratified Cabinet Decision No. 55 of 2013 on DOHA: The Cabinet praised Affairs H E Ahmed bin Abdullah as members. It will prepare an current names and propose names laws on chemical and biological the enforcement of the provi- yesterday directives of the Emir Al Mahmoud said the Emiri executive plan to implement for unnamed and new areas. weapons and the national strat- sions of Law No. 24 of 2002 H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad directives were within the frame- the regulations and review and The Cabinet reviewed egy on prohibition and control of on retirement and pensions Al Thani to allocate 750 shares work of his keenness to provide develop general strategies and two reports by the National nuclear material. for Qatari employees at Qatar paid in full by the state to each all requirements for a decent and mechanisms to respond to risks Committee for Prohibiting The Cabinet also discussed a Holding. individual covered under the stable living for citizens and his that cause health concerns at the Weapons on its activities from memorandum by the Minister of The Emir also ratified Cabinet social security system and each care for them. international level. January 1 to August 31 this year. Public Health on the outcome of Decision No. 56 of 2013 on the person with special needs affili- The session then approved a The Cabinet endorsed a The committee organised the 60th session of the Regional enforcement of the provisions of ated to Mesaieed Petrochemical Cabinet draft resolution to form proposal by the Ministry of activities in Qatar and prepared Committee for the Eastern Law No. 24 for 2002 on retire- Holding Company. a national committee to imple- Municipality and Urban Planning a contest for school students on Mediterranean in Muscat in ment and pensions for Qatari The Prime Minister and ment international health regula- to amend some provisions of the the hazards posed by weapons of October 2013. employees at Woqod Vehicles Interior Minister H E Sheikh tions 2005. Cabinet decision No. 17 of 2003 mass destruction and interna- The Cabinet approved a draft Inspection Services. Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa According to the resolu- establishing a committee to name tionally prohibited weapons dur- agreement on avoidance of double Al Thani chaired the weekly tion, the panel will be set up at areas, neighbourhoods, streets ing the scholastic year 2013-2014 taxation and prevention of fiscal Emiri decision on Cabinet meeting at the Emiri the Ministry of Public Health and squares. and published a biannual maga- evasion with regard to income tax Diwan. under the chairmanship of the The panel set up under the zine to create awareness about between Qatar and Ecuador and Police College Following the session, the Director of the Department of chairmanship of a ministry rep- disarmament. It also took part its annexed draft protocol; and a DOHA: The Emir H H Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health, with representa- resentative with members from in international conferences and draft agreement on tourism coop- Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Minister of State for Cabinet tives from concerned authorities concerned authorities, will review meetings, and followed up draft eration with Panama. QNA Thani yesterday issued Emiri Decision No. 161 of 2013 on the establishment and regulation of the Police College. Mock fire rescue drill at QNB Ambassador to

DOHA: The General buildings and a rapid interven- Niger appointed Directorate of Civil Defence tion vehicle. DOHA: The Emir H H conducted a mock drill at Security personnel at the Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Qatar National Bank building bank evacuated the building Al Thani yesterday issued on the Corniche yesterday as and guided staff and custom- Emiri Decision No. 162 of 2013, part of events to create safety ers to assembly point. appointing Abdulaziz Mubarak awareness. While the Civil Defence team Said Al Mohannadi as Qatar’s The exercise started with searched for the missing and Ambassador Extraordinary information received at the injured men, they found one and Plenipotentiary to Niger. operation room about a fire in man with fake injuries and took the air conditioning room on him to the ambulance, accom- Emir issues law the third floor of the building panied by mock drill team. with thick smokes coming out. Rescue Police (Al Fazaa) on exhibitions Firefighting and rescue participated in the operation DOHA: The Emir H H Sheikh teams from Wadi Al Sail Civil as patrol squad and control- Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani Defence Centre moved to the led traffic on the surrounding yesterday issued Law No. 17 site with three fire engine, used roads. of 2013 on the organisation of The Civil Defence team carrying out a mock drill yesterday. for rescue services in high-rise THE PENINSULA exhibitions The law cancelled any provision contravening its provisions. Ooredoo launches Mozaic GO service Gulf Musical Arts Festival opens DOHA: The Minister of for customers to stream films, series Culture, Arts and Heritage H E Dr Hamad Abdulaziz Al DOHA: Ooredoo has Kuwari opened last evening launched a new service, the Second Gulf Musical Arts Mozaic GO, which enables Festival at Qatar National customers to stream on- Theatre. demand films and series from The five-day festival with the Mozaic library, and enjoy participation of 12 singers from them on iPads anywhere in GCC states, is part of resolu- Qatar. tions of the 18th meeting of GCC The service will be available ministers of culture in Riyadh on iPhones and other smart in October 2012. Kuwait hosted devices in the near future. the first edition of the festival Customers can use the new in 2011. Mozaic GO App on Wi-Fi, 3G Speaking at the opening cer- and 4G LTE networks across emony, the Minister said: “The Qatar and enjoy latest films festival is part of a series of and programmes wherever they cultural events held in Doha travel. recently to highlight the impor- Recognising that more people tance of the arts in our lives, are watching programmes on such as theatre, music and sing- their mobile devices, Ooredoo ing.” He stressed that interest has created the service to pro- in such art confirms the Arab vide people with streaming Mozaic TV provides access to a rich range of content, including latest cultural identity “we cherish and access to Mozaic’s library of releases from Hollywood, Bollywood, Asia and the Arab world. cultural heritage we are proud international content. of”. Mozaic TV provides access to a rich range of content, Customers can access the but can be used on up to three Israeli strikes on including latest releases from App by downloading it from devices concurrently per cus- Hollywood, Bollywood, Asia and the Apple App Store and using tomer, and on only one device Gaza condemned the Arab world. their Mozaic TV Subscription during the free trial period. DOHA: Qatar has denounced The range can be streamed Number to log in. The flexibility and function- air strikes and artillery shell- direct to customers’ digital The number can be found ality will mean that each mem- ing by Israeli forces on the devices, in a first-of-its-kind through the system information ber of the family can stream Gaza Strip on Tuesday that service in Qatar. option on their Mozaic remote their favourite channels to left several people, including a To access Mozaic GO, cus- control. watch when they want. child, dead. An official source tomers should be a Next All Disney, ABC and Mozaic Customers can also call at the Foreign Ministry said Generation Mozaic TV cus- Movies “On Demand” content Ooredoo on 111 to find out in a statement to Qatar News tomer. To upgrade to Next are available on Mozaic GO. their Mozaic TV subscription Agency that Qatar strongly Generation Mozaic TV, custom- Mozaic GO can be down- number and learn more about condemned Israel’s continued ers can visit any Ooredoo Shop loaded and installed in as many the service. hostile acts. or www.ooredoo.qa for details. devices as the customer wants THE PENINSULA QNA THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013 MIDDLE EAST www.thepeninsulaqatar.com 07 Islamists vow protests despite terror listing Al Qaeda-inspired group claims Egypt’s police HQ suicide bombing on Tuesday that killed 16

CAIRO: A leader of the on the Brotherhood, formally of a police headquarters north Mursi’s more moderate Muslim Islamic sharia, its shedding of presented a challenge to the army, Muslim Brotherhood vowed listing the group as a terrorist of Cairo that killed 15 people, Brotherhood movement, but have Muslim blood and violation of our which was unaccustomed to fight- that the movement would keep organisation after accusing it of the deadliest such attack since offered no proof. women’s and sisters’ honour.” ing against a sustained militant up protests after Egypt’s mili- carrying out a suicide bomb attack. Mohamed Mursi’s overthrow. Mursi and top Brotherhood Investigators found a large cra- campaign. In November, an Ansar tary-installed government des- The Brotherhood condemned the The brazen assault underscored leaders, imprisoned in a crack- ter at the site, where the bomber Beit Al Maqdis bombing killed 11 ignated it a “terrorist” group attack on Tuesday in the Nile Delta the military’s challenge to contain down following his overthrow, are set off the explosives after crash- soldiers when an army bus drove yesterday. city of Mansoura, north of Cairo. Sinai militants who have killed charged with colluding with mili- ing his car through barricades. past a booby trapped car on a “The protests will continue, Earlier in the day, a Sinai-based more than 100 soldiers and police- tant groups to launch attacks in The military had sent tanks desert road in north Sinai. certainly,” Ibrahim Munir, a militant group, Ansar Bayt Al men in a wave of attacks since the the country. and armour to the Sinai penin- Tuesday’s attack, however, member of the group’s top guid- Maqdis had claimed responsibility army ousted Islamist president Ansar Beit Al Maqdis, whose sula to crush the militants, with shocked the military-installed ance council who is in exile in for the attack that wounded some Mursi on July 3. name in English means “Partisans limited success so far. government in its scale and loca- London, said, adding the govern- 140 people. “Your brothers in Ansar Beit of Jerusalem”, had previously Two soldiers were shot dead tion. “This is the ugliest kind ment’s decision was “illegitimate”. The move gives the authorities al-Maqdis, with the grace of God, claimed credit for bombings in last week in a botched attempt of terrorism,” prime minister “This is an attempt to frame the power to charge any member were able to target the Daqhaleya Sinai and the attempted assas- to arrest Ansar Beit Al Maqdis Hazem Al Beblawi told reporters the Brotherhood,” Munir said of of deposed President Mohamed police headquarters,” the group sination by a suicide car bomber leader Shadi Al Menei, the mili- on Tuesday after the attack. the decision, taken a day after a Mursi’s movement with belong- said of Tuesday’s attack, in a of interior minister Mohamed tary said. Menei escaped. “What we saw yesterday was suicide bombing of a police head- ing to a terrorist group, as well statement posted on Islamist Ibrahim in Cairo in September. But the military says it a qualitative transformation in quarters in the city of Mansoura as anyone who finances the group forums. Ansar Beit Al Maqdis The group warned soldiers has killed 184 “terrorists” in terrorism,” he said. Beblawi, soon killed 16 people, in an attack or promotes it “verbally, or in said the attack was carried out and policemen to abandon their north Sinai, which borders the after the attack, had branded the claimed by an Al Qaeda-inspired writing”. by a suicide bomber identified as posts “to preserve their religion Palestinian Gaza Strip and Israel, Muslim Brotherhood a “terrorist” militant group. An Al Qaeda-inspired group “Abu Maryam”. and lives”. It said it carried out since Mursi’s overthrow. group, but stopped short of blam- The military-backed govern- based in Egypt’s Sinai yesterday Authorities say there are links Tuesday’s attack in response to The sparsely populated ing it for the bombing. ment intensified its crackdown claimed a suicide car bombing between the Sinai jihadists and the “apostate regime’s war on desert and mountain region has AFP

Searching for the missing Market bombing, spate of attacks kill 44 in Iraq

BAGHDAD: Attacks, including mosques, in an effort to cause however, issued a statement con- bombs that exploded in a mar- maximum casualties. demning attacks in Dura “that ket near a church in Baghdad, Security officials had initially targeted Christians celebrating killed at least 44 people across said that a car bomb targeted Christmas.” Iraq yesterday, officials said. the St John church in Baghdad Other attacks left nine more The bloodletting comes as Iraq in addition to the market blasts, people dead. North of Baghdad, a suffers its worst violence since but Maan, along with a priest bomb exploded under the bleach- 2008, when it was just emerging from the area and the Chaldean ers at a football pitch, killing four from a brutal period of sectarian patriarch, all later denied this. people, among them two police, killings. “The attack was against a... and wounding 11. Another bomb- “Two roadside bombs exploded market and not a church,” Maan ing in south Baghdad killed at in a popular market in Dura, said, while adding that “the tar- least one person and wounded at killing 35 people and wounding geted area is a mix of Muslims least three, while gunmen killed 56,” interior ministry spokesman and Christians.” three police near Tikrit, north Saad Maan said, referring to a Archdeacon Temathius Esha, of Baghdad, and bombs on the religiously mixed south Baghdad an Assyrian priest in Dura, and road between Kirkuk and Tuz area. Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako Khurmatu, also north of the Rescue workers search for the body of a girl who fell in a well in the desert near Tabuk, 1,500km from Saudi Militants frequently attack both also insisted that the church capital, killed one person and Arabia’s capital Riyadh, yesterday. The six-year-old fell in the well while she was on a picnic with her parents places where crowds gather, was not the target. wounded seven. five days ago, rescue workers said. including markets, cafes and The US embassy in Baghdad, AFP THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013 08 VIEWS www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

ESTABLISHED IN 1996

CHAIRMAN SHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF KHALID AL SAYED [email protected]

ACTING MANAGING EDITOR HUSSAIN AHMAD [email protected]

EDITORIAL TEL: 44557741 / 44557743 FAX: 44557746 / 44557758 P. O. BOX: 3488, DOHA, QATAR E-MAIL: [email protected]

ADVERTISING: TEL: 44557837 / 780 FAX: 44557870 CLASSIFIED: 44557857 E-MAIL: [email protected]

SUBSCRIPTION / HOME DELIVERY TEL: 44557809 /839 FAX: 44557819 E-MAIL: [email protected] SUBSCRIPTION RATES: ANNUAL QR 675 6 MONTHS QR 340 Editorial An unwise move Cartoon Arts International / The New York Times Syndicate

HE news from Egypt has been so continuously disheartening that it’s difficult to see how this nation will emerge from its current chaos. Such has been the Tfrequency of politically cataclysmic developments that even their news value has decreased, while the country is on a What if the Germans had downward spiral of violence and repression. The latest news is the declaration of the military-backed interim government that the Muslim Brotherhood is a won the first world war? terrorist group, thus criminalising all its activities, its financing and even membership to the group. The move doesn’t come BY MARTIN KETTLE as a surprise in the current political scenario, but that doesn’t Mosley – have explored the same theme. But it could plausibly have ended in dilute the huge consequences of the military government’s By comparison, the first world war a very different way in spring 1918, if decision. The Brotherhood has huge influence and hundreds of EOPLE who see a divine hand has been the subject of far less coun- Ludendorff’s offensive on Paris and thousands of supporters across Egypt, which was evident in the or the iron laws of dialectical terfactual speculation. Niall Ferguson towards the Channel had succeeded. It election of Mohammed Morsi as president earlier through the Pmaterialism at work in human is one of the exceptions, in an essay nearly did so. And what might 20th- affairs bridle at the question: “What which considers the possibility that century Europe have been like if it had? ballot, and banning such an organisation can only help worsen if things had turned out differently?” Britain might have stood aside from Obviously, it would have been domi- the crisis in the country than solve it. To EH Carr, historian of Soviet Russia, the European war in August 1914. And nated and shaped by Germany. But The problem with Egypt is that its revolution has been to speak of what might have happened although his essay suffers from the fact what kind of Germany? The militaristic, sabotaged by the very forces it sought to displace. This has in history, as opposed to what did hap- that the Eurosceptic Ferguson is over- conservative, repressive Prussian power been possible due to the abject failure of anti-Mubarak forces pen, was just a “parlour game”. To EP eager to portray the kaiser as the god- created by Bismarck? Or the Germany Thompson, author of The Making of the father of the later European Union, his with the largest labour movement in to forge unity. The hostility between parties is so deep-rooted English Working Class, such counter- account of the cabinet debates of 1914 early 20th-century Europe? German that each side is working for the annihilation, not defeat, of the factual speculation was “unhistorical is fascinating because Herbert Asquith’s history after 1918 would have been a other side. The path to peace and democracy comes through shit”. Liberal government could so easily have contest between the two – and no one reconciliation and compromise, not aggression, hostility Other historians have confessed to decided to stay out of the war – and can say which would have won in the and ban. The military-backed being more intrigued. “The historian very nearly did. end. government should have chosen must constantly put himself at a point With the centenary of the first world But one can say that a victori- in the past at which the known fac- war almost upon us, 2014 is likely to ous Germany, imposing peace on the the democratic path to defeat the tors will seem to witness plenty of debate about the defeated allies at the treaty of Potsdam, Designating Brotherhood and this hasty decision permit different right forms of commemoration and would not have had the reparations and shows its fear and paranoia, which outcomes,” wrote about whether the war achieved any- grievances that were actually inflicted Brotherhood as will only lead to relentless violence Johan Huizinga. thing. At present, argument about the upon it by France at Versailles. As a a terrorist group because Brotherhood, re-energised It is important to war mainly consists of two mutually consequence, the rise of Hitler would after Mubarak’s ouster, has the recognise that, at uncomprehending camps. On the one have been much less likely. In that case, will only worsen any moment in hand, there are those who, as Margaret neither the Holocaust nor the second resources to sow chaos if it wants. With the war’s history, there are MacMillan put it recently, think the war world war would necessarily have fol- the crisis in It’s not only the Islamists centenary near, real alternatives, was “an unmitigated catastrophe in a lowed. If Germany’s Jews had survived, Egypt. which the military government argued Hugh sea of mud”. On the other, there are Zionism might not have had the inter- is targeting. Last week, the army this is not a Trevor-Roper. those who insist that it was nevertheless national moral force that it rightly stormed the offices of the Egyptian Happily, none “about something”. At the time, says claimed after Hitler’s defeat. The mod- parlour game. of this argument MacMillan, people on all sides thought ern history of the Middle East would Center for Economic and Social deters the writers they had a just cause. “It is conde- therefore be very different – partly also Rights, a prominent human rights organisation, which is a sign Counterfactual of fiction or the scending and wrong to think they were because Turkey would have been among of the generals’ eagerness to root out all dissent. conjecture public. Germany’s hoodwinked.” the victors in 1918. Egypt needs neither Brotherhood nor the army but possible defeat of But what was the something that the In the kaiser’s Europe, defeated democracy. But this is becoming a distant dream. The old allows us to see Britain in 1940 first world war was about? To answer France would be the more likely seedbed order is getting revived, and officials who were part of this is by some dis- that it was a war between empires, for fascism, not Germany. But with its the conflict far tance the national which it surely was, is fine as long steel and coal still in German-controlled order are being reinstated on a daily bsis. The judiciary treasure trove as some effort is made to distinguish Alsace-Lorraine, France’s military is gradually joining the army to give legal validation to its more objectively. of might-have- between the empires. But this rarely and naval potential would have been machinations. And those who started the revolution have been beens. As long happens in a debate that is polarised contained. pushed to the sidelines. The media too is being stifled. The ago as 1964, the between collective myths of national Meanwhile, defeated Britain Committee to Protect Journalists listed Egypt as the ninth- film It Happened sacrifice on the one hand (certainly in would have seen its navy sunk in the worst offender for jailing journalists this year. In another Here by Kevin Britain and France) and an indiscrimi- Heligoland Bight, have been forced to Brownlow and Andrew Mollo raised nate muddy catastrophe on the other. cede its oil interests in the Middle East blow, the Committee on Academic Freedom of the Middle the then unthinkable thought that col- The more one tries to examine and and the Gulf to Germany, and have been East Studies Association, an organisation which promotes laboration would have thrived in Hitler’s maybe get beyond these dominant nar- unable to contain Indian nationalism. scholarship on the Middle East and North Africa, expressed Britain. More recently, a succession ratives, as we should next year and as In practice, the British empire would huge concern about a “worsening climate for free speech and of novels, including Robert Harris’s the centenary rolls on, the more a bit of have been unsustainable. Today’s Britain peaceable assembly” on campuses in Egypt. Fatherland, Resistance by Owen the counterfactual may help the process. might have ended up as a modest north Sheers and CJ Sansom’s Dominion – The first world war came to an end European social democratic republic – Amid all this chaos, there are more questions about Egypt which imagines a Vichy Britain in 1952 in November 1918, when the German like Denmark without a prince. than answers • ruled by Lord Beaverbrook and Oswald armies surrendered near Compiegne. THE GUARDIAN The other side Quote of Cooperation on Syria the day HINA has always supported Prohibition of Chemical Weapons sep- chemicals onboard one of its own ves- Syria’s chemicals will be carried out the United Nations’ endeavor arately passed resolutions and plans sels at sea. China, along with Russia, smoothly and safely, as it serves the to dispose of Syria’s chemical demanding Syria’s chemical weapons will provide escort ships for the trans- interests of all parties. The significance Cweapons stockpile, and it will, stockpile be destroyed before June portation of Syria’s chemicals. As a of destroying Syria’s chemical weapons along with the international community, 2014. For the first time in its history, the permanent member of the UNSC and has gone beyond the disarmament of continue to give assistance within OPCW has permitted the shipment of a member of the OPCW Executive conventional chemical weapons, as it Innocent people its capacity, said an opinion article in chemical weapons for overseas destruc- Council, China took the first oppor- can serve as a barometer for pushing have been wantonly People’s Daily on Tuesday. tion, which removes the legal predica- tunity to recommend 10 experts who for the Syria crisis to be resolved through With Russia’s proposal of “chemical ments for international cooperation over are capable of supervising the destruc- diplomatic means, as well as contribute killed. People weapons for peace” a glimmer of hope the destruction of chemical weapons in tion work to the OPCW. At present, to regional peace and stability. for a political resolution to the Syria crisis international waters. two experts from the Chinese military That the international community has are targeting emerged. Now that the framework of an According to the plan of the OPCW, have completed their training and are responded promptly and enthusiasti- others because agreement for destroying Syria’s chemi- Denmark and Norway will provide ves- ready to be dispatched to Syria. The cally, pledging support in various forms cal weapons has been agreed upon, the sels for the transportation of the chemi- Chinese Navy, responsible for escort- for the destruction of Syria’s chemicals, of their tribal task will be carried out in the safest way cals, countries including Finland and ing the transportation from Syria to Italy, is meaningful exploration in resolving and within the shortest time. Russia have also pledged help, and will make its debut in the Mediterranean security issues through international affiliation. This is Salva Kiir In September, the UN Security the United States will provide facilities soon. cooperation and within multilateral unacceptable. Council and the Organisation for the and pay for the neutralisation of priority China hopes the destruction of frameworks. CHINA DAILY South Sudan President THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013 QATAR PERSPECTIVE www.thepeninsulaqatar.com 09 Time to preserve Qatari identity JASSIM FAKHROO

iven the insistence of Mr John, this nice old English man, invitation to his house to taste some GHungarian cuisine his Hungarian wife had made, I could not help but accept the invitation, espe- Qatar has its cially because he is well-cultured and intellectual whose interest- specificities ing stories do not tire me. Mr John asked me a sim- since the dawn ple yet deep question while we were having dinner in his classy of history, and apartment, which overlooks the West Bay neighbourhood these should in Doha with all of its eminent skyscrapers. “What are you doing (as be preserved Qataris) to preserve your iden- tity and culture with all the and protected. continuous influx of foreigners from different parts of the world, who are arriving in Qatar on a the genuine Qatari identity and daily basis, and with the advent culture, which originally emerge of Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup from the teachings of Islam. tournament?” I believe that schools are the I felt that my tongue preceded safety valve through their signifi- my mind when I replied, “We are cant roles in rooting the Qatari ready, God willing.” identity. Normally, I was a bit worried, Government agencies, civil but I did not panic over the idea, society organisations, the as it is a decisive issue related National Day and its celebra- to the identity of the state and tions, which boost the spirit of its people. citizenship and root habits and Qatar National Day celebrations neighbouring countries, as Qatar It is our duty as Qatari citizens established our unique Qatari The issue is also serious in traditions, have considerable every year. This step will cer- has its specificities since the to devote ourselves, work hard identity that combines traditions view of the price the Gulf region roles in the issue. tainly contribute to preserving dawn of history, and these should and realise that celebrating our and customs of sea and land has to pay for the required Moreover, the Emir H H the Qatari identity. be preserved and protected. National Day and history is an tribes. We also must applaud urbanisation, and the reason Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al However, it should be well- The Qatari National Day is obligation. the state’s role in promoting for this is that all the indica- Thani has ordered the construc- studied to preserve the Qatari not just a celebration, it has deep Qatar’s founder Sheikh our national identity at various tions point towards the state’s tion of a permanent headquar- culture without the influence meanings, a true rooting for the Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani levels. Nevertheless, we need the awareness of the issue and its ters for Darb Al Saai, which is of other cultures and tradi- Qatari identity and culture and a united the core tribes and true culture that reflects our readiness to protect and root one of the major attractions of tions, even if they are from remarkable responsibility. families into one nation and identity.

RASHID AL OUDA AL FADHLI Save Al Jazeera America before it is too late Patriotism: From slogans l Jazeera has been viewed ABDUL AZIZ AL MAHMOUD First, facts are not mentioned in 55 million homes in press conferences. However, to implementation Ain a span of just three journalists who attended the press months. Reports of the channel hear without asking questions or Cable, the largest service pro- conference should have searched atar is the land of good and kindness, the land of love and have reverberated through the making inquiries? vider in the US. It will help the for these facts until they got purity, the land of honest men, the symbol of glory, the land American society. Half a million From what has been published channel enter more than 50 mil- them. Sorry, this was not done in Qof loyalty and unity, the message of peace, the safety for people view Al Jazeera in the US in American newspapers about lion American homes, instead of the aforementioned conference. the good, the impervious deterrent against aggressors and the every day. The channel has turned the channel, we can get a very 40 million homes. Nevertheless, Second, we do not always moni- invincible resort for the oppressed that advocates the cause of the into the voice of the voiceless in different point of view. entering a home as part of a tor the projects we fund. We also underprivileged. the US, engaging in investigative For instance, the New York package of other channels does tend to provide unrealistic infor- Qatar is the authenticity of the past, the magnificence of the journalism. There are ambitions Post wrote on November 17 that not mean that the channel will mation about them and as much presence, the luminosity of the future and the love story parents to raise the number of viewers the number of Americans who be viewed. An American website money we put, failure happens read to their children. in America to 77 million, among view Al Jazeera did not exceed has said that only 0.0029 per cent and then we start screaming and Oh, Qatar, walk upon guidance from Allah, who destined you with others. 13,000. Other widely read and of Americans who have Al Jazeera try to salvage what is remaining. great men and honest leaders who dedicated themselves to serve These were among the head- respected newspapers, such as at home watch it. The former American vice- you and ensure prosperity for your people by virtue of Allah, the lines of the Arabic language daily the Huffington Post and The I had hoped that one of the president Al Gore sold his Current Praiseworthy and Honourable. Al Sharq when it covered the New York Times, mentioned the journalists attending the press TV because it had no viewers. You, my country, lives in our hearts and we live in your heart, we press conference of the Acting same figure. This means that the conference would have asked Al Jazeera America, which we write, talk and address the world for your sake, we promise our Lord Director-General of Al Jazeera number of viewers of Al Jazeera the officials about the amount of claimed stirred the America soci- and our wise leadership that we will be forever devoted while seek- network, Mustafa Sawaq, and the is much lower than Current TV money they have paid to Warner ety, however, has even a weaker ing our nation’s glory. Here is Qatar getting beautifully decorated Executive Chairman of Al Jazeera channel, which failed and was sold Cable to agree to include a chan- appeal than Current TV because once again, its flag is flying in the sky of pride and glory, aspects America, Ehab Al Shihaby. to Al Jazeera. nel that nobody views, to its Al Jazeera America’s viewers of celebrations are reflected on our beloved country’s features, cel- The question that arises is: The Huffington Post and The package. number only about 13,000 in a ebrating the foundation of our glorious country by Sheikh Jassim Do these headlines express the New York Times have reported The New York Times quoted country with a population of 350 bin Mohamed bin Al Thani, may Allah bless his soul. realities on the ground? Why we that the Current TV lost because Al Shihaby as describing the deal million. Sheikh Jassim founded the state in accordance to the Shariah did not read in the same report the number of its viewers did not with Warner Cable as a “win-win” More shocking still to me is Al and ensured justice, security, stability and elements of the national questions raised by journalists exceed 30,000. agreement, during the conference. Sharq’s report ‘Al Jazeera: The identity that derived from our religion. who attended the press confer- In a report, The New York True, the channel stands to win voice of the voiceless in America’. It is a good opportunity to be reminded of practical patriotism, ence and inquired whether these Times said: “Al Jazeera America’s from the deal by entering more Is it reasonable, possible, in from mere slogans to implementation, and ask ourselves a pertinent figures were true and where they initial ratings have been almost than 50 million American homes, America? Can a foreign channel question: “What did we provide to our homeland and what should had come from? Is it a journal- immeasurably low with fewer but what is the ‘win’ Warner make such a claim in America? we provide?” ist’s job is to attend a press con- than 25,0000 viewers at any time”. Cable has receive through the I can only say that save Al The answer is by doing the following: ferences and listen to speakers True, Al Jazeera America deal? Jazeera America before it is too 1. Holding to the elements of the national identity and affiliation of passively and write what they signed a contract with Warner Two things saddened me. late. religion, language, history, customs, traditions and authentic values. 2. Being honest and loyal to our leadership and discuss with them what is good for our country and citizens, how to protect it from possible dangers remaining united under the leadership. 3. Being honest and responsible when appointed in public positions to achieve public interests. Cities of salt and their painful cultural transformations 4. According to each one’s status and role, everyone must be dedicated, master his work, and double his productivity. 5. Raising our children to appreciate the country’s resources, bdul Rahman Manief’s size has become exceptional, be like preserving public properties and facilities. five-volume novel Cities of KHALID AL JABER in the future? 6. Complying with all regulations and laws and respecting public ASalt recounts the history These cities are also exceptional morals and the rights of others, wherever, whenever. of the Gulf region, starting from plurality, voting, free elections, of human rights organisations and as far as the nature of relations in 7. Establishing the importance of volunteerism, including the the discovery of oil and the rapid citizenship, an active role of civil personal safety. them and their internal formation, Invite to the way of the Lord, with wisdom and good instruction. transformations that took place in society, and diverse professional We could also have improved our which makes them artificial, are 8. We should be ready to do any job, handicrafts, professional and its societies, cities and villages. unions. We could have been rid education system, paved the way concerned. vocational work and use our skills and capabilities to innovate to The novel talks about how the of tribal and family dominations, for more participation by women When water comes to these meet our society’s needs. state and the political, economic, realised gender equality and cre- in the job market and achieved cities of salt, electricity goes out. 9. Activate cooperation with authorities that fight crimes, behav- social, and religious powers were ated government accountability further equality among citizens They can even face a hardship of ioural abnormalities and dangerous phenomena as a response to the formed and how the collective mechanisms. with regard to salaries and chan- another nature. We will soon dis- promotion of virtue and the prevention of vice to achieve security social consciousness came into We could have launched the nelled part of the money we spend cover that these cities are weak and stability. being. Gulf market, ushered in guaran- on police and security measures to and cannot survive. They are not 10. Comply with the country’s regulations and laws and respect Gulf countries are alike as far as tees against torture, guarantees the urgent needs of society. natural places for the growth of customs, general etiquettes and rights of others. these aspects are concerned, even for the freedom of media, the inde- These are things that are always civilisations. They are not fertile Complying with the country’s regulations and laws is an honest as there are minor differences pendence of the judiciary, created taken into account when countries soil for humans either. proof of patriotism, and we have seen how officials through the between each country. measures to fight corruption in our measure the levels democratic (Abdul Rahman Manief (May media have stressed that law and regulations must be implemented “We are in a homeland, which institutions, the violation of the transition has reached. We still 19, 1933 - January 24, 2004) was a and that violators must be punished seriously, especially young ones. was founded 100 years ago, and constitution, the abuse of detainees stumble on the way of this transi- Saudi novelist and oil expert who We applaud efforts of the traffic police patrols, security agencies was supposed to become better and and the suppression of opposition tion, even as we construct the best acquired the Syrian nationality. and sponsors of national celebrations, and we highlight the impor- have more than this but sorry to demonstrations. buildings and skyscrapers. His novels reflect social, economic tance of the role they play in implementation of deterrent measures say, this did not happen,” writes We could have eliminated the How does the future look like and cultural developments in the against youth who are violating rules. National Day celebrations Manief. hindrances security agencies put while we stumble like this, and ref- Arab region and what he described do not mean to violate the law, infringe on others’ freedoms, annoy Have we missed the opportunity against opposition newspapers ormation wheel does not move for- as the painful cultural transforma- residents or cause painful incidents. even as we are still in the middle of and magazines, we could have ward in our countries and changes tion of oil producing countries — So, our dear youth, be responsible and honest for the sake of your a time of great transformations in eliminated censorship over publi- ferociously fought? the Gulf states.) love for your country, which obligates you to present a civilised and the Arab world? Gulf cities could cations and Internet websites. We Will we be plagued by the curse shining image of how to celebrate and express love for the homeland. have established a real demo- could have confronted arbitrary of the cities of salt like the one The views expressed in the articles on this cratic culture, based on political detentions, state security courts Manief predicts in his novel? page do not reflect the viewpoint of the newspaper. participation, freedom of speech, and things that impede the work How will the cities of salt, whose THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013 10 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com MIDDLE EAST Turkish PM faces resignation call Three top Turkish ministers quit over graft probe

ANKARA: Three top Turkish “I believe the prime minister state-run lender Halkbank. Two ministers resigned yesterday should also resign.” of the sons remain in custody over a high-level graft probe, Economy Minister Zafer along with 22 others, including with one of them calling on the Caglayan and Interior the head of the bank. prime minister to step down in Minister Muammer Guler also The first two ministers ech- a major escalation of the biggest announced they were quitting oed the premier in deeming the scandal to hit the government yesterday. The unprecedented probe a baseless plot against the in years. challenge raised the tempera- government. But Environment After announcing his own res- ture in a week-long crisis that Minister Erdogan Bayraktar ignation, Environment Minister has pitted a defiant Erdogan turned against the Turkish leader. Erdogan Bayraktar raised the against the Turkish judiciary “For the sake of the wellbe- stakes by calling on Prime and reignited anti-government ing of this nation and country, I Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan sentiment which has simmered believe the prime minister should to follow suit. It marks the first since the mass street-protests of resign,” he told NTV news. time Erdogan has faced such a mid-2013. By breaking ranks, Bayraktar challenge from a minister in his The resigning interior, econ- may have diluted any easing of own Justice and Development omy and environment minis- pressure on Erdogan afforded Party (AKP). ters each had a son detained on by the stepping-down of Interior “I am stepping down as min- December 17 as police went public Minister Muammer Guler and ister and lawmaker,” Bayraktar with a long-running investigation Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan told the private NTV television. into graft allegations involving — though some analysts said they had moved too late anyway. While the cabinet shake-up’s Christmas Day timing cushioned Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrives to address the members of the Justice and Development the blow to Turkey on dormant Party (AKP), during a meeting at the party headquarters in Ankara yesterday. international markets, the coun- try’s stock index fell fell 3 per- corruption. But, having answered homes, he asked: “How do you by Guler over the last week. cent while the lira weakened to the December 17 graft arrests by know what that money is for?” Erdogan critics see an authori- 2.0855 against the dollar. Erdogan purging police officers involved, he The 14-month probe was con- tarian streak in his rule and the did not immediately respond to argued that their work had been ducted largely in secret. At the European Union, to which Turkey Bayraktar’s remarks. deeply tainted. weekend, the Erdogan govern- has long sought accession, on But in his first public appear- “If a verdict is made by the ment changed regulations for the Tuesday urged Ankara to safe- ance after the resignations, the opposition party on the second police, requiring officers to report guard the separation of powers. pugnacious prime minister, who day of the investigation, what’s evidence, investigations, arrests The latest scandal has laid during three terms in office has the point of having judges? If a and complaints to commanding bare rivalry between Erdogan transformed Turkey by tackling decision is made by the media, officers and prosecutors. Crime and Fethullah Gulen, a US-based its once-dominant secular mili- what’s the point of having these reporters have further been Turkish cleric whose Hizmet tary and orchestrating economic long legal procedures?” Erdogan banned from police stations. (“Service”) movement claims at boom, appeared unfazed. said. Alluding to TV news reports Hurriyet newspaper said least a million followers, includ- Turkey’s Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan (right), Interior Minister Muammer Erdogan told provincial lead- which had riveted Turks with as many as 550 police officers, ing senior police and judges, and Guler (left) and Urban Planning and Environment Minister Erdogan Bayraktar ers of his Islamist-rooted AK images of cash-filled shoeboxes including senior commanders, runs schools and charities across salute supporters at the Esenboga Airport in Ankara, yesterday. party that he would not tolerate allegedly seized at suspects’ had been dismissed nationwide Turkey and abroad. REUTERS

Iran MPs want Europe sends envoy to higher enrichment seek peace in S Sudan in case of new sanctions BRUSSELS/JUBA: EU for- newest state, and the UN Security eign policy chief Catherine Council on Tuesday agreed to TEHRAN: Iranian lawmakers Ashton is sending an envoy to almost double the number of presented a bill to the parlia- help seek a political solution peacekeepers there. ment’s presiding board which to ethnic bloodletting in South “Innocent people have been could oblige the government to Sudan and to liaise with neigh- wantonly killed. People are tar- enrich uranium to 60 percent bouring countries, the European geting others because of their if new sanctions are imposed, Commission said yesterday. tribal affiliation. This is unaccept- media reported yesterday. “It is essential that all politi- able,” Kiir said, according to an “If the other negotiating parties cal leaders commit immedi- official Twitter account of South ratchet up the sanctions, impose ately to a political dialogue to Sudan’s government. new sanctions or violate our coun- resolve their differences,” Maja “These atrocities recurring by try’s nuclear right, this bill will Kocijancic, a spokeswoman for now have to cease immediately,” immediately oblige the govern- Ashton, said. Kiir added. ment to... launch the Arak heavy In an emailed statement, she The violence erupted in the water reactor and produce 60 said Ashton had asked EU spe- capital Juba on Dec. 15 and has percent enriched uranium,” Isna cial representative Alex Rondos quickly spread, dividing the land- news agency quoted lawmaker to travel to the region immedi- locked country of 10.8 million The aftermath of massive looting by rebels at a market, including shops burnt to ashes, in Bor, some 200km north Mehdi Mousavi-nejad as saying. ately and to liaise directly with along ethnic lines of Nuer and of the capital Juba, yesterday. Under the landmark deal concerned countries and organi- Dinka. Western powers and east struck on November 24, Iran sations on the ground. African states, keen to prevent help mediate as well. tribal. But many of the 45,000 on Christmas Day delivered a agreed to roll back or freeze parts The UN Security Council more chaos in a fragile region, Despite African Union calls civilians seeking refuge inside UN radio message to South Sudanese of its nuclear drive for six months approved plans to almost double have tried to mediate between for a Christmas Day ceasefire, bases across the country say they people, saying the UN will stand in exchange for modest sanctions the number of peacekeepers in Kiir, a Dinka, and rebel leader rebels and government troops on have been targeted based on their with them during the country’s relief and a promise by Western South Sudan in response to fears Riek Machar, a Nuer, who was Wednesday clashed in Malakal, ethnicity. most difficult period since gaining powers not to impose new sanctions. of a worsening conflict there. vice president until Kiir sacked capital of the major oil state of “It’s definitely not a good independence from Sudan in 2011. Under the accord, Iran pledged to South Sudan President Salva him in July. Upper Nile. Christmas here in the abyss of “We are strengthening the limit uranium enrichment to 5 per- Kiir called for an end to wanton European Union foreign policy “In Malakal, rebel forces are on war,” said Chan Awol, a 30-year United Nations presence and will cent. It will also neutralise its stock- killings and tribal-based atrocities chief Catherine Ashton is send- one side, and government troops old civil servant whose family has do our best to stop the violence pile of medium-enriched material, yesterday, as government troops ing an envoy to the country, the on another. Fighting is still taking scattered across South Sudan and help you build a better future which is relatively easy to convert to clashed with rebels loyal to his European Commission said on place,” Army spokesman Philip after the fighting started. for all,” Ban said. Machar said on the weapons-grade level of 90 per- former deputy in an oil-producing Wednesday. A South Sudan gov- Aguer said yesterday. A United “Nobody wants to go back to Monday that he was willing to cent or above. region of the country. ernment official said Ethiopian Nations human rights group on the days when there were no negotiate with Kiir but only if his Iran is also committed not Western powers fear the vio- Prime Minister Hailemariam Tuesday found a mass grave con- schools, no hospitals and no roads. detained political allies are freed, to make further advances at its lence could spiral out of con- Desalegn and Kenyan President taining 75 bodies in a rebel-held Above all, no South Sudanese something the government swiftly Fordo, Natanz and Arak facilities. trol and lead to a civil war split Uhuru Kenyatta would arrive in town. Kiir and Machar have both wants to be a refugee again.” UN rejected. along ethnic lines in the world’s Juba on Thursday morning to said their dispute is political, not Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon REUTERS Dubai offers record-breaking firework show Death toll in Aleppo air strikes passes 400 DUBAI: Dubai has promised to celebrate New Year’s Eve with a record-breaking extravaganza DAMASCUS: The death toll dead, including 117 children, as of army to stop the air bombings” featuring over 400,000 fire- from a 10-day Syrian regime Tuesday night. Also among those of Aleppo, condemning the kill- works, the largest display the air offensive on Aleppo rebels killed were 34 women, 30 rebel ing of “hundreds of innocent world has ever seen, its govern- passed 400 yesterday, as Pope fighters and nine jihadists. civilians”. ment said. Francis called on Christmas The Britain-based Observatory, Arabi also called on the UN The United Arab Emirates city Day for aid access to the war- which uses a network of contacts Security Council “to take respon- state, home to the world’s tallest torn country. inside Syria to track the conflict, sibility” to end the conflict. tower, largest man-made island But even as the European said the air force pressed the The opposition National and one of the world’s busiest air- Union and Arab League con- assault into an 11th day yesterday. Coalition has said it will boycott ports, will “break the Guinness demned the campaign in Syria’s Human Rights Watch has a peace conference slated for World Record for the ‘Largest second city, a Russian company labelled as “unlawful” the relent- January if the Aleppo bombing Firework Display’,” a government signed a major oil and gas explo- less aerial campaign by President does not cease. A security source statement said. ration deal with the Damascus Bashar Al Assad’s regime, espe- in Damascus has defended the The six-minute show over two government. cially the use of the massively campaign as necessary to “save of its manmade islands — The Aleppo has been divided into destructive barrel bombs in civil- Aleppo”. Palm Jumeirah and The World regime and rebel-held enclaves ian areas. The United States has “We do not target any area — will “feature over 400,000 col- since a massive opposition offen- also condemned the assault, and unless we are 100 percent sure ourful fireworks and a series of sive in the northern city in July on Wednesday the Arab League that the ones there are terror- amazing scenes designed exclu- last year. and the European Union joined ists,” the source said, using the sively for the event and set to a The air force has been bom- the chorus of criticism. regime term for rebels. specially choreographed musical barding the rebel-held areas “The High Representative “The bodies you see on televi- soundtrack.” The display will be using TNT-packed barrels since (Catherine Ashton) is deeply con- A damaged building in the besieged area of Homs, yesterday. sion are the bodies of terrorists overseen by more than 200 pyro- December 15, in an offensive the cerned with reports of an escalat- and mercenaries, most of whom technicians, and the fireworks will Syrian Observatory for Human ing bombing campaign,” said the use of air strikes by the Syrian Arab League chief Nabil Al travelled into Syria from abroad.” be launched from 400 locations, it Rights said has left 410 people EU. “She condemns the unabated government on civilian areas.” Arabi called on “the Syrian AFP added. AGENCIES THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013 INTERNATIONAL www.thepeninsulaqatar.com 11 Storms bring misery to southern England Thousands suffer power cuts, hundreds forced from their homes as wind and rain disrupt parts of UK

LONDON: Tens of thousands of By the afternoon, UK Power alerts were also in place, with 90 people were left without power Networks said there were 23,379 in the south-east alone. on Christmas Day and doz- households in the south-east The agency said 150 properties, ens were evacuated from their without power, but added: “Due mainly in the south and focused homes as the stormy weather to the severity of the storm dam- in Surrey and Kent, had been continued to bring misery and age in Kent, Surrey and Sussex, flooded on Tuesday night. serious disruption to southern it may take until the end of the The storms and subsequent and central parts of the UK. week to restore power supplies to flooding also saw striking fire- Some householders who were the final pockets of customers in fighters suspend their industrial still without power in Kent, these areas, though work is con- action in parts of England. Surrey and Sussex were warned tinuing to reconnect supplies as Members of the Fire Brigades Flooding in Maidstone, Kent after the Medway river burst its banks in the early hours of yesterday morning. they may have to wait until the quickly as possible.” Union in Surrey and Kent were end of the week to get supplies The company also said it had recalled to duty under the terms restored. made arrangements for hundreds of an agreement between the the River Medway cut them off. EasyJet said it would be oper- cars by flood water. After days The Energy Networks of people without power to enjoy union, the employers and the In Surrey, residents were ating a limited number of flights of heavy rain and high winds, Association said 50,000 homes a Christmas dinner. government. evacuated from their homes in from Gatwick to replace ones that weather forecasters were pre- were without power, adding that “We’re conscious that a few Around 90 people were evacu- Dorking, Leatherhead, Godalming should have operated on Tuesday, dicting a “much quieter” spell of it was likely some would still be people’s Christmas dinners are ated from their homes on the and Guildford, while more evac- but added it would be unable to weather. suffering a power blackout today. going to be ruined so we’re trying river Stour near Bournemouth uations occurred in Tonbridge, schedule any further flights on “We do have a few showers UK Power Networks, which to find ways we can help,” said a in the early hours of Christmas Kent. Christmas Day because of lim- around and they could be heavy delivers power to about 8 million spokesman. He said the company Day. Police began to evacuate res- Travellers trying to get home ited capacity at airports and crew at times, and some of them might customers in the south-east, the would “foot the bill” to the tune idents of the Ilford Bridge Home on Christmas Eve had fought availability. bring more hail, which will give east of England and London, said of £40 per customer. Park shortly after 3am following treacherous conditions on the Network Rail said more than a whiteness to things,” said Kirk the storm had deprived about The Environment Agency (EA) a severe flood warning from the roads and suffered major delays 200 trees had come down on lines Waite, a forecaster at the Met 300,000 properties of power — said two severe weather warn- Environment Agency. Fifteen as the rail network was brought in 24 hours, adding that it had Office. although for most it was restored ings — the highest level of alert, people were also evacuated from to its knees. to deal with a further 100 major Waite said that although a by engineers within minutes. It meaning there is a danger to life the Beaulieu Garden Park Home Flights at Gatwick began to incidents. Many major roads were storm coming on Friday was not said its staff were working to — remained in place in the south- in Christchurch, Dorset. return to normal yesterday after flooded or blocked on Christmas expected to be as severe as those reconnect everyone else, with sup- west. The EA issued 104 flood The coastguard joined Kent the chaotic scenes on Christmas Eve, with Kent, Hampshire, of recent days, there would still plies restored to the vast majority warnings across England and fire and rescue service to rescue Eve when a power cut at the Surrey, Sussex and Cornwall be heavy rain, which would bring by Tuesday night and repair work Wales on Christmas Day, mainly people from the Little Venice North Terminal led to cancella- among affected counties. “additional problems” to those continuing throughout yesterday in the south-east, south-west and Caravan and Marina Park in tions and delays, leaving thou- In Dorset, fire crews had to places already struggling with and today. Midlands. A further 193 flood Yalding after rising waters from sands of passengers stranded. rescue 25 people trapped in their floods. THE GUARDIAN

Russia’s apex Obama lauds returning court to review troops in holiday address HONOLULU: President Barack Obama lauded the “service Khodorkovsky and sacrifice” of US troops and military families in a holiday radio and Internet address yesterday, and he highlighted the service men and women who have returned home over the past convictions year. “For many of our troops and newest veterans, this might be MOSCOW: Russia’s Supreme the first time in years that they’ve been with their families on Court yesterday said it will Christmas,” Obama said. review two convictions against “With the Iraq war over and the transition in Afghanistan, former oil tycoon Mikhail fewer of our men and women in uniform are deployed in harm’s Khodorkovsky, including a rul- way than at any time in the last decade.” ing the Kremlin critic said was Obama used the Christmas Day broadcast as a chance to call preventing him from returning Americans to service in their communities. to Russia despite a presidential “For families like ours, that service is a chance to celebrate pardon. the birth of Christ and live out what He taught us — to love our After more than a decade in jail neighbours as we would ourselves; to feed the hungry and look when Khodorkovsky was widely after the sick; to be our brother’s keeper and our sister’s keeper.” seen as a political prisoner of The President and first lady Michelle Obama recorded the greet- Vladimir Putin, he was unex- ing at the White House before departing on Friday for a two-week pectedly pardoned and set free vacation in Hawaii. on Friday and has been staying Obama did not reveal the family’s plans for the holiday but said in Berlin since. watching basketball and eating Christmas cookies might be part The Kremlin has given assur- of the celebration. REUTERS ances that he is free to return to Russia, but Khodorkovsky has said there is no guarantee he A man holds a portrait depicting Ukrainian journalist Tetyana Chornovil during a protest in front of the Interior would be able to leave again if he Ministry building in Kiev, yesterday. did. He said he would not return French tanks deployed home as long as a court order that he pay 17bn roubles ($521m) in tax arrears remains in place. A spokesman for Russia’s high- at Bangui airport est court said a review of the con- Outrage in Ukraine after brutal victions in 2005 and 2010 over his BANGUI: Around a dozen seizing power in a March coup, management of defunct oil major French tanks were deployed some of its members went rogue, Yukos will take place in the next yesterday at Bangui’s airport leading to months of killing, rape two months based on the recom- attack on opposition reporter as intense gunfire in adjoining and pillaging — and prompting mendation of the European Court neighbourhoods sowed panic some majority Christians to form of Human Rights. KIEV: Unknown assailants said three suspects in the beat- yesterday gathered outside the among residents. vigilante groups. The Strasbourg-based court have savagely beaten a dogged ing had been identified and two seat of the interior minister, call- The tanks took positions at the Bangui was virtually deserted ruled in July that Russia’s first Ukrainian journalist who has of them detained. ing for his resignation. Some of entrance to the airport, where yesterday because of regular out- case against Khodorkovsky - taken part in pro-EU rallies, Police said its “most experi- the protesters held up pictures French and African peacekeep- bursts of gunfire in other areas once Russia’s richest man - was triggering outrage among the enced” investigators were prob- of Chornovil. ers are based, after automatic throughout the day. legitimate but found that the trial opposition locked in a confron- ing the attack on the 34-year-old, “Today they nearly killed Tanya weapons fire and explosions shook Peacekeeping troops were also was unfair and his sentencing to a tation with President Viktor who has participated in weeks- Chornovil and this should be the several parts of the city. absent from the streets, with only remote jail near the Arctic Circle Yanukovych. long pro-EU protests against last drop of blood, the last mani- Tens of thousands of people one helicopter, probably French, unjustified. Tetyana Chornovil, who writes Yanukovych. festation of cruelty towards our have been sheltering in precari- circling above. Earlier yester- Khodorkovsky told Russian for the Ukrainska Pravda opposi- Chornovil herself said there people which we have all allowed ous conditions on the airport day, a spokesman for the African daily Kommersant he welcomed tion website, was attacked over- were “at least two” assailants. “I through our inaction,” jailed grounds since sectarian bloodlet- peacekeeping force MISCA said the review and hoped it would night on Tuesday outside the started running, they began pur- former prime minister Yulia ting erupted early this month in its Chadian troops would be rede- help his jailed former business capital Kiev, police said in a state- suing me,” she said in video com- Tymoshenko said in a statement. the former French colony, claim- ployed out of the capital amid partner Platon Lebedev to be ment, citing the journalist. ments posted on the Ukrainska “Police and bandits together are ing hundreds of lives. charges they were siding with a released before his sentence is The prominent journalist, Pravda website. roughing up those who do not suit Automatic weapons fire, much former rebel group. due to end in May. known for her critical reports “They were hitting me on the the authorities — that’s what the of it from heavy machine guns, “The whole Chadian contingent Khodorkovsky’s lawyer, Vadim about Yanukovych and top offi- head, they were not saying any- dictatorial regimes in Africa and was heard but apparently not will be sent to secure the north Klyuvgant, said yesterday’s deci- cials, was driving to Kiev when thing, they were just hitting,” Latin America did,” opposition directed at the airport. It was in the next few days,” MISCA sion may remove an impediment she noticed she was being followed said the young woman, her face lawmaker Andriy Shevchenko especially intense in the nearby spokesman Lieutenant Colonel to his client’s “free movement and by a car. bruised and swollen. said on Twitter. PK12 area. Ndong Toutoune said. The spokes- of a financial character”. “The driver of the suspicious The news site said, citing rela- World boxing champion and Hundreds of panicked residents man did not elaborate on how or Khodorkovsky, 50, was arrested car began to push her to the side. tives, that Chornovil was hos- opposition leader Vitali Klitschko could be seen fleeing the area on exactly where the Chadian troops after he fell out with the Kremlin When she stopped, several men pitalised with a broken nose, a posted on Twitter pictures of a foot towards central Bangui. would redeploy in the country as Putin, then in his first term, who were following her broke the concussion and multiple bruises. bloodied Chornovil as well as In chaotic scenes, others sought that has for decades been prone reined in influential “oligarchs” back window of her car, pulled The attack on the journalist of several journalists injured in to join the displaced people to coups, rebellions and mutinies. who had made fortunes snap- her out and started beating her,” comes after a local pro-EU activ- recent clashes between protesters already at the airport, which was Later, several Chadian MISCA ping up assets during the chaotic police said in a statement. ist was stabbed in both thighs in and police. already secured by French soldiers tanks and jeeps could be seen years after the collapse of Soviet “After that she was thrown the eastern city of Kharkiv on “The price of freedom of the in combat positions behind sand- leaving the airport and heading communism. into a ditch,” police said, adding Tuesday evening. press in Ukraine now thx to the bags before the tanks deployed. towards the city centre. He was convicted of grave she was found next to her vehicle The latest assault caused system put in place by our cur- Some residents accused former The Chadians, mainly because financial crimes in two trials that shortly after midnight. outrage among opposition lead- rent government,” said the mes- rebels backing Muslim interim they are Muslim, face accusations Kremlin critics say were part of a President Yanukovych con- ers, who have been locked in a sage next to the pictures. president Michel Djotodia of by many in Bangui of complicity political campaign to punish him demned the attack and ordered standoff with Yanukovych over The opposition has called for mounting attacks, while others with the mostly Muslim Seleka for challenging Putin, to bring his Interior Minister Vitali his decision to scrap key political the resignation of Zakharchenko named Christian vigilantes as the rebels who overthrew president oil assets under state control and Zakharchenko to find those and free trade agreements with over police brutality and corrup- aggressors. Francois Bozize in March in the to warn other tycoons to toe the responsible. the European Union last month. tion but Yanukovych has refused Although Djotodia officially predominantly Christian country. line. REUTERS Later in the day Zakharchenko Several hundred protesters on to sack him. AFP disbanded his Seleka rebels after AFP THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013 12 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com ASIA/PHILIPPINES

Filipino minister to Rain pelts Philippine disaster zone resign over broken power promise

Survivors spend gloomy Christmas surrounded by mud; faithful urged not to lose hope MANILA: The Philippines’ energy minister intends to TACLOBAN CITY: Survivors knit. Gone are the petty quar- resign after failing to keep a of the Philippines’ deadli- rels,” she added. Scala said her promise to restore electric- est typhoon spent a gloomy family ate a traditional midnight ity to all typhoon-ravaged Christmas Day surrounded by meal on Christmas Eve in keep- areas by Christmas Eve, a mud yesterday as heavy rain ing with tradition in the largely presidential spokesman said drove many inside their flimsy Catholic nation. But they had to yesterday. shelters, dampening efforts make do with tinned sardines and Energy Secretary Jericho at holiday cheer in the deeply steamed rice, part of the weekly Petilla plans to file his resigna- devout nation. aid rations from the government tion today, President Benigno Groups of children in plastic and humanitarian agencies. Aquino’s spokesman Edwin raincoats braved the incessant For breakfast on Christmas Lacierda said on ABS-CBN rain in the devastated central city Day, she said her family ate the television. Petilla had earlier of Tacloban, knocking on doors previous night’s leftovers and promised to restore electric- in trick-or-treat fashion and would have to make do with ity to all towns hit by Super beseeching pedestrians for can- instant noodles for lunch. Typhoon Haiyan by Christmas dies, coins and other Christmas She has no idea where she will Eve but had failed to reconnect presents. get the money to build a new the supply to three towns, the But housewife Susan Scala sat house or whether she will be able spokesman said. glumly under a white tarpaulin to send her two school-age chil- Lacierda said Petilla had in one of Tacloban’s many tent dren back to school. done an “admirable job” consid- cities for those made homeless The Papal Nuncio to the ering the scale of the disaster. by Super Typhoon Haiyan. At a Philippines, Archbishop Giuseppe While power has been time when her family should be Pinto, acting as a representa- restored in a few selected areas celebrating, all she could think of tive for Pope Francis, celebrated of the affected towns, many was her missing husband. Christmas mass in Tacloban and districts still have no electric- “Even if it’s not Christmas I urged the faithful not to lose ity after the storm tore down don’t stop thinking about him,” hope. power lines across a wide area. the mother of five said of her hus- “Do not despair, do not be band Oscar, a telephone utility overcome by adversity... I now worker believed lost at sea when reassure you once again: the Tokyo to elect new giant waves whipped up by the church will never forget you. We November 8 storm swept away will never forget you,” he told governor on Feb 9 homes in the city’s San Jose slum. worshippers. TOKYO: Millions of vot- Like many of the city’s sur- The Save the Children char- ers in Tokyo will elect their vivors, the miserable weather A member of Clowns Without Borders performs in front of young survivors of super typhoon Haiyan as part of ity had planned to host an event new governor in February, made Scala nervous. “This inces- recovery work by Plan International in Tacloban city, Leyte province, yesterday. with sports and art activities to the mega-city said yesterday, sant rain is scary. It reminds me cheer up about 300 children on after the resignation of the of what happened (during the islands and now live in tents pro- shanty to give to the children who “There are still a lot of reasons Christmas in the storm-ravaged previous incumbent over a typhoon),” the 53-year-old said. vided by aid agencies or rough knocked on her counter. that we should be thankful to city of Ormoc, said programme money scandal. Haiyan left more than 6,100 shacks fashioned by survivors “It’s a sad Christmas Day. God,” Aranza said, including the manager Reggie Aquino. The gubernatorial election is people dead and nearly 2,000 oth- from the wreckage of destroyed We have lost our home and the fact that her two adult children But local officials in the city set for February 9, a Sunday, ers missing, many of them from homes and fallen trees. government will not allow us to and their 13 sons and daughters, 45km from Tacloban cancelled with ballots to be counted on Tacloban and nearby towns, in At the city’s ruined Sagkahan rebuild here as it’s too close to the who now have to live together in the event due to the rain. Instead, the same day, the city’s election the storm-prone country’s dead- fish port, 67-year-old widow shore,” she said. the cramped shanty, survived the the charity held the event in a board said. Candidates must liest typhoon disaster. Emiliana Aranza pulled sweets But she said sharing what was disaster. tent for children in the nearby formally declare themselves About 4.4 million others were and shortbread from jars at left of her possessions had an “Because of the typhoon, mem- town of Kananga where there on January 23 during business left homeless across the central her makeshift store outside her uplifting effect. bers of my family are now tightly was just heavy drizzle. AFP hours. No-one has put their hat in the ring yet, but possi- ble candidates being mentioned in the media include Hideo Higashikokubaru, a comedian- turned-politician who resigned Nepal extends deadline for as a lower house member this month, and education minister Maoists to name lawmakers Hakubun Shimomura. KATHMANDU: Nepal’s election had requested more time to agree on Okinawa US base commission yesterday gave the a list of lawmakers. All parties had former ruling Maoists a five-day been meant to submit names by yes- may be moved extension to propose members of terday and it is the third extension TOKYO: The long-stalled a new parliament, a day after the granted by the commission. The com- move of a US military base in party finally agreed to join the position of the constituent assembly Okinawa looked set to over- assembly. has been in limbo since November come a huge hurdle this week “We have extended the deadline 19 elections when the Maoists were after a meeting yesterday until December 30,” election com- beaten into third place, prompting between the island’s pugna- mission spokesman Bir Bahadur Rai them to allege fraud and threaten to cious governor and Japan’s said as he confirmed that the Maoists boycott the parliament. AFP prime minister. Premier Shinzo Abe pledged an unheralded cash bonanza for the archipelago, in the form of stimulus spending that commentators say could help persuade governor Hirokazu Nakaima to drop his long- standing opposition to con- Two Chinese paramilitary policemen in front of the statue of former leader Mao Zedong in Shaoshan, Mao’s struction of a new airbase. hometown, in south China’s Hunan province, yesterday. “You presented surpris- ingly impressive proposals. I express my heartfelt appreci- ation as the representative of Okinawa’s 1.4 million people,” Fans mark Mao’s birthday the governor told Abe. SHAOSHAN: Thousands bronze statue of the leader. “I ruling Communist Party’s offi- of admirers of Communist have an image of Chairman Mao cial stance is that he was “70 Fukushima evacuees China’s founder Mao Zedong at home, and bow in front of it percent right and 30 percent flocked to his hometown every morning and evening,” the wrong” — and it has never to return home yesterday to bow before his 56-year-old added. “I think he is allowed an open historical reck- TOKYO: Some Fukushima graven image — including one a Buddha, and I am wishing him oning of his actions. residents who fled their statue of solid gold — before happy birthday to show that I’ll Political initiatives launched homes near the crippled his 120th birth anniversary. never forget him.” by Mao such as the “Great Leap Japanese nuclear plant are Pilgrims from across the The 12-decade anniversary Forward,” and the “Cultural temporarily returning home country lit firecrackers and has a special resonance in China, Revolution” led to more than during the New Year season, offered flowers in Shaoshan, which traditionally measured 40 million deaths through vio- officials said yesterday. where Mao was born 120 years time in 60-year cycles. lence and starvation, according But fewer than 10 percent of ago today, to celebrate a man But while Mao’s portly grand- to some Chinese and foreign more than 27,000 people eligible blamed for tens of millions of son Mao Xinyu appeared in estimates. for the temporary repatriation deaths but widely viewed as the Shaoshan on Tuesday, he was Analysts say Mao has programme are taking part, father of modern China. joined by merely provincial-level emerged as a rallying point for amid fears of high radiation. “He is a great leader who officials, in accordance with a those discontented with rising The government is allowing sacrificed his interests so call by President Xi Jinping for inequality and rampant cor- former residents of selected we could be liberated,” said anniversary celebrations to be ruption, presenting a potential areas around the plant with retired teacher Fu Mengnan, “simple”. challenge to a leadership which relatively low radiation con- after prostrating herself on Mao’s legacy remains a divi- does not tolerate public dissent. tamination to stay at their the ground in front of a giant sive topic in China, where the AFP homes from Christmas Eve through January 7. AGENCIES Protest-hit Thai PM proposes national reform council BANGKOK: Thailand’s constitutional amendments, family. Yingluck “is not sincere seeking to oust Yingluck’s prime minister proposed a economic and legal reforms and about reform”, said a spokes- elected government and install “national reform council” yes- anti-corruption measures. man for the protest movement, an unelected “people’s council” terday to seek a way out of the “It is now time to develop a Akanat Promphan. in its place. political crisis gripping the mechanism to push forward and “The prime minister can The premier has called a snap kingdom, following weeks of mobilise national reform,” she show her responsibility and sac- election for February 2 to try mass street protests against said in an address to the nation. rifice by stepping down so that to ease tensions, but the main her government. But the plan was immediately the reform process can begin,” opposition Democrat Party — Yingluck Shinawatra said rejected by protest leaders who he added. which has not won an elected the body would be set up in want reforms before elections, In recent weeks tens of thou- majority in about two decades parallel with a February 2 gen- in a bid to curb the political sands of protesters have taken — has vowed to boycott the vote. eral election to recommend influence of the prime minister’s to the streets of Bangkok AFP THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013 PAKISTAN / AFGHANISTAN www.thepeninsulaqatar.com 13 Rockets land in Kabul Jinnah’s 137th birthday US mission compound No casualties in attack claimed by Taliban militants

KABUL: Two Taliban rockets alarm warning. Another rocket Earlier this month a Taliban landed inside the US embassy landed near a hill where former suicide bomber detonated an compound in Kabul early yes- kings and members of the old explosives-laden vehicle near a terday, causing no casualties royal family are buried in a large Nato military convoy entering but underlining Afghanistan’s mausoleum, a spokesman for the the city airport, killing himself continuing security problems as National Directorate of Security but causing no other deaths or many foreigners in the capital said. injuries. marked Christmas Day. “One impacted near Maranjan In October a car bomb attack Taliban militants, who have hill, about one mile (1.6km) from killed two civilians outside a com- been fighting the US-backed gov- the presidential palace. There are pound housing foreign workers ernment since being ousted from no reported casualties,” Lutfullah near the airport. power in 2001, claimed respon- Mashal said. The Supreme Court, the air- sibility for the attack, which In a text message, the Taliban port, foreign compounds and included at least one other strike claimed the rockets caused heavy the presidential palace were all in the city. casualties, but the insurgents reg- targeted in major attacks during Rocket attacks in Kabul have ularly make exaggerated claims 2013. been rare in recent years, but the after attacks. Nato forces are withdrawing insurgents have vowed to step up “Today at around 6am four from Afghanistan after more pressure on the US and Afghan rockets were fired at the US than a decade of fighting the authorities before next year’s embassy in Kabul. All hit the Taliban, but negotiations have presidential election in April and target (causing) heavy casualties,” stalled on a security accord that the withdrawal of US-led Nato Taliban spokesman Zabihullah would allow some US and Nato Cadets from Pakistan Military Academy march during the guard mounting ceremony at the mausoleum of combat forces. Mujahid said in the message. troops to stay after 2014. Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Karachi yesterday. A contingent of cadets mounted the guard at the mausoleum to “At approximately 6:40 local Previous Taliban mortar President Hamid Karzai first mark Jinnah’s 137th birth anniversary. Jinnah is regarded as the founder of Pakistan. time in Kabul, approximately two attacks on Kabul have lacked endorsed the deal — which lays rounds of indirect fire impacted accuracy, and the Christmas Day out rules for US troops, and the US Embassy compound,” a attacks will raise concerns that would be the basis for other statement from the embassy said. the militants have improved their Nato forces — but he later said “All Americans are accounted for ability to launch and direct the it might only be signed after the Pakistan arrests two Taliban commanders and no injuries were sustained. rockets. April election that will choose his “The Embassy continues to Kabul has seen a drop in insur- successor. ISLAMABAD: Pakistani area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa investigation have confessed their investigate the attack.” gent attacks in recent months The ministry of interior said Police arrested two command- Province. Two key-commanders involvement in destroying pub- The mortar rockets sent US after a series of high-profile four policemen had suffered ers of Darra Adamkhel Tehrik- of TTP Darra Adamkhel were lic property and target-killing diplomats rushing for shelter as strikes earlier in the year, with minor injuries yesterday morn- e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in arrested during the operation. incidents. the heavily-fortified embassy in the NDS claiming to have foiled ing when some other explosive North-west of Pakistan, (Geo) Three hand grenades and two They have been shifted to some the city centre sounded its emer- several plots to launch complex ordnance detonated as they News reported yesterday. pistols were recovered from the unknown place for further grill- gency sirens and loudspeakers assaults involving truck bombs were investigating the rocket on Police said that an opera- accused, police said. ing, police said. broadcast a “duck and cover” and suicide gunmen. Maranjan hill. AFP tion was launched in Naushehra The accused during initial QNA

Local govt poll Nawaz govt continues weighty bank borrowings expenses KARACHI: Banks continued government raised Rs392bn. increased by 5 basis points to rate is much better than last the previous debts of commer- to invest heavily in govern- Commercial banks parked 9.91 percent. year (expecting over 4 percent), cial banks which accumulated to ceiling fixed in ment papers as the cut-off Rs391bn, which was 97 per While inflationary pres- the borrowing trend from com- Rs3.32tr till end June 2013. The yield on the three-month cent of the total bid amount, in sure mounted to give a push to mercial banks as well the State government borrowed Rs960bn treasury bills was again three-month papers. the interest rate, the sudden Bank is not in line with the gov- alone in FY13. Sindh province increased by four basis points A meagre sum of Rs1.2bn was increase in government borrow- ernment’s belief. The government is unable to to 9.95 percent in the auction invested in six-month papers ings from commercial banks is The higher inflation could pay back the debts it has accu- ISLAMABAD: The ceiling for held yesterday, an indication at the cut-off yield 9.97 per- also going to set new records. help the Federal Board of mulated during the last many election expenses of candidates that interest rate would see a cent. No bids were received for Since November 27, the gov- Revenue (FBR) to reach the years as the amount is too big, for union councils, union com- change. 12-month bills. ernment collectively borrowed revenue target but it seems the even higher than annual rev- mittees, town committees and The cut-off yield reached The government has been about Rs1.4 trillion from the government still needs huge enue collection of the country. municipal committees in the close to prevailing discount rate increasing the cut-off yield on commercial banks and mostly liquidity to meet its fiscal gap. The government is under coming local government elec- of 10pc per annum. this short-term treasury bills. for three-month maturity. Bankers said that while the pressure of IMF to reduce the tions in Sindh has been fixed at It was the third T-bill auction In the last auction, cut-off yield Though the government government was raising new fiscal gap that was over 8 per- Rs50,000. since November 27, 2013 and the on three-month papers was believes that economic growth liquidity it has been retiring cent in FY-13. INTERNEWS The limit will be Rs100,000 in case of candidates for district councils and district municipal corporations. Nato Christmas meal Under the updated local gov- ernment rules provided by the LB polls: Peshawar divided Sindh government to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), it has been made mandatory for into 206 village councils candidates to confirm, through a bill stating the particulars and PESHAWAR: Pakistan’s two for women and on each for a receipt, any payment made northwestern Peshawar district pheasants, youths and minorities. in respect of election expenses has been divided into 206 village Asked about the criteria under except where the amount is less and 128 neighbourhood councils which the number of general seats than Rs200. as preparations are underway was increased, Khan said that Every candidate will be required for the local government elec- besides basic five general seats, to submit to the returning officer tions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the onward increase was made details of election expenses within according to relevant officials. proportionate to the population of 30 days after notification of the The voters of those newly cre- the area. With increase in popula- returned candidate, along with ated village and neighbourhood tion, the number of general seats an affidavit. councils would elect more than was also raised, he said. The nomination papers will not 4,000 representatives in Peshawar The number of the general be accepted unless a non-refund- only, officials at the deputy com- seats is not the same in all vil- able candidature fee in cash or a missioner office said. lage and neighbourhood councils bank draft in favour of the ECP is They said that data from other because of difference in their pop- paid by or on behalf of the candi- districts of the province was not ulation. According to the crite- date. The candidature fee will be collected so far by the local gov- ria, an additional general seat has Rs2,000 for union councils, union ernment and rural development been added to the basic five seats committees and town committees, department. with increase of 1,600 residents in Rs3,000 for municipal committees Officials said that the resi- population of an area. and Rs5,000 for district councils dents of rural areas, which had “Most of the work in the crea- and corporations. been divided into 206 village tion of village and neighbourhood Elections to the reserved seats councils, would elect 1,375 mem- councils has been done by the for women, peasants, labourers US and Nato soldiers of International Security Assistance Force have a special meal to celebrate Christmas bers on general seats and 1,030 secretaries of the former union and non-Muslims members in a at their military base in Kabul, Afghanistan, yesterday. Nato combat troops are moving into a supporting role, on reserved seats including 412 councils while the revenue offic- council other than union coun- ahead of their full withdrawal by the end of 2014. women and 206 each pheasant ers have also helped them,” said cils or committees will be elected workers, youths and minorities. a secretary. through proportional represen- Similarly, the dwellers of the Sources said that the residents tation system of political parties urban areas that had been divided of the newly created village and by providing lists of candidates into 128 neighbourhood councils neighbourhood councils had sub- to the district returning officer Civil society seeks gender-based data for vote would elect 1,072 members on mitted around 25 proposals with on the basis of total number of general seats and 640 on reserved the deputy commissioner, who general seats won by each political ISLAMABAD: To add to the Rights Commission of Pakistan, barriers to the effective political seats including 256 women and worked as district delimitation party in a council. hype surrounding local bod- Aurat Foundation and Democracy participation of women. 128 each pheasant workers, officer. The last date for submis- The total number of seats will ies elections, non-government Reporting Institute, the appeal This requirement is in line youths and minorities, they said. sion of proposals and objections include independent returned organisation and human rights calls for classification of voter with international treaty com- Each village and neighbourhood was December 22, they said. candidates who join a political groups have urged the election turnout on gender basis in much mitments, as detailed by the council was consisted of 2,000 to According to schedule, the party within three days of publi- commission to prepare and the same vein as the Senate Convention on the Elimination 10,000 residents, said Faizullah delimitation officer will hear and cation of the returned candidates release gender disaggregated Special Committee on Election of All Forms of Discrimination Khan, assistant director of local consider the proposals and objec- in the official gazette. data. issues in 2012. against Women (CEDAW), of government and rural develop- tions to amend, alter and modify POLL DISPUTES: Under the Addressed to the Prime “Gender disaggregated data on which Pakistan is also a signatory. ment department. the preliminary published lists rules, an election petition can be Minister, Senate chairman voter turnout increases transpar- Unfortunately, provincial laws He said that minimum number yesterday. filed within 60 days of the pub- and chief ministers, the letter ency of the electoral process and and election rules do not comply of general seats in each village and The residents, if not satisfied lication in official gazette, the demands categorised data to enhances trust in election results,” with the standard set by ECP, neighbourhood council was five, with the response of delimita- names of the returned candidate, strengthen democratic culture. it states, adding that availability lamented the letter; besides, there however, it was increased up to tion officer could approach the with a receipt showing deposit of Spearheaded and endorsed of data is helpful in determining is no data on gender disaggrega- 10 according to the population of Divisional Appellate Authority Rs2,000 in a scheduled bank in by over a dozen organisa- whether women were able to fully tion of voter turnout during the the area. Khan said that each vil- (DAA) headed by divisional com- favour of the ECP. tions, including the Women exercise their right to franchise. upcoming local government elec- lage and neighbourhood council missioners within 10 days, they INTERNEWS Parliamentary Caucus, Human It can also be crucial in assessing tions. INTERNEWS had five reserved seats including said. INTERNEWS

THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013 INDIA www.thepeninsulaqatar.com 15 Kejriwal to Christmas service be sworn in on Saturday Anna Hazare invited to ceremony

NEW DELHI: corruption. Kejriwal, Arvind Kejriwal who won the (pictured), who Magsaysay award in tapped into public 2006 for “emergent anger to take the leadership” and has AAP to the corridors a history of social of power, will take activism, admitted oath on Saturday there would be many as Delhi’s seventh hurdles but vowed to chief minister, with overcome them all. his party promising The AAP has to “completely over- invited Gandhian haul” the system. activist Anna Hazare, Activist-turned- former Supreme unlikely politician Kejriwal, 45, Court judge Santosh Hegde and will be sworn in by Lt Governor former police officer Kiran Bedi Najeeb Jung at the sprawling for the swearing in. Ramlila Maidan here along with The Ramlila Maidan was where six cabinet ministers at a func- Hazare fasted for 12 days in 2011 tion expected to draw thousands for a Jan Lokpal bill with Kejriwal of supporters. as one of his aides. Kejriwal, who The proposed ministers are formed the AAP in November last A Christmas Day service at an Amritsar church yesterday. Despite Christians forming a little over two percent of the billion plus population in India, former journalists Manish Sisodia, year, has since had a fallout with Christmas is celebrated with fanfare and zeal across the country. 41, and Rakhi Birla, 26, former Hazare and Bedi. lawyers Saurabh Bharadwaj, 34, Somnath Bharti, who is set to and Somnath Bharti, 39, architect become a minister, told IANS Satyendra Jain, 49, and business- that the AAP government will man Girish Soni, 49. “completely overhaul” the system Did a mistake lead to Khobragade’s plight? A woman, Birla will be one of and changes will be visible within the youngest ministers in India. 60 days. It will be a minority govern- Slashing power tariff by half — NEW YORK: Did the office of Manhattan’s the agent mistakenly ment — the AAP won only 28 one of the key promises made by India-born prosecutor Preet Bharara goof thought the $4,500 a seats in the 70-member assembly the AAP — will remain on top of up in the paperwork for the arrest of Indian month salary entered UN nod for diplomat — and will depend on the legisla- the agenda, he said. diplomat Devyani Khobragade to spark a on the form was UNITED NATIONS: The UN said yes- tive backing of the eight legisla- “We will completely overhaul major India-US diplomatic row? what Khobragade terday it had accepted a request from tors of the Congress, which was the system, and changes will be Khobragade’s lawyer Daniel Arschack intended to pay her India to issue accreditation to a diplo- voted out after 15 years. visible within two months of our claims so, suggesting that India’s then deputy nanny Sangeeta mat in the eye of a legal and diplomatic The main opposition will come coming to power,” he said. “Our consul general in New York was only arrested Richard. storm between Delhi and Washington. from the 31-member strong first priority is to reduce the because a federal agent “erroneously and dis- It was instead the The US State Department must approve Bharatiya Janata Party, which power tariff. If needed, we will astrously” misread a visa application form for base salary expected all changes in diplomatic status of foreign refused to form a government. give subsidy.” her housekeeper and babysitter. by Khobragade at her job, and included in envoys on American soil, and a spokes- Speaking outside his home at “Every official will be closely The US federal agent in the case “simply the form to show the employer made enough person told AFP yesterday that the Kaushambi, an Uttar Pradesh watched,” he added. “We will made an error in reading the form which sup- money to pay her employee, he said. paperwork was “under review”. AFP township neighbouring Delhi, identify the corrupt officers in ported the visa application for the domestic Khobragade, 39, who was strip-searched and Kejriwal pledged to unveil a every department and remove worker”, Arschack was quoted as saying by freed on $250,000 bail after her December 12 making false statements on Richard’s visa January Lokpal bill within 15 them from their posts...”. New York Daily News. arrest has pleaded not guilty in the Manhattan application. days of taking office to battle IANS Arshack, according to the daily, believes Federal Court to charges of visa fraud and IANS

On the ropes Congress Six of army indicted cheated in staged shootout Bihar, SRINAGAR: A court of In the aftermath of the alleged inquiry ordered by the army staged shootout, protests and yesterday indicted six army ensuing clashes with security says Nitish personnel, including a colonel, forces erupted in the Kashmir two majors and three other Valley, which resulted in the PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister officers, for their involvement deaths of at least 110 people Nitish Kumar yesterday tar- in a staged shootout in Jammu in 2010. geted the Congress for betray- and Kashmir’s Kupwara dis- Police registered a case in the ing the state on its demand for trict in 2010. alleged staged shootout and later special category status. Army sources told IANS that charged 11 army personnel for “The Congress is delaying following the findings of the court framing the three civilians as decision on the Raghuram Rajan of inquiry, the army has now guerrillas and later killing them. Committee report to keep its ally ordered court martial of the six The ruling National Conference happy in Bihar as part of politics personnel for their involvement yesterday welcomed the decision ahead of the next general elec- in the incident. of the army to initiate court mar- tions (in 2014),” Nitish Kumar The army at that time had said tial proceedings against the six told newspersons here. it killed three infiltrating guerril- army personnel. The committee identified Bihar las in Machil area on the Line of “We welcome this step, but we as one of the “least developed”. Control (LoC) on April 30, 2010. strongly feel that the proceed- The state is set to receive more However, residents alleged ings and the results should be funds for development, even that all three so-called infiltra- made transparent so that there if not special category status, tors were unarmed civilians who is no scope for any allegation or under a new criteria to measure were lured by some other civilians feeling of a cover-up,” Tanvir backwardness. acting as sources for the army by Sadiq, political secretary to Chief By hitting out at the Congress, offering them jobs, after which Minister Omar Abdullah, told a Nitish Kumar made it clear his they were taken to the LoC and local news agency. party, Janata Dal-United (JD-U), Soldiers train at the Corps Battle School in Rajouri, some 140km from Jammu. The troopers are to be posted framed as infiltrating guerrillas. IANS has no hope of alliance with the along the Line of Control after passing out of the course. former as it was widely speculated for months after he dumped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Nitish Kumar has repeatedly declared he would support a party Walk in tunnel at that would grant special category Himachal chief minister vows graft-free rule status to Bihar. Connaught Place Nitish Kumar was in favour SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh Chief skill allowance scheme for unemployed youths it had failed to deposit the outstanding amount of an alliance with the Congress Minister Virbhadra Singh, who has just and free bus travel for all government school of over Rs5.8m with the government. NEW DELHI: People in to counter BJP’s prime ministe- completed an year in office, has promised a students, subsidised ration for over 36 lakh The issue hogged the limelight in the just- Delhi can walk through, for rial candidate Narendra Modi till corruption-free state as well as speedy and people, and restarted 149 denotified schools, concluded winter session of the assembly. a limited period from today, early this month. uniform development. But the BJP is not mostly in rural areas. The BJP throughout the session sought to a 1.2-km long service tunnel The chief minister also did not impressed. The 78-year-old chief minister blamed his place the government in the dock for its fail- under Connaught Place, the rule out JD-U hobnobbing with The chief minister’s assertion comes at a predecessor Prem Kumar Dhumal and his ure to carry out issues related to the com- capital’s oldest shopping hub. the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) of time when he has been accused by the BJP sons for starting a malicious campaign against mon man and misusing the state investigating It was during the redevel- Ram Vilas Paswan in the state. of raising a personal loan of Rs39m from an him since the vigilance and anti-corruption agency against political opponents, say politi- opment of Connaught Place “Politics is a game of possibil- individual whose company was executing a bureau booked both sons — Anurag Thakur cal observers. that the New Delhi Municipal ity, there is open mind to join hydropower project in the state. and Arun — for allegedly grabbing land near “A common feeling is prevailing that the Council (NDMC) set up the hands with any party,” Nitish He and his family are also said to have Dharamsala by forging revenue records. government is wasting much time in con- tunnel to house underground Kumar said in reply to possi- bought shares from the firm. On taking a loan from Vakamulla ducting inquiries against the opponents than cables and water supply lines, bility of JD-U’s likely alliance “The BJP is levelling charges against me Chandersekhar of New Delhi, he said: “As an focusing on development,” said an observer. NDMC chief Jalaj Shrivastava with LJP. as it fears legal action for wrongdoings done individual, I have every right to raise a loan.” Meanwhile, Dhumal termed the regime a said. As part of its centenary Last week, he said the JD-U is during its regime,” Virbhadra Singh, who took Giving details of his family’s shares in Tarini “government of ‘badla (revenge)’ and ‘badli celebrations, the NDMC will not worried about any likely tie- over the reins of the state for the sixth time Infrastructure Ltd, he said the firm was a (transfers of government employees)” on allow the public to see the up of the Congress, the Rashtriya on this day last year, told IANS. public-listed company. political grounds. tunnel under the guidance of Janta Dal and the LJP for the He listed his government’s achievements, He said his government last month termi- “It is using the vigilance bureau as a tool trained officials. 2014 Lok Sabha elections. saying that in the past one year, it has nated the implementation agreement signed to settle personal scores,” Dhumal told IANS. IANS IANS increased the social security pension, started on June 16, 2007, with Tarini Infrastructure as IANS THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013 16 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com MORNING BREAK

PRAYER TIME Swiss guards Chinese smugglers dig tunnel into Fajr (Dawn) 4:55 Shorook (Sunrise) 6:17 Hong Kong Zuhr (Noon) 11:34 BEIJING: Chinese Asr (Afternoon) 2:32 smugglers dug a “pro- fessional” concrete Maghrib (Sunset) 4:52 tunnel into Hong Isha (Night) 6:22 Kong equipped with lights, vents, steel reinforcements and even rails to transport WEATHER goods, domestic media reported yesterday. The underground Today Friday Weather Saturday Conditions: path had “one end in Clear Partly cloudy Clear a rented garage in Fine to partly Shenzhen and another cloudy. in a thicket of reeds in Hong Kong, totally con- High: 22° High: 20° High: 21° cealed”, said a report Low: 16° Low: 14° Low: 14° posted on the official website china.com.cn. “It was dug in a totally professional DOHA - SUN & SEA way,” it said. Semi-autonomous SUN TIDE SEA Hong Kong, along with SUNRISE | SUNSET HIGH | LOW WIND Shenzhen in mainland China, are both impor- 06:17 16:52 10:15 & 00:00 03:00 & 18:00 05-15 KT Swiss guards in their traditional uniforms watch Pope Francis delivering the Urbi et Orbi Christmas Day message from the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, yesterday. tant trade hubs for the fast-growing and mas- THE REGION TODAY TOMORROW sive market. But the two have very different HI/LO WEATHER HI/LO WEATHER tariff systems. The as-yet unidenti- MUSCAT 22/16 Clear 21/16 Clear It’s a wrap for baby George as fied smugglers sought KUWAIT 17/08 Partly cloudy 17/10 Partly cloudy to exploit their prox- BAHRAIN 19/14 Clear 19/14 Clear imity by building a 40m SANAA 21/03 Partly cloudy 22/03 Partly cloudy British royals celebrate Christmas underground passage RIYADH 19/07 Clear 20/10 Clear and installing a rail DUBAI 23/15 Partly cloudy 23/15 Clear SANDRINGHAM: Prince William and Kate strolled along hand to the church, the Queen arrived track and wagon with BAGHDAD 17/05 Partly cloudy 16/04 Partly cloudy William and his wife Catherine in hand, with George staying indoors. by car accompanied by her heavily a block-and-tackle sys- left their baby son Prince George The baby prince, born on July 22, pregnant eldest grand-daughter, the tem to ferry goods such THE WORLD TODAY TOMORROW to revel in wrapping paper as the is fourth in the line of succession, former equestrian world champion as cell phones and tab- British royal family made their directly in line to inherit the throne Zara Phillips. let computers. The tun- HI/LO WEATHER HI/LO WEATHER Christmas Day outing to church. after 87-year-old Queen Elizabeth’s William’s brother Prince Harry nel stood about 0.8m William said it had been a good eldest son Prince Charles, 65, and was still sporting the ginger beard wide and 1m high, just ATHENS 15/13 Chance of rain 15/10 Chance of rain morning with the five-month-old, 31-year-old William, his eldest son. he grew while trekking to the South big enough for an adult WASHINGTON 08/-1 Partly cloudy 07/-1 Partly cloudy while Kate revealed he was more William told the crowd: “We’ve had Pole earlier this month with disabled to crawl through. AFP SYDNEY 26/17 Partly cloudy 26/19 Partly cloudy interested in wrapping paper than a good morning with George and I armed forces veterans from Britain, LONDON 05/05 Partly cloudy 08/03 Clear his presents. As per tradition, the can’t wait until next year when he’s Australia, Canada and the US. royals were spending their winter bigger.” He said he intended to keep the PARIS 10/06 Partly cloudy 15/10 Chance of rain break at Queen Elizabeth II’s private Cicely Howard, 75, from Great look as it was a “royal tradition”. ISTANBUL 12/06 Partly cloudy 12/08 Partly cloudy Sandringham residence in Norfolk, Yarmouth in Norfolk, asked Kate Newspaper reports said it was the MANILA 31/24 Partly cloudy 29/23 Chance of rain eastern England. about the baby. largest gathering of the family at DHAKA 24/13 Clear 25/13 Clear Their Christmas Day visit to St “She told me he was having a lovely Christmas in years, with all of the DELHI 16/08 Clear 15/08 Clear Mary Magdalene Church is a rare day but was more interested in the Queen’s descendants and her late sis- ISLAMABAD 18/01 Partly cloudy 18/00 Clear chance to see them all together up wrapping paper than the presents,” ter princess Margaret’s descendants close and speak to them as they leave. she said. While the family walked in attendance. AFP Thursday 26 December 2013 22 Safar 1435 Volume 18 Number 5925 Price: QR2

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 44557741 | Advertising: 44557837 / 44557780 New identity for Ezdan Holding, subsidiaries Move part of Group’s efforts to double investments with a more diversified business portfolio

DOHA: As part of its mod- ernisation and development strategy, real estate giant Ezdan Holding Group yester- day unveiled its new identity along with all of its subsidiaries, including Ezdan Real Estate, Ezdan Hotels and Ezdan Mall. The new identity of its subsidi- aries is part of the Group’s efforts which is striving to double the investments with a more diversi- fied business portfolio. Ezdan is working to develop and manage a large number of projects, including giant real hand and modernity on the other. estate projects that comprise Ali Mohammed Al Obaidli, thousands of housing units, in Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Thani bin CEO of Ezdan Holding, said: “The addition to investments in the Abdullah Al Thani Ali Mohammed Al Obaidli Group is establishing a unified hospitality sector, commercial identity for all its subsidiaries, complexes and several invest- group drive it to look with hope in all its steps and different bearing the same character and ments in the financial sector, such toward a bright future and com- stages, based on the fact that colors but different designs for as banks, insurance, health and pel it to use all possibilities to Ezdan Group is one of the larg- different activity.” Ezdan is striving to innovate and Abdullah emphasised that the media. firmly face future variables. est economic entities in Qatar and He stressed that the new iden- put forward new ideas to provide new identity will contribute to a Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Thani bin The group’s vision and strategy the region, as a key partner and tity is not limited to the logo and luxury and comfort conditions large degree in adopting a new Abdullah Al Thani, Chairman of seeks to achieve profitability supporter of all the development colors, but also it extends to the for all the beneficiaries of the phase based on modern ideas, sci- Ezdan Holding Group, said: “The for all shareholders and to par- goals of the state.” company’s projects, noting that projects. entific method of administration new identity reflects the group’s ticipate in the renaissance of the Sheikh Khalid also said that the group launched recently an Nasser Al Abdullah, Deputy and innovative strategies that strategy and combines tradition beloved country in line with Qatar Ezdan connects between archi- integrated array of plans and CEO of Ezdan, said: “The Group have proven successful in a short with modernity.” National Vision 2030.” tecture, human and the Qatari strategies aimed at developing is witnessing an ongoing develop- period and reflected on the profit He said: “The growth and He added that the group is environment, preserving the work within all Ezdan projects.” ment process at all levels, techni- of the Group. development achieved by Ezdan keen to implement such a vision authentic Qatari heritage on one The CEO pointed out that cally and administratively.” THE PENINSULA

Crowdfunding experts Global mining companies look gather in Cairo to for Qatari fund

DOHA: Global mining compa- discuss benefits, woes nies which are projected to face challenging market conditions DOHA: With the objective a world-renowned expert on the in 2014, are looking for GCC of unlocking new sources of topic and has spoken at the White Sovereign Wealth Fund, includ- investment capital for Egyptian House and TEDx. ing from Qatar. entrepreneurs, Silatech recently Bringing an Egyptian crowd- Deolitte, leading consulting sponsored a seminar on crowd- funding perspective to the work- and financial advisory firm that funding in Cairo. shop, Adel Boseli, Co-Founder tracked top mining trends for Organised by the Innovation and and Managing Partner of the 2014, said the Middle East is a sig- Entrepreneurship Committee of the Egyptian crowdfunding network nificant source of potential wealth American Chamber of Commerce Shekra, explained how Shekra for the mining companies. in Egypt, “Crowdfunding: Sparking reached out to young entrepre- “Although these investors have Entrepreneurial Growth” brought neurs and provides them with the not yet committed, funding from more than 70 attendees from the opportunity to pitch their ideas to countries like Qatar, Abu Dhabi private, civil society and govern- the Shekra Network. and Saudi Arabia may not be ment sectors together to learn Ramakant Vempati of Silatech far off,” Deloitte’s “Tracking the from Egyptian and international spoke on how crowdfunding can A woman walks past the logo of Japan’s telecommunications giant SoftBank in Tokyo yesterday. Trends 2014” report released yes- experts. be used to promote “smart giving”, terday said. Through equity crowdfunding, providing more transparency, con- Traditionally, China dominates which has grown exponentially in nection and choice for charitable SoftBank on course to buy T-Mobile this market. Now other countries recent years, small investors fund giving to promote micro-entrepre- are also entering the game. Indian a company by purchasing small neurs in the Arab world. investment houses are buying amounts of equity, typically via the Finally, 24-year-old Egyptian TOKYO: Japan’s SoftBank The purchase would boost the integrating T-Mobile with Sprint Australian coal to secure assets Internet. This democratisation of entrepreneur Amr Salah detailed plans to acquire T-Mobile US SoftBank group’s annual rev- to create a stronger number and supply for both electricity investment allows many new com- how he financed his company, through its subsidiary Sprint enue from mobile operations to three player with some 100 mil- and steel. panies to grow and thrive in a dif- Integreight (www.1sheeld.com), in a move that would create the $69.4bn, making it the world’s No. lion subscribers, it said. The deal Both Japanese and Korean ficult business environment. by raising over $70,000, or seven world’s second largest mobile 2 carrier behind China Mobile needs approval by the US Federal investors are becoming more Jason Best, Principal at times the initial investment objec- carrier by revenue after China with $90.4 billion, the Nikkei said Communications Commission and active in the sector. Crowdfund Capital Advisors, tive through the US based crowd- Mobile, a report said yesterday. citing, industry figures. the Department of Justice. While major companies tap gave an overview of the prin- funding site Kickstarter. SoftBank intends to buy a SoftBank had initially envi- Number three US mobile car- the bond markets with a range of ciples, benefits and potential According to Silatech Egypt majority stake in fourth-ranked sioned a stock swap but it is rier Sprint in July closed a deal high-yield and hybrid issues, oth- difficulties involved in crowd- Country Representative Amr El US wireless carrier T-Mobile in believed to have added a tender that allowed SoftBank to take a ers are seeking different sources funding. An internationally rec- Abd, “One of the biggest obstacles early 2014 in a transaction with offer and other transactions to controlling stake for $21.6bn, the of funding through royalty and ognised expert on the topic, Jason to unlocking entrepreneurship in an estimated price tag of more the list of options, since Deutsche largest overseas acquisition ever streaming arrangements, off-take Best’s crowdfunding investment Egypt, as well as the wider Arab than 2 trillion yen ($19bn), the Telekom prefers a cash deal, it by a Japanese firm. deals, joint ventures and equip- framework was used in the 2012 world, is funding for startups. Nikkei business daily said. said. The Japanese group has The SoftBank deal received ment financing. Jumpstart Our Business Startups While crowdfunding is not the It is in the final stages of talks begun talks with US financial clearance from US national “While mining companies (JOBS) Act in the United States only answer, it certainly provides with T-Mobile’s parent, Deutsche institutions for loans to finance security officials on condition of cannot change global economic that aims to encourage funding an innovative and potentially Telekom of Germany, the economic the deal, it said. appointing an independent mem- trends, they can change the way of small businesses by reduc- game-changing opportunity for daily quoted anonymous sources SoftBank aims to compete ber to the Sprint board of direc- they operate. Rather than waiting ing burdensome regulations and Arab entrepreneurs.” close to the matter as saying. better with the two US giants tors to serve as security director. out the market swing, companies improving access to capital. He is THE PENINSULA SoftBank declined to comment. — Verizon and AT&T — by AFP should take this opportunity to evolve their business by adopting the processes, technologies, and mindsets necessary to strengthen their long-term operations.”, said Kenneth McKellar, energy QEWC’s Nebras to start operations by first half next year and resources leader at Deloitte Middle East. Now in its sixth year of publica- DOHA: The Qatar Electricity and Water both regionally and globally. The company will explore the possibili- desalination projects and related works like tion, Tracking the Trends exam- Corporation (QEWC) has announced that “The company is currently working on a ties of investing internationally in power water treatment, heating and cooling sys- ines the top ten issues affecting Nebras Power Company, QEWC’s recently five-year plan which would be implemented generation and related activities. The tems, and securing fuel and equipment to mining companies around the established shareholding company with an from the first Quarter of next year. As of joint venture agreement for Nebras Power load and unload the fuel for these projects. world. initial capital of $1bn, will launch its ‘com- now, QEWC has two different streams to Company was signed in May this year with Al Mohannadi stated that QEWC The report highlights key mercial activities’ by the first half of 2014. invest in electricity and water sector. While QEWC having 60 percent stake and Qatar started achieving attractive returns from industry indicators and provides a Fahad Hamad Al Mohannadi, General the first investment model is local-focused Petroleum International (QPI) and Qatar investments outside Qatar due to its wise range of solutions companies can Manager, QEWC, said in a filing on Qatar through QEWC, the second investment Holding having 20 percent stake each. policy focusing on the acquisition of good adopt to manage the impacts of Exchange yesterday that the company is would be made in international destina- The company specialises in invest- investment opportunities and risk-free shifting industry dynamics. looking for big investment opportunities tion through Nebras Power,” he said. ing outside Qatar in power generation, investments. THE PENINSULA THE PENINSULA THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013 18 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com BUSINESS

Suzuki unveils Hustler Syria inks oil, Ukraine expects gas deal with $12bn Russian Russian firm DAMASCUS: Syria signed an oil and gas deal with a Russian company yesterday which will allow for the first-ever explora- funding in 2014 tion off the country’s coast. The agreement was signed by Syrian Oil Minister Suleiman Abbas, Syria’s General Petroleum Kiev receives $3bn bailout tranche Company and the Russian Soyuzneftegaz company, accord- KIEV: Ukraine, which has joined or plan to join trade alli- ing to an AFP reporter present secured a $15bn bailout package ances Russia is building, part at the signing. from Russia, expects it to be fully of Moscow’s drive to restore its The deal permits the explora- disbursed in early 2014, Ukrainian influence in its former empire. tion of an area of 2,190 square Prime Minister Mykola Azarov kilometres in the Mediterranean. said yesterday after Kiev received CUSTOMS UNION The contract “is the first the first $3bn tranche. Ukraine has so far resisted ever for oil and gas explora- “We expect the remaining $12bn joining a Russia-led customs tion in Syria’s waters,” General in the beginning of next year,” he union that includes Belarus and Petroleum Company head Ali told a government meeting. Azarov Kazakhstan — a big step because Abbas told AFP. said the country’s economy, which membership would scupper any “It will be financed by Russia, grew 0.2 percent in 2012, would lingering possibility that Kiev and should oil and gas be discov- remain flat this year. might reverse course and sign a Suzuki Motor Corp Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Osamu Suzuki (right) and other officials pose beside ered in commercial quantities, President Vladimir Putin offered free trade deal with the EU. the new boxy minicar “Hustler” during its unveiling event in Tokyo on Tuesday. Moscow will recover the explo- Ukraine the lifeline last week, along Any signal that Ukraine might ration costs.” with a big cut in the price Kiev join the customs union would re- Oil Minister Abbas said dur- pays for vital Russian gas supplies, invigorate protests in Ukraine, ing the signing ceremony that the as he tries to persuade Russia’s which have started to show signs contract covers “25 years, over Slavic neighbour to join a customs of flagging despite a constant several phases,” adding that “the union of ex-Soviet republics. crowd of a few thousand peo- cost of exploration and discovery “The first tranche of Ukrainian ple at the tent camp in Kiev’s Libya optimistic about opening is $100m”. sovereign debt was acquired for Independence Square. Hard-hit by international sanc- $3bn,” Russian Prime Minister Increasingly concerned by an tions, Syria’s oil production has Dmitry Medvedev told his economy set to grow just 1.4 per- seized major oil export ports plummeted by 90 percent since Ukrainian counterpart Mykola cent this year and only slightly the start of the uprising against Azarov at a meeting in Moscow, more in 2014, Putin has made President Bashar Al Assad in in televised comments. “The closer integration among ex- TRIPOLI: Libya’s oil and gas at the last minute that talks with opening the ports, Jathran is March 2011. Gas production has money went to the central bank Soviet states a priority of his third industry association said that it Tripoli to get a greater share of oil demanding that corruption in the also dived to 16.7 million cubic of Ukraine yesterday,” he said. term after 14 years in power. was optimistic the government revenues for the east had failed. oil sector be investigated and oil metres a day from 30 million President Viktor Yanukovich’s He is using the customs union would soon reach an agreement Khalid Ben Osman, Chairman sales shared between the eastern before the war broke out, accord- pivot back towards Moscow and as a foundation for a Eurasian with protesters occupying major of the Libyan Council for Oil and Cyrenaica region, the west and ing to official figures. away from an offer of closer trade Economic Union, due to come oil export ports for months. Gas, an industry body, said there southern Fezzan. Osman said both The Syrian oil ministry said the ties with the EU has sparked huge into existence in 2015 and has A mix of tribesmen, militias and were indications that a deal with sides were closer than it appeared. new accord comes “after months protests in Ukraine. The protest- won victories with decisions by civil servants has seized oilfields Jathran could be concluded soon, “Ibrahim Jathran first didn’t of long negotiations” between ers accuse Yanukovich of selling Kyrgyzstan and Armenia to move and ports to press for political possibly even within one week. want to negotiate but then he Damascus and Moscow. Russia out to Ukraine’s Soviet-era over- toward joining. and financial demands, knocking “There are positive signs,” he actually did so and set out condi- is one of Assad’s main backers, lord with the deal on debt and gas But analysts doubt the union Libya’s oil exports down to 110,000 said on the sidelines of a meet- tions, of which some were met, so as well as a key proponent, along prices, which looks to have headed will solve the deep-rooted struc- barrels a day from more than one ing of business leaders demanding these are positive signs,” he said. with the US, of peace talks slated off what could have been a fund- tural problems the region’s million in July. economic reforms. “God willing, The government does not rec- for January in Switzerland. ing crisis for the Ukrainian state economies face and the leader Last week, the government had the ports will be reopened before ognise Jathran’s movement but Syria’s war, which erupted after next year. of oil-producing Kazakhstan on expected an autonomy group in the end of the year,” he said. Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has said the regime launched a crackdown Azarov later joined Putin Tuesday also repeated a warning eastern Libya to lift the blockage Osman also said Libya had authorities had investigated claims on peaceful pro-democracy pro- and the leaders of Kazakhstan, that Putin’s post-Soviet integra- of three ports previously account- lost $10bn in oil revenues since of oil sale corruption in the past tests, has claimed 126,000 lives Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan tion plans must not go too far. ing for 600,000 b/d. But autonomy the blockages of fields and ports and were willing to do so again. since March 2011 and displaced — ex-Soviet republics that have AGENCIES leader Ibrahim Jathran declared started in July. In return for REUTERS millions of people. AFP China Mobile plan AmEx agrees to pay $75.7m for unfair marketing

WASHINGTON: American Express agreed to pay $75.7m to settle claims that it used decep- tive marketing practices to sell protection services to credit- card customers. The company must pay $59.5m in restitution to more than 335,000 harmed custom- ers, according to the deals announced on Tuesday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The biggest credit-card issuer by customer purchases violated the law when it misrepresented the costs and benefits of its add- on products, the agencies said. “We first warned companies last year about using deceptive marketing to sell credit card add-on products, and everyone The logos of Apple Computer and China Mobile are emblazoned on should be on notice of this issue,” a mobile phone shop in Beijing yesterday. China Mobile, the world’s Richard Cordray, director of the largest mobile carrier with over 700 million subscribers, launched reg- consumer bureau, said. istrations for a 4G compatible iPhone in a move seen to be beneficial The agencies assessed New for both parties. York-based AmEx $16.2m in penalties for misleading custom- ers from 2000 to 2012 and also billing them for services they never received, according to the regulators’ orders. The deal also Tunisia eyes 4pc growth requires the company to fix its practices, including its relation- ships with third-party vendors. in 2014: Outgoing PM AmEx said that it has already paid most of the restitution and TUNIS: Tunisia’s economy is grow by 2.3 percent to reach stopped marketing the products predicted to grow by four per- 28,125bn dinars (around ¤15bn). in the settlements more than a cent in 2014, up from 2.8 per- Larayedh is due to step down year ago. “American Express has cent this year, the outgoing by January 14 as part of a political cooperated fully with the CFPB, prime minister Ali Larayedh roadmap brokered by mediators FDIC and OCC,” the company told parliament yesterday. after his Islamist Ennahda party said and added that it “contin- Speaking at a session devoted came under sharp criticism for ues to conduct internal reviews to next year’s budget, the Islamist failing to rein in jihadists blamed designed to identify issues, cor- prime minister also predicted for violence. rect them and ensure that its that the deficit would drop to 5.7 Earlier this month, the World products and practices meet a percent from its current level of Bank said that security problems high standard of quality.” 6.8 percent. “The growth rate in and political tensions were hin- Regulators had penalised the 2014 will reach four percent com- dering growth in Tunisia, which company last year for other pared to 2.8 percent this year,” needs a level above 4.5 percent to violations related to credit-card Larayedh told a plenary session reduce joblessness. add-on products in a deal that also attended by his successor-to- Unemployment, which stands totaled $112.5m. In that settle- be Mehdi Jomaa. at around 15 percent, and which ment, the firm was accused of “In 2013 economic performance is twice as high among university deceiving customers who signed was positive but it did not reach graduates, was the driving factor up for certain cards, leading its hoped for level,” due to security behind the January 2011 revolu- them to believe they would and political tensions that rocked tion that toppled president Zine receive benefits they didn’t. the country, said Larayedh. El Abidine Ben Ali. WP-BLOOMBERG He said the 2014 budget would AFP THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013 BUSINESS www.thepeninsulaqatar.com 19 Qatar bourse Carrefour aims to boost growth in Brazil index down 35.91 points Cairo’s index rises by 1.4 percent

DOHA: Qatar Exchange ended Saudi Telecom officials could not in the red when trading closed be contacted for comment. yesterday at 10,462.54 points, Speculation about a possible down 35.91 points or 0.34 per- sale boosted shares in Telecom cent, from the previous closing Egypt by 5.2 percent in active of 10,498.45 on Tuesday. Among trade to their highest since the top losers were Qatar October 22. Vodafone Egypt Insurance whose share was slipped 1.3 percent, while Saudi down 0.76 percent to QR65.30, Telecom was flat. Cairo’s bench- Ooredoo lost 1.02 percent to mark index rose 1.4 percent to QR136.50, National Leasing 6,870 points yesterday, its high- fell 0.99 percent to QR30 and est level since January 2011. Masraf Al Rayan decreased by In Abu Dhabi, Dana Gas jumped 1.07 percent to QR32.50. 14.7 percent to 0.86 dirham, clos- A view of a Carrefour store in Sao Paulo. The appointment of a financial and IPO expert to head its Brazilian operations signals Carrefour may list Meanwhile, shares in Egypt ing limit-up, after the firm said it a stake in that business, as Europe’s largest retailer looks to accelerate growth in a key market without adding to its debt. Telecom surged yesterday in received a $53m payment out of response to a newspaper report, the total of $330m owed to it by which it denied, that it might sell Egypt. It was the stock’s biggest its 45 percent stake in Vodafone one-day gain since March 2006, Egypt. Egypt’s telecommunica- and its heaviest daily trading tions regulator said early this since at least late 2011. month that it would in coming Dana also said Egypt had com- Gold-hungry traders tap Indians living abroad weeks issue a licence allowing mitted to work with the company a company to operate fixed-line on a plan to repay the remainder MUMBAI: Non-resident payment of the import duty, irre- 300,000 jewellers. “These NRIs a record $160 per ounce on London and mobile networks, a move of its debt of $277m. Indians are bringing gold into spective of end use. Such is the pay the duty, so there is nothing prices earlier in December. that could allow Telecom Egypt Abu Dhabi’s benchmark climbed the country by taking advan- demand that some traders are illegal about it,” Bamalwa said. “To take advantage of high pre- to offer mobile services. 0.6 percent to a fresh five-year tage of rules that allow each paying passengers’ air fares if “These people are mainly labour- miums, agents have been increas- Currently, Telecom Egypt offers high. In the absence of other major individual to carry 1kg of the they agree to carry gold. ers from Tamil Nadu or Kerala, ingly successful in scouting for only fixed line services; if it gets a news, investors bet on small caps metal, helping traders cope with About 80kg of gold was brought who are given a free ticket.” NRIs, and pay for their partial mobile licence, to avoid a conflict in the United Arab Emirates, help- restrictions on imports during in by non-resident Indians (NRIs) Government officials estimate or full air fare,” said Sudheesh of interest it is expected to either ing push up Dubai’s benchmark by the peak wedding season. this month on a flight from Dubai NRIs have imported a tonne of Nambiath, an analyst with sell out of Vodafone Egypt or try 0.8 percent to a new five-year high. India, vying with China to be to Kozhikode in the southern gold since mid-November, com- Thomson Reuters GFMS. to raise its ownership to a con- Saudi Arabia’s measure slipped 0.5 the top buyer of gold, has choked state of Kerala, said an airport pared to nearly nothing in pre- NRIs can save Rs125,000 to trolling level. percent. Banking shares were the imports to narrow its trade gap official who did not want to be vious months. That’s a boon for Rs150,000 per kg on premiums “Either scenario is positive main drag; the sector’s index shed and curb the outflow of dollars. identified. jewellers, many of which have even after paying the import for TE,” said Sarah Shabayek, 1.3 percent. The measures included raising Travel agents typically book been operating at half capacity duty, industry officials said. The telecommunications analyst at the import duty to a record 10 about 20-30 tickets on a flight on due to a lack of stock. import curbs are also encouraging Egypt’s CI Capital. If Telecom HIGHLIGHTS percent and making it mandatory behalf of NRIs, who are accom- Official gold imports fell to about smuggling, with customs officials Egypt sells it will pay out some EGYPT: The index rose 1.4 per- to export as jewellery 20 percent panied by people working for 21 tonnes in November, less than between April and September of the cash in the form of a cent to 6,870 points. of all gold imports. traders, said Bachhraj Bamalwa, half the monthly requirement, data seizing nearly double the amount higher dividend, and if it raises its DUBAI: The index climbed 0.8 But non-residents who have director of the All India Gems from metals consultancy Thomson of smuggled gold nabbed in all of Vodafone Egypt stake, it will be percent to 3,307 points. stayed abroad for more than and Jewellery Trade Federation, Reuters GFMS showed. 2012, according to the customs increasing its exposure to a lead- ABU DHABI: The index gained six months can bring in gold on an umbrella body of more than Gold premiums in India rose to department. REUTERS ing, established mobile operator, 0.6 percent to 4,186 points. Shabayek argued. SAUDI ARABIA: The index Kuwait’s Al Rai newspa- declined 0.5 percent to 8,482 points. per quoting unnamed sources KUWAIT: The index ticked up reported that Saudi Telecom 0.07 percent to 7,644 points. Egypt’s pound might buy Telecom Egypt’s stake OMAN: The index slipped 0.2 in Vodafone Egypt. After the percent to 6,784 points. slides at central Cairo market closed, Telecom BAHRAIN: The index gained Egypt said in a statement that it 0.8 percent to 1,217 points. bank auction was not looking to sell the stake. REUTERS CAIRO: The Egyptian pound weakened at a foreign exchange QATARI MARKET auction yesterday, sliding for the Bond Coupon Maturity Currency Mid-Price Yield Moody’s S&P fourth time in a row at the cen- Qatar Govt 5.15% 4/9/2014 USD 101.38 0.25 % Aa2 AA tral bank’s regular dollar sale. It was steady on the black mar- Qatar Govt 3.125% 1/20/2017 USD 104.88 1.49 % Aa2 AA ket, albeit still trading weaker Qatar Govt 6.55% 4/9/2019 USD 119.00 2.67 % Aa2 AA than on the official market. Qatar Govt 5.25% 1/20/2020 USD 112.00 3.07 % Aa2 AA The central bank introduced Qatar Govt 4.5% 1/20/2022 USD 106.00 3.64 % Aa2 AA dollar currency sales a year ago Qatar Govt 9.75% 6/15/2030 USD 153.00 4.99 % Aa2 AA to help counter a run on the Qatar Govt 6.4% 1/20/2040 USD 114.25 5.38 % Aa2 AA pound. It has burned through at Qatar Govt 5.75% 1/20/2042 USD 105.25 5.38 % Aa2 AA least $20bn — or roughly half its reserves — supporting the cur- Qatari Diar 3.5% 7/21/2015 USD 103.88 1.01 % Aa2 AA rency since Egypt’s 2011 revo- Qatari Diar 5% 7/21/2020 USD 109.38 3.40 % Aa2 AA lution, which cut into tourism Comqat 5% 11/18/2014 USD 103.50 1.18 % A1 A- revenues and foreign investment. Comqat 3.375% 4/11/2017 USD 103.50 2.27 % A1 A- Underlining security concerns, QIB 3.856% 10/7/2015 USD 104.13 1.50 % NR NR 16 people were killed on Tuesday QNB 3.125% 11/16/2015 USD 103.75 1.12 % Aa3 A+ when a suicide bomber detonated QNB 3.375% 2/22/2017 USD 103.63 2.18 % Aa3 A+ a car filled in explosives next to a police building in the Nile Delta Doha Bank 3.5% 3/14/2017 USD 103.75 2.28 % A2 A- city of Mansoura. Qtel 3.375% 10/14/2016 USD 105.13 1.50 % A2 A The central bank sold $37.7m Qtel 7.875% 6/10/2019 USD 122.75 3.29 % A2 A to banks at yesterday’s auction, Qtel 4.75% 2/16/2021 USD 105.13 3.92 % A2 A with a cut-off price of 6.9179 Qtel 5% 10/19/2025 USD 99.63 5.04 % A2 A pounds to the dollar, allowing it to Rasgas 5.5% 9/30/2014 USD 103.38 0.95 % Aa3 A weaken from 6.9075 at the previ- Rasgas 5.832% 9/30/2016 USD 106.63 3.30 % Aa3 A ous sale on Monday. It had offered Rasgas 5.298% 9/30/2020 USD 107.50 4.02 % Aa3 A up to $40m. Last week the pound weakened SOVEREIGNS against the dollar for the first Bond PDA* Maturity Currency Mid-Price Yield Moody’s S&P time since the army’s removal of Abu Dhabi Govt 5.5% 4/8/2014 USD 101.38 0.56 % Aa2 AA Islamist president Mohammed Abu Dhabi Govt 6.75% 4/8/2019 USD 122.00 2.30 % Aa2 AA Mursi in July after mass protests against his rule. Dubai Govt 6.7% 10/5/2015 USD 108.25 1.92 % NR NR Dubai Govt 4.9% 5/2/2017 USD 106.38 2.89 % NR NR BLACK MARKET RATES Dubai Govt 7.75% 10/5/2020 USD 119.75 4.35 % NR NR On the black market, a partici- Dubai Govt 6.45% 5/2/2022 USD 111.38 4.78 % NR NR pant said the dollar was offered Qatar Govt 4% 1/20/2015 USD 103.50 0.87 % Aa2 AA for 7.40 yesterday. Another quoted Bahrain Govt 6.273% 11/22/2018 USD 113.13 3.35 % NR BBB Tuesday’s price at 7.41 pounds. Bahrain Govt 5.5% 3/31/2020 USD 103.50 4.84 % NR BBB The central bank has limited Egyptians from transferring more Egypt Govt 5.75% 4/29/2020 USD 96.00 6.53 % Caa1 B- than a cumulative $100,000 out of Morocco Govt 4.5% 10/5/2020 EUR 101.75 4.20 % NR BBB- the country since the 2011 upris- *Periodic Distribution Amount IMPORTANT NOTE: ing unless they can demonstrate Published by HSBC Bank Middle East Limited, P O Box 57, Doha, Qatar which a pressing need for the funds. In is licensed and regulated by Qatar Central Bank and Jersey Financial Services January, this limit will be raised Commission. Information quoted is from publicly available sources or proprietary by another $100,000,Central Bank data and subject to change. HSBC accepts no liability for any loss or damage arising Governor Hisham Ramez said out of the use of all or part of this material. This information is general and does not take into account individual circumstances, objectives or needs. The price of bonds this month. can and does fluctuate. The secondary market for bonds may not provide significant Depositors at banks can only liquidity or may trade based on prevailing market conditions. Past performance is not withdraw a maximum of $10,000 a reliable indicator of future performance. You should consider these matters and in foreign currency per day under consult your financial advisor prior to making any investment decisions. central bank rules, but in practice many banks restrict such with- drawals to much less and demand documents to show why the client needs the funds. REUTERS THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013 20 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com BUSINESS Higher growth returns to Indian IT industry 188,000 jobs added last fiscal; campus hiring declines

BANGALORE: The resilient $270bn plus Indian IT industry returned to the higher growth Highlights of 2013 trajectory in 2013 and is hoping to gain momentum in the ensu- • Software exports to grow 12-14 percent to clock $84bn-$87bn ing year for a greater share of • Domestic market to also grow 14 percent to $185bn the global multi-billion dollar • N R Narayana Murthy returns to Infosys as chairman outsourcing market. • Eight top executives quit Infosys in six months Putting behind a turbulent • Wipro hives off non-IT business as separate enterprise 2012, the industry consolidated its • Industry diversifies into offering new services & products presence in the software services • Campus hiring and fresh offers dip despite higher attrition sector, with its top four IT bell- • Thrust on providing IP-led solutions on multiple platforms wethers — TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCL — posting better results to register a healthy 12-14 percent providing software and hard- emerging verticals such as health- growth thus far as against 10 per- ware services, business process care and medical devices. cent last fiscal (2012-13). outsourcing (back office opera- “India is the only country to “We have seen a significant tions), engineering and research offer such a wide range of offer- increase in global technology and development and products. ings spanning IT services, BPM spending this year, creating The highlight of the year is the (business process management), opportunities for the Indian soft- return of the industry’s icon and engineering, R&D, Internet and ware services sector to post dou- Infosys co-founder N R Narayana mobility and software products. A man walks past used and new cars on sale at the 777 open air auto market in a suburb of Russia’s Siberian ble digit growth again in export as Murthy as executive chairman in The internet and mobile platforms city of Krasnoyarsk. well as in the domestic markets,” June to put the global software are enabling the development of a top industry representative said. major back into reckoning after it low-cost products not only for The National Association of was found faring behind its peers enterprises, but also consumers Software and Services Companies due to combination of factors. and citizens,” Mittal asserted. Russia’s car market stalls (Nasscom) is expecting the indus- Though Murthy, 67, came Though attrition remained higher try to clock export revenues back from retirement to revive than last year, especially among the MOSCOW: A year of disap- double-digit growth as Russia cars such as Ford’s Focus, GM’s of $84bn-$87bn this fiscal (FY the company’s fortunes, bring- bellwethers, campus hiring and fresh pointing auto sales in Russia has recovered from the 2008-2009 Chevrolet Cruze and Renault’s 2014) as against $76bn last fis- ing his son Rohan Murthy as offers declined during the year, as dealers and carmakers worried economic crisis, sales so far this Logan. In contrast, sport-utility cal (FY2013). In the Indian mar- his executive assistant, the $7bn companies consolidated operations that a once-red hot market that year are down around 6 percent vehicles and premium models ket, the industry is, expected to Infosys also saw eight of its top than invest in human capital to was set to become Europe’s larg- according to the Association of such as BMWs and Daimler’s grow marginally year-on-year at executives, including two board make more techies sit on the bench est may have slipped out of gear. European Businesses, a Moscow- Mercedes-Benz have seen sales 14 percent to post Rs1.2 trillion directors quitting the company in waiting for new projects. The indus- Stuttering economic growth, based lobby group that counts hold up. Russia’s largest car- ($185bn) this fiscal from Rs1.05 search of greener pastures. try added 188,000 jobs last fiscal, unhelpful demographic trends major auto makers among its maker Avtovaz has had mixed trillion ($160bn) last fiscal. The year also saw Infosys com- taking the total number of direct and a coming increase in car members. fortunes. Sales of its top-selling “We have decided not to revise petitor, Wipro Ltd hiving off its jobs to three million. capacity could dampen one of the Auto executives, resolutely Lada Granta sedan, which starts our estimates and stick to the 12-14 non-IT business in April into a “The industry has once again few bright spots in a global mar- bullish that Russia’s rising middle at 279,000 roubles ($8,500), are percent growth forecast for this separate enterprise by de-merging demonstrated resilience and agil- ket that is under pressure. class will support sales long-term, up 43 percent this year, but its fiscal though the sector has faced its consumer care & lighting, infra- ity. As technology has become an In a Moscow showroom of do not predict another crisis, but pricier Prioras and Kalinas have headwinds due to slow recovery in structure engineering and medi- integral enabler for growth across dealership Premium Motors, are worried about an extended suffered sharp falls. its major export markets — the US cal diagnostic product & services sectors, we are evolving and inno- packed with budget models such contraction. An economic slowdown has been and Europe,” Nasscom’s outgoing business from its global software vating to become a strategic part- as Russian-made Ladas and “We are certainly concerned in compounded by the effects of a slide president Som Mittal said. services and products business. ner to our customers. The thrust is Chevrolets, a dealer bemoaned the short term,” said Ted Cannis, in the birth rate that followed the The Indian IT industry com- Keeping pace with disruptive to offer IP-led solutions over mul- the lack of customers. “In October chief executive of Ford Sollers, a disintegration of the Soviet Union prises domestic firms, captive technologies and new delivery plat- tiple platforms, which are trans- and November - sales were bad ... joint venture between Ford and in 1991. As a result, fewer people centres of multinationals, global forms, the industry has diversified formative in nature,” Nasscom there were few people,” he said. Russian carmaker Sollers, who sees are reaching the age at which they industry classification stand- its service offerings to analytics, Chairman and TCS Chief Executive A few doors down, a dealership the fall as a short-term trend. “It’s would buy their first car. ards (GICs) and industry sectors mobility, cloud, social media and N Chandrasekaran said. IANS selling more expensive imported not a crisis, but it’s certainly not A fall in 2009 car sales during Volkswagens was finding it equally going in the right direction.” the crisis means there are now hard. “Maybe people ... need to The stakes are high for car- fewer drivers eager to replace 3-4 save money instead of buying a makers, which are investing bil- year-old cars. And dealers over- car,” said a manager. Asked about lions into Russia and striking stocked in 2012, analysts said, lead- the outlook for next year, he said: alliances with local players. ing buyers to hold off this year in “Nobody knows. We hope.” GM took a longer-than-nor- the hope of snapping up a bargain. In a traffic-clogged city pep- mal summer shutdown at its St Although the AEB lobby group pered with Porsches and Petersburg plant partly due to expects sales to steady in 2014 Maseratis — trademarks of the lower sales, while Ford’s plant it is concerned the slide may super-rich who profited person- there that produces the Ford continue. Market analyst firm ally from Russia’s resource wealth Focus reduced output in August Autostat predicts a 5 percent — it is the middle class who pro- and September. fall in 2013 and sees a long-term vide the bread-and-butter sales. The models that have seen stagnation ahead. Yet after three years of sales falls this year are compact REUTERS

Ma’aden secures $4.2bn financing for project KHOBAR: Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) has commitments from banks for financing worth up to SR15.75bn ($4.2bn) for a $7bn phosphate project in Saudi Arabia, it said. The project in the north- ern city of Waad Al Shimal is a joint venture between Ma’aden, Saudi Basic Industries Corp and Mosaic and is part of Saudi state efforts to create a stronger industrial base beyond oil refining and export. The rest of the fund- ing should come from two Saudi government funds — the Public Investment Fund and Saudi Industrial Development Fund — as well as some export credit agen- cies (ECA). The 17-year loan with commercial banks and financial institutions will be repaid in half-yearly install- ments from December 31 2018, Ma’aden said. The firm said it expects to receive the remaining financing commitments by the end of January 2014. It will sign along with its partners and the project financial adviser the final financing agreements in the second quarter of 2014. The project will have a production capacity of 16 million tonnes per year of phosphate concentrate, sulphuric acid, phosphoric acid, as well as plants to produce calcium mono- phosphate and calcium diphosphate, Maaden said previously. REUTERS THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013 BUSINESS VIEWS www.thepeninsulaqatar.com 21

GM hopes Australian icon Japan’s budget spending Holden will endure BY LINCOLN FEAST and THUY ONG highlights balancing act T’S AS much a part of Australia as kangaroos, the Sydney BY TETSUSHI KAJIMOTO Opera House or vegemite, and General Motors Co’s decision Tax revenue is estimated at 50 trillion budget deficit at 18 trillion yen in fiscal to stop manufacturing Holdens in the country looks like the yen, rising 6.9 trillion yen from this year to 2014/15, down 5.2 trillion yen from this year Imarketing equivalent of a car crash. APANESE Prime Minister Shinzo a seven-year high, reflecting both expected for the second biggest decrease on record. Australians have reacted with a mixture of anger, sadness and Abe secured cabinet approval for economic growth of 1.4 percent and an Still, calculations by both analysts and resignation to GM’s pre-Christmas announcement that it will stop a draft budget for the next fiscal increase in the sales tax to 8 percent from the government suggest Tokyo would miss making cars in Australia by 2017 due to high costs and a crip- year that aims to split the ben- 5 percent that kicks in April. its goal of a primary surplus in 2020/21 plingly strong currency. But GM and independent brand experts efits of higher tax revenue between New bond sales will be cut by 1.6 trillion without further tax increases and spend- are confident Holden will not only survive the public relations trimming fresh borrowing and yen from the current fiscal year to 41.25 ing cuts. “I’m less confident about achieving nightmare, they expect it to endure as one of the most valuable Jstimulating the economy with record trillion yen, a second consecutive decrease, the fiscal 2020/21 goal than meeting the assets GM has ever built down under. spending. but the government still relies on borrowing 2015/16,” Finance Minister Taro Aso told “The fact that they’re no longer made here will cause some The government’s second annual budget to cover 43 percent of its spending, down reporters, saying that he would seek the dissatisfaction and backlash but there’ll still be a lot of people since Abe’s election triumph a year ago from 46.3 percent this year. way to clear the target while focusing on who like them,” said Danny Samson, professor of management marks a balancing act between boosting A “flexible fiscal policy” combining near- economic recovery. at Melbourne University. “It’s a very well regarded brand and growth and doing just enough to show it is term stimulus with longer-run consolidation SMBC Nikko’s Suezawa said social secu- there’s no way you’d want to throw it away.” keen to rein in public debt, which is more is part of Abe’s economic recipe that also rity spending must be streamlined in order While a combination of a strong pipeline of new models, effec- than twice the size of the economy. mixes in hefty monetary easing and pro- to get runaway debt and spending under tive retraining for affected staff and continued investment in its Of projected record spending of 95.88 tril- growth reforms. Analysts expect budgets control to meet the 2020/21 target. distribution network would help Holden mitigate the fallout, its lion yen in 2014/15, about one-third will be to stay loose for the time being to help the Social security outlays to cover health- biggest asset will be its long and much-loved history in Australia. spent on social security while debt servicing economy manage the planned two-step dou- care and pensions for the fast-ageing popu- As Australia rose to prosperity in the 1950s and 1960s, feeding costs will account for nearly one-quarter. bling of the sales tax to 10 percent, with the lation will top 30 trillion yen for the first and clothing a Europe recovering from World War 2, the vehicle “Abe vows to seek both growth and fiscal first increase due in April. time, up 1.4 trillion yen from this year and it drove was the Holden ute. consolidation, but the focus now needs be Earlier this month, the government accounting for roughly a third of the budget. The ute — short for utility vehicle — became ubiquitous in both on stimulus,” said Hidenori Suezawa, analyst approved 5.5 trillion yen in extra spending Debt servicing costs — interest payments Australia’s countryside — the bush — and the suburbs, its pick-up at SMBC Nikko Securities. “Hasty fiscal for the current fiscal year to cushion the first and redemptions — are expected to rise to style flat bed handy for transporting surfboards or sheep. tightening could derail the economy and increase in the sales tax. The second part of 23.2 trillion yen, up 1 trillion yen from this Holden’s popularity continued to grow during the 1970s, driven foil the sales tax plan in 2015.” the increase to 10 percent is pencilled in for year and the budget’s second-biggest item. by the success of its HQ series and the celebrated in its advertis- Spending in the general-account budget October 2015. Some analysts worried about Defence outlays amount to 4.78 trillion yen, ing campaign featuring the jingle “Football, Meat Pies, Kangaroos for the year starting April 2014 will rise a lack of measures to help the world’s third- up 2.2 percent on the year and marking and Holden Cars” - an Australian version of the North American more than 3 trillion yen from this year’s largest economy sustain growth. the biggest increase in 18 years, amid sim- “Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pies and Chevrolet” ad. initial budget, the Ministry of Finance said, The public works budget will rise to 5.96 mering tensions between Japan and China A fierce rivalry with Ford, most famously on Bathurst’s Mt with higher outlays for public works, mili- trillion yen from this year’s 5.28 trillion yen, over tiny islands that both claim in the East Panorama racetrack, took the brand to passionate heights. One tary and social security. including new bullet train lines, quake-proof- China Sea. Holden model was even named a priceless national treasure by the Ministry officials played down the rise, ing of infrastructure, and projects linked to The International Monetary Fund esti- National Library of Australia and the death in a 2006 rally crash however, saying it was inflated by technical the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. mates Japan’s general budget deficit at 9.5 of Holden racing stalwart Peter Brock, the undisputed “King of factors such as the transfer on-budget of Analysts and ministry officials say the percent of GDP in calendar 2013, among the the Mountain”, was a day of national mourning. outlays from special accounts, and alloca- government is making progress towards its worst in the developed world, and narrowing tions from a planned April sales tax hike goal of halving the primary budget deficit, to a still-elevated 6.8 percent in 2014. Public HERE TO STAY to shore up social security funding. Interest which excludes new bond sales and debt debt already exceeds 240 percent of GDP, GM is adamant the Holden brand with its “lion and stone wheel” payments also rose while welfare costs servicing costs, by fiscal 2015/16. by far the highest among major economies. logo will remain in Australia after its two plants near Adelaide increased as Japan’s population ages. The government estimates its primary REUTERS and Melbourne are closed in 2017. “Holden is here to stay,” GM Holden Chief Executive Mike Devereux said after announcing the planned production shutdown. “The brand is going to be a part of the fabric of this country for a very long time.” Even so, the costs of maintaining a separate brand in such a small and fractured market have prompted speculation that GM will eventually rebadge its imported Holdens as Chevrolets. Holden is currently the second-best selling auto brand in Australia, with its market share of around 11 percent trailing Toyota Motor Corp’s near-20 percent. But with more than 60 makers fighting for a market selling just over 1 million vehicles a year, Australia represents a small pie being sliced very thinly. GM already imports the majority of the Holdens it sells in Australia, mostly from South Korea and Thailand, and may ramp up imports from such plants once Australian production halts. Paul Nicolaides, a logistics manager at an industrial company and life-long Holden fan, said that would weigh on whether he continued to buy Holdens after 2017. “I’ve been a Holden man all of my life and I’ve actually got the latest model, Commodore,” he said. “We would have a rethink about what we would buy, (but) there’s nothing else Australian anymore, with Ford gone and now Holden, where would we go?” That highlights a broader challenge to the “Australian Made” campaign that promotes buying locally made goods but has already seen the domestic auto industry gutted and a host of other com- panies moving production offshore. In October, Swedish appliance maker Electrolux AB announced it would close a manufacturing plant in New South Wales, while global food giant Heinz last year moved some production from Australia to New Zealand, where costs are lower. “What (Holden’s departure) reflects first and foremost, is that Australia has become a very high-cost country,” said Ian Harrison, the chief executive of Australian Made Campaign Ltd, the not- for-profit organisation behind the certification and marketing tool. “There is not one thing in this country that you can’t get more cheaply somewhere else.” In the meantime, Holden fans will mourn. “A bit sad, very sad actually, because I’ve been a follower of Holden with my father,” said Bruce Lethborg, president of Holden Sporting Car Club of Victoria. “My father had Holdens, my very first car was a 1966 HR Holden, it’s just devastating really.” REUTERS Cartoon Arts International / The New York Times Syndicate

Soaring compliance costs clip wings of Mideast, African banks

BY DAVID FRENCH this year and had added 4,000 those who used this service seek- United States overseas. It would South Africa has 112 full-time and both jurisdictions, risked incur- compliance staff since 2012, CEO ing other avenues. But Western cost UAE banks not less than 57 part-time compliance staff out ring the wrath of USregulators HILE it may be the Jamie Dimon said in September. lenders now also avoid doing busi- Dh100m to get the right systems of around 34,000 employees. if they did not. The penalties for most common given Such figures are far beyond ness with some Middle East and and infrastructure in place to deal There are also other complica- banks violating the rules, espe- name in the world, anything banks in Africa and the African banks because such insti- with FATCA, Ghurair added. tions that international lenders cially those imposed by the United Wthe global banking Middle East can comprehend, let tutions cannot meet compliance wouldn’t have to think about in States, are more severe than ever. system seemingly can’t cope with alone apply themselves. standards demanded outside their THE HUMAN COST their home markets. HSBC Holdings was fined Mohammed and its various differ- Bank of Sharjah, an Abu Dhabi- local markets. It isn’t just the monetary outlay Local policies which encour- $1.92bn by a US court last year for ent spellings. listed lender with a market value “The truth of the matter is, on which is prohibitive, but the dif- age positive discrimination in lax controls, while Noor Islamic When it comes to false positives of $1.01bn, is more than doubling the ground, a lot of these institu- ficulty in recruiting and retain- recruitment place restrictions on Bank embarrassed Dubai in 2011 — where a person or transaction its compliance team in the next tions really don’t have the basic ing compliance staff. Much was the potential hiring pool, said one when the state-owned bank was is incorrectly flagged for contra- 12 months — to 10 people from infrastructures to be able to made of the difficulties the new source at a southern African bank found to be handling billions of vening sanctions — the total at four currently — its chief execu- comply,” Gordon Acha, head of oversight body at the European who declined to be named due to dollars of Iranian oil revenues. Middle Eastern banks is around tive, Varouj Nerguizian, said. It is financial institutions Africa for Central Bank would have hiring the sensitivity of his remarks. The biggest change is that twice that of many international also spending millions of dollars Citigroup, said. He has rejected 770 supervisors in the 12 months For example, South Africa’s enforcement action is now com- lenders because of the high use of on new software, he added. working with some lenders on prior to launch, and the wider Black Empowerment Act sets out ing from the US Department of names like this, said John Garrett, Converging factors should be the continent, fearing their poor impact on national regulators and quotas for the hiring of black locals, Justice and not just banking regu- chief compliance officer at National proving a boon for Middle Eastern compliance systems will result in the private sector. while Saudi Arabia’s Nitaqat policy lators, said Bill Fox, global financial Bank of Abu Dhabi. and African banks. the American bank being fined. This escalator effect sees talent gives targets for local citizens to be crimes compliance senior executive Rectifying these mistakes costs More trade involves emerging The need to be spending signifi- hoovered up at the top, leaving employed in different industries, at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch. banks and their customers both markets, providing more business cant sums on compliance creates smaller lenders in less glamor- including financial services. For Such powers extend beyond US time and money and highlights opportunities - such south-south resentment among banks in the ous locations struggling. The local and global names alike, there borders because of the threat to the rapidly increasing compliance trade is forecast by Standard Middle East and Africa. high turnover of compliance staff is also the fact that rules governing exclude an institution from being costs which lenders in the Middle Chartered to represent 40 per- “We don’t like FATCA and we has also raised questions over compliance are not universal, with able to administer transactions East and Africa must deal with. cent of global trade by 2030. And don’t want it, but we don’t have whether all the new rules can be sometimes conflicting standards in in US dollars — known as dollar Compliance teams face an international banks are pulling a choice,” Abdulaziz Al Ghurair, effectively implemented, even in different jurisdictions. clearing. This necessity to com- increasing array of rules, both due out of servicing some markets as chairman of lobby group the UAE developed markets. While the United States classi- ply with US regulations not only to failings exposed by the finan- the cost of ensuring compliance Banks Federation and chief exec- Rising demand for skilled fies Hezbollah as a terrorist group, heaps further costs on Middle cial crisis and as banks work with is too high. utive of Dubai lender Mashreq, employees means a lot of staff are a status which triggers financial Eastern and African banks but more partners around the world Barclays’ decision in June to said, referring to the Foreign new and inexperienced, said Sam sanctions, until July the European risks changing the nature of com- than ever before. stop dealing with remittances Account Tax Compliance Act, Moss, director of investor rela- Union did not — meaning banks pliance from ensuring the health JP Morgan Chase is due to to Somalia, the country’s biggest which forces banks to disclose tions at FirstRand. The second- were under no obligation to act of the banking system to a focus spend an extra $1bn on controls foreign currency stream, left assets held by citizens of the largest bank by market value in in Europe but, if they operated in on avoiding blame. REUTERS THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013 22 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com MARKET

QE Indices Summary EXCHANGE QE Index 10,462.54 0.34 % WORLD STOCK INDICES GOLD & SILVER QE Total Return Index 14,948.58 0.34 % QE Al Rayan Islamic Index 3,099.95 0.10 % RATE QE All Share Index 2,602.27 0.32 % INDEX Day’s Close Pt Chg % Chg Year High Year Low QE All Share Banks & Financial 2,460.78 0.48 % GOLD Buying Selling Services All Ordinaries 5325.45 33.917 0.64 5453.1 4610.6 QE All Share Consumer Goods & 5,968.82 0.36 % QR140.8900 US$ ...... QR 3.6305 QR 3.6500 Services Cac 40 Index/D 4213.9 -1.39 -0.03 4356.28 3575.17 QE All Share Industrials 3,509.24 0.25 % SILVER UK ...... QR 5.9230 QR 6.0056 QE All Share Insurance 2,325.95 0.50 % Dj Indu Average 16294.61 73.47 0.45 16318.1 12883.9 Euro ...... QR 4.9511 QR 5.0206 QE All Share Real Estate 1,981.1 0.70 % QR 2.2757 CA$ ...... QR 3.3999 QR 3.4674 QE All Share Telecoms 1,456.54 0.78 % Egypt Cma Gn Idx 1026.29 32.57 3.28 999.95 312.38 QE All Share Transportation 1,885.11 1.33 % Swiss Fr ...... QR 4.0442 QR 4.1015 Hang Seng Inde/D 23179.55 257.99 1.13 24111.55 19426.36 Yen ...... QR 0.0348 QR 0.0355 QE Market Summary Comparison Aus$ ...... QR 3.2205 QR 3.2837 Today Previous day Iseq Overall/D 4488.28 -2.04 -0.05 4527.83 3396.67 CRUDE OIL 25-12-2013 24-12-2013 Ind Re ...... QR 0.0584 QR 0.0595 Index 10,462.54 10,498.45 Karachi 100 In/D 25366.69 -50.94 -0.2 25711.23 16036.31 Pak Re ...... QR 0.0343 QR 0.0350 Change 35.91 45.30 BRENT Nikkei 225 Index 15889.33 18.91 0.12 15942.6 10398.61 Peso ...... QR 0.0812 QR 0.0829 % 0.34 0.43 $ 111.70 SL Re ...... QR 0.0276 QR 0.0281 YTD% 25.17 25.60 S&P 500 Index/D 0 0 0 1829.75 1398.11 Taka ...... QR 0.0464 QR 0.0474 Volume 12,240,100 10,604,477 DUBAI Nep Re ...... QR 0.0366 QR 0.0373 Value (QAR) 386,636,142.72 374,794,547.80 Straits Times/D 3127.29 11.07 0.36 3464.79 2990.68 SA Rand ...... QR 0.3468 QR 0.3569 Trades 5,589 5,260 Straits Times/D 2971.47 22.7 0.77 3035.78 2657.77 $ 108.93 Up 12 | Down 24 | Unchanged 03

QATAR EXCHANGE | DAILY TRADING REPORT | 25-12-2013

INTERNATIONAL MARKETS A List of Shares from the world

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED NAME CHG TRADED NAME CHG TRADED NAME CHG TRADED NAME CHG TRADED NAME CHG TRADED

A B G Infra-B/D 41 -0.55 1500 Century Text-A/D 302.2 35.1 1258745 Gammon India-B/D 13.9 -0.02 29500 Jct Elect P -B/D 0.4 0.01 8617 Navneet Edu-B/D 57.8 2.85 116825 Kingfisher/D 386.3 2.4 349696 A C C-A/D 1110.1 6.25 13221 Chambal Fert-B/D 39.05 -0.25 130641 Gangotri Tex-T/D 1.15 -0.06 1100 Jct Ltd-B/D 2.09 0.06 24281 Nepc India-B/D 1.71 -0.05 61056 Land Secs Grou/D 963.5 6.5 112057 Aarti Drugs-B/D 204.25 1.9 3346 Chola Invest-B/D 241 -2 1666 Garden P -B/D 38.35 0.95 2170 Jenson&Nich.-B/D 2.35 -0.25 7632 O N G C-A/D 285.7 -2.85 249148 Legal & Genera/D 220.9 -0.5 1778491 Aban Offs-B/D 373.3 33.2 1299307 Chowgule St-B/D 11.28 0.53 3135 Godfrey Phil-B/D 2555 14.5 2199 Jik Indust-T/D 0.65 0.02 31820 Orchid Chem-B/D 69.3 7.1 3292282 Lloyds Bnk Grp/D 78.269 -0.11 15025136 Ador Welding-B/D 130.7 -2.65 2649 Cimmco-T/D 19 -0.5 15390 Goodricke-B/D 147.05 0.9 6193 Jindal Drill-B/D 195.3 10 33913 Punjab Chem.-T/D 58.5 1.5 1000 Marks & Sp./D 447.88 0.2 275492 Aegis Logis-B/D 172.45 11.55 39730 Cipla-A/D 399.7 -5.55 122175 Goodyear I -B/D 358.25 -0.5 6578 Jktyre&Ind-B/D 157.55 4.15 249418 Radico Khait-B/D 142.4 4.2 63066 Next/D 5420 -25 38414 Ahmed.Forg-B/D 106.95 2.95 18013 City Union Bk-/D 49.3 -0.8 68397 Hcl Infosys-B/D 20.15 0.25 164142 Jmc Projects-B/D 79.05 -0.95 1501 Rallis India-B/D 172.5 1.25 25080 Pearson/D 1330 12 144805 Alembic-B/D 14.89 0.08 36095 Cmc Ltd-B/D 1567.4 62.7 19039 Him.Fut.Comm-B/D 8.22 0.49 1004130 Kajaria Cer-B/D 303.35 5.65 15953 Rallis India-B/D 172.5 1.25 25080 Prudential/D 1337 10 457750 Alok Indus-B/D 8.2 0.6 2367879 Colgate-A/D 1302.45 -8 11731 Himat Seide-B/D 50.8 3.3 219041 Kakatiya Cem-B/D 70.1 -0.85 1000 Reliance Indus/D 385.4 10.2 635856 Rank Group/D 130.663 0 12228 Andhra Paper-B/D 277.2 2.45 25015 Dai-Tichi Kar-/D 53.55 2.55 16022 Hind Motors-B/D 7.79 0.21 9423632 Kalpat Power-B/D 88.3 0.85 21603 Ruchi Soya-B/D 31.5 0.55 18278 Rentokil Initi/D 113.8 -0.2 110572 Apollo Tyre-A/D 100.9 7.45 4024426 Dcm Financia-B/D 0.58 0.02 6702 Hind Org Chem-/D 11.35 0.08 3212 Kalyani Stel-B/D 56.65 -0.35 51883 Til Ltd.-B/D 146 0.25 1948 Rolls Royce Pl/D 1251.05 2 320215 Asahi I Glass-/D 46.45 -0.05 4531 Dhampur Sugar-/D 34.7 -0.4 4984 Hind Unilever-/D 565.7 0.25 83281 Kanoria Chem-B/D 26.55 3.6 80212 Timexgroup-B/D 11 0 13701 Rsa Insrance G/D 92.272 -0.15 1981417 Ashok Leyland-/D 16.6 0.4 1089009 Dr. Reddy-A/D 2540.15 24.9 8545 Hind.Petrol-A/D 236.8 6.3 89054 Kg Denim-B/D 14.39 0.03 29860 Tinplate-T/D 48 -0.3 12654 Sainsbury(J)/D 372.7 0.1 967506 Bajaj Hold-A/D 900 4.3 1595 E I H-B/D 55.95 0.5 49604 Hindalco-A/D 122 -1.5 405917 Kinetic Eng-B/D 42.25 2 3602 Unitech P -A/D 15.7 -0.1 2662080 3I Schroders/D 2558 3 21739 Ballarpur In-B/D 12.6 -0.04 162744 E.I.D Parry-B/D 140.3 -0.9 1379 Hous Dev Fin-A/D 780.65 -9.7 94617 Kopran-B/D 22.05 0.05 42229 Severn Trent/D 1690 18 67545 Bata India-A/D 1054.85 3.95 14908 Eicher Motor-A/D 4990 7.2 1284 I F C I-A/D 25.25 0.7 1075701 Lakshmi Mach-B/D 2804.4 -3.75 6343 LONDON Smith&Nephew/D 867.5 1.5 117505 Beml Ltd-B/D 240.15 6.2 189083 Eimco Elecon-B/D 144.9 6.9 2944 Idbi-A/D 65.2 0.35 149098 Lgb Broth-B/D 259.8 -0.1 6638 Smiths Group/D 1470.92 4 23782 Bh Electronic-/D 1002 8.6 4334 Electrosteel-B/D 15.65 0.75 247134 Ifb Agro-B/D 162 2.75 1221 Lloyd Metal-B/D 9.3 -0.03 4004 Group/D 383.1 -2.5 48024 Standrd Chart /D 1350 -1.5 651363 Bharat Bijle-B/D 363.9 6.25 2854 Emco-B/D 24.25 1 286266 Ifb Ind.Ltd.-B/D 80 1.8 131645 Lok.Hous&Con-T/D 15.6 0.45 39595 Assoc.Br.Foods/D 2465 18 113343 Tate & Lyle/D 802.5 3.5 45958 Bhartiya Int-B/D 179.4 -0.3 1650 Escorts Fin-B/D 3.24 0.15 100105 India Cement-B/D 59.9 0.9 218096 Lupin-A/D 918.1 5.55 67638 B Sky B/D 829 16.5 1461031 Tesco/D 336.015 0.7 2724387 Bhel-A/D 172.4 3.25 467249 Escorts-B/D 142.7 3.45 617868 India Glycol-B/D 98.95 5.9 88638 Lyka Labs-B/D 10.49 0.24 9318 Barclays/D 265.7 1.35 5678774 Unilever/D 2446 7 326962 Bhuwalka Stl-B/D 10.66 -0.56 6882 Essar Oil-A/D 52.5 0.25 305665 Indian Card-B/D 83.3 0.3 7810 Mangalam Cem-B/D 106.9 3.6 15597 Bg Group/D 1284.5 11.5 487668 United Util Gr/D 664.64 3 152868 Bom.Burmah-B/D 115.9 3.35 61456 Eveready Indu-/D 34.5 0.2 39516 Indian Hotel-A/D 59.6 1.25 156283 Maral Overs-B/D 20 1.5 18339 Bp/D 487.242 2.45 3576287 Vodafone Group/D 237.367 1.2 7213302 Bombay Dyeing-/D 74.2 4.95 815729 F D C-B/D 129.55 9.75 384530 Indo-Bcount-B/D 37.4 -0.5 16399 Mastek-B/D 160.7 8.15 450513 Brit Am Tobacc/D 3226 12 212502 Whitbread/D 3700 -4 41729 Camph.& All-B/D 126.6 0.6 1224 Federal Bank-A/D 82.15 -1.35 254504 Indusind-A/D 424 -6.5 174451 Mrpl-A/D 42.3 0.7 78672 Bt Group/D 378.3 1.8 1696338 Canfin Homes-B/D 175.4 8.25 15057 Ferro Alloys-B/D 5.66 0.25 38334 J.B.Chemical-B/D 132.45 1.75 106586 Nagreeka Ex-B/D 15.15 -0.65 4659 Centrica/D 345.848 3.4 1050632 Caprihans-B/D 37.75 -0.1 10553 Fgp Ltd-B/D 1.8 0 2150 Jagatjit Ind-B/D 44.1 2.1 1489 Nahar Spg.-B/D 115.6 -0.25 12779 Gkn/D 372.92 2 379802 Castrol Ind-A/D 306.15 0.7 19978 Finolex-B/D 162.3 -2.95 75552 Jamnaauto-B/D 63 1.7 11500 Nath Seeds-B/D 4.41 0 3137 Hsbc Holdings/D 663.075 2.2 1992558 Century Enka-B/D 149.25 2.95 33942 Gail-A/D 337.85 -4.05 27722 Jbf Indu-B/D 79.45 2.3 20493 Nation Alum -A/D 38 -0.4 50703 Imperial Tobac/D 2320 4 193617 THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013 SPORT www.thepeninsulaqatar.com 23 Cowboys NBA: Little cheer owner Jones still hoping for lagging teams Romo plays

LOS ANGELES: Dallas owner Jerry Jones still hopes Tony Nets’ Pierce fined $15,000 for foul on Hill Romo (pictured) will lead the Cowboys in a do-or-die NFL LOS ANGELES: Lakers coach to defend his players after they for committing a flagrant foul on clash with Philadelphia, with Mike D’Antoni was among a gave up 22 turnovers leading to 29 opposing point guard George Hill the quarterback reportedly trio of NBA coaches feeling New Orleans points in a 113-100 during Monday’s game against the receiving an epidural injection decidedly un-festive this week loss to the Pelicans in Sacramento Indiana Pacers. to combat back pain. as Christmas approached with on Monday. The incident occurred during The Cowboys host the Eagles in their teams mired in December “We’re a bad basketball team,” the third quarter of Brooklyn’s the final game of the regular sea- difficulties. said Malone, whose Kings are 8-19 103-86 loss to Indiana, when son on Sunday with the winners D’Antoni, whose team has in his first season at the helm. Pierce made a “clothesline” tackle claiming the NFC East division struggled with injuries to super- “I don’t know if anyone in that on Hill as the Pacers player was title and an NFL playoff berth. star Kobe Bryant and veteran locker room is embarrassed, but going for a lay-up. In his weekly radio show yes- point guard Steve Nash among I’m embarrassed.” Pierce was ejected from the terday, Jones said backup quar- others, didn’t have any sympathy Brooklyn coach Jason Kidd, game and the NBA announced terback Kyle Orton -- who hasn’t to spare for Lakers fans after the whose playing days ended just his fine on Tuesday, saying that started a game since 2011 -- would team’s second straight blowout last season, sounded a saddish the 10-time All Star had made be ready to play if necessary, but road defeat on Monday night, a note as he contemplated his Nets’ “excessive and unnecessary con- that Romo would play if doctors 117-90 loss at Phoenix. latest defeat, a 103-86 rout by the tact” with Hill. agree. The Lakers were coming off streaking Pacers. However, Hill appeared to “Pain won’t a 102-83 loss at Golden State on “I think it’s getting very close to defend Pierce, suggesting that in stop him,” Jones Saturday. Spanish big man Pau just accepting losing,” Kidd said. a previous era the foul would not said. “Pain as Gasol missed that contest with a “We kind of get comfortable have received such a penalty. a symptom of respiratory infection. with losing, and we’ve got to make “I think back in the day, hard something that He returned to the line-up in a stand with that, because when fouls was good,” Hill told report- a doctor might Phoenix, but exited early after a things get tough, do we just give ers after the game. “So, it was a say, ‘we don’t clash of heads with Suns center in? And most of the time right hard foul, but at the end of the advise him to Miles Plumlee left him with a now, we do.” day, don’t let it rattle you and play,’ that’s bloody cut near his right eye. However, Monday’s defeat that’s what I thought about.” different.” “If they’re discouraged, then could be a sign of things to come A frustrated Pierce shot 0-of-7 Jones find another team to root for,” as the Nets played their first game from the floor against the Pacers, declined to D’Antoni snapped in answer to without star center Brook Lopez, missing his two three-point give details of a reporter’s question on Monday the team’s top scorer who could attempts, to record only the sec- Romo’s injury. night. miss the rest of the season with ond scoreless game of his NBA ESPN.com reported that the “We’re not going to give up. Are a broken right foot. career. Cowboys signal-caller has a her- you kidding me? Discouraged? Meanwhile, Brooklyn Nets A clothesline tackle refers to Los Angeles Lakers’ forward Nick Young (0) jumps for the ball in the first niated disk in his lower back and That’s not even fair to these guys.” forward Paul Pierce has been when a player extends an arm half of their NBA game against the Phoenix Suns’ forward PJ Tucker received an epidural injection to Sacramento Kings coach Mike fined $15,000 by the National around an opponent’s neck area. (17) at US Airways Center on Tuesday. relieve pain and inflammation. Malone, however, was in no mood Basketball Association (NBA) AGENCIES Romo’s back was clearly troubling him as he rallied the Cowboys to a one-point victory over Washington on Sunday that kept Dallas’ playoff hopes alive. He was already limping when he threw a 10-yard touchdown Japan pitcher Tanaka freed up to join MLB pass to DeMarco Murray with 68 seconds left to lift the Cowboys to TOKYO: The club of star on the money a Japanese team Tanaka separately told report- Pacific without benefiting their In 2012 the Texas Rangers a 24-23 victory over the Redskins. Japanese pitcher Masahiro can earn from posting a player ers: “I want to continue my base- old clubs and to provide US teams posted a record winning bid of Although the Cowboys have Tanaka has approved his move for a transfer to a major league ball career by firmly bearing in with equal bidding opportunities. $51.7m just for the right to nego- refused to rule Romo out, coach to the US major leagues, at a club. There was no limit under mind what I have achieved (at But rising bidding prices have tiate with right-handed pitcher Jason Garrett said Monday they likely bargain price for such a the previous system. Rakuten).” prompted MLB to revamp it. Darvish. would sign another quarterback high-profile trans-Pacific deal “There are many problems in If posted, Tanaka, who went Under the previous system, Tanaka’s transfer could as a third option. because of a new “posting” the new posting system. And the 24-0 in the regular season this which helped Japanese stars Yu have earned the nine-year-old The Dallas Morning News system. club, which owns a precious player, year, is expected to draw several Darvish, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Rakuten, the youngest of Japan’s reported Tuesday that they had The Rakuten Eagles, powered feels it is unequal,” Rakuten pres- suitors including the New York Ichiro Suzuki land MLB deals, US 12 professional baseball clubs, at added 41-year-old Jon Kitna, who by Tanaka to their first-ever ident Yozo Tachibana told a news Yankees and the Texas Rangers. clubs made blind offers for negoti- least $50 m under the old system, last played in the NFL with the “Japan Series” national title this conference, without disclosing the Major League Baseball (MLB) ation rights to a player. The high- according to Japanese media. Cowboys two seasons ago. year, spent about a week after the release fee the club wants. and Nippon Professional Baseball est bidder would win the rights. Rakuten president Tachibana Kitna has played 15 seasons in launch of the new system before “But we have highly appreci- (NPB) announced the new post- Under the new system, a posted earlier told Japanese media that the NFL and started nine games announcing yesterday they would ated pitcher Tanaka’s seven-year ing system early next week. player can negotiate with any club the new rules would resemble a for Dallas in 2010. release the 25-year-old right contribution to the team ... and The original system was intro- willing to pay a release fee which “free-agent system” and force He appeared in three games in hander. accepted his wish to challenge the duced in 1998 to prevent a drain his NPB outfit demands. But the clubs to do a “bargain sale.” relief in 2011 before retiring at the The new rules put a $20m cap major leagues.” of Japanese talent across the amount should not exceed $20m. AFP end of that campaign. AFP Team LBC win Travelex Cup 2013 of Pinoy Basketball

DOHA: Team LBC captured the and rookie Kim Calo made all the difference with 19 points turn overs by the Dukhan much coveted championship crown of throughout the game. Ballers squad. Dukhan Ballers could not Travelex Cup 2013 of Pinoy Basketball Calo not only wowed his fans with his even inch closer in the game as Team LBC of Qatar (PIBAQ) after trouncing PCSI showtime brand of play but his leadership was leading 22-15 in the first quarter, 38-30 Specialties-Dukhan Ballers, 75-65, in as well that was the turning point of their at the half and 57-45 in the third quarter. their best-of-three series in the jam- big win against an equally tough and hungry Team LBC head coach Rey Eusebio was packed crowd last Friday at Al Gharafa for the crown team. all praises to his men for offering the com- Indoor Hall. The game plan of Calledo to maintain pany the crown in their participation with It was the sweetest victory for Team LBC, the double digit edge all throughout the PIBAQ, which is just as sweet for them since formerly Qatar Kentz, since it is the first game, at one time reached to 17 points this will boost their presence as Filipino time they took the championship after three margin. cargo forwarding company for the first time years stint with PIBAQ, Qatar’s premiere The champions maintained the lead to in Qatar in many years. Filipino basketball league. 28:50 minutes as against the scoring run of Shan Kamarudheen, Business “It is indeed a great feeling to taste the Dukhan Ballers at only 10:29 minutes. Development Manager of Travelex sweetest victory we had in many years that Team LBC was able to dominate the 14 Worldwide Money and PIBAQ President Pat finally we had the crown,” Calledo said to points second chance baskets and 16 points Carido presented the championship crown the wild cheers of the fans. fastbreak baskets compared to four point to Team LBC at the awarding ceremony. The heroic all-around play of Finals MVP second chance, six points fastbreaks along THEPENINSULA

Shan Kamarudheen, Business Development Manager at Travelex Worldwide Money is seen along with Team LBC, win- ners of the PIBAQ 14th Season Travelex Cup 2013 at the Al Gharafa Indoor Stadium. THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013 24 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com SPORT

Bartoli clinches Top guns to begin L’Equipe’s award

PARIS: Wimbledon women’s singles champion Marion Bartoli (pictured) and NBA star Tony Parker were named Female and season in Qatar Male Sports Person of the Year by French sports newspaper L’Equipe yesterday. Last year’s winner Gasquet arrives in Doha Bartoli, 29, topped the wom- en’s section with 886 points fol- lowing her stunning success at BY ARMSTRONG VAS Doha titles in 2008 and 2009, who Wimbledon beating German is also making the trip to Qatar. Sabine Lisicki, her first - and only DOHA: World No. 9 Richard For Murray, the Abu Dhabi - Grand Slam crown at the 47th Gasquet of France arrived here event will help him gauge his level attempt, a record in the women’s yesterday as he bids to defend of fitness. game for those who have finally the title he won at last year’s The Briton has not played a captured such a lofty honour. Qatar ExxonMobil Open. competitive match since the mid- Two skiers downhill world The Frenchman rallied after dle of September when he left the champion Marion Rolland from behind to defeat Nikolay ATP Tour for back surgery. (522pts) and Davydenko of Russia 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 The Olympic champion had giant sla- to win the title last year. been training in Miami before lom world The 27-year-old, who last heading to Abu Dhabi. champion month hired Sergi Bruguera to The other top players for the Tessa Worley be his new coach, will face stern event include Ferrer and World (520pts) fin- opposition as he bids to retain the No.7 Tomas Berdych. ished second Doha title. Ferrer sprung the biggest sur- and third The Qatar event, which is into prise in the coaching merry-go- but not much 22 edition, will be the starting round last week. consolation point for 32 players on the ATP The 31-year-old separated from given both World Tour as they begin their his coach of almost 15 years, Javier have been 2014 season. Piles, despite reaching his first ruled out of World No. 1 Rafael Nadal (pic- Grand Slam final—the French February’s tured) of Spain is one of the three Suprisingly, the Spaniard has Open—in 2013. Winter players from the top-five who will not won any title in Doha and The Spaniard embarks on his Olympics in Sochi, Russia, compete in Qatar. thus will been seeking his first 12th year of Grand Slam with a because of injury. The Spaniard is set to make his title in Qatar. new coach Jose Altur. Parker, 31, got the nod with sixth appearance in Doha, where Nadal is Abu Dhabi for the So this year’s players list 805 points principally on the he reached the final in 2010. three-day Mubadala World includes multiple Grand Slam, back of his inspirational perform- The Spaniard is in the hunt for Championship which will begin ATP Masters 1000, and ATP ances in France’s being crowned his 61st tour-level title, having today. World Tour titles, and Olympic European champions in Slovenia lifted 10 trophies in 2013. Several of the top players are medal winners. Tickets for the World No. 8 Richard Gasquet of France is greeted upon arrival at the in September. Nadal had a dream run in 2013, using the event as warm-up for Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2014 Doha International Airport in Doha yesterday. Gasquet is in Qatar for Parker, who plays guard for the after returning fom injury layoff, the gruelling season ahead includ- can be purchased online at www. the Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2014. The ATP Tour event takes palce at San Antonio Spurs, beat Judoka that saw him win 10 titles, includ- ing former World No. 1 Novak qatartennis.org and at the fol- the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex from December legend Olympic and six-time ing an eighth French Open and a Djokovic, World No. 3 David lowing places: Villaggio, City 30 to January 4. World No. 1 Rafael Nadal of Spain, compatriot and world champion Teddy Riner (555 second US Open. Ferrer and Stanislas Wawrinka. Center, Lagoona, Landmark and pts), who won the award last year. world No.3 David Ferrer, and 2013 Wimbledon champion Andy Murray The 27-year-old left hander did Also in action in Abu Dhabi is the Khalifa International Tennis Triple jump outdoor world of England are some of the top players who will be seen in action at not feature in last year’s edition 2013 Wimbeldon champion Andy & Squash Complex. champion Teddy Tamgho (403 of the tournament. Murray, winner of back-to-back THE PENINSULA the 22nd edition of the tournament. PICTURE BY: ABDUL BASIT pts) was third. AFP Murray plays down new Lendl, Becker rivalry

ABU DHABI: Andy Murray Becker defeated Lendl in the on court, the coaches can do very legends of the past -- even Roger the 2013 season to undergo sur- (pictured) believes the intense 1986 Wimbledon final, the 1989 little to the outcome of a match. Federer has been practising with gery on a long-standing back rivalry between his coach Ivan US Open championship match as “It is the preparation where the six-time major winner Stefan injury and has been keen to play Lendl and Boris Becker, the well as the 1991 Australian Open coaches can make a really good Edberg over the winter. down expectations of hitting the newly-appointed coach of Novak final. difference. We will have to see “Obviously, everyone wants to heights straightaway in 2014. Djokovic, which was a feature of The German claimed six career how it goes from here.” keep working on every game. It “I can honestly speak for the 1980s, won’t be rekindled in majors. Lendl won eight and it Murray and Djokovic have is good to see great players like myself and not others. I’m coming 2014. was the Czech who enjoyed a joined world number one Novak get some help from Becker back from an injury and I’m not Lendl took Murray to a break- 12-10 advantage in their head- Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, who has been there and done it expecting anything. My focus is to through major at the 2012 US to-head record. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Stanislas before,” said Murray. try and be healthy,” said Murray. Open as well as this year’s his- “I personally don’t think there Wawrinka in the six-man field “I don’t know if it is a trend “Hopefully, results will come if toric Wimbledon triumph while will be renewal of a rivalry,” for the Mubadala World Tennis starting here or not. For that, we I’m 100 per cent fit. I would expect Djokovic has turned to Becker to Murray told the Gulf News. Championships which runs from will have to wait and see for few everyone to play very good tennis help add to his six Grand Slam “I mean, no matter if you are today to Saturday. years.” this year. I would personally like titles. coaching the players, you can’t Murray believes today’s play- World number four Murray, 26, to get good results in the Grand In their playing careers, influence much. Once you step ers have a lot to learn from the missed most of the latter part of Slams.” AFP

Volleyball: El Quiyada win against Al Khor

An Al Khor player spikes during their Qatar Volleyball Association League match against El Quiyada at Al Arabi Indoor Stadium in Doha yesterday. El Quiyada won 3-1. PICTURES BY: KAMMUTTY VP

The players of El Quiyada celebrate their win. RIGHT: Ghazi Qazbaa, Qatar SC coach passing on some instructions to one of his player dur- ing their match against Al Shamal at Al Arabi Stadium yesterday. Qatar SC won 3-1. THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013 SPORT www.thepeninsulaqatar.coma 25 Former EPL set for Boxing Palace Day shoot-out owner Leaders Liverpool clash with Man City Noades

LONDON: The concertina meanwhile, host Swansea City, effect at the top of the Premier English Premier with fifth-place Everton hosting dies League table means that no bottom club Sunderland. fewer than five teams will have League Chelsea have failed to sparkle LONDON: Former Crystal designs on top spot in today’s Today’s fixtures (1500GMT unless otherwise during the first half of the season, Palace owner and chairman traditional Boxing Day fixtures. stated): but with Liverpool only two points Ron Noades has died aged 76 of For the first time in the post- Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace ahead of them, captain John Terry lung cancer the club announced 1992 Premier League era, just two Cardiff City vs Southampton knows that Jose Mourinho’s side yesterday. points separate the top five teams Chelsea vs Swansea City, remain very much in contention. Noades ran Palace for 17 years on Christmas Day, and the ero- Everton vs Sunderland, “We all know, and the fans have -- during which they reached the sion of Arsenal’s seven-point lead seen it home and away, that we 1990 FA Cup final and came third Hull City vs Manchester United (1245GMT), has also given hope to seventh- can get better,” Terry told Chelsea in the old First Division in 1991 -- Manchester City vs Liverpool (1730GMT), place Tottenham Hotspur and TV. and even had a spell as caretaker Newcastle United vs Stoke City eighth-place Manchester United. “So whilst everyone is dropping manager after the sacking of Arsenal’s bruising 0-0 draw at Norwich City vs Fulham points around us, hopefully in the Italian Attilio Lombardo in 1998. home to Chelsea on Monday left Tottenham Hotspur vs West Bromwich new year we have to start firing The turning point in the club’s Liverpool top at Christmas for the Albion West Ham United vs Arsenal and put ourselves on a good run fortunes came in 1984 when first time since 2008. Suarez he can call upon the out- of games. Noades hired former England However, the new leaders face standing player of the season so “If we do that we’re more than winger Steve Coppell as manager a stern test today when they visit far. capable of pulling away from and he took the club back into the a Manchester City side who have City’s own leading man, everyone.” top flight in 1989 after an eight- won all eight of their home games Sergio Aguero, is currently Tottenham, four points below year absence. to date this season, scoring 35 sidelined with a calf complaint, the top five, host West Bromwich A year later, a side featuring goals. and having seen Liverpool rout Albion, with Tim Sherwood set players such as future Arsenal City, 4-2 victors at Fulham in Tottenham Hotspur 5-0 in their to experience life as a full-time star Ian Wright and present their last outing, will leapfrog last away game, manager Manuel Premier League manager for the Newcastle manager Alan Pardew Liverpool if they prevail at the Pellegrini predicts a “very diffi- first time after being appointed reached the FA Cup final -- beat- Etihad Stadium and visiting man- cult” encounter. as the permanent successor to Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud (right) vies for the ball with Chelsea’s Branislav ing Liverpool in an epic semi-final ager Brendan Rodgers says that “Liverpool is a very good team Andre Villas-Boas on Monday. Ivanovic (centre) during their Premier League match at the Emirates -- and lost to Manchester United his side must not get carried away and Suarez is in a very good Defending champions United, Stadium in London, on Monday night. after a replay. by their early-season form. moment,” said the Chilean. meanwhile, will look to close the The following season, the “You don’t get the rewards at “But I think this Premier eight-point gap that separates Eagles finished third in the First Christmas. It is a nostalgic time League, we are just finishing the them from arch rivals Liverpool for sure, but we have got ourselves but chairman Mehmet Dalman Division. However, Noades also and people always want to know first half, in two more games. when they visit Hull City. on a winning run and hopefully revealed on Monday that the club sowed the seeds of the break-up of where the team is at around “And this Premier League United have won four consec- we can continue that,” he said. are working to resolve the situa- the team when he made ill-judged Christmas Day,” he said. will not just be Liverpool and utive games in all competitions Elsewhere today, Malky tion through talks. remarks. “We want to be there, but we Manchester City. Five or six since the shock of successive Mackay will take charge of Cardiff “The players have trained as “The black players at this club want to be there at the end of the teams will fight until the end.” home defeats by Everton and City against Southampton for the they always do,” Mackay said. lend the side a lot of skill and flair, season and for that there is a lot Second-place Arsenal, behind Newcastle United, and manager first time since being granted “We have big games to prepare but you also need white players of hard work ahead.” Liverpool on goal difference, will David Moyes hopes it will stand a stay of execution by owner for and no matter what goes on, in there to balance things up and Rodgers remains without hope to capitalise on any slip-ups his side in good stead against a Vincent Tan. that’s my number one focus for give the team some brains and Steven Gerrard, Daniel Sturridge by Rodgers’s side when they visit Hull team who have only lost once Mackay looked destined for the this club and it always will be.” some common sense,” he said in and Jose Enrique due to injury, London rivals West Ham United. at home all season. sack after being told by Tan to AFP 1991. This prompted several of but in 19-goal top scorer Luis Fourth-place Chelsea, “It will be a tough game, that’s either resign or face dismissal, the black players to leave and the club were relegated in the 1992/93 season, the first one in its present incarnation of the Lennon laughs off ‘invincible’ Celtic talk Premier League. “I am sure I speak for everyone involved with the Premier League, GLASGOW: Celtic manager Neil Scottish Premier League “We have two very tough games past and present, when I express (pictured left) Lennon has moved to Today’s Fixtures (1500GMT) coming up, St Johnstone away and our sadness at hearing of the play down talk of his side going the Inverness away,” he said. passing of Ron Noades after his Aberdeen vs Motherwell, Hearts vs whole of the Scottish Premiership “This will really test the players but brave fight against lung cancer,” Kilmarnock, Partick Thistle vs Inverness CT, campaign unbeaten ahead of today’s they are good tests in my view. said Premier League chief execu- Ross County vs Hibernian, St Johnstone vs clash with St Johnstone. “We obviously want to keep the tive Richard Scudamore. Celtic, St Mirren vs Dundee United The Parkhead club’s 2-0 win over unbeaten run going and try to get a “Success has many fathers, Hearts last Saturday stretched their “What I am pleased about is that decent performance in both games. but Ron’s role in the history the unbeaten start to the season to 16 we are unbeaten since the start of the “But St Johnstone at home can beat Premier League was fundamental games. season which, considering the amount anyone. They are a very good side and to its formation and the founda- Lennon’s side, who lost seven games of games we have had, is a very good have been very consistent in the last tions of what it has become today. last season on the way to winning effort so far. couple of years. “Our sympathy and best wishes their second title in a row by 16 points, “What I want to do in the festive “Tommy Wright has kept the con- are with his family.” are already 10 points clear of Dundee period is to try to increase the gap at tinuity going that Steve Lomas had Former players also paid trib- United at the top of the table. the top and give ourselves a bit of lee- brought in and look at the resilience ute to him. However, the Hoops manager said it way going into the break we are taking they have, they were down to 10 men “Sad to hear Ron Noades has was too soon to be talking about com- in January and be ready to go again. at Hibs for a long period in their last passed away, lovely man who pleting a season undefeated. “We are still a very long way from game and didn’t get beat. cared deeply for the club,” tweeted “It is something that people talk where we want to be and the Champions Elsewhere today, bottom of the table former England goalkeeper Nigel about very prematurely,” said Lennon. League showed that.” Hearts, without a win in four games, Martyn. “I wouldn’t say it was impossible but Celtic face St Johnstone at host Kilmarnock, Ross County take The club issued a statement it is a very difficult thing to do so I McDiarmid Park on Thursday before on Hibernian, Partick Thistle welcome also. wouldn’t get too far ahead of ourselves another tough trip to Inverness Inverness CT to Firhill and St Mirren “The thoughts and deepest on that. Caledonian Thistle on Sunday. host high-flying Dundee United, who sympathies of everyone at Crystal “We are 16 games into a 38-game And Lennon believes these matches are looking for their sixth straight Palace Football Club are with his season so we are not even halfway could be two of their stiffest tests of league win. wife, Novello, and their family at there, so it is still a lot to ask for. the season. AFP this very sad time.” AFP

Qatar Basketball League: Al Rayyan trounce Al Ahli; win for Al Sadd

Action from the Qatar Basketball League match between Al Ahli and Al Rayyan at Al Rayyan Indoor Stadium yesterday. Al Rayyan won 104-70. In another match, Al Sadd defeated Al Shamal 84-71. PICTURES BY: WASFY THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013 26 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com SPORT Kallis to retire from Test cricket South Africa’s all-rounder and highest scorer plays his last Test today

JOHANNESBURG: South African cricketing great Jacques Kallis (pic- Fact file tured), will retire from Test and First- Class cricket after the upcoming Test *Full name: Jacques Henry Kallis against India, which gets under way in Durban today, he announced yesterday. *Born October 16, 1975, Pinelands, Cape However, the 38-year-old —described by Town, Cape Province Cricket South Africa (CSA) chief executive Haroon Lorgat as the test team’s ‘Rock of *Current age 38 years 70 days Gibraltar’ — is determined to play for the one day team at the 2015 World Cup. “It’s been an honour and a privilege to *Major teams South Africa, Africa XI, Cape have been part of the South African Test Cobras, Glamorgan, ICC World XI, Kolkata team since making my debut 18 years ago,” Knight Riders, Middlesex, Royal Challengers the star all-rounder said. Bangalore, Warriors, Western Province “I have enjoyed every moment out in the middle but I just feel that the time is right *Playing role: Allrounder to hang up my Test whites,” he said in a statement issued by CSA. *Batting style: Right-hand bat “It wasn’t an easy decision to come to, especially with Australia around the corner *Bowling style: Right-arm fast-medium and the success this team is enjoying, but I feel that I have made my contribution in *Made his international debut as a this format.” 20-year-old in December, 1995 in a test Having started playing internationally match against England in Durban. aged 20, Kallis is South Africa’s highest Test runscorer with 13,174 and the fourth high- est in Test history, behind India’s Sachin ALL-ROUND ACHIEVEMENTS Tendulkar, Australia’s Ricky Ponting and Rahul Dravid of India. *Played 165 tests for South Africa, scoring He has an average of 55.12, scoring 44 13,174 runs at an average of 55.12. centuries and 58 half-centuries in 165 test appearances. His 292 Test wickets have *Scored two double centuries in tests with cost an average of 32.53 runs, while his tally his 224 against Sri Lanka in Cape Town in of 199 catches ranks him second behind 2012 being his best score. Dravid in the Test list. “The last two years specifically have been *Took 292 wickets with a six-for 54 his best a memorable journey with an exceptional bowling in an innings. group of cricketers,” he said. “I am fortunate enough to have ended my *As a reliable slip fielder, he took 199 Test career amongst a group of talented catches in tests. cricketers but more importantly, friends whom I will cherish for years to come.” *Kallis is the fourth-highest run-getter Captain Graeme Smith praised the vet- in tests behind Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky eran’s achievements, but expressed sadness Ponting and Rahul Dravid. at his retirement. “It’s been an emotional few days knowing he would leave a huge vacuum in the test World Cup and it will be important for us Proteas Rock of Gibraltar. He has been a JK (Jacques Kallis) retiring,” Smith posted team dressing room. “The impact Jacques to manage him accordingly so that he is in stalwart for many years and their recent *His 44 test centuries is the second highest on Twitter. has made on South African cricket has prime form leading into the tournament.” triumphs and greatness has been built in the world behind Tendulkar. “All I can say what a privilege to have been immense, not just as a player but as Lorgat too paid him a handsome tribute. around him. played with the great man! Hopefully a human being,” said Domingo in a state- “Although we all knew the retirement “He is a legend and his statistics speak END OF THE ROAD we can give him the send off he deserves ment posted on the CSA website. “I’m not of a great player like Jacques Kallis was volumes. For the number of Test centu- over the next 5 days! Gonna miss him sure we will ever see another player of that going to happen sooner rather than later, ries scored, he is second only to Sachin *The Boxing Day test against India in Durban immensely.” stature very soon.” his decision still comes as a blow when the Tendulkar and he is statistically the great- will be his last match in the longest format Kallis will hope to bow out with a victory “Jacques calmness, maturity and pres- reality dawns that Cricket South Africa’s est all-rounder of all time. of the game. in his final Test, and a series win, after ence in the change room will sorely be greatest ever player and arguably the “Jacques has been ever present for the the first Test ended in a thrilling draw missed and hopefully he will still be able world’s best all-rounder, will be playing his Proteas in the past 18 years and it is fitting *He is South Africa’s greatest cricketer, last Sunday. South Africa coach Russell to play a role in this team’s success in the last Test match in this last week of 2013 that his final Test should be on the same having scored the most number of test runs Domingo said they would do their best near future.” when the series concludes against India. ground as the one on which he made his and also being fifth on the wicket-takers’ list to get Kallis to the World Cup and added “He has ambitions of playing in the 2015 “Jacques Kallis has simply been the debut against England back in 1995.” AFP S Africa, India have West Indies seek ODI revenge against bowling headaches New Zealand

DURBAN: Finding the right in with an all-pace attack. ago. WELLINGTON: The West combination of bowlers will be Leg-spinner Imran Tahir had a It will also be a worry for Indies have rejected any the biggest headache for both poor match in Johannesburg and India their three pace bowlers suggestion of a Test hang- South Africa and India ahead of South Africa have the option of at the Wanderers, Zaheer Khan, over going into the open- the second and final Test start- using part-time off-spinner JP Ishant Sharma and Mohammed ing One-Day International ing at Kingsmead today. Duminy, who was described by AB Shami, bowled a combined 91 against a New Zealand side After fighting out an epic draw de Villiers as the best spinner in overs in hot weather in the sec- bolstered by the return of in the first Test in Johannesburg, the first Test. ond innings. Jesse Ryder (pictured). the two top-ranked teams in Test Imran Tahir went at five runs The 35-year-old Khan, who “We’re more comfortable cricket will seek a series win at a an over in the first test and was took his 300th Test wicket in in the shorter forms of the venue where South Africa have a pressure release for the Indian Johannesburg, played a big role game,” captain Dwayne Bravo lost their most recent four Test batsmen. De Villiers defended the in India’s win at Kingsmead three said on the eve of today’s first matches, including an 87-run Pakistan-born 34-year-old. seasons ago with match figures of of five ODIs, after losing the defeat by India three seasons “Immi (Imran Tahir) has six for 98. Test series 2-0. ago. bowled really well in the last With only three days of recov- “It was a disappointing Test World champions South Africa few months. He didn’t have a ery time between Tests, India may series but hopefully the guys will almost certainly be with- great game at the Wanderers look to Bhuvneshwar Kumar or have put that behind them.” out injured fast bowler Morne but that is part of sport. We Umesh Yadav to bolster their pace With seven ODI specialists Morkel, who has been a key know what he is capable of,” De resources. added to the squad “it’s a dif- member of a three-pronged pace Villiers said. ferent vibe, a different energy,” attack together with Dale Steyn “It’s always tempting to get TEAMS: he added. and Vernon Philander. Immi into your starting XI, even South Africa (likely): Graeme New Zealand welcome back Morkel suffered a sprained if you play on a road. Even on Smith (captain), Alviro Petersen, Ryder while the West Indies ankle early in the second innings glass, he can get you wickets. Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB will be without their talisman of the first Test. His likely replace- “He seems to run through the de Villiers (wkt), JP Duminy, Faf Chris Gayle, the Windies’ Darren Sammy noted. ment is Rory Kleinveldt, who has tail easily. It’s a tough decision to du Plessis, Vernon Philander, Gayle remains sidelined with a hamstring injury while Ryder played in four Tests. make. We lacked control at the Dale Steyn, Rory Kleinveldt, Kyle has been in devastating form in New Zealand domestic cricket But South Africa will be Wanderers, not just from Immi, Abbott or Imran Tahir. ahead of his return to the international arena after a 22-month tempted to play Kyle Abbott, who from all the bowlers.” self-imposed exile. was called into the squad after India’s concerns will be centred India (from): Mahendra New Zealand selection manager Bruce Edgar said Ryder Morkel’s injury. around the lack of success of off- Singh Dhoni (captain, wkt), will provide “added firepower” at the top of the order where Kingsmead is Abbott’s home spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, he will partner another returning international Martin ground and the accurate fast- who failed to take a wicket in Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Guptill. medium bowler will be keen to 36 overs in the second innings Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Despite New Zealand’s comprehensive win in the Tests — the add to the success of his only after South Africa had been set Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer first time they have won a three-Test series in nearly eight years previous Test when as a late a world record target of 458 in Khan, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed — captain Brendon McCullum said it was back to square one for replacement he took seven for Johannesburg. Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the ODIs. 29 in the first innings against Kingsmead may be more help- Umesh Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, “We’ll start on the same level come Boxing Day,” he said as Pakistan at Centurion last sea- ful to Ashwin than the Wanderers Ambati Rayudu, Wriddhiman New Zealand toned down the euphoria of their red-ball success son. He had match figures of but India could also call on Saha (wkt), Pragyan Ojha. and reacquainted themselves with the white ball. nine for 68. Ravindra Jadeja or Pragyan Ojha, “I’ve said it before when we’ve been on the other side of the Kingsmead has lost much of who are both left-armers. Umpires: Steve Davis, Rod coin, so I can’t change now. I think it’s a separate game. the pace that was on offer when In the most recent Test at Tucker (both AUS) “We’ll store this away as a Test unit and be very happy with the current bowling coach Allan Kingsmead, Sri Lankan left-arm performance. Now we have to turn our attention as a different Donald had match figures of nine spinner Rangana Herath was TV umpire: Adrian Holdstock South Africa has called back unit. We know the West Indies have different players and so do for 54 when India were bowled out man of the match after bowling (RSA)Match referee: Andy Kyle Abbott to play in his home we.” AFP for 100 and 66 in 1996/97 but the his side to victory with match fig- Pycroft (ZIM) ground against India. Proteas could contemplate going ures of nine for 128 two seasons AFP THURSDAY 26 DECEMBER 2013 SPORT www.thepeninsulaqatar.com 27 Cook wants England to come out fighting on Boxing Day Tourists hoping to avert a 5-0 whitewash after heavy defeats in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth

MELBOURNE: England cap- tain Alastair Cook believes the fourth Ashes Test starting in Melbourne today is the perfect stage for his battered side to salvage some pride and work towards ending what has been a miserable series on a high. Cook’s men arrived as favour- ites to retain the Ashes with a fourth successive series win over hosts Australia but have already relinquished the run and were rocked further with the shock retirement of spearhead spinner Graeme Swann on Monday. The England captain, who cel- ebrated his 29th birthday yes- terday, will be forced to reshuffle his bowling attack following Swann’s departure but was keen to look for positives ahead of today’s match after a woeful tour to date. “It’s been an interesting week,” Cook told reporters in Melbourne with his England side already 3-0 down in the five-Test series after heavy defeats in Brisbane, England player Steve Finn dives to take a catch during a training session at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Adelaide and Perth. in Melbourne yesterday. BELOW: Australian captain Michael Clarke (second right) during a training session. “Losing the Ashes and with Swannie going as well, it has been a different week. “When you lose games of cricket, naturally your confidence does slip.” Monty Panesar is expected to come in for Swann while pace bowlers Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad are battling against a loss of form and a foot injury respectively. Wicketkeeper Matt Prior could also miss out due to a poor run of form with the bat and recent problems with the gloves but Cook insists that whoever lines up for England in Melbourne will be united in their quest for redemp- tion in the series. “We’re desperate to turn it around and you don’t often get the chance to play a Boxing Day Test match at the MCG, which England captain Alastair Cook (right) chats with team-mate Kevin reportedly is going to be pretty Pietersen at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). much sold out for the first day,” the left-handed opener added. “That’s an incredible opportu- emphasise the spinner’s comments in a news conference on Tuesday nity we have as players. We know accusing some international players of “disappearing up their own we’re up against it in terms of the backsides” were not aimed at any of the current touring squad. last three results. “But you’ve got “A phone call to Swannie reassured me very quickly that it wasn’t to keep believing in yourself.” at all about any of the England players,” Cook added. Cook praised Swann’s contribu- “He totally 100 percent reassures me and the whole England tion to the England side over the team that it’s not about us. So to me, the matter’s closed on past five years and was keen to that.” REUTERS

Philander Swann saga is over, says England captain deposes Steyn

SYDNEY: England cap- that it’s not about us. “So to me on the trot over third-ranked as world’s best tain Alastair Cook yester- the matter’s closed on that.” England, Clarke said there was day declared the furore over Australia clinched the Ashes no room for complacency and bowler Graeme Swann’s shock retire- by taking an unbeatable 3-0 lead declined to offer Cook advice. ment “closed”, saying the spin- in Perth and Swann’s departure “I don’t think it would be fair DUBAI: South Africa paceman ner had assured him that has further destabilised the tour- for me to sit here and try and Vernon Philander has ended controversial remarks about ists’ already-shaky campaign. give advice to Alastair or to the compatriot Dale Steyn’s four- player arrogance were not But Cook commended Swann England team because we’ve only year reign as the world’s top- directed at his team-mates. for his courage, saying “no one’s won three test matches out of the ranked bowler. Swann stunned the cricket forcing you to play cricket for last, I think it’s a dozen now,” he The 28-year-old took top spot world with his announcement England, we’re privileged to do said. in the latest ICC Rankings after on Sunday that he was resigning that.” “We’re ranked fifth in the out-shining Steyn in the dra- immediately from the England “Graeme just gave up a lot for world, we’ve won three test matic drawn first Test against team midway through the Ashes that England shirt and he had matches out of the past 12 India in Johannesburg where series. He stoked tensions by say- no more to give, and I think it’s months.” South Africa fell just short of ing some players had “no idea a very brave decision,” he said. “England have a very good chasing down a world record how far up their own backsides “He could have just hung on for team, a lot of very good individ- run chase. they are”. these two games, and whether he ual players... I think they know Philander claimed seven wick- There was speculation he was played or not is pretty irrelevant, they’ve got the stock there, it’s ets in the match while Steyn, referring to his England col- he could have stayed but he was just about them continuing to do who had taken over from Sri leagues, particularly outspoken like ‘I know I’ve got no more to what they’ve done for long peri- Lanka off-spinner Muttiah batsman Kevin Pietersen. But give, I don’t feel I’ve got anything ods of time, it’s got them to be the Muralitharan as the world’s top Swann has since denied that left’.” Cook said Swann “will be number one team in the world.” bowler in July 2009, managed just and Cook said yesterday he had missed because he was a fine, fine Clarke also declined to com- one wicket. insisted it was not the case. cricketer.” ment on the Australians’ change “I am happy with my position “A phone call to Swanny reas- Spinner Monty Panesar is of coach and recent turnaround as the No.1 ranked Test bowler. It sured me very quickly that it expected to step in for England in form. “I don’t think now’s the is an honour to have been bowling wasn’t at all anything about on Thursday, and Cook said pace right time for me to talk about alongside a champion like Dale,” England players,” Cook told spearhead Stuart Broad had that, to be honest, I think it’s said Philander. reporters ahead of today’s Boxing made promising progress back really important that we focus “It’s been a great couple of years Day fourth Test, where the tour- to fitness after a foot injury in on the here and now,” he said. for our squad, and I have been for- ists will be hoping to avert a 5-0 Perth. “I’d prefer to offend nobody tunate enough to contribute to our series whitewash. Australian captain Michael and not get involved in it. Mickey success on the field. “I haven’t heard the quotes Clarke said he would retain (Arthur) did his job to the best “What has been the most pleas- exactly — obviously I’ve seen the same 12 from the previous of his ability and I thought ing, though, for us has been the what’s been written — and three Tests, with everyone look- did a really good job -- Darren all-round contribution from eve- England spin bowler Graeme Swann makes his way to a media confer- whether it’s come across badly, ing “fully fit”. His final 11 will be (Lehmann)’s doing the job now ryone in the squad that has been ence to announce his retirement from all international and first-class he totally 100 percent reassures named at the toss. to the best of his ability and he’s the main reason for our success cricket, in Melbourne on Sunday. me and the whole England team Despite three convincing wins doing a good job as well.” AFP over the last few years. AFP Thursday 26 December 2013 22 Safar 1435 Volume 18 Number 5925 Sport Price: QR2

LATEST NEWS UPDATES FROM PHILIPPINPHILIPPINES Top guns to EPL set for AVAILABLE begin season Boxing Day AT ALL LEADING BOOK STORES / SUPERMARKETS in Qatar shoot-out IN QATAR

FOR ADVERTISEMENTS CONTACT: TEL: 4465 0600 EMAIL: [email protected] Sport | 24 Sport | 25

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 44557741 | Advertising: 44557837 / 44557780 Last minute goal helps Qatar edge Palestine 1-0 Super sub Hassan nets winner; Bahrain, Oman draw

DOHA: Qatar began their cam- paign in the 8th WAFF Football Championship on a winning note by defeating Palestine 1-0 at Al Sadd Stadium here yesterday. The hosts scored the match winner in the last minute through substitute Muayed Hassan. Hassan scored the solitary goal in the 90th minute when he struck a powerful angular right- footer to give the hosts full points in the Group ‘A’ match. Qatar coach Djamel Belmadi was far from happy from his team’s performance. “We could not utilise the chances we got. If we had put to good use the chances we got then we could’ve scored with Nasser bin Khalifa Al Attiyah (left), FIA Vice-President Sport and FIA a big margin,” said the former representative of Middle East Sport presented a FIA award to Nasser Lekhwiya coach. Saleh Al Attiyah for winning the 2013 Middle East Rally Championship “Of course like all the teams at Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) yesterday. we also want to win the tourna- ment, but we are taking it game by game. I have my concentra- tion on my next match against Saudi Arabia,” the Algerian said about his teams chances in the FIA award for tournament. His counterpart, Jamal Mahmoud felt that they were unlucky to concede a goal in the Qatar’s Boualem Khoukhi vies for the ball with Palestine’s Raed Fares during the group stage match of 8th last minute after keeping the Qatar’s Nasser WAFF Championships at Al Sadd Stadium yesterday. PICTURES BY: SHAIVAL DALAL pressure on the home team. “It’s unfortunate that we lost. DOHA: Qatar’s ace rally driver to continue to be a member of We produced good performance worked tirelessly helping in build and 2012 Olympic Games FIA Drivers Commission (Off but it was not good enough to beat ups and acting as a snatcher also. bronze medal winner in shoot- Road representative) to imple- Qatar,” said Mahmoud. In the second half too Qatar ing Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah has ment and support the youth for On the semi-final chances he tried but had to wait till the last been conferred a FIA award, the safety program, education for said: “We still have one group minute for the decisive goal. Qatar Motor and Motorcycle roads and teach the youth for match but our fate is not in out In the second match of the Federation (QMMF) said here having responsibility for their hand now. We have to play against day Oman, who finished third yesterday. surrounding ‘environmental” Saudi and we also have to wait in the last edition of the tourna- Qatar’s Ali Nasser bin Khalifa Al Attiyah, stated Nasser, who is also the and watch for Qatar and Saudi ment, played a goalless draw with Asad (right) FIA Vice-President Sport and QMMF president. Arabi’s match and the results of Bahrain, the fourth placed team vies for the FIA representative of Middle The rally driver, Nasser, the other groups’ matches. of the last edition. ball with East Sport presented the FIA thanked Nasser Khalifa Al Playing before the home crowd The deadlock could have been Palestine’s award to Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah Attiyah for his support and guid- and aiming to win the WAFF broken in the 93rd minute of the Khader for winning the 2013 Middle East ance to him in every race he is championship for the first time game, but Bahrain’s Ashraf failed Rally Championship. competing. Nasser Saleh also Abuhammad. Qatar were locked in a goalless to convert a header pass from The event took place yesterday thanked Jean Todt, FIA President first-half in which the local boys Khader. at QMMF Headquarters. for his support and believed in dominanted. Qatar, who finished fourth in Nasser Khalifa, FIA Vice his ability and be part of the FIA The young Qatar side played 2008 is aiming for the maiden President Sport (Middle East Drivers Commission. with some intent as Adil Ahmed, title win in the championship, will and North Africa) expressed his Nasser Khalifa, QMMF Board operating from wide left, tried meet Saudi Arabia, who failed to delight in Nasser winning the Members wished good luck to to make inroads while captain qualified for the knock-out stage award. Nasser Saleh for Dakar Rally Khalid Muftah, in the midfield, last time. THE PENINSULA “I strongly recommend Nasser 2014. THE PENINSULA Hafeez, Ajmal guide Pakistan to series-clinching win

ABU DHABI: Mohammad batsman in all one-day cricket Mathews blamed lack of applica- wicket and then added another Hafeez notched his third hun- to hit three tons in one bilateral Scoreboard tion for his side’s defeat. 40 with skipper Angelo Mathews dred of the series while off- series. “We didn’t do very well in all (38) to keep Sri Lanka on course spinner Saeed Ajmal grabbed In all Hafeez hit two sixes and Sri Lanka Bowling: Junaid 9-0-42-2 (5w), Gul 7-1-37-3, departments. They played good for a respectable total. four wickets to help Pakistan 12 boundaries off 119 balls, while K Perera c Misbah b Gul ...... 8 Afridi 7-0-37-0, Bhatti 7-1-23-0 (1nb), Ajmal cricket and were far better than But Sangakkara’s run out, off a beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets Sohaib Maqsood finished with a T Dilshan b Gul ...... 8 9.5-1-39-4(2w), Hafeez 9-0-46-0 (2w) us, so they deserved to win,” said brilliant piece of fielding by sub- in the fourth One-Day interna- 56-ball 46 not out with a six and K Sangakkara run out ...... 51 Pakistan Mathews. stitute fielder Anwar Ali at point, tional yesterday. four boundaries. D Chandimal c Misbah b Gul ...... 5 Sharjeel Khan b Mathews ...... 13 Sri Lanka failed to post a big derailed Sri Lanka. Hafeez finished with 113 not out Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad A Priyanjan b Junaid ...... 74 Ahmed Shehzad c Senanayake b Lakmal ...44 total after Mathews opted to bat Sangakkara had looked good for his ninth one-day hundred as (44) put Pakistan on track during A Mathews lbw b Ajmal ...... 38 Mohammad Hafeez (not out) ...... 113 after winning the toss on a flat duing his 78-ball knock, featur- Pakistan knocked off their modest a solid 84-run stand after opener N Kulasekara c and b Ajmal ...... 1 Sohaib Maqsood (not out) ...... 46 Sheikh Zayed Stadium pitch. ing three boundaries. 226-run target in the 42nd over Sharjeel Khan was dismissed for K Vithanage c Maqsood b Junaid ...... 27 Extras: (B4, LB1, W5) ...... 10 Gul removed openers Kusal Priyanjan had looked solid until to take an unbeatable 3-1 lead 13. S Senanayake b Ajmal ...... 0 Total: (for two wkts; 41.1 overs) ...... 226 Perera (eight), Tillakaratne he tried an unusual shot off pace- ahead of tomorrow’s fifth and Shehzad, who hit a career best S Lakmal (not out) ...... 2 Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-115 Dilshan (eight) and Dinesh man Junaid Khan and was bowled final match. 124 in Pakistan’s two-wicket loss L Malinga c Akmal b Ajmal ...... 0 Bowling: Kulasekara 4-0-28-0, Malinga 7-0- Chandimal (five) to reduce Sri just three balls into the batting Pakistan had restricted Sri in the second match in Dubai, Extras: (LB 1, NB 1, W9) ...... 11 40-0, Lakmal 9-0-49-1, Mathews 6-0-15-1, Lanka to 36-3 before Ajmal tight- power-play. Lanka to 225 all out in 48.5 overs started off well with three bound- Total: (all out; 48.5 overs) ...... 225 Senanayake 10-0-49-0, Vithanage 1-0-10-0, ened the screws at the end of the Ajmal then bowled Nuwan with Ajmal (4-39) and paceman aries in Nuwan Kulasekara’s third Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-22, 3-36, 4-125, Dilshan 3.1-0-25-0, Priyanjan 1-0-5-0 innings. Kulasekara (one), trapped a Umar Gul (3-37) sharing the over while Hafeez matched his 5-165, 6-170, 7-210, 8-210, 9-225, 10-225 Result: Pakistan won by eight wickets Ashan Priyanjan fought hard dangerous looking Mathews and spoils. partner with as many boundaries during his 93-ball 74, which Sachitra Senanayake (nought). Hafeez, who hit hundreds in in Suranga Lakmal’s seventh. ineffective. Maqsood and Hafeez performance by the team,” said included ten boundaries, to Kithuruwan Vithanage chipped Pakistan’s two wins in the first The stand set up victory and shared an unbroken 111-run stand Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq. register the highest score for a in with a useful 27 before he and third matches in Sharjah, even after Shehzad’s dismissal, for the third wicket. “A series win gives us more one-day debutant for Sri Lanka, became one of Junaid’s two pushed Tillakaratne Dilshan for caught in the slips off Lakmal, This becomes Pakistan’s sev- confidence and delight. I think beating Chamara Silva’s 55 made wickets. his 12th boundary to complete Pakistan wiped off the target with enth one-day series win in the Gul set the tone right from the against Australia in Colombo in After the conclusion of the three figures, raising his bat and consummate ease. year -- their best-ever in a cal- start, getting wickets with the 1999. one-day series, Pakistan and Sri blowing a kiss to his wife in the Shehzad hit five boundaries endar year, beating the six series new ball, and everyone else is Priyanjan shared two use- Lanka will play three Tests, start- stands. during his 56-ball knock as Sri win record achieved in 2011. really bowling and batting well.” ful stands of 89 with Kumar ing in Abu Dhabi on December 31. Hafeez became the sixth Lanka’s bowlers were rendered “It was a really pleasing Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Sangakkara (51) for the fourth AFP