Hashem Questions Interior Minister Amid Crackdown
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SUBSCRIPTION THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2013 RAJAB 27, 1434 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Workers’ rights Sharapova pose challenge survives to21 Gulf boom horror20 Hashem questions Interior Max 43º Minister amid crackdown Min 29º High Tide 08:31 & 21:46 MP Khorafi questions airline deal, warns of Dow-like loss Low Tide 02:10 & 15:25 40 PAGES NO: 15831 150 FILS conspiracy theories Salute you, Safa! By Badrya Darwish [email protected] salute you, Safa Al-Hashem! Safa, you are the only MP who spoke out and inquired and questioned Ithe Ministry of Interior about what is happening in Kuwait regarding the deportations and detentions KUWAIT: Cars pass through a police checkpoint on Sahafa Street in Shuwaikh yesterday. — Photos by Joseph Shagra of expats. So far I have been waiting for one Member By B Izzak for not carrying a legal residence permit and what taken against them. She inquired about the nationality of Parliament to comment and utter a word and ask measures the ministry intends to take against those vio- of most of the illegals. a small question. Everyone was silent on the topic as KUWAIT: MP Safa Al-Hashem yesterday sent a series of lators. The Interior Ministry has been launching campaigns if nothing is happening in Kuwait. As if there are no questions to Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al- She also inquired about who pays the air fare for the against expatriates staying illegally in the country police checkpoints in every corner pulling over cars Humoud Al-Sabah about illegal expatriates who have violators when they are deported and for how long the alongside another campaign to apprehend traffic and passersby at random. been rounded up for violating residence rules, saying violators wait until they are sent back home. The law- offenders. The campaigns are believed to have netted Bless her, Safa questioned the minister. She asked that security officers have arrested “thousands” of for- maker also asked about the identity of the Kuwaiti thousands of expatriates amid reports that deportation what was on my mind to ask him. She asked about eigners. The lawmaker asked the Interior Minister for sponsors of the residence violators - whether they are centers are overcrowded with foreigners waiting to be the exact number of deported illegal citizens and the precise number of expatriates arrested up to date individuals or companies and what measures will be Continued on Page 15 about their nationalities. However, the most impor- tant question she raised is if there will be any pun- ishment for the kafeels who brought these people into the country. Also, she wanted to know if these Saudi bans Viber are individuals or companies. RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s telecom regulator has banned I would like to add more - that we are receiving use of the web-based communication application many calls and messages through friends that the Viber, which is hard for the state to monitor and detention centre is overcrowded and they are look- deprives licensed telecom companies of revenue from ing at even opening a new one. We have been flood- international calls and texts. “The Viber application ed by readers’ emails that their friends or relatives has been suspended ... and the (regulator) affirms it are detained in crowded detention places. will take appropriate action against any other applica- I have a question: Does the police have the right tions or services if they fail to comply with regulatory to check the mobile phone of a person they have requirements and rules in force in the kingdom,” the detained? I am asking this question because it came Communications and to my knowledge that if they detain somebody, they Information Technology take his mobile phone and check it. There are excus- Commission (CITC) said in a es like why you have Viber and Skype apps? They tell statement on its website. the arrestee that this is illegal. By law, when some- Viber allows subscribers body is suspected and locked up, his personal to make free calls, send belongings are kept. Or is it here the story that if instant messages and share someone is Asian, they get curious about his person- files over the internet. CITC al communication. You are there to do a job, so do it did not explain what regula- ethically and professionally. tory requirements and rules Do not start downgrading people. There is a dif- it breached, but the king- ference between humiliation and flexing your mus- dom appears to be pushing for greater control over cles at poor laborers. They do not live in luxury villas. cyberspace as Internet and smart phone usage soars. Many of them I am sure hardly got paid for the last Attempts to use Viber on two different smart- few months. Many of them have been harassed by phones and to download it onto a computer in Saudi their sponsor who takes their passport on arrival and Arabia failed to work yesterday. A message on the gives them a salary at his whim, if at all. They work Viber website explained the service had been banned for weeks on end without a day off and live in poor in Saudi Arabia. The regulator issued a vaguely word- conditions. ed directive in March warning that such tools as Viber, I am not in support of illegal residency or any ille- Whatsapp and Skype broke local laws, without speci- gal matters. But there are decent ways to apply the fying how. law which suits our beautiful and great constitution. Local media reported at the time that Saudi Above all, it suits our beautiful Islamic shariah laws Arabia’s three main operators Saudi Telecom Co, and the manners of our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) and Zain Saudi had been Have a nice weekend and a nice Israa wal Me’raj! Continued on Page 15 Hezbollah-backed troops oust rebels from Qusair Rebels face ‘surrender or death’ QUSAIR: Syrian government forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies seized control of the border town of Qusair yesterday, dealing a major defeat to rebel fighters battling to overthrow President Bashar Al-Assad. Two weeks of heavy fighting reduced many build- ings to mounds of twisted concrete, whole blocks flattened by shelling, with glass and rubble littering the streets as tired but delighted Syrian soldiers gathered at the bul- let-riddled clock tower. “We will not hesitate to crush with an iron fist those who attack us. ... Their fate is surren- der or death,” the Syrian armed forces com- mand said in statement. “We will continue our string of victories until we regain every inch of Syrian land.” An opposition group from the town said more than 500 rebels had died in two weeks of fighting, with a further 1,000 wounded, leaving just 400 outgunned QUSAIR: A picture shows the bodies of rebel fighters laying in a men struggling to hold onto the town. southwest neighborhood of the Syrian city of Qusair. — AFP Continued on Page 15 THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2013 LOCAL Amir honors winners of Kuwait e-Award KUWAIT: Under the auspices and attendance Shihab-Eldin delivered a speech praising His tor. Kuwait e-Award focused on global stan- support led to praise from the World Summit Sabah Al-Ahmad Center for Giftedness and of HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al- Highness the Amir for his sponsorship of the dards to achieve the country’s development for Information Service (WSIS), affirmed Dr Creativity, the Scientific Center, and Dasman Jaber Al-Sabah, an event was held at Bayan award since its inspection in 2008, affirming goals, said Dr Adnan, noting that an agree- Adnan. The Director also lauded His Highness Diabetes Institute. Palace to honor the winners of the third and that the event had led Kuwaiti youth to uti- ment was signed with the World Summit the Amir’s gesture to honor former Director Dr. Adnan revealed that an agreement was fourth editions of Kuwait Foundation for the lize their potentials to create and develop Award (WSA), part of the UN-Global Alliance of KFAS, the late Dr. Adnan Al-Aqaeel, saying signed between KFAS and the Health Ministry Advancement of Sciences’ (KFAS) e-Award. within the context of Information Technology for Information and Communication that such sentiment reflected Sheikh Sabah’s early Tuesday to support operations at the The celebration was also attended by HH (IT). Technologies and Development (UN-GAID), strong desire to honor those who helped in Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah molecular the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al- Using the latest communication devices to ensure that e-Award was up to such stan- the development of society and the youth. imaging center, an institute dedicated to Jaber Al-Sabah, Deputy Minister of the Amiri and software will impact people’s social and dards. Under the guidance of His Highness the Amir, diagnosing cancerous and cardiovascular dis- Diwan Affairs Sheikh Ali Jarah Al-Sabah, and economic development; however, the same Dr Adnan stressed that the e-Awards KFAS will continue to serve society, said Dr eases. After the conclusion of the speech, His senior state officials. After the opening cere- technologies could be used in a negative would have not been a success without the Adnan who added that the foundation cur- Highness the Amir proceeded to honor the mony, KFAS Director General Dr Adnan manner leading to regression, said the direc- involvement of the Kuwaiti leadership. Such rent objectives were to technically support winners of the Kuwait e-Award.—KUNA Interior honors three Electricity consumption KUWAIT: The director of specialized Lt Colonel Waleed Al-Khalfan. training, Colonel Mishaal Mohammad Al- Zabi, has honored three personswho Border tour reaches alarming level proved themselves as outstanding and Wafra Area Commander Colonel Salem ideal in their work.