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FRIDAY Vol. XXXVII No. 10157 July 22, 2016 Shawwal 17, 1437 AH

GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals Emir meets outgoing Cuban envoy

In brief Qatar ‘most active’ in QATAR | Offi cial Emir congratulates new British PM HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin debt capital Hamad al-Thani received yesterday a phone call from UK Prime Minister Theresa May. HH the Emir congratulated May on her election as prime minister, wishing her every success. During the phone call, they reviewed the bilateral relations markets between the two friendly countries and ways to enhance them, and atar was the “most active” Equity capital markets underwrit- discussed regional and international nation in the Middle East ac- ing declined 77% compared to last developments. Qcounting for 41% of overall year, while debt capital markets fees activity in the debt capital markets, a totalled $63.7mn, up 48% from 2015. report has shown. As for M&A deals, outbound M&A QATAR | Humanitarian Acquisitions by companies based in activity fell 22% from fi rst half 2015 Payment for Gaza Qatar accounted for 31% of the Middle to reach $9.2bn, the lowest fi rst half Eastern outbound mergers and acqui- total since 2014. Overseas acquisi- employees’ salaries sition (M&A) activity, Thomson Reu- tions from Saudi Arabia accounted HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin ters / Freeman Consulting said. for 42% of Middle Eastern outbound Hamad al-Thani has directed the But outbound M&A activity in the M&A activity, while acquisitions by payment of Gaza Strip employees’ region fell 22% from fi rst half of 2015 companies based in Qatar and United salaries, totalling QR113mn, for the to reach $9.2bn, the lowest fi rst half Arab Emirates accounted for 31% and current Islamic month of Shawwal. total since 2014, it said. 11%, respectively. Domestic and in- HH the Emir is keen on alleviating Middle Eastern debt issuance ter-Middle Eastern M&A decreased the suff ering of brethren in the Strip reached $32.9bn during the fi rst six 22% year-on-year to $6.1bn. Inbound and the severe financial distress months of this year, it said. M&A fell 76% to $809.8mn, a seven- they are facing due to the unjust The report showed that Mid- year low. siege imposed by the Israeli HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani met in his off ice at Al Bahar Palace yesterday with Cuban ambassador Ernesto dle Eastern investment banking fees Technology was the most active occupation on them. Daniel Plasencia Escalante, who called on HH the Emir to greet him on the occasion of the end of his tenure in Qatar. During reached $416.8mn during H1, 2016, an sector, accounting for 22% of Middle the meeting, HH the Emir presented the outgoing ambassador with the Sash of Merit in recognition of his role in enhancing 8% increase compared to fees record- Eastern involvement M&A. The larg- ties between the State of Qatar and his country, wishing him every success in his future assignments and for the bilateral ed during the fi rst six months of 2015 est deal with Middle Eastern involve- REGION | Crackdown relations further progress and prosperity. The ambassador expressed his thanks and appreciation to HH the Emir and Qatari and the strongest period for invest- ment during the half was the $3.5bn Terrorist group off icials for the co-operation he received which contributed to the success of his mission. ment banking fees in the region since investment in United States-based 2014. Uber Technologies by Saudi Arabia’s arrested in Bahrain Nadim Najjar, managing direc- Public Investment Fund. As part of the Bahrain Interior tor (Mena) at Thomson Reuters, JP Morgan, which advised Uber Ministry’s counterterrorism said: “The value of announced M&A Technologies, topped the fi rst half programme, police seized bomb- transactions with any Middle East- 2016 announced any Middle East- making materials and weapons ern involvement reached $18.7bn ern involvement M&A league table. after arresting five individuals on during the first half of 2016, a de- Jones Lang LaSalle and CBRE Hold- terrorist charges. The investigation Thousands march cline of 29% compared to the first ing, which advised BlackRock on the revealed that they had planned half of 2015 and the slowest first six $2.5bn sale of its Asia Square Tower to bombings in more than one location months for deal making in the region Qatar Investment Authority, ranked in Bahrain. The arrested individuals since 2014.” second and third respectively. were found to have turned their “Middle Eastern equity and equity- In respect of Equity Capital Mar- homes into additional storage across Istanbul bridge related issuance totalled $1.1bn during kets, six initial public off erings raised areas for bomb-making materials. the fi rst half of 2016, an 80% decline $379.7mn and accounted for 35% of They also confessed to receiving AFP from the fi rst half of 2015 and the fi rst half 2016 activity in the region. intensive military training at Iranian Istanbul slowest opening six-month period for As for Debt Capital Markets, Qa- Revolutionary Guard and Iraqi equity capital markets issuance since tar was the most active nation in the Hezbollah camps. 2004. Bolstered by a record-breaking Middle East accounting for 41% of housands of Turkish govern- second quarter, Middle Eastern debt overall activity, followed by United ment supporters yesterday issuance reached $32.9bn during the Arab Emirates and Oman. Inter- REGION | Security Tstreamed across one of the two fi rst half of 2016, a 45% increase com- national Islamic debt issuance in- ‘Potential’ threat to US bridges spanning the Bosphorus Strait pared to the value raised during the creased 10% year-on-year to reach in Istanbul to protest against the coup fi rst half of 2015 and the strongest fi rst $19.4bn during the first half of 2016, citizens in Saudi that sought to unseat President Recep half for DCM issuance since records the largest first half for issuance since The US State Department yesterday Tayyip Erdogan one week ago. began in 1980,” he added. records began. warned US citizens of “a potential The Bosphorus Bridge between the imminent threat” in and around the Asian and European sides of Istanbul Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah. was one of the key battlegrounds in “The United States Embassy has Friday night’s coup attempt, as rebel received reports of a potential soldiers descended in tanks to block it imminent threat against US citizens to traffi c only to be countered by pro- in areas of Jeddah frequented testers who descended in force. by Westerners, such as markets, Responding to a call by Erdogan not Jazeera to launch restaurants and shopping malls, to stop protests against the coup, his among others,” the statement read. supporters fi lled the massive struc- ture to denounce the putsch less than a week after it was beaten, AFP corre- English digital ARAB WORLD | Confl ict spondents said. 48-hour ultimatum to Many carrying lit torches, they carried nationalist signs like “Our IS to leave Manbij fl ag, our nation” and brandished slo- streaming in US US-backed fighters yesterday gave gans denouncing the US-based cleric the Islamic State group 48 hours to Fethullah Gulen who Ankara blames Reuters Jazeera English and director of pro- leave the battleground Syrian town for the coup. Doha grammes. of Manbij. The 48-hour ultimatum They marched from the district of “I am pleased to be able to say that, was issued by the Arab-Kurdish Kisikli on the Asian side – where Er- all going well, AJE will be available in Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), dogan has a home and regularly spoke l Jazeera Media Network is pre- the USA, across digital platforms, in which is fighting IS with coalition air to supporters in the aftermath of the paring to make its English lan- September,” the e-mail stated. support. The force has been waging coup – to the European side of the Aguage international news chan- “The exact date will be fixed once a major campaign since June to oust city. nel video content digitally available to we get the green light from our Le- IS from Manbij, in Aleppo province, As a result, the bridge was closed US viewers again, according to a July 21 gal team, who have been conclud- with US-led air support. Page 4 to traffi c from 1900 GMT and instead e-mail sent to employees obtained by ing deals with the cable carriers of fi lled with a sea of people. Reuters. AJAM.” Erdogan has repeatedly said that The move comes almost three The memo did not specify which ca- AMERICA | Politics despite the defeat of the coup, people months after it shut down its US cable ble carriers. Republicans divided must stay out on the streets to ensure television network, Al Jazeera America, “We won’t comment on internal there is no repeat of the attempt to citing economic challenges in the US memos that are informal and not de- ahead of Trump speech oust the government. media market. fi nitive,” said Hasan Salim Patel, a A defiant Ted Cruz said yesterday Meanwhile, Erdogan has declared a Al Jazeera English reaches more than spokesman for Al Jazeera Media Net- he refused to be Donald Trump’s three-month state of emergency from 305mn households in over 160 coun- work. “servile puppy dog,” further yesterday, saying it was needed to tries. But US viewers could not access Qatar-based Al Jazeera Media Net- exposing Republican rifts just as hunt down the “terrorists” behind last its live stream coverage. work shut down Al Jazeera America on Trump seeks to unite the party week’s attempted coup. Al Jazeera English is in talks with April 30, three years after its high pro- and rally Americans behind his Ankara said it would also suspend cable carriers that carried the now fi le launch. unconventional White House bid. the European Convention on Human defunct Al Jazeera America to make At the time, the company said it Cruz was booed by delegates at the Rights, pointing out that France had its live video stream available in the would expand its international digital party’s convention in Cleveland on taken similar action and declared a US starting in September, accord- service in the US as more consumers Wednesday night when he refused state of emergency after militant at- Pro-government demonstrators march over the Bosphorus Bridge, from the Asian ing to the e-mail from Giles Tren- use their mobile devices such as smart- to endorse Trump. Page 6 tacks. to the European side of Istanbul yesterday. dle, acting managing director of Al phones and tablets for news. Gulf Times 2 Friday, July 22, 2016 QATAR

Message from Sudanese president Emir meets ambassador of Panama In brief

Qatari leaders send National Day greetings

HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, HH the Deputy Emir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al-Thani and HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani have sent cables of congratulations to King Philip of Belgium on his country’s National Day. Qatar-Djibouti HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has received a written message from Sudan’s HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani met the outgoing ambassador of Panama to Qatar, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir inviting him to attend the celebration of the completion of the Luis Enrique Martinez, at Al Bahar palace yesterday. The Emir wished the outgoing ambassador ties discussed enforcement of Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD)’s articles. The message was handed success in his future assignments and further progress in the bilateral relations between Qatar over by Sudanese President Off ice Director Lt Gen Taha Osman al-Hussein during a meeting with and Panama. The ambassador thanked the Emir and the off icials in Qatar for the co-operation he HE the Minister of State for the Emir at Al Bahar palace yesterday. received during his tenure. Foreign Aff airs Sultan bin Saad al-Muraikhi met the Minister of Islamic Aff airs, Endowments and Culture of Djibouti Momin Hassan Barre in Doha yesterday. During the meeting, they discussed bilateral relations between Qatar and Djibouti and More Qataris likely ways of enhancing prospects for co-operation, in addition to issues of common concern. The Shops expect to meet meeting was attended by off icials to travel to Thailand, at the Foreign Ministry. Minister of State target despite low sale Malaysia, Singapore meets envoys HE the Minister of State for By Joey Aguilar many residents are replacing shops that off er android-pow- erating at a major mall disclosed By Joey Aguilar have travelled to Thailand this Foreign Aff airs Sultan bin Saad Staff Reporter their old units with upgraded or ered devices also share the same that their sales after Eid slightly Staff Reporter summer (April until present) al-Muraikhi met with ambassador newly-released models. experience saying they give huge decreased but falls “within the ranged from 2,500 to 3,000 of the South Korea to Qatar Some people who are taking discounts to customers ranging allowed limit.” per month, slightly higher Park Heung-Kyeong, Japan’s everal electronic and mo- their vacation back home buy between QR200 and QR600, es- He believes that people will ome tour agencies in than the figures for the same ambassador to Qatar Shingo bile phone shops in Qatar new handsets as gifts to their pecially on new models. continue to buy new mobile Doha expect the number period last year. Qataris can Tsuda and Charge d’Aff aires of Shave recorded a decrease families or relatives and friends. “The huge sales from Ram- phones saying such items have Sof Qataris travelling to enter Thailand without a visa the US embassy in Qatar, Ryan in sales after the Eid al-Fitr According to the manager, adan up to Eid compensate the become a necessity nowadays. three Southeast Asian coun- and stay for up to 30 days, an Gliha. holidays but they expect to meet many of their branches exceed- decline or slowdown during the According to the staff , they tries to further increase in the official said. Talks during the meeting dealt monthly targets, it is learnt. ed their sales targets during the holidays,” said an employee of have also seen an increase in future. An employee of a leading with bilateral relations and Speaking to Gulf Times, a shop holy month, particularly a few another shop, which also sells sales of smartphones after a Speaking to Gulf Times, an travel agency in Doha stressed means of enhancing them and supervisor assigned at a major days before the Eid al-Fitr holi- other electronic devices and ap- number of online and interactive agent said a number of citi- that the three Southeast Asian promoting prospects for co- mall in Doha said sales normally days. pliances. games such as the ‘Pokemon Go’ zens had made bookings to countries are considered safe operation, in addition to issues of slows down during this time of He added that they take the “Also, it is very diffi cult to have become popular in Qatar. Thailand, Malaysia and Sin- destinations with modern tour- common concern. the year because a lot of resi- opportunity of enticing as many sell items during summer even However, he also admit- gapore from April up to the ism infrastructure. The meeting was attended by a dents travel out of the country to customers as possible to buy if you have some promotions,” ted that the rising competition last week of Ramadan, for number of off icials at the Foreign take a break abroad. mobile phones, accessories, and he added. “What we do is to of- due to the increasing number of travel during the Eid and “Many Qataris have been Ministry. “For iOS products, our shop other electronic devices during fer them during the peak season sellers poses a big challenge in summer holidays. going to these destinations and almost all our branches in the peak season. where people allot more budget meeting their sales targets. The agency received book- for their vacations over Chief of Staff meets Doha meet our targets due to It is learnt that many shops, for such items.” He said they are trying to fi nd ings for these places from the past few years and the the steady fl ow of customers, as well as major hypermarkets, While the shop ended its pro- ways how to compete with big regular as well as new Qatari numbers are increasing Pakistani off icial including the regular ones. We launch their promotions and motions after the Eid holidays, businesses, hypermarkets, and customers, he said. “Many Qa- every year” are confi dent that we can hit our special off ers during Ramadan he said they now have special of- chains of stores, which can off er taris have been going to these HE the Chief of Staff of the Qatari target for this month,” he noted. and Eid to anticipate the low fers for other items such as tel- lower prices and launch a series destinations for their vacations “They have direct daily fl ights Armed Forces Major General During Ramadan, he said the sales in summer. evision and entertainment sets. of promotions. over the past few years and the to Doha via Qatar Airways, which Ghanem bin Shaheen al-Ghanem demand is usually high since Like exclusive iOS sellers, A staff of another outlet op- numbers are increasing every is very convenient for Qataris,” met Rear Admiral Mohamed year,” he noted. he said. “Qatar Airways fl ies di- Irfan Tej, Military Attache at the The travel agent stressed that rect to popular Thai destinations Embassy of Pakistan to Qatar, each of the three countries has such as Phuket, for example.” on the occasion of assuming his its own unique tourism off erings Since the three countries are duties. besides the availability of halal well-connected, he added that Talks during the meeting dealt food at many hotels and restau- Qataris usually stay in Thailand with issues of common interest Pakistan embassy in Qatar rants. before going to Malaysia and in the military fields between Thailand has beautiful beach- Singapore and then heading back Qatar and Pakistan and means of es, spas and high-class medical to Doha. enhancing them. facilities available at reasonable Many Qataris also find it rates while Malaysia is known practical to spend their va- Tunisian FM meets observes ‘Kashmir Black Day’ to be a Muslim-friendly desti- cation with their families in Qatari envoy nation, according to the travel these countries since the cost agent. of travel, especially for food By Umer Nangiana A popular place for conven- and accommodation, is gener- Tunisian Minister of Foreign Staff Reporter tions, business events and lux- ally lower than in Europe, it is Aff airs Khemaies Jhinaoui ury hospitality, Singapore has learnt. has met Qatar’s ambassador been attracting many business “We hope them to also ex- Abdullah bin Nasser al-Hamidi. n the wake of recent killings tourists from various countries, plore countries like Indonesia, During the meeting, they of civilians in violent protests including Qatar and the UAE, it Vietnam, Cambodia, as well as discussed ways of enhancing Iin Kashmir after the death of is found. Hong Kong and Macau, which bilateral relations and mutual a local rebel leader Burhan Wani, The Thai embassy in Doha also have unique and enticing co-operation between the two the Pakistani embassy observed told Gulf Times that the tourism off erings,” the employee brotherly countries, as well as ‘Kashmir Black Day’ in Doha on number of Qatari tourists who said. issues of common concern. Wednesday. Speaking at the programme, attended by members of Paki- stani and Kashmiri community, the ambassador of Pakistan Shahzad Ahmad said Pakistan has always supported the right of ‘Weekday woes continue’ self-determination of Kashmiris and will continue to do so. “On this occasion, I would like to stress that the government of Pakistan will on every occasion for multiplexes in Qatar and every forum raise its voice in support of our Kashmiri broth- ers,” said Ahmad. Ambassador of Pakistan Shahzad Ahmad speaking at the programme. By Ramesh Mathew He noted that the perform- er option was having partner- In the aftermath of the killing of Staff Reporter ance of even some major fi lms, ships between diff erent outlets Wani by the Indian Security Forc- which became huge hits globally at malls, such as eateries, and es, he told the audience that the or in particular regions, was dis- the multiplexes. People buying a situation in Indian administered ow footfall at cinemas on appointing at the halls run by his movie ticket can be given a dis- Kashmir has deteriorated not only weekdays has prompted company. count coupon for any of these from a human rights perspective Lsome worried multi- outlets and vice-versa, he noted. but also with regards to freedom plex operators to look for novel “There is no other way “Such synergies can help bring of information and restrictions methods to attract audiences, it to boost revenues than more spectators.” placed on the local media. is learnt. to have innovative and Meanwhile, a fi lm-goer said “Today’s gathering is to raise Entrepreneurs running busi- eff ective packages and it became apparent from his re- awareness of the plight of the nesses in malls where some of off ers for customers” cent visits to some cinemas that Kashmiris in Indian Occupied the cinemas are housed have also patronage was not encouraging, Kashmir. As a result of excessive stressed the need for such meas- There were only a handful of especially on weekdays. and indiscriminate force at least ures. spectators at some of the shows, Speaking to Gulf Times, a mall 40 civilians have been killed and Interactions with the cinema he rued, adding that the situa- offi cial said many people were several others injured. Many of operators over the past few days tion was even worse for smaller not aware that the place had a the injured have lost their eye- show that they are concerned fi lms. multiplex. Better awareness may sight due to use of pellet guns,” over “less-than-impressive rev- A jeweller who runs a show- lead to a rise in the number of added the ambassador. enues due to poor patronage” at room in a mall that houses a customers, he added. He said there were reports of several halls. multiplex feels the hall op- Several multiplex screens are Indian forces harassing hospital A senior offi cial of a company erators should launch attrac- under construction and Qatar staff , doctors and paramedics The programme was attended by members of Pakistani and Kashmiri community. that runs more than a dozen tive schemes to draw groups of is expected to have around 200 and dissuading them from treat- screens in Doha acknowledged viewers such as schoolchildren, screens across 23 locations in the ing the injured. ter on Foreign Aff airs, Pakistan “Indian Occupied Kashmir,” said mitments towards the people of the need for special off ers and youths and employees of com- coming years. The ambassador said that the has written letters to the UN Ahmad. Jammu & Kashmir under the UN promotions, especially on week- panies with a large workforce. While the situation has been government and people of Pa- Secretary General, the President He called for a fair and trans- Security Council resolutions. days. “Such groups could be given bleak for many of the existing kistan have continued to take a of the UN Security Council, the parent inquiry against the in- Dr Azhar Iqbal Qureshi, an “There is no other way to discounts for group bookings,” multiplexes, some continue to principled stance on the matter Secretary General of the OIC and dividuals responsible for the active volunteer for the rights boost revenues than to have in- he said, adding that such off ers draw reasonably big crowds due in line with the aspirations of the the UN High Commissioner for deaths. He also urged the inter- of Kashmiris and Chairman of novative and eff ective packages would help attract more cus- to their location and popular- Kashmiri people. Human Rights to express seri- national community, particu- Sohni Dharti Al Khor Commu- and off ers for customers,” he tomers. ity of the malls where they are “Adviser to the Prime Minis- ous concern over the situation in larly the P-5, to fulfi l their com- nity, Rana Anwar Ali also spoke. said. The entrepreneur said anoth- housed. Gulf Times Friday, July 22, 2016 3 REGION/ARAB WORLD

Standing united Saudi denies issuing new fatwa against Pokemon

Reuters Dubai

audi Arabia yesterday denied that the king- dom’s top clerical body had renewed a S15-year-old edict declaring that the Poke- mon game was un-Islamic. Saudi media reports had said on Wednesday the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Reli- gious Scholars had revived a 2001 decree against a Pokemon card game in response to queries from Muslims, although it made no mention of the new Pokemon GO mobile game. Users of the game walk around their real-life neighbourhoods in search of scores of “pocket monsters”, which emerge superimposed on the phone screen via its camera. The 2001 fatwa said the card game contained elements prohibited by Islamic law such as gam- bling. However, Saudi authorities said yesterday that the social media reports were unfounded. “The Council of Senior Religious Scholars de- nied that it issued a new fatwa about the Pokemon game, and the media reports of that are not ac- curate,” said Abdulmohsen Alyas, undersecretary for international communication and media at the Ministry of Culture and Information. “We ask international media to call the ministry to verify information for their reports.” On its Twitter account, the Council said no fatwa had been issued for the new Pokemon game. Authorities in Kuwait and Egypt have already warned that Pokemon players might be tempted to point their smartphones at restricted locations such as royal palaces, mosques, oil facilities or military bases. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir arrives for the “Meeting of the Ministers of the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL: Joint Plenary Session” at the State Department in Washington yesterday. Date fiesta Kuwait ultimatum ups ante in Yemen parleys

AFP sides taking part in the talks to re- last for two weeks and warned that They would also deal with “form- pied since 2014, including the capi- Kuwait City solve all the issues,” Kuwait’s deputy they may be Yemen’s last chance for ing the military committees that tal Sanaa, and to hand over heavy foreign minister Khaled al-Jarallah peace. will supervise the withdrawal and weapons. told Dubai-based Al-Arabiya news “It’s time for decisive decisions handover of weapons... The government wants to re-es- uwait, which is hosting trou- channel late on Wednesday. that will prove your true intentions and opening safe passages for hu- tablish its authority across the en- bled Yemen peace talks, has “If matters are not resolved and national responsibilities to manitarian aid,” he said. tire country, much of which is con- Kissued an ultimatum to the within the 15 days, we have hosted Yemenis,” he told a meeting of the But the two-week deadline by the trolled by the rebels. warring parties to strike a deal with- them enough and consequently our two delegations. United Nations angered the Houthis More than 6,400 people have in 15 days or leave the Gulf state. brothers have to excuse us if we can- The envoy said the discussions who reiterated their demands for a been killed in Yemen since a Saudi- Three months of UN-brokered not continue hosting” the talks, Jar- between the Huthis and their al- national unity government ahead of led coalition intervened in support talks in Kuwait have failed to make allah said in Brussels. lies on one side and the government any other solution. of Hadi’s government in March last headway with the Iran-backed The talks resumed in Kuwait on of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour The government is calling for im- year. Houthi rebels and the government, Saturday after a 15-day break. Hadi on the other would focus on plementation of UN Security Coun- Another 2.8mn people have been supported by a Saudi-led coalition, UN special envoy Ismail Ould strengthening a ceasefi re that came cil Resolution 2216 which requires displaced and more than 80% of the both holding fi rm to their positions. Cheikh Ahmed had said on Satur- into eff ect on April 11 but which has the rebels and their allies to with- population urgently needs humani- “We have given 15 days for Yemeni day that the negotiations would been repeatedly violated. draw from areas they have occu- tarian aid, according to UN fi gures.

Kuwaiti court upholds death sentence for Iran spy cell

Reuters has denied any links to the alleged cell. a vast cache of guns and explosives. sentenced to death in January along originally received 15-year prison An Emirati woman carries a basket of dates Kuwait City Kuwait and some other Gulf Arab Kuwait charged 25 of its nationals with the Iranian citizen charged in terms and reduced the sentences during the annual Liwa Date Festival in countries have long accused Tehran — all of them Shias — and an Iranian absentia. Citing his “fugitive” sta- of nine others or lessened them to the western region of Liwa, south of Abu of seeking to weaken them by infi l- with spying for Iran and Lebanese tus, the court yesterday gave no rul- fi nes. Dhabi. There are five types of dates grown Kuwaiti appeals court yester- trating local Shia communities and Shia group Hezbollah. ing on the Iranian defendant. Zaid Khalaf Anzi, the lawyer for in the UAE which will be displayed over day upheld the death sentence stirring up local politics. Of those charged, 23 were found Iran has said Kuwaiti authorities the men whose sentences were re- the coming days at the festival with judges Aof a man convicted of spying The so-called “Abdali cell” was guilty of various crimes including in- have not contacted it regarding the duced, told Reuters that the court checking the quality of the dates and later for Iran as part of a cell which Kuwait uncovered when security forces tent to carry out “hostile acts” against Iranian suspect. had removed the charge of “collabo- visiting the date farms before a final said was trying to destabilise the Gulf raided a farmhouse in Abdali out- Kuwait and possessing weapons. The court also ruled as “not rating with Iran and Hezbollah” but winner is chosen. Arab state on behalf of Tehran. Iran side Kuwait City last year and found Hassan Abdul Hadi Hajiya was guilty” ten defendants who had had maintained weapons charges. UAE tycoon named in billion-dollar US lawsuits

By Stanley Carvalho, Reuters string of management positions Civil suits filed in US fed- Van Gogh paintings, and a Bom- ing stakes in German carmaker ment for Abu Dhabi when big Abu Dhabi and board memberships at other eral court on Wednesday aim to bardier jet. Daimler AG, space tourism fi rm losses at 1MDB were disclosed in companies around the UAE and seize over $1bn in assets which Born in 1971, Qubaisi attended Virgin Galactic, and Spain’s Ban- early 2015. the region. US prosecutors say were tied to high school in Abu Dhabi and co Santander. IPIC is now trying to claw back he rise and fall of Abu Neither Qubaisi nor the com- money stolen from Malaysian studied at a UAE university, ob- Qubaisi raised IPIC’s interna- its money; last month it claimed Dhabi tycoon Khadem al- panies involved gave any public sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, taining a bachelor’s degree in tional profi le by publicising his $6.5bn from 1MDB and Malay- TQubaisi, named this week explanation for his departure, which established close ties economics in 1993, according to successes, and hit back at critics. sia’s government in a case which in US Justice Department law- and his current whereabouts are with IPIC during Qubaisi’s ten- people familiar with him. Questioned about his deals by it submitted to the London Court suits seeking to seize over $1bn in not publicly known. ure. In the same year he joined the a Reuters reporter two years ago, of International Arbitration. assets, illustrates the unpredict- Attempts by Reuters to con- Qubaisi and several other peo- Abu Dhabi Investment Authority he replied: “Remember, I am a Another Abu Dhabi state fund, ability of an opaque Gulf busi- tact him or his lawyers were un- ple and institutions named in the (ADIA), now one of the richest boxer. If anyone plays around Mubadala, said it would bolster ness world fuelled by huge sums successful, while IPIC declined suits, including another former sovereign funds in the world. with me, I can squash them like a IPIC’s fi nances by merging with of oil money. comment. Abu Dhabi executive, Moham- He rose to become a senior fi - mosquito.” it. In a few years, Qubaisi rose Some members of Abu Dhabi’s med Ahmed Badawy al-Hus- nancial analyst in ADIA’s North But after the global fi nancial Qubaisi, meanwhile, has been from obscurity to become one of business community believe he seiny, have not been charged with American equities department crisis hit the UAE in 2009, signs under investigation by UAE as the top executives in the United fell out of favour with top of- crimes. and in 2000 moved to IPIC as an of strain began to emerge in well as US authorities. Arab Emirates by taking the helm fi cials of the emirate because he But the suits allege Qubaisi re- investment manager. Qubaisi’s business empire. In April, fi nancial sources of International Petroleum In- became too fl amboyant, in a so- Al-Qubaisi ... embarrassment ceived proceeds from 2012 bond It was after he was appointed Aabar borrowed aggressively said the UAE central bank had vestment Co (IPIC), a state-run ciety where many of the richest sales by 1MDB “for his own per- IPIC’s managing director in May but then suff ered losses as in- told banks to freeze the assets of company investing some of Abu and most powerful people keep one executive who knew Qubaisi sonal benefi t”, violating the terms 2007 that Qubaisi engineered his vestments turned sour. Qubaisi and Husseiny and pro- Dhabi’s petrodollars. low profi les. told Reuters, speaking on condi- of his post as managing director most spectacular deals. Meanwhile, Qubaisi left IPIC vide information about their de- His fall was even faster. “He was bold, brazen, aggres- tion of anonymity because of the of IPIC. IPIC bought a majority stake in heavily exposed to 1MDB when posits and transactions. In April last year he was sive and to an extent an achiever, sensitivity of the matter. The US government is claim- Aabar Investments, a local hold- the Abu Dhabi company guar- The central bank and other abruptly replaced as managing but he was also fl ashy and fl am- “His fl amboyance was tolerated ing the right to seize assets in- ing company, and embarked on anteed $3.5bn of the Malaysian Abu Dhabi offi cials did not re- director of IPIC, and in subse- boyant, which was at variance until things got out of hand and it cluding luxury properties in New a string of high-profi le invest- fund’s bonds in 2012. spond to queries on the nature of quent months he resigned from a with the top brass of Abu Dhabi,” became an embarrassment.” York and California, Monet and ments across the globe, includ- This became an embarrass- the probe. Gulf Times 4 Friday, July 22, 2016 ARAB WORLD IS militants get ‘48 hours’ to quit Syria’s Manbij town

AFP 43 civilians killed in fresh bombardment: monitor Beirut At least 43 civilians, including 11 advanced to within firing range of children, were killed yesterday in the only remaining supply route S-backed fi ghters yester- bombardment of several rebel- into the east of the city. day gave the Islamic State held areas across Syria, the Syrian Since then, government forces Ugroup 48 hours to leave Observatory for Human Rights have seized part of the road, com- the battleground Syrian town of monitor said. pletely severing the east of the Manbij, after US-led air strikes The group said at least 13 peo- city from the outside world. nearby reportedly killed dozens ple, including three children, were The Observatory also reported Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends the graduation of 83 aviation and military science at the Air Force Academy in Cairo on of civilians. killed in government air strikes 15 civilians dead in air strikes Wednesday evening. The raids on Tuesday by the and shelling on the Eastern in the town of Tal Manas in the coalition fi ghting IS in Syria and Ghouta area outside the capital northwestern province of Idlib. Iraq have provoked an intense Damascus. But it was unable to confirm if backlash and local protests. Among the areas targeted was the strikes were carried out by the Syria’s opposition has urged Douma, where the central market Syrian government or its Russian the US-led coalition to suspend was hit, an AFP photographer ally. Sisi wants to ‘break deadlock’ its strikes, and international said. The monitor — which relies rights groups demanded a thor- Government bombardment on a network of sources inside ough investigation. also hit two neighbourhoods of Syria for its information — says it The Kurdish-Arab Syrian the rebel-held east of Aleppo determines what planes carried Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance city, where 15 people were killed, out raids according to their type, in Mideast peace process that issued the ultimatum said it among them six children, the location, flight patterns and the was intended to “protect civilian Observatory said. munitions involved. lives” in Manbij, a militant bas- Opposition-held neighbour- A key ally of the Syrian govern- AFP His remarks followed a trip The last round of Israeli-Pal- Palestinian President Mah- tion in Aleppo province. hoods of Aleppo have been eff ec- ment, Russia began carrying out Cairo by Egypt’s Foreign Minister estinian peace talks collapsed in moud Abbas has instead tried to The alliance has been fi ghting tively under siege for the past two air strikes in the country in late Sameh Shoukry to Israel earlier April 2014. put pressure on Israel through to oust IS from the town since weeks, after government forces September. this month, the fi rst such visit in In 1979, Egypt was the fi rst diplomacy at the UN. June, backed by heavy coalition gypt’s President Abdel nine years. Arab state to sign a peace treaty In June, representatives from air strikes. Fattah al-Sisi said yes- Sisi said in May that Egypt with Israel after years of con- 28 Arab and Western countries, “This initiative is the last re- village of Al-Tukhar near Manbij. the strikes, with a young boy hold- Eterday his country was was willing to take part in peace fl ict. It remains an infl uential the Arab League, European Un- maining chance for besieged Tens of thousands of civilians ing up a placard that read: “Our serious about pushing forward talks, saying there was a “real player in the region. ion and the United Nations met members of Daesh (IS) to leave remain in Manbij, according to children will tell God everything.” peace talks between Israel and opportunity” for an Israeli-Pal- However, ties between the in Paris to discuss ways push the town,” said the Manbij Mili- the Syrian Observatory for Hu- The raids drew international the Palestinians. estinian deal that could lead to countries have been cold over peace eff orts forward. tary Council, part of the SDF. man Rights, a Britain-based condemnation including from “Egypt’s recent serious eff ort warmer ties between his coun- Israel’s policies toward the Pal- Neither Israeli nor Palestin- “In order to protect civilian monitoring group. the UN’s children agency Unicef. aims to break the deadlock that try and Israel. estinians. ian representatives were invited lives and property and to protect The strikes produced one of “No matter where they are has hung over peace eff orts,” he Israeli Prime Minister Ben- Netanyahu has called on Pal- to attend the meeting, which the town from destruction we the highest reported civilian tolls in Syria or under whose control said in a speech broadcast live jamin Netanyahu, who met estinians to engage in direct aimed to prepare for a peace announce that we accept the ini- in bombardment by coalition they live — absolutely nothing on state TV. “It is a sincere ef- Shoukry during his visit, wel- negotiations with Israel, but conference by the end of the tiative under which besieged IS warplanes in Syria. justifi es attacks on children,” fort to make everyone face their comed Sisi’s off er. Palestinian leaders say years of year. members would leave with their Syrian activists online urged said Unicef’s Syria representa- responsibilities and warn of Shoukry also met Palestinian talks have not ended Israel’s oc- The Palestinians have wel- individual light weapons,” the people around the world to tive, Hanaa Singer. The agency the consequences of delays in leaders in the West Bank city of cupation of the West Bank and comed the French bid but Israel statement added. take to the streets to protest the said as many as 20 children may achieving peace,” he said. Ramallah. Gaza. strongly opposes the initiative. The initiative was fi rst fl oated deaths under the banner “Manbij have been killed in the strikes. last week by tribal leaders in Man- is being exterminated”. General Joe Votel, head of bij, an SDF commander told AFP. “We ask all Syrians, whatever US Central Command, said the “But we took this decision now their affi liations or sects, and all Manbij operation was a “very after IS used residents as human free people of the world and es- diffi cult fi ght” with IS jihadists shields, after the media pressure on pecially the people of Manbij to appearing in various locations. ‘Iraq domestic security must catch up to military gains’ us, and to protect whatever civilians stand in solidarity with our dev- “And so when it’s a dynamic are left in the town,” the commander astated city on Sunday, July 24,” situation like that... we have to said on condition of anonymity. wrote one page that publishes lo- respond. And I think that’s the ess than 10% of Iraqi terri- ing Fallujah late last month. tweeted from Washington before damage in Iraq’s towns and cities. The statement also urged ci- cal news about Manbij. situation in which we found this tory remains in the hands But a suicide bombing in a meeting of defence ministers The suicide bombing in cen- vilians to try to leave Manbij or Activists on the “Manbij particular” operation. Lof Islamic State, but bat- Baghdad less than a week after from the US-led coalition bat- tral Baghdad earlier this month, distance themselves from areas News” page called for protests in The Pentagon has acknowl- tlefi eld advances have not been Fallujah fell killed almost 300 tling the ultra-hardline militants. which killed at least 292 in one where clashes are taking place. several Turkish cities including edged 41 civilian deaths in its matched by better security in- people, and bombings since then At its peak, IS had captured of the worst such attacks since It follows an intense back- Istanbul and Gaziantep. There strikes in both Syria and Iraq side Iraq, the country’s defence have taken at least 51 more lives. somewhere between 30% and the US-led invasion in 2003, lash over the reported deaths on have already been protests in since 2014, but the Observatory minister said yesterday. “Progress in military per- 40% of Iraqi territory. was a “stark example” of that Tuesday of at least 56 civilians, some parts of Aleppo province. has reported more than 450 ci- Iraq is now mounting a cam- formance must be paired with The ground it holds has been failure, he said. including children, in US-led air Dozens gathered in rebel-held vilian killed in US-led raids in paign to retake Mosul, the de progress on the security fi le,” De- drastically reduced, but the mili- IS claimed responsibility for strikes while fl eeing the IS-held Azaz on Wednesday to condemn Syria alone. facto IS capital, after recaptur- fence Minister Khalid al-Obeidi tants can still infl ict tremendous the attack.

Libya slams France for not co-ordinating military presence

Reuters Tripoli

ibya’s UN-backed unity gov- ernment has said that France Ldid not co-ordinate with it over the presence of French troops in Libya and that it would not compro- mise on its sovereignty after France announced the deaths of three of its soldiers there. Special forces teams from coun- tries including France, Britain and the United States are on the ground in western and eastern Libya to fi ght Islamist militants. The French have been working alongside forces loyal to eastern Lib- yan commander Khalifa Haftar who have been battling Islamist militants and other opponents in Benghazi and elsewhere in the east. But Haftar has rejected the UN- backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, which is backed by major Western powers — including France. The GNA’s Presidential Council A fighter of forces allied with the UN-backed Libya government takes a break during a lull in a battle with IS fighters said in a statement released late on in Sirte. Wednesday that it had asked France for an explanation after President crash an accident, but Benghazi De- But the GNA has acted cautiously has openly backed the BDB, de- Francois Hollande announced the fence Brigades (BDB), an Islamist- and has so far failed to win formal scribed the French presence as an soldiers’ deaths during “dangerous leaning armed group fi ghting against endorsement from the east. “invasion”, which he called on all intelligence operations”. forces loyal to Haftar, claimed it had News of the French deaths Libyans to resist. “The Presidential Council express- shot the helicopter down. brought divisions to the surface, Western powers are hoping the es its deep discontent at the French A military spokesman from with demonstrations against the GNA can end the turmoil and con- presence in eastern Libya without co- Haftar’s forces in eastern Libya said French presence on Wednesday in flict that developed after Libyan ordination with the Council, which the French had died when their heli- the western city of Misrata and in leader Muammar Gaddafi was was declared by the government of copter came down south of Benghazi Tripoli. toppled in an uprising five years France,” said the statement from the on Sunday. Some of the demonstrators were ago. unity government. The GNA is meant to replace two people displaced from Benghazi by They have said they are ready to There could be “no compromise” competing governments that were Haftar’s campaign. help Libya tackle the threat from over Libyan sovereignty, the council set up in Tripoli and the east in 2014, Libya’s Grand Mufti Sadiq Gho- Islamic State, but the GNA says any said in the statement. both backed by rival alliances of ryani, a senior cleric who commands assistance must follow its own re- Hollande called the helicopter armed groups. some respect in western Libya and quest. Gulf Times Friday, July 22, 2016 5 AFRICA

Longer jail term sought for Zimbabwe to pay wages Pistorius

DPA Johannesburg due in July, next month Reuters Continued salary delays could edented attack on Mugabe. employees, will only receive of $8.3bn, of which $1.8bn is ar- policy and a plan for debt sus- outh Africa’s National Harare fuel political tensions in Zim- The head of the civil service their cheques on August 2. rears. tainability before it considered Prosecuting Authority babwe, which has been hit by union said she had just been in- Without balance of payments It owes $110mn to the Inter- disbursing funds. S(NPA) wants permission drought, a drop in mineral prices formed of the new pay dates. support or funding from its tra- national Monetary Fund (IMF), A senior Johannesburg-based to appeal the six-year prison imbabwe will pay July and chronic cash shortages – “The correct thing is to pay ditional Western backers, Harare $600mn to the African Devel- banker said private lenders sentence handed to athlete Os- salaries for the army on all factors behind protests this the workers within the month lives from hand to mouth, opment Bank and $900mn to would not be prepared to ar- car Pistorius for the murder of ZMonday, more than a week month against 92-year-old Mu- they have worked but we ap- spending 82% of its national the World Bank. range even short-term bridging his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, late, but teachers will only re- gabe. preciate that the period of delay budget on public sector salaries. The state-run Sunday Mail fi nance without IMF involve- describing it as “shockingly too ceive their wages next month, a Adding their voice to that has been reduced,” said Cecilia A “stay away” protest led by said Chinamasa had clinched a ment and cast-iron guarantees. lenient”. union offi cial said, as the gov- criticism, veterans of Zimba- Alexander of the Apex Council activist pastor Evan Mawarire deal with the African Export- “Afrexim is working really The double-amputee Olympic ernment grapples with an acute bwe’s 1970s liberation war con- union. shut down businesses, govern- Import Bank (Afrexim) and hard to get it going but the prob- sprinter fi red four shots at the currency shortage. demned “brutal attacks on free- Air force and army offi cers ment offi ces, schools and hos- US investment bank Lazard to lem is trust. There isn’t going model through a bathroom door President Robert Mugabe’s dom of expression” by Mugabe. – who are normally paid on the pitals for a day this month in the “mobilise” $1.1bn to clear at to be any new money without in his Pretoria home on February government is facing its big- “He has a lot to answer for 14th – will receive their dues on biggest act of defi ance against least some of the backlog, which strict criteria,” the banker said. 14, 2013. gest fi nancial squeeze since it the serious plight of the na- July 25, according to a govern- Mugabe in a decade. might open up more IMF fund- “There’s no way we would do it The six-year sentence “is dis- dumped its hyperinfl ation-hit tional economy. His distaste ment circular to unions. Finance Minister Patrick ing. without strong guarantees.” proportionate to the crime of currency in 2009 and adopted and disregard of divergent views Nurses and doctors will be Chinamasa fl ew to London this But the IMF last week said An industry source confi rmed murder committed ... shockingly the US dollar, and is struggling is unfathomable and must be paid on July 27 and the police on month to try to patch up rela- it was “far from a programme that Lazard was working with too lenient, and has accordingly to secure international fi nanc- stopped,” the national veterans July 29 but teachers, who make tions as part of a plan to re-ar- deal” and stressed it would need Afrexim but off ered no details of resulted in an injustice”, the NPA ing. association said in an unprec- up the largest number of state range Zimbabwe’s foreign debt to see an overhaul of economic progress. said in a statement yesterday. Judge Thokozile Masipa ini- tially sentenced Pistorius to fi ve years in prison for manslaugh- ter in October 2014, accepting his testimony that he mistook Prince Harry and Elton John speak out at Aids summit Steenkamp for an intruder. The Supreme Court of Appeal overturned her verdict in De- AFP “When my mother held the tion of leaders to step forward.” The star-studded event has cember, arguing that the athlete Durban hand of a man dying of Aids ... Prince Harry, 29, who arrived seen celebrities like Charlize knew his shots could kill some- no one would have imagined that in Durban after visiting his char- Theron and Queen Latifah cam- one. The court found him guilty just over a quarter of a century ity Sentebale that supports Aids paign for greater access to treat- of murder. ritain’s Prince Harry and later, treatment would exist that orphans in neighbouring Le- ment for people living with HIV. Masipa issued the new six- Sir Elton John shared a would see HIV-positive people sotho, was joined by singer and Antiretroviral drugs have al- year sentence on July 6, citing Bstage in South Africa yes- live full, healthy, loving lives,” he long-time activist Sir Elton John. lowed many suff erers to survive, “mitigating circumstances” for terday, warning that compla- said. John said it was the death of an but there are some 36.7mn peo- not adhering to South Africa’s cency threatened eff orts to defeat But he warned the world faced HIV-positive American teenager ple worldwide living with HIV/ 15-year minimum sentence for Aids and urging young people to “the risk of complacency” in in 1990 that helped him fi nd his Aids, mainly in sub-Saharan Af- murder. lead the fi ght. tackling the pandemic that has voice as an advocate and cam- rica. Pistorius had shown obvious Addressing about 1,000 del- claimed more than 30mn lives in paigner: “The truth is that young Of these, only 17mn are receiv- remorse and was unlikely to re- egates at the International Aids 35 years. people have always been the ing treatment. off end, Masipa said. Conference in Durban, Prince “As people with HIV live long- voice of change.” Despite great scientifi c strides Yesterday the NPA fi led the Harry praised how far the strug- er, Aids is a topic that has drifted The 21st biennial international since the cause of the virus was application for permission to gle had come since his mother, from the headlines, and with that conference wraps up today after discovered in 1984, new infec- appeal the sentence at the Pre- Prince Harry and Sir Elton with Nelson Mandela’s grandchildren the late Princess Diana, became drift of attention we face a real fi ve days of sobering statistics tions have stagnated at about toria court where Pistorius was Ndaba Mandela (second right) and Kweku Mandela (left) at the a champion for those with the drift of funding and of action,” he and impassioned pleas for in- 2.5mn a year, and a cure is still a sentenced. 2016 International Aids Conference in Durban. disease. said. “It is time for a new genera- creased funding. distant goal. Gulf Times 6 Friday, July 22, 2016 AMERICA Suspected boss of top online piracy site arrested

AFP ass Torrents or KAT, which in re- ning today’s most visited illegal port on Wednesday “during an mated at more than $54mn, with and ran the site which has been The head of Megaupload, Washington cent years has eclipsed Pirate Bay fi le-sharing website, responsible attempt to enter Poland”. annual advertising revenue in the operating since 2008 through a known by the pseudonym Kim and others to become the world’s for unlawfully distributing well US offi cials will seek to extra- range of $12.5mn to $22.3mn, ac- Ukrainian-based front company Dotcom, is free on bail in New biggest source of pirated media. over $1bn of copyrighted mate- dite Vaulin to face charges fi led cording to the complaint. called Cryptoneat. Zealand pending the extradition he alleged boss of the The US criminal complaint rials,” said Assistant Attorney in a federal court in Chicago, KAT has moved its domains According to the Justice De- eff ort, and recently vowed to re- world’s biggest online pi- said that the website off ers “a General Leslie Caldwell. which ordered the seizure of one several times after being blocked partment, KAT’s website “pur- vive his operations. Tracy site, Kickass Torrents, sophisticated and user-friendly “In an eff ort to evade law en- bank account and seven domain in Britain, Ireland, Italy, Den- ports to comply with the removal His extradition appeal is set to was hit with US criminal charges environment in which its users forcement, Vaulin allegedly re- names associated with the fi le- mark, Belgium and Malaysia, ac- of copyrighted materials” but begin in the High Court in Auck- on Wednesday, accused of dis- are able to search for and locate lied on servers located in coun- sharing website. cording to the complaint, and has evidence showed it did not re- land on August 29 and is expect- tributing over $1bn worth of il- content” which is protected by tries around the world and moved The complaint said offi cials relied on a network of computer move content requested by or- ed to last four to eight weeks. legally copied fi lms, music and copyright. his domains due to repeated sei- were able to track and identify servers located around the world, ganisations such as the Motion Pirate Bay meanwhile has been other content. KAT, which distributes fi lms, zures and civil lawsuits. Vaulin from records provided by including in Chicago. Picture Association of America, able to keep operating despite jail The Justice Department un- video games, television pro- “His arrest in Poland, however, Apple on his iCloud account. Recently, the website allowed the Recording Industry Associa- sentences handed down in Swe- veiled a criminal complaint grammes, music and other elec- demonstrates again that cyber- According to the complaint, users to download copies of re- tion of America and Entertain- den against its founders, and the against Ukrainian Artem Vaulin, tronic media, is estimated to be criminals can run, but they can- KAT operates in 28 languages and cent hit movies such as Captain ment Software Association. seizure of its web domains. 30, who was arrested in Poland the 69th most frequently vis- not hide from justice.” has made available movies that America: Civil War, Now You See The move comes with US offi - Authorities say they can seize and is wanted by the US for copy- ited website on the Internet, ac- Polish border guard spokes- were still in theatres along with Me 2, and Finding Dory. cials in a long battle to extradite or shut down illegal fi le-sharing right infringement, money laun- cording to a Justice Department woman Agnieszka Golias told other content, earning revenue Vaulin, who used the screen the head of Megaupload, another sites but that the operators often dering and other charges. statement. AFP yesterday that Vaulin was from advertising on its site. name “tirm”, was involved in major piracy site shuttered by the reopen with servers in diff erent Vaulin is alleged to own Kick- “Vaulin is charged with run- arrested at Warsaw’s Chopin air- The website’s value is esti- designing the original website FBI in 2012. jurisdictions.

Trump says he may Cruz defends refusal drop Nato guarantee Reuters US has commitment to Cleveland Nato mutual defence, says White House epublican US presidential The United States has an “iron- nominee Donald Trump clad” commitment to mutual de- Rsaid that if he is elected, he fence among the Nato allies, the to endorse Trump might abandon Nato’s guarantee White House said yesterday after that any member, including the Republican presidential nominee Reuters “I’m talking about trade, I’m United States, would defend the Donald Trump raised questions Cleveland talking about law and order, I’m others if they were attacked. about whether he would defend going to be talking about bor- Trump told the New York Nato allies if they were attacked. ders. I’ll be talking about many Times that Washington would White House spokesman Josh S Senator Ted Cruz has diff erent things. Our country has only come to the aid of other Earnest declined to directly staunchly defended his a lot of problems. We’re weak in members if they had “fulfi lled address Trump’s comments to Udecision not to endorse so many diff erent ways,” he told their obligations to us”. the New York Times but said Donald Trump, saying yesterday ABC News. The statements came in re- potential foes should make no that he was not the Republican “I think my message is a good sponse to a question about po- mistake or miscalculation about presidential candidate’s “servile message. It got me here,” said tential Russian aggression to- Washington’s readiness to defend puppy dog” in a damaging rift at Trump, who has fi red up crowds ward the Baltic states. its Nato treaty allies. the party’s convention ahead of with promises to create jobs, be Trump campaign manager “The US commitment to that the November 8 election. tough on national security and Paul Manafort did not dispute pledge is ironclad,” Earnest told a Cruz, who came in second to ensure that foreign policy keeps the quotes, saying that they were briefing. “The president renewed Trump in the race for the Re- American interests fi rmly at its consistent with the candidate’s that commitment just two weeks publican nomination after a bit- heart. desire to modernise US treaties. ago today when he travelled to ter and personal campaign, was Trump and his aides have of- “He thinks Nato needs to be Warsaw, Poland, to attend the booed by delegates at the gather- fered scant policy details so far at brought into the world of the 21st Nato summit.” ing in Cleveland on Wednesday the convention. century, where terrorism and night when he stopped short of Nor have they been able to put ISIS, which didn’t exist when endorsing Trump in a high-pro- to rest questions about whether Nato was created, are taken into on Twitter. “I can only imagine fi le speech. they can mount a sophisticated account the way they are deal- how our allies in Nato, particu- The conservative senator from campaign that can take on Clin- ing with things,” Manafort said. larly the Balkan states, must feel Texas stood his ground yesterday. ton’s well-oiled operation. “Back when Nato was created, after reading these comments He refused to say whether he Trump currently trails the it was more nation state op- from Mr Trump.” would vote for Trump, who dur- former secretary of state in most erations. Today, it’s amorphous, Nato Secretary General Jens ing the primary battles insulted opinion polls and needs the lift a borderless countries of ISIS Stoltenberg said yesterday that Cruz’s wife, Heidi, for her physi- candidate traditionally gets from that represent challenges to the he would not interfere in the US cal appearance and suggested the pre-election party conven- West.” election campaign but added that his father was linked to late tion. Trump has been quoted as that solidarity among allies was a President John F Kennedy’s as- Cruz, known as a ideologue saying he would force allies to key value for the group. sassin. of the conservative Tea Party shoulder defence costs that the “This is good for European se- “I am not in the habit of sup- movement who strongly favours United States has borne for dec- curity and good for US security,” porting people who attack my small government, has been a ades, cancel longstanding trea- the Nato head said in a state- wife and attack my father,” Cruz controversial fi gure in the party ties he views as unfavourable, ment. “The United States has told a meeting of the Texas del- himself, upsetting fellow Repub- and redefi ne what it means to be always stood by its European al- egation in Cleveland. licans in Congress by plowing his a partner of the United States. lies.” Republican candidates had own furrow. “I would prefer to be able to For months, Trump has raised pledged during the primary con- Pro-Trump delegates were fu- continue” existing agreements, questions about the money the tests to support the party’s even- rious with him. he said, but only if allies stopped United States pours into Nato. tual nominee. Susan Hutchison, chair of the taking advantage of what he His rhetoric has raised alarm “That pledge was not a blanket Washington delegation to the called an era of American lar- in allied countries that still rely commitment that if you go and convention, said she confronted gesse, the New York Times wrote. on the United States defence slander and attack Heidi that I’m Cruz after his speech and called The appearance that Trump umbrella. going to nonetheless come like a him a “traitor to the party”. could hesitate to act if a North The phrase “America First” servile puppy dog and say ‘thank “I always heard he didn’t have Atlantic Treaty Organisation was used in the 1930s by isola- you very much for maligning my that many friends in Washing- (Nato) ally is in need drew quick tionists who sought to keep the wife’,” Cruz said. ton DC. He certainly didn’t have criticism at home and abroad. United States out of World War He did say that he would not that many friends in this room Democratic presidential can- II. vote for the Democratic presi- last night,” Trump’s son Eric told didate Hillary Clinton’s senior Trump was quoted in the dential candidate, Hillary Clin- NBC’s Today show. foreign policy adviser, Jake Sulli- Times as saying that if elected, he ton. Cruz was still one of the most van, said in a statement: “Trump would not exert pressure on Tur- The dispute was the latest mis- Cruz leaves the stage after speaking at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. talked about topics on social me- has apparently decided that key or other authoritarian allies step at the four-day party meet- dia, capturing attention ahead of America lacks the moral author- about purging political oppo- ing, which was meant to show als such as imposing a tempo- But the convention brief- by fi rst lady Michelle Obama in Trump’s big speech. ity to advance our interests and nents or cracking down on civil Republicans rallying behind rary ban on Muslims entering the ly erupted in chaos on Mon- 2008. On Google, “ted cruz speech” values around the world.” liberties. Trump, a New York business- country and building a wall along day when opponents of Trump As the last speaker at the gath- was the top trending query about Former Republican rival Sena- He said the United States man who has never been elected the border with Mexico. stormed out of the room and oth- ering, Trump, 70, has a chance to the Republican National Con- tor Lindsey Graham of South would have to “fi x our own mess” to public offi ce but who saw off Party leaders had sought a ers chanted in a failed attempt to end on a positive note when he vention and on Twitter, around Carolina joined the criticism, before trying to sway the behav- 16 rivals to win the White House smoothly-run convention that force a vote opposing his candi- makes a prime-time address to 56 tweets mentioning his offi cial saying that Trump’s remarks iour of other nations. nomination. would unify around the unortho- dacy. formally accept the presidential Twitter handle @tedcruz were made the world more dangerous “I don’t think we have a right Trump, well known to Ameri- dox White House candidate and Then one of the event’s high- nomination. posted every minute. and the United States less safe. to lecture,” Trump was quoted cans as a reality TV star, has upset present him as a strong leader lights, a speech by Trump’s wife Trump said that he would The overall tone of the tweets “The GOP nominee for Presi- as saying. “Look at what is hap- many in the Republican estab- capable of taking on challenges on Monday night caused con- mention many of the issues that was more positive than negative, dent is essentially telling Rus- pening in our country. How are lishment with his free-wheeling from the security threat of Is- troversy over plagiarism because won him support from Repub- at a ratio of about 2.5 to 1, accord- sians/other bad actors the US is we going to lecture when people style, frequent insults to rivals lamic State (IS) to wage stagna- she used some lines that were lican voters during the primary ing to social media analytics fi rm not fully committed to support- are shooting policemen in cold and controversial policy propos- tion in the United States. similar to passages in an address campaign. Zoomph. ing Nato alliance,” Graham wrote blood?” Unarmed man shot by police UN holds fi rst ballot to choose next chief

AFP around and threatening suicide. ana that killed three offi cers. Reuters hall events with each candidate. fi rst female leader, and half of the Irina Bokova of Bulgaria; former Washington Cell phone footage shows Kinsey, 47, told Florida TV United Nations However, it is the 15-mem- current candidates are women. Croatian foreign minister Ve- Kinsey on the ground with his station WSVN-Channel 7 that ber Security Council which will “This is a recruitment process. sna Pusic; Moldova’s former for- arms in the air, with the heavy- as he lay on the ground he told choose a candidate to recom- Like any other recruitment proc- eign minister Natalia Gherman; n unarmed black man set young autistic man sitting police that he was unarmed. he United Nations Secu- mend to the General Assembly ess it needs to be done respecting former New Zealand prime min- trying to help a patient on the ground nearby playing “I am asking the offi cer, I rity Council held its fi rst for election later this year. the confi dentiality of the candi- ister Helen Clark, who heads the Awith autism was shot with a small white toy. said, ‘sir, please don’t shoot me. Tsecret ballot yesterday The council will continue to dates,” British UN Ambassador UN Development Programme; and wounded by Florida police In the video, Kinsey can be Please, do not shoot me.’” in a bid to whittle down the 12 hold closed-door secret ballots Matthew Rycroft told reporters Argentinian Foreign Minister while lying on the ground with heard shouting to police: “All he Kinsey added: “It was like candidates vying to be the next until they reach consensus. on his way into the council. Susana Malcorra; and former UN his arms raised in the air and has is a toy truck. A toy truck. I a mosquito bite, and when it secretary general, but despite at- Yesterday council members Ultimately, the fi ve nations climate chief Christiana Figueres pleading with offi cers to hold am a behavioural therapist at a hit me, I’m like, ‘I still got my tempts to make the process more were given a ballot for each can- that hold a veto on the Secu- of Costa Rica. their fi re. group home.” hands in the air, and I said, ‘No transparent, the results will not didate with the options of en- rity Council – the United States, Also in the race are Montene- Charles Kinsey was wound- He was shot anyway. I just got shot! And I’m saying, be made public. courage, discourage and no opin- Britain, France, Russia and China gro Foreign Minister Igor Luk- ed in the leg in the incident on The video ends before that. ‘Sir, why did you shoot me?’ Secretary General Ban Ki- ion. – have to agree on a candidate sic; former Slovenian president Monday in Miami, which came Kinsey was not seriously and his words to me, he said, ‘I moon steps down at the end of The nominating states will be and there is no requirement for Danilo Turk; former UN high as he was trying to help a diso- hurt. don’t know.’” 2016 after two fi ve-year terms. told of the results for their can- them to pay attention to the commissioner for refugees Anto- riented autistic man who had The incident illustrates the The offi cer who opened re fi The 193-member UN General didate, but overall results will not popularity of candidates with the nio Guterres, who is also a former wandered away from a group edgy mood of United States has been placed on administra- Assembly has this year sought to be made public. General Assembly. Portuguese prime minister; home where Kinsey works as a police and the nation in general tive leave for at least a week, the lift a veil of secrecy that has sur- The search for a successor to The council hopes to agree on a former Serbian foreign minister therapist. after the police ambush in Dal- Miami Herald reported. rounded the election of the UN Ban, a former South Korean for- candidate by October. Vuk Jeremic; former Macedonian Police said that they were re- las that left fi ve offi cers dead The investigation has been chief for the past 70 years by re- eign minister, has sparked a push The female candidates so foreign minister Srgjan Kerim; sponding to an emergency call and another similar incident on turned over to the Miami-Dade quiring public nominations and by more than a quarter of the 193 far are: UN cultural organisa- and Slovak Foreign Minister Mi- about a man with a gun walking Sunday in Baton Rouge, Louisi- state attorney’s offi ce, it added. holding campaign-style town UN states for the world body’s tion Unesco Director General roslav Lajcak. Gulf Times Friday, July 22, 2016 7 ASEAN Crater catch ‘Ruling’ on ’60s killings rejected by Indonesia

AFP The court carries no legal Jakarta weight but activists hope it will pressure Jakarta to do more to come to terms with one of the akarta rejected yesterday worst mass killings of the 20th the findings of an inter- century. Jnational panel of judges Yacoob urged the Indone- that declared Indonesia had sian government — which did committed crimes against not answer an invitation to humanity in anti-communist attend the hearings — to issue killings during the 1960s in an apology, investigate alleged which it claimed the US, Brit- crimes against humanity and ain and Australia were com- compensate victims. plicit. Foreign ministry spokesman At least 500,000 people Arrmanatha Nasir said Indo- Villagers standing on the slopes near the crater of Mount Bromo try to catch money thrown in by worshippers as smoke and ash rise from the volcano, during the Kasada died in the months-long purge nesia was under no obligation ceremony, when villagers and worshippers throw off erings, livestock and crops into the volcanic crater of Mount Bromo, in Probolinggo, Indonesia, yesterday. across the Southeast Asian to follow the recommendations archipelago that started after of the tribunal as they were general Suharto put down a “not legally binding”. coup blamed on the commu- Security minister Luhut nists on October 1, 1965. Panjaitan criticised its conclu- Suharto took power on the sions, saying the killings were back of the killings and then “none of their business, they ruled Indonesia with an iron are not our superiors and Indo- fi st for three decades, during nesia has its own system”. which the onslaught was pre- The tribunal also accused sented as necessary to combat the US of being complicit in the MH370 hunt may have the communist threat. massacres by providing lists of Even since his 1998 down- alleged communist party of- fall, successive governments fi cials to the Indonesians, and have refused to apologise for said Britain and Australia had the killings. recycled the Indonesian army’s Set up by activists, the In- propaganda. ternational People’s Tribu- A spokesman for Australia’s focused on wrong place nal on 1965 Crimes Against foreign aff airs ministry said the Humanity in Indonesia (IPT court was “not a formal inter- There is a debate on wether the plane dence arises the search would not be ex- Authorities used data provided by In- 1965) was overseen by seven national court or tribunal, but was placed in a glide rather than tended, despite calls from victims’ fami- marsat to locate the likely plunge point international judges in No- a human rights NGO” and that diving into the ocean lies. through communication between the vember in The Hague and Canberra rejected “any sug- Any further search would require a fresh plane and satellite ground station. its findings were read on gestion that it was complicit in Reuters round of funding from the three govern- “All survey data collected from the Wednesday. any way in those events of 50 Sydney ments on top of the almost A$180mn that search for missing fl ight MH370 will be re- Chief judge Zak Yacoob, a years ago”. has already been spent, making it the most leased,” an ATSB spokesman said. South African former top jus- The British embassy in Ja- expensive in aviation history. Families of those lost on fl ight MH370 tice, announcing the tribunal’s karta declined to respond to op searchers at the Dutch company Deciding the search area in 2014, au- pleaded yesterday for authorities to con- fi ndings, described a “system- the accusation of complicity in leading the underwater hunt for thorities assumed the plane had no “in- tinue hunting for the Malaysia Airlines jet atic attack against the (Indo- the killings and the American TMalaysia Airlines jet MH370 say puts” during its fi nal descent, meaning on the eve of a meeting that could decide nesian Communist Party)... legation could not immediately they believe the plane may have glided Relatives of passengers missing on there was no pilot or no conscious pilot. how much longer the frustrating deep-sea its affi liate organisations, its be reached for comment. down rather than dived in the fi nal mo- MH370 during a press conference. They believe it was on auto-pilot and search continues. leaders, members, supporters President Joko Widodo, seen ments, meaning they have been scouring spiralled when it ran out of fuel. The appeal by an international group and their families”. as a break from a string of rul- the wrong patch of ocean for two years. Doubts that the search teams are look- But Kennedy said a skilled pilot could of MH370 next-of-kin, Voice 370, called As well as the killings, he ers with roots in the authori- Flight MH370 disappeared in March 2014 ing in the right place will likely fuel calls glide the plane approximately 193km from on “Malaysia, Australia and China not to said alleged communists and tarian past, has backed public with 239 passengers and crew onboard en for all data to be made publicly available its cruising altitude after running out of abandon the search” if the current zone others suff ered imprisonment, discussions about the killings, route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur. so that academics and rival companies can fuel. being trawled for the wreckage is found to enslavement, torture and sex- but has also refused to apolo- Searchers led by engineering group Fu- pursue an “open source” solution — a col- One pilot told Reuters it would be be empty, a statement by the group said. ual violence in the tumultuous gise on behalf of the state for gro have been combing an area roughly the laborative public answer to the airline in- slightly less than that. “If for any reason an immediate exten- period. them. size of Greece for two years. dustry’s greatest mystery. For the aircraft to continue gliding after sion of search activities cannot be carried That search, over the southern Indian Fugro’s controlled glide hypothesis is fuel has run out, someone must manually out, then the search should merely be sus- Ocean off Western Australia, is expected also the fi rst time offi cials have leant some put the aircraft into a glide — nose down pended, not abandoned in totality,” Voice to end in three months and could be called support to contested theories that some- with controlled speed. 370 said. off after that following a meeting of key one was in control during the fl ight’s fi nal “If you lose all power, the auto-pilot The statement was released at a press countries Malaysia, China and Australia moments. kicks out. If there is nobody at the con- conference in Kuala Lumpur in which a Drunken Aussies on Friday. Since the crash there have been com- trols, the aircraft will plummet down,” dozen grim-faced next-of-kin held up The three countries agreed in April 2015 peting theories over whether one, both or said a captain with experience fl ying Boe- placards pleading with authorities not to that should the aircraft not be located no pilots were in control, whether it was ing 777s — the same as MH370. give up the search. force plane to land within the search area, and in the absence hijacked — or whether all aboard perished Like all pilots interviewed for this story, The Boeing 777 vanished March 8, of any new credible evidence, the search and the plane was not controlled at all he declined to be named given the contro- 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur to area would not be extended. when it hit the water. versy around the lost jet. Beijing with 239 people aboard, mostly AFP The passengers admitted So far, nothing has been found. Adding to the mystery, investigators Fugro works on a “confi dence level” of Chinese nationals, in what remains one Jakarta they were drinking aboard the “If it’s not there, it means it’s some- believe someone may have deliberately 95%, a statistical measurement used, in of the greatest mysteries in aviation his- fl ight carrying 314 passengers where else,” Fugro project director Paul switched off the plane’s transponder be- Fugro’s case, to indicate how certain the tory. before a fi ght broke out, Gona Kennedy told Reuters. fore diverting it thousands of miles. plane debris was not in the area they have The Australian-led operation is scour- rowdy brawl among a said. Kennedy does not exclude extreme pos- The glide view is not supported by the already combed, a seabed peppered with ing the seafl oor within a 120,000sqkm belt group of drunken Aus- The men suff ered bruises but sibilities that could have made the plane investigating agencies: America’s Boeing steep cliff s and underwater volcanoes. of remote Indian Ocean where authorities Atralians forced a plane incurred no serious injuries. impossible to spot in the search zone, and Co, France’s Thales SA, US investigator “The end-of-fl ight scenarios are abso- believe the passenger jet went down. to make an unscheduled land- The plane continued its still hopes to fi nd the craft. the National Transportation Safety Board, lutely endless,” Fugro managing director The Voice 370 statement was issued ing in Indonesia, an offi cial said journey onward to Phuket the But he and his team argue another op- British satellite company Inmarsat PLC, Steve Duffi eld said. “Which wing ran out as as transport ministers from Australia, yesterday. same evening, while the Aus- tion is the plane glided down — meaning it the UK of fuel fi rst, did it roll this way or did it tip China and Malaysia prepared for a meeting The Jetstar fl ight from Aus- tralians were held by immigra- was manned at the end — and made it be- Air Accidents Investigation Branch and that way?” Friday that may dictate how much longer tralia to Thailand was forced to tion authorities for question- yond the area marked out by calculations the Australian Defence Science and Tech- The Australian Transport Safety Bu- the search continues. reroute to the Indonesian re- ing in Bali. from satellite images. nology Organisation. reau (ATSB), the agency co-ordinating the Several pieces of debris that apparently sort island of Bali on Wednes- The airport’s general man- “If it was manned it could glide for a The meeting between offi cials from search, has consistently defended the de- drifted thousands of kilometres towards day evening after several pas- ager, Trikora Harjo, said the long way,” Kennedy said. “You could glide China, Australia and Malaysia is expected fi ned search zone. Africa coast have been identifi ed as defi - sengers began fi ghting. group would be fl own back to it for further than our search area is, so I to discuss the future of the search. It did not immediately respond to ques- nitely or probably from the Boeing 777. The pilot requested permis- Australia once their investiga- believe the logical conclusion will be well The three governments have previously tions over whether it was assessing the Those fi nds have confi rmed the plane sion to land at Bali’s Ngurah Rai tions had concluded. maybe that is the other scenario.” agreed that unless any new credible evi- controlled glide theory. went down but shed no light on the cause. international airport and asked It’s not the fi rst time Aus- that extra security be present tralian tourists have stirred up to assist in hauling the off end- trouble on fl ights over Indone- ers off the ight.fl sia. “We removed six men from In May, a drunk 25-year- the fl ight, and they appeared old was held in custody af- to have been in a fi ght,” the air- ter threatening to jump from Myanmar census data undercuts port’s authority chief Yusfan- a plane mid-air on its way to dry Gona told AFP. Bali. Buddhist hardliner’s claims Journalist released in Mandalay A journalist from the BBC’s Myanmar-language service walked free from prison yesterday after a court accepted his appeal against AFP They are followed in number by Chris- the fi gures should extinguish incendiary icism for not taking a stronger stance on a three-month sentence handed down in June for striking a Naypyidaw, Myanmar tians (6.3%) and Muslims (2.3% or over rhetoric. the Rohingya or publicly condemning two policeman. “I’m in good health and I’m very thankful to those who 1.1mn people). “It is time to replace speculation with recent attacks on mosques in other parts expressed concerns and worked for my release,” the journalist, However, the survey does not in- fact,” the UNFPA’s Janet E Jackson said in of the country. Nay Myo Lin, told Reuters by telephone. Thein Than Oo, his lawyer, uslims make up just over 2% of clude the one-million strong stateless a statement. But her government has made moves told Reuters the court in Mandalay, the country’s second largest Myanmar’s population, govern- Rohingya Muslim minority, who were But the UNFPA hit out at the Ro- in recent weeks to rein in the Ma Ba Tha, city, accepted Nay Myo Lin’s appeal and he was freed from prison Mment census fi gures showed yes- banned from self-identifying during the hingya’s exclusion from the data as “a a monk-led movement at the fore of anti- soon afterwards. Photographs uploaded to the BBC Myanmar- terday, undercutting claims by Buddhist census taking. serious shortcoming of the census and a Muslim protests in recent years. language Facebook page showed a smiling Nay Myo Lin walking hardliners that Islam poses a threat to the Added together, their number doubles grave human rights concern”. At the core of their ideology is the belief out of prison beside his pregnant wife. The journalist was handed dominance of their faith. the country’s share of Muslims to around More than 100,000 Rohingya were dis- that Myanmar’s Buddhist identity is un- a three-month jail sentence with hard labour on June 6 after he Full details from the 2014 count, the 4% — an estimate that has been in circu- placed by deadly clashes with Buddhists der attack from Muslims and other ethnic was convicted of striking a policeman while covering student fi rst of its kind in decades, was withheld lation since the last census in 1983. in 2012 and now live destitute in camps in minorities, despite the country hosting protests last year. The scuff le between Nay Myo Lin and the for almost a year to avoid stirring tensions “Some were worried that there could western Rakhine state. such groups for generations. police off icer happened after the off icer, standing in the middle in the Buddhist-majority nation ahead be a signifi cant diff erence in the numbers They are denied citizenship and face Under the previous military-backed of a moving motorcade, knocked a man off a motorbike, defence of elections that propelled Aung San Suu of each religion,” Thein Swe, minister of severe restrictions on their movement and government, the nationalist group suc- lawyer Thein Than Oo told Reuters. The incident happened during Kyi’s pro-democracy party to power. labour, immigration and population told access to basic services. cessfully lobbied for the passage of con- a demonstration by a group of students in Myanmar’s commercial Islamophobia has rippled across Myan- reporters in the capital Naypyidaw as he Just days before the census was carried troversial race and religion laws that capital, Yangon, in March last year to protest against an education mar in recent years, with Buddhist nation- released the data. out in 2014, Buddhist nationalists accused rights groups say discriminate against bill they said would stifle academic freedom. It was broken up alists sending alarmist messages about the “But there is not much diff erence when the international community of bias to- women and religious minorities. by police before reaching its destination, with members of a riot growth of the Muslim population. compared with the census data in 1983.” wards Muslims and attacked humanitar- Earlier this month Suu Kyi’s religion squad with batons charging into the protesters. At the time of his But the new data affi rms that Bud- The United Nations Population Fund ian offi ces in Rakhine, forcing aid workers minister warned the group could be dis- sentencing, Nay Myo Lin said he had no intention of hurting the dhists make up 90% of the population of (UNFPA), which supported Myanmar’s to fl ee. banded if it uses hate speech to stoke con- policeman and had been trying to, “give protection to a citizen 51.48mn. government in carrying out census, said De facto premier Suu Kyi has faced crit- fl ict. who was being treated unjustly in my presence”. Gulf Times 8 Friday, July 22, 2016 AUSTRALASIA/EAST ASIA Umbrella Revolution leader is convicted AFP Purged China leader’s work Hong Kong published in Hong Kong Chinese relatives mourn the loss of victims of a bus crash at Chungli funeral parlour in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan. A trove of newly-published documents be- key fi gure in Hong Kong’s ‘Umbrella longing to a purged Chinese leader has been Revolution’ was convicted yesterday of launched at Hong Kong’s book fair, despite Aparticipating in a protest that sparked fears Beijing is tightening freedom of expres- mass pro-democracy rallies, in a prosecution sion in the city. blasted as a “chilling warning” by rights cam- Former premier and Communist Party gen- paigners. eral secretary Zhao Ziyang was removed from Relatives come to identify Joshua Wong — who led the demonstrations China’s top political leadership after he showed that paralysed the city for months — could be sympathy for students ahead of the bloody jailed for up to two years following the verdict, crackdown on their pro-democracy movement which comes as tensions remain high in the in Tiananmen Square in 1989. semi-autonomous city with fears growing that He then spent 16 years under house arrest Taiwan bus blaze bodies Beijing is tightening its grip. before his death in 2005. The 19-year-old has always said the various The new book could anger Beijing and will AFP Questions are still swirling over accidents involving tourists from bodies of their family members protest-related cases against him were politi- strike a chord in Hong Kong, where some Taipei why none of the passengers were China in recent years. after the DNA results have been cal persecution. publishers have been scared off bringing out able to escape through emergency Liu Kezhi, secretary-general processed, which will take a day, Rights group Amnesty International de- controversial titles after the disappearance exits. of China’s Association for Tour- the association said. scribed cases against peaceful protesters as in- of five booksellers from the city — they later istraught relatives of 24 Chi- One female relative in her 50s ism Exchange across the Taiwan The group from China’s north- timidation in the wake of the verdict yesterday. resurfaced in the mainland where one is still nese tourists who died after collapsed in tears and pounded Straits, expressed “strong dissat- eastern Dalian City was on an eight- Wong was convicted for taking part in an detained. Da fi re ripped through their a table in front of gold-framed isfaction” over the accident. day trip around the island, taking in unlawful assembly after he and others climbed All worked for a company known for gossipy bus in Taiwan broke down in tears portraits of the dead — including “I hope Taiwan will take real popular spots including Alishan na- over a fence into a government complex fore- titles on Chinese leaders. yesterday as they arrived on the is- three children — at a funeral par- measures and put high importance ture reserve and Taroko Gorge. court known as Civic Square on September 26, The material for the new book was brought land to identify their loved ones. lour near the airport, where the on the safety of mainland tourists, A highway police offi cer and 2014, triggering wider rallies that exploded two out of China by Zhao’s former aides, according The mainland tour group were bodies are being kept. so that similar issues will not hap- a truck driver tried to save the days later when police fi red tear gas to disperse to a publishing off icial who did not want to be just a few kilometres away from Two other women sank to their pen again,” Liu told reporters after trapped tourists, with pictures crowds. named. Taipei’s Taoyuan airport to catch knees in front of the images of the paying his respects to the dead. showing them attempting to Fellow student leaders Alex Chow and Nath- She said it would be “self-censorship” not to a fl ight home Tuesday when their victims. Taiwan’s Premier Lin Chuan smash windows with fi re extin- an Law were also convicted yesterday over the publish due to fears it could anger Beijing. tour bus was engulfed in fl ames They were among a group of 11 also paid his respects at the par- guishers. same protest — Chow for taking part and Law “These are not libellous writings...It is based and careered through an express- relatives who were the fi rst to ar- lour yesterday. One eye witness said passengers for inciting others to do so. on facts,” she said. way barrier, killing all 26 on board, rive at the parlour. Relatives were due to have DNA inside the bus had been pounding “No matter what is the penalty...we will still The Collected Works of Zhao Ziyang, including a Taiwanese driver and Buddhist volunteers chanted samples taken to help with identi- on windows as the bus swerved off continue to fi ght against suppression from the published by Hong Kong’s Chinese University tour guide. outside awaiting relatives’ arrival. fi cation on their arrival at the air- the highway. government,” Wong said after the ruling. Press, is a four-volume compilation of previ- Investigators are probing the Chinese offi cials have demand- port, according to the Travel Agent A post-mortem carried out on the “We know facing the largest communist re- ously unseen policy documents, speeches cause of the accident and say the ed Taiwan take measures to ensure Association, which is co-ordinat- driver’s badly burnt body revealed gime in the world is a long-term battle for us to and letters mainly by Zhao from 1980 to 1989, fi re started at the front of the bus, the safety of mainland visitors to ing their stay. he had inhaled a large amount of fi ght for democracy.” shortly before his fall. near the driver’s seat. the island, after a number of fatal They will only be able to see the smoke, prosecutors said. The three defendants, who smiled in resig- While they do not mention the 1989 pro- nation at the verdict, were released on bail and tests, they lay out his liberal views — including are due back in court on August 15 for sentenc- pushing for democratic reform within the Com- Man held over Australia ing. munist Party and calling for less censorship of police station attack The charge of participating in an unlawful artistic works. assembly has a maximum sentence of up to fi ve In one letter he reassures Hong Kong South Korean president calls for Australian police yesterday ar- years, but the magistrates court where the trio students during 1984 negotiations with its then rested a man for an apparent attack were tried can only give a maximum jail term of colonial ruler Britain for the handover of the on a Sydney police station, after he two years per off ence due to its status as a lower city back to China. unity on THAAD deployment set himself alight and drove a car court. “You all can completely trust that the Chi- into its underground carpark. Political analyst Ivan Choy said the public nese government will definitely take policies Police said they had no reason to may have an “antagonistic attitude” towards and measures, when resolving the issue over Reuters sive and social confusion grows banners held a rally yesterday believe it was a terrorist attack or the government if the trio receive a heavy sen- Hong Kong, in the wishes and interests of Hong Seoul about a decision we had no in central Seoul to demonstrate that the man, in his 60s, was con- tence, while Amnesty said that “vague charg- Kong compatriots,” he says. choice but to make to protect against the decision. nected to any terrorist organisation. es” against student leaders “smacked of politi- the country and the lives of our Roughly 2,000 people joined Media reported the man’s car cal payback”. outh Korean President people, it would be exactly where the rally, according to police and contained gas canisters while New “The Hong Kong authorities’ prosecution of tiple off ences linked to various protest actions. Park Geun-hye said yes- North Korea wants us to go,” Park organisers, including the gover- South Wales state assistant police three pro-democracy student leaders sends a In yesterday’s ruling, magistrate June Che- Sterday the move to deploy said, according to her offi ce. nor of Seongju who shaved his commissioner Dennis Cliff ord said chilling warning for freedom of expression and ung said Wong had known that climbing over a Terminal High Altitude Area North Korea said on Wednes- head in protest. there appeared to have been some peaceful assembly in the city,” Amnesty said in the fence was “disturbing order”. Defence (THAAD) missile de- day it had conducted a ballistic That follows a raucous stand- kind of fire accelerant in it. a statement. Defence lawyers had argued authorities fence system was “inevitable” missile test that simulated pre- off last week between residents Cliff ord said off icers spotted the It added the city’s public order laws failed to should not have fenced off Civic Square — pre- because of a growing threat from emptive strikes against South and the country’s prime min- man sitting in his car outside the sta- meet international standards and were being viously a popular protest site open to the pub- North Korea and that division in Korean ports and airfi elds used ister, who was pelted with eggs tion, and when they approached him used “in an attempt to intimidate people from lic — in the febrile months before the Umbrella the South over its deployment is by the US military, likely refer- and plastic bottles and trapped he set the inside of the car alight. exercising their right to peaceful assembly”. Movement. what Pyongyang seeks. ring to the three missiles fi red inside a bus for several hours The man then tried to drive into Wong was at the forefront of the ‘Umbrella The prosecution said the fact they climbed North Korea’s launch of three on Tuesday. when he visited the county to the front of the police station before Movement’, which brought parts of Hong Kong into the square was unlawful and that the pro- ballistic missiles on Tuesday The missiles fl ew between explain the THAAD decision. driving it into a roller door under the to a standstill for more than two months in test was pre-planned. was the latest evidence that the 500km and 600km into the sea Some residents blamed out- station. Police put out the fire, and 2014 as residents called on Beijing to allow fully Both Wong and Law were acquitted in June anti-missile system is needed, off its east coast and could have side leftist activists for the in- the man was taken to hospital with free elections of future leaders. over an anti-China protest in the fi rst of a se- Park said at a National Security hit anywhere in South Korea if cident. severe burns, Cliff ord said. Young campaigners were left angry and ries of cases against him to reach a verdict. Council meeting. the North intended, the South’s Park said North Korea could Media reported that the man frustrated after the rallies failed to win politi- Another student leader, Billy Fung, was This month’s announcement military said. stage an act of aggression at was known to police and was cal reform, with Wong and Law since founding charged yesterday over a protest in January by South Korea and the United Many residents of Seongju, any time, including possibly a believed to have a mental illness. a new political party, Demosisto, campaigning where students stormed into an offi cial meet- States to deploy a THAAD unit about 200km from the capi- fi fth nuclear test or cyber attack Cliff ord declined to comment on for self-determination for Hong Kong. ing at Hong Kong University angered by the with the US military in a rural tal Seoul, joined by opposition against the networks of national those reports but said the man was Law is also a candidate for the city’s upcom- appointment of a pro-Beijing fi gure to a senior melon-farming county in the members of parliament and civ- and fi nancial institutions. in a critical condition in hospital. ing legislative council election, but he will not university role. South triggered loud protests ic groups, have demanded the The North has also increased Police earlier cordoned off the be able to stand if his prison sentence is over Hong Kong was returned to China by Brit- from residents worried about government scrap the decision military equipment near the station in Merrylands, in Sydney’s west. three months. ain in 1997 with its freedoms guaranteed for possible negative health and en- to site the THAAD battery there. land and sea border separating No members of the public or police of- Wong has been in and out of court hearings 50 years, but there are fears those liberties are vironmental impacts. Some residents bearing South the countries, she told the secu- ficers were injured during the incident. for the past year after being charged with mul- disappearing. “If we continue to be divi- Korean fl ags and anti-THAAD rity meeting.

US ship visit to end NZ nuke ban standoff

Reuters the US has accepted the invitation fi rm or deny whether its ships had Wellington and intends to have a ship represent nuclear capacity leading to a stale- the US Navy at this event,” Key said mate between the two nations. during Biden’s one-day visit to New The United States and Australia he US Navy plans to send a Zealand. viewed the move as a breach of the ship to New Zealand in No- Biden said it was “another expres- three-way ANZUS treaty, which Tvember, Prime Minister John sion of our close and co-operative dates back to 1951. Key said yesterday, formally ending relationship”. Under New Zealand In 1986 it suspended treaty obliga- a standoff over the Pacifi c nation’s law, the prime minister can only tions to New Zealand. anti-nuclear policy that dates back grant approval if he is satisfi ed “that Despite the rift, the nations have more than 30 years. the warships will not be carrying any remained close allies. If the ship meets New Zealand’s nuclear explosive device upon their New Zealand supported the US- legal requirements it will attend the entry into the internal waters of New led war on terror in Afghanistan and Royal New Zealand Navy’s 75th an- Zealand”. has sent soldiers to help train Iraq’s niversary, Key said, a day after US Biden did not off er any detail about armed forces. Vice President Joe Biden assured which ship would be attending. Key told local press that the ship neighbour Australia there would be It will be the fi rst visit by a US war- must meet the legal requirements. no retreat from Washington’s pivot ship in more than three decades. “There is a long-standing process to the Asia-Pacifi c region regardless In the mid-1980s, the Labour gov- for considering ship visits under our of who wins November’s presidential ernment of the time announced its nuclear-free legislation,” Key said. election. decision to ban ships that were either “I will receive advice in due course US Vice President Joe Biden stands with Maori elder and government off icial Lewis Moeau during a traditional Maori welcome “Vice President Joe Biden con- nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed. to assist me in making a decision,” he ceremony at Government House in Auckland. fi rmed in our discussions today that The United States would not con- added. Gulf Times Friday, July 22, 2016 9 BRITAIN/IRELAND

PEOPLE EDUCATION TRAVEL SCIENCE DATA Police warn lawmaker School funding Heathrow glitch leaves Scientists start to grow Crime figures soar as scale Eagle of safety risks shake-up delayed travellers without baggage human livers in lab of cyber off ences revealed

Labour lawmaker Angela Eagle, who this week School funding changes that could cost London Passengers have been told they may have to wait Researchers have begun to grow new livers from Londoners were yesterday warned they face an dropped out of the race to oust party leader hundreds of millions of pounds have been days before being reunited with their luggage rejected donor organs in a breakthrough that unprecedented risk of being the victim of crime Jeremy Corbyn, has been advised by police postponed for a year by new Education Secretary after a baggage system fault at Heathrow Airport. could transform transplantation surgery. A team at as a report revealed the true level of nationwide not to hold her regular advice sessions with Justine Greening. She said the changes would now The error aff ected several international flights the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead is the first to off ending is double the previous total. The Off ice constituents due to safety risks, her office not be introduced until 2018-19. “This is a once in a leaving Terminal 3 on Wednesday. Some airlines reveal the feasibility of stripping a liver of its cells for National Statistics said the inclusion of 5.8mn said. Last month, Labour lawmaker Jo Cox generation opportunity for an historic change,” she urged passengers to travel only with hand and reusing its “natural scaff old” in a patient whose fraud and other online off ences in off icial statistics was murdered as she attended her “surgery,” said. “We must get our approach right.” London luggage. A number of people took to Twitter to own liver has stopped working properly. Liver for the first time meant there were 12.1mn crimes one-to-one meetings when members of the stands to lose out because, for historical reasons, vent their frustrations,. An airport spokesman disease is an increasingly important health issue, in England and Wales up to the end of March this public have the opportunity to raise issues boroughs receive £781 per pupil more than the apologised and said the fault had been fixed and with 30% of British adults having a fatty liver, often year. The previous off icial annual total was 6.3mn. with their local lawmaker. “We have received national average. The National Union of Teachers services were now normal. He said airlines were because of being overweight, and is an alarm bell The new figure means every one in 10 people is advice from Merseyside Police that the safety has claimed the capital could lose £500mn. Mayor working to reunite passengers who travelled for cardiovascular disease. The Royal Free team becoming a victim of fraud or cyber off ending. But of Angela, her staff and constituents cannot be Sadiq Khan has claimed that Tower Hamlets could yesterday with their bags. Virgin Atlantic said it published research in Nature Scientific Report statisticians said the most striking development guaranteed,” a spokesman for her office said lose £2,395 for each of its 35,000 pupils, with would ensure all bags were sent out as soon as that showed scaff olds can be “repopulated” with was that all social classes and areas were being yesterday. £84mn being wiped off its block grant of £246mn. possible but this may take several days. human liver cells that continue to function. equally aff ected by fraud and cyber-crime. Thatcher aide Corbyn launches leadership campaign ‘wanted to use royal baby to counter CND’

Guardian News and Media cruise missiles had been deployed. London But Pym’s offi cial assessment of the impact of the anti-nuclear movement in the 1980s shows argaret Thatcher was that the mass protests came closer privately warned by for- to halting the deployment of US Meign secretary Francis missiles than many assumed at Pym in 1983 that the anti-nucle- the time. ar movement could become so In a “personal and confi den- “widespread and powerful” that tial” note in January 1983, Pym it might halt the deployment of US told Thatcher that it would prove cruise missiles in Britain. a crucial year in the nuclear weap- Newly released Downing Street ons debate, with 144 US cruise fi les also show that Thatcher’s missiles to be deployed in Novem- press secretary, Bernard Ingham, ber at bases at Greenham Com- recommended the release of of- mon, Berkshire, and Molesworth, fi cial footage of royal baby Prince Cambridgeshire. William over the 1983 Easter Pym warned that an “energetic Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party, arrives to speak at a press conference in London yesterday to launch his leadership campaign after a challenge bank holiday weekend, in order to and outright attack on the peace from Owen Smith. Former BBC producer Owen Smith will be the sole challenger against veteran socialist Jeremy Corbyn to lead the Labour Party after registrations for knock Campaign for Nuclear Dis- movement”, which had been at- the race closed on Wednesday. Just 10 months after winning a landslide victory in a party leadership election on the back of a surge in grassroots support for his left- armament (CND) protests out of tracting hundreds of thousands wing agenda, Corbyn faces another long summer of campaigning after his elected lawmakers last week launched a bid to depose him. the news headlines. of people to its demonstrations, Ingham recommended using might “hearten the faithful, but it footage of the prince with his par- does little to persuade the doubt- ents, Charles and Diana, to bury ers”. He said that thousands of coverage of the anti-nuclear pro- people were entering active poli- tests. tics for the fi rst time through the The latest batch of fi les released peace movement. by the National Archives in Kew Pym wrote: “The risk is two- show that concern over the de- fold: a. the development of a mass ployment of US nuclear cruise movement of demonstrations and missiles in Britain went far beyond civil disobedience against Cruise Armed forces on alert as the ranks of CND and the Green- in 1983 so widespread and pow- ham Common women to include erful that deployment would ac- at least one of Thatcher’s closest tually become diffi cult or even advisers. impossible. I still would not rate Sir Anthony Parsons, a former this possibility very highly, but it ambassador who advised Thatcher is less inconceivable than it was after his retirement, told her that six months ago; b. an intensifi ca- offi cer attacked near base he was “astonished” at the “wide tion of public opinion against nu- spectrum of personal friends” who clear weapons so strong that large London Evening Standard fought off the attackers. squadrons of Tornado bomb- this was a terror attack. This which is ongoing at the mo- were “actual or potential support- numbers determine their vote on London Extra police patrols were im- ers, which have been conduct- could’ve been a lot more seri- ment.” ers of the government” and were this issue in favour of the Labour mediately ordered in the area, ing raids against Islamic State ous. We’ve been very lucky.” A ministry of defence preoccupied with the nuclear de- or Liberal parties at the general and police have launched a na- fi ghters in Syria since December Lorne Green, police and spokesman said: “We are aware bate. He said one reason for their election.” oldiers, sailors and RAF tionwide hunt for the suspects from a base in Cyprus. crime commissioner for Nor- of an ongoing police operation concern was the presence in the Pym urged Thatcher to launch a personnel across Britain who are described as of Asian Police were called just before folk, stressed that the incident in relation to an incident near White House of Ronald Reagan, sustained publicity campaign. She Swere yesterday urged to appearance. 3.30pm on Wednesday to re- was still under “close investiga- RAF Marham. It would be inap- a president “of lower intellectual agreed and asked her new defence be vigilant over the threat of an The armed forces are regu- ports of an attack in the Burn- tion with an open mind”. propriate to comment further at calibre and less grasp of interna- secretary, Michael Heseltine, to attack similar to the murder of larly trained about the dangers thouse Road/Ladywood Road He added: “There is nothing this time.” tional issues than any incumbent undertake the role. But she reject- Fusilier Lee Rigby. of being targeted by terrorists area. at the moment to strongly sug- Fusilier Rigby was murdered since the World War II”. ed one Pym suggestion that she Military chiefs issued the and other thugs. The men threatened the gest one motive above another by extremists Michael Ade- The Downing Street fi les also chair a roundtable conference of warning after an RAF offi cer A new warning has been is- RAF officer with a knife before and it is all subject to a very in- bolajo and Michael Adebowale include a later MI5 report on a senior members of the clergy in- was threatened by two men sued following the threat to making off in a dark coloured tensive investigation at the mo- outside Woolwich Barracks in claim by John Major, Thatcher’s cluding the archbishops, the car- wielding a knife outside an air the offi cer on a road close to car. ment. 2013. The pair fi rst drove into successor at No 10, that CND was dinal and the moderator. “Fatal – I base in Norfolk. the married quarters at RAF An RAF insider told The “There is a very close co-op- the soldier, who was not in uni- trying to buy up properties on the would have thought,” she noted in The serviceman, who was not Marham. Sun: “Everything we’ve seen eration between the constabu- form, before attacking him with edge of one of the bases where the response to the idea. in uniform, is believed to have RAF Marham is home to four points to the strong possibility lary and the military police, knives. London mayor seeks TfL Hollande in Dublin Police leave cancelled after new clashes takeover of Southern rail London Evening Standard was walking away.” London On Tuesday evening, two 16-year-old boys were knifed in London Evening Standard fault, and I have previously called a franchise; it has a management the park and a nearby Tesco store London for your department to step in contract with the DfT (depart- cotland Yard has cancelled was ransacked. and take control ... I now off er to ment for transport) in charge and leave for the next four days There was also violence in go one step further and put my all the risk carried by the taxpayer. Sas tensions fl ared for a Hyde Park on Tuesday when four ondon’s mayor has urged senior TfL team in charge of the The notion that the government second night in a south London people, including a police offi cer, the government to let Southern franchise until we get a can’t take action to sling Govia park. were stabbed at a water fi ght and LTransport for London permanent resolution,” he wrote out is just nonsense,” he wrote. Two people were arrested in unlicensed music event attended (TfL) take control of the troubled in a letter. “It is now down to the govern- Burgess Park, Camberwell, with by up to 4,000 teenagers. Four Southern rail franchise. Manuel Cortes, head of the ment to act, strip GTR of its con- reports that riot police were other offi cers were injured. Sadiq Khan said passengers TSSA rail union, said putting TfL tract, bring in Directly Operated called to deal with clashes near The disorder continued into were being “held hostage” by in charge of Southern “would be Railways and end this scandal a lake. the night when police were pelt- continued delays and disruption. a fast and effi cient way to restore that shames our country’s trans- Witness Polly Raven told ed with missiles at an illegal rave Southern has cancelled more a proper level of service for long- port services.” Southwark News: “There were in north-east London. than 300 trains a day in the wake suff ering passengers who have The Rail Minister, Paul May- loads of teenagers hanging Commander Nick Downing of staff shortages, illness and in- been through hell these last few nard, said the RMT was holding around. They were just having said leave had been suspended dustrial action. months”. passengers to ransom in both Eng- water pistol fi ghts. It looked in- to allow extra offi cers to patrol It runs services from Victoria The RMT union general secre- land and Scotland with its “com- nocent enough. But a fi ght broke until the end of the weekend. He and London Bridge to Brighton, tary, Mick Cash, said both pas- pletely unacceptable actions”. out on the other side of the lake said: “A lovely day in the capi- Southampton and many other sengers and staff were being held “The situation with South- and it sounded quite aggressive. tal turned violent in Hyde Park, centres in Sussex and Kent. It is hostage and called for GTR to be ern services must improve and I “The police in the park ran Burgess Hill and Stamford Hill part of Govia Thameslink Rail- removed. am pleased that it is beginning to over to break it up, and it looked after spontaneous events turned way (GTR), which includes Gat- He denied there had been unof- reinstate some of the trains sus- like they called for back-up. The nasty and people attacked each wick Express, Great Northern and fi cial industrial action by his un- pended to manage the impact of group of youths started running other and the police.” Thameslink services. ion’s members. “What there is is a the RMT action,” he said. straight at the police. The police Mayor Sadiq Khan branded Khan told Transport Secretary total and abject failure by GTR to Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal got out their batons, then the the violence “extremely disap- Chris Grayling that thousands recruit enough staff to fi ll rosters,” Democrat transport spokeswom- youths started throwing bottles. pointing” and said it was “prob- of passengers who could not get he wrote for the Guardian. an for the London Assembly, said That’s when riot vans showed up. ably fuelled by the hot weather”. to and from work were “under- That problem has been com- the answer was removing much French President Francois Hollande is greeted by Irish “They kept on charging at Police defended their actions standably furious”. pounded by a chronic shortage of of the franchise from Govia and Prime Minister Enda Kenny after he arrives at the the police and the police kind of to break up unlicensed music “There is no doubt that the rolling stock, Cash added. giving it to London Overground Government Buildings in Dublin, Ireland, yesterday. retreated. It looked like the po- events involving sound systems franchise must now be in de- “Technically, GTR doesn’t have to run. lice had it under control, when I in public parks and streets. Gulf Times 10 Friday, July 22, 2016 EUROPE France to probe security failings in Nice attack

AFP whether to charge them. zeneuve called for a police in- after the fi rst strike against the lice, had pledged allegiance to the poring over masses of data linked described him as violent and Paris Lawmakers also adopted a quiry into the security measures Charlie Hebdo magazine and a group. to the probe. possibly mentally disturbed. law extending a state of emer- taken in Nice, after an article in Jewish supermarket. In Nice, investigators found Pictures found on Bouh- Experts say his strategic plan- gency for six months, after it was Liberation daily claiming that Just hours after Valls warned a Kalashnikov rifl e and a bag of lel’s cellphone indicate he was ning and obsession with violence he French government has toughened up by the right-dom- only one municipal police car was that France must “learn to live ammunition in the basement studying several locations where lean more towards psychopathy. announced a probe into inated Senate. guarding the spot where Bouhlel with the threat”, the group on of a 22-year-old man who is crowds gathered as possible tar- While unable to say whether Tsecurity measures taken The fi nal version bans gath- crashed through barriers onto the Wednesday posted a video ap- among fi ve being held over links gets. Bouhlel suff ered any mental ill- for the Bastille Day celebrations erings where suffi cient security promenade. parently shot in Iraq, showing to Bouhlel. Police interviewed hundreds of ness at the same time, former US in Nice following accusations cannot be provided and makes it Cazeneuve has criticised the two French-speaking militants The suspect received a text people close to Bouhlel, who said Federal Bureau of Investigation after the truck massacre that au- easier to shut places of worship article as false and Prime Min- threatening more attacks against messages from Bouhlel on the he had shown no interest in his (FBI) profi ler Mary Ellen O’Toole thorities had underestimated the where preachers incite hate or ister Manuel Valls has accused the country. night of the attack, in which Muslim religion until recently. said the majority of his reported jihadist threat. violence. opponents who suggest the Nice However, while IS claimed Bouhlel praised him for providing However about eight months traits were “only seen collectively A week after Mohamed La- While France mourns the vic- attack could have been thwarted Bouhlel was one of its “soldiers”, the pistol he used during a shoot- ago he showed a friend a video in someone who is psychopathic”. houaiej Bouhlel ploughed a tims of its third major terror at- of “lying to the French”. it has yet to publish footage or out with police. of a hostage being decapitated, “This is probably one of the 19-tonne truck into a crowd, tack in 18 months, the govern- The latest attack, which was photos of the Tunisian as it did All fi ve suspects – four men and shortly after that Bouhlel most callous crimes you and I killing 84 people, fi ve suspects ment continues to be plagued by claimed by the Islamic State (IS) after previous attacks. and a woman – were to appear snapped a picture of a news story have ever heard of, it’s very cold- arrested over links to the Tuni- questions over possible security group, has politicians tearing Investigators have said that before a judge to face possible about a car ramming a local cafe blooded and it’s predatory. He sian were to appear before anti- failings. into each other, a far cry from the they have no proof yet that the charges. terrace. was actually hunting people to terrorism judges who will decide Interior Minister Bernard Ca- display of unity 18 months ago driver, who was shot dead by po- About 100 investigators are His family and friends have drive over.” ‘I was ready to die,’ Prosecutor: Bastille says man who tried to stop Nice killer

AFP off , and accelerated as fast as I Paris could.” Day killer had ‘help’ Franck, who is in his fi fties, said he was “in a trance, but lu- AFP hen a Nice airport cid” as he raced after the truck, Paris worker saw a truck which was zigzagging between Wthundering past him the road and the sidewalk, mow- on the city’s promenade, crush- ing down people in its path. unisian truck killer Mo- ing pedestrians in its path, he did When he caught up with at- hamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel not join the fl eeing crowds but tacker Mohamed Lahouaiej Twas helped to prepare his instead gave chase on his scooter. Bouhlel, Franck said he decided Bastille Day attack by fi ve sus- After amateur video footage to launch his scooter at the ve- pects who are now in custody, a of a man on a scooter speeding hicle, fell and then ran after the prosecutor said yesterday. alongside the truck went viral, truck. Francois Molins said that the many thought the heroic fi gure Video footage shows the four men and a women were who tried to stop the July 14 car- scooter falling alongside the “involved in the preparation” of nage was dead. truck, with the rider running af- the attack in the French Riviera The man, however, has been ter it and grabbing onto the door resort of Nice, which had been found alive and well with only a of the cab, before falling. planned months in advance. Molins: (Bouhlel) had few minor injuries by Nice Matin “I didn’t know what I was do- More than 400 investigators support and accomplices in the newspaper. ing, I managed to hang on to the have been poring over evidence preparation and execution of his Named only as Franck, he told door,” he said. since the July 14 attack in which criminal act. the newspaper that he had been The driver’s window was open Bouhlel rammed a truck into willing to die to stop the rampag- and Franck, who was standing on crowds on the Nice promenade, message in Bouhlel’s phone from ing vehicle, which crushed 84 the step used it to climb into the leaving 84 dead and over 300 in- Mohamed Oualid on January 10 people to death. truck, found himself face-to- jured. 2015 – roughly a year after at- He and his wife had planned face with Bouhlel. “Investigations have not only tacks on the Charlie Hebdo week- on watching the Bastille Day “I hit him again and again, confi rmed the premeditated na- ly which spawned the hashtag “I fi reworks display, but arrived too with all my force,” he claimed. ture of the attack, but allowed am Charlie” in support of those late and were just heading off on Franck said Bouhlel grabbed us to establish that (Bouhlel) had killed. his scooter to grab an ice cream his pistol and aimed it at him, but support and accomplices in the The message read: “I am not when they realised something that it didn’t appear to work. preparation and execution of his Charlie ... I am happy they have was amiss. Bouhlel later used the pistol to criminal act,” he said. People stop near flowers left in tribute at a makeshift memorial to the victims of the Bastille Day truck brought soldiers of Allah to fi nish “We heard shouting and cars shoot at police in an exchange of In one chilling turn of events, attack. the job.” reversing. My wife said ‘stop, fi re in which he was killed. Molins said that one of the sus- Authorities had initially something is not right’. We saw “I was ready to die to stop him. pects, a Tunisian named Mo- None of the suspects was on July 17, 2015, at which he had On April 4, another Tuni- pointed to a rapid radicalisation the crowd running in all direc- He hit me with the butt of the hamed Oualid G, had fi lmed the known to intelligence services. zoomed in on the crowd. sian, Chokri C, aged 37, had sent by Bouhlel, after several mem- tions, as if they were fl eeing gun and I fell off the step,” he scene of the crime the day after Only one of them, a 22-year- On May 26 last year, he took a Bouhlel a Facebook message bers of his family and friends said something. That is when we saw said. the carnage, as it crawled with old Franco-Tunisian, Ramzi A, photo of an article about the drug reading: “Load the truck with he showed no sign of being reli- the truck coming,” he told the Franck escaped with a broken paramedics and journalists. who was born in Nice, had a Captagon which Molins said was 2,000 tonnes of iron ... release gious. newspaper. rib and several smaller injuries. The fi ve suspects were to be criminal record for robbery and “used by some jihadists respon- the brakes my friend and I will Investigators also found pho- “He overtook me, driving on He was not the only one to try presented to anti-terrorism drug off ences. sible for attacks”. watch.” tos of Mohamed Oualid in the the pavement. I can still see the and stop the carnage. judges later in the day and Molins Analysis of Bouhlel’s tele- “It appears ... that Mohamed Molins said that the two Mo- truck used to carry out the at- bodies fl ying everywhere. I im- A cyclist named Alexandre said prosecutors had requested phone revealed pictures taken at Lahouaiej Bouhlel planned and hameds contacted each other tack on July 11 and 13, while video mediately understood. I decided also at one point caught onto the that they be charged with con- a Bastille Day fi reworks display in developed his criminal project 1,278 times between July 2015 surveillance placed Chokri with to accelerate. My wife pulled my handle of the door, only letting spiracy to commit terrorism, Nice in 2015, as well as a concert for several months before taking and July 2016. Bouhlel in the truck just hours arm and asked me where I was go after fi nding himself staring among other crimes. on the Promenade des Anglais action,” said Molins. Investigators also found a text before the attack. going. I stopped, told her to get down the barrel of Bouhlel’s gun.

Jewish group Spain seeks ‘urgent’ answers from seeks apology The World Jewish Congress has demanded an apology from the Polish education minister London after nuclear sub collision over her refusal to recognise the complicity of Poles in a 1941 massacre of several hundred AFP it collided with an unspecifi ed adding that initial indications information on the incident. Jews at Jedwabne in the Madrid merchant vessel on Wednesday suggested the vessel had not “We don’t have any form of country’s northeast. afternoon, damaging the front been damaged. report to see if there was a radio- Speaking to private broadcaster of its conning tower and forc- Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Fa- active leak,” he said. “We don’t TVN24, Education Minister Anna pain said yesterday that it ing it to dock for checks in the bian Picardo said he was “satis- know exactly where the colli- Zalewska refused to openly had asked London for “ur- overseas British territory on fi ed” with the assurances that sion happened, where the other A man leaves the HMS Ambush, docked in a port while it is repaired admit Poles’ complicity in the Sgent” explanations after a Spain’s southern tip known as the submarine posed no danger. vessel is, whether the vessel that after it was involved in a ‘glancing collision’ with a merchant vessel pogrom, saying that it was a British nuclear submarine col- “the Rock”. “HMS Ambush is therefore collided with the submarine was off the coast of the peninsula of Gibraltar on Wednesday. “historical fact, which has been lided with a vessel off the coast “The ministry has asked the as welcome today on the Rock a freighter, an oil tanker ... we misunderstood many times, with of Gibraltar, forcing it to dock in British embassy in Madrid for as ever,” he said in a statement. don’t know whether there was a which people staging regular In one particularly belligerent many very biased opinions”. the disputed territory. urgent explanations over the “Gibraltar has often played host leak from the vessel.” protests, and strained ties be- row over disputed waters, Span- “The dramatic situation which The incident sparked envi- extent of the breakdown and all to nuclear submarines, some- The incident revived memo- tween London and Madrid. ish authorities upped checks at took place in Jedwabne is ronmental fears as well as con- relevant information regarding thing which the government ries of another submarine inci- The tiny rocky outcrop of Gi- its land border with Gibraltar in controversial. Many historians, cerns it could lead to yet another the circumstances of this inci- welcomes as it helps to demon- dent at the turn of the century, braltar has long been the subject 2013, creating hours-long log- distinguished professors, paint diplomatic row between London dent,” Spain’s foreign ministry strate the strategic importance when Britain’s HMS Tireless of an acrimonious sovereignty jams and forcing the European a completely diff erent picture,” and Madrid, which wants Gi- said in a statement. of the United Kingdom and to was forced to dock in Gibraltar row between both countries. Commission to wade in and ease she said. braltar back, centuries after it Britain’s navy tried to al- the Royal Navy in particular.” for repairs for nearly a year after Spain’s conservative govern- the crisis. Before World War II, Poland was was ceded to Britain in 1713. lay fears on Wednesday, saying Earlier yesterday, Antonio a crack was found in a cooling ment, which has been in place And there have been repeated home to Europe’s largest Jewish The HMS Ambush subma- there were “no safety concerns” Munoz, a spokesman for Span- pipe near its nuclear reactor. since 2011, has been particularly incidents involving fi shing or community of some 3.2mn rine was submerged and carry- as the collision had not damaged ish environmental group Ecolo- Its presence caused outrage vocal about its desire to see the police patrol boats in disputed people. ing out a training exercise when HMS Ambush’s nuclear plant, gists in Action, called for more in Gibraltar and southern Spain, territory come back into its fold. waters off the coast of Gibraltar. Most of them were killed by the Nazi occupiers, who built death camps including Auschwitz and Treblinka on Polish soil. But a 2000-2004 inquiry of Poland’s state Institute of Earth on track for hottest year ever as warming speeds up: WMO National Remembrance (IPN) found that on July 10, 1941, Nazi occupiers and local inhabitants Reuters highs” in heat-trapping carbon Carlson, director of the WMO’s Under the Paris Agreement, scenario at this point that is go- fi rst half of 2016 before disap- colluded in a massacre of at least Geneva dioxide levels, point to quicken- Climate Research Programme, nearly 200 governments agreed ing to get us anything other than pearing in May, the WMO said. 340 Jews at Jedwabne. ing climate change, it said. told a news briefi ng. “This year to limit global warming to well an extraordinary year in terms “Climate change, caused Some of the victims were burned June marked the 14th straight suggests that the planet can below 2°C (3.6°F) above pre-in- of ice (melt), CO2, temperature by heat-trapping greenhouse alive after being locked inside a he Earth is on track for its month of record heat, the United warm up faster than we expect- dustrial levels, while “pursuing - all the things that we track,” gases, will not (disappear).This barn. hottest year on record and Nations agency said. ed in a much shorter time ... we eff orts” for a ceiling of 1.5°C – a Carlson said. “If we got this means we face more heatwaves, The revelation disturbed the Twarming at a faster rate It called for speedy imple- don’t have as much time as we lower limit already close to being much surprise this year, how more extreme rainfall and po- Poles’ belief that, with a few than expected, the World Mete- mentation of a global pact thought.” reached. many more surprises are ahead tential for higher impact tropical exceptions, they conducted orological Organisation (WMO) reached in Paris last December The average temperature in The last month with global of us?” cyclones,” said WMO secretary themselves honourably during said yesterday. to limit climate change by shift- the fi rst six months of 2016 was temperatures below the 20th A strong El Nino weather general Petteri Taalas. a vicious war that killed a fifth Temperatures recorded main- ing from fossil fuels to green en- 1.3° Celsius (2.4° Fahrenheit) century average was December event from 2015/2016 in the Pa- Repeated extremes, such of the population, and some still ly in the northern hemisphere in ergy by 2100. warmer than the pre-industrial 1984, according to the US Na- cifi c Ocean, a phenomenon as- as heatwaves, downpours or refuse to acknowledge the IPN’s the fi rst six months of the year, “What we’ve seen so far for era of the late 19th century, ac- tional Oceanic and Atmospheric sociated with extreme droughts, droughts, could encourage more findings. coupled with an early and fast the fi rst six months of 2016 is cording to US space agency Administration (NOAA). storms and fl oods, contributed action to limit greenhouse gas Anti-Semitism was rife in Poland Arctic sea ice melt and “new really quite alarming,” David Nasa. “There’s almost no plausible to the record temperatures in the emissions. in the run-up to World War II. Gulf Times Friday, July 22, 2016 11 INDIA Postcards track progress of migrant children in school

Reuters The postcard programme was laborating with the education aged between six and 13 are out child has been enrolled back in ing with the education depart- the neighbouring state of And- Chennai launched in Tamil Nadu in 2014 department to keep migrant of school in India. school. It’s just a note but we are ment travel to the home states hra Pradesh. as a way of tracking the educa- children in school. Under the postcard pro- able to track a child’s academ- and cross check enrolment. Although India’s law allows tion of some of the more than “When they head back to gramme, the fi rst to track the edu- ics through it,” said an offi cial at Families who do not send back children to go to any school in ver the last two years, 10mn children who are estimat- their villages six months later, cation of migrant children across education department, request- a postcard are traced back to the country, an education de- G Prakash Raj, a charity ed to migrate with their families they need to go back to school. state borders, migrant families ing anonymity. their villages and counselled to partment offi cial said that a lan- Oworker from Tamil Nadu to diff erent parts of India every Tracking that has been a big working in Tamil Nadu are given Last year, 547 postcards were enrol their children in school. guage barrier kept many migrant has received hundreds of yellow year. challenge,” he told the Thomson a postcard when they head home. sent back with migrant families In Tamil Nadu, most migrants children out of school. postcards. “When they are at work sites Reuters Foundation. They are required to get it from areas around Chennai and tracked are from the eastern India has 22 offi cial languages Each reads the same. with their parents, we try and Under India’s Right to Educa- signed and stamped by the prin- 495 came back saying that the state of Odisha. and dozens more that are spoken Sent by a migrant child, the ensure they get basic access to tion Act, every child between the cipal of the village school and children had been successfully The success of the postcard across its 29 states. postcard informs Raj that the education,” said Raj, who works age of four and 16 should be en- send it back to Aide et Action. enrolled in school. programme has prompted simi- “We are fi xing that slowly,” child is safely back home, and for Aide et Action, a non-gov- rolled in school, but government “In the postcard, the principal To ensure the children are lar initiatives in other migration said the offi cial, who declined to more importantly, back in school. ernmental group which is col- data shows up to 6mn children writes back to us saying that the back in school, volunteers work- hubs across India, including in be named. Alternatives to pellet guns under consideration, says Rajnath

Agencies regaining her eyesight. I tell her a New Delhi/ Srinagar lie (to console her) that she will, but it will take time,” he said. Meanwhile, the All India ndia plans to reconsider the Newspaper Editors’ Confer- use of pellet guns by secu- ence (AINEC) has condemned Irity forces when controlling the “undeclared censorship” on crowds, Home Minister Rajnath press in Kashmir. Singh said yesterday, after wide- The apex body of editors criti- spread resort to the weapons cised the ruling People’s Demo- caused multiple casualties and cratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Par- stirred public anger. ty alliance in the state, and said the Singh told lawmakers the gov- ban on publications and raids on ernment would set up a panel to the newspaper offi ces and print- look for an alternative to the pel- ing presses is a direct attack on the let gun in response to questions freedom of the press. about responses to a recent surge “This new method, of unde- of violence in Jammu and Kash- clared censorship adopted by the mir. PDP-BJP government has set a Dr Kaisar Ahmad, principal at new precedent of censorship, the Government Medical College and it is totally unacceptable,” Srinagar, said over 280 people the AINEC said. had been treated for pellet inju- It urged the state government ries since July 9 when violence to refrain from restrictive and A policeman stands guard during a curfew in Srinagar yesterday. broke out in the state during undemocratic methods to gag protests sparked by the death of the press in the state. Hizbul Mujahideen rebel com- “The newspapers, whether mander Burhan Wani. they are in Jammu and Kashmir, In his talk with lawmak- Gujarat or Tamil Nadu, or any ers, Singh said one person had other state, must be allowed to been killed from pellet shots in carry out their duty to the read- the most recent violence in the ers, freely and fairly. No govern- state, bringing the total number ment in the Centre or states can India slams Pakistan of deaths from the weapon in preserve democratic traditions Kashmir to seven since 2010. of our great country without In addition, 53 had suff ered supporting the freedom of the eye injuries in the past six years, press, in spirit and reality,” said Singh said. Vishwa Bandhu Gupta, presi- “It is a fact that people were dent of AIENC. injured by the use of non-lethal Also yesterday, the New York for ‘coveting’ Kashmir weapons,” Singh told lawmakers. Times said in an editorial that “We will form an expert com- the major cause of the uprising Stop misleading in response to Islamabad ob- in our internal affairs in any India also demanded that Pa- that the pride of Kashmir will be mittee on this that will give its in Kashmir was the resentment international community and serving “Kashmir’s Accession manner.” kistan ensure full safety and se- restored,” he said. report in two months so that among Kashmiri youth who have Kashmiris, Islamabad told to Pakistan Day” on July 19 and “We have seen reports about curity of the offi cials at the High Meanwhile, police said the such incidents are not repeated come under India’s security ap- ‘Black Day’ on July 20 across Pa- rallies, events and statements Commission of India in Islama- curfew will “remain strictly in in future.” paratus that acts against civil- IANS kistan. Pakistan also held elec- related to Jammu and Kashmir bad and their families. place throughout the day till fur- Amnesty International this ians with impunity, terming the New Delhi tions in Pakistan-ruled Azad in Pakistan” and Azad Kashmir Earlier, Home Minister Ra- ther orders.” week asked the Indian govern- current unrest as a “major set- Kashmir on July 21. over the last two days, the state- jnath Singh blamed Pakistan for The fresh order by the po- ment to prohibit the use of pel- back for peace.” “The observance of ‘Kash- ment said. the unrest in Kashmir and also lice came as separatists asked let-fi ring shotguns during street “Kashmir is subject to India’s ndia yesterday slammed mir’s Accession to Pakistan “We have also noted that the said Islamabad is “sponsoring” Kashmiris to open their shops demonstrations, saying that po- Armed Forces Special Powers Pakistan for its observance Day’ exposes Pakistan’s longing events were led by UN-desig- terrorism in India. and stock essentials after they lice should look for “less harm- Act (AFSPA), which grants the Iof “Kashmir’s Accession to for the territory of Jammu and nated terrorists, who had in the “There can be no denying the temporarily relaxed the shut- ful” devices. military wide powers to arrest, Pakistan Day,” saying it exposes Kashmir. India demands that past protested the elimination fact that our neighbour (Paki- down from 2pm yesterday. The Though meant to be a non-le- shoot to kill, occupy or destroy Pakistan’s “longing for the terri- Pakistan must fulfi l the obliga- of dreaded terrorists, including stan) is singularly responsible shutdown relaxation sparked thal weapon, a senior police of- property. The result is a culture tory of Jammu and Kashmir” and tion to vacate its illegal occupa- Osama bin Laden and Taliban for the present deterioration of rumours that the government fi cer said that security forces are of brutal disdain for the local demanded that Pakistan vacate tion of Kashmir,” said the offi cial leader Akhtar Mansour in Paki- the situation in the state,” Singh would also ease its curfew re- often forced to use pellet guns population,” it said. its “illegal occupation” of the statement. stan.” said in the Lok Sabha. strictions. at close range to protect them- “Once again, the Indian state territory it rules. “It must also stop misleading “India strongly condemns The terrorism that India is The curfew is continuing for selves against mob attacks. of Jammu and Kashmir is con- In a strong statement, the the international community the encouragement and support witnessing today is “Pakistan- the 13 day following violent pro- Insha Malik, a 15-year-old vulsed in lethal violence pitting Ministry of External Aff airs also and Kashmiris through mean- which such terrorists and their sponsored,” the minister said. tests which started on July 9, student, was hit in her eyes by stone-throwing youths against demanded that Pakistan “stop ingless exercises such as the so- activities receive from Pakistan’s Singh said Kashmir was an a day after Hizbul Mujahideen pellets when she was watch- armed police offi cers and secu- misleading the international called elections today” in Azad state. We once again ask Paki- integral part of the country and commander Burhan Wani was ing protests from the window of rity forces.” community and Kashmiris Kashmir, it added. stan to stop inciting and sup- Pakistan was keeping an evil eye killed in a gunfi ght with security her house in the South Kashmiri The newspaper said “trou- through meaningless exercises India asked Pakistan “to porting violence and terrorism on it. forces. town of Shopian. bling questions” about the tim- like such as the ‘so-called elec- stop inciting and supporting in any part of our country and “Kashmir is India’s crown At least 45 people have died Her father, Mushtaq Ahmad, ing and the circumstances of tions’.” violence and terrorism in any refrain from its deplorable med- (mukut). It is heaven and the in clashes between protesting says she will never see again. Wani’s death “remain unan- The statement by MEA part of our country and refrain dling in our internal aff airs in any neighbouring country is keep- mobs and security forces since “She often asks me about her swered.” spokesman Vikas Swarup comes from its deplorable meddling manner,” it added. ing an evil eye on it. I am hopeful July 8.

Derecognise Kabali fever grips India AAP, says BJP Rahul meets Dalit family The Bharatiya Janata Party yesterday urged the Election Commission to derecognise the Aam Aadmi in Una, announces aid Party after an AAP woman worker committed suicide alleging sexual harassment IANS Solanki and other party leaders Jitu said: “We don’t want by a party colleague. Soni Una, Gujarat as well as former federal minis- money, but we wish support for committed suicide after the ter and Dalit leader Kumari Selja. sustenance and livelihood. We party member she accused Scores of people thronged Sa- clear the dirt of the society and of sexually harassing her was ongress vice president madhiyala village in Una of Gir- this is what we are given in re- released on bail. BJP member Rahul Gandhi yester- Somnath district as the Con- turn by the society.” Meenakshi Lekhi said the Cday visited the home of gress leader visited. Gandhi sat with the family and case of alleged outraging of a Dalit man in Una whose four Even as he freely interacted held Babubhai Sarvaiya’s hand as modesty of the AAP worker sons were brutally fl ogged on with them, Gandhi asked Jitu they all became emotional. The should now be treated as one July 11 for skinning a dead cow Sarvaiya, Babubhai’s nephew, if Congress leader shared tea with pertaining to abetment to and announced an assistance of it was the fi rst time or they had the Dalit family. suicide. “A case of abetment Rs500,000 for the family. been suff ering caste discrimina- “In Mota Samadhiyala, Una to suicide should be made Gandhi, who fl ew in to Gujarat tion for long. to meet the family members of out against accused AAP in the morning, drove straight “There was nothing new in the Dalit youths who were so activists, the MLA concerned to the home of Babubhai Sar- this, this is quite normal,” Jitu brutally assaulted. Balu Bhai, and Delhi Chief Minister vaiya in Samadhiyala village of Sarvaiya said. the father of the Dalit youths Arvind Kejriwal,” Lekhi said Una and spent 40 minutes with Jitu, 20, is an engineering was also beaten up merciless- Musicians play drums in front of a hoarding of Tamil superstar Rajinikanth erected in front of in the Lok Sabha. “This was the family. He also had tea with student and the only educated ly,” Gandhi tweeted on his of- a movie theatre, ahead of the release of his movie Kabali, in Chennai yesterday. As a tradition, not merely a case of sexual them. member of the family. He said ficial account. The tweet was fans perform a ritual called ‘paal abhishekam,’ in which life-size posters of Rajnikanth are harassment but an example He was accompanied by Gu- since there were no work av- accompanied by a photo show- bathed in milk before the launch of each of his films. Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, known by his stage of how a structure is being rudas Kamat, who is in charge enues, they were engaged in the ing Gandhi interacting with name Rajinikanth, is a cult-figure and with millions of fans across India and the globe. The created in a political party of the party’s aff airs in Gujarat, business of skinning dead ani- the family members of a Dalit actor who enjoys demi-God status began his life as a bus conductor. where women are being state Congress chief Bharatsinh mals for the tanneries. youth. exploited,” she said. Gulf Times 12 Friday, July 22, 2016 INDIA

HONOUR TECHNOLOGY MYSTERY INVESTIGATION CONTROVERSY Hyderabad man wins Google app brings art Kejriwal suspects Amarinder’s son Congress seeks CBI Mr World title and culture a step closer foul play in theft appears before ED probe in RS ‘poll rigging’

Rohit Khandelwal from Hyderabad has Search engine giant Google yesterday Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal yesterday Raninder Singh, the son of Punjab Congress The Congress yesterday raised the issue of become the first Indian to win the coveted launched a new “Google Cultural Institute” suspected foul play in the theft at the home of president Amarinder Singh, appeared before alleged rigging of Rajya Sabha biennial polls in title of Mr World at the grand finale of the 2016 app and website which will help art lovers in the media adviser to deputy chief minister as he the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Jalandhar Haryana, and demanded a probe by the Central competition in Britain, defeating 47 India and across the globe discover famous said only off icial papers were stolen. “Robbery yesterday in connection with a Foreign Bureau of Investigation. The issue was raised participants from around the works and artefacts from several museums at deputy chief minister’s media adviser’s Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violation in the upper house of parliament by Congress world. He says he is immensely from over 70 countries. The app gives home. Burglars stole only off icial papers, left all case. Raninder, who had been summoned member from Haryana Shadi Lal Batra. “I raise proud and ecstatic. The users an opportunity to search for anything valuables. Who’s behind it,” Kejriwal asked in a by the ED in connection with the transfer the issue of rigging of Rajya Sabha elections, event was held on Tuesday at related to art and culture like the history of tweet yesterday morning. Unidentified people of funds in banks in Switzerland and British the pen provided by the Election Commission Liverpool’s Southport Theatre. newly-declared World Heritage Site Nalanda barged into Deputy Chief Minister Manish Virgin Islands and creation of some trusts, was was changed and the vote was cancelled on the Khandelwal, who looked University in Bihar to panoramic imagery of Sisodia’s media adviser Arunoday Prakash’s accompanied by Congress leader and lawyer ground that there was diff erence of ink,” Batra dapper in a tuxedo its excavation. It also allows users to navigate home in south Delhi late Sunday night. They Jaiveer Shergill. “We will fully co-operate with said accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of a created by couture through the artworks by one of the founders took away certain important documents which the agencies. We are law-abiding citizens. “conspiracy.” In response, Minister of State for designer Nivedita of modern Indian painting Abanindranath contained details of the meetings between We have full faith in the law. We will come Parliamentary Aff airs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said: Saboo, received Tagore to how eminent painter Amrita Sher- Sisodia and Kejriwal over the last one year. They out stronger,” Raninder said. He had been “The Election Commission is examining the issue a cash prize of Gil’s palette changed through her journeys did not touch any other valuable items, Prakash summoned by the ED earlier on June 16 and and I don’t think this kind of sweeping allegation $50,000. between India and Europe. said in a complainant. July 14. is correct.”

Former Kerala Central govt minister faces new probe interfering

IANS Thiruvananthapuram in everything, ormer Kerala minister and Congress leader A K Babu’s Fwoes continued as a court yesterday ordered a fresh vigi- lance case against him following a petition fi led by a newly-formed hotels association. says Mamata Babu suff ered a humiliating defeat in the May 16 assembly West Bengal chief minister but taking credit for everything vestigation and the Enforcement polls when he lost the Tripu- hits out at Modi through advertisements. It is the Directorate. nithura seat that had been his state government which is car- “I am saying this on record. political bastion for close to three IANS rying out development, but the If you don’t believe me, go to decades. Kolkata entire credit is going to Modi,” the various embassies and fi nd The new development came Banerjee said. out. There you will realise that following a petition fi led by Kera- “Modi keeps talking about no black money came to In- la Hotel Industrialist Association est Bengal Chief Min- ‘Swachh Bharat’, but where is dia, rather it’s the white money chief V M Radhakrishnan who ister Mamata Banerjee the cleanliness? The cleanliness that has left the country,” added alleged that Babu, when he was Wyesterday accused the is only in the advertisements. Banerjee. the excise minister, continually central government of destroy- When it comes to actual work, it She expressed concern over amended the state excise policy ing federalism and pushing is Bengal. Four of our districts are the rise of ‘cow protection’ vigi- to suit a few bar owners. states towards destruction, and leading the country in cleanli- lantes, and asserted the peoples’ The vigilance probe team ridiculed Prime Minister Naren- ness,” she said. “right to choice” and warned found merit in Radhakrishnan’s dra Modi for taking credit for “Their MPs are adopting only against the bid to “saff ronise complaint and informed the Vig- development carried out by her a few villages under the Adarsh everything.” ilance Court on the need for a de- government. Gram Yojana, but it is being pro- Banerjee condemned the bru- tailed probe, which was granted. Addressing a mammoth rally in jected as if they have adopted all tal assault on four Dalit youths in A case is expected to be registered Kolkata, the Trinamool Congress the villages. This is nothing but Gujarat’s Una town and affi rmed against Babu. chief also accused the Modi gov- fooling the people.” any such attempt in her state will Babu told reporters he would ernment of unleashing central She also said that funds for at not be tolerated. react after going through the agencies like the Central Bureau least 39 central schemes have “We strongly condemn the judgment. of Investigation and the Enforce- been stopped while in 59 other atrocities on the Dalits in Gu- Babu has come under fi re from ment Department (ED) that, she schemes, the state’s contribu- jarat. In the name of ‘gau rak- bar hotel owners ever since the said, led to over 80,000 industri- tion has been enhanced from 10 sha’ (cow protection) they are previous Oommen Chandy gov- alists leaving the country. to 90%. attempting to create commu- ernment decided to give permis- “The Centre is interfering in “The Centre is not consulting nal tension, attempting to cre- sion to only two dozen fi ve-star everything. It is destroying the us and preparing the schemes ate communal strife,” Banerjee hotels to operate bars, and closed federal structure. We too are whimsically. In most of the said. down more than 700 bars in the an elected government and the schemes the state had to contrib- “I have also come to know state. Constitution has specifi ed both ute just 10% funds, this has now that some elements in conniv- Early this year, after a lower the Centre and the state’s roles. been enhanced to 90%,” she said. ance with a party are asking court ordered that a case be reg- But they are interfering in our The chief minister also ex- people here in Bengal about how istered following allegations that working and constantly threat- pressed her displeasure over the many cows they have,” Banerjee he took Rs5mn as bribe to open ening us,” Banerje said. Centre’s decision to make Aad- said referring to the Gau Raksha shut bars, Babu tendered his res- “Because of the Centre’s er- haar cards compulsory for cer- Committee, a rightwing group ignation, which was not accepted roneous polices, the states have tain formalities. which wants a bovine census in by then chief minister Oommen been pushed towards destruc- “At least 800 villages in Bengal West Bengal. Chandy. tion. The Centre must remember don’t have banks. Over one crore “We condemn whatever is Later when the Kerala High that it is because of the states people in Bengal don’t have Aad- happening in Gujarat and if such Court stayed the lower court or- that the Centre is existing,” she haar cards. How can they make it a thing is tried in Bengal, we will der, Babu returned as minister said. compulsory – one crore people not tolerate that. We will fi ght but had to bite the dust when he Taking a jibe at Modi’s pet in Bengal will not get pensions, politically. People have their lost the assembly election. schemes, including the ‘Swachh subsidies or scholarship. Let right to choice, what they can The bar scam fi rst surfaced in Bharat’ campaign, the Trinamool them fi rst set up banks and talk eat, wear or study. A few peo- October 2014 when bar owner chief claimed that funding for big,” she said. ple cannot decide what others Biju Ramesh alleged that the Hundreds of thousands of Trinamool Congress party supporters attend a mass meeting addressed most of the central schemes has She said that 80,000 indus- will eat, wear or study,” declared state’s then fi nance minister K M by West Bengal Chief Minister and party chief Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata yesterday. The event was either been stopped or the state’s trialist have been compelled to Banerjee. Mani was given Rs10mn as bribe held to commemorate 13 activists killed by security forces on July 21, 1993 during a West Bengal Youth responsibilities increased. leave the country due to hound- “There are attempts to saf- by Kerala’s bar owners. Congress rally demanding that the voter’s identity card be made the sole requirement for voting. “They are doing nothing, ing by the Central Bureau of In- fronise everything,” she said.

Rain fury Unaccompanied baggage Big development plans sparks security scare

IANS check at Dubai, an airline offi cial could fuel tension: study said. Amritsar/New Delhi “On July 21, 2016, a passenger Reuters quiring 11mn hectares of land over indigenous people make up only Idinirinkarlina Btnanang (holding Mumbai the next 15 years, is likely to stoke about 8% of India’s 1.2bn popu- naccompanied baggage Indonesian passport) travelling tensions, IDMC cautioned. lation, they account for at least belonging to an Indo- on SG 056, Dubai to Amritsar did Prime Minister Narendra Mo- 40% of those displaced by devel- Unesian passenger who not board the aircraft after clear- ndia’s ambitious plans to de- di’s plan to create 100 “smart opment projects, including coal did not board a Dubai-Amritsar ing immigration, security check velop infrastructure, min- cities” that provide hi-tech solu- mining. fl ight of budget passenger carrier and boarding,” the budget pas- Iing and renewable energy tions to urban living, will also lead India’s land acquisition proc- SpiceJet yesterday caused a major senger carrier said in a statement. threaten to force more of the most to “signifi cant” displacement, it ess lacks transparency, with fair security scare at Amritsar’s inter- “She reported back after the marginalised groups from their said. compensation, resettlement and national airport, an offi cial said. fl ight departure.” homes, widening inequality and “Development is set to con- rehabilitation “the exception As baggage handlers at the According to the airline, Du- fanning tensions, a global re- tinue causing displacement, and rather than the rule,” IDMC said. Guru Ram Das Jee International bai Airport offi cials informed the search group has warned. on an unprecedented scale,” said A survey of nine projects in Gu- Airport in Amritsar noticed the pilot about the unaccompanied Development activities uproot IDMC, which is part of the Nor- jarat, Kerala and Jharkhand, as well unaccompanied baggage, they checked-in baggage on board. about 15mn people in their own wegian Refugee Council. as the national capital region of raised an alarm following which “The pilot requested the Am- countries every year, with India “Displacement caused by de- Delhi, revealed failed regulation security offi cials off -loaded the ritsar ATC offi cials for isolated accounting for some of the high- velopment projects tends to aff ect and harm to communities, it said. passengers and moved the aircraft parking stand. The baggage of est numbers of those displaced, the poorest and most marginal- A law to compensate farmers to a remote area of the airport as Idinirinkarlina Btnanang has been the Geneva-based Internal Dis- ised groups, and – paradoxically adequately for land bought for part of standard operating proce- identifi ed and will be handed over placement Monitoring Centre – makes inequality worse rather industry and infrastructure was dures for such situations. to her, or relevant authorities,” (IDMC) said in a report. than better. It also causes ten- passed in 2013, replacing a law A bomb disposal squad entered the statement said. About 65mn people were dis- sions that in some cases have dating back to the 19th century, the aircraft to carry out a search “The false alarm due to the placed in India by dams, high- fuelled violent confl ict.” which activists say displaced and and fl ight operations at the air- miscommunication caused in- ways, mines, power plants and Displaced people suff er from impoverished millions. port were suspended. convenience to passengers which airports between 1950 and 2005, poor access to adequate housing, The new law is unlikely to be People look at a bridge damaged by torrential rain at It later turned out that the “un- is deeply regretted,” the airline the IDMC said, but less than a land, food, water and livelihoods, enforced evenly, as implementing Toribari village on the outskirts of Siliguri in West Bengal claimed” baggage belonged to an said. fi fth of those have been resettled, and are often restricted in their the new federal provisions would yesterday. Continuous rainfall in the past 48 hours has Indonesian national, identifi ed Earlier, police sources said in- leading to protests, hunger strikes movements. require major changes to state caused flooding with several landslides in the nearby hills as Idinirinkarlina Btnanang, who formation regarding the bag was and confl ict. Women and indigenous people laws which govern land acquisi- of Siliguri and adjoining areas of North Bengal. failed to board the plane after received through an anonymous India’s development plans, re- suff er disproportionately. While tion, activists say. clearing immigration and security call. Gulf Times Friday, July 22, 2016 13 LATIN AMERICA

DECISION CRIME SEARCH WILDLIFE POLICY Panama to identify victims Armed men steal Three climbers rescued 70 dead whales Mexico bans gillnets of 1989 US invasion gold, silver from mine after Peru avalanche discovered in Chile to protect porpoise

The government of Panama has launched an Canadian mining company Agnico Eagle said Rescuers in Peru found three of nine mountain Some 70 dead whales have been found in Mexico said it will ban the use of gillnets for independent commission to identify people a group of armed men had stormed one of its climbers who went missing after an avalanche southern Chile less than a year after more than shrimp fishing in an area of the northern Gulf of killed or missing in the 1989 US invasion of the mines in northern Mexico, injuring a security in the Andes mountains, as the search continued 330 whales washed up in a remote Patagonian California that is the habitat for the endangered country that brought down dictator Manuel guard and making off with a haul of silver and for the others. Authorities transferred the three inlet. The animals are not of the same species vaquita marina porpoise. The national fisheries Noriega. “There can be no reconciliation if the gold. Agnico Sonora, the company’s Mexican rescued climbers — two Spaniards and a Peruvian discovered in last December’s die-off , the commission said the permanent ban on truth is not known,” Panama’s vice president subsidiary, did not provide an estimate of the — to a clinic where they were said to be in stable biggest single event of its kind known to gillnets used in shrimp fishing will go into and foreign minister, Isabel De Saint Malo, value of the theft, but said the La India mine, condition with only minor injuries. The accident science, the Chilean fisheries service said. eff ect in September. The population of vaquita said. “Panama is seeking to heal its wounds,” in the northwestern state of Sonora, was occurred during inclement weather in the “They are smaller than those we saw last time,” marinas has dropped sharply in recent years she added, speaking to a gathering of off icials, operating normally, with soldiers and police Huarascan mountains near Peru’s northeastern national fisheries director Jose Miguel Burgos to the point that only about 60 survive in the religious leaders, some who lost kin or property conducting an investigation. The company said city of Huaraz. Six climbers — three Mexicans and said. Teams will inspect the relatively accessible northern Gulf of California, the only place in in the invasion, and the UN representative to it has been operating in Sonora, an arid state three Peruvians — are still missing. Situated in the site in the coming days, focusing on whether the world they are found. A spokeswoman for Panama. There have been insistent calls in known for drug violence, since 2014. The mine Cordillera Blanca range of the western Andes, the humans played a role in the whales’ deaths, he the environmentalist group Sea Shepherd said Panama for compensation from the US for the has a lifespan of seven years and is expected to Huascaran is Peru’s tallest snow peak and is the added. The animals died more than two months the shrimp net ban was a “good start” but not deaths and damage wrought in the invasion. produce 100,000 ounces of gold in 2016. mountain most often visited by foreign climbers. ago, the authorities said. enough to save the rare porpoise. Indians help to build Cuban hotels as foreign labour ban eases

Reuters the fi rst new fi ve-star hotels to Havana be built there in a number of years. Another dozen are under negotiation with potential in- rench construction group vestors, according to the Cuban Bouygues is employing tourism industry. Fmore than 100 Indian la- One reason Bouygues is turn- bourers to work on a hotel it is ing outside of Cuba for labour is building in Cuba, breaking a because Cuban skilled tradesmen taboo in the Communist-run are opting to work in the private country on hiring foreign labour sector where they can earn much in order to meet increased tour- more than from the state. ism demand. The Indian tradesmen, who The Cuban government re- are being housed together east moved a key barrier to hiring of the capital, are part of a much foreign workers with the passage broader trend of such workers of a 2014 foreign investment law who emigrate to various work that authorised “special regula- sites — especially in the Middle tions” concerning foreign work- East — in search of higher wages ers under “exceptional circum- than they can get in India. stances.” The practice, however, has not Cuban government offi cials been widespread in Latin Amer- did not immediately respond to ica or the Caribbean. Soldiers stand guard outside the 2016 Rio Olympics Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, yesterday. requests for comment about the Bouygues has already brought infl ux of foreign workers, several 200 Indian workers into Cuba dozen of whom spoke to Reuters and plans to bring more in the in Havana. coming months, according to But the Bouygues move, which diplomats familiar with the situ- was also confi rmed by a compa- ation and a Havana-based com- ny spokesman, is the fi rst time a pany employee who asked for fi rm has bypassed Cuba’s state- anonymity due to restrictions on run labour halls to hire foreign talking with the media. 10 held as Brazil police workers en masse. “It is true that the group For a country struggling to is bringing in Indian work- prop up export revenue in the ers trained in various parts of face of low commodity prices, Bouygues...throughout the foreign workers on the Carib- world,” a Paris-based spokes- bean island signal how critical man for the company said. tourism is now in Cuba and how The Indians would be training foil Olympic terror plot market forces are transform- local tradesmen in Cuba in addi- ing its once tightly controlled tion to working directly on the AFP sApp and Telegram, discussed South America, was “very small.” and the preparation for carrying people and left scores badly economy. projects themselves, he said. Brasília attacks and had begun prepa- He described the group as “an out terrorist attacks and other wounded. Already popular as a low- The labourers are working on rations ahead of the Olympics, absolutely amateur cell” and criminal acts.” The attack has been claimed cost beach resort for Europeans two hotels in Havana and an- which start on August 5 in Rio “disorganised.” About 130 offi cers took part by the Islamic State group. and Canadians, Cuba is seeing a other at the Varadero tourism razilian police have bro- de Janeiro. Although some made a dec- in the operation in which 10 The Brazilian intelligence surge in American visitors since resort, the sources said. ken up an alleged terror- “There was an order between laration of loyalty to the Islamic were arrested and two more agency ABIN last month picked the US and Cuba announced While Bouygues is co-manag- Bist group sympathetic to them to start training in martial State organisation, there was no temporarily detained, the state- up messages in Portuguese that in December of 2014 that they ing the projects, foreign fi rms are the Islamic State organisation arts and to (obtain) ammuni- direct contact, de Moraes said. ment said. it said were linked to the Islamic would work to normalise rela- required to partner with state- that was planning to target the tion, weapons with which they Not all members of the group The arrests and 19 searches State group. tions. run construction companies upcoming Olympic Games, of- could carry out an act,” de Mo- had met each other, he said. were conducted in states across Brazil’s Olympics security Tourism increased 17% in 2015 that have strict limits on how fi cials said yesterday. raes told a hastily called press “Some of them made an oath of the country, ranging from the plan calls for the mobilisation, and was up over 11% through much they can pay Cubans. Ten people were arrested in a conference in the capital Bra- loyalty by Internet to the Islam- Amazonas region to the fi nan- starting July 24, of some 85,000 June this year, offi cial data They can pay foreign workers nationwide swoop codenamed silia. “This was in progress. One ic State, but there was no per- cial capital Sao Paulo and Rio members of the security forces. shows. It generated $2.8bn in more, however. Operation Hashtag, and two of them had got in contact with sonal contact by this group with de Janeiro, where the Olympics These include 47,000 police revenue last year. “The Cuban workers are not more were detained, the justice an underground weapons site in Islamic State by WhatsApp.” open on August 5. offi cers and 38,000 military Meanwhile, the trade defi cit paid well so there is little moti- ministry said. Paraguay, asking to buy an AK- In a statement, the jus- Last week, Brazil said it was service members tasked with in goods widened by $1.5bn last vation,” a western diplomat fa- Justice Minister Alexandre de 47” assault rifl e, he said. tice ministry said that it had bolstering security for the Au- protecting the 10,500 athletes, year. miliar with the pay diff erential Moraes said the group of Brazil- However, de Moraes said the launched “Operation Hashtag gust 5-21 Olympics following and some 500,000 tourists ex- At least three new hotels are said, requesting anonymity due ian nationals, communicating threat of terrorism at the Rio to break up a group involved in the truck attack in the French pected to come from all parts of under construction in Havana, to diplomatic protocol. by messaging services What- Olympics, the fi rst ever held in the promotion of Islamic State city of Nice, which killed 84 the world.

Undercover soldier Fossils shed new light on US citizen arrested vicious group of dinosaurs in Venezuela AFP tained after fi lming a police Caracas door-to-door search on his Reuters men preserved the complete skull and large teeth for killing mobile phone, after which they Washington posterior half of the skull, sev- prey, along with puny arms that planted the weapons inside his eral vertebrae and pelvis bones, would have done little good in enezuela have detained apartment, The Miami Herald unveiling unknown areas of the hunting. a US man on suspicion reported. ossils of a carnivorous di- skeleton of this group,” said Other scientists last week an- Vof encouraging armed US media report that Holt’s nosaur unearthed in Ar- paleontologist Rodolfo Coria nounced the discovery of fossils groups to destabilise President family is distraught over his Fgentina are shedding new of Argentina’s Universidad Na- of another Argentine carnivo- Nicolas Maduro, the govern- detention which they believe is light on an intriguing group of cional de Río Negro. rous dinosaur, called Gualicho, a ment said. a misunderstanding. predators that apparently were bit larger than Murusraptor that The SEBIN intelligence Holt, just back from a just as happy to slash victims to Scientists said the creature, had feeble arms, akin in size to a service arrested Joshua Holt week-long honeymoon with death with sickle-shaped hand called Murusraptor human child’s. on June 30 in Ciudad Caribia, his new wife, was awaiting claws as to chomp them into an barrosaensis, lived about In contrast, megaraptors pos- a public housing complex on US visas for his new family early grave. 80mn years ago during the sessed strong arms that wielded the outskirts of Caracas, Inte- in Caracas when the incident Scientists said the creature, Cretaceous Period sickle-like claws that could in- rior Minister Gustavo Gonzal- took place at his new wife’s called Murusraptor barrosaen- fl ict fatal wounds on prey, along ez Lopez said on state televi- apartment in public housing, sis, lived about 80mn years ago “The braincase is complete, with a more lightly built skull and sion. the reports said. during the Cretaceous Period, and is the only known among jaws studded with smaller teeth. Six others were detained Holt, arrested together with measured about 21 feet long and megaraptors,” Coria added. “It They also had air-fi lled, bird- along with Holt and anoth- his wife, an Ecuadoran natu- was a pursuit hunter more lightly brings a unique opportunity like bones. But that certainly er six Venezuelans died in a ralised as a Venezuelan citi- built than some other predatory to search for characteristics of did not mean an encounter with shootout with agents, he add- zen, “has admitted that he is dinosaurs. neurological development in Murusraptor in prehistoric Pat- ed, releasing what he said were a trained gunman who has a Murusraptor was a member these dinosaurs.” agonia would end well. photos and videos of the for- certifi cate from the (US) Fed- of a group of meat-eaters called Megaraptors were medium- “A person might say, ‘Oh, a eigners shooting. eral Aviation Administration megaraptors, meaning “giant sized predators compared to megaraptor!’ And then he would Earlier this month, US accrediting him as a pilot,” thieves,” that prowled Patagonia, some of Argentina’s giant Cre- die,” Coria added. media reported that Holt, a Gonzalez Lopez said. although fossils of relatives have taceous meat-eaters, like the Murusraptor means “thief 24-year-old Mormon former An AK-47 automatic rifl e, been discovered in Australia and roughly 41-foot-long Giganoto- from the wall,” because its fossils missionary from Utah, was ar- a replica M-4 rifl e, ammuni- Japan. saurus, and likely hunted in a were collected from the wall of rested after travelling to Ven- tion, a grenade, Caracas maps “Most of the diff erent species diff erent way. a creek in Argentina’s Neuquen A special forces soldier waits to march in a military parade to ezuela to marry a woman, also and computer equipment were known from this clade are based Giganotosaurus, which lived Province. celebrate the 206th anniversary of Colombia’s independence a Mormon, whom he had re- found in the apartment where on rather fragmentary speci- about 17mn years before Mu- The research was published in in Bogota, Colombia. cently met online. Holt was staying, Venezuelan mens. The Murusraptor speci- rusraptor, had a massively built the journal PLOS ONE. Witnesses said he was de- offi cials said. Gulf Times 14 Friday, July 22, 2016 PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN

Afghanistan Parliament to sees uptick in violence

DPA vote on honour Kabul fghanistan has seen an up- tick in violence over the Apast week after a relative lull since the month of Ramadan. In the northern province of killing, rape law Kunduz, at least two districts were under Taliban siege yester- AFP relatives of the victim forgive the day with Afghan forces stretched Islamabad killer – a loophole which critics thin throughout the province. say is exploited. Kunduz is one of the most According to Hamid, under volatile provinces in the north, akistan’s law minister the new law relatives of the vic- with its capital briefl y falling to yesterday announced that tim would only be able to pardon the Taliban last year. Pbills aimed at tackling the killer of capital punishment, During the night, Qala-e Zal Supporters of Pakistan’s Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) march at a rally to show solidarity with Indian “honour killings” and boosting but they would still face a man- district in Kunduz fell to the Kashmiri Muslims as they observed a ‘Black Day’ to denounce the actions of Indian security forces in rape convictions would soon be datory life sentence of twelve- Taliban, said provincial council Indian-administered Kashmir, in Karachi. voted on by parliament, days af- and-a-half years. member Amruddin Wali, after ter the murder of a social media In the anti-rape bill, “a pro- four days of fi ghting. star by her brother. vision to conduct DNA tests on In the morning, the militants Rights groups and politicians both the alleged victim and per- took another district, Dasht- have for years called for tougher petrator has been added for the e Archi, said Ghulam Rabbani Thousands of Pakistanis protest laws to tackle perpetrators of fi rst time,” he said. Rabbani, a local provincial coun- violence against women in Paki- Rape of minors, as well as cil member. But a spokesman for stan and the move follows a slew Law Minister Zahid Hamid the mentally and physically ill, the local government said the of high-profi le killings in the would become punishable by government was still in control. against Indian Kashmir killings country. who chaired the committee, death. All districts in Kunduz have a The perpetrators of so-called said: “We have plugged all Commenting on the move, heavy Taliban presence. honour killings – in which the loopholes in the anti-honour Sughra Imam, a former senator In most, the government con- AFP during a gunbattle with govern- slogans against the Indian ad- victim, normally a woman, is killing legislation, which will from the opposition Pakistan trols only the district centre and Islamabad ment forces. ministration of Kashmir and the killed by a relative – often walk be put up for approval at a People’s Party who fi rst tabled nearby security posts. The clashes are the deadliest actions of its security forces in free because they can seek for- joint sitting of parliament both bills said: “No law will Rabbani said that if the Af- in Muslim-majority Kashmir the valley. giveness for the crime from an- soon.” eradicate a crime entirely but the ghan security forces failed to housands of people since 2010 when massive dem- Speakers urged the United Na- other family member. Prime Minister Nawaz Shar- law should be a deterrent. Laws push the Taliban back, “there marched in streets across onstrations were held against tions to intervene and resolve the Rape conviction rates mean- if’s ruling PML-N party has a are supposed to guide better be- is real chance that Kunduz city TPakistan on Wednesday Indian rule. Kashmir issue. while are close to 0%, largely due large majority of seats in the haviour, not allow destructive may fall to the Taliban yet again.” to protest violence in India-ad- In one major protest, an AFP Parts of Indian Kashmir have to the law’s reliance on circum- lower house and the bills are be- behaviour to continue with im- Fighting also increased in ministered Kashmir, AFP jour- photographer estimated around been under curfew for 11 days stantial evidence and a lack of lieved to have enough backing punity.” the heavily embattled southern nalists said, as the death toll 20,000 people blocked a high- and residents have complained forensic testing. from opposition parties to pass Yesterday’s development province of Helmand. from days of clashes between way connecting Islamabad to of medicine shortages. A committee comprised of in the senate too. came just six days after social Afghan and US forces re- demonstrators and security Muzaff arabad in Pakistan-ad- Kashmir has been divided be- lawmakers from both lower A 2005 amendment to the law media starlet Qandeel Baloch sponded with series of airstrikes. forces rose to 45. ministered Kashmir and then tween rivals India and Pakistan and upper houses of parliament pertaining to honour killings was strangled to death by her “At least 70 Taliban militants Violence erupted after Bur- the capital of Indian Kashmir, since independence in 1947, but unanimously approved the two prevented men who kill female brother once again casting a died following several airstrikes han Wani, commander of the Srinagar. both claim the Himalayan terri- bills yesterday afternoon, mean- relatives pardoning themselves spotlight on honour killing after their eff ort to overrun Sangin region’s biggest separatist group Hundreds of others partici- tory in full. ing they could be voted on within as an “heir” of the victim. murders which claim around district,” said Sardar Mohamed Hizbul Mujahideen – one of sev- pated in rallies in Muzaff arabad, The nuclear-armed neigh- weeks. But punishment was left to a a thousand lives in Pakistan Hamdard, the head of the civil so- eral fi ghting Indian troops in the Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Mul- bours have fought two of their Law Minister Zahid Hamid, judge’s discretion when other every year. ciety association in Helmand. territory for decades – was killed tan and other cities, chanting three wars over the territory.

REVENUE Online sales tax collection Pakistan’s N-security eff orts acknowledged The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) of Pakistan has started col- lection of sales tax electronically Internews performance of 11 states, which exports; implementing meas- control system,” the authors of velopment of nuclear material of its civil nuclear facilities are from taxpayers from July 1, 2016. Islamabad either possess nuclear weap- ures to improve the security of the score card said. accountability and tracking pro- under IAEA safeguards. An off icial statement issued ons or weapons capability, on nuclear material and facilities; Moreover, Pakistan has not grammes, advanced training by An analyst dismissed the re- yesterday said that the Controller 10 indicators over the past three and criminalising and prevent- submitted since 2008 the na- US national laboratories, and the port as politically motivated. General of Accounts (CGA) with akistan has margin- years (2013-16) assigned Grade ing illicit nuclear traffi cking and tional implementation report development of personnel relia- “The report has at places cher- the assistance of the FBR has de- ally improved its grading C to Pakistan. The 2013 report nuclear terrorism. on United Nations Resolution bility and accounting measures,” ry-picked on what sample it veloped a software, which is now Pin the latest report card had given C- to the country. Besides Pakistan, the report 1540, which establishes legally the report said. wants to support its arguments. being used for automated verifica- of the Arms Control Associa- Grade C is assigned by the ACA, evaluated the record of China, binding obligations on all UN After consistently getting For instance, the ACA points a tion of Sales Tax Registration tion (ACA), which measures the which grades states on a scale of France, Russia, the United King- member states to have and en- Grade A in previous two reports, fi nger on Pakistan for blocking Number (STRN) and deduction of performance of nuclear-armed A-F, in instances where the state dom, the United States, India, force appropriate and effective the country was this time given negotiations on the FMCT. applicable rates of sales tax from states vis-a-vis non-prolifera- has taken limited or declaratory Israel and North Korea in addi- measures against the prolifera- Grade B on reduction of the nu- Contrarily, Islamabad has the vendors’ claims submitted at tion, disarmament and security, steps to adhere to international tion to Syria and Iran. tion of nuclear, chemical, and clear weapons alert level. supported a treaty on fi ssile ma- accounting off ices. mainly due to acknowledgement standards. The major improvements for biological weapons and their “Pakistan’s grade has been terials and has objections on the The successful implementation of progress on nuclear security The indicators used for the as- Pakistan were on the indicators delivery systems, including by lowered because in October FMCT’s limited scope and the of the project will ensure correct and export controls. sessment are: banning nuclear- regarding export controls and establishing controls. On nu- 2015. Aizaz Chaudhry publicly report does not take into account deduction of sales tax. Under the “Pakistan’s grade improved weapon test explosions; ending nuclear security commitments. clear security commitments, stated that Pakistan has devel- regional security issues,” he said. system, from July 1, 2016 onward slightly since the 2013 re- the production of fi ssile material The country updated its na- Pakistan got a B+ as compared oped low-yield, tactical nuclear Citing discrepancies in the re- the deduction of applicable port, due in part to progress on for weapons; reducing nuclear tional control lists last year to to a B in 2013. weapons. Pakistan is believed to port, the analyst said that while rates-10%, 20% and 100% of the strengthening export controls weapons alert levels; verifi ably make them compatible with The improved grade was have deployed these weapons on it had not downgraded some sales tax-will be made through this and ratifying a key nuclear secu- reducing nuclear force size; as- those of the nuclear export car- because of accession to the the battlefi eld,” it said. states for violation of non-pro- automated system. rity treaty.” suring non-nuclear weapons tels like the Nuclear Suppli- Convention on the Physical In another observation on liferation norms (NPT and NSG’s The system of the all the AGs “More recently, Pakistan’s states that they will not be sub- ers Group, Missile Technology Protection of Nuclear Mate- general trends, the report cau- principles) while their domestic will be linked with the FBR’s development of tactical nuclear ject to nuclear attack; establish- Control Regime and Australia rial (CPPNAM) amendment this tioned that both “India and Pa- laws granted exceptional trade database in order to verify the weapons raised concerns about ing nuclear weapon-free zones; Group. Pakistan got a B- grade year. kistan are taking troubling steps waiver in 2008, it criticised status and authenticity of the the security of Pakistan’s nu- complying with international on this count against a C- dur- “Physical security has im- toward mating nuclear warheads China and Pakistan for their civil vendor’s STRN. As a result of clear warheads and on the issue safeguards against the diversion ing the last evaluation. “A minus proved in the recent years, due in with new delivery systems”. nuclear co-operation. this verification, the system will of crisis escalation on its border of peaceful nuclear activities (-) is added because there are signifi cant part to US assistance On the International Atomic “The deal does not violate any automatically deduct sales tax with India,” the report said. for weapons purposes; control- still questions of dual-use items across a spectrum of activities. Energy Agency’s safeguard, Pa- international law, including that as per applicable rates. The report card that measured ling nuclear weapons-related slipping past Pakistan’s export This assistance includes the de- kistan got a Grade B, although all of the NSG. ,” he said. Pistachios, Afghans’ green gold, coveted by Taliban

AFP the scene and arrested many of strongmen are Afghanistan’s which are better protected by Kabul them, he says, but the damage desperately poor. their owners. was done. “Collecting pistachios from Nearly four decades ago, be- “The problem is that they the forest is a golden opportu- fore the near continuous wars fghanistan takes pride were collected before ripe... nity for them and to save a bit that have since ravaged Afghani- in its world-class pista- the harvest has decreased,” he of money for themselves,” says stan, the country was carpeted Achios, but with looters adds, citing figures that show 32-year-old Shafi , an agricul- with up to 450,000 hectares of harvesting the nuts well before provincial yield could be nearly tural labourer in Samangan who pistachio forest, he says. maturity fears are growing that halved in 2016 compared with uses only one name. Now, after violence and mis- the Taliban and local strongmen last year. “If the government forces ery, “40 to 50 percent of the are depriving the war-battered Similar scenes are repeated and powerful individuals do not trees are gone for firewood, or country of much-needed export all along the “pistachio belt” stop the people, they can col- are victims of climate change income. that runs from Badakhshan in lect enough pistachios to make and drought,” Amanyar re- Pistachios are not ripe for northeast Afghanistan to Kun- around 1,000 to 2,000 Afghanis ports. the picking until late July, but duz in the north and Herat in ($15 to $30) every day,” he says According to the Food and raiders rushed the forests ear- the west. – enough to feed a family for a Agriculture Organisation (FAO) lier this month and, according “Government forces have week. and USAID, forest density across to the Ministry of Agriculture, no authority over the pistachio Amanyar disputes the idea of the country has considerably illegally harvested up to 40% forests in Badghis province, be- any economic benefi t, however, thinned, from an average of 40- of the country’s still-green cause they lie in Taliban-con- arguing that Afghans are wildly 100 trees per hectare before the crop. trolled areas,” says Hafi zullah undercutting the price of their war to 20-40 trees today. In the northern province of Benish, agriculture director in own crop. For the past dozen years, ef- Samangan, the off ensive began the western province. In Badghis province, he says, forts to green the country saw on July 7 – the second day of Eid, The Taliban and local strong- a “seer” (Central Asian unit 9,700 hectares of pistachio re- the major celebration marking men collected the crops from the equivalent to about seven ki- planted, says Amanyar. the end of Ramadan, says acting roughly 27,000 hectares of land los) of pistachios stolen while Exports of the popular crop head of the provincial depart- too early, he reports. still green can sell for about 400 ranged from 500 to 1,500 tonnes ment of agriculture Rafi ullah “I can tell you, these pistachi- Afghanis, instead of the 1,500 of shelled nuts over the same Roshanzada. os will not be sold because they In this photograph taken on December 31, 2014, Afghan labourers prepare pistachio seeds at a dried fruit to 2,000 Afghanis it can sell for time period, worth $4.2mn in “Between 100 and 150 resi- are raw, not ripe.” factory in Kabul. when they are fully ripe. 2014. dents of the province stormed If they had waited, Benish “It’s far too early,” he says. Not enough to compete with the pistachio forests in Hazrat adds, the crop could have sold also laments head of the Badghis several years banned access to culture Ministry. Pistachios are targeted more opium production that gener- Sultan and Koh Gogird,” he for an estimated 35mn Afghanis governor’s offi ce, Sharafuddin the pistachio forests near har- Defi ance of the ban consti- than any other nut because they ates, according to the UN, about says, naming two districts in the ($525,000). Madjeedi. vest time in 11 provinces, says tutes a “crime”, he says – but grow without cultivation in $160mn a year in Afghanistan. province. “They are being collected by To stop the bleeding, the Mohamed Aman Amanyar, the that is not enough of a deterrent, natural state forests, he says – But enough, for some, to make Security forces rushed to the Taliban and armed locals,” government has for the past forest supervisor for the Agri- for among the militants and the unlike a cash crop like peanuts, ends meet. Gulf Times Friday, July 22, 2016 15 PHILIPPINES The Manila sprawl President in peace off er to rebels

AFP groups do not generally en- Isabela, Philippines gage in kidnappings-for-ran- som. Duterte is known for his hilippine President Ro- hardline stance against crime, drigo Duterte stepped even boasting of killing nu- Pup eff orts to bring peace merous criminals, but he has to the country’s insurgency- called repeatedly for talks with hit south during a visit there all rebel groups. yesterday, calling upon the Despite his message of Islamic militant group Abu peace, Duterte warned that if Sayyaf to end its campaign of the group did not lay down its violence. arms “soldiers will keep com- Speaking to local military ing. That is the response of and government leaders on the government”. troubled island of Basilan, a His visit came as troops were base of the Abu Sayyaf group, battling the Abu Sayyaf in the Duterte said: “I am pleading hinterlands of Basilan. for peace, even with the Abu The military has said at least Sayyaf. one soldier and over 30 Abu You have committed crimes, Sayyaf fi ghters were killed in killing people... You are not weeks of fi ghting there. thinking of anything but ha- Although its leaders have tred.” pledged allegiance to Islamic But Duterte, the fi rst presi- State, analysts say they are dent to hail from the south and mainly focused on lucrative who claims Muslim ancestry, kidnappings. added that “every Filipino life While Duterte addressed is precious” and “we have to troops, his chief peace ne- A general view of the skyline from the Makati City Hall in Manila. stop this war”. gotiator Jesus Dureza held The Abu Sayyaf is a loose meetings with the country’s network of a few hundred Is- largest Muslim rebel group, lamic militants formed in the the Moro Islamic Liberation 1990s with seed money from Front (MILF), elsewhere in the Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda south. network that has earned mil- The 12,000-strong MILF lions of dollars from kidnap- had hoped to seal a fi nal peace pings-for-ransom. deal under Duterte’s predeces- It is a radical off shoot of a sor, Benigno Aquino, but legis- decades-long Muslim sepa- lators delayed passing legisla- ratist insurgency in the south tion needed for the plan. Former Philippine of the mainly Catholic Philip- A ceasefi re with the MILF, pines that has claimed more in place since 2003, has largely than 100,000 lives. held but the Abu Sayyaf are not The main Muslim rebel covered by the truce. leader fi nally freed Marcos camp claims The ombudsman is preparing another charge against Arroyo ‘win’ in poll case AFP Manila Manila Times istence of “meet me rooms” Makati where servers were placed. ormer Philippine president Gloria The Marcos camp ear- Arroyo was released from detention lier revealed the existence of a Fyesterday following nearly fi ve years he Marcos camp de- “fourth server” or the “queue in a military hospital after the Supreme clared an early victory server,” which had been kept Court dismissed her corruption charges, Tin its cybercrime case secret from the public by the her lawyer said. against Smartmatic after the Comelec and Smartmatic. The 69-year-old, who suff ers from Manila prosecutor’s offi ce did Rodriguez pointed out that a spinal illness, was accused of stealing not allow the election software instead of being transmitted P366mn ($8.8mn) in state lottery funds and hardware provider to con- directly to the three servers, meant for charity programmes while she duct a clarifi catory presenta- namely the Municipal Board of was in offi ce between 2001 and 2010. tion in the continuation of it’s Canvassing server, the Come- The Supreme Court threw out the case preliminary investigation. lec server and the transpar- Tuesday, citing insuffi cient evidence, but Deputy city prosecutor ency server, the results of the her release was delayed for procedural rea- Rector Macapagal yesterday May 9 elections were instead sons. turned down the request of coursed through the “queue “It’s a happy day today because she has Smartmatic led by Valenzuelan server”. just been freed,” said Laurence Arroyo, Marlon Garcia, head of techni- But when information tech- who is also a distant relative through mar- cal team, and instead ordered nology expert Ethan Angeles, riage. him to answer one by one the on questioning by the panel, “Finally justice has been done.” 37 questions raised by the defi ned what the Queue Server A convoy of vehicles carrying Arroyo, camp of former senator Ferdi- was as being a system where her supporters and lawyers left the sub- Supporters take a selfie next to a poster of former president Gloria Arroyo. nand Bongbong Marcos Jr. all data are consolidated and urban hospital compound near Manila but “This is a victory for us be- processed, Garcia immediately she could not be seen from her car’s tinted rigo Duterte for not standing in the way of of funds that were supposed “to alleviate government allowed her to be detained in a cause the prosecutor did not denied that there was a server, windows. her release. the suff ering of many of our countrymen”. military hospital. give in to their delaying tac- which had such function, in Outside the gates of the hospital, sup- Government ombudsman Conchita Duterte succeeded Aquino in June, and She was granted bail for the vote-rig- tics. The main argument here the automated elections sys- porters drenched by rain cheered Arroyo’s Carpio-Morales defended the decision said he was willing to pardon Arroyo. ging case in July 2012 after the court — is if indeed Garcia touched the tem or AES. release and carried placards reading: “We to charge Arroyo for plunder, and said on Another of Arroyo’s lawyers, Estelito while not dismissing the charge — ruled server without the consent of Rodriguez said the admis- love Gloria.” Wednesday she was preparing another Mendoza, had suggested that the Supreme evidence against her was weak. the Commission on Elections sion on the existence of sev- Arroyo returned to her home in a smart corruption charge against her. Court waited until Aquino stepped down But the corruption case against Arroyo en banc which he admitted eral other servers in the AES area of the capital minutes after her release. The former leader was jailed in 2011 un- before issuing its ruling as a “courtesy” to was lodged the same year, keeping her in when the 37 questions were validated their earlier conten- Laurence Arroyo said she may now seek der the administration of arch critic, then- Aquino. detention. read to him by the prosecutor,” tion that Smartmatic was not medical treatment abroad for her disease. president Benigno Aquino. Arroyo was initially arrested on charges Despite being detained, Arroyo has won Vic Rodriguez, lawyer for Mar- forthright in the system it em- In a statement issued by her lawyers Aquino questioned the ruling to free of electoral sabotage for allegedly con- a seat in the house of representatives in the cos, told reporters, referring to ployed during the elections, Wednesday, Arroyo thanked the Supreme Arroyo yesterday saying she should be spiring with election offi cials to rig 2007 past three elections, serving as a congress- the Comelec. putting the integrity of the Court and newly-installed President Rod- held accountable for the mismanagement senatorial polls. Because of her illness, the woman while being held in the hospital. Garcia admitted the ex- polls under a cloud of doubt. Probe drug killings, Bulacan police told

Agencies conducted in the towns of Bocaue, San Rafael Police chief, superintend- In Marilao, members of the Drug En- Malolos, Bulacan Norzagaray, Marilao, San Rafael, as well ent Orlando Castil, said they received forcement Unit led by superintendent as Malolos City Police and San Jose Del information through hotline Project Amado Mendoza Jr conducted a drug Monte City Police in three days of drug Call-Text Brigade on Monday evening operation on Tuesday in Villaluz Sub- he chiefs of police of towns with operations since Monday. about a suspicious- looking man, who division, Barangay Santa Rosa 1 that re- reported cases of drug-related Killed in the operations were Vergel turned out to be Veleza, on board a red sulted in the death of a suspect known Tsummary executions have been Veleza of Diliman 1st, San Rafael town; motorcycle in Barangay San Roque near only as Elardo. ordered to submit results of their inves- Armando Dela Cruz; Allan Alonto, 26, the cemetery. Meanwhile, Joel Duran, with an ar- tigation or be sacked from their posts. of Sitio Pallorina Barangay Minuyan, Upon seeing the approaching police- rest warrant for car theft, was killed in Police senior superintendent Romeo Norzagaray; Randy Castro; Cecilio men, Veleza allegedly fi red at the au- an entrapment after he fi red two shots Caramat Jr, acting provincial director, Elardo, 29, of San Juan Compound, thorities that resulted in a shootout. at an undercover policeman in Baran- gave the order after 12 out of 54 drug Barangay Santa Rosa 1, Marilao; Joel Police said Veleza is facing an at- gay Patubig, Marilao town, on Wednes- suspects killed in anti-drug operations Duran; Rey Nicolas; and two other uni- tempted murder case and escaped dur- day. since July 1 were found to be victims of dentifi ed suspects. ing a buy-bust on July 1. The Bulacan Provincial Intelligence extrajudicial killings. Those arrested were identifi ed as Norzagaray municipal police chief Branch (PIB) head, superintendent He said the provincial police do not Anna Fatima Pascual, 18, of Barangay superintendent Rizalino Andaya, on Marlon Santos, said that upon accept- condone such manner of killing, even if More than 10,000 drug users and pushers gather at a sports stadium after they Matictic; Vergel Hernandez, 25, of Si- Monday said a clash ensued between his ing marked money, Duran opened fi re at the victims are facing criminal charges. surrendered to local government off icials to take part in a government campaign tio Settling in Barangay Bigte; Henry men and a drug suspect, Randy Castro, police and a running gunbattle ensued, While admitting the existence of a against drugs in San Fernando, Pampanga, yesterday. Boticario, 30, of Barangay Minuyan; who shot a police poseur buyer during resulting in his death. vigilante group in Bulacan, Caramat Sylvester Mesina, 22, and Alfredo Cruz, a drug bust in Sitio Crusher, Barangay In San Jose del Monte, superintend- added that they are not discounting the Offi ce 3 (PRO 3), Caramat identifi ed the operations on Wednesday night. 46, both of Sitio Curbada, Barangay Bigte, while another suspect—identi- ent Wilson Magpali reported that two possibility that drug lords might be be- slain suspects as Zaldy Carinio, 43, of The latest deaths added up to 10 oth- Minuyan, all of Norzagaray; Amado fi ed only as Alonto—was neutralised in unidentifi ed armed men were neutral- hind the killings. Marilao; one Ben of Poblacion of Santa ers on a list of what police called killed Tizon, 39, of Purok Madricacao, Baran- a running gunbattle on Tuesday in Sitio ised during a buy-bust in Pugad Hali- In a report to chief superintendent Maria; and Morris of Barangay Bulihan in action (KIA), seven suspects were gay Santa Rosa 1; and Pedro San Jose, Palorina in Barangay Minuyan, Norza- maw, Barangay Santa Cruz 5, Sapang Aaron Aquino of the Police Regional of Malolos City who died in legitimate arrested in diff erent police operations 53, of Barangay Loma de Gato, Marilao. garay. Palay, also on Wednesday morning. Gulf Times 16 Friday, July 22, 2016 SRI LANKA/BANGLADESH/NEPAL Parliament in turmoil Extremist named for cafe attack detained

AFP attackers had any international Dhaka connections. RAB spokesman Khan said offi cers were probing whether angladesh’s elite secu- Hasan and the three other de- rity force said yester- tained JMB operatives, includ- Bday it had arrested a top ing a medical student, had regional head of the homeg- played a role in the Gulshan rown Islamist extremist group attack. blamed for an attack on a Dha- “They will be questioned,” Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba leaves parliament in Kathmandu yesterday. Nepali opposition lawmakers filed a no-confidence motion on July 13, against ka cafe in which 20 hostages he said. Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli after former rebel Maoists quit his coalition, triggering fresh political turmoil in the quake-hit nation. were murdered. Hasan-trained militants Rapid Action Battalion were responsible for the mur- (RAB) officers stormed a der of a police constable and flat in an apartment build- deadly bomb attack at the na- ing in the industrial town of tion’s most respected Shia Tongi, just north of the capi- shrine in Dhaka late last year, tal Dhaka, and arrested four he added. members of the Jamayetul Bangladesh has been reeling Mujahideen Bangladesh from a deadly wave of attacks (JMB). in the last three years. “Among them was Mah- The government and police mudul Hasan, the southern say homegrown extremists are Khaleda Zia’s son regional head of the JMB. He responsible for the deaths of is a top militant trainer,” RAB some 80 secular activists, for- spokesman Mufti Mahmud eigners and religious minori- Khan told reporters. ties since 2013. Police recovered hand-made Both IS and a branch of Al bombs and bomb-making Qaeda have claimed respon- materials from the house, in- sibility for many of the at- dicating the militants “were tacks. convicted in money planning to carry out an act of Critics say Hasina’s admin- sabotage,” he said. istration is in denial about the Bangladesh’s government nature of the threat posed by has blamed JMB for the July Islamist extremists and accuse 1 attack on an upscale cafe in her of trying to exploit the at- Dhaka’s Gulshan neighbour- tacks to demonise her domes- hood in which 20 hostages, tic political opponents. including 18 foreigners, were Last month, authorities laundering case shot and slaughtered. launched a crackdown on local The Islamic State group jihadists, arresting more than Rahman’s ability to seek election “There is no opportunity to appeal from claimed responsibility for the 11,000 people, but critics al- will be hit by his conviction London,” he said. Gulshan attack, releasing pho- lege the arrests were arbitrary Nonetheless his lawyer Mahbub Uddin tos of the carnage and of the or designed to silence opposi- AFP said they would appeal the verdict. fi ve men who carried out the tion. Dhaka “We hope we’ll get justice,” he told re- deadly assault. The attack, claimed by Is- porters. Bangladeshi authorities re- lamic State, marked a major The BNP, founded by Rahman’s father jected the claim, saying inter- escalation in the scale and Bangladesh court yesterday con- and popular army strongman Ziaur Rah- national jihadist networks have brutality of violence aimed at victed the exiled eldest son of the man in the late 1970s, has been in disarray no presence in the world’s third forcing strict Islamic rule in Amain opposition leader for money in recent years. largest Muslim majority na- Bangladesh. laundering and sentenced him to seven It boycotted the last general election tion. Bangladesh has faced a se- years in prison, a move that could end his in 2014, allowing Zia’s bitter rival Sheikh But national police chief ries of attacks on liberal blog- political ambitions. Hasina’s party to win without even con- Shahidul Hoque said recently gers, university teachers and Two high court judges overturned a testing most of the parliamentary seats. that authorities were inves- members of religious minori- 2013 acquittal by a lower court of 51-year- Last year, Prime Minister Hasina’s sec- tigating whether the Gulshan ties over the past year. old Tarique Rahman, who lives in exile in ular government launched a crackdown London and now faces a ban from politics. in which thousands of BNP activists were Rahman, who was also fi ned 200mn detained and prosecuted for violent pro- taka ($2.5mn), is the eldest son of oppo- tests that left nearly 150 people dead. sition leader and two-time former prime Rahman has especially irritated Hasi- minister Khaleda Zia and was considered na’s government after claiming that her Dengue campaign in her political heir apparent. father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman — widely “The high court said Tarique Rahman regarded as the hero of Bangladesh’s 1971 infl uenced political power to help his close independence war from Pakistan — was in Lanka hit by rain friend Giasuddin Mamun to get and then Tarique Rahman is taken to court in 2007. fact a stooge of Islamabad. launder 200mn taka,” deputy attorney Khurshid Alam Khan, a lawyer for the general Moniruzzaman Kabir told AFP. secular writers, foreigners and religious The judge who acquitted Rahman in Anti-Corruption Commission, which had Thomson Reuters tribute to extended periods of The move comes at a volatile time in minorities are part of a plot to destabilise 2013 has since fl ed the country and is be- appealed against the previous judgment Foundation transmission and outbreaks,” Bangladesh, which is reeling from a wave the country. lieved to be in Malaysia. said: “The verdict once again endorsed Colombo she said. of deadly attacks by Islamist extremists. It has blamed 70-year-old Zia’s Bang- Party spokesman Ahmed said at least that no one is above the law.” The capital Colombo and the Earlier this month fi ve armed men ladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its Is- 24 BNP activists including a senior offi cial Yesterday, the court also upheld a sev- surrounding Western Province stormed an upscale cafe in Dhaka’s dip- lamist ally. were arrested after staging protests fol- en-year jail term for Mamun. igh temperatures and have been the hardest hit areas, lomatic zone and killed at least 20 hos- The BNP protested the money launder- lowing the verdict. Law minister Anisul Huq vowed to seek unseasonal rains have with close to 50% of the infec- tages including 18 foreigners, in an attack ing verdict, saying it was part of the gov- Dhaka police inspector Morshed Alam the assistance of British authorities, or Hcombined to eff ectively tions reported from the prov- claimed by the Islamic State group. ernment’s “political vengeance” against told AFP 10 supporters were detained international police agency Interpol, if re- scuttle Sri Lanka’s eff orts to ince, which is also the coun- Police say local Islamist group, the Rahman. outside the BNP’s headquarters in the quired to bring Rahman back. curb dengue, experts say. try’s most densely populated Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), “The lower court did not fi nd any evi- capital. Bangladesh does not have an extradition The island is facing yet an- area. was behind the siege. dence against Tarique Rahman. The judge Prosecutors said Rahman would now treaty with Britain. other outbreak this summer, Of the 29,000 infections re- A week later, suspected Islamists from who gave that verdict was forced to fl ee the face a ban from politics unless the Su- Bangladeshi politics has been mired for with infections more than ported so far, 7,400 have been the same group attacked the nation’s larg- country following government pressure,” preme Court overturned his conviction. years in rivalry between Prime Minister doubling in June to 3,421 cases, from Colombo. est Eid prayer congregation, killing three BNP spokesman Rizvi Ahmed told AFP. Justice minister Anisul Huq told report- Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda. up from 1,477 cases during the During the May fl oods, large people, according to police. “These are all parts of a conspiracy to ers that Rahman, who also faces several Both women are related to former na- same period in 2015. areas of Colombo were under- The Bangladeshi government says those keep him out of politics and to destroy the other charges of graft, would have to sur- tional leaders, and have alternated as prime The epidemiology unit of water for several days and, pri- attacks and a number of other killings of Zia family,” he said. render to the court before he could appeal. minister for most of the past two decades. the ministry of health said that or to the rains, the district also 23,000 infections had been re- recorded high temperatures. ported countrywide up to the “It is obvious that chang- second week of July. ing rain patterns contribute to In comparison only 29,000 spread and expansion of den- cases were reported for the gue in the island,” Noordeen whole of 2015. said. The outbreak follows heavy As during past outbreaks, How millions from the Bangladesh government authorities have rains in May that left large parts of the island inundated heightened eradication and for days. awareness programmes. Just before the rains, the Members of the armed forces country witnessed an extended have been tasked with clean up Bank heist vanished without trace operations and public offi cials period of above-average tem- peratures, with the meteorol- in high-risk areas in Colombo Reuters four transactions to accounts with Rizal Late on Monday, according to Bang- len funds could not be frozen until a crim- ogy department confi rming have warned of strict action, Dhaka/New York Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) in the ladesh Bank sources and the Philippine inal case was lodged, even though they some areas were experiencing including legal cases, against Philippines — for $6mn, $30mn, $20mn senate testimony, Bangladesh Bank sent were still in the banking system. temperatures between 2 to 3 those who permit standing wa- and $25mn. messages via the SWIFT bank messag- And over the next few days, most of degrees Celsius higher than ter on their property, which al- hen the Federal Reserve Bank of Each account was in the name of an in- ing system to RCBC asking it to freeze the the $81mn di