Page 01 Jan 13.Indd

ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER Sunday 13 January 2013 1 Rabial I 1434 - Volume 17 Number 5578 Price: QR2 Investors get Shane clinches richer by over stunning win in QR21bn on QE Oryx Cup final Business | 17 Sport | 25 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780 Protecting land Qatar Airways Al Jazeera flight diverted DOHA: A Qatar Airways flight to an Indian city ‘losing’ Arab was diverted back to Doha early yesterday after a passenger complained of chest pain, according to reports in local Malayalam dailies. viewers The passenger, Padhmarajan, 40, complained of chest pain as soon as the flight took off at around 2am Arab Spring boomerangs yesterday for Calicut in the south Indian state of Kerala. DOHA: While Al Jazeera local events more ably covered Padhmarajan was rushed Media Network has embarked by independent national chan- to the emergency unit of on an ambitious expansion plan nels that have proliferated rap- Hamad Medical Corporation in the US with its acquisition of idly in a freer political climate, (HMC) where he was Al Gore’s Current TV, its popu- along with internet-borne social declared dead. lar flagship Arabic channel is media”, the report adds. The deceased had been losing ground nearer home. Lamenting the group’s alleg- living in Doha with family. Al Jazeera Arabic is fast los- edly biased and selective coverage It is not known if someone ing viewers in the Arab world, of the revolutions and ignoring from his family was accom- especially in countries where uprisings in some Arab coun- panying him in the flight. the channel provided exten- tries, the report said: “Moreover, His body was to be flown sive coverage of the revolu- Al Jazeera Arabic’s vaunted repu- home to Calicut early today. tions, says London-based ‘The tation for even-handedness has Palestinian activists fix flags on a tent in an ‘outpost’ named Bab Al Shams (Gate of the Sun) that they set Qatar Airways couldn’t be Economist’. withered in recent years”. up between Jerusalem and the Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in immediately contacted for Numerous pan-Arab rivals “The repressed voices it once an area where Israel has vowed to build new settler homes, yesterday. Full report on page 10 comment. have sprouted in the Arab daringly aired, particularly of THE PENINSULA Spring countries as well as Iraq Islamists linked to the Muslim with a copycat mix of flashy Brotherhood, speak now from graphics, daring reportage and positions of power.” sizzling debate. Al Jazeera’s breathless boost- And to top it all, global media ing of rebel fighters in Libya firms such as Bloomberg, News and Syria, and of the Muslim Qatar renews call for Arab force in Syria Corporation and CNN have Brotherhood in Egypt, has made pushed into the Arab market, said many Arab viewers question its CAIRO: Qatar has made a killed more than 60,000 Syrians. all the parties agree with us. But Qatar, a supporter of rebels ‘The Economist’ in a report. veracity. fresh call for an Arab force to “Arabs must think seriously this does not mean that there seeking to overthrow Assad, The journal highlights that Al So has its tendency to ignore end bloodshed in Syria if cur- about sending forces to ensure are other tools to be used to stop made a similar proposal in Jazeera that provided “breathless” human rights abuses by those rent diplomatic efforts by inter- security in Syria if diplomatic the fighting in Syria,” the Prime September. In a speech to the coverage of the Arab Spring to same rebels, and its failure to national peace envoy Lakhdar efforts fail to resolve the cri- Minister said. UN General Assembly, the Emir bring a regime change in coun- treat uprisings in all Arab coun- Brahimi fail, according to Al sis,” Qatar’s Prime Minister and “It is not a question of inter- H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa tries such as Tunisia, Egypt and tries equally. Jazeera television. Foreign Minister, H E Sheikh vention in Syria in favour of Al Thani said Arab states should Libya is facing stiff competition The world-renowned jour- Brahimi is trying to build on Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al one party against the other, but intervene in Syria given the UN from the local players. nal, in its report, also hinted an agreement reached in Geneva Thani, said in remarks broadcast rather a force to preserve secu- Security Council’s failure to stop “Ironically, the Arab revo- that not only viewers but some on June 30 calling for a transi- by Al Jazeera. rity,” the Prime Minister, who the civil war. lutions that Al Jazeera glee- of the senior Al Jazeera corre- tional period in Syria. But dif- “From the beginning we all heads an Arab League com- Russia yesterday voiced sup- fully promoted have produced spondents also endorsed that the ferences between Russia and the agree that a military solution is mittee on Syria, said. “In my port for Brahimi’s efforts but a challenge to its dominance. Channel is biased towards Muslim United States over the future undesirable. Neither the Arab opinion, Arabs must seriously insisted Assad’s exit cannot be Audiences in countries such Brotherhood. of President Bashar Al Assad League nor the Arab Ministerial consider this (solution) if other a precondition for a deal to end as Egypt, Iraq and Tunisia are THE PENINSULA continue to block a deal to end Committee on Syria, which I means fail. Arabs are capable of the country’s conflict. now gripped by fast-moving Continued on page 6 21 months of violence that has chair, favours this option, and ending the bloodshed,” he said. Continued on page 6 Kuwait beat Saudi Fire kills 13 in Many old buildings Bahrain workers’ housing block may face demolition DOHA: The municipal minis- Old Airport, Bin Mahmoud, MANAMA: A fire in a three- try is to decide soon the fate Old Salata, Old Ghanem, Doha storey block housing Asian of a large number of old and Jadeed, Al Asmakh, Freej Abdul workers in the Bahraini capital dilapidated buildings in some Aziz, Bin Omran and New and killed at least 13 people, the state key areas of Doha and Al Old Al Rayyan. BNA news agency reported late Rayyan, and it is likely that Interestingly, the owners of on Friday. One firefighter was many of them will come under the buildings that are eventu- also injured when the building’s bulldozers. ally earmarked for being razed roof collapsed during a rescue The Ministry of Municipality would be required to pay a fee attempt, the news agency added. and Urban Planning has a list of and share 25 percent of the An investigation was under way these buildings and an internal cost of the demolition with the to determine the cause of the fire, committee is studying which ministry. which broke out on Friday in the ones to spare for renovation The real estate registra- building in the Makharka district of and which ones are to be razed tion of buildings whose owners central Manama. Foreigners make to the ground. refuse to pay the fee and share up 54 percent of the 1.234-million The Ministry says it is empow- the cost of demolition would be population of Bahrain. ered by the law to demolish a scrapped. In other words, the Kuwait’s Yousef Al Sulaiman (20) kicks the ball to score a goal past Saudi Arabia’s goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah AFP building without seeking the owners would not be able to sell during their Gulf Cup tournament soccer match in Isa Town, Bahrain, yesterday. Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia 1-0. consent of its owner if it is found the property. Only one of the endangering people’s lives. above-mentioned ramshackle What apparently worries the buildings belongs to the govern- ministry is the fact that many ment, it is understood. of these buildings are occupied, The ministry is also mulling Empty West Bay towers await single tenants mainly by expatriates, despite amending the law to make it being uninhabitable due to their mandatory for building owners dilapidated condition. to keep the passage between one BY SATISH KANADY single tenants rather than sev- When a tower is rented out to about looking for new tenants in Only one of these ram- building and another clean at eral of them. multiple entities the chances of the event the existing ones go. shackle structures, a building all times. DOHA: A number of towers Owner-investors believe leas- several floors lying vacant for long Blue chip companies seldom like located behind Bank Street, has The amendment would also in the West Bay area, called ing out commercial space to a sin- are high, owners fear. to move into a tower where other been referred to the Museums make it illegal for building own- Doha’s Manhattan, are lying gle tenant guarantees long-term They believe it is difficult to find floors are occupied by other com- Authority and there is a possibility ers to use rooftops as storage areas vacant as their owners insist on income, in addition to helping cut a tenant for a vacant floor if the panies”, he said. it will be declared a heritage site. and garbage dumps. They would leasing them out to single ten- down management costs. other floors are occupied. “There is According to investors, single If the Museums Authority be required to keep the rooftops ants in order to ensure hassle- According to leading prop- a risk of losing the annual income tenants are more flexible and will- decides to adopt the building as a clean and tidy at all times.

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