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SHAABAN 10, 1440 AH MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2019 28 Pages Max 36º Min 20º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 17807 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net Gulf Bank empowers Kuwaiti Sudan protesters set demands White House denies Trump is ‘Redemption’ as Hamilton wins 5 youth at INJAZ competition 7 as junta urges global support 24 inciting violence against Omar 28 1,000th race in Mercedes one-two Uproar over suspension of bedoon bank accounts Labor panel scraps 35-day annual leave, reverts to 30 days By B Izzak pressure by the government and the business commu- nity and decided to rescind its earlier approval of Kuwait urged to host World Cup matches KUWAIT: MPs and activists were up in arms yester- increasing the annual leave for private sector employ- day over a decision by the central agency for ees to 35 days. Head of the committee MP Hamoud bedoons to ask banks to suspend the accounts of Al-Khudhair said yesterday the panel decided to bedoons - stateless people - who did not provide the reduce the annual leave back to 30 days as it was necessary documents to renew their IDs. MPs threat- before the amendment. ened action against the government and particularly The amendment had been approved by the commit- the interior minister amid threats to grill the minister tee about two months ago and then passed by the by MP Mohammad Hayef. The central agency for National Assembly in the first reading last month. The bedoons however said reports about the suspension Assembly was due to pass the amendment in the sec- have been exaggerated. ond and final reading more than three weeks ago, but A statement by the agency said the accounts of only the government delayed the vote. The government 10 percent of the bedoons have been suspended clearly told the panel that the amendment harms the because they did not provide the documents to renew interests of Kuwaiti businessmen against a minor bene- their IDs, while the accounts of 90 percent of bedoons fit to a small number of Kuwaitis employed in the pri- are active. Some 77,000 undocumented residents in vate sector. Kuwait received their identification cards in the 2018, it The overwhelming majority of employees in the pri- said in the statement. The vast majority of Kuwait’s vate sector are foreigners, who would have been the bedoons have access to state services, including free main beneficiaries of the amendment. The Kuwait KUWAIT: HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets FIFA President Gianni Infantino. — KUNA healthcare and education, the statement highlighted, chamber of commerce and industry, which represents warning that any attempted “circumvention of state the business community, and the banking association KUWAIT: FIFA President Gianni Infantino met HH KUNA news agency said. laws” will be dealt with using legal force. also stepped up pressure to block the amendment. the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Infantino also met with the speaker of Kuwait’s MPs supporting the cause of bedoons called on the Khudhair told reporters that the annual leave will now yesterday, state media said, amid reports the state is in National Assembly Marzouq Al-Ghanem and officials Assembly to pass a draft law grating civil and social remain at 30 days but without including rest days - talks to host matches to support Qatar during the of the national football federation, KUNA said. While rights for bedoons, including permanent residencies, which means Fridays and public holidays. The lawmaker 2022 World Cup. HH the Amir and the head of the no details of the visit were made public, local media free health and education and public and private sector however said the only amendment that will be debated country’s sports federation met with Infantino on a has reported that Infantino’s hope is to convince jobs, among other benefits. on Tuesday is granting Kuwaitis in the private sector low-profile visit that began Saturday, the official Continued on Page 24 In another development, the National Assembly’s full end of service indemnity, besides getting pension health and labor committee yesterday succumbed to after retirement. three medical personnel had been killed 120 killed in and that shrapnel had put five ambu- lances out of action. The mounting vio- Duo sentenced to lence has sparked global alarm over the Libya; Sisi oil-rich country, in turmoil since NATO- backed forces overthrew former dictator death for killing meets Haftar Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. A bewilder- ing array of militias have sought to take sheikh, 2 others TRIPOLI: Fighting near Tripoli has control since his ouster. killed 121 people since strongman Khalifa Haftar’s offensive began shortly By Meshaal Al-Enezi Haftar launched an offensive earlier this before a conference set for this month to month to take the Libyan capital, the discuss Libya’s future - an event the UN KUWAIT: The court World Health Organization said yester- cancelled as his forces closed in on the of cassation yesterday day. In clashes between Haftar’s forces capital. Haftar, who leads the self-styled sentenced two and those of the UN-backed Government Libyan National Army (LNA), has Iranians to death for of National Accord (GNA), both sides pushed from his power base in the coun- killing a ruling family have proclaimed “advances” but neither try’s east towards the Libyan capital in member, another appears to have made substantial the west, the seat of the UN-backed uni- Kuwaiti and an progress on the ground in recent days. ty government led by Fayez Al-Sarraj. Indonesian woman in With more than 560 people wounded The unity government said its forces an armed robbery in since the fighting started on April 4, the had shot down an LNA fighter jet yes- 2016. The victims WHO said it was sending more medical terday “that was preparing to conduct were found inside an supplies and staff to Tripoli. air raids” south of Tripoli. An LNA apartment in Salwa On its Twitter feed, the agency source said the plane had come down with their hands and The two suspects are seen denounced “repeated attacks on health in an area under its control and that feet tied and their after their arrest in this file care workers” and vehicles during the the pilot, who had ejected, was “safe mouths gagged. photo. fighting. The UN’s humanitarian coordi- and sound”. CAIRO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi (right) meets Libyan strongman At the time, the nation office, OCHA, said Saturday that Continued on Page 24 Khalifa Haftar at the Ittihadia presidential palace yesterday. — AFP interior ministry’s media and public relations depart- ment had said in a statement the suspects were arrested after intense investigations and information co-founder Paul Allen, as the company enters the lucra- from eyewitnesses. The suspects, Iranian nationals World’s largest tive private space market. The white airplane called Israeli delegation Mohammad Abdulredha Nawasser and Ali Roc, which has a wingspan the length of an American Mohammad Al-Bughaibesh, committed the crime football field and is powered by six engines on a twin using a handgun, said the statement. Before escaping, plane makes fuselage, took to the air shortly before 7 am Pacific time cancels Bahrain the two suspects stole KD 276,000 and three guns (1400 GMT) and stayed aloft for more than two hours belonging to the house owner, the statement added. first test flight before landing safely back at the Mojave Air and Space visit after outcry Port as a crowd of hundreds of people cheered. LOS ANGELES: The world’s largest aircraft took off “What a fantastic first flight,” Stratolaunch Chief DUBAI: A delegation from Israel that was due to over the Mojave Desert in California on Saturday, the Executive Officer Jean Floyd said in a statement posted attend a conference in Bahrain this week has pulled out first flight for the carbon-composite plane built by to the company’s website. due to security concerns, the organizers said yesterday, EPA tightens Stratolaunch Systems Corp, started by late Microsoft Continued on Page 24 after Bahrainis held an extensive campaign against the visit. A spokeswoman for Israel’s Economy Minister Eli Cohen said his planned visit to Bahrain this week had shisha curbs been “delayed because of political issues”. Another By A Saleh Israeli cabinet minister said this referred to coalition talks after Israel’s election last week. KUWAIT: Environment Public Authority Chairman Israel and the Gulf Arab countries are in the midst of Sheikh Abdullah Al-Ahmed issued a decision on the a diplomatic push aimed at forging an alliance against conditions and regulations of smoking shisha in their common enemy Iran. Their efforts have become enclosed and semi-enclosed public places. The new increasingly public after years of mostly covert contact regulations stress that smoking any form of tobacco is due to strong opposition to the Israeli occupation of banned in schools, universities and health facilities, and Palestinian territories. The group of around 30 Israeli set 19 conditions for serving shisha. business executives and government officials was These include that the premises should be in a com- scheduled to participate in a congress organized by the mercial or investment building, serving shisha only in US- based Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) in open-air areas in shopping malls and licensed restau- Bahrain on April 15-18. rants or cafes and semi-open areas in hotels that can- This prompted an outcry in Bahrain, with parliament not be expanded without EPA approval. joining calls on social media for the visit to be cancelled There should also be automatic doors between and some minor street protests held in Manama.