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RABI ALTHANI 9, 1439 AH WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2017 Max 22º 32 Pages Min 08º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 17417 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net Court order compels Cabinet Blocked from reaching Europe, Iraq beat Qatar, Bahrain Kane treble shatters English 3 to ban water gun celebrations 6 migrants settling in Morocco 15 blank Yemen in Gulf Cup 16 Premier League goal record Lawmaker warns of Qatar-like blockade, calls for readiness Opposition MPs clash with govt • Five arrested over offending video By B Izzak the charges. HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al- nothing has been prepared because “our Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has been lead- ports are in a dire situation and we have a KUWAIT: Opposition lawmaker Hamdan ing efforts to mediate a settlement. The fleet of passenger planes that we don’t Al-Azemi yesterday said that Kuwait efforts have succeeded in containing the actually own”. Israelis seeking could face a Qatar-like blockade and rift from escalating, but a resolution to the MP Riyadh Al-Adasani said that there called on the government to take precau- crisis appears to be far away. are attempts to form a committee to compensation after tionary measures to face any eventuality. “I expect Kuwait to come under siege “alter” future grillings against ministers, “Isn’t possible for Kuwait to face the same like what happened with Qatar. What has adding that such attempts will be totally scenario like Qatar?” questioned Azemi the government prepared for such a pos- rejected. He called on the Assembly Saudi chess snub during the debate of the Amiri address sibility?” Azemi asked. He however did speaker to be neutral and not to be with JERUSALEM: The Israel Chess Federation said made at the opening of the current not elaborate on his prediction and did the government, “as he was in the previ- yesterday it is seeking compensation from the National Assembly term on Oct 24. not specify which countries could impose ous Assembly”. Adasani claimed that organizers of a tournament in Saudi Arabia, after the In early June this year, Saudi Arabia, a blockade on Kuwait. “What prepara- there are disputes between sheikhs, mer- Gulf state refused to issue visas for its players. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt tions has the Kuwaiti government made chants and MPs, adding that processing King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Championships severed diplomatic ties with Qatar and to face any risks amid the highly volatile illegal transactions is the root cause of is the first international chess competition held in imposed economic and political sanctions situation in the region? I call on the gov- corruption in the country and that any Saudi Arabia, perceived as a display of the conser- on the Gulf state, coupled with a blockade ernment to prepare, learn and benefit minister who accepts such transactions is by air, sea and land, accusing it of backing from the Gulf crisis before it’s too late,” effectively taking part in corruption. vative kingdom’s growing openness to the West. The Hamdan Al-Azemi regulations of the organisers, the World Chess radical Islamist groups. Qatar has denied the lawmaker warned. He added that Continued on Page 11 Federation (FIDE), stipulate that no player should be refused the opportunity to participate, but players from three states - Iran, Qatar, and Israel, had ini- tially not received visas. Displaced Syrians On Monday, FIDE announced it had “secured visas for Qatar and Iran,” with officials from the survive war but face world chess body failing to reach an agreement with the Saudis to allow the Israelis to enter the kingdom for the games. Fatimah Baeshen, a spokeswoman for battle against cold the Saudi embassy in Washington, indicated on Twitter that the Israelis were refused visas because AIN ISSA, Syria: Khadija Alloush made it out alive the kingdom does not have diplomatic ties with from Syria’s battle-ravaged Raqqa with her five chil- their country. “The kingdom has allowed the partici- dren, but she lost her seven-year-old son to the biting pation of all citizens. The exception is whereby KSA cold of life in a displacement camp. As temperatures (the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) has historically not drop, tens of thousands of civilians forced out of their had diplomatic ties with a specific country-thus has homes by Syria’s war are spending yet another winter in flimsy plastic tents or abandoned half-finished build- maintained its policy,” she wrote. ings. And without heating, blankets and warm clothes, The Israel Chess Federation accused Saudi or access to proper medical care, even a simple cold Arabia of misleading FIDE to enable hosting the can turn deadly. “My son died because of the cold,” tournament, which began yesterday. “All their previ- weeps Khadija, 35, her features drawn and exhausted a ous statements were to the contrary,” spokesman week after the sudden death of little Abdel Ilah. Lior Aizenberg said. Aizenberg said the Israelis After fleeing fighting in the Islamic State group’s for- were seeking financial compensation from FIDE for mer bastion Raqqa, Khadija’s family sought refuge in the the seven players who “were professionally and Ain Issa camp about 50 km north. Now nighttime temper- financially damaged” by the saga. In addition, they atures are plummeting to just four degrees Celsius. “He wanted assurances that FIDE would never repeat coughed and had a fever in the middle of the night. The such conduct, and “every country hosting an inter- next day, he was dead,” Khadija tells AFP, drawing her A displaced Syrian child is seen at the Ain Issa camp on Dec 18, 2017.— AFP national event will commit to hosting Israeli chess four young children close to her. “May God spare us in players, even if it’s an Arab state.” this cold,” she says. More than 17,000 people have sought water. Returning is not an option. According to the United using rocks to weigh down plastic sheeting to prevent Finally, the Israel Chess Federation was demand- refuge in the Ain Issa camp’s 2,550 tents, set up in neat Nations, which supports the camp, there is no new health water seeping in. Camp manager Jalal al-Ayyaf acknowl- ing FIDE competitions set to take place in Saudi rows exposed to the elements. care clinic to cater for expanding areas of the sprawling edged there was a “lack of medication” available to dis- over the next two years “be immediately cancelled,” Most of the residents fled assaults against IS in Raqqa, facility. More than half of the residents say their tents need placed families in Ain Issa. “There are no statistics on Aizenberg said in a statement. FIDE did not respond as well as Syria’s province of Deir Ezzor to the southeast. repairs or maintenance to protect against the cold. infant mortality, but deaths have been caused by illnesses” to requests for comment. Israel and Saudi Arabia Many of their homes have been flattened, their towns and To keep the inside of their tents dry, many in the camp exacerbated by the cold, Ayyaf said. have no official relations. — AFP villages reduced to ruins without electricity or running have put up an extra layer of nylon tarps and resort to Continued on Page 11 Schoolgirls in News in brief Tunisia rebel Some Saudi detainees freed RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has released 23 of the 200- against uniforms or-so powerful individuals detained since November on corruption charges after they reached deals with BIZERTE, Tunisia: In Tunisian high schools, the dress the government, Okaz newspaper reported yester- code is not uniform. Actually, it is: but only for girls. Boys day. The report did not name those involved in what can wear what they like, and now the girls are up in arms. appeared to be the first large-scale release since the One morning, instead of turning up for class wearing the royals, business people and government officials regulation navy blue smock, a defiant group of adolescent were detained in a crackdown spearheaded by girls came to school in white T-shirts instead, demanding Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Video posted an “end to discrimination”. At the elite Bizerte public on social media showed a smiling Saoud Al- school in the north, as is the case in most high schools in Daweesh, the former chief executive of Saudi the North African country, pupils have to sign a school Telecom, telling well-wishers he had been treated rule stipulating that wearing a uniform applies to girls only. decently. “Private Affairs (a unit of the Royal Court) One day in September, supervisors reminded senior brought us a full lamb dish day and night. They female students who did not abide by this rule that if they treated us well and did a good job,” he said. did not wear the smock, a loose-fitting, long gilet, they would be sent home. Ironically, the warning was passed on during a philosophy class - about the human body. This Egypt hangs 15 militants “injustice” inspired many of the girls to take to social net- works and vent their feelings, 18-year-old Siwar Tebourbi BIZERTE, Tunisia: Siwar Tebourbi (center), an 18-year-old Tunisian schoolgirl, walks with classmates as they leave school on Nov 30, 2017. — AFP CAIRO: Egypt hanged 15 men convicted of attacks told AFP. that killed security forces in the Sinai Peninsula, She said the girls agreed to take collective action from security sources said yesterday, in what appears to the following day “to demand that this discrimination must of Democratic Women of Tunisia, an independent feminist source of some amusement to Tebourbi.

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