SUBSCRIPTION SUNDAY, JULY 23, 2017 SHAWWAL 29, 1438 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Oil producers’ Spicer out, Picture this! Kuwaiti compliance with Scaramucci, Pensive Neymar FINA official output cut pact Sanders rise in stirs renewed reelected after good: Marzouq2 Trump shakeup6 PSG15 fever scandal16 denial Qatari leader appreciates Min 32º Max 48º Amir’s mediation efforts High Tide 00:10 & 22:44 Doha ready for talks UAE welcomes anti-terror move, BeIN back on air Low Tide • 05:18 & 18:31 32 PAGES NO: 17286 150 FILS DOHA: Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani highly commended on Friday HH the Amir of Kuwait Kuwait protests to Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s mediation efforts to resolve the Gulf crisis. In a televised address, the Qatari emir said his country had supported Kuwait’s Lebanon over Hezb mediation efforts from the very beginning, hoping that such efforts would bear fruit. KUWAIT: Kuwait has protested to promoting distinguished brotherly “We are open to dialogue to resolve the outstanding Lebanon over the alleged training by relations with Lebanon. problems,” so long as Qatar’s “sovereignty is respected,” Hezbollah of 21 members of the so- Kuwaiti authorities busted the Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani said in his first public called “Abdally cell” convicted last “Abdaly cell” with ties to Iran in Aug comments since Saudi Arabia and its allies severed ties month on charges of forming a “terror 2015 and seized large quantities of with the gas-rich emirate. “Any settlement of the crisis cell” in the state. It demanded that arms, ammunition and explosives. Cell must be based on two principles,” he said. Sheikh Tamim pressure be put on the group, which members were convicted of working insisted that any deal “must not take effect in the form of has ministers in the Lebanese govern- for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and diktats but rather through mutual commitments under- ment, to ensure there was no repeti- Hezbollah. They were also convicted of taken by all the parties. We are open to dialogue to find tion. The protest follows Kuwait’s smuggling explosives from Iran. The solutions to lingering problems within the framework of expulsion of 15 Iranian diplomats on only Iranian member of the cell was respect for the sovereignty and will of each state as Thursday over Tehran’s alleged links to sentenced to death in absentia by the mutual undertakings and joint commitments binding those convicted. lower court early last year. all,” he said. The letter delivered by Kuwait’s Kuwait on Tuesday said 14 convicts On June 5, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab ambassador in Beirut late on Friday were on the run while a local newspaper Emirates and Egypt cut ties with Qatar accusing it of backing extremism and fostering ties with their rival said the state’s cassation court had said they had fled to Iran by sea. The cell Iran. Doha denies the claim. In his speech, the emir said found that “Hezbollah took part in con- was convicted by a lower court early last Qatar was “fighting terrorism relentlessly and without tacts, coordinating meetings, paid year but acquitted on appeal months later compromises, and the international community recog- funds and provided arms and military and set free. The supreme court, whose nizes this”. training in Lebanon” for the defen- rulings are final, overturned their acquittal Sheikh Tamim hailed the solidarity and resolve that dants. It called on Lebanon to take “the on June 18 and sentenced them to Qataris have shown in the face of the crisis, and said it necessary measures to curb these dis- between five and 15 years in prison. would make the tiny country, which will host football’s graceful practices” by Hezbollah as it is Unlike neighboring powerhouse Saudi World Cup in 2022, even more resilient. “We are open to a partner in the government, ambassa- Arabia, Kuwait maintains diplomatic rela- dialogue to iron out all the pending issues, not only for dor Abdulaal Al-Quenai told the offi- tions with Iran. But sectarian issues remain the benefit of our peoples and governments, but also to cial KUNA news agency. He stressed sensitive. Shiites make up around one DOHA: Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani speaks late Friday in his spare our region the pointless efforts to dissipate our Kuwait’s keenness on maintaining and third of Kuwait’s population. — Agencies first televised speech since the dispute between Qatar and three Gulf countries gains,” he said. and Egypt. — AP Continued on Page 11 LOCAL SUNDAY, JULY 23, 2017 CAIRO: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah (right) Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and other offi- and Egyptian President Abdelfatah Al-Sisi (left) attend the ceremony. — Amiri Diwan photos cials attend the opening of Mohammad Najeeb military base and the graduation ceremony of military officers. Amir’s envoy attends opening of Egyptian military base CAIRO: Envoy of His Highness the Amir base and the graduation ceremony of mili- 1952 revolution. The ceremony, which was world’s most populous nation’s first full- Earlier yesterday, Sheikh Mohammad Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, tary officers held in Matrouh governorate’s attended by a bevy of Arab and Egyptian fledged military base and contains 1,155 delivered a written letter to Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of El-Hamam City, Egypt. officials, also feted a diverse class of gradu- buildings, including a nuclear station, an President Abdelfatah Al-Sisi. The letter Defense Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khaled Al- The military base, hailed as “the biggest ating cadets, with around 70 Kuwaitis official military spokesman noted. He also focused on developing bilateral ties and Hamad Al-Sabah attended yesterday the in the Middle East and African region,” is among them. pointed out that the edifice houses a vast also touched on recent regional and inter- opening of Mohammad Najeeb military named after Egypt’s first president after its The new fortress compound is the Arab array of military equipment. national developments. —KUNA Military officers perform during the ceremony. Egyptian President Abdelfatah Al-Sisi and GCC officials attend the ceremony. Turkish President in Kuwait today KUWAIT: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visits Kuwait today where he will be holding official talks with His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al- Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Erdogan’s visit is the first stop of a tour of the Gulf region as part of his country’s efforts to support a solution to the regional dis- pute between Qatar and a number of GCC countries plus Egypt. In addition to Kuwait, the President will be visiting Saudi Arabia and Qatar during his tour. Turkey, as well as other leading nations, lauded His Highness the Amir’s mediation role in mending fences President Recep Tayyip Erdogan between the parties involved in the cri- sis. Erdogan held various talks via phone and others, a fact showing the GCC coun- with leaders in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, try’s integral role in mediation efforts. Kuwait, and the US to coordinate efforts The three GCC states of Saudi Arabia, the to end the difficult situation. UAE, Bahrain, in addition Egypt cut ties Kuwait itself was the focal point of with Qatar last month. The Arab coun- high-level visits by world leading figures tries also provided a 13-item-demand list such as US Secretary of State Rex to Doha on May 22 to end the diplomatic Tillerson, UK counterpart Boris Johnson, crisis. — KUNA Oil Minister touts OPEC cut conformity SAINT PETERSBURG, Russia: OPEC member states’ output cut conformity is “historic and unprecedented, Kuwaiti Minister of Oil Essam Al-Marzouq said on Friday. Upon arrival in Saint Petersburg in Russia to attend a joint ministerial monitoring meeting, Marzouq, who doubles as Minister of Electricity and Water, said he was satis- fied with OPEC members’ abidance by the recent oil output cut resolution. This time, cut conformity is unprece- dented compared to previous times when commitment hardly hit 60 per- cent, Marzouq added. “The current production cut con- Kuwaiti Minister of Oil formity rates are so good and encour- Essam Al-Marzouq aging that they hit 106 percent by OPEC member states, and 80 percent and non-OPEC members with output by non-OPEC states,” he said. He said cut levels for June 2017. OPEC and he is here to attend a meeting of the non-OPEC members had signed a Joint OPEC-Non-OPEC Ministerial Declaration of Cooperation in Vienna in Monitoring Committee (JMMC), head- December 2016. ed by the State of Kuwait, which is due During a meeting in Kuwait in tomorrow. The Joint OPEC-Non-OPEC March, the Joint OPEC-Non-OPEC Technical Committee (JTC), a technical Ministerial Monitoring Committee sub-committee of the JMMC, will also (JMMC) had recommended the exten- convene during the coming couple of sion of an oil output cut for more six days to review production cut con- months to keep the global oil market formity. stable. At a meeting in December, 11 On oil relations between Kuwait and non-OPEC oil producers cooperated Russia, the Kuwaiti minister said Kuwait with the 13 OPEC member countries in has technical cooperation with some a concerted effort to accelerate the Russian oil companies, and that both rebalancing of the global oil market sides would sign gas import agree- through an adjustment in combined ments. OPEC and non-OPEC members production of 1.8 million barrels per will mainly look into a report of the day.