SUBSCRIPTION TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2014 SHAWWAL 23, 1435 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Cabinet mulls Imran Khan’s Ferguson police Federer, bill to collect lawmakers shot teen six Serena win unlicensed to resign times; National titles at firearms2 in poll row7 Guard10 deploys Cincinnati20 Alleged militant financier Max 43º Min 29º briefly detained at border High Tide 05:23 & 19:57 Low Tide Shafi, Hajjaj to file lawsuits against US, UN 13:12 40 PAGES NO: 16259 150 FILS KUWAIT: Kuwait briefly detained a prominent cleric less News than two weeks after the United States included him on in brief a sanctions list on suspicion he was funnelling money to militants in Iraq and Syria, his lawyer said yesterday. Shafi Al-Ajmi, who was detained on Sunday on the border Americana denies with Saudi Arabia while returning home from a pilgrim- talks with Savola age, was released after four hours of questioning, his DUBAI: Kuwait Food Co (Americana) said yesterday that it had no lawyer said. “He was released without any charges,” the knowledge of any talks with Saudi Arabia’s Savola Group on a possi- lawyer, Mohammed Al-Jumia, told Reuters. “He is now at ble acquisition of Americana. “The board and executive administra- home.” tion deny knowledge of any negotiations with Savola regarding an Jumia said he planned to file a lawsuit against the US acquisition of Americana,” the Kuwaiti company said in a statement Treasury to lift his client’s name from its blacklist, but to its stock exchange. A recent meeting between the two companies gave no further details. An Interior Ministry spokesman was intended only to discuss the possibility of joint cooperation in could not immediately be reached for comment. Kuwait certain fields and markets; the meeting did not result in any devel- has been one of the biggest humanitarian donors to opment requiring disclosure, Americana said. Its shares, suspended since last Thursday pending clarification of the issue, resume trading. Syrian refugees through the United Nations, but it has Savola said last Wednesday that it had begun preliminary talks on a also struggled to control unofficial fundraising for oppo- potential acquisition of Americana. It said it had attended an investor sition groups in Syria by private individuals. road show held by Americana’s management, but talks had not yet Kuwait has stepped up its monitoring of individuals reached a stage that would require disclosure. and charities suspected of collecting donations for mili- tants linked to Al-Qaeda in Syria and in Iraq. On Aug 6, the United States imposed sanctions on Shafi and two Tremors in Kuwait other men suspected of funnelling money from Kuwait after quake hits Iran to Islamic State, the Al-Qaeda splinter group that has TEHRAN: Tremors were felt in Kuwait after a strong 6.1-mag- seized swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria. Washington nitude earthquake struck the province of Ilam in western Iran also said the men had helped smuggle fighters to yesterday, injuring at least 250 people and causing extensive Afghanistan and Iraq. damage to buildings. The US Geological Survey, reporting the Last year, Kuwait banned a television show that Shafi magnitude of the quake at 6.3, said it struck 36 km southeast appeared on, saying it incited hatred. As well as calling of the city of Abdanan, near the border with Iraq. Director for for armed opposition to Syrian President Bashar Al- Environmental Crises and Supervisor of the National Seismic Assad, Shafi has called on supporters to torture and kill Network at Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research Abdullah fighters in Syria linked to the Lebanese Shiite group Al-Enezi told KUNA the network detected the quake at a Hezbollah, evidence of how the Syria conflict has aggra- depth of 10 km, centered in the Zagros mountain range, Kuwait Science Club divers unfurl a giant Kuwaiti flag at the end of a 14th exploratory voyage to the Red Sea. vated Sunni-Shiite tensions across the Middle East. which is a seismically-active region. According to Iran state tel- The club said in a statement that its divers explored and documented the wrecks of four sunken ships. — KUNA Continued on Page 13 evision, the quake occurred at 7:02 am near the town of Mour-Mouri. The chief of the crisis committee for the area, Ahmad Karami, later said 250 people had been injured in the quake. Robbers ambush In the village of Mour-Mouri, a number of homes and public buildings were damaged, according to the official IRNA news Saudi prince’s agency. It added that damage also occurred in eight nearby villages. A number of people spent the night outside their homes after at least 44 smaller tremors struck the area yester- convoy in Paris day, media reported. Iran stands on several seismic fault lines. €250,000 stolen KPC in 10-year oil PARIS: Heavily armed robbers mounted a brazen deal with Sinopec attack on the motorcade of a Saudi prince in Paris, KUWAIT/BEIJING: Kuwait has concluded a new 10-year deal with making off with €250,000 in cash and stealing diplo- China’s Sinopec Corp to nearly double its supplies by offering to ship matic papers, French police said yesterday. The spec- the oil and sell on a more competitive cost-and-freight basis, accord- tacular robbery took place in northern Paris late on ing to a KPC official and a trading source yesterday. State-run Kuwait Sunday as the motorcade was making its way from a Petroleum Corp will export 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil plush hotel on the Champs Elysees to an airport in Le under the agreement, which would amount to 15 percent of Kuwaiti Bourget, said police, who confirmed there were no petroleum exports and estimated to be worth $120 billion, said injuries. A gang of “between five and eight” thieves in Nasser Al-Mudaf, KPC’s head of international marketing told Reuters. two BMWs hijacked the first of around 10 vehicles in Mudaf said the contract replaces a previous one for between the convoy, driving off with the three occupants before 160,000 bpd 170,000 bpd that had expired. “We look for the best letting them go, police said. markets which has stability and gives high return to KPC,” said Mudaf. A police source and Le Parisien daily had said the The agreement with Sinopec’s trading arm, Unipec, was reached “in men were armed with Kalashnikov rifles but an official accordance with international prices and under purely commercial later clarified to say they were carrying handguns. The terms,” he said, adding the quantity was subject to increase, but did Saudis’ Mercedes and one of the thieves’ BMWs were not specify by how much. An official signing ceremony will be held later found abandoned and burned out in the village of in Hong Kong in three days, he said. Continued on Page 13 No equal justice as Israel razes Palestinians’ homes Gaza truce in balance • Toll tops 2,000 JERUSALEM: Israeli troops yesterday demolished the homes of two Palestinians it suspects of the abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers in the occupied West Bank in June, the army said. The homes of Hussam Kawasme and Amar Abu Aysha were destroyed before dawn and the house of a third suspect, Marwan Kawasme, was sealed up, the army said. Israel accuses Hamas Islamist militants of the abduction and killing of Jewish seminary students Gil- Ad Shaer, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrah, who went miss- ing on June 12 and were discovered dead a couple of weeks later in the West Bank. Hamas has neither con- firmed nor denied the accusations. Hussam Kawasme, a 40-year-old resident of the West Bank city of Hebron, was arrested on July 11 but the other two suspects remain at large, the army said. The killings set off a cycle of violence that began with the suspected revenge murder by three Jewish suspects of Palestinian Mohammed Abu Khudair, 16, in Jerusalem and led to a now five-week war between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip. Abu Khudair’s father, Hussein, demanded equal justice under Israeli law for Mohammed’s killers, saying their homes should also be destroyed. “There is no justice in Israeli law, it is racist. I have been calling for the demolition of houses of those who killed Mohammed,” Hussein Abu Khudair told Reuters. He said he would again call for the HEBRON: A Palestinian sits in the rubble of the house demolition of the homes of the three suspected killers - of Hussam Kawasme after it was demolished by the two of them minors - when their trial resumes next month. Israeli army in this West Bank city yesterday. — AP Continued on Page 13 TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2014 LOCAL UN to honor Kuwait, Amir for humanitarian role KUWAIT: Minister of Information, Minister of State for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Sabah Salem Al- Humoud Al-Sabah said yesterday that the United Nations has named Kuwait as an “international humanitarian cen- ter”, and His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah as a “humanitarian leader”. The State of Kuwait, represented by His Highness the Amir, will be honored next September at the UN’s headquar- Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah chairs yesterday’s weekly cabinet meeting at Seif Palace. — KUNA ters in New York in an appreciation to Kuwait’s significant humanitarian role, Sheikh Salman said in a press statement. He pointed out that Kuwait marks Cabinet mulls bill to launch today the World Humanitarian Day which commemorates all people who have lost their lives in humanitarian weapon collection campaigns service and celebrates the spirit that inspires humanitarian work around the world.