SUBSCRIPTION WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2014 SHAABAN 27, 1435 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Embassy Brooks cleared, Woman or Nadal survives assists Pinoy Coulson guilty machine? New scare to face suspect, victim in UK phone robots look Wimbledon in killing3 hacking9 trial creepily27 human nemesis16 Assembly endorses IMF Max 46º Min 28º Mideast HQ in Kuwait High Tide 09:52 & 23:59 Low Tide Saleh assures money will be well spent 04:05 & 17:33 40 PAGES NO: 16207 150 FILS KUWAIT: The National Assembly endorsed yesterday a memorandum of understanding agreed by Kuwait and the Khorafi sues IMF to headquarter the IMF Middle East Center for Economics and Finance in Kuwait. The endorsement came Sheikh Ahmad after an initial rejection by the Assembly’s foreign affairs committee, which deemed spending money on the con- By Staff Reporter struction of such a headquarters in Kuwait inappropriate. This reservation by the committee was refuted in the KUWAIT: Former speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi filed a Assembly session by Finance Minister Anas Al-Saleh, who lawsuit against Sheikh Ahmad Fahd Al-Sabah for testified that funds to be spent on the headquarters would spreading fabricated news, forgery and conspiracy. be appropriate, noting that the headquarters would be one In his lawsuit to the public prosecution, Khorafi’s of only seven worldwide and the only one in the Middle lawyer accused Sheikh Ahmad of committing these East chosen by the IMF, insisting that Kuwait fought hard to violations, all of which are state security crimes. The get this privilege which he stressed would enhance lawsuit follows another lawsuit filed by Sheikh Kuwait’s reputation regionally and internationally. Ahmad earlier this month against Khorafi and for- The Assembly in its session on April 2 had postponed mer prime minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al- voting on a draft law for the establishment of the head- Ahmad Al-Sabah. quarters for at least one month pending the presentation Khorafi accused Sheikh Ahmad of spreading lies by the government of a solid case for its construction in inside and outside the country, giving false testimo- Kuwait. This prompted Saleh to show the foreign affairs ny and submitting a fabricated lawsuit against him. committee evidence that it was in the best interest of the The public prosecution has not started investigation country to host the IMF Middle East headquarters. into the case which has shaken the country and Most resources for IMF loans are provided by member threatens to turn into a major political crisis. countries, primarily through their payment of quotas. The National Assembly meanwhile yesterday Kuwait’s quota stands at 1.3 billion SDRs (Special Drawing passed a key amendment to the constitutional court Rights). Kuwait also lends to the IMF, as borrowing provides ruling allowing citizens to directly file petitions a temporary supplement to quota resources and has before Kuwait’s top court for the first time. Almost played a critical role in enabling the Fund to meet mem- all MPs voted for the change, which Assembly bers’ needs for financial support during the global econom- Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem described as historic, ic crisis. Concessional lending and debt relief for low- but all Cabinet ministers present abstained. KUWAIT: Finance Minister Anas Al-Saleh (center) and MPs Yaqoub Al-Sane (right) and Nabeel Al-Fadl attend income countries are financed through separate contribu- Continued on Page 15 a session at the National Assembly yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat tion-based trust funds. — KUNA Kerry calls on Kurds to save Iraq from collapse ARBIL, Iraq: US Secretary of State John Kerry urged with the political process in Baghdad is vital to keep Iraq leaders of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region yesterday to from splitting apart. “If they decide to withdraw from the stand with Baghdad in the face of a Sunni insurgent Baghdad political process it will accelerate a lot of the onslaught that threatens to dismember the country. negative trends,” said a senior State Department official Security forces fought Sunni armed factions for control who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity. of the country’s biggest oil refinery yesterday and mili- Kurdish leaders have made clear that the settlement tants launched an attack on one of its largest air bases keeping Iraq together as a state is now in jeopardy. “We less than 100 km from the capital. More than 1,000 peo- are facing a new reality and a new Iraq,” Kurdish ple, mainly civilians, have been killed in less than three President Massoud Barzani said at the start of his meet- weeks, the United Nations said yesterday , calling the fig- ing with Kerry. Earlier, he blamed Prime Minister Nouri ure “very much a minimum”. Al-Maliki’s “wrong policies” for the violence and called for The figure includes unarmed government troops him to quit, saying it was “very difficult” to imagine Iraq machinegunned in mass graves by insurgents, as well as staying together. Kerry told Barzani that Iraq needed to several reported incidents of prisoners killed in their stay united, a State Department official said, referring to cells by retreating government forces. Kerry flew to the the Kurdish leader’s comments about wanting an inde- Kurdish region on a trip through the Middle East to res- pendent state. The official summarised Kerry’s message cue Iraq following a lightning advance by the Sunni as: “Whatever your aspirations are for your future, your fighters led by jihadists of the Islamic State in Iraq and interests now in the near-term are for a stable, sovereign the Levant. and unified Iraq.” US officials believe that persuading the Kurds to stick Continued on Page 15 NATAL, Brazil: Uruguay’s forward Luis Suarez (left) holds his teeth after he appeared to bite Italy’s defender Giorgio Chiellini (right) during a Group D World Cup match at the Dunas Arena yesterday. —AFP (See Page 20) Sisi cuts half his salary ‘Won’t interfere’ on jailed journalists CAIRO: Egypt’s new president pledged yesterday to give up them nothing. If the debt keeps accumulating like this, we half his salary and property and called on the Egyptian peo- won’t leave them anything good.” The comments appeared ple to make similar sacrifices, in a bid to prepare the public designed to ready public opinion for further austerity for a period of painful economic austerity. In an impromptu measures, such as subsidy reductions, to allow for deeper speech at a military graduation ceremony, Abdel Fattah Al- reforms of the ailing economy. Sisi said he had refused to sign off on a 2014/15 budget Over the past two years, Egypt has depended on aid proposal following lengthy discussions this week because it from wealthy Gulf Arab allies who sent more than $20 bil- was too dependent on ballooning borrowing. “We said we lion worth of grants, loans and petroleum products, accord- would revise this budget because I cannot bear to accept it ing to numbers given by Sisi during his election campaign. when it contains this level of deficit,” he said. The aid has kept the Egyptian economy from sinking but “I want to think of the children that are coming and to Sisi said the country could not keep turning to leave them something good, but this way we will leave Continued on Page 15 p2 COPY_Layout 1 6/24/14 9:55 PM Page 1 LOCAL WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2014 Photo of the day KUWAIT: People relax as the intense heat of the day relents in the evening at Safat Square in downtown Kuwait City. — Photo by Zara Khurshid Fishermen protest against Shamlan harbor closure Private boat owners blamed for pollution By A Saleh Public Authority (EPA)’s decision invited. Speaking to reporters, orated in recent years, with run to close Al-Shamlan Harbor till EPA’s water pollution department down infrastructure and growing KUWAIT: Fishermen yesterday further notice with demonstra- manager Hamza Abbas Karam waste from boats using the har- countered the Environment tions to which the media were said that EPA representatives bor. were present to carry out the clo- The Kuwait Dive Team, which sure decision made by the regularly collects waste, aban- Cabinet following studies about doned nets and other debris from the pollution created by waste the seas surrounding Kuwait, has dumped by fishermen in the har- warned recently that the harbor bor. was facing growing problems Acting fishermen union chair- including inappropriate waste man Jalal Al-Shammari described thrown into the waters. the closure decision as unjust to The head of Kuwait Dive Team all Kuwaiti fishermen, adding the Waleed Al-Fadel said in January harbor was a historic one that that such “uncivilized dumping of had been used by their ancestors waste” by fishermen and seamen for decades. caused serious pollution to the “We requested meetings with harbor. EPA has reported numer- EPA officials and the ports author- ous violations by fishermen and ity to discuss the problem, but boats’ owners for not abiding by both requests were denied,” he the environmental regulations at said, criticizing the immediate the harbor. enforcement of the closure and Shammari also warned that blaming private boat owners for the 200 boats docked in the har- polluting the harbor. bor - of which more than half do Located in Kuwait City near not belong to fishermen - were Souq Sharq and Seif Palace, Al worth KD 250,000, and any dam- KUWAIT: Fishermen union staging protest against closure of Al- Shamlan Harbor is an historic age to them may have “very bad Shamlan Harbor. landmark in Kuwait. It has deteri- consequences”. Stage ready for parliament by-elections KUWAIT: The country is holding the 10th par- Rashed Al-Tawhid, Sami Al-Menayyes, The new MP was Faleh Al-Suwaileh who liament by-elections in the history of the Sulaiman Al-Mutawaa, Abdelrazzaq Al-Khalid, served as of start of legislative term.