ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER Friday 18 January 2013 6 Rabial I 1434 - Volume 17 Number 5583 Price: QR2 Airbus loses McIlroy to Boeing and Woods in 2012 struggle Business | 14 Sport | 23 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780 GCC agrees on Emir tours exhibition OPINION Qatar does not draft contract control Egypt hen Wthe Heir Apparent, for housemaids H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Khalid Al Sayed addressed EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Call to implement uniform wages a con- ference on ‘Geostrategic DOHA: The GCC states have pressures faced by GCC states Changes within the Context finalised a common draft job from manpower exporting coun- of Arab Revolutions’ in Doha contract for domestic workers, tries, and it will be put before the last month, he had a clear with Asian diplomatic circles Council of Ministers of Labour for message. here saying such a contract adoption. He stressed that turning would work only if the wages He said the strategy suggested external support for revolu- are uniform and there is provi- holding collective meetings with tions into intervention in the sion for a day off in a week for manpower exporting countries, affairs of the countries where the workers. and several other steps aimed at revolutions had taken place “Unified wages and accent on unifying procedures in the mem- was against the will of the the welfare of household workers ber states for recruiting domestic The Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani yesterday toured the Art of Travel Exhibition organised at people. The real power lay will hold the key to making such workers. the Alriwaq Doha Exhibition Space, located next to the Museum of Islamic Art. The exhibition, organized by with the people, he said. a common contract work,” said a It is likely the draft contract the Orientalist Museum of the Qatar Museums Authority, shed light on European-Ottoman relations during He said that after the diplomatic source. would contain clauses entitling the early sixteenth century. emergence of the man on the The wages for domestic work- workers to end-of-service benefits street as a determining fac- ers must be unified and fixed in if they have completed a year of tor, Arab politics had become US dollars, the source said. “If service with a family. more independent and auton- that’s the case, all manpower This and several other benefits omous, more oriented towards exporting countries would wel- like specific working hours and the achievement of justice and come the common contract, else entitlement to a day off in a week Algeria hostage crisis ends adherence to international it would be a futile exercise,” the have been recommended by Qatar, conventions. source added. although the common draft has ALGIERS: Thirty hostages, fleeing Islamists and an unknown force,” and threatened to “kill all When Prime Minister and Undersecretaries from the reportedly been prepared by including at least seven for- number of their hostages, the the hostages if the Algerian forces Foreign Minister H E Sheikh labour ministries of the GCC Saudi Arabia. eigners, were killed yesterday communication minister said. succeed in entering the complex.” Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor states reached an agreement It is highly unlikely the draft when Algerian forces stormed Communication Minister He said 34 hostages and 15 kid- Al Thani spoke to Al Jazeera on a regional unified draft con- would have a clause suggesting a desert gas plant seized by Mohamed Said said a number nappers were killed in an army channel last week, he had tract for household workers at unified wages for the workers, and Islamist militants, an Algerian of kidnappers had been “neu- air strike, a claim that could not almost the same clear mes- a meeting in Bahrain late last the issue of remuneration might security source said. tralised” as they tried to flee, be verified. sage, particularly about Egypt. week. Maids constitute the larg- be left to each member state to He said that among the dead in the first official comment on APS said the army freed four He said Qatar only wanted est segment of household workers decide. hostages were eight Algerians, the operation, but admitted that foreigners — two Britons, a Egypt to be strong again. in the region. A manpower agent told this two Japanese, two Britons and one “some” hostages were killed or Frenchman and a Kenyan — and “Egypt is the largest Arab The Director-General of the newspaper on grounds of ano- French national. The nationalities wounded. 600 Algerian workers held hos- country,” the Prime Minister Executive Bureau of the GCC nymity that it would be a wel- of the other dead were not clear. Earlier, one of the Al Qaeda- tage at the In Amenas plant in said. “If Egypt is strong, all Council of Ministers of Labour come step if a GCC committee Algerian special forces ear- linked Islamists said “warplanes southeastern Algeria. other Arabs will be equally and Council of Ministers of Social oversees the recruitment of lier launched a rescue operation and ground units” had begun an AGENCIES strong.” Affairs, Aqeel Ahmed Al Jassim, domestic helpers from different on a desert gas complex, killing operation “to take the complex by See also page 4 Continued on page 3 said they had agreed on the draft countries. THE PENINSULA contract, which will now be sub- “We don’t know what clauses mitted to the GCC ministers of the proposed draft would have. labour at their meeting to be held Maybe they would make rules in Bahrain this year. stricter for household workers,” He said discussions led to sev- he said. 56 buildings earmarked for demolition, facelift eral amendments in the draft But one clear disadvantage aimed at balancing the working would be that a domestic worker DOHA: Some 56 old and dilapi- A panel at Doha Municipality Urban Planning told local daily Al ugly buildings with necessary relationship between families and may not be permitted to work in dated buildings in the city responsible for assessing the con- Arab in a written communication. details like the name of their own- the domestic workers, including any GCC country if he or she has have been earmarked by Doha dition of buildings has so far iden- The 56 buildings pose a threat ers, their ID and contact details protecting the rights of all the flouted rules in a member country. municipality for demolition and tified 70 buildings and singled out to the lives of people, including and the area and plot numbers. parties. Currently, such a ban is renovation. 56 of them for immediate renova- occupants and those living in The owners of these properties Al Jassim added that the imposed on domestic workers only It is not known how many of tion or demolition. their neighbourhood. have been urged to cooperate with undersecretaries also adopted if they are involved in very serious these buildings are to be demol- The assessment is an ongo- Engineer-members of the the committee to ensure public a working paper from Qatar on crimes, he claimed. ished and how many would be ing process and continues, the assessment committee are pre- safety. a Gulf strategy to address the THE PENINSULA renovated. Ministry of Municipality and paring a list of ramshackle and THE PENINSULA Hot wheels Pakistan cleric calls Qatar Airways grounds off protest after fleet of Dreamliners govt concessions ISLAMABAD: A Muslim cleric DOHA: Qatar Airways has United States and Qatar’s Civil with a history of ties to the mili- grounded its fleet of 787 Aviation Authority, the airline was tary who has been calling for the Dreamliners following direc- implementing the Airworthiness Pakistani government to resign tives from the Federal Aviation Directive issued by the FAA for reached a deal with the admin- Administration (FAA) of the all operators of the Boeing 787 istration yesterday that will give US and Qatar’s Civil Aviation to ground the aircraft, effective him a say in the electoral proc- Authority. yesterday. ess ahead of elections. The airline presently has five Chief Executive Officer of the Muhammad Tahirul Qadri trig- Dreamliners (Boeing 787-8) in its airline, Akbar Al Baker, said: gered a political crisis by launch- fast-growing fleet and they were “I previously stated that Qatar ing mass protests in the capital deployed on important routes Airways will only stop oper- four days ago calling for electoral that included Doha-London ating our Dreamliners if we reforms to clean up Pakistani Heathrow and back, Doha- receive such an instruction from politics. Action from the first round of the Arabian Drag Racing League at Qatar Racing Club yesterday. The five rounds Zurich-Doha, Doha-Munich- regulators”. He has been pushing for the of races will end on February 15. (See also page 23) QASSIM RAHMATULLAH Doha as well as on Dubai and “Safety remains the number military to play a role in the for- Kuwait sectors. one priority for Qatar Airways. mation of the caretaker admin- One of the five grounded We ensure all our aircraft meet istration that takes over in the Dreamliners is in London the most stringent safety stand- run-up to scheduled elections. Heathrow, while the remaining ards and this will not be com- “We have reached an agree- No agreement in UN nuclear talks with Iran four are in Doha. promised in any way. “In light of ment,” Qadri told supporters The airline had placed orders recent events surrounding the camped out near parliament. VIENNA/DUBAI: The UN source said yesterday. The UN added.