ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER Home | 2 Business | 21 Sport | 32 Qatar Red It’s tough to hit Chelsea beat Crescent helps $100-120 oil Hull City to go six displaced Iraqis, again, says points clear with Syrian refugees. Sauid official. a 3-2 victory. MONDAY 23 MARCH 2015 • 3 Jumada II 1436 • Volume 20 Number 6378 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780 OPINION Emir meets Princess Astrid Importance SEC eases of Libyan agreement admission rom FArab Spring and other revolu- procedures tions, we have learnt 91 private schools to be opened that compro- Dr Khalid Al-Jaber mise and DOHA: The Supreme Education next month. “By September 2015, agree- Council (SCH) has relaxed some six Indian schools will open, some ments are the only way to of the admission procedures of them will be only kindergar- come out of a crisis. Tunisia for private school students, but tens and others will have classes is a shining example among strictly instructed the schools for other grades as well. Schools many failures in the Arab not to admit children above their which were not allowed to admit world. Therefore, an agree- permitted capacity. more students due to lack of seats ment between the warring Admission to private schools in will soon open branches, it could parties in Libya is the only Qatar has started yesterday and be even by April before the Indian way to bring stability to the will continue until October 15. Any Schools start their academic year,” country. admission outside these dates will she said addressing a news confer- Any failure to reach an require the approval of the SEC. ence yesterday. agreement even at the mini- As per the new rules, permis- “The new schools will be an mum level will keep the door sion from the SEC is not required alternative option for parents and Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani with Princess Astrid, Representative of King Philip of Belgium, at open for further fighting and to transfer children between pri- their fees will be lower compared the Emiri Diwan yesterday. See also page 21 entry of extremist groups sup- vate schools. And an expatriate to some other private schools,” she ported by foreign powers with student seeking admission in a pri- added. the intention of breaking up vate school is no more required to A total of 145,000 students the country among warlords. produce an equivalency certificate are presently studying at private All sides need to act fast to from the SEC. schools and 23,000 of them are Houthis seize end the chaos which started The SEC has given initial Qataris. More than 15 flights diverted after the ouster of the auto- approval to 91 new private schools In the 2014-2015 academic year, strategic Yemeni cratic regime of Muammar to open in the next academic year, 15 new schools and seven new from HIA due to bad weather Gaddafi. A security agreement including six Indian schools, a sen- branches of existing schools across will pave the way for a per- ior SEC official has disclosed. the country opened making the DOHA: More than 15 flights were diverted from Hamad city Taiz, airport manent ceasefire and demo- Aisha Al Hashmi, Assistant total number of private schools to International Airport (HIA) yesterday to airports in neighbour- cratic transition. It will also Director of Education Authority 154. The new SEC guidelines on ing countries due to the bad weather. A senior official of the ADEN: Houthi fighters opposed deprive the terrorist groups of Private School Affairs at SEC, admission procedures specifically Civil Aviation Authority said the flights were diverted due to to Yemen’s president took over the of any opportunity to sabotage said that complaints about a severe say that all private schools are thunderstorm and intermittent rains for the safety of passen- central city of Taiz in an escala- peace. The only option terror- shortage of seats in private schools, required to identify the number gers. Ahmad Ishaq, Head of the Air Surveillance Department at tion of a power struggle diplomats ist groups have to consolidate especially Indian schools will be of vacancies before the registra- the Civil Aviation Authority, said the thunderstorm that started say risks drawing in neighbour- their presence is by impeding addressed with the opening of new tion period begins, as well as after from 4:30am and continued until 5:30pm yesterday caused the ing oil giant Saudi Arabia and its a peaceful solution and then schools. completing the registration process, diversion of more than 15 flights that were to land at HIA, to main regional rival Iran. start to threaten Europe and She hinted that some existing and inform the SEC. neighbouring countries. Abdel-Malek al-Houthi, head the entire world. Indian schools would open new Continued on page 6 THE PENINSULA of the powerful Shia group, vowed Continued on page 6 branches very soon, probably by THE PENINSULA to pursue Sunni militants behind THE PENINSULA suicide attacks on Houthi sup- porters and said the poor Arabian peninsula country was in danger of descending into Libya-style turmoil. Residents of Taiz, on a main Firms jointly held with Qataris road from the capital Sana’a to the country’s second city of allowed Haj, Umrah licence Aden, said that Houthi militias took over the city’s military air- DOHA: A law was issued yesterday and became effective immedi- port without a struggle from local ately gives the Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs the authority authorities late on Saturday. to recommend to the Prime Minister to provide the Haj and Umrah Eyewitnesses in the central licence to companies owned jointly by Qataris and non-Qataris. The province of Ibb reported see- law, though, states that otherwise only 100 percent Qatari-owned ing dozens of tanks and military companies should be provided the licence to operate Haj and Umrah vehicles headed southward from services. Houthi-controlled areas toward The law (No 3 of 2015) was issued by Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Taiz, while activists in the city Hamad Al Thani to regulate the operations of Haj and Umrah tour said Houthi gunmen shot into companies, reports Qatar News Agency. It has 26 articles. The law the air to disperse protests by stipulates that a Qatari who owns a Haj and Umrah tour company residents demonstrating against must have good character, must be between 30 and 70 years of age and their presence. must be a Muslim and resident in Qatar. Meanwhile, Iran yesterday THE PENINSULA called for dialogue, but suggested that Hadi should leave to spare the country further bloodshed. Census registration allowed online “The expectation is that DOHA: Nationals and expatriates can now register to avail an President ... Hadi will resign rather online service to provide their personal details for the interim than repeat mistakes, to play a population census being conducted by the Ministry of Development constructive role in preventing the Planning and Statistics. Registration for the service can be done break-up of Yemen and the trans- through the website of the ministry (www.qas.gov.qa.2015) (census formation of Aden into a terrorist section) until March-end. Vehicles wade through gushing water following incessant rains in Duhail, a sprawling suburb. SONIA AZAD haven,” said Iran’s deputy foreign A form will be made available to those who register. The form must minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, be filled up online between April 1 and 15. The ministry is conducting according to state news agency the interim census to measure demographic changes that have taken IRNA. REUTERS place in the country since 2010, the year of last census, for policy See also page 12 making and assess the pressure on public services and infrastructure. Rains expected to continue today The next full census is due in 2020. The census will be carried out in collaboration with the civic ministry in April and May. THE PENINSULA DOHA: Intermittent rains are He said intermittent rains the season continues until next expected to continue today as that began in some parts of the month-end,” said the veteran well in different parts of the country late on Saturday evening weather forecaster. Singapore’s founding father dies country, although the current continued for more than 24 hours. Asked about other places in the SINGAPORE: Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first prime minister and unstable weather was actually The 24-hour rainfall was on aver- GCC being affected by the rains, architect of the tiny city-state’s rapid rise from British tropical out- forecast to end yesterday. age 10.8mm, he said. he said Riyadh in particular was post to global trade and financial centre, died early today, aged 91, the “The rains are anticipated According to Al Mannai, it is witnessing such weather. Prime Minister’s Office said. “Mr Lee passed away peacefully at the to extend its spell until today,” normal for Qatar to witness such The weather bureau is regu- TODAY’S EDITION Singapore General Hospital today at 3.18 am,” a statement said. Lee, a said Abdullah Al Mannai, head rains during this time of the year. larly updating its social media INCLUDES A 16-PAGE SPECIAL Cambridge-educated lawyer, is widely credited with building Singapore of research and analysis at the In Qatar, this rainy season is accounts and people keen on get- into one of the world’s wealthiest nations on a per capita basis with a Department of Meteorology. He called ‘Al Siryat’ in local parlance ting latest updates individually SUPPLEMENT ON strong, pervasive role for the state and little patience for dissent.