ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER Monday 16 September 2013 10 Dhul-qa’da 1434 - Volume 18 Number 5824 Price: QR2 Buying support Ronaldo pushes up QE extends Real index by 1.67pc contract Business | 18 Sport | 27 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780 Obama, Rowhani Chaos, anger likely to meet in New York as bus drivers next week NEW YORK: An exchange of letters between Barack Obama and the Iranian president, go on strike Hassan Rowhani, has set the stage for a possible meeting between the two men at the UN next week in what would be Hundreds of students stranded the first face-to-face encounter between a US and Iranian leader DOHA: Hundreds of students children back home. since Iran’s 1979 revolution. of three prominent private Caught in a messy situation, Britain’s foreign secretary, schools here were stranded for the school management sent text William Hague, is also due to hours yesterday after bus driv- messages to the parents ask- meet his Iranian counterpart, ers transporting them went ing them to come and take the Mohammad Javad Zarif, at the UN on a flash strike demanding children home. However, many General Assembly meeting in New pay hike. parents said yesterday they had York, adding to guarded optimism The incident, the first of its received the message very late. that the June election of Rowhani, kind in the country, led to cha- As children didn’t reach home, a Glasgow-educated moderate, otic scenes at the Doha Modern the panicked parents tried to call and his appointment of a largely Indian School, the Cambridge the school but many failed to get pragmatic cabinet, has opened the School Doha and the Cambridge through because the telephones door to a diplomatic solution to the International School for Girls yes- jammed. Many said they came to 11-year international standoff over terday afternoon. All the three know about the situation from Iran’s nuclear programme. schools are owned by the Doha- other parents. Free Syrian Army fighters take a shooting position in Sheikh Khodr area in Aleppo yesterday. Tehran took the Foreign based Taleb Group. “We learnt about the strike Office by surprise, tweeting on The first two schools are from another parent and rushed Rowhani’s English-language located in Abu Hamour and the to bring our children home. The Syria govt claims victory in deal feed that the president would third in Al Hilal. message which was sent by the also be prepared to meet Hague, The school management has school reached us after 4pm while something the UK had not even filed a complaint with the police the school closed at 1pm,” said a BEIRUT: Syria’s government to our Russian friends.” Syria’s chemical weapons. requested. “Tehran has responded against the striking drivers. mother of two girls studying at hailed as a “victory” a Russian- Though not close to Assad, Ali The deal has effectively put off positively to UK’s request. The police are investigating the the DMIS. brokered deal that has averted was the first Syrian official to the threat of air strikes Obama President Rowhani’s meeting incident, an official of the Taleb Many children were stranded US strikes, while President react to Saturday’s deal struck made after poison gas killed hun- w/WilliamJHague on the sidelines Group told this daily last evening. at the school for two to three Barack Obama defended a in Geneva by US Secretary of dreds of Syrian civilians on August of UNGA has been confirmed,” About 120 bus drivers were hours, because the parents were chemical weapons pact that the State John Kerry and Russian 21, although he stressed that force the tweet said. “We would be involved in the strike, it has been either not informed on time or rebels fear has bolstered their Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. remains an option if Assad reneges happy to meet,” a Foreign Office learnt. They were employed by they failed to make alternative enemy in the civil war. Bridging an angry East-West rift — and US forces remain in position. spokeswoman said, “but we have Al Watan International Trading arrangements within the short As President Bashar Al Assad’s over Syria, they agreed to back Obama embraced the disar- had nothing formal from Tehran and Contracting Company, a sub- time. Some of the parents work warplanes and artillery hit rebel a nine-month UN programme to mament proposal put forward about it.” sidiary of the Taleb Group. in places like Dukhan, far away suburbs of the capital again yes- destroy Assad’s chemical arsenal. last week by Russian President Diplomats said that the tweet The school management has from Doha. terday, minister Ali Haidar told Kerry responded to widespread Vladimir Putin after his plan for reflected the new Iranian govern- informed the parents to arrange “We understand it was an Moscow’s RIA news agency: scepticism about the feasibility of US military action hit resistance ment’s eagerness to make diplo- transport for their children unexpected situation and the “These agreements ... are a vic- the plan by saying in Israel that it in Congress. REUTERS matic headway on the nuclear on their own “until the issue is school management had little tory for Syria, achieved thanks had “the full ability” to remove all See also page 7 issue. GUARDIAN NEWS sorted out.” The schools together control over it. But there should have more than 4,000 students have been an effective method on their rolls and a majority of to inform parents, like the class them were using school transport. teacher calling parents,” said a The drivers brought the children parent staying in the Corniche 46 killed in to the school in the morning and area. declared a flash strike in the THE PENINSULA afternoon, refusing to ferry the Continued on page 5 Iraq attacks HILLA: Attacks across Iraq, including more than a dozen car bombs, killed at least 46 people yesterday while the head of Baghdad’s provincial coun- cil escaped an assassination attempt on his convoy. The violence was the latest in months of unrelenting bloodshed, the country’s worst since 2008, that has sparked concern Iraq is slipping back into the all-out sec- tarian war of previous years that killed tens of thousands. Authorities have imposed tough restrictions on movement in the capital and elsewhere, and car- ried out wide-ranging operations against militants, but insurgents have pressed their attacks. AFP Worried parents speak to Doha Modern Indian School officials yesterday. Full report, picture on page 6 EU hosts meet on Somalia recovery BRUSSELS: The EU hosts a Somalia,” said Alexander Rondos, Mohamed Siad Barre that plunged “milestone” international con- the EU’s Horn of Africa envoy. the country into civil war. ference on Somalia today aimed Britain’s ambassador to For the past year, it has seen a at underpinning economic and Somalia, Neil Wigan, said the con- president, government and par- political recovery after two dec- ference was “a major milestone” liament function without inter- ades of bloody civil war. after the country’s remarkable ruption but the fragility of its Some 50 high-level delegations progress over the last year.” institutions means it cannot yet from Africa, Europe, the Gulf With diplomats hoping to be given loans and will have to and elsewhere are expected for see more than a billion euros accept grants. the “New Deal in Somalia” event, in pledges, Wigan said “our At stake today will be the gathering President Hassan combined efforts will main- approval of a New Deal Compact Sheikh Mohamud, other Somali tain momentum and deliver the setting out the federal govern- leaders, world aid groups and glo- change that the people of Somalia ment’s political, security and eco- bal finance institutions. desperately need.” nomic priorities, agreeing a fund “We will not just be managing In January, Mohamud won to support the programme, and conflict, on Monday we will be sig- formal US recognition of his gov- ways of monitoring international nalling and kick-starting the con- ernment for the first time since support in the future. solidation of peace and stability in the 1991 overthrow of diciator AFP MONDAY 16 SEPTEMBER 2013 HOME 02 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com FM receives Argentine envoy Emir, Premier congratulate presidents DOHA: The Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani yesterday sent a cable of congratulations to the President of Salvador, Carlos Mauricio Funes Cartagena, on his country’s National Day. The Emir also sent a cable of greetings to the President of Nicaragua, José Daniel Ortega Saavedra, on his country’s Independence Day. The Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin The Foreign Minister H E Dr Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah yesterday received the Ambassador- Khalifa Al Thani sent similar designate of Argentina, Rossana Surballe, who presented copy of her credentials. The Minister wished greetings to the presidents. www.swiss-belhotel.com her success. Tel Farewell party Fax for envoys DOHA: The Assistant Foreign Minister for Tel Qatar to see highest International Cooperation Fax Affairs H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohamed bin Jabor Al Thani yesterday hosted a farewell party for outgo- urbanisation by 2020 ing ambassadors Emre Yunt Tel (Turkey) and Ali Salman Al Fax Haifi (Kuwait). Heads of diplomatic missions Future Cities forum to discuss cities’ well-being and offices, the Director of Protocols Department, Ibrahim Tollfree DOHA: Qatar will achieve earlier forecast by the London- According UN estimates, Youssuf Fakhro, and other offi- the highest level of urbanisa- based Economist Intelligence the GCC population will reach cials, attended the event at the Fax tion in the Middle East and Unit (EIU), Qatar’s popula- nearly 52.9 million by 2020, Diplomatic Club.