ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER Sunday 23 June 2013 14 Shaaban 1434 - Volume 18 Number 5739 Price: QR2 QPI, Djibouti ink England, India get MoU for wind set for Champions power plant Trophy final Business | 17 Sport | 27 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780 ‘Secret steps’ to change Syria balance Friends of Syria meeting in Doha decides to do everything to help rebels fighting Assad’s regime DOHA: World powers support- ground is achieved, in order to for increasing military aid to end ing the Syrian opposition yes- force the regime to sit down to what US Secretary of State John terday decided to take “secret talks,” the Prime Minister told Kerry called an “imbalance” in steps” to change the balance on the meeting. Assad’s favour. the battlefield, following calls He added that use of force may Kerry said the US remained for stepping up military aid to be necessary to achieve this goal. committed to a peace plan that rebel fighters. Getting arms and using them includes a conference in Geneva Speaking to reporters after a could be the only way to achieve and a transitional government meeting of Friends of Syria for- peace, especially in the Syrian picked both by Assad and the eign ministers here, the Prime case,” said the Prime Minister. opposition. Minister and Foreign Minister “We are not against dialogue But he said the rebels need H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem and peaceful settlement; and more support “for the purpose of bin Jabor Al Thani said that the definitely we support the conven- being able to get to Geneva and to meeting had taken “a secret deci- tion of Geneva II conference to be able to address the imbalance sion about practical measures bring about a peaceful transfer on the ground”. to change the situation on the of power in Syria through the British Foreign Secretary ground in Syria”. formation of a fully authorised William Hague said London had In their final communique, transitional government in which taken “no decision” to arm the the ministers agreed to “pro- Bashar Al Assad and his associ- rebels. vide urgently all the necessary ates whose hands were stained Meanwhile, French Foreign material and equipment to the with blood cannot participate”, The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani and US Secretary of Minister Laurent Fabius said opposition on the ground, each he added. State John Kerry at the Friends of Syria Foreign Ministers Meeting in Doha yesterday. the ministers demanded that country in its own way in order He said the Syrian regime predominantly Shia Iran and to enable them to counter bru- would not have been able to eas- from Lebanon in the conflict “The Qatari stand at that time “There is difference between Hezbollah stop meddling in the tal attacks by the regime and ily carry on the bloodbath, it if raging in Syria. It is extremely was clear. Hezbollah was defend- Doha and Tehran on the Syrian war by supporting Assad, whose its allies and protect the Syrian were not supported by “very well- horrifying to hear the news and ing Lebanese territory. Now the issue. The Iranian intervention Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shia people. known regional and international see evidence about the regime’s situation is different. They are not will destabilise the region,” said Islam. They demanded that Iran powers.” unscrupulous use of chemical defending their territory. They the Prime Minister. “We have demanded that Iran and Lebanese Shia move- “The most blunt example weapons against its own people,” are interfering in the Syrian issue Ministers from Britain, Egypt, and Hezbollah end their interven- ment Hezbollah stop support- of that is the interference of said the Prime Minister. and committing crimes against France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, tion in the conflict,” said Fabius. ing President Bashar Al Assad’s Hezbollah, which imposes a huge Later talking to the media, the the Syrian people.” Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the “We are fully against the inter- regime. responsibility on the Lebanese Prime Minister defended Qatar’s He said relations between United Arab Emirates and the nationalisation of the conflict,” he A peaceful end “cannot be government to take appropriate support to the Hezbollah during Qatar and Iran were good and United States attended the talks. told reporters. reached unless a balance on the actions to stop any interference its war with Israel in 2006, saying, will continue to be so. Washington and Doha called THE PENINSULA/AGENCIES More than 30 killed in Iraq violence Al Zubarah joins Unesco World Heritage List BAGHDAD: A suicide bomber DOHA: Al Zubarah Archeological Site, the town developed into a centre for pearl Trustees of Qatar Museums Authority blew himself up inside a Shia a traditional pearl fishing town located fishing and international trade, and rose (QMA), who was present at the Unesco mosque in northern Baghdad on the north-western coast of Qatar, has to become the country’s largest and most event said the decision follows the “enor- killing at least 12 people dur- entered the Unesco World Heritage List. important settlement. The town was aban- mous effort by Qatar in ensuring the pres- ing evening prayers, police and It is the first Qatari site to be included doned by the mid-20th century. Al Zubarah ervation and conservation of this historical medics said, in the deadliest of in the international register joining the 911 Archaeological Site covers an area of 60 site, leading it to be internationally recog- a series of attacks that claimed natural and cultural properties worldwide. hectares with remains of houses, mosques, nised for its human legacy, specially that more than 30 lives across Iraq The decision was announced yesterday at large fortified buildings and a market. Al Zubarah is significant to many of Gulf yesterday. the 37th session of the World Heritage Entry to the Unesco World Heritage List nationals”. Sectarian tensions in Iraq Committee conference in Cambodia. is a unique opportunity for the country to Al Zubarah was first reported as an and the wider region have been Al Zubarah is one of the largest and build local and international awareness for archaeological site by a Danish-led team The Al Zubarah Fort. inflamed by the civil war in Syria, best preserved examples of an 18th-19th the site and the values of the World Heritage of archaeologists in the 1950s, and then where mainly Sunni Muslim century traditional pearl fishing and Convention. Other sites that hold this title excavated by Danish and Qatari teams. rebels are fighting to overthrow merchant towns in the Gulf. A coastal include the Yellowstone Natural Park in the As a result of the studies conducted Museum of Qatar’s (NMoQ) permanent President Bashar al-Assad, whose town that is now abandoned, Al Zubarah US and the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. at the site, a large number of archaeo- collection, and will be featured in the Alawite sect derives from Shi’ite is situated about 100 km north-west of Sheikh Hassan bin Mohamed bin Ali logical finds from the 18th-19th cen- museum galleries, QMA said yesterday. Islam. Earlier report on page 10 Doha. Founded in the mid-18th century, Al Thani, vice chairman of the Board of turies are now part of the National THE PENINSULA Abbas, Palestinian Mangoes and dates PM to meet again US accused of hacking RAMALLAH: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet today with Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah in a new bid Chinese mobile firms to defuse a political crisis that prompted the premier to sub- HONG KONG: Edward The 30-year-old intelligence mit his resignation, a senior Snowden, the former CIA tech- analyst has over the past three Palestinian official said. nician who blew the whistle on weeks leaked a series of docu- The 11am meeting at Abbas’s global surveillance operations, ments to The Guardian revealing offices in the West Bank city of has opened a new front against how US and UK secret services Ramallah will be their third in the US authorities, claiming gain access to huge amounts of 48 hours. They met last evening, they hacked into Chinese mobile phone and internet data, raising after which no statement was phone companies to access mil- serious questions about privacy in issued. Hamdallah, who took lions of private text messages. the internet age. office two weeks ago, presented His latest claims came as some On Friday, based on documents his resignation on Thursday, then Hong Kong politicians called for from Snowden, The Guardian withdrew it on Friday. Snowden to be protected from reported that Britain’s spy agency extradition to the US after the GCHQ has secretly gained access Mursi offers to talk justice department in Washington to the network of cables carrying filed criminal charges against him the world’s phone calls and inter- with opposition late on Friday. net traffic, without the authori- The latest developments will ties having made this known to CAIRO: Egyptian President raise fears that the US action the public. Mohammed Mursi has repeated may have pushed Snowden into It was also reported that a call for dialogue in an attempt the hands of the Chinese, trig- GCHQ is processing vast streams to mitigate deep political divi- gering what could be a tense and of sensitive information which it sions ahead of planned rallies prolonged diplomatic and legal is sharing with its US partner, the against him, while opposition wrangle between the world’s two National Security Agency.