SUBSCRIPTION WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2014 SHAWWAL 24, 1435 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Six strategic, Battle of the National Bank Suarez vows 105 short-term boycott plays of Kuwait elects not to bite goals for out in W Bank, Nasser Al-Sayer again with new plan2 Israel14 shops as21 chairman Barcelona20 Saudi mufti blasts Qaeda, Max 45º Min 32º Islamic State as ‘enemies’ High Tide 06:22 & 19:22 Death sentence handed to militant Kingdom opens family courts Low Tide • 00:42 & 14:46 40 PAGES NO: 16260 150 FILS RIYADH: Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh yesterday blasted Al-Qaeda and Islamic State jihadists as MP demands “enemy number one” of Islam, in a statement issued in Riyadh. “The ideas of extremism, radicalism and terror- ism... have nothing to do with Islam and (their propo- collection nents) are the enemy number one of Islam,” the king- dom’s top cleric said. He cited jihadists from the Islamic State, which has declared a of weapons “caliphate” straddling large parts of Iraq and Syria, and By A Saleh the global Al-Qaeda terror network. KUWAIT: MP Abdulrahman Al-Jeeran stressed the need “Muslims are the main to pass a law on weapon collection following the violent victims of this extremism, incidents Kuwait witnessed recently. “This law must be as shown by crimes com- passed in a way to prevent arbitrariness in implement- mitted by the so-called ing it as well as protecting citizens’ privacy,” he stressed, Islamic State, Al-Qaeda expressing hope that such a law would be passed by the and groups linked to beginning of the new parliamentary term. Jeeran them,” the mufti said, quot- explained that it would be better to start collecting ing a verse in the Holy weapons now than to wait until they spread further and Quran urging the “killing” it becomes harder to collect them the way some coun- of people who do deeds Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh tries are suffering. harmful to Islam. His Meanwhile, MP Abdulhameed Dashti said that many stance reflects the Saudi clerical community’s hostility employees in the Commerce Ministry were unlawfully towards IS jihadists, known for their brutality. The largely and unjustifiably transferred to other departments. He Sunni kingdom of Saudi Arabia favors an austere form of also criticized Minister Mudej’s refusal to meet them. “It Islam. The two holiest places of Islam, Makkah and seems that the minster has become accustomed to Madinah, are both in Saudi Arabia. injustice,” he said, noting that the minster appointed a IS jihadists, already well established in Syria, launched less competent director to the Industry Authority an offensive in Iraq on June 9 and rapidly seized control of because of pressure by an influential dual citizen. “Who vast swathes of Sunni territory there. “In the circum- controls and runs your ministry - influential VIPs or dual stances the Islamic nation is living through, several coun- citizens?” he asked, noting that the ministry was pushing KUWAIT: Sailors in a traditional dhow take in the catch of oysters brought up tries have been destabilized” by extremists, who “divide things towards a clash with the parliament. by divers during the 26th pearl diving expedition yesterday. (Inset) The haul Muslims” in the name of religion, the mufti said. of harvested pearls. — KUNA (See Page 5) Continued on Page 13 Israel hits Gaza, suspends talks Hamas shows defiance in tunnel tour GAZA CITY: Israel and Palestinian mili- made. The Palestinian delegation pre- boys aged six and nine in the southern tants resumed fire across the Gaza sented their demands for a truce to city of Rafah, the Gaza emergency border yesterday, sparking panic Egyptian mediators and were awaiting services spokesman said. There was no across the war-torn enclave where res- Israel’s response, said the official, immediate claim of responsibility for idents fled for cover as Israeli aircraft Azzam Al-Ahmed. “There has been no firing the rockets, two of which hit struck. A military spokeswoman told progress,” he said of yesterday’s talks. near the city of Beersheva, which is AFP that two rockets hit southern “Matters have become more compli- home to around 200,000 Israelis. An Israel during the late afternoon and cated.” Israeli official said the negotiating early evening - several hours before a The renewal of Israeli strikes spread team had been ordered back from 24-hour truce was to expire - and two panic among Gaza residents. An AFP Cairo where Egypt has been pushing more were intercepted by missile reporter saw hundreds of Palestinians for a decisive end to the Gaza blood- defences. Israel ordered its negotiators streaming out of Shejaiya, an eastern shed, which has killed more than 2,000 back from ceasefire talks in Cairo and area of Gaza City which has been dev- Palestinians and 67 on the Israeli side. the military said warplanes hit Gaza. astated by more than a month of However, there was no immediate They hit at least 10 targets, according fighting between Israel and the mili- confirmation the team had left. “The to army radio. tant Islamist Hamas movement. More Cairo process was based on the prem- The fighting shattered nine days of poured out of the Zeitun and Shaaf ise of a total ceasefire,” another official relative quiet in the skies over Gaza areas, alarmed by a series of explo- told AFP. “If Hamas fires rockets, the and cast a dark shadow over Egyptian- sions and heading to shelter in UN Cairo process has no basis.” Israel has mediated efforts to hammer out a schools, local witnesses said. vowed not to negotiate under fire, and longer-term truce. The chief Five Palestinians were wounded, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Palestinian negotiator in Cairo said three in the northern area of Beit has warned there would be “a very yesterday that no progress had been Lahiya two of them children - and two Continued on Page 13 Unrest mounts in Missouri FERGUSON, Missouri: US lawmakers yesterday called for calm and a change in police tactics in the St Louis ‘Lioness of Iran’ suburb of Ferguson, which has been rocked by racially charged clashes and riots after a white officer killed an unarmed black teenager 10 days ago. The violence has Behbahani dies captured headlines around the world, raising questions about the state of US race relations nearly six years after DUBAI: Poet Simin Behbahani, Americans elected their first black president. Law a champion of women’s rights enforcement has made various efforts to soothe angry and free speech whose lyrical demonstrators, but police said they had come under verse captured the hopes and heavy gunfire overnight and arrested 31 people despite disappointments of Iranians the deployment of Missouri National Guard troops and since the 1979 revolution, died the lifting of a curfew to allow protesters to have more yesterday at the age of 87, offi- freedom to demonstrate. cial media reported. Nominated for the Nobel Prize Continued on Page 13 in Literature, she earned the unofficial title of the “Lioness of Iran” for what admirers saw Simin Behbahani as her courage in the face of official censorship. After nearly two weeks in the Tehran Pars hospital, she died of heart and respiratory complications, according to state news agency IRNA. She was nearly blind towards the end of her life. “Until now, I’ve said what I’ve had to say, I’ve always said I’m against death, I’m against killing and I’m against impris- onment,” she told the BBC’s Persian service in 2012. She encapsulated the hopeful and later deflated moods of contemporary Iran after the revolution, using a 1,100-year lyrical form of poetry known as the ghazal. Despite the difficulties of living in Iran, she received her inspiration from her homeland and chose not to emi- grate. “She loved Iran and despite the many opportunities she had to go live abroad, she stayed,” said a friend and editor of a compilation of her poems, Ali Dehbashi, from Tehran. “She was tied to the land and her biggest fear was FERGUSON, Missouri: Police officers arrest a demon- that she would die while abroad.” — Reuters strator on Monday. —AFP WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2014 LOCAL Six strategic, 105 short-term goals for 2015-2020 development plan KUWAIT: Acting Secretary General of the Supreme and imbalances, including the economic and develop- Council for Planning and Development Yahia Al-Oqaili ment challenges such as diversifying the economy, revealed yesterday that the state development plan for increasing private sector’s role in development, 2015-2020 envisions six strategic and 105 short-term addressing imbalances in state budget, encouraging goals. Oqaili made the unveiling during a meeting that foreign direct investments, developing the country’s brought together officials of the General Secretariat of infrastructure, adopting an integrated and comprehen- the Supreme Council for Planning and Development sive urban development strategy and tackling human and government agencies to discuss the main features resources and social challenges. of the state development plan for (2015-2020). It also includes improving the quality of public edu- The meeting also tackled the council’s mechanisms cation and healthcare services, empowering the youth, for preparing the annual development plans and fol- fighting corruption and the enhancing efficiency of the lowing up the government implementation of the state’s administrative apparatus. The second track aims plans. He stated that the new plan sets a number of to develop the northern region of the country to be a goals, policies and targets to be achieved during the commercial center for the state and create the appropri- next five years. ate conditions to turn it into a regional commercial hub.