SUBSCRIPTION WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2016 JAMADA ALAWWAL 23, 1437 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Police arrest UAE companies Istanbul’s LeBron scores 4,000 in Jleeb struggle for venerable 33 as Cavaliers crackdown, finance as banks Grand Bazaar hold off free 3,0004 later tighten22 credit to39 get facelift Pacers20 100-96 MPs approve extra KD 150m Min 15º Max 28º for Eurofighter warplanes High Tide 05:29 & 16:38 New MP, minister sworn in Housing body gets more authority Low Tide • 10:48 40 PAGES NO: 16801 150 FILS By B Izzak Prominent Saudi KUWAIT: The National Assembly yesterday approved a cleric injured in law allowing the government to withdraw KD 150 mil- lion from state reserves to support the defense ministry. Philippines attack Defense Minister Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah said the money will be used to make an advance payment ZAMBOANGA, Philippines: An influential Saudi for the purchase of Eurofighter warplanes. Head of the Arabian preacher was shot and wounded in a south- budgets committee MP Adnan Abdulsamad said the ern Philippine city yesterday, police said, adding value of the warplanes deal is KD 2.6 billion. In January, security forces killed the gunman. Sheikh Ayed Al- the Assembly approved additional funds of KD 3 billion Qarni was in hospital following the shooting in for military purchases over the next 10 years. The Zamboanga city but did Eurofighter consortium said in September that Kuwait not have life threatening had agreed to buy 28 Typhoon jets. injuries, local police Also, newly-appointed Minister of Electricity and spokeswoman Senior Water Ahmad Al-Jassar took the constitutional oath Inspector Helen Galvez before the Assembly yesterday in accordance with arti- said. “He is out of danger,” cle 91 of the Kuwaiti constitution. Newly-elected MP Ali Galvez told AFP by phone. Al-Khamees also took the constitutional oath after win- A police report said ning the only seat in the third constituency’s by-elec- that Qarni was shot in the tion that fell vacant with the death of late MP Nabeel Al- right shoulder, left arm Fadhl. The parliament elected Khamees to replace Fadhl and chest while his com- on various committees including the legislative and panion, a Saudi embassy legal affairs committee, as well as others concerned attache, was wounded in with public utilities, youth and sport. Ayed Al-Qarni his right thigh and left leg. In other business, the Assembly passed a draft law However a Saudi embassy adding a new paragraph to article 5 of law 47/1993 statement later said none of Qarni’s companions were wounded. The police said that Qarni had just regarding housing law in the second deliberation, send- delivered a university lecture when a man came out ing it to the government for further discussions and of the crowd and opened fire with a .45 calibre pistol. approval. The bill is primarily intended to relieve the Police acting as security escorts shot the attacker Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) of prior dead. “We pinned down the gunman. He’s dead,” scrutiny by the Audit Bureau and the law on public ten- Galvez said. She said the gunman was apparently a ders for five years ending March 31, 2021. But, it has to Filipino and that two other Filipino men, residents of report its financial situation to the Assembly annually. It Zamboanga, were later arrested after eyewitnesses also aims to enable the PAHW to speed up the imple- said they were with the attacker. mentation of housing projects mentioned in its pro- Continued on Page 13 gram of action, with its activities to remain under the KUWAIT: MPs attend a parliament session at the National Assembly yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat Audit Bureau’s subsequent control. 18 killed in Oman bus crash DUBAI: A bus traveling through north- Ibri are cities west of the capital, Muscat. western Oman’s desert crashed into a He said those hurt in the crash had Arab govt debt truck and a passing car later slammed injuries ranging from serious to minor into the wreckage early yesterday morn- and had been transported to hospitals ing, killing at least 18 people and injuring throughout the sultanate. The crash rises sharply 16 others, police said. Authorities tipped the truck over, sending its con- received first word of the crash near the tents - including plastic bags, cardboard in 2015: S&P Nahdah area on the road connecting the boxes and other debris - all over the two- cities of Fahud and Ibri around 1 am, lane road. The roof of the bus was partly DUBAI: Borrowing by leading Arab governments Oman police spokesman Mohammed torn off. has more than doubled last year and is forecast to bin Salama Al-Hashimi said. Fahud and Continued on Page 13 remain high in 2016, Standard and Poor’s ratings agency reported yesterday. The debt taken by 11 Arab nations rated by the agency, including the oil- rich Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, shot up to $143 billion last year from $70.6 billion in 2014, S&P said in a report. Last year’s figure includes $30 billion debt by Iraq which was added to the list for the first time. The governments of the GCC states - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - borrowed $40 billion last year, TEHRAN: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (right) unveils the Saina domestically including $26 billion by OPEC heavyweight Saudi built car while visiting the International Car Industry Show accompanied by Minister Arabia, the agency said. Egypt topped the list with of Industry, Mines and Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh yesterday. — AP $44 billion borrowed in 2015, it said. S&P projects that borrowing by the same Arab nations will drop Rouhani: Voters chose only six percent to $134 billion, of which the GCC share will be $45 billion. The 2016 projections are based on the assump- ‘right and proper path’ tion that most GCC countries will draw down on their huge fiscal reserves to finance budget deficits TEHRAN: Iranian voters chose “the right slide presidential election victory on a resulting from low oil revenues. The gross total and proper path for the country”, moder- pledge to end years of standoff over Iran’s commercial debt by Arab governments is forecast ate President Hassan Rouhani said yes- nuclear program and crippling sanctions. Continued on Page 13 Image shows the site of an accident that occurred in the early hours of yesterday terday after final election results showed No single group won a decisive share of on the road between Ibri and Fahud in western Oman. — AFP his allies had made significant gains. parliament’s 290 seats, but tallies suggest- Friday’s twin elections - to parliament ed the pragmatic Rouhani would be able and to top clerical committee, the to forge a working majority. The main con- Assembly of Experts - were crucial for the servative list secured 103 MPs, reformists Laden left millions for jihad president and a de-facto referendum on and moderates 95, and independents 14, his administration after its nuclear deal while five seats went to minorities and WASHINGTON: In his handwritten will, Al- uments released by the Office of the Director with world powers. four to candidates with no single affilia- Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden claimed he of National Intelligence. They address a range In the parliamentary election, hardliners tion. While conservatives were wiped out had about $29 million in personal wealth - the of topics, including fractures between Al- who vocally opposed Rouhani’s diplomacy by reformists in Tehran, they retained bulk of which he wanted to be used “on jihad, Qaeda and Al-Qaeda in Iraq, which eventually with the West and his moves to open Iran some seats in other cities and enjoyed for the sake of Allah”. The will was released splintered off into what is now known as the up to foreign investment were soundly strong support in rural areas. Some 69 yesterday in a batch of more than 100 docu- Islamic State; and bin Laden’s concerns about beaten by reformists. Conservatives also constituencies had no clear winner, mean- ments seized in a May 2011 raid that killed bin his organization’s public image and his desire lost seats. “The owners of this country are ing a second round runoff in April in a field Laden at his compound in Abbottabad, to depict it as a united network. the people... they determine the path and that has more conservatives than Pakistan. In a letter to one of his wives who had direction of this country,” the president reformists and moderates. The Al-Qaeda leader planned to divide his been living in Iran, bin Laden expressed worry said. “I thank our intelligent and brave peo- The outcome signalled strong public fortune among his relatives, but wanted most Osama bin Laden that her visit to a dentist could have present- ple who have taken a step forward,” he said support for the nuclear deal between Iran of it spent to conduct the work of the Islamic mind years before the fatal raid in Pakistan. “If I ed the Iranians an opportunity to implant a at an auto industry conference in Tehran. and world powers, an agreement steered extremist terror network behind the Sept 11 am to be killed,” he wrote in a 2008 letter to his small chip under her skin, apparently as a Buoyed by new backing from by the president which saw the lifting of attacks. The will did not disclose much detail father, “pray for me a lot and give continuous tracking device. “My dear wife,” he began.