N IO T IP R C S B U S THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014 RABI ALTHANI 27, 1435 AH www.kuwaittimes.net 60-year-old Syria army Bitcoin world Real demolish Kuwaiti climbs ambush ‘kills in turmoil Schalke on Liberation 175’ rebels after exchange German soil Tower stairs3 near Damascus8 goes21 dark 20 Joy and street revelry Max 23º Min 12º High Tide as Kuwait celebrates 11:07 & 21:57 Low Tide 04:35 & 16:14 40 PAGES NO: 16089 150 FILS Amir congratulates citizens, residents KUWAIT: (Left) HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah dances with a sword as he toured various areas in the country marking the National and Liberation days. (Center) Alain Robert, the French urban climber dubbed Spiderman, waves the Kuwaiti flag after scaling the Missoni Hotel in Salmiya. (Right) Revelers engage in a water fight on Arabian Gulf Street. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat and KUNA (See Pages 2-6) By Shakir Reshamwala and Agencies ing cars with water under the watchful gaze of security an annual tradition, 60-year-old Kuwaiti athlete Ali Al- Sheikh Sabah recalled the late great leaders - Amir forces, who confiscated water balloons and illegal foam Eidan yesterday climbed the stairs of the 372-m Liberation Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Father KUWAIT: Kuwait marked its 53rd National Day and 23rd sprays. Tower in seven minutes and 22 seconds. Amir Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah - pray- Liberation Day with street celebrations, an air and naval Kuwaiti and Turkish jets performed fly-pasts over the Earlier on Tuesday, HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al- ing for their blessed souls and noting their patriotic role show and receptions at the state’s embassies around the Kuwait Towers while the coastguard and Interior Ministry Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah congratulated citizens and resi- in resisting the blatant aggression. He also underscored world. Revelers squirted each other with water from held a naval parade on Tuesday, watched by HH the Prime dents, reported KUNA. The Amir recalled the founders of their great efforts and honorable accomplishments to giant plastic guns on Arabian Gulf Street, the traditional Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, who also vis- Kuwait who had conveyed the national responsibility to “our dear homeland, which will remain ingrained in hub of celebrations. Young Kuwaiti and Gulf nationals ited art galleries and Souq Mubarakiya. Elsewhere, Alain the next generations for pressing ahead with the devel- memories of all nationals and live forever in the history of danced on the roads amid cars crawling in the snarl as Robert, the French urban climber dubbed Spiderman for opment of the dear homeland and securing all potentials our dear homeland”. children lined the seafront promenade showering pass- his feats, scaled Hotel Missoni in Salmiya. And as part of for progress and prosperity for the natives. Continued on Page 13 Bedoons told Olympiakos bring PAGE UK banana wars PAGE to ‘raise their Utd to their knees costing growers kids properly’ 15 arrested Quotas mulled for expatriates KUWAIT: The recent bedoon demonstrations in Kuwait will not affect plans to naturalize who meet the require- By Ahmad Jabr ments for obtaining Kuwaiti citizenship, a senior gov- ernment official said. Deputy Prime Minister and Interior KUWAIT: Kuwait plans to organize the entry of foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khalid Al-Sabah labor forces through a new system that sets specific expressed regret however for the ‘acts of violence’ which quotas for every expatriate community in the state, a left several police officers injured during demonstra- senior government official said recently. The announce- tions in Taima and Sulaibiya. ment, made by Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Hind “[The attackers] were all teenagers and their num- Al-Subaih, answers questions about the plan to address bers are limited,” the minister said in response to con- the demographic imbalance in a country where approx- cerns that the attacks were organized. “We will not allow imately two thirds of the population are foreigners. disrupting security or damaging public property... and Since entering the Cabinet early January, Subaih has we asked the families of these kids to raise them proper- launched efforts to prosecute owners of fake compa- ly”. Sheikh Mohammad made his statements on Tuesday nies who are seen as a major contributor to the influx of during a visit to a camp organized for Interior Ministry foreigners living illegally in Kuwait. staff and their families. A day earlier, he welcomed Continued on Page 13 police officers who were injured in bedoon demonstra- tions, including a policeman “who needed seven stitch- es to close a head wound”, according to the minister’s Spy fears drive statement published by Al-Rai yesterday. Meanwhile, a Kuwaiti rights activist said authorities have detained 15 people in recent days during the mobile security protests by bedoons. Activist Hadeel Buqrais said yester- day that the demonstrators were held on suspicion of BARCELONA: Smartphone security firms are reporting participation in illegal protests and inciting riots during a surge in demand since former NSA contractor Edward demonstrations in Taima. She said nine remain in cus- Snowden’s revelations of US and British spying activi- tody. Officials could not be reached for comment on the ties. It is an overdue trend, say companies selling anti- arrests. virus and firewall software, as well as cryptology special- The parliament is scheduled to discuss a report ists gathered at the four-day Mobile World Congress passed by the interior and defense committee, which TEFAHTA, Lebanon: In this Feb14, 2014 photo, Hezbollah fighters hold flags as they attend the memo- which opened Monday in Barcelona, Spain. Anti-virus stipulates that the government naturalizes at least 4,000 rial of their slain leader Sheikh Abbas Al-Mousawi, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in 1992, in this software seller Norton estimated in its 2013 annual sur- stateless residents this year. When asked about this on village in south Lebanon. — AP vey of more than 13,000 adults that 48 percent of Tuesday, Sheikh Mohammad said that “the issue is not smartphone and tablet owners took no basic security about the number of bedoons naturalized, as much as it Continued on Page 13 is about providing decent living and human rights for Hezb vows response them”. The government does not approve setting a min- imum limit for naturalizing bedoons annually, and demands that the draft law be amended so that a maxi- mum number of them are given citizenship in 2014. to ‘Israel air strike’ There is no objection by the government to limiting nat- uralization this year to stateless residents as MPs BEIRUT: Hezbollah yesterday threatened to retaliate that it had been the target of the raid, although demand. Security forces used tear gas to disperse bedoon after Israel’s first reported air raid targeting a position Lebanese sources had previously reported the attack. protests last week, which escalated after an activist was of the Lebanese Shiite movement since the 2006 war. “This new attack amounts to blatant aggression reportedly arrested on charges of instigating bedoon The statement comes two days after Israeli warplanes against Lebanon, its sovereignty and territory,” the demonstrations. Bedoons demand citizenship as well as struck a Hezbollah position in eastern Lebanon, amid armed movement said, adding that “it will not stand civil and social rights they are deprived from given their fears that the region may be dragged into further without a response from the Resistance, which will illegal residence status, but the government argues that conflict. “On Monday night... the Israeli enemy’s war- choose the appropriate time, place and means”. It only 34,000 qualify for consideration. The rest are consid- planes bombarded a Hezbollah position on the also said: “This aggression did not, thank God, cause ered Arabs or descendent of Arab people who deliberate- Lebanese-Syrian border, near the area of Janta in the any deaths or injuries. There was only some material ly disposed their original passports after coming to Kuwait Bekaa Valley” in eastern Lebanon, Hezbollah said. damage.” BARCELONA: A man checks a mobile device during to seek citizenship in the oil-rich country. — Agencies Yesterday’s statement was the group’s first admission Continued on Page 13 the 2014 Mobile World Congress yesterday. — AFP (See Page 27) THURS DAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014 LOCAL Duo in police custody for brutal assault Intoxicated couple attacks school bus KUWAIT: Two men were arrested after they brutally Officer injured assaulted a motorist in Sabah Al-Salem. The Kuwaiti man A police officer was hospitalized after he was run over was in a coma when he arrived at the Mubarak Hospital. He while regulating traffic at the Third Ring Road. The accident was admitted in the intensive care unit after medical tests reportedly happened while the policeman was talking with a revealed that he suffered a broken skull. Investigations driver he had pulled over, when a speeding vehicle hit him revealed that the man was attacked shortly after passing a and escaped. The officer was taken in an ambulance to the traffic light by two persons who thought that he had Amiri Hospital while investigations are underway in search mocked them at the traffic light. According to eyewitness- for the runaway driver. es’ reports, the two believed that the victim looked at them in a disrespectful manner when they stopped their car near Car thieves him while blasting music. The two forced him to stop Farwaniya detectives arrested three teenagers responsible shortly after the light turned green, then forced him out of for multiple car thefts in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh.