SUBSCRIPTION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2017 JAMADA ALAWWAL 23, 1438 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Education Trump reassures Tourism Ibrahimovic gaining supporters in shows signs rescues United, prominence campaign-style of recovery Kane nets across GCC4 fiery speech7 in39 Egypt Spurs20 treble Panel passes bill to scrap Min 05º Max 18º petrol, utility price hikes High Tide 06:53 & 17:44 Low Tide MPs urge health minister to apply reforms 00:33 & 11:42 40 PAGES NO: 17147 150 FILS By B Izzak Iraq launches assault on west Mosul KUWAIT: The National Assembly’s financial and eco- nomic affairs committee yesterday approved a draft bill calling to scrap all increases in utility charges and fuel AL-BUSEIF, Iraq: Iraqi forces seized 10 villages from prices, rapporteur of the panel MP Safaa Al-Hashem the Islamic State group yesterday, launching a said. Hashem said after reviewing nine draft laws sub- daunting operation to retake west Mosul which aid mitted by lawmakers, the committee passed a joint groups warned will put civilians in grave danger. draft law stating that increases in public charges and Advancing from several directions, the forces moved prices of commodities cannot be applied without a law towards Mosul airport, which lies just south of the from the Assembly. city, marking a new phase in Iraq’s largest military The draft law also calls for scrapping a law passed by operation in years. The Islamic State group has put the previous Assembly almost a year ago calling to raise up stiff resistance to defend Mosul, the city where its the prices of electricity and water, starting from May. leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi proclaimed a The committee also called for scrapping the hike in “caliphate” straddling Iraq and Syria in 2014. petrol prices which began on Sept 1, adding that prices “Our forces are beginning the liberation of the cit- should be reversed to the old rates, Hashem said. izens from the terror of Daesh,” Prime Minister It will now depend on the Assembly to decide Haider Al-Abadi said in a short televised speech, whether to approve the committee’s decision or not. using an Arabic acronym for IS. A top army com- But the Assembly is highly expected to pass the draft mander then announced that forces led by federal law because a large number of lawmakers have already police units retook villages south of Mosul, including committed to oppose any hike in prices. But under Athbah, which leaves them within striking distance Kuwaiti law, the government has the power to reject of the airport. “We launched our operation at 7:00 laws passed by the Assembly, which also has the power am (0400 GMT)... We are heading towards the air- to override such rejections by a two-thirds majority in a port,” said Abbas Al-Juburi of the interior ministry’s fresh vote. elite Rapid Response force. Reducing subsidies and increasing prices by the gov- The sky south of Mosul was black with smoke ernment was one of the top issues raised by candidates from air strikes and artillery as thousands of forces in during the Assembly election in November. The issue is armoured convoys worked converged on the air- expected to be debated in the Assembly in the first port. “They’re desperate,” Ali, a Rapid Response offi- week of March. A law raising prices of electricity and cer, said in the village of Al-Buseif as helicopters flew water was due to be implemented on commercial overhead, tracking the last IS fighters attempting to shops from May and on expatriate houses from late flee. “They will try to cause as many losses as possi- August. Although Kuwaitis are exempt from the hike, ble, because they know they will die anyway,” his Tanks and armored vehicles of Iraqi forces, supported by the Hashed Al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization) para- MPs anticipated that the hike will result in increasing colleague Alaa said. militaries, advance towards the village of Sheikh Younis, south of Mosul, after an offensive to retake the prices and the cost of living in the country, which will Continued on Page 13 western side of Mosul from Islamic State group fighters commenced yesterday. — AFP negatively impact Kuwaitis. Continued on Page 13 News Deals galore at UAE arms show in brief Top municipal official Pentagon chief says military running smoothly jailed for joining IS KUWAIT: The cassation court yesterday sentenced a top ABU DHABI: Fighter jets screaming over- tive order in the waning days of his bureaucrat to 10 years in jail for joining and fighting head and theatrical explosions marked administration to permanently revoke a with the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq. The court the opening of an arms show yesterday in broad range of American sanctions on also fined the unnamed Kuwaiti national, who was a top Abu Dhabi, as a bullet-scarred Emirati Sudan after a six-month waiting period. official at the Municipality, KD 10,000 and convicted him armored personnel carrier served as a US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who of calling other people to join the group. The ruling is reminder of the country’s ongoing mili- was also in Abu Dhabi yesterday, was not final and cannot be challenged. tary campaign in Yemen. The Emirates seen at the demonstration. Brig Gen announced over $1.2 billion in arms deals Rashid Al-Shamsi, an IDEX spokesman, at the opening of the biennial said he didn’t know if Mattis attended. No visa transfers for International Defense Exhibition and Shamsi announced over $1.2 billion Conference, known by the acronym IDEX. in deals, the lion’s share coming from ‘dependent’ women It and other Gulf nations, buoyed by ris- the $544 million purchase of 400 KUWAIT: The manpower authority plans to stop issu- ing oil prices and suspicious of nearby armored personnel carriers from a local ing work permits to women holding article 22 Iran, are likely to spend even more in the manufacturer. Raytheon Co, based in (dependent) visas. The authority met interior ministry weeks and months ahead. Waltham, Massachusetts, announced a officials and agreed to stop transfers to article 18 Two of the UAE’s most-powerful rulers, deal with the UAE navy for missiles to visas for women living in Kuwait on dependent visas Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin arm its Baynunah-class corvettes. Many to prevent them from working in the private sector. Zayed Al-Nahyan and Dubai’s ruler of the other contracts dealt with resup- Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al- plying ammunition for the UAE, which is Barrak injured Maktoum, attended the event yesterday. taking part in the Saudi-led campaign During the military demonstration, they against the Houthi rebels and their allies in prison brawl flanked Sudanese President Omar Al- in Yemen. KUWAIT: Interior Minister Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al- Bashir, the world’s only sitting head of Meanwhile, Mattis yesterday said Sabah yesterday ordered an immediate investigation state facing genocide charges at the America’s vast military continues to run and a report about a fight between former opposition International Criminal Court. smoothly, even though President Donald MP Musallam Al-Barrak and another inmate at the Bashir attended the 2015 IDEX arms Trump’s first month has been marked by ABU DHABI: Emirati armed forces show their skills during a military show at the Central Jail. Barrak was rushed to Farwaniya Hospital for show, but this year’s trip comes after US consecutive crises. opening of the International Defense Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) in the treatment after suffering minor injuries. President Barack Obama issued an execu- Continued on Page 13 Emirati capital yesterday. — AFP Saudis, Israel in de facto Swedes mocking united front against Iran imaginary Trump Bibi met Arab leaders in 2016 ‘terror’ incident WASHINGTON: Bowling Green, Atlanta and now... MUNICH/JERUSALEM: Saudi Arabia and Republican senators said at the confer- Sweden? US President Donald Trump was speaking to Israel both called yesterday for a new push ence they would press for new US meas- supporters on Saturday when he apparently referred against Iran, signaling a growing alignment ures over the missiles issue and Tehran’s to the Scandinavian country as the site of a terror inci- in their interests, while US lawmakers prom- actions to “destabilize” the Middle East. dent - the latest example of his administration nam- ised to seek new sanctions on the Shiite Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir ing a non-existent attack. He was addressing a cam- power. Turkey also joined the de facto unit- called Tehran the main sponsor of global paign-style rally in Florida when he launched into a ed front against Tehran as Saudi and Israeli terrorism and a destabilizing force in the list of places that have been targeted by terrorists. ministers rejected an appeal from Iranian Middle East. He sidestepped a question “You look at what’s happening in Germany, you Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for about Israel’s call for concerted action with look at what’s happening last night in Sweden. Sunni Gulf Arab states to work with Tehran Sunni Arab states amid growing specula- Sweden, who would believe this? Sweden. They took to reduce violence across the region. tion that the two countries could normalize in large numbers. They’re having problems like they While Saudi Arabia remains historically relations and join forces to oppose Tehran, never thought possible,” he said, provoking mockery at odds with Israel, their ministers much as Turkey has done. on social media. His speech was aimed at defending demanded at the Munich Security The six Arab members of the Gulf his order last month that blocked refugees and travel- Conference that Tehran be punished for Cooperation Council (GCC), especially Saudi ers from seven majority-Muslim countries from enter- propping up the Syrian government, Arabia, accuse Iran of using sectarianism to ing the United States.