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H E Abdullah bin Hamad
Al Attiyah says Qatar
has implemented
sustainable development
strategy.
FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2015 • 17 Rabial II 1436 • Volume 19 Number 6333
Syria coalition
dismisses its
Qatar ‘envoy’
CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER
13
Sport
| 22
2015 QMMF Qatar
International Rally gets
under way with the
ceremonial start outside
the QMMF HQ.
Oil prices up 6 percent
as violence in Libya
and a boost in demand
from China help crude
rebound.
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266 non-energy
projects to create
12,000 jobs
Qatar Motor Show opens
Passports renewal row costs his job
DOHA: The decision to renew
expired passports of Syrian
expatriates in Qatar has cost
Syria’s opposition envoy his job.
Syria’s National Coalition has
dismissed Nizar Al Haraki (pictured) as its ambassador in Doha,
and announced the
appointment
of
Nasar Abu Nabut as
Charge d’Affaires of
its ‘embassy’.
The coalition-run
diplomatic mission
had announced that
it will renew the
expired passports
of Syrians in Qatar
from January 29.
But days later, it
ordered the renewals stopped on legal
grounds as it was
not internationally and legally
permissible.
A fact-ﬁnding committee was
set up by the head of the coalition
to look into the passport renewal
initiative by the embassy and submit its ﬁndings.
However,
the
Political
Commission of the Syrian
National Coalition yesterday dismissed Al Haraki, in what observers see is a climax of the tussle
between both sides.
In a brief communication
addressed to Al Haraki, the head
of the Syrian National Coalition,
Khaled Khoja, said he was being
ﬁred as their envoy to Qatar.
“At its meeting on February 3,
the Political Commission of the
Coalition decided to end your
services as their ambassador to
Qatar,” said the letter.
“Referring to the decision of
the General Authority for the
Coalition that met on February
3, 2015, we would
like to inform you
that your services
as ambassador of
the Syrian National
Coalition to Qatar is
being ended,” Khoja
said in the signed
letter.
In his response,
Al Haraki described
his ouster as unfair
and dubbed Khoja a
judge and an executioner at the same
time. Pointing to the
row over the decision to renew
the expired passports of Syrians
in Qatar, Al Haraki said the committee was set up by Khoja and
he was dismissed before the panel
submitted its ﬁndings.
“Is it a personal vendetta you
are seeking?” Al Haraki asked in
his reply. Al Sharq, meanwhile,
quoted observers as saying that
there were political differences
between Khoja and Al Haraki.
Khoja justiﬁed his action of dismissing Al Haraki by saying that
he began renewing expired passports of Syrians in Qatar without
waiting for a go-ahead from the
THE PENINSULA
coalition.
Continued on page 3
Minister of Transport H E Jassim Seif Ahmed Al Sulaiti and other ofﬁcials touring Qatar Motor Show 2015 after
its inauguration at Qatar National Convention Centre yesterday. Report on page 3
BAHER AMIN
Couple arrested for running
illegal nursery from home
DOHA:
Law-enforcement
agencies clamped down on an
illegal child care facility that
was being run by an Arab couple from their apartment in Al
Sadd locality.
A Ministry of Interior statement said yesterday that Capital
Police arrested the couple and
referred them to prosecution for
legal action.
An Arab woman from the country to which the couple belong,
had lodged a complaint with Al
Sadd police that her four-year-old
child in the care of the nursery
was beaten up.
She urged Al Sadd police,
which falls under the jurisdiction of Capital Police, to contact
the nursery and take a written
undertaking from the owners
that they would treat her child
properly.
During investigation, police discovered that the couple was using
the apartment they were living
in with their children to run an
illegal nursery. Confronted, the
man admitted that they had
released advertisements in local
newspapers to accept children for
a monthly fee of QR500 per child.
Many parents left their young in
the couple’s care.
Last year, Qatar enacted a legislation (Law No 1 of 2014) that
mandates child care facilities, also
known as crèches and nurseries,
to be licensed by the Ministry of
Labour and Social Affairs. The
Social Affairs Department of this
ministry has an administrative
unit that licenses and regulates
nurseries. Illegal nurseries are
liable to be ﬁned up to QR100,000
and their owners can face a jail
term of up to two years, or both.
The law puts the maximum age
of children that can be left in the
care of nurseries at four years and
stipulates strict licensing criteria.
Nurseries should not be confused with kindergartens (lower
and upper KGs) which, being education institutions, are licensed
and monitored by the education
sector regulator — the Supreme
Education Council.
The Ministry of Interior urged
parents not to leave their children
in the care of illegal nurseries for
safety and factors like skills development and report any illegal
nurseries they know or confront.
THE PENINSULA
DOHA: The Ministry of Energy
and Industry issued 266 licences
for non-hydrocarbon manufacturing projects last year, giving
a big boost to the country’s economic diversiﬁcation efforts.
These industrial projects are
expected to create about 12,000
jobs, reports Al Sharq quoting
ministry sources.
Non-energy industries have
been growing and have a share
of over 10 percent in the national
economy, or gross domestic product (GDP), said Sherida Al Ka’abi,
Chairman, Al Balagh Trading &
Contracting Co.
Total investment in the non-oil
industrial sector in 2014 reached
QR17.3bn ($4.75bn), including
in new and expansion projects
andthe legal status of some units
was changed. He said non-hydrocarbon industries are being given
more emphasis to transform the
country into a well-diversiﬁed and
more sustainable economy.
Continued on page 2
Foggy morning
forecast today
DOHA: The morning today will
be foggy affecting visibility at
places. Visibility will improve as
the day wears on.
There will be slight dust during
the day and the night will be relatively cold as northwesterly wind
will be blowing from the colder
regions of Europe with speeds
between ﬁve and 20 knots.
The maximum and minimum
temperatures will vary between
13 and 28 degrees C. Dukhan
will witness the least difference
between the temperatures (15 and
19 degrees), while the difference
will be the highest in Al Khor (13
and 25 degrees). In Doha, the day
temperature forecast is 27 degrees
and the mercury will drop to 17 at
night.
THE PENINSULA
Qatar Gold Sword race
Tunisia cabinet approved
Nurse wins
QR120,000 in
payout battle
DOHA: A nurse has won a court
battle against a petroleum company over compensation after
she contracted a disease during
the course of her duty and losing her job.
In a landmark judgement,
Qatar’s highest court has ordered
that the company pay her $33,000
(QR120,000) for her suffering.
The nurse was employed in the
company’s clinic and contracted
an illness while administering
injections to patients — a job
hazard.
The ﬁrm paid her QR32,000
($8,787), arguing that she had
suffered 15 percent disability.
Not satisﬁed with the payout,
the nurse went to the lower court
and ﬁled a lawsuit for QR2m
($550,000).
From the lower court the case
went to the Court of Appeals. The
company contested its verdict in
the Court of Cassation. The apex
court reprimanded the ﬁrm and
said it did not take enough precautions in its clinic in compliance
with medical regulations.
The company argued that if the
nurse was accidentally pricked by
an injection or injections while
administering them to patients,
she should have informed ofﬁcials
but she did not. The nurse said
she had to lose her job because she
was not able to work due to the
disease, reports Al Sharq.
THE PENINSULA
Taraf, ridden by B Doyle, gallops towards the winning post in Qatar Gold Sword race at Qatar Racing and
Equestrian Club in Doha yesterday. Trained by Julian Smart, Taraf topped the 2200m race ahead of Haashed
and Kassam.
See also page 21
Demand for used cars goes up
DOHA: Concerns about the quality of new cars
after the recent closure of four leading car showrooms in Doha by the Ministry of Economy and
Commerce has reportedly boosted demand for
used cars.
The showrooms were shut down temporarily for
selling damaged cars as brand new, after repairing.
Second-hand car dealers have reported an increase
in demand and say it is unusual in the beginning of
the year, when new model cars enter the market, a
local Arabic daily reports.
“There is more demand for second-hand cars this
time despite that this is not the season. Demand for
used cars normally goes up during summer,” a dealer
was quoted as saying. The marketing manager of
a Qatar-based used car portal conﬁrmed that sale
of second-hand cars has gone up. There is more
demand for family cars and sport cars, he said.
“People would trust second-hand cars because
they go for technical check-ups to know their condition. Many customers are weary of buying new cars
for the fear that they would discover some problems
later,” he said.
Many people interviewed by the daily wondered
if new cars will also require a technical check-up if
dealers continue to take customers for a ride.
THE PENINSULA
Continued on page 3
TUNIS: Tunisia’s parliament approved yesterday a coalition government led by the secular Nidaa Tounes party and including moderate Islamist rivals Ennahda, following landmark elections in the
birthplace of the Arab Spring.
Of 204 lawmakers present, the vote was a comfortable 166-30, with
eight abstentions. “The motto of the government will be work, then
work... and nothing other than work,” pledged Prime Minister Habib
Essid, an Independent. His is the ﬁrst government to be formed after
the country’s ﬁrst free presidential and parliamentary elections last
year after the ouster of longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in
2011 in a revolution.
“It is a government of national unity,” new Health Minister Said
Aidi said. Ennahda MP Samir Dilou agreed, saying the “comfortable”
majority of votes won by the government will allow ministers to work
without external pressure.
Nidaa Tounes, which won October’s election, holds six portfolios,
including the foreign ministry, while the interior, defence and justice
portfolios go to independents. Ennahda takes the labour ministry and
three secretary of state posts.
The vote had been set for Wednesday, but was delayed because of
the high number of MPs who asked to address the special session of
parliament.
Yemen presidential council agreed
SANA’A: Most Yemeni factions have agreed to set up an interim
presidential council to manage the country for up to one year, negotiators said yesterday, in a step to ease a power struggle that forced
the president to step down two weeks ago.
The dominant Houthi movement had set a Wednesday deadline for
political factions to agree a way out of the crisis that led to the resignation of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi on January 22. Otherwise, the
group said, it would impose its solution.
Delegates said nine parties and groups, including a faction from
the southern separatist Herak, agreed during negotiations in Sana’a
on a ﬁve-member presidential council to be headed by Ali Nasser
Mohammed, a former president of South Yemen before the 1990 merger
with North Yemen.
A source close to him conﬁrmed consultations were under way with
the ex-president but said they had yet to be ﬁnalised.
The Sunni Islamist Islah party was considering the agreement but
the Yemen Socialist Party, which ruled the former South Yemen, said
it had approved the council.
AGENCIES
02
MoI, GU-Q to
cooperate in
emergency
management
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DOHA: The Ministry of
Interior, represented by
the Standing Committee
for
Emergency,
and
Georgetown
University
in Qatar yesterday signed
a letter of intent for joint
coordination and cooperation in the areas of
research, strategic studies and scholarships.
The letter was signed
by Major General Saad
bin Jassim Al Khulaiﬁ,
Director General of Public
Security and Chairman of
the Standing Committee
for Emergency, and Dr
Kelly Otter, dean of
Georgetown University in
Washington.
The agreement aims to
establish a comprehensive programme of education, training and applied
research in the ﬁeld of
emergency management in
addition to supporting initiatives and projects that
concern the two sides.
It also envisages cooperation in holding conferences, symposiums and
educational programmes
and exchange of visits.
The director of the
operations department at
the General Directorate of
Civil Defence, Brig. Hamad
Othman Al Duhaimi, who
is also secretary of the
Standing Committee for
Emergency, said the ministry seeks to beneﬁt from
the university’s studies,
research, seminars, workshops and conferences
related to crisis and disaster management and
share scientiﬁc and professional experiences related
to emergencies and public
QNA
policy.
FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2015
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com
HOME
Practical steps against
climate change urged
Al Attiyah takes part in sustainable development meet
NEW DELHI: The Chairman
of the Administrative Control
and Transparency Authority,
H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al
Attiyah, said Qatar had implemented an ambitious long-term
sustainable development strategy in 2011.
In his speech at the 15th Delhi
Sustainable Development Summit,
Al Attiyah said the Qatari leadership was committed to working
seriously with other governments
to build an international consensus on the goals of sustainable
development and climate change
policies.
He noted that the global economy was witnessing unprecedented growth, and pointed out
that while economic growth had
lifted millions out of poverty, the
current economic model, coupled
with rapid population growth in
some parts of the world, had led
to increased pressure on limited
natural resources.
In this context he quoted Indian
leader Mahatma Gandhi, saying:
“The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for
everyone’s greed.”
The earth’s resources are sufﬁcient to meet the needs of the
moment without compromising
the ability of future generations to
meet their needs, Al Attiyah said,
while underlining the need for a
more sustainable approach to the
use and conservation of natural
resources and calling for further
cooperation to implement fundamental changes in production and
consumption processes.
If our communities continue on
the path of greed, growing pressure on limited resources will
lead to a widening gap between
the rich and the poor and damage
H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, Chairman of the Administrative Control and
Transparency Authority, speaking at the 15th Delhi Sustainable Development
Summit in New Delhi.
the environment, Al Attiyah said.
He pointed out that the participants shared a common interest
in the impact of unsustainable
use of resources on the climate
and a common responsibility for
the welfare of future generations
to address these concerns at the
national level.
He urged the participants to
pledge to move forward and work
on the principles and policies of
previous agreements, such as the
Johannesburg Declaration on
Sustainable Development and the
10-year framework of programmes
on sustainable consumption and
production patterns adopted at
the Rio+20 Summit.
He added that the time had
come to move on from the global
consensus on climate change and
sustainable development issues
towards practical solutions.
“As a former president of the
Climate Change Conference
COP18/CMP8 I am aware of the
challenges that lie ahead of us, and
we are working to reach a consensus on a common vision for tackling climate change,” Al Attiyah
said.
“Such a consensus requires of
the participants to work hard in
order to reduce the gap between
the general and shared visions
about the issues of sustainable
development and climate change,
he continued.”
Al Attiyah expressed optimism
that the summit was progressing
towards achieving a set of proposals to be presented to COP21 in
Paris.
QNA
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Tel Fax Showroom shut over fake goods Investment in manufacturing
DOHA:
The
Ministry
of
Economy
and
Commerce has
shut down an
electrical goods
showroom in the
Industrial Area
for a month for
displaying and
selling counterfeit products as
authentic.
The
product was being
sold
under
the name of a
reputed international brand,
the ministry said
yesterday.
Several other The counterfeit goods in the showroom.
fake products
were also detected during surprise raids conducted by the Consumer Protection
Department at the company’s store.
Legal action has been taken against the company for violating Article 7 of
Law No. 8 of 2008, which mandates traders to provide accurate information
about products offered for sale. The decision will be announced on the website of the ministry and in two local daily newspapers at the expense of the
THE PENINSULA
company, a ministry statement said yesterday.
expected to grow
Continued from page 1
“Qatar’s economy is steadily moving forward towards
diversiﬁcation and the oil and gas sector continues to
remain the key driver of the economy,” Al Ka’abi said.
The country has made remarkable achievements in the
non-oil industrial sector, which has enabled it to raise
the contribution of this sector to a level higher than in
the previous years. He said this sector’s share in the GDP
was more than 10 percent.
Last year, some 358 preliminary approvals were issued,
and registration of 38 industrial projects (that had
received industrial licences earlier) with a total capital
of QR847.8m ($232.8m) was done.
The government has allotted about 576 plots of land
for setting up different types of projects in the industrial
area, and infrastructure development works for these
plots have already been completed.
Saad Al Hajari, Chairman of the Select Investment
Group, said: “The contribution of the non-oil industrial
sector to Qatar’s GDP is increasing. However, I urge
the authorities concerned to continue their support in
helping them to establish and sustain for a longer period
because manufacturing industries need more time to
yield beneﬁts.”
He said investment in the manufacturing sector in
the near future will represent about 20 percent or even
more. Currently, real estate is the most attractive sector
for local investors.
THE PENINSULA
Ikea encourages
creativity for a cause
DOHA: Each year between November and January, Ikea
stores across the globe run the Soft Toys for Education
Campaign to raise funds to help educate underprivileged
children around the world.
As an extension to the 2014–2015 campaign, Ikea hosted an instore drawing competition in Qatar in November 2014 to inspire
young children and encourage creativity. There were more than
130 participants. Each of the 20 ﬁnalists whose drawings were
chosen for Sweden were invited to the store and handed a prize
to reward their creative effort and contribution. Ikea Qatar also
announced a country-level winner, ﬁve-year-old Esandi Nethma
Peelikumbara, who was present to receive a special gift to congratulate the great work.
Finalist’s drawings from Ikea stores worldwide were submitted
to Ikea of Sweden, where 10 winning drawings will ultimately
be chosen and developed into real soft toys that will be sold at
Ikea stores globally.
James McGowan, Regional Brand Communication Manager,
Ikea Qatar, UAE, Egypt and Oman said: “This heart-warming
campaign enables Ikea to co-create with these imaginative, little designers and help contribute even better towards the Soft
Toys for Education Campaign. While Ikea remains the enabler
in this event, it is these children who deserve the spotlight. This
is our effort to offer them all the accolades they deserve and
treat them as worthy collaborators.”
THE PENINSULA
Five-year-old Esandi Nethma Peelikumbara, country-level winner of Ikea’s
Soft Toys for Education Campaign drawing competition, receiving a gift
at Ikea Qatar.
FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2015
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com
HOME
Top brands on view
at Qatar Motor Show
03
FM in Washington
Event at QNCC to open to public today
BY YASIN ABU TAQIU
DOHA: The ﬁfth edition of
Qatar Motor Show, a magnet for
the world’s top luxury car makers, began yesterday with glitz
and glamour that highlighted its
status as a key motoring event
in the Middle East.
The show brings together some
of the most notable international
carmakers showcasing their latest models. About 35 automobile
brands are participating, representing the best of the global
industry such as Mercedes, BMW,
Jaguar, Land Rover, Bugatti,
Lamborghini, Chevrolet, Honda
and Suzuki.
The show was opened by H E
Jassim Seif Ahmed Al Sulaiti,
Minister of Transport, and Issa
bin Mohammed Al Mohammadi,
Chairman of Qatar Tourism
Authority. The minister later
toured the venue, spread over
15,000 square metres.
“The opening day was very
well received by the VIPs and
the media as they were delighted
with the new product launches for
the region. We hope the public,
who will be able to visit us from
tomorrow (Friday), will be equally
delighted,” said Ibrahim Abdullah
Al Malki, Chief Enterprise Ofﬁcer,
q.media, a part of Qatar Media
Services.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Doha,
the sole authorised dealer of RollsRoyce cars in Qatar, is showcasing the Rolls-Royce Wraith, billed
as one of the most powerful and
dynamic cars ever produced by the
ultra-luxury marque. The Wraith
is said to combine automotive
and engineering excellence with
the pinnacle of luxury, capturing
the interest of younger and more
dynamic motorists.
Rolls Royce is also showcasing the Phantom Coupé to complement the discerning taste of
Qatari luxury connoisseurs. The
Phantom Coupé has a two-tone
theme, combining Arabian Blue
with an English White bonnet and
roof, and a Crème Light coachline.
Volkswagen Middle East is presenting two concept cars – the
sporty Golf R 400 and the virtual
super GTI Roadster Vision Gran
Turismo from the PlayStation 3
game “Gran Turismo 6”.
The Golf R 400 is the sharpest
production Golf ever and one of
the most agile sports cars in its
class, said Lysann Schubert, an
exhibitor with Volkswagen.
The GTI Roadster concept
was originally created as a purely
computer-generated car. The twoseat convertible is powered by a
3.0L V6 biturbo engine that produces a power of 370 kW / 503 HP,
Schubert added.
Mannai Auto Group has
unveiled the all-new Cadillac ATS
Coupe, which offers drivers rearwheel drive and power from a 3.6litre six-cylinder engine.
Nasser bin Khaled Automobiles,
the exclusive dealer in MercedesBenz cars in Qatar, has launched
four brands, including MercedesMaybach S Class, AMG GT S,
CLA 250 and GLA 45 AMG, said
Dirk Fetzer, Director of Sales and
Marketing at Daimler Middle
East.
THE PENINSULA
Cars on display during Qatar Motor Show at Qatar National Convention Center yesterday.
Several pieces have been specially commissioned for the sale,
including two paintings by Hirst
and Murakami depicting Lionel
Messi, FC Barcelona player,
Unicef Goodwill Ambassador
and president of the Lionel Messi
Foundation.
Works by celebrated artists of
Arab origin are also included in
the sale, including those by Qatari
artist Yousef Ahmad, LebaneseAmerican artist and writer Etel
Adnan, French-Tunisian calligrafﬁti artist eL Seed, Dia Azzawi
(Iraq), Manal Al Dowayan (Saudi
Arabia), Wael Shawky (Egypt).
Other artists whose works will
‘Car dealers damaging
their reputation’
Continued from page 1
Continued from page 1
The Coalition was about to get temporary travel documents issued to overseas Syrians in need of passports,
through the United Nations, as was done in the case of
Iraqis abroad after 2003.
According to Khoja, a committee was set up for this
purpose and Germany is hosting its meetings. “There is
no political motivation behind the decision to dismiss Al
Haraki,” he said.
It was an administrative decision as the Coalition
had asked him to stop passport renewal and wait to get
approval for it from countries across the world but he
didn’t listen.
Passport renewal was stopped because the stamp that
was being put on the expired passports was different from
the one used by the issuing authority, which was the Syrian
regime.
Those passports would have been considered forged,
which is why the renewal process was stopped.
The Coalition tried to seek approval for the passport
renewal decision from the Arab League and friendly countries but Al Haraki acted in haste, Khoja said.
“Car dealers are damaging their reputation. They should deal with customers in a
transparent way,” said Ahmed Jolo, Chairman,
Qatar Engineers Society.
A respondent said he was not concerned
about minor scratches and dents in the body
of cars that could happen while transporting
them. However, some dealers are getting cars
from the ﬁrst owner and reselling them as
new ones.
A Qatari respondent said that some citizens
are now thinking about buying cars directly
from the manufacturers, having lost trust in
the local dealers.
Another respondent said the dealers were
bound to inform customers even if there was
a small scratch or dent in the car. If they fail
to do so it should be considered as fraud.
“The customer should be told every detail
in advance so that they will not feel cheated
later,” he said.
THE PENINSULA
THE PENINSULA
Pain awareness week launched
be auctioned include Jenny Holzer,
Shirin Neshat, Marc Newson, Yan
Pei-Ming, Cai Guo Qiang and
Francesco Vezzoli.
Alongside the artworks, the
auction will offer the chance to
bid on two unique experiences
with FC Barcelona, including a
Champions League trip for two
persons and a long weekend in
Barcelona for two persons.
Murakami, who designed the ‘1
in 11’ campaign logo, has designed
and donated Flower Ball to the
sale – a bespoke football signed by
Lionel Messi and the artist (estimated price £500-1,000).
THE PENINSULA
Pakistanis
mark Kashmir
Solidarity Day
Mohammad Khan, chairman of Kashmir Committee, speaking on the
occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day at the Pakistani embassy yesterday.
ABDUL BASIT
Envoy had acted in
haste on passports
GEATH
Sotheby’s sale to support children
DOHA: Eighteen works of art
donated by celebrated Arab and
international artists will be
auctioned by Sotheby’s London
in support of ‘1 in 11’, a worldwide campaign launched earlier this year by FC Barcelona
Foundation, Reach Out To
Asia (Rota) and Unicef to
extend educational opportunities to children in Bangladesh,
Indonesia and Nepal.
The fundraising auction, to be
held on February 12, will feature
works by renowned artists, including Takashi Murakami, Damien
Hirst, Jeff Koons, Richard Serra
and Luc Tuymans.
The Foreign Minister, H E Dr Khaled bin Mohamed Al Attiyah, and H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani
at the Atlantic Media Group in Washington on Wednesday.
DOHA: Kashmir Solidarity Day
was observed at the Embassy of
Pakistan yesterday to express
solidarity with the people of
Kashmir.
The event, attended by a large
number of Pakistanis from all
walks of life, commenced with
the recitation of verses from the
Holy Quran. A number of speakers, mostly of Kashmiri origin,
addressed the gathering and highlighted the signiﬁcance of the day.
Pakistani Ambassador Shahzad
Ahmad read out messages from
the president and prime minister
of Pakistan for the occasion.
In his address, the ambassador
reiterated Pakistan’s unwavering
political, moral and diplomatic
support to Kashmiris. He said resolution of the Kashmir dispute was
key to ensuring peace and security in South Asia. Referring to
the various UN Security Council
resolutions on the Kashmir issue,
the ambassador called upon the
international community to play
its due role in the resolution of the
issue.
THE PENINSULA
DOHA: Kulluna for Health and
Safety, an initiative of Hamad
Medical Corporation (HMC),
has launched the Paediatric
Pain Awareness Week to raise
awareness about pain assessment and pain management in
children.
The campaign has been
launched by HMC’s Hamad
International Training Center
in collaboration with Canadabased Hospital for Sick Children
(SickKids).
Following
the
Qatar
International Pain Conference,
this event aims to educate staff,
children and families about the
importance of recognising and
treating pain in infants and children. With the mission to educate people regarding important
issues impacting health and
safety, Kulluna has created a
multi-faceted educational event
that will take place throughout
the week, highlighting aspects of
pain in children
Fun booths will be open for
children and families at the City
Center and Landmark Mall today
from 1 pm to 8 pm, and tomorrow
from 12 pm to 8 pm. Children and
families will have a chance to play
and learn during the activities
as well as meet nurses, doctors
and child life specialists to talk
about child-friendly techniques
for reducing painful experiences,
both in the healthcare setting and
at home.
Kulluna,
sponsored
by
ConocoPhillips, means ‘all of us’.
It is a ﬁve-year health and safety
awareness campaign with the aim
of raising levels of public awareness about general health issues,
personal safety and lifesaving
practices.
Dr
Khalid
Abdulnoor
Saifeldeen, chairman of Kulluna,
said: “It is crucial that children
are always in a safe environment,
but if need be, we should be able
to recognise and minimise pain
within both home and outside settings. Through the launch of the
Paediatric Pain Awareness Week,
we are attempting to engage the
community to come together to
learn about how they can create a safe environment for their
families.”
Dr Michael Levis, chairman
of the paediatric pain working group said: “Part of keeping
children safe is reassuring them
that if they have pain, they will
not needlessly suffer, because we
as caregivers have the experience,
the tools and the responsibility to
treat pain in children and keep
them safe from further harm.”
Mariam Al Mutawa, Director
of Nursing for HMC/SickKids
Partnership
project,
said:
“Children, no matter what age,
feel pain and they should be made
aware about the importance of
communicating any pain to their
caregivers. It doesn’t matter how
strong a child is, untreated pain
can decrease the quality of life
and harm health and it is our
responsibility to reduce any such
stress on their health.”
THE PENINSULA
Dr Khalid Abdulnoor Saifeldeen, chairman of Kulluna, cutting a ribbon to launch the Paediatric Pain Awareness
Week at Landmark Mall.
ABDUL BASIT
FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2015
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com
04
ISLAM
The religion of moderation
BY SADULLAH KHAN
slam is salaam (peace) and
tasleem (submission to the
Divine). In Islam Peace is
the standard, it is the principle, and each person of faith has
the moral obligation to maintain
peace, without compromising on
justice and truth. Islam invites
to the subulassalaam (pathway
of peace); peace of mind, peace
of conscience, peace in the family and society, peace with one’s
Creator and His creation.
One of the attributes of the
Divine is Assalaam (The Source
of Peace) and Muslim greeting
universally, upon meeting and
departing, is assalamu alaykum
or “peace be unto you”. The ﬁnal
and ultimate reward for human
endeavour is Paradise, referred
to in the Quran as Darussalaam
(Abode of Peace)
The Believers were intended to
be an ummah (community) that
serves as a standard/model for
others; what the Quran describes.
“...And we have made you
(ummatan wasata) a median community / a people of moderation/
a balanced medium in order that
you may be a testimony or model
for humanity.” (Quran 2:143)
It is the absence of the balance
provided by wasatiyyah (moderation) that extremism creeps in.
Wasatiyyah is an antidote to ...
ghuluww (excessiveness), tanattu’
(harshness), tashaddud (severity), tatarruf (extremism) ... in
all its forms.
How is it then that some
Muslims are so intolerant of
other faiths, involved in atrocious and heinous acts of violence
and senseless killing? Are they
oblivious to the historic example
of how the Prophet engaged those
of different Faiths? It seems
that some among Muslims seem
to have lost sound understanding of the teachings of our Faith
and are substituting the sublime
message of Islam by a discourse
of anger and the rhetoric of rage.
There is no command or
teaching in Islam that can be
referenced as the direct reason behind an extreme act, and
killing. Those who are planning
and orchestrating any senseless
killings are the worst representatives of their religions and
enemies of their communities.
Those who are perpetrators acts
of wanton violence in the name of
Islam are doing a most grievous
disservice to Islam. Others take
pride in being Muslims, however,
un-Muslim their stance may be.
Then there are those who cheer
Prophet on
moderation
h e P r o p h e t
Muhammad (peace
be upon him) sais:
Beware of going to
extremes in religious matters,
for those who came before you
were destroyed because of
going to extremes in religious
matters.”
(Sunan An Nasai Book 24
Hadith 3070)
The Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH) once asked a companion: “(Is it true) that you fast
all day and stand in prayer all
night?” The companion replied
that the report was indeed
true. The Prophet then said:
“Do not do that! Observe the
fast sometimes and also leave
(it) at other times. Stand up
for prayer at night and also
sleep at night. Your body has a
right over you, your eyes have
a right over you and your wife
has a right over you.”
(Sahih Bukhari, Volume 7,
Hadith 127)
The Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH) said: “Do good deeds
properly, sincerely and moderately. . .Always adopt a middle, moderate, regular course,
whereby you will reach your
target (of paradise).”
(Sahih Bukhari, Volume 8,
Hadith 470)
The Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH) said: “The good deeds
of any person will not make
him enter Paradise (i.e., no one
enters paradise only through
his good deeds).” The Prophet’s
companions asked: “Not even
you?” The Prophet replied:
“Not even myself, unless God
bestows His favor and mercy
on me. So be moderate in your
religious deeds and do what is
within your ability. None of
you should wish for death, for
if he is a doer of good, he may
increase his good deeds, and
if he is an evil doer, he may
repent to God.”
(Sahih Bukhari, Volume 7,
Hadith 577)
T
I
Whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for
corruption done in the land, it is as if he had
slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves
one, it is as if he had saved mankind entirely.
Quran 5:32
There is no command or teaching in Islam that can be referenced
as the direct reason behind an extreme act, and killing. Those who
are planning and orchestrating any senseless killings are the worst
representatives of their religions and enemies of their communities.
acts of violence because they too
have degenerated into a hateful
people.
Extremists, whether reactionary or radical are a bane to
religion. Reactionary extremists do not want any pluralism;
they view the world in black and
white, good and evil terms. They
are good and anyone who opposes
them is evil.
From among the Muslims
these are people who ‘excommunicate’ any Muslim who fail
to share their interpretations
of the Quran and their understanding of the faith. They use
takﬁr (denouncing a Muslim as
an unbeliever) and character
assassination as a tool for marginalising any criticism directed
at them.
Radical extremists differ only
in that they will use violence to
further their cause and that the
end justiﬁes the means. They
see any act as acceptable if it
will further their ‘cause.’ This is
blatantly anti-Islamic. In Islam
the means must reﬂect its noble
ends. Any means that does not
embody the core truths and ethics of Islam is not from Islam and
thus denounced as aberration.
Islam is not a secret society of
conspirators who no one knows
what they are planning. Islam
declares openly its aims and
objectives and these are recognized by good people everywhere
as pure and congruent with their
own wisdom and traditions. Islam
never allows a Muslim to kill the
innocent and the helpless.
Realise, that just because you
are religious does not mean that
you are right. Desiring to implement Islamic values is always
noble, but having a meaningful
and effective strategy is indeed
most signiﬁcant. Forcing other
is never an acceptable resort
and certainly not the ﬁrst resort;
especially since our deen/way
of life commands us not to use
compulsion as a tool. Just because
something needs to be done does
not mean that anything that is
done is okay; and just because
something is done in religious
fervour does not in any way prove
that it is Islamically correct.
According to the Quran (5:32)
Muslims have inherited the command from that prescribed to the
Children of Israel “whoever takes
a single life without justiﬁcation
is as if he has killed the entire
humanity.”
Furthermore we are reminded:
If Allah had not repelled some
people through others, monasteries, churches, synagogues, and
mosques; all in which Allah’s name
is much celebrated, would have
been destroyed. Allah will certainly
help those who help His cause and
surely, Allah is All-Powerful, AllMighty’
(Quran 22:40)
If we do not abide by these
principles established in the
Quran, then we are undermining
the very spirit of our Deen. We
must heed the Quranic warning
against extremism in religion.
... do not be extreme in your religion
(Quran 4:171).
The Prophet (PBUH) further
warned: My intercession will not be
availed two categories of my community; an oppressive and unjust
ruler and a rebellious extremist.
(Tibrani).
I warn you regarding extremism,
because communities before you
were destroyed due to extremism
(Nasa’i)
Some deviant people and
groups are committing acts in
the name of Islam which are contrary to the fundamental of our
faith, while not enough seem courageous enough to openly stand
up to these bullies who are denigrating the name and image of
Islam.
Remember the words of
Prophet Muhammad (peace be
upon him): A Muslim (one who
proclaims faith) is that person
from whose hands and tongue other
Muslims are safe; A Mu’min (one
who manifests faith) is that person
in whom humanity ﬁnd safety and
security regarding their lives, property and honour. (Baihaqi)
The Prophet (PBUH) further
advised ...Allah is kind and loves
kindness in every matter, and kindness has been granted capacity
which violence could never attain.
(Sahih Muslim)
May Allah protect the innocent from the injustices of the
self-righteous.
www.islamcity.com
The Quran as a motivator of change
BY DR MAGDI AL HILALI
he Quran has a wondrous
impact on those who receive
it as a book of guidance and
remedy. Its inﬂuence on them
is great and radical; the Qur’an reforms
the character and remolds it into a new
form that is loved by Allah. One who
doubts this effect has to consider what
happened to the Companions of the
Prophet (peace be upon him).
Before Islam, the Companions led
a miserable, ignorant life. The change
effected by the Qur’an in their life testiﬁes to its power of change and reformation. Those poor, insigniﬁcant, barefooted
desert dwellers were reshaped into new
beings; their ambitions were elevated
to sublime goals; and their hearts were
raised and attached to Allah.
Their souls were changed and, therefore, Allah’s promise came true:
Surely Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change their own
condition.
(13:11)
Thus, within a few years, a fresh force
emerged from the desert of Arabia, conquering the strong empires of the time
and seizing leadership from them.
How could the Qur’n bring about
such dramatic change? Actually, what
made the Quran so effective is the excellent approach followed by the Prophet’s
Companions toward it. They understood the Qur’an and appreciated its
value, taking in this regard the Prophet
(PBUH) as their best example.
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
lived the Qur’an and was imbued by its
spirit, approving what it approved and
rejecting what it rejected. Therefore,
it is not strange that his wife `Ai’shah
described him as the “Qur’an walking
T
on the earth.”
The Prophet (PBUH) used to recite
the Qur’an slowly and clearly. Once a
night, he would repeat the following
verse in his prayer:
If You should chastise them, then surely
they are Your servants; and if You should
forgive them, then surely You are the
Mighty, the Wise.
(5:118)
The Companions savored the sweetness of the Quran and were touched by
it.
The Quran had such an overwhelming effect on the Prophet that he said
“(Surat) Hud (chapter 11) and its sisters (related chapters) have brought
me white hairs before their due time.”
So the appalling scenes of the Day of
Resurrection and the description of
what happened to previous nations, as
mentioned in Surat Hud and its likes,
affected not only the Prophet’s spirituality, but even extended to his physical
being.
The Prophet’s Companions followed
in the Prophet’s footsteps. They also
savored the sweetness of the Quran and
were touched by it. In this regard, the
story of `Abbad ibn Bishr is very indicative. On their way back from one battle,
the Prophet (PBUH) appointed `Abbad
and `Ammar ibn Yasir to guard the camp
at night. `Abbad took the ﬁrst turn and
`Ammar went to sleep.
The place seemed safe and, therefore, `Abbad spent his time in prayer.
However, one polytheist was watching
the camp and shot `Abbad with an arrow;
`Abbad took the arrow out of his body
and continued his prayers. The polytheist
shot another arrow at `Abbad, and, once
again, `Abbad took out the arrow and
continued with his prayers. The polytheist shot `Abbad with a third arrow and it
was only then that he stopped his recitation, made ruku` and sujud, and woke up
`Ammar. When `Ammar asked why he
did not wake him up after he was shot
the ﬁrst time, `Abbad answered,
I was reciting a surah that I didn’t
want to interrupt. But when he (the
polytheist attacker) kept on shooting
me, I awakened you. By Allah, had not
I feared that the task (of guarding the
camp) assigned to me by the Prophet
would be jeopardised, I would not have
ceased the recitation of the surah until
I had ﬁnished it or until he had ﬁnished
me off. (Abu Dawud; authenticated by
Al Albani)
Studying a small part of the Quran
with careful reﬂection is better than
large portions without contemplation.
The above example afﬁrms that reciting the Quran was not mere lip service practiced by the Prophet and his
Companions. Actually, the real value of
the Quran lies in its meanings and in
its ability to effect change in the reader.
The Quran is meant to revive believers’ hearts and to reform their minds.
This in turn would produce people
who know Allah and worship Him sincerely. However, such a fruit cannot be
attained through thoughtless reading of
the Quran, even if one were to read the
entire Quran thousands of times.
The Companions afﬁrmed this point
repeatedly. A’ishah (may Allah be pleased
with her) was told about some people
who used to read the whole Quran two
or three times a night. Her comment
was that “they (obviously) read, but
as a matter of fact, they did not read.”
And she then related how the Prophet
would spend the whole night reading in
his prayer just the surahs of Al Baqarah,
Aal Imran, and Annisa. While reading, he
would ask Allah for His mercy when he
would read a verse that imparted good
news, and he would supplicate and seek
refuge in Allah when he would read a
verse that caused fear.
Abu Jamra once said to Ibn Abbas, “I
am quick in reading the Quran and I am
used to ﬁnishing it in three days.” Ibn
Abbas replied, “As for me, I would prefer
to spend a whole night reading (only)
Surat Al Baqarah with due reﬂection and
careful recitation.”
In his book on the morals of the Quran
bearers, Al Aagri said:
Studying a small part of the Quran
with careful reﬂection and due contemplation is better than reading large portions of it without such contemplation.
This is emphasised by the lucid provisions in the Quran, by the Sunnah, and
by the sayings of great Muslim scholars.
Mujahid was asked which of two men
who spent similar time in prayers was
better; the duration of their ruku and
sujud was the same, but one of them
recited only Surat Al Baqarah and the
other recited the surahs of Al Baqarah
and Aal Imran (but they spent the same
time in reading). Mujahid said: “The
one who reads only Surat Al Baqarah is
better.” He supported his view with the
verse: And it is a Quran which We have
revealed in portions so that you may read
it to the people by slow degrees.
(Al Israa’ 17:106)
www.onislam.net
MIDDLE EAST
FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2015
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com
05
Jordan warplanes hit
IS after pilot’s murder
Militants kill three Chinese colleagues: Report
AMMAN: Jordan said yesterday its warplanes had launched
new strikes against the Islamic
State (IS) group, after vowing a
harsh response to the burning
alive of one of its ﬁghter pilots
captured in Syria.
The announcement came as
King Abdullah II personally
paid his condolences to the airman’s family, which has urged
the government to “destroy” the
militants, reﬂecting deep anger
among Jordanians over the brutal
murder. “The Jordanian air force
launched raids against positions
of the Islamic State group,” said
a government ofﬁcial, who did not
want to be named. He did not disclose where or when the strikes
took place, saying the military
would release a statement later.
Jordan has conducted regular
raids against IS in Syria as part
of a US-led campaign against the
Sunni extremist group, which has
seized swathes of the war-torn
country and of neighbouring Iraq.
The gruesome murder of airman Maaz Al Kassasbeh, who was
captured by IS in December when
his F-16 ﬁghter plane went down
in Syria, has increased support
in Jordan for stepped-up military
action against the jihadists.
“Jordan will wage all-out war to
protect our principles and values,”
the Al Rai government newspaper wrote in an editorial. “We
are on the lookout for this band
of criminals.”
Abdullah cut short a visit to
the United States and ﬂew back
to Amman on Wednesday after
the harrowing video emerged of
Kassasbeh’s killing.
On Wednesday, in response to
the killing of the pilot, Jordan
executed two Iraqis on death
row — female would-be suicide
bomber Sajida Al Rishawi and Al
Qaeda operative Ziad Al Karboli.
Abdullah
travelled
to
Kassasbeh’s home town of Karak,
120km south of the capital, where
a traditional mourning tent was
set up for the family to receive
guests. Hundreds of people,
including representatives of the
military and civilians, gathered
as the king, wearing a red and
white checked kefﬁyeh, sat next
to the 26-year-old ﬁrst lieutenant’s father, Saﬁ.
The airman’s killing sparked
outrage in Jordan and demonstrations in Amman and Karak,
also the bastion of Kassasbeh’s
inﬂuential tribe. The slain pilot’s
father branded IS “inﬁdels and
terrorists who know no humanity
or human rights”. “The international community must destroy
the IS group,” he said.
Jordan yesterday released
from jail a key Salaﬁst ﬁgure and
former Al Qaeda mentor arrested
in October for allegedly propagating “terrorist” ideas, a judicial
source said.
The decision to free Issam
Barqawi, who was once mentor to
slain Al Qaeda leader in Iraq Abu
Musab Al Zarqawi, was taken by
the head of the state security
court, a military tribunal.
He ruled against a decision
by the state prosecutor to put
Barqawi on trial and ordered “his
immediate release”, the source
King Abdullah (left) greeting Saﬁ, father of Jordanian pilot Maaz Al Kassasbeh, who was burnt alive by Islamic
State militants, during a visit to offer his condolences to the family in the city of Karak yesterday.
said. When Barqawi was arrested,
the prosecutor general accused
him of “using the Internet to
propagate the ideas of the terrorist group Al Nusra Front”, Al
Qaeda’s Syria branch.
Meanwhile, the IS killed three
Chinese militants who joined its
ranks in Syria and Iraq and later
attempted to ﬂee, a Chinese staterun newspaper said, the latest
account of ﬁghters from China
embroiled in the Middle East
conﬂict. Around 300 Chinese
extremists were ﬁghting with
the IS after travelling to Turkey,
the Global Times, a tabloid run
by China’s ruling Communist
Party’s ofﬁcial newspaper, said in
December.
The paper yesterday cited an
unnamed Kurdish security ofﬁcial
as saying that a Chinese man was
“arrested, tried and shot dead” in
Syria in late September by the IS
after he became disillusioned with
jihad and attempted to return to
Turkey to attend university.
“Another two Chinese militants
were beheaded in late December
in Iraq, along with 11 others from
six countries. The IS charged
them with treason and accused
them of trying to escape,” the ofﬁcial said, according to the paper.
AFP
IS has built near-impregnable base and mass appeal: New book
PARIS: The Islamic State
group has learned from the
mistakes of past jihadist movements and established a nearimpregnable base of support
within Iraq and Syria with
spectacular appeal to many of
the world’s Sunni Muslims, a
new book has warned.
The authors of ISIS: Inside the
Army of Terror, published this
month in the US, spoke to dozens
of ﬁghters and members of the
group to understand its allure and
how it justiﬁes its brutal tactics.
In a telephone interview, one
of the authors, Syrian-born journalist Hassan Hassan, said it was
vital to understand that some of
the group’s core religious beliefs
were widely shared.
“It presents itself as an apocalyptic movement, talking about
the end of days, the return of the
caliphate and its eventual domination of the world,” said Hassan,
who lives in Abu Dhabi where he
works as a researcher for a think
tank. “These beliefs are not on
the margins — they are absolutely
mainstream. They are preached
by mosques across the world, particularly in the Middle East.
“ISIS takes these existing
beliefs and makes them more
appealing by offering a project
that is happening right now,” he
said, using an alternative name
for IS. Hassan’s research along
with co-author Michael Weiss — a
US-based journalist — gave them
a rare insight into IS training
camps for new recruits, which
vary in length from two weeks
to one year. “Recruits receive
military, political and religious
training. They are also trained
in counter-intelligence to avoid
being inﬁltrated,” said Hassan.
“After they graduate, recruits
remain under scrutiny and can be
expelled or punished if they show
reservations, or sent back to the
camps to ‘strengthen their faith’.”
IS uses certain texts and inhouse clerics to provide religious
justiﬁcation for their violence,
particularly a book called “The
Management of Savagery”, which
argues that brutality is a useful tool
for goading the West into an overreaction. The authors outline six
categories of IS recruit. Only two
are rooted in religion: the ultraradicals who dominate the group’s
upper echelons, and recent converts to its extremist ideology.
Others are merely opportunists
seeking money or power; pragmatists who want stability and see IS
as the only game in town; and foreign ﬁghters whose motives vary
widely but “are almost always fed
by serious misapprehensions of
what is taking place in Iraq and
Syria”.
The ﬁnal and most important
category of recruit is often underappreciated by the West — those
drawn by the group’s political ideology. Many Sunni Muslims in the
region feel threatened by Shias
led by a resurgent Iran.
AFP
06
FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2015
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Editorial
Greek woes
Cartoon Arts International / The New York Times Syndicate
FTER making tall claims and grandiose promises
to the people during the election campaign, Greek
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Syriza Party is now
grappling with the harsh realities of governance.
Giving promises is one thing, fulﬁlling them quite another.
Tsipras is no novice to politics, and is experienced enough to
realize the consequences of the tough policies he is adopting
on the country’s huge debt, but his initial stumbling and the
tough talking he has been given by some European capitals
shows that the road ahead will be tough and will require some
compromises from his side.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his Finance Minister
Yanis Varoufakis are on a whistle-stop tour of major European
capitals in recent days to build support for a renegotiation of
the country’s $275bn EU-IMF bailout. Tsipras said it was time
for both Greece and Europe to “turn the page” on austerity as
parliament convened yesterday Thursday, the ﬁrst time since
the elections.
The new government in Athens has blamed its ﬁscal
problems mainly on the austerity shackles ﬁxed by Germany,
arguing the restrictions have choked growth in an economy
that has shrunk by a quarter. But Germany has never shown
any mood to go back on its austerity. Greece’s ﬁnance minister
faced criticism and a stern reminder of his commitments
to his EU partners yesterday as he met his tough-talking
German counterpart in Berlin.
Germany and the ECB should
The new prime recognize the need to ﬁnd common
ground with Greece — and quickly.
minister will
With depositors pulling money
have to tread out of Greek banks and hiding it
behind bathroom tiles, the country’s
cautiously
ﬁnancial system is dependent upon
ECB funding, which in turn is tied
to prevent a
to the country sticking with the
collapse of
terms of its bailout program. That
program is scheduled to expire at
the ﬁnancial
the end of the month.
system.
Tsipras’s radical left Syriza party
stormed to victory in elections on
January 25 because Greeks agreed
with Tsipras’s ideas. That means the new prime minister will
have to wrest something from his European masters to please
his people. At the same time, the European Union is ﬁnding no
need to make concessions.
The current negotiations should not reach a stalemate and
both sides should be willing to make concessions. Germany and
the ECB should recognize the need to ﬁnd common ground
with Greece — and quickly. With depositors pulling money
out of Greek banks and the current tense relations between
Athens and the EU causing an erosion in the conﬁdence of
people and markets, the country’s ﬁnancial system becomes
more dependent upon ECB funding, which in turn is tied to
the country sticking with the terms of its bailout programme.
That program is scheduled to expire at the end of the month.
Tsipras will have to tread very cautiously
A
.
Obama’s ‘then what?’ question
shapes debate on arms to Ukraine
BY TERRY ATLAS
ASHINGTON policymakers are caught up in
a debate reminiscent of
the Cold War era: Should
the US send weapons to help an outgunned country resist Russian-backed
aggression?
What type of military aid to provide
Ukraine’s struggling government is
being debated by foreign policy analysts
and former diplomats as ofﬁcials at the
Pentagon, State Department and White
House consider the risks of action and
inaction.
Advocates for sending weapons got an
unexpected boost on Wednesday when
President Barack Obama’s nominee for
defence secretary said he favours it.
“ I ’m
very
much inclined in
that direction,”
Ashton Carter
said at his conAny dramatic,
ﬁrmation hearing
public step
before the Senate
Armed Services
to arm the
Committee,
a
Ukrainians
comment that
drew a rebuff
would risk
from the White
fracturing the
House.
The issue is
fragile unity
perplexing for
between the US Obama, known to
ask aides “then
and its Nato
what?” when preand EU allies
sented with recommendations
at a time when
about military
unity is essential measures, as he
did before calling
to maintaining
off plans to attack
or tightening
Syria for using
chemical weapons.
economic
Moving beyond
sanctions on
the current policy
— imposing ecoRussia.
nomic sanctions
on Russia and
providing economic aid and non- lethal
military equipment to Ukraine — raises
questions hard to answer with any
certainty.
W
Efforts at crisis negotiations escalated
amid gains by Russian-backed separatists. Secretary of State John Kerry
met ofﬁcials in Kiev yesterday. German
Chancellor Angela Merkel and French
President Francois Hollande were to
stop there to discuss a new initiative
before going to Moscow today to meet
Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Obama administration has played
down the possibility of sending weapons,
a move that could ratchet up tensions
with Putin as ﬁghting intensiﬁes. It also
risks undercutting criticism of Putin by
the US and allies for arming the rebels.
“Providing additional military assistance could and is likely to have the effect
of increasing the bloodshed,” White
House spokesman Josh Earnest said in
response to a report that Obama’s aides
were giving the question a fresh look.
Carter’s statement the next day drew
a curt response. “A decision like this will
be made by the commander-in-chief,”
Earnest said. “The president will certainly take that advice into account.”
Ukraine has asked the US, Britain,
France and Germany for military training and equipment, including munitions,
armoured vehicles, access to surveillance drones, radars to warn of artillery
attacks, and ﬁnancial aid.
“We’re asking the world, ‘Can you
help us with weapons?’” Deputy Foreign
Minister Vadym Prystaiko said in an
interview in Washington on January 29.
“We don’t want the conﬂict to be escalated, but we have to remind them we
are ﬁghting on our own territory, we’re
not crossing the border.”
The US has supplied Ukraine with
lightweight counter-mortar radar systems, night-vision gear, body armour and
vehicles. US Vice-President Joe Biden
plans to meet Merkel and Ukrainian
President Petro Poroshenko to discuss
the need to impose additional costs on
Russia and boost Ukraine’s economy,
according to a White House phone briefing for reporters. Merkel has rejected
calls to send weapons.
The US is re-evaluating its security
assistance in light of the escalation in
ﬁghting and Russia’s re-supply of weapons
to the separatists. The administration’s
The other side
Quote of
the day
Corridor furore
S
OME senators hailing from
parties from Balochistan and
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa led a
loud protest against what
they alleged were changes being
made in the route of the PakistanChina economic corridor, a project that
aims to connect the port of Gwadar to
China’s Xinjiang region.
The senators from parties, including the PkMAP and the ANP, and
an Independent, ﬁrst made angry
speeches against the alleged route
change and then walked out of the
Senate in protest, even as government
members tried in vain to tell them that
no such change had been approved.
One Senator, Independent Humayun
Mandokhel, was so swept away with
emotion that he decided to switch loyalty and sit on the opposition benches,
where he was received with loud
thumping on the desks.
There is a point when desk-thumping begins to sound like chest-beating,
and this was one example. The rhetoric that was hurled at the government
included allusions to Kalabagh Dam
and a warning from Senator Ilyas Bilour
of the ANP that “the country will not
remain united if the route is changed”.
What is this if not overwrought emotionalism regarding what is otherwise
a fairly straightforward infrastructure
goal is to ﬁnd a diplomatic resolution to
the conﬂict because a military one isn’t
in the ofﬁng.
While Ukraine, the US and their Nato
and EU allies say there’s evidence that
Russia is providing military equipment
and troops to the separatists, Putin’s
government denies it.
The case for lethal aid was pressed
by a group of former US diplomats and
national security ofﬁcials, including
former ambassador to Ukraine Steven
Pifer.
In Congress, a group of 15 senators
sent Obama a letter saying that Russia
aggression in Ukraine “must not be
allowed to succeed. We believe it is
time to increase military assistance to
Ukraine and urge the US and Nato to
move quickly.” They called for sending “defensive” military equipment to
“thwart Putin’s naked aggression.”
It’s not clear that Putin would draw
distinctions about what qualiﬁes as
defensive weapons.
Sending lethal aid risks an arms race
that Ukraine couldn’t win, said Sean Kay,
a professor of politics and international
studies at Ohio Wesleyan University.
“There is every reason to believe that
Russia would respond not with negotiation, but perhaps with more, and even
deadlier, war.”
Obama is unconvinced that providing
anything more than non-lethal aid or
limited and defensive weapons is wise,
said an administration ofﬁcial.
Some ofﬁcials argue that sending arms
to Ukraine would destroy rather than
promote attempts to devise a political
solution. The administration’s public
line is an attempt to mollify both camps
by weighing some increased aid without
deﬁning what’s being considered.
Any dramatic, public step to arm the
Ukrainians would risk fracturing the
fragile unity between the US and its Nato
and EU allies at a time when unity is
essential to maintaining or tightening
economic sanctions on Russia.
Sanctions, whose impact is multiplied
by falling crude oil prices, are starting to
exact a heavy toll on Russia’s economy
and to separate Putin from some of his
WP-BLOOMBERG
longtime allies.
project? What evidence is there of a
route change? And how will the country
“not remain united” if there is a route
change?
What is it about this proposed road
project that got senators so worked up
when other far more pressing matters
regarding their provinces hardly elicit
much concern from them?
If the senators in question have
evidence of an arbitrary change of
route designed to beneﬁt a few individuals rather than satisfy the technical
requirements of the project, they should
present it.
The government should also bring
more transparency into its dealings with
China, especially with regard to the reasons behind the shelving of the Gadani
power projects.
Many politicians tend to go overboard when it comes to the country’s
China conversation, with the government employing the usual rhetoric
about Sino-Pak friendship and, in this
case, opposing politicians invoking
Kalabagh Dam and the unity of the
country.
What is lost sight of every time is
that the projects being negotiated with
China are commercial ventures with
little more than the cold play of geopolitics behind them.
DAWN
Greece is no longer
the miserable
partner who listens
to lectures to do its
homework. Greece
has its own voice.
Alexis Tsipras
Greek Prime Minister
FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2015
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com
VIEWS
07
Jeb Bush tests his middle-class message
For Republicans, acknowledging
middle-class woes is the easy
part. The harder part is convincing
voters not only that they know what
went wrong but also that they have
a plan to set things right.
BY JIM TANKERSLEY
ormer Florida Governor
Jeb Bush’s speech on
Wednesday before the
Detroit Economic Club
was something larger than a
test-drive of a presidential campaign message. It was the highest-proﬁle example to date of a
Republican presidential hopeful
embracing economic inequality
and middle-class stagnation as
problems that deﬁne America.
What it was not — at least on
its face — was a break with orthodox conservative thinking about
the economy.
From the start, Bush spoke
directly to the struggles of a broad
swath of American workers in a
way that few previous GOP front
runners probably would have been
comfortable with.
“Far too many Americans live
on the edge of economic ruin,” he
said. “And many more feel like
they’re stuck in place — working longer and harder, even as
they’re losing ground. Tens of
millions of Americans no longer
see a clear path to rise above their
challenges.
“Something is holding them
back,” he continued. “Not a lack of
ambition. Not a lack of hope. Not
F
because they’re lazy or see themselves as victims. Something else.
Something is an artiﬁcial weight
on their shoulders. . . . Today,
Americans across the country are
frustrated. They see only a small
portion of the population riding
the economy’s up escalator.”
Many Republicans have long
called that type of language class
warfare. But more recently, leading Republicans have tried to
make it their own.
The strategy might make sense
given that the improving economy and declining unemployment
have made it more difﬁcult for the
GOP to argue that the economy
is stalled.
Rather, Republicans can now
argue that the economy still isn’t
working for most people. Indeed,
median incomes are the same
today as they were in 1989.
Bush is the likely front runner
in a crowded ﬁeld of Republican
presidential aspirants, several of
whom are trying to carve out a
more popular economic vision
after Democrats successfully
portrayed 2012 candidate Mitt
Romney’s campaign as out of
touch with economic anxieties.
For Republicans, however,
acknowledging middle-class woes
is the easy part.
The harder part is convincing
voters not only that they know
what went wrong but also that
they have a plan to set things
right.
In his remarks on Wednesday,
Bush did not offer a complete theory for why the middle class has
struggled and he did not propose
new ideas to change the trend,
saying they’ll come later. Rather,
he offered a few guiding principles
for the policy solutions he promised to offer in the weeks to come.
And those principles veered
into familiar GOP ground.
In saying that “something” is
holding back frustrated workers, he ﬁngered exactly one possible culprit: government. He
gave examples: Government
that shuts down small-business
owners for not paying licensing fees. Government that loses
money collecting parking ﬁnes
and selling snacks on Amtrak
trains. Government that protects taxi cabs, restaurants and
brick-and-mortar retailers from
competition.
Bush described a “right to
rise” society, sounding similar
to Romney in a speech he gave
in Detroit three years earlier:
stronger families to give children a better chance of economic
success; school reforms heavy
on teacher accountability and
school choice; and changes to
government policy to enable the
economy to grow at four percent a
year, a rate it never achieved once
during the three combined terms
his father and brother served as
president.
(Bush invoked former presidents George H W Bush and
George W Bush in the speech. “I
love them very much,” he said. “I
know that’s hard for the political world to accept, but it’s pretty
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush speaks at the Detroit Economic Club in
Detroit, Michigan. Bush is considering becoming a Republican candidate
for the 2016 presidential election.
easy for me to love them. I love
them unconditionally.”)
Limiting government, reforming education and unleashing
faster economic growth constitute the economic platform
of every Republican presidential nominee since Ronald
Domestic drones do pose a threat
BY ROBERT BECKHUSEN
et’s imagine the worst-case scenario involving domestic drones.
Take several drones, and equip
each with a few pounds of
explosives, shrapnel and ball bearings.
Then send them on a one-way kamikaze
mission. As the technology advances,
network the drones so they travel in a
group and explode at the same time.
It might sound far-fetched. But scenarios like this are now worrying ofﬁcials
in the Pentagon and the Department of
Homeland Security. A drone attack by
terrorists hasn’t happened — yet. But
it’s possible. German police arrested several far-right extremists who allegedly
planned attacks with a drone in 2013.
Like the car bomb, the drone bomb
could become a cheap, ubiquitous and
anonymous way to deliver explosives.
The machines can hop over fences,
bypass checkpoints and move too fast
for a security team to react to.
The good news is that drones are easily jammed. Almost all rely on a radio
link to a ground controller, which makes
them vulnerable to electronic interference. With an accurate enough sensor,
anyone can search and pinpoint drones
nearby, tune their jammer to the same
frequency and overwhelm the vehicle
with electronic “noise.”
Most domestic drones are highly vulnerable to this attack. The average consumer drones available in a hobby shop
typically communicate using a frequency
of 2.4 or 5.8 gigahertz, or some combination of both if they carry wireless video
cameras.
Two devices using the same frequency can conﬂict with each other,
which makes ﬂying drones in congested
urban areas inherently risky. Wireless
Internet routers inside cellphones and
laptops often broadcast using the same
frequencies.
Most drone software is also rarely
encrypted. For years, even the military’s
most advanced surveillance drones suffered from this vulnerability, which the
Taliban used to intercept Predator drone
surveillance videos over Afghanistan.
In 2011, Iran used a more sophisticated
form of GPS “spooﬁng” to capture a
secretive RQ-170 drone operated by the
Central Intelligence Agency.
There’s not much sympathy for the
machines. The American public largely
hates domestic use of drones, and only
three percent are “very likely” to buy
one this year, according to a recent
Reuters American Insights poll.
But in a crowded area like a city or
airport, searching and blocking — or
hijacking — drones comes with its own
set of problems. Sophisticated sensor
and jamming devices are extremely
expensive.
L
Reagan. Bush’s comments
drew praise from Republicans
who see a need to reach out to
struggling middle- and lowerincome voters but worry that
the party could go too far and
engage in a policy arms race
with Democrats that relies too
heavily on government solutions.
Lanhee Chen, a fellow at
Stanford University’s Hoover
Institution who was one of
Romney’s top advisers in 2012,
said Bush laid out an “attractive
vision” in Detroit.
“His speech left little doubt
that he understands some of the
challenges that face our economy
today — income stagnation, an
out-of-date regulatory system
that inhibits growth and an education system that’s ill-equipped
to prepare students for the jobs
of the new economy,” Chen said.
“He’s got a great opportunity now
to present speciﬁc, forward-looking ideas that will be a welcome
contrast with those we’re likely
to hear from Hillary Clinton and
her Democratic allies in the coming election.”
Democrats have criticised the
recent Republican shift toward
middle-class rhetoric as an
attempt to paper over old policies.
On Wednesday, Ben Labolt,
a Democratic strategist and
former spokesman for President
Barack Obama, said Bush’s speech
showed the governor “clearly has
access to polls on what’s at the
top of voters’ minds, but he better hope they don’t have access to
his record — hiking college tuition
while cutting funding, eliminating
healthcare coverage for thousands
of kids and making affordable
housing more difﬁcult to ﬁnd.”
Bush has time to ﬂesh out
a detailed agenda and room to
innovate from candidates past,
Republican or Democratic.
His ﬁrst challenge will be living
up to his own words.
“The opportunity gap is the
deﬁning issue of our time,” he said.
His candidacy may be deﬁned by
his solutions for it.
WP-BLOOMBERG
Iran using Israel to distract
from its real aims
BY ANTHONY H CORDESMAN
t has become conventional wisdom that most sectarian conﬂicts in the Middle East
today are fuelled, to some extent, by Iran and Saudi Arabia. That these two countries
are enemies has been taken for granted by most, but is rarely examined or questioned.
It is time the West takes a hard look at exactly why Saudi Arabia and other Arab
states are so concerned about the Iranian threat. Much of the Western commentary on
the strategic threats in the Middle East focuses on violent jihadist threats from non-state
actors and the Iranian nuclear threat to Israel. The reality is far more complicated and
involves the vital strategic interests of the United States, Europe, and Asia.
To begin with the nuclear issue, it is important to remember that Iran has no nuclear
weapons at present and that Israel is a mature nuclear weapons state with thermonuclear armed missiles that can reach any city or key target in Iran. At the same time,
Iran has every reason to focus its political rhetoric on Israel as a threat and a target.
Like its support of Gaza and the Hezbollah in Lebanon, the nuclear question deﬂects
Arab fears of Iran’s growing ability to threaten Arab states, divide the Arab world, and
lever Iran’s ability to threaten the ﬂow of Gulf petroleum exports.
Iran already has large missile and rocket forces that can reach any target in the Gulf
and most targets in the Middle East. But these forces lack the accuracy and lethality
to do great damage to targets in the Arab Gulf states and other neighbouring states
with conventional warheads. Iran’s air force is aging, worn, and lacks anything like the
capability of Saudi, United Arab Emirates, and other Arab forces — which have far
more capable aircraft, surface-to-air missile forces, and missile defences supplied by
the West — as well as support from US, British, and French air and naval forces and
the forces they can project forward in an emergency.
If Iran can acquire nuclear warheads, however, this would radically shift the balance
against Arab states that lack nuclear weapons. It would greatly increase the threat Iran
can pose, and help deter its Arab neighbours and their allies from using their advantage
in air power. This is why Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states are so concerned about
the P5+1 negotiations with Iran. Their governments do not see an Iranian threat to a
nuclear armed Israel; they see a nuclear threat to the Arab world.
And, this is only part of the story. The Arab Gulf states see a major Iranian build-up
in air, missile, anti-ship missile patrol boats and forces, smart mines, submarines, and
other threats like Iran’s Marines and Special Forces to shipping in the Gulf, and their
offshore and coastal facilities. Iran’s forces can now reach out into the Gulf of Oman
and the Indian Ocean.
This Iranian threat is as real and serious to the Arab Gulf states — and to the ﬂow
of petroleum exports to the global economy — as its nuclear threat. It is the reason why
Saudi Arabia and the other Arab Gulf states — as well as the United States, Britain,
and France — have built up their naval, air, mine warfare, and missile forces in the Gulf.
Saudi Arabia and other key Arab states have equal reason to fear Iran’s expanding
role in the region and Iran’s efforts to divide the Arab world. The US-led invasion of
Iraq destroyed its ability to deter and contain Iran. It brought Shias with strong ties
to Iran to power, gave Iran far more inﬂuence in Iraq, and allowed Iran’s Quds Force
and Revolutionary Guards to gain serious inﬂuence over Iraq’s military forces and Shia
militias. Iraq is still far from an Iranian satellite, but the struggles between its Sunnis
and Shias, the need for Iran’s support in ﬁghting Islamic State, and its deep political
divisions give Iran a major opportunity.
Iran has also reached out to Shias in Bahrain, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, and
to the Alawites and Assad regime in Syria – as well as Palestinian Sunnis in Hamas and
the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Like Iraq, none of these groups are “proxies” in the sense
that Iran has the ability to dictate or command their actions. Iran can still, however,
threaten Arab states by encouraging Shia minorities to oppose the regime and training
and arming small factions within them.
Iran has provided massive transfers of weapons like missiles and rockets to Hezbollah
in Lebanon and some arms and funds to the Houthis in Yemen. Both give Iran the ability to play a spoiler function in dividing the Arab world and expanding its inﬂuence.
The same is true of Iran’s support for the Assad regime. Iran does not have to care
about Hamas or the Palestinians, or really care about Israel, to use them to create new
Arab-Israel tensions, and serve a major strategic distraction.
These are the reasons why Saudi Arabia and other Arab Gulf states are buying over
$50bn worth of new arms from the US. They are equally critical to Western interests
and are the reason why the United States keeps major air, missile defence, naval, and
special forces capabilities in the Gulf, and why Britain and France are creating new
naval bases there. Iran poses a far more complex mix of threats than simply its nascent
nuclear capabilities, and most will remain in place regardless of the outcome of the
P5+1 negotiations.
REUTERS
I
A ﬁle photo of a camera drone operated by a civilian ﬂying in New York.
The Secret Service uses covert radiofrequency jammers inside a Chevrolet
Suburban that travels with the president’s motorcade. These devices disable remotely triggered improvised
bombs. But because they have to disable
explosives set off by a potentially large
number of frequencies, the jammers
saturate a wide spectrum, occasionally
interfering with cellphones nearby.
This is just a temporary inconvenience
for anyone standing near the convoy. If
you think that’s bad, a permanent electromagnetic shield around the White
House would interfere with the whole
neighbourhood.
Jamming transmitters is also illegal under the Communications Act of
1934. But as journalist Marc Ambinder
pointed out, the Secret Service has some
wiggle room around this law.
It goes without saying that shooting
a civilian drone out of the sky poses a
whole other set of complications. But
it’s happened outside the United States.
In December 2013, the shotgun-toting
crew of a Chinese military helicopter
shot down a ﬁxed-wing drone, which
looks like a tiny airplane, with an 8.5foot wingspan, as it neared Beijing
Capital Airport. The drone delayed
several ﬂights. According to the staterun People’s Liberation Army Daily, police
soon arrested three employees of the
private drone company Beijing UAV SciTech and charged them with endangering public security.
The drone crash near the White
House on January 26 didn’t come close
to posing a threat. The operator was
merely a drunk employee of the National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. So it’s
unlikely the Secret Service will begin
hovering above the nation’s capital on
the lookout for unmanned vehicles —
shotguns in hand.
Some would like the government to
go further. After the drone incident at
the White House, Representative Elijah
Cummings called for building a defence
system akin to Israel’s Iron Dome.
Iron Dome uses guided missiles to
intercept incoming rockets. “Just like
our friends in Israel feel comfortable
with that Iron Dome,” Cummings told
the Washington Post, “I want the people
in the White House to feel comfortable,
too, and I want the people who are trying to do us harm to know they cannot penetrate that sky over the White
House.”
But Iron Dome has a somewhat mixed
success record, at best. Even if the
interceptors hit a rocket, the incoming warheads, in many cases, continue
tumbling down toward populated areas.
The same is true for a drone. Then you
have to worry about accidentally shooting whatever’s behind it. It could be a
tourist or a commercial airliner.
Instead of a one-size-ﬁts-all solution,
it’s better to have a mix of systems. For
the recreational pilot who loses control
of his machine, better ﬁrmware can keep
it from hovering over prohibited areas
like the White House. Sense-and-avoid
radars can instruct pilots on what to
avoid. None of this will stop a dedicated
bad guy, but it’s enough to cut down on
errant robots ﬂying off course.
Let’s leave the jamming for the worstcase scenarios.
REUTERS
FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2015
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com
08
Turkey asks
US to extradite
Erdogan’s foe
Ankara cites treaty signed in 1979
MIDDLE EAST
Ten Gaza factions slam Cairo over Hamas
GAZA: In a statement read by
a masked gunman, 10 armed
Palestinian factions jointly condemned yesterday an Egyptian
decision to list the military wing of
the Islamist group Hamas as a terrorist organisation. An Egyptian
court last week banned the Izz elDeen Al Qassam Brigades, Hamas’
armed wing, in line with a crackdown by President Abdel Fattah Al
Sisi on the Muslim Brotherhood, of
which Hamas is an offshoot.
That decision prompted a source
close to the Brigades to say that
Egypt, which has mediated several
past ceaseﬁres between Israel and
the Palestinians, including a truce
to end a 50-day Gaza war last summer, could no longer be trusted as
an impartial player.
In the statement read aloud by
the gunman in Gaza, the 10 armed
groups said that their ﬁght was only
with Israel and they had never taken
the battle outside the region encompassing Israel and the Palestinian
territories. “Resistance factions
and the Qassam Brigades concentrate their work against the Zionist
enemy,” the gunman said.
“We reafﬁrm that we do not intervene in the internal affairs of Arab
countries and we hope that no one
will export their internal problems
towards the Palestinian people and
its resistance factions.”
As well as the Qassam Brigades,
the statement was signed by Islamic
Jihad, the Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, the
Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine, a Salaﬁ group called Swords
of Islam, and ﬁve other factions. Egypt
says that weapons are smuggled from
Gaza into northern Sinai, where they
end up in the hands of militant groups
ﬁghting to topple Sisi’s Westernbacked government. Hamas, which
has controlled Gaza since 2007, has
denied providing any logistical, military or other assistance to groups
ﬁghting Egyptian troops.
Last week the Egyptian wing of
Islamic State claimed the killing of
at least 30 soldiers and police ofﬁcers in four separate attacks in North
Sinai.
REUTERS
ISTANBUL: Turkey yesterday
made a new call for Washington
to extradite the US-based
Turkish preacher Fethullah
Gulen, as Ankara steps up its
campaign against the number
one enemy of President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan.
Erdogan accuses Gulen and
his supporters of using inﬂuence
within the judiciary, police and
state bureaucracy to plot against
the government.
In an intensiﬁcation of the
campaign against his movement,
Turkish banking authorities this
week seized control of Bank Asya,
an Islamic bank founded by followers of Gulen.
“Of course he should be extradited. There is already an agreement between Turkey and the
United States. There are international treaties,” Foreign Minister
Mevlut Cavusoglu said, quoted by
the ofﬁcial Anatolia news agency.
“We are working in close cooperation with the United States
on this matter,” he said in the
southern city of Antalya, without
elaborating.
Turkey and the United States
signed an extradition treaty in
1979, but legal experts say that a
crime requiring extradition must
be recognised in both countries.
In December, an Istanbul court
issued an arrest warrant for
Gulen, accusing him of setting up
and directing an “armed terrorist
organisation.”
But the United States has
so far paid little attention to
repeated requests from Turkey
for Gulen’s extradition from his
secluded compound in the state
of Pennsylvania.
Gulen leads a broad powerful
movement known as “Hizmet”
(Service), believed to be supported by millions of Turks and
which brings together interests
ranging from ﬁnance to schools
to media.
The cleric, 73, was once a
close ally of the Islamic-rooted
government and Erdogan. But
the authorities blamed Gulen
for corruption allegations that
rocked Erdogan’s government
in December 2013 while he was
prime minister.
Gulen, who left for the US in
1999 to escape charges of antisecular activities by the government at the time, has denied
being behind the graft allegations
against Erdogan.
But Erdogan has vowed to press
his battle with Gulen, purging the
police force and judiciary to rid
them of pro-Gulenist elements.
Erdogan’s opponents had
denounced the seizure of Bank
Asya as a blatant political
manoeuvre against Gulen. But the
government vehemently denied
this was the case.
Prime
Minister
Ahmet
Davuotglu on Thursday denied
any political meddling, saying
the decision to seize the bank was
“completely legal.”
Syria strikes
kill 66 after
rebel ﬁre
Democrat leader hopes Netanyahu speech doesn’t happen
BEIRUT: At least 66 people
were killed yesterday as Syria’s
regime pounded a rebel stronghold with air strikes after a
barrage of opposition ﬁre hit
the capital Damascus, a monitor said.
The Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights said 12 children
were among those killed in the
opposition-held Eastern Ghouta
region outside Damascus.
In the capital, meanwhile, a
barrage of at least 120 rockets
and mortar rounds ﬁred by rebel
forces killed 10 people, among
them a child.
The ﬁre left usually busy
streets of the city deserted and
prompted Damascus University
to close for the day, sending students home.
The assault on the capital
began early yesterday and came
two days after the leader of rebel
group Jaysh Al Islam (Army of
Islam) warned it would attack in
response to repeated government
strikes on rebel-held Douma in
Eastern Ghouta.
“Within minutes, our busy
street was empty,” a resident of
Damascus’ Baramkeh neighbourhood told AFP after the mortar
ﬁre began, adding that the head
teacher of a local school had been
forced to take her students to a
shelter. The middle class district
of the capital is home to several
university buildings, as well as
the headquarters of state news
agency Sana.
In the city centre, trafﬁc was
light and many people stayed
home from work.
“If the terrorists think that by
shelling Damascus they will ease
the pressure on them, they are
making a big mistake,” a senior
military ofﬁcial said, speaking on
condition of anonymity.
“We will continue to hunt them
down and destroy them.”
Jaysh Al Islam leader Zahran
Alloush had warned that
Damascus would be considered a
“military zone” during the bombardment, which follows a similar
attack by the group on January 25
that killed six.
AFP
AFP
WASHINGTON: US House
Democratic
Leader
Nancy
Pelosi
said
yesterday
she
hopes Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech
to the US Congress next month
does not take place because
Republican
House
Speaker
John Boehner had invited him
for political reasons.
Pelosi told reporters she still
intends to attend the March
3 speech. Netanyahu has been
fending off criticism at home
and abroad over his decision to
accept the invitation to address
Congress on Iran’s nuclear
program two weeks before the
Israeli election.
“As of now, it is my intention
to go. It is still my hope that the
event will not take place. There’s
serious unease,” Pelosi told
reporters.
Boehner yesterday defended
the invitation to Netanyahu as
Palestinian women shout slogans during a rally near the Rafah border between southern Gaza Strip and Egypt
yesterday to condemn the decision of an Egyptian court to ban the armed wing of Palestinian Islamist movement.
Donors urged to pay $5.4bn aid
OSLO: Egypt and Norway urged donors on
Thursday, including Gulf states squeezed by low
oil prices, to keep promises of providing $5.4 billion in aid for the Palestinians after the devastating war in Gaza last year. The two nations, who led
a donors’ conference in Cairo in October when the
cash was pledged, wrote an open letter to donors
and said people in Gaza were suffering with a
slower-than-expected pace of reconstruction.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said
the two felt it had become necessary to remind
donors who had promised to help rebuild Gaza that
they “should fulﬁl their obligations in this regard.”
“No one has said to us that they’re not committed to what they have pledged, but also due to oil
price and other issues in the Gulf, there has been
a bit of a lingering,” Norwegian Foreign Minister
Boerge Brende told a news conference.
The two ministers, after a meeting of the
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Oslo, did
not single out any nations for criticism nor say
“a very good idea.” He announced
the event last month without ﬁrst
consulting the White House,
a move many Democrats considered an insult to President
Barack Obama, with whom
Netanyahu has always had a testy
relationship.
“There’s a message that the
American people need to hear and
I think he’s the perfect person to
deliver it,” Boehner said.
“The threat of radical Islamic
how much of the $5.4bn pledged had reached the
Palestinians. Last year, among countries pledging
aid, Qatar offered $1bn, and Kuwait and United
Arab Emirates promised $200m each. The United
States pledged $212m, France ¤40m ($45m) and
Germany ¤50m.
“We know that there are houses now being built
and reconstructed but the pace of this is not at a
level where we had foreseen and where we had
wished it, so this is very important,” Brende said.
The two ministers said they would follow up with
personal contacts with other countries in coming
weeks. “It’s not my role here to have a ‘name and
shame’ list, but we do have an overview of this and
we will speciﬁcally follow up on the countries that
have not been able to deliver so far,” Brende said.
The 50-day war between Israel and Gaza’s
Islamist Hamas rulers killed more than 2,100
Palestinians, mostly civilians while the Israeli death
toll was 73, mostly soldiers.
terrorism is a real threat. The
threat of Iran to the region and
the rest of the world is a real
threat and I believe the American
people are interested in hearing
this.”
Pelosi, who discussed the matter on Wednesday with Israeli
Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein,
said US ties with Netanyahu
were “respectful.” But she blamed
Boehner for “politicising” the US
relationship with Israel by inviting
REUTERS
Netanyahu to speak two weeks
before his country’s election. The
White House said Obama would
not meet with Netanyahu because
of the election timing.
Pelosi said some people
who were supporters of both
Netanyahu and Israel still thought
it outrageous that the House of
Representatives would be “used,
exploited in that way for a political purpose in Israel, and in the
REUTERS
United States.”
Killers who dressed as
women executed in Saudi
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia yesterday executed four robbers who
dressed as women to lure and kill their victim, as well as a Pakistani
man for drug trafﬁcking, the interior ministry said.
The beheadings bring to 26 the number of people executed in the
kingdom this year. The four Saudis were convicted of luring a compatriot, stealing from him and killing him. They were executed in the
eastern town of Qatif, the ministry said in a statement carried by the
ofﬁcial Saudi Press Agency.The use of the death penalty in such cases
is part of an effort to maintain security and “justice”, the ministry has
said. Pakistani Abdelghani Mohammed Akbar, who was convicted of
trying to smuggle heroin into Saudi Arabia, was beheaded in the Riyadh
region, the ministry said in a separate statement.
Israel FM displays Charlie Hebdo
Heavily armed Yemenis guard the entrance to the hotel where representatives of warring factions are attending
closed-door talks under UN auspices in Sana’a yesterday.
US drone kills Qaeda militant
DUBAI: Al Qaeda said yesterday that one of its top militants,
Harith Al Nadhari who threatened more attacks on France
after the Charlie Hebdo killings,
died in a US drone strike in
Yemen.
Nadhari and three other militants were killed in a January 31
“crusader American drone strike
against their car” in Shabwa
province of southern Yemen, Al
Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
said on Twitter.
AQAP named the three others
as Said Bafaraj, Abdelsamie alHaddaa and Azzam Al Hadrami.
Tribal sources had said four
suspected militants were left
charred in their car in a drone
strike that day in Shabwa.
Nadhari had threatened
France with further attacks like
those in Paris on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish
supermarket that killed 17 people
between January 7 and 9.
“It is better for you to stop your
aggression against the Muslims,
so perhaps you will live safely. If
you refuse but to wage war, then
wait for the glad tiding,” Nadhari
was quoted saying in a January 10
video after the attacks in France.
Another of the group’s ideologues, Nasser bin Ali Al Ansi,
claimed the attack on Charlie
Hebdo on behalf of AQAP four
days later.
Despite a political crisis in
Yemen, US President Barack
Obama on January 25 vowed no
let-up in Washington’s campaign
against jihadists in Yemen.
He ruled out a US troop
deployment in Yemen but said
Washington would continue “to
go after high value targets inside
Yemen”.
At least 11 Al Qaeda suspected
militants have been killed in
three drone strikes in central and
southern Yemen since Obama’s
statement.
AFP
TEL AVIV: Israel’s hawkish Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman
showcased copies of the latest issue of Charlie Hebdo in Tel Aviv
yesterday in an apparent pre-election publicity stunt. Members of
Lieberman’s far-right Yisrael Beitenu party, their mouths symbolically taped shut, set up a stall in the heart of Israel’s commercial
capital and displayed copies for public perusal of the French satirical magazine. The issue — released a week after a deadly attack by
Islamist gunmen on Charlie Hebdo’s ofﬁce in Paris — courted controversy by featuring a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed, drawing condemnation from Muslim leaders.“Radical terrorists murdered people
simply because they published something. We will not allow this to
happen in Israel,” Lieberman said at the gathering. “We will not surrender, and we will publish whatever we like, whenever we like.”
Amnesty slams citizenship revocation
DUBAI: Amnesty International urged Manama yesterday to
restore the citizenship of dozens of dissidents stripped of their
Bahraini nationality in a decree handing them the same penalty
as suspected militants. The rights watchdog said last Saturday’s
decision against 72 people had treated peaceful activists in the same
way as Bahrainis suspected of travelling to Iraq or Syria to ﬁght for
the Islamic State group. “The authorities have put the names of a
number of known Bahraini human rights and political activists on
the same list as other Bahrainis who have been alleged IS ﬁghters,”
AGENCIES
it said.
INTERNATIONAL
FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2015
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com
09
West ﬂoats Ukraine peace plan
Merkel, Hollande bring plan to Kiev before Moscow push; Nato to boost defences
KIEV:
German
Chancellor
Angela Merkel and French
President Francois Hollande
ﬂew to Kiev yesterday with a
new peace plan, in the biggest
diplomatic push yet to halt an
upsurge in deadly ﬁghting in
eastern Ukraine.
The two European leaders, who
will present the plan to Russia
today, arrived hot on the heels of
US Secretary of State John Kerry,
who said that Moscow held the
cards to end the conﬂict.
The renewed efforts to end
the 10-month conﬂict came as
Washington weighs sending arms
for Kiev’s ﬁght with pro-Russian
separatists. At least 21 people
have been killed in fresh clashes
in the past 24 hours, as the separatists attempt to push deeper
into government-held territory.
Kerry threw Washington’s
weight behind the latest peace
initiative, although Ukraine’s premier said he was sceptical.
“President Putin can make
the choices that could end this
war,” Kerry said after meeting
Ukrainian leaders, voicing support for the “helpful” FrancoGerman plan to be put to the
Russian leader on Friday.
“There must be an immediate commitment now to a real
ceaseﬁre, which is not just a piece
of paper with words, but which
is followed by speciﬁc actions,”
Kerry told journalists.
Kerry added that US President
Barack Obama would “soon”
decide on whether to arm
Ukraine, but stressed his preference for a diplomatic solution.
“We are not interested in a
proxy war, our objective is to
change Russia’s behaviour and
we’ll consider all options that
are available to us in coordination with our partners that will
help us achieve a negotiated solution,” Kerry said. Russia, itself
accused of arming the separatists,
warned that any US move to send
weapons to Ukraine would cause
“colossal damage” to ties, foreign
ministry spokesman Alexander
Lukashevich said.
Kerry is to meet Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at
a security conference in Munich
tomorrow, ahead of Obama holding a “very important” meeting
with Merkel at the White House
on Monday, Kerry said.
The new plan offers greater
autonomy within Ukraine for the
separatists, and across a larger area
than agreed at the last truce deal
in Minsk in September, Germany’s
Sueddeutsche Zeitung said.
Ukrainian President Petro
Poroshenko had to understand this
was his country’s last chance to
avoid military defeat and economic
collapse, while Putin was warned
to count on fresh European Union
sanctions, the paper said, citing
unnamed sources.
Speaking in Paris before heading to Kiev Hollande said that
he and Merkel would “propose
a new solution to the conﬂict
based on the territorial integrity
of Ukraine”.
He said the plan would be discussed with Poroshenko soon
and Putin in Moscow today, but
warned that diplomacy “cannot
go on indeﬁnitely”. Despite the
diplomatic momentum behind
the new plan, Ukrainian Prime
Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk
insisted Moscow stick to a
September’s Minsk agreement.
“To have a new deal, not to execute the previous one, seems to me
a trap,” Yatsenyuk told journalists.
“We urge Russia to implement and
execute what was agreed, signed
personally by president Putin.”
People stand near a car which got stranded during a snowstorm near Barrios de Luna, northern Spain, yesterday.
Review calls for global fund to
ﬁght dangerous superbugs
grown in recent years as bugs
resistant to multiple drugs have
developed and drug makers have
cut back investment in this ﬁeld.
The World Health Organization
has warned that unless something
drastic is done, many antibiotics
could become redundant this century, leaving patients vulnerable
to deadly infections, particularly
during operations.
Commenting on O’Neill’s
review and the issue of drugresistance, Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust global
health charity warned: “This is
more than a medical problem: it
is a potential economic disaster.”
“Multi-drug-resistant strains
of tuberculosis, E. coli, and salmonella are now commonplace.
Most gonorrhoea infections are
untreatable,” he said. “Superbugs
like
methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
and Clostridium difﬁcile are proliferating. In India, antibioticresistant infections killed more
Nato Secretary General Jens
Stoltenberg said that the move
to boost troops in eastern Europe
was in response to Moscow’s
“aggressive actions,” but nevertheless purely defensive.
In a move that is likely to irk
Moscow, Nato announced six
“command and control” units
in eastern European nations to
ensure that the new force could
hit the ground running.
In the rebel bastion of Donetsk,
shelling killed eight civilians
and wounded 33 more over the
AFP
AFP
Hackers steal Two dead in US college
data on ‘tens murder-suicide: Police
of millions’ at
US insurer
Snowstorm in Spain
LONDON: A global fund should
be created to speed development
of new antibiotics to counter the
growing threat of drug-resistant superbugs, a review backed
by the British government said
yesterday.
The review, headed by leading
economist and former Goldman
Sachs chief Jim O’Neill, said far
too little was currently invested
in research that could lead to new
drugs to ﬁght drug-resistant bacterial and viral infections.
“A lot of innovative thinking is
happening in infectious disease
research at the moment. These
bright ideas need to be developed,” the report said. “But lack
of funding means that while people, machines and laboratories
are ready to tackle the next challenges, they are unable to do so.”
The problem of infectious bugs
becoming drug-resistant has
been a feature of medicine since
the discovery of the ﬁrst antibiotic, penicillin, in 1928. But it has
previous 24 hours, the insurgentcontrolled city hall said.
Kiev-loyal authorities said six
civilians had been killed around
Donetsk, and military spokesman Vladyslav Seleznyov said
that heavy shelling killed ﬁve
Ukrainian soldiers and wounded
29 around the region.
Another two civilians died in
the battleground railway hub of
Debaltseve, which rebels are trying to encircle and capture, Kiev
ofﬁcials said.
LONDON: British former glam
rocker Gary Glitter could spend
the rest of his life in prison after
being found guilty at a London
court yesterday of historic sex
abuse against three young girls.
Glitter, 70, whose real name is
Paul Gadd, was convicted of one
count of attempted rape, four
counts of indecent assault and one
count of sexual intercourse with
a girl under the age of 13 between
1977 and 1980.
The jury of ﬁve men and seven
women acquitted Gadd of three
other counts after deliberating for
two days at the end of a two-week
trial. The entertainer blew kisses
at the public gallery as he was led
away to the cells.
Glitter was at the height of his
fame as a singer-songwriter and
musician when he attacked his
victims, and investigators said he
targeted young girls who were in
awe of him.
Prosecutor John Price had
earlier described how a drunken
Gadd had tried to force himself
on a girl, who was aged under
10 at the time, in the mid-1970s.
The victim only came forward 20
years after the incident when she
saw Gadd had admitted in 1999 to
child pornography charges.
He also attacked two girls, aged
12 and 13, after inviting them to
his dressing room without their
mothers. One victim, now in her
50s, told the court how Glitter,
smelling of “booze and cigarettes”,
had put his arm over her, making
her feel “uncomfortable”.
Chief Crown Prosecutor Baljit
Ubhey said Gadd had “abused his
access to young fans in order to
give himself the opportunities to
assault and abuse his victims”.
Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko (centre) shakes hands with German Chancellor Angela Merkel (left) and
French President Francois Hollande during their meeting in Kiev yesterday.
In Brussels, Nato agreed a
major boost to the alliance’s
defences near its Russian borders,
including six command centres
and a quick-reaction spearhead
force of 5,000 troops.
The ﬁghting in Ukraine has
claimed more than 5,350 lives
since April, including some 220 in
just the past three weeks, according to the United Nations.
Renewed attempts at peace
talks in the Belarussian capital
Minsk over the weekend collapsed
after rebel leaders stayed away.
British singer
Glitter found
guilty of child
sex crimes
than 58,000 newborns in 2013.”
O’Neill, who was asked last
year by Britain’s prime minister
to take an economist’s view of the
issue, said in his ﬁrst report that
so-called anti-microbial resistance could kill an extra 10 million people a year and cost up to
$100 trillion by 2050 if it was not
brought under control.
In this report, O’Neill called on
international funders, both philanthropists and governments, to
allocate money to a fund “to support blue sky science and incubate
ideas that are more mature”.
When it comes to research
funding, the report said infectious
diseases were a “poor relation”
compared to chronic illnesses
such as cancer, diabetes, heart
disease and dementia. It said a
targeted “innovation fund” could
support research to pave the way
for new drugs, for alternatives to
antibiotics and for new testing
technology to ensure the right
drugs were used.
REUTERS
NEW YORK: Hackers stole
data on as many as 80 million
customers at US health insurance giant Anthem, in what is
believed to be the worst breach
on record of medical records.
“Cyber attackers executed
a very sophisticated attack to
gain unauthorised access to one
of Anthem’s IT systems and
have obtained personal information relating to consumers
and Anthem employees who are
currently covered, or who have
received coverage in the past,” a
statement from the second-largest US health insurer said.
“Once the attack was discovered, Anthem immediately made
every effort to close the security
vulnerability, contacted the FBI
and began fully cooperating with
their investigation,” said chief
executive Joseph Swedish.
“Anthem’s own associates’ personal information — including my
own — was accessed during this
security breach. We join you in
your concern and frustration, and
I assure you that we are working
around the clock to do everything
we can to further secure your
data.” The information includes
names, birth dates, social security
numbers, street addresses, email
addresses and employment information, the company said.
“The affected database has
records for 80 million people
and tens of millions” of them
were stolen, spokeswoman Cindy
Wakeﬁeld said. The breach is the
latest exposing personal information on millions. Last year,
US retailer Home Depot said 53
million email addresses were stolen, months after fellow retailer
Target said personal data on 70
million customers was accessed.
Some experts say medical data
can be even more lucrative to
hackers than credit cards, because
they can create fake identities for
prescription drugs to be resold, or
ﬁle false insurance claims.
Security experts welcomed
Anthem’s decision to make the
issue public swiftly.
REUTERS
WASHINGTON: Two people died in what appeared to be an
“isolated” murder-suicide yesterday at the University of South
Carolina, police said, after the campus was placed on lockdown.
The deaths occurred at the university’s school of public health,
the Columbia Police Department said on Twitter. No further
details were available. “Appears to be a murder-suicide... Isolated
incident at USC school of health,” said the tweet. A spokesman
for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division was not immediately available for comment. The state’s emergency warning
system had earlier issued an alert after gunshots rang out at
the campus in the state capital Columbia. “Shots ﬁred at New
School of Public Health. Building is locked down. Seek safe shelter. Remain indoors. Obey ofﬁcials,” Carolina Alert tweeted.
About 45 minutes later, the online emergency system reported
there was “no longer an existing threat on campus,” but it said
the school of public health and surrounding streets were closed.
The State daily newspaper reported that the building has been
evacuated, and that police SWAT teams were at the scene.
I’m a technology disaster: Pope
VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis, who has called the Internet a
“gift from God,” confessed via Webcam to an inquisitive girl yesterday that he is a disaster with technology and does not know
how to use a computer. Alicia, from Spain, who took part in a
worldwide Google Hangout for children with special needs, asked
the pope if he liked to take pictures and download them on his
computer. “I have to tell you the truth. I am a disaster with
machines,” he said. Francis used the Spanish word “tronco”, or
tree trunk, which is colloquially used for someone who is very
clumsy, or a disaster at something. “I am not able to use computers,” the 78-year-old Argentine pope said, laughing. “What
an embarrassment, right?” Last year Francis said in a message
on communications that the Internet was a “gift from God” that
could help unite people but he also has warned families to shut off
their smart phones and talk more to each other.
NY to start direct ﬂights to Cuba
NEW YORK: Direct ﬂights between New York and Havana
are to resume next month when a US charter company seeks
to proﬁt from a growing rapprochement between the United
States and Cuba. A Boeing 747-800 will ﬂy each Tuesday to
and from John F Kennedy International Airport and Havana,
allowing travellers to end time-consuming stop-off journeys. On
January 15, the US government eased travel restrictions, allowing certain Americans such as journalists, scholars, artists and
athletes to visit Cuba without asking for a special licence. Cuba
Travel Services’ ﬁrst New York to Havana ﬂight on March 17 has
already sold 120 of the 162 seats available for the three hour, 40
minute journey, Zuccato said. Prices start at $849.
Niger troops to ﬁght Boko Haram
FOTOKOL: Niger is set to send troops to Nigeria for the multinational battle against Boko Haram after scores of people were
killed in a fresh onslaught by the Islamist ﬁghters in a key border
town. Intervention from Niger would open a new northern front
in the increasingly regional ﬁght against the Islamist insurgents who killed over a hundred people, including 19 soldiers, on
Wednesday in a rampage in the Cameroonian town of Fotokol
on Nigeria’s border. The onslaught came a day after Chad sent
troops across the frontier to battle the jihadists and recapture
the Nigerian town of Gamboru.
AGENCIES
10
FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2015
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com
ASIA / PHILIPPINES
Rescuers scour plane crash site
Taiwan pilot hailed a hero for pulling plane clear of buildings; death toll rises to 31; investigation under way
TAIPEI:
Taiwan
rescuers
scoured a river for 12 people still
missing from a TransAsia plane
crash yesterday, as the pilot, who
died in the crash, was hailed a
hero for apparently battling to
avoid hitting built-up areas.
Hundreds of rescuers in boats,
as well as divers and soldiers
mounted the search in the chilly
waters, as the death toll rose to 31
with more bodies located including those of the pilot and co-pilot,
authorities said.
The TransAsia ATR 72-600
crashed shortly after take-off
from Songshan airport in Taipei
on Wednesday, hitting an elevated road as it banked sidelong
towards the Keelung River, leaving a trail of debris including a
smashed taxi.
In an operation overnight large
parts of the plane’s fuselage were
lifted from the river, enabling rescuers to recover bodies trapped
inside, while divers battled strong
currents to search downstream
for more victims.
Pilot Liao Chien-tsung was
applauded by aviation experts for
apparently steering the turboprop
plane, which had 53 passengers
and ﬁve crew on board, away
from populated areas, potentially
avoiding more deaths and damage.
“The pilot apparently made a
conscious effort to avoid further
and unnecessary casualties by
ditching in the river. It was a very
courageous move,” Hong Kongbased aviation analyst Daniel
Tsang said.
Emotional citizens posted
their praise and condolences on
social media sites. “I believe the
pilot managed to steer the plane
away from high-rise buildings, he
is a hero,” Gin Oy, a writer and
actress, said on her Facebook
page. The Apple Daily newspaper
ran a front-page story thanking
“the pilot for saving Taipei”.
“We are proud of him. He was
very brave to avoid the buildings,”
Liao’s aunt told reporters at a
funeral home in Taipei.
Friends and relatives described
the 41-year-old Liao as a diligent
and family-loving man from a
humble background who studied
hard to join the air force before
becoming a commercial pilot.
President Ma Ying-jeou paid
his respects to the victims and
comforted their families at a
funeral home in Taipei and visited
the wounded at several hospitals.
Near the river, dozens of weeping relatives called out the names
of their loved who perished as
monks chanted scripts and waved
the victims’ clothes in front the
plane’s wreckage in a religious
ritual to guide the spirits home.
Condolences from abroad
poured in. Pope Francis sent a
message to Taiwan’s archbishop
Hung Shan-chuan offering
prayers for the dead and “strength
and comfort” for the injured and
mourning. The United States’
de facto embassy in Taiwan also
offered its condolences.
An investigation into the cause
of the crash is underway, with
aviation experts from France
and Canada expected to arrive
in Taiwan this week, Taiwanese
authorities said.
Tales of miracle escapes have
emerged. Television footage
showed a father cuddling his toddler son as they were taken to
shore by boat after being rescued
Wednesday.
Together with the child’s
mother, the family had switched
seats on the plane “out of a
hunch” that saved their lives, the
United Daily News said, quoting a
family friend.
Their new seats put them next
to a crack in the plane after it
crashed and Lin was able to pull
his wife to safety and then revive
his son after spotting him in the
water, blue and unresponsive.
“My brother just can’t live
without his son. When he found
him, after lying in cold water for
three minutes and with no signs
of breathing or heartbeat, he performed CPR. He brought his son
back,” survivor Lin’s brother Lin
Ming-yi told reporters.
A 72-year-old man who
helped several fellow passengers
unbuckle their seat belts to get
to safety recounted his story on
local TV. “I sensed that there was
something wrong with the engine
soon after take-off and told the
girl sitting next to me to quickly
unbuckle her safety belt ... and
then (the plane) went down,” soldier Huang Chin-shun told ETTV
cable news channel.
The accident, which occurred
on a domestic route to the island
of Kinmen, was the second fatal
crash for TransAsia since July.
Desperate crew shouted
“Mayday! Mayday! Engine ﬂameout!” as the plane plunged out of
the sky, according to a recording
thought to be the ﬁnal message
from the cockpit to the control
tower.
Among the 15 survivors of the
crash, 26-year-old ﬂight attendant Huang Jin-ya was lucky for
the second time — she was supposed to be on the plane that
A man consoles two women at the funeral for victims of the TransAsia Airways plane crash at the No. 2 Funeral
Parlour in Taipei yesterday.
crashed in July, killing 48, but
switched her shift, according to
local reports.
A total of 31 Chinese nationals were onboard the plane,
with at least 16 dead, 12 missing
and three injured, the government said.
Some of the grieving relatives
arrived in Taiwan yesterday.
Local media reported that among
the Chinese victims, 26-year-old
tour leader Wang Qinghuo from
Xiamen was due to get married
on Sunday.
China’s minister for Taiwan
affairs Zhang Zhijun has postponed
a scheduled visit to the island
of Kinmen following the accident, a statement from Taiwan’s
Mainland Affairs Council said. The
Civil Aeronautics Administration
has grounded a total of 22 ATR
planes from two Taiwanese airlines for safety checks following
the accident.
AFP
Show respect in South China Sea: Manila to Beijing
MANILA: The Philippines
accused China yesterday of
ramming Filipino ﬁshing boats
off a disputed shoal in the South
China Sea, and demanded its
powerful neighbour respect its
sovereignty over the potential
ﬂashpoint territory.
The foreign ministry said it
has sent two notes of protest
over the January 29 incident off
Scarborough Shoal as well as the
removal of critically endangered
giant clams by Chinese ﬁshermen
in the area a week earlier.
A Chinese foreign ministry
spokesman disputed Manila’s version of the ﬁrst incident yesterday, stressing its coast guard was
performing its “normal” duties on
inherent part of Chinese territory,” Chinese foreign ministry
spokesman Hong Lei said, calling the shoal by its Chinese name.
“The thing is, on January 29,
multiple Philippine ﬁshing boats
lingered illegally in the shallow
waters of the Huangyan island,
disobeying the instruction of the
Chinese side” to leave the area.
A coast guard dinghy was sent
to relay the order, “and some of
the boats bumped slightly into
each other”, said Hong. “The
Chinese side urged the Philippine
side to enhance supervision and
education of its own ﬁshermen
to prevent similar incidents from
happening again.”
Hong did not address the other
Philippine protest over the harvesting of giant clams on around
the shoal. China claims most of the
South China Sea, a vital sea lane
and ﬁshing ground that is believed
to hold vast mineral resources.
But the Philippines, Vietnam,
Brunei and Taiwan also have
overlapping claims over the
waters, making the area a potential ﬂashpoint.
China has controlled the
Scarborough Shoal, a rich ﬁshing ground in the South China
Sea 220km west of the main
Philippine island of Luzon, since
2012 following a tense standoff
between the Filipino navy and
Chinese maritime patrol vessels.
AFP
China detains
Canadian for
‘stealing secrets’
Sri Lanka President
renews troop
deployment orders
Islamiyah, he is a key suspect in
the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings
which killed 202 people, as well as
two deadly Philippine blasts.
The Federal Bureau of
Investigation tested a sample from
the body identiﬁed by Philippine
police as Zulkiﬂi, David Bowdich,
assistant director in charge of the
FBI’s Los Angeles ﬁeld ofﬁce, said.
“As we have reported to our
Philippine law enforcement partners, preliminary results indicate
that the DNA proﬁles obtained
from the biological sample indicate a possible relationship with a
known relative of Zulkiﬂi,” he said.
BEIJING: China has detained
a Canadian man on suspicion of
stealing and prying into state
secrets but released his wife, also
a Canadian, from custody on bail
after holding the couple without charge for months, China’s
Foreign Ministry said yesterday.
The decision to detain Kevin
Garratt, who ran a Christian
coffee shop with his wife, paves
the way for his formal arrest and
possible prosecution in a case that
has strained ties between Canada
and China. Beijing is widening a
crackdown on foreign Christian
groups along its sensitive border
with North Korea.
Foreign Ministry spokesman
Hong Lei said Garratt had been
formally detained on suspicion
of the theft, citing the National
Security Agency of Dandong, a
city in the northeastern province
of Liaoning, where the Garratts
had lived for years.
“The relevant Chinese authorities are dealing with the case in
accordance with the law, and
maintaining the legal rights
and interests of both people in
accordance with the law,” Hong
told a regular news brieﬁng. Julia
Garratt was released but barred
from leaving mainland China for
one year, the family said.
AFP
REUTERS
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s new
President Maithripala Sirisena
has renewed orders allowing for
troops to be deployed across the
island, dampening hopes yesterday of a lower-proﬁle military presence under his rule.
Sirisena’s election last month
had been expected to lead to a
lessening of the numbers of troops
in towns and cities — particularly
in former war zones — which had
been a prominent feature of his
hardline nationalist predecessor
Mahinda Rajapaksa’s tenure.
During the build-up to his election victory, Sirisena promised to
conﬁne the military to their barracks and call them out only in
the event of an emergency or a
threat to national security.
But, according to a presidential
decree, Sirisena has now renewed
a monthly authorisation for the
deployment of troops across the
island. “By virtue of the powers vested in me, I, Maithripala
Sirisena, do by this order call out
all the members of the armed
forces...for the maintenance of
public order,” read the order.
The presence of large numbers
of troops is particular contentious
in the mainly Tamil northern and
eastern provinces that bore the
brunt of a 37-year separatist conﬂict, which was brutally crushed
by the army in May 2009. AFP
A pedestrian walks past a makeshift memorial at the Philippine National
Police headquarters in Manila yesterday, for the 44 elite police commandos
who died in Mamasapano town in a mission to capture Zulkiﬂi bin Hir.
Militant ‘killed’ in raid: FBI
MANILA: The FBI has said
that DNA analysis indicates
one of the world’s most wanted
terrorists, Bali bomber Zulkiﬂi
bin Hir, was likely killed in a
Philippine police raid last month
that also claimed the lives of 44
commandos.
The hunt for Zulkiﬂi ended at
his hideout on remote farmland in
the southern island of Mindanao
just before dawn on January 25.
Philippines media yesterday ran
a photo purportedly showing his
dead body, sprawled in a hut and
in a blood-soaked shirt.
A top militant in the Southeast
Asian terror group Jemaah
Chinese territory. “The Philippines
continues to urge China to respect
the Philippines’ sovereign rights
and jurisdiction over Bajo de
Masinloc,” Foreign Secretary
Albert del Rosario said, referring
to the shoal by its local name.
China must “desist from undertaking activities that not only
imperil the lives, safety and livelihood of Filipino ﬁshermen but also
damage the fragile marine environment in that area”, he said.
The ministry alleged three
Filipino-ﬂagged vessels were
“intentionally rammed” by a
vessel with Chinese coastguard
markings, causing damage and
endangering the crews’ lives.
“The Huangyan island is an
Leaders and activists of the Islamic party Islami Andolon Bangladesh form
a human chain with white ﬂags as they protest against the killings of the
innocent people by bomb attacks, in Dhaka yesterday.
Four killed in Bangladesh
DHAKA: A police ofﬁcer and three others yesterday became the
latest casualties of a wave of violence sweeping Bangladesh as the
opposition continued a deadly campaign to topple Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina.
A truck was ﬁrebombed in the northern city of Bogra, killing the
driver and his passenger, as activists enforced month-long transport
blockade, police chief Saifuzzaman Chowdhury said. Ofﬁcers shot
dead a protester in the capital Dhaka after he threw a petrol bomb
at a police patrol van, police said.
And a police constable died of injuries suffered last month during
another attack blamed on the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist
Party, led by two-time former premier Khaleda Zia.
“He was among several ofﬁcers who were injured when a petrol
bomb was thrown at a police bus on January 17 by protesters,” Dhaka
Metropolitan Police spokesman Masudur Rahman said.
The deaths take the toll to 62 — mostly victims of ﬁrebombings of
buses, cars and lorries — as activists try to enforce the nationwide
blockade of roads, railways and waterways.
AFP
FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2015
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com
PAKISTAN / AFGHANISTAN
Railway police rue
British-era pistols
11
Diplomat
expelled
from Dhaka
Kashmir Solidarity Day
ISLAMABAD: In a fresh diplomatic row, a Pakistani High
Commission ofﬁcial based in
Dhaka was declared persona non
grata by the Bangladeshi government and was asked to leave
the country. “Diplomatic ofﬁcial
Mazhar Khan was charged by
Bangladesh’s foreign ministry
of running an illegal Indian currency business in Dhaka beside
alleged links with militants,”
Daily Times reported yesterday
citing a diplomatic source.
Relations between the two
countries have recently been at a
low point. In January, Bangladeshi
police arrested four suspected
members of Islamic State in
Dhaka including a regional coordinator for the militant group
who told police they had been
trained in Pakistan. Tensions
have also risen between the two
countries over executions carried out by the government of
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
of alleged war criminals from the
1971 Liberation War.
Force lacks readiness against terror threat
LAHORE:
The
Pakistan
Railways Police (PRP), fearing
an imminent terrorist threat,
is guarding 45 stations, as many
booking ofﬁces and 34 passenger trains with mainly British
era pistols, one luggage scanner in the entire country and no
long-range automatic weapon
in one of the largest and most
important districts — Lahore.
The intelligence agencies, since
August 2014, have a number of
times warned that railway stations and trains are highly probable targets. In the past four
years, railway tracks and coaches
fell victim to 88 terror attacks,
claiming 63 lives, and crippling
319 others through injuries.
Out of a little over 500 total
pistols at the disposal of the PRP,
around 90 percent comprise 455
bore and 38 bore, which are gifts
of the British era and can at the
most be used as a relic if anything, instead of being employed
in actual combat situation.
Currently, the force is functioning with less than 50 long-range
automatic weapons (G3), almost
50 percent of which are being used
for security in Quetta. Although,
there is no denying of the sensitive state of affairs in Balochistan
and in and around Quetta, yet the
failure to allocate a single long
range automatic weapon to one
of the largest districts beats the
mind.
In addition, the PRP own only
two luggage scanners which are
trusted to guard against any
explosives, arms or ammunition
from being transported or jeopardising the lives of those on
board. One of these scanners is
deployed at Karachi and the other
at Lahore. The scanner at Lahore
has been out of order during the
past whole year and the scrutiny
of all the luggage being booked
from Lahore has been left to the
Almighty.
This ignorance was recently
revealed when a private channel
managed to transport arms, explosives and contraband through a
Pakistan Railways train without
much hassle. However, despite that
incident, the Pakistan Railways
management did not strive to get
the scanner at Lahore ﬁxed.
Another shocking fact is that
it still has a ‘Henry Martin Riﬂe’
in service according to its record.
This British riﬂe was in service
from 1871 to 1888 and was used in
British colonial wars, the Second
Anglo-Afghan War, Herzegovina
Uprising (1875-1878), RussoTurkish War, War of the Paciﬁc,
Anglo-Zulu War, Greco-Turkish
War (1897), First Boer War,
Balkan Wars, World War I,
Greco-Turkish War (1919-22),
and Soviet war in Afghanistan.
This riﬂe is identiﬁed as an
antique and is virtually auctioned
and sold as a relic.
Though the Chinese 7.62 riﬂes
that were put in service in the
late eighties provide some level of
tenacity to the security apparatus
yet lack of practice and motivation among the troops of PRP is
another worrying fact.
The railway police gets to ﬁre
the weapons once every year and
that, too, not all the troops. The
lack of training and practice is
of such grave dearth that many
are not even acquainted with the
weapon if they are lucky enough
to wield one.
The state of the armour in case
of a terrorist standoff is no different. There is one bulletproof vest
for over 250 personnel. Let alone
armour, many personnel have not
received their very uniform for a
couple of years from the PRP.
The meagre salaries is another
factor dampening the spirits of
the policemen as 25 percent raise
promised in 2014 has still not
been added to their salaries.
Although, the Pakistan Railways
Ministry have showed some sanity
by procuring 50 9mm pistols and
100 G3P4 riﬂes, however, they have
still not been added to the system
because their addition awaits the
training of the police personnel on
these weapons.
When contacted, Railways
Police Inspector General Shariq
Jamal said the department had
been informing the ministry and
Pakistan Railways management
about the challenges faced by
the department due to lack of
weaponry.
He said the ﬁnancial constraints of the department had
always been the reason behind
this state of affairs. He said
recently their requests had been
heard and the addition of 100
long-range riﬂes and 50 pistols
has boosted strength.
INTERNEWS
Five arrested for
grenade attack
Supporters of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa hold party ﬂags as they
shout slogans during a rally in Karachi yesterday as the country
observed Kashmir Solidarity Day. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
vowed that Pakistan would continue its political and diplomatic
support for the Kashmiri people “in their struggle for freedom
and right to self-determination”.
Pakistan to launch national health insurance plan
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan
government has decided to
launch
Prime
Minister’s
National
Health
Insurance
Programme for 66 selected districts of the country in phased
manner in ﬁve years.
This programme is proposed
to be ﬁnanced through current
budget as it cannot become part
of development programme
under Public Sector Development
Programme (PSDP).
Ofﬁcial documents show that
100 million population in all the
districts in the phased manner
shall be covered by health insurance under this proposed scheme.
The cost of the project is estimated at Rs45.078bn without
any foreign exchange component
(FEC) for period of ﬁve years in
three phases where phase-1 shall
cover 3.3 million families in 22
districts at national level followed
by another 3.3 million in another
22 districts in phase-II followed by
universal coverage in all districts
of Pakistan of 100 million population in 22 million families.
The estimated premium of
Rs2,000 per family per annum is
proposed for secondary care with
addition of Rs500 per family per
annum for priority treatment,
Rs50,000 per family per annum
on ﬂoating basis provided within
provincial Annual Development
Plans (ADPs) for provinces
and federal PSDP for Kashmir,
Tribal Areas and Gilgit-Baltistan
and Islamabad Capital Territory
(ICT) Rs250,000 per family per
annum on ﬂoating basis is proposed under PSDP for federal
hospitalisation against identiﬁed
treatment protocol.
The targeting beneﬁciaries’
ANA graduation ceremony
Afghan troops ﬁght insurgents, 18 killed
in the Tora Bora cave network
and which has been the focus of
air strikes in recent months.
Since the Peshawar attack in
December, Afghan forces have
stepped up operations against a
Pakistani division of the Taliban,
which claimed responsibility for
the school killings and has bases
in Afghanistan.
Azrat Hussain Mashriqiwal,
disorders, infertility, injuries
resulting out of war, riots, invasion , HIV/AIDS, etc.
The yearly payment of premium in bloc manner is proposed
dependant on successfully enrolment of beneﬁciary population by
the insurance company.
The list of secondary care provider shall be developed by provinces and tertiary care provider by
National Steering Committee for
both public and private healthcare
provider hospitals registered with
Health Regulatory Authority.
INTERNEWS
Retirees turn to PSC
for well-paid jobs
Afghan National Army soldiers perform during their graduation ceremony in Kabul yesterday. Afghan
national forces took over full responsibility for the country’s security on January 1.
JALALABAD: At least 18 militants were killed in a gun battle in a mountainous district
of Afghanistan near Pakistan,
police said yesterday, in the latest ﬁghting in the region since a
Taliban massacre of school children in Peshawar late last year.
The operation was in rugged Nangarhar province, where
Osama bin Laden once had a base
households shall be conducted
using BISP and Nadra database.
The secondary care includes day
care and maternity services.
The priority treatment list for
inclusion consist of cardio regular disease, diabetes, burns, road
trafﬁc accidents, renal disease
and dialysis, TB, hepatitis, treatment of HIV chronic liver disease,
chemotherapy, radiotherapy and
surgical oncology.
No exclusion for secondary
hospitalisation coverage except
criminals, self inﬂicted injuries,
attempted suicides, nervous
a spokesman for Nangarhar’s
police chief, said 26 militants were
injured and four captured, including three Pakistani citizens in the
ﬁghting that ended on Wednesday.
One Afghan policeman was killed.
During the operation Afghan
forces seized a cache of weapons
and explosives from the insurgents, Mashriqiwal said.
REUTERS
PESHAWAR: The Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa Public Service
Commission (PSC) has turned
into a favourite post-retirement
place for senior bureaucrats and
technocrats because of attractive salary, perks and privileges.
Senior bureaucrats serving in
Pakistan’s northwest province
ruled by Imran Khan’s PTI party
even prefer to get premature
retirement to occupy seat in the
commission for three years.
A senior ofﬁcer who is to retire
this year was made a member of
the commission last year. Sarhad
Development Authority (SDA)
Chairman Ashfaq Khan was
appointed the commission’s member in October 2014, while his
retirement is due in October 2015.
The provincial establishment
department had appointed ﬁve
senior bureaucrats and technocrats as members of the commission last year. The appointments
were notiﬁed on October 26, 2014.
The appointees included
Farooq Swati, Dr Zia Mohammad,
Maghmoom Khattak, Mohammad
Hamayun Khattak and Ashfaq
Khan. Two members, including
Swati, a meritorious professor,
and Hamayun Khan, the agriculture secretary, got pre-mature
retirement to join their new
assignment.
One of the appointed members,
Mohammad Ashfaq, a grade-20
ISLAMABAD: Five people suspected to be involved in a grenade
attack near a school in Pakistan’s
Karachi city have been arrested,
a media report said yesterday.
The attack was carried out on
Tuesday in the city’s Gulshane-Iqbal area, Geo News reported.
The suspects were arrested during raids carried out on the basis
of information gathered through
CCTV footage. Sources said that
all the ﬁve suspects were associated with a banned outﬁt. The
government had extended winter
vacations in schools for security
reasons following the Dec 16, 2014
Peshawar school terror attack
in which more than 130 school
children were killed. The Sindh
government had announced that
only those schools should reopen
where foolproof security arrangements have been ensured. It also
decided to implement a shortterm security plan for all educational institutions in the city.
Man kills three
women, self
ISLAMABAD: A man shot
dead three women before committing suicide by shooting
himself in Lahore, the media
reported. The bodies were found
in a car outside the Gaddaﬁ
Stadium. Police said that the
man was sitting in the back seat
along with one of the women,
while the other two sat in the
front, Dawn online reported.
The man shot dead two of the
women and wounded a third
before killing himself.
The
injured woman was rushed to a
hospital but she died later. The
motive behind the killings was
unclear but the identity of the
deceased has been ascertained,
police said. We are still investigating as to why the man shot
the women dead and evidence is
still being gathered, they said.
According to the report, two of
the dead women were sisters,
while the third woman is said to
be their mother and the man is
reportedly a close friend of two
of the victims’ father.
ofﬁcer, who before joining SDA
had served as principal secretary
to Chief Minister Pervez Khattak,
has yet to assume the ofﬁce.
Mohammad Ashfaq had in past
served as the irrigation secretary with Pervez Khattak when
he was the irrigation minister in
the previous provincial coalition
government of Awami National
Party and Pakistan People’s Party.
When approached, Ashfaq said
his retirement was due in coming October, but he had submitted application to get premature
retirement and requested the
government to relieve him in
coming June.
If his application is approved by
the competent authority, then he
will join the commission in June
otherwise the seat will be lying
vacant till his joining.
Ofﬁcials said the salary package
and other privileges being offered
to the members of the commission were attracting the outgoing
bureaucrats to become members
of the body, which recruited ofﬁcials of grade 16 and above for
government departments.
Member of the provincial commission is appointed for a period
of three years. He or she is paid
Rs186,000 salary per month that
includes Rs50,000 house rent.
Every member is provided an ofﬁcial car with driver and an orderly.
LAHORE: The government
of Punjab in Pakistan’s most
populous province has selected
55 terrorism cases for trial by
military courts set up under the
21st Amendment. Sources said
here yesterday that the cases
were under trial in 14 anti-terrorism courts in the province,
mostly in Lahore, Rawalpindi
and Gujranwala. These included
the March 3, 2009 attack on
the Sri Lankan cricket team in
Lahore, killing of 10 under-training Khyber Pakhtunkhwa wardens in an attack on their hostel
in Samanabad’s Shama Road in
Lahore on July 12, 2012 and a
sectarian clash in Rawalpindi’s
Raja Bazaar on January 15, 2013.
The sources said a list of the
cases selected by the counterterrorism department had been
sent to the home department.
INTERNEWS
AGENCIES
Military courts to
hear 55 cases
12
FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2015
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com
INDIA
Campaigning for Delhi
ends, polls tomorrow
Surveys suggest close contest between BJP and AAP
NEW DELHI: The highdecibel campaigning for the
February 7 Delhi assembly polls
came to an end yesterday with
the three main contenders —
the BJP, the Congress and the
AAP — holding roadshows, rallies and public meetings in a
ﬁnal attempt to woo voters.
According to the Election
Commission guidelines, the
deadline for campaigning in the
national capital was 6pm.
For the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP), the campaigning was led by
party president Amit Shah, who
held a rally in Madanpur Khadar
area of south Delhi, and chief
ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi,
who took out a roadshow covering
Mangolpuri, Sultanpuri, Kirari,
Nangloi and Mundka areas in
north and west Delhi.
Bedi ended her campaigning
in her constituency of Krishna
Nagar in east Delhi and was
joined by union minister and local
heavyweight Harsh Vardhan and
East Delhi Lok Sabha member
Maheish Girri.
Bedi interacted with the residents and assured them strong
governance under her watch.
Vote for AAP, says Mamata
KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee yesterday asked the people of Delhi to vote for the AAP in Delhi’s
assembly election. “My request to all of you in Delhi to please vote
for AAP,” she tweeted. “For the greater need of the country and
development in Delhi.” Banerjee’s appeal comes amid her strained
relations with the BJP in West Bengal as well as the party’s
IANS
national leadership and the BJP-led central government.
Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP)
Arvind Kejriwal took out a foot
march in his constituency of
New Delhi and visited a number
of households in an attempt to
understand the problems of the
residents and assured them of
speedy solutions if his party was
voted to power. Though the election in Delhi is being seen as a
straight ﬁght between the AAP
and the BJP, the Congress too
registered its presence with party
vice president Rahul Gandhi, who
joined the campaigning in its ﬁnal
phase, taking out a road show in
north Delhi’s Sultanpur Majra.
Congress campaign chief Ajay
Maken has so far been the leader,
but in its last phase, Rahul Gandhi
too addressed many rallies.
Bedi said she was “conﬁdent”
that her party will win the polls.
Joined by hundreds of supporters, Kejriwal too interacted with
voters of his constituency and
said he was conﬁdent of winning.
“The BJP has all the administrative apparatus but we have
truth and god on our side,”
Kejriwal said. He said people had
seen his party’s work in the 49
days when he was chief minister
and, therefore, the voters want
the same honest government for
ﬁve years now.
Pre-poll surveys have also suggested a close contest between the
BJP and the AAP — with the latter having an edge.
IANS
Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi atop a vehicle campaigning during a roadshow in Delhi.
Polls not a referendum on Modi: Amit Shah
NEW DELHI: BJP President
Amit Shah said the Delhi
assembly polls were not a “referendum” on the performance
of the National Democratic
Alliance government led by
Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Shah’s remarks were echoed by
his party colleague union minister Arun Jaitley, but AAP leader
Arvind Kejriwal, however, contended that these proved that the
BJP had admitted to its defeat
three days before polling.
The BJP chief said that election
to a state assembly cannot be a
referendum on performance of the
central government.
“While this is indeed true that
the good work of the government
of India has its impact on elections,
a state election cannot become a
referendum (on its functioning)
because of that one thing,” Shah
said in an interview. “For us (BJP),
every election is important and
we take every election seriously.
Development can only happen
under the BJP,” he added.
Jaitley did not directly say that
the Delhi election was not a referendum on central government
but noted that it was a poll to
choose chief minister of Delhi. “It
is election for Delhi chief minister. People of Delhi will decide,”
the ﬁnance minister said.
Union minister Venkaiah Naidu
had Wednesday said that the mandate cannot be seen as a referendum on the performance of Modi
government.
IANS
Srinjoy Bose resigns from RS, Trinamool Poverty elimination
KOLKATA:
Trinamool
Congress’s Rajya Sabha member Srinjoy Bose quit as member
of parliament as also from the
party, a day after getting bail
in a case related to the Saradha
chit fund scam. Politics is “not
my cup of tea”, he said.
Bose, who spent 75 days in
police and jail custody after his
arrest by the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) in connection
with the Saradha chit fund scam,
announced his decision to quit as
an MP and also from the primary
membership of Trinamool in a
media release here.
“I would like to inform that
with immediate effect, I have
resigned from my membership of the Rajya Sabha. I have
also decided to resign from the
SC not to monitor Saradha probe
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court yesterday turned down the
West Bengal government and the Trinamool Congress’s plea for
its monitoring of the CBI probe into Saradha and non-Saradha
chit fund scam cases.
Noting that there was no allegation by the applicant that the CBI
was not conducting the probe, the apex court bench of Justice TS
Thakur declined the plea seeking apex court’s monitoring of the
case and alleging selective leaks by the probe agency.
IANS
primary membership of the party
- the Trinamool Congress,” he
said in the release.
Bose, editor of his party’s
mouthpiece Jago Bangla and
vernacular newspaper Sambad
Pratidin, said it was during his
days in custody that he understood “politics is not my cup of
tea”.
He also said pressure from his
family shaped his decision.
“During my days in custody, I
ﬁnally realised that politics is not
my cup of tea. There has also been
a lot of pressure from my family,
specially from my mother and my
wife which ﬁnally made me take
the decision,” the release said.
Bose,
however,
thanked
Trinamool supremo and Chief
Minister Mamata Banerjee for
making him an MP.
“I would also like to express my
deepest gratitude and thanks to
all persons who have stood by my
family during these extremely difﬁcult times.”
Bose was arrested on November
21, 2014, by the CBI for alleged
criminal conspiracy, misappropriation of funds and deriving
undue ﬁnancial beneﬁts in connection with the multi-crorerupee Sarada ponzy scam.
The assistant general secretary of city soccer giants Mohun
Bagan, Bose is the ﬁrst senior
Trinamool leader to be granted
bail in the scam.
IANS
LC Goyal is 11 nurses evacuated from Iraq’s Kirkuk
new home
secretary
NEW DELHI: Senior IAS
ofﬁcer LC Goyal yesterday
took over as the new union
home secretary replacing Anil
Goswami who was removed on
Wednesday.
Goyal, a 1979 batch Indian
Administrative Service (IAS)
ofﬁcer of the Kerala cadre, is the
former rural development secretary. He earlier served as joint
secretary for internal security in
the home ministry from 2002 to
2007. He will have a ﬁxed tenure
of two years.
“I feel humbled by this huge
responsibility. I will fulﬁl this
responsibility with utmost sincerity, commitment, diligence and
with a profound sense of accountability. To be able to do so, I solicit
active support and cooperation
of all stakeholders,” he said after
assuming ofﬁce.
“The home ministry mandate
is essentially to ensure effective
maintenance of internal security
in the country. To achieve this,
necessary mechanisms, policies, and measures are in place.
Wherever required and appropriate, improvements will be made
within the given timelines. This
will be so done in close association
and coordination with the state
governments and union territories,” he said.
Goswami resigned after he was
told by the government to put in
his papers over his alleged role in
trying to stall the arrest of former
Congress minister Matang Sinh
in the Saradha scam.
IANS
NEW DELHI: Eleven Indian
nurses, hailing from Kerala,
have been evacuated from conﬂict-hit Kirkuk in Iraq and are
waiting to ﬂy back home, the
government said yesterday.
External affairs ministry
spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin,
addressing a brieﬁng, said that
the 11 nurses have been “evacuated safely” and are in Irbil, the
capital of Kurdistan Region in
Iraq.
“We are working on the
arrangements for their return..
They will return to Kerala at
the earliest, he said, adding
that External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj has spoken to
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen
Chandy to convey that the nurses
are returning.
On the status of the 40 Indian
men who were abducted in violence-hit Mosul in June last year
and who remain untraceable, the
spokesperson said efforts to trace
them continue but the “situation
is unclear”.
Sushma Swaraj said in
December
in
parliament
that the government “does
not have concrete proof ” of
the men being alive or dead and
is continuing to search for them
based on “six indirect sources”.
“I have said repeatedly that
I do not have concrete proof of
them being alive, but I do not have
concrete proof of their being dead
too,” the minister has said.
The 40 men, mostly from
Punjab, were abducted by the
Islamic State militants from
Mosul on June 15.
IANS
best jihad: Owaisi
HYDERABAD: Terming terror group IS as “khawarij”
(deviants), Majlis-e-Ittehadul
Muslimeen (MIM) president
Asaduddin
Owaisi
yesterday advised India’s educated
Muslim youth to work for elimination of poverty as this is the
best jihad.
The member of Parliament
from Hyderabad said the youth
should learn the meaning of
‘jihad’ from ‘ulema’ (Islamic
scholars) instead of Google
searching.
“Some youth search the meaning of jihad in Google and they
see only Haﬁz Saeed, who is the
biggest enemy of the country,”
Owaisi told reporters here.
“You can’t break any law of the
land,” he said when asked about
the attempts by Muslim youth
to go to Iraq or Syria to join the
Islamic State,” Majlis-e-Ittehadul
Muslimeen president said.
“Why do you want to go there.
There are many evils in your
neighbourhood. Work to eliminate them,” he said.
“The best jihad is that India’s
educated Muslims give time
to eliminate poverty from
their ranks,” the member of
Parliament added.
Owaisi quoted a “hadith” or
saying of Prophet Mohammed
(PBUH) that struggle against
own temptations is “Jihad-eAkbar” or the greatest struggle.
He pointed out that it is unanimous view of ulema of all schools
of thought around the world that
IS are deviants and that they
have nothing to do with Islam
or Islamic teachings. “They are
bloody murderers and rapists.
They are killing people in the
most brutal fashion by decapitating them or cutting their hands.
They also burnt a person alive.
They have to be condemned,”
Asaduddin Owaisi said.
Owaisi was addressing a news
conference in connection with
144th anniversary celebrations of
Jamia Nizamia, one of the oldest
seminaries in India.
“These are the deceits of
the enemy of Islam. They wear
shamla (turban) or topi (skull
cap) to deceive the world,” said
Shaikul Jamia or vice chancellor Mufti Khaleel Ahmed when
asked about IS.
Police on January 16 arrested
32-year-old US-returned techie
he was about to leave for Dubai.
Police claimed that Salman
Mohiuddin, was on his way to
Iraq via Dubai.
Last year, the city police had
prevented six youths including a
former employee of Google, from
leaving for Iraq to join IS.
Some youth from other parts
of the country were also stopped
while they were allegedly planning to join the terror group.
IANS
France invites one-time
pariah Modi for summit
France’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development Laurent Fabius (second right) and Minister
of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar (second left) lead their delegations in a
meeting in New Delhi yesterday.
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has been invited
to Paris in the coming months
for what could be the one-time
pariah’s ﬁrst trip to Europe
since his election, France’s top
diplomat said yesterday.
France’s Foreign Minister
Laurent Fabius said during a visit
to New Delhi that the Indian premier had been invited to a summit
with President Francois Hollande
“in the spring”.
“We will be extremely happy to
welcome Mr Modi and that is one
of the messages that I have come
to pass on from the president,”
said Fabius ahead of talks with
Modi. “We shall be very honoured
to welcome him.”
Although there have been reports
that Modi is planning to travel to
Britain and Germany, this is the
ﬁrst ﬁrm invitation to Europe since
he was elected last May.
Modi was effectively blacklisted
by the European Union for a decade in the aftermath of communal riots in the state of Gujarat in
2002, soon after he came to power
as chief minister.
The EU and then the United
States ended their boycott of
the right-wing Hindu nationalist when it became clear he could
be elected leader of the world’s
largest democracy. France and
India have a strategic partnership
and Fabius said the two leaders
would have much to discuss in
Paris, including nuclear energy
and aviation technology.
Modi is “looking forward to his
visit to France in April,” his ofﬁce
said in a statement, conﬁrming
the invitation.
AFP
FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2015
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com
BUSINESS
13
Qatari stocks extend winning streak
Oil up 6pc
on Libya
Index added 621 points during the week; Market cap jumps 4.20pc to QR28bn in past week violence,
China easing
DOHA: Qatar Exchange (QE)
extended its rally for the ﬁfth
straight session yesterday, lifting the benchmark index to
almost two-month high. The
index surged to 12,550 levels
before settling at 12,520, or 0.84
percent, to end the week. Real
estate and Industrial stocks
were the support.
The market added 621.03
points, or 5.22 percent during the
past week. Market cap jumped
4.20 percent to QR28bn compared
to previous week.
Masraf Al Rayan, Barwa and
Ezdan were the top gainers yesterday. QNB slipped 0.57 percent.
Gulf International and MPHC
declined 1.36 percent and 1.97
percent, respectively.
Masraf Al Rayan jumped 3.5
percent. Analysts noted the stock
has risen 15.9 percent since the
bank posted a 21.2 percent jump
in fourth-quarter proﬁt. Barwa
jumped 2.30 percent and Ezdan
rose 1.73 percent.
Bellwether Industries Qatar
(IQ) gained 0.78 percent to
QR154.30. On Wednesday, IQ
reported QR6.3bn full-year net
proﬁt for 201 and recommended a
total annual dividend distribution
of QR4.2bn, equivalent to a payout
of QR7 per share, representing
70 percent.
Sector wise, real estate was the
top advancer. The sector rose 1.75
percent. Early this week, leading
developer Al Asmakh Real Estate
Development Company noted
the country’s real estate sector
is expected to grow by nearly 20
percent during the ﬁrst quarter of 2015. Al Asmakh said the
total amount of selling contracts
regarding residential buildings
and compounds would witness a
surge in the Q1, 2015 compared to
the corresponding period of 2014.
Banks and Financial Services
gained 0.90 percent. Industrials
advanced 0.80 percent. Insurance
Index plunged 1.20 percent.
QE’s weekly data indicates
36 companies of the 43 listed
companies ended higher in the
past week, while seven fell. The
bourse’s trading value increased
by 73.36 percent in the past week
to hit QR3.51bn. Trading volume
surged by 109.86 percent to over
91 million shares as the number of
transactions rose by 49.07 percent
to 40,426 transactions.
The Banks and Financial
Services sector led trading value
during the week, accounting for
28.87 percent of the total trading
value, followed by Real Estate sector, Industrials and Telecoms. The
trading volume was led by Real
Estate sector accounting for 40.47
percent of the total volume. Banks
and Financial Services sector
accounted for 20.85 percent.
Saudi Arabia’s equities index
inched up 0.1 percent, but Saudi
Basic Industries, the Gulf ’s largest
petrochemicals producer, dropped
2.3 percent. Dubai’s index rose 1.0
percent.
Kuwait’s index slipped 0.1 percent as central bank governor
Mohammad Al Hashel denied
allrgations of illicit share trading, after a local newspaper
reported the securities regulator
had decided to refer him to prosecutors on suspicion of violating
investment rules. Egypt’s market
edged down 0.8 percent as major
property names pulled back.
THE PENINSULA
Huawei Centre in India
Pﬁzer to buy Hospira for
$15bn to boost portfolio
AstraZeneca
to buy Actavis
lung drugs
NEW YORK: Oil was up about
6 percent yesterday as rising
violence in producing country
Libya and an expected boost in
oil demand from a central bank
easing in China helped crude
rebound from one of its sharpest daily routs ever in the previous session.
Traders and analysts said they
expect higher-than-usual volatility in coming days as the market
tries to ﬁnd a bottom to a sevenmonth selloff that took prices to
near six-year lows.
But many were pessimistic
about the market making a sustained rally, with record-high
US crude inventories rekindling
renewed worries about a supply
glut. “It is just a changing market sentiment as more and more
players are starting to believe
production cuts are coming in
the US and that will be enough
to erase the surplus,” Dominick
Chirichella, senior partner at the
Energy Management Institute,
New York, said on the Reuters
Global Oil Forum. “I think there
will be a lot of disappointment
going forward for that view.”
Benchmark Brent crude
futures were up $3, or 5.5 percent,
at $57.16 a barrel by 1802 GMT.
US crude futures, also known
as West Texas Intermediate
(WTI), were up $3.16, or 6.5 percent, at $51.61.
Brent fell nearly 7 percent and
WTI 9 percent on Wednesday
after the US government reported
a 6.3 million-barrel build in US
crude stocks last week to above
413 million, their highest since
1982. The report cut short a fourday rally had sent crude prices
nearly 20 percent higher.
Prices were up from early
yesterday, reacting to a raid on
an oilﬁeld in Libya by gunmen
even though production was not
affected.
An attack on a tanker off
Nigeria and monetary easing
by China that could boost on oil
demand also provided support to
crude.
The rally accelerated towards
noon, after oil services ﬁrm
Genscape reported a smallerthan-expected build in crude
stockpiles at the Cushing,
Oklahoma, delivery point for WTI
in the four days since January 30.
NEW YORK: Pﬁzer Inc said it
would buy Hospira Inc for about
$15bn to boost its portfolio of
generic injectable drugs and copies of biotech medicines.
Pﬁzer is known for prescription
medicines like impotence treatment Viagra and Lyrica for nerve
pain, but many of its biggest brands,
including cholesterol treatment
Lipitor and painkiller Celebrex,
have lost patent protection and are
facing cheaper generics. The company needs new products to keep
its earnings growing.
Hospira makes generic versions
of injectable drugs that are widely
used in hospitals, through vials,
syringes and bags, as well as pumps
used to deliver them and other ﬂuids. It also sells several biosimilars,
or copies of biotech drugs, overseas
and has others in development.
Pﬁzer offered $90 per share in
cash, a 39 percent premium to
Hospira’s closing stock price on
Wednesday. Hospira shares soared
35 percent to nearly $88 yesterday,
while Pﬁzer was up 2.7 percent at
$32.93. The proposed acquisition
is Pﬁzer’s largest since the New
York company failed in its attempt
to buy AstraZeneca Plc, which
rebuffed its $118bn approach last
year but has remained a subject of
takeover speculation.
Pﬁzer said the latest move
showed its commitment to deploy
capital and deliver revenue and
earnings-per-share growth in the
near term. The company said it
expected the deal to add 10 cents
to 12 cents per share to earnings
in the ﬁrst full year after it closes.
“I don’t think this deal is a game
changer for Pﬁzer but helps them
build out their sterile injectables
business without wildly overpaying
for assets, as the company has done
in the past,” said portfolio manager
Les Funtleyder of E Squared Asset
Management.
Pﬁzer expects the deal, which
requires regulatory and shareholder approvals, to close later this
year, immediately boosting earnings and enabling the company to
cut annual costs by $800 million
over the next three years.
CEO Ian Read said the Hospira
deal would not delay any breakup
of Pﬁzer, an action the company
has said it could take by 2017 if an
accounting analysis determines it
makes sense.
Drugmakers are racing to
develop biosimilars, which typically cost 20 percent to 30 percent
less than the original, as big-ticket
patents on biotech drugs expire
and cash-strapped healthcare
systems cut costs. Biosimilars
are expected to account for
about one-quarter of the $100bn
in sales from off-patent biological
drugs by the end of the decade,
according to a study by Thomson
REUTERS
Reuters BioWorld.
QNB announces
winners of its
campaign
Tooth scare bites into McDonald’s proﬁt Innovation agenda key
DOHA: QNB announced the
names of eight lucky winners of
its recently launched campaign
“Register on QNB Internet
Banking or Mobile Banking and
win an iPhone 6’’.
The winners were: Ali Rizwan
Ahmed, Daniel Vincent Mcintyre,
Azwindzhiga Nekhudazhiga,
Arthur Genoguin Badiable, Feros
Junaideen, Ahmed Rezk Aly
Elerian Elzayyat, Nathan John
Kay and Mahdi Ali Hussain.
All customers who registered
on QNB Internet Banking or
Mobile Banking and conducted
a minimum of two online transactions were eligible to enter a
“Rafﬂe Draw” during the campaign period to get the chance to
win a new iPhone 6.
They will be able to access
the most comprehensive online
banking experience in the Mena
region. QNB provides the best
Internet banking services to its
clients in Qatar, including ﬂexibility to transfer worldwide through
Western Union services, PayPal,
and many other convenient and
secured services via Internet and
Mobile banking services.
THE PENINSULA
LONDON: AstraZeneca said
yesterday it would buy Actavis’
branded respiratory drug business in the United States and
Canada for an initial $600m
as it reported disappointing
fourth-quarter earnings.
AstraZeneca, which is seeking
such deals to drive growth, will
also pay another $100m after
Actavis agreed to changes in
ongoing collaborations between
the two ﬁrms.
Britain’s second-biggest drugmaker said 2015 sales would
decline by a mid single-digit percent at constant exchange rates.
But adjusted or “core” earnings
per share (EPS) are forecast to
increase by a low single-digit percent this year, due to lower spending and plans to ﬁnd partners on
certain projects.
“We’ll behave as a biotech
company would when it comes
to products that are not core,”
Chief Executive Pascal Soriot
told reporters, citing a recent
Alzheimer’s deal with Eli Lilly as
a model for future cost-sharing.
Citi analyst Andrew Baum said
AstraZeneca appeared to have
“kitchen-sinked” the quarter, or
taken a deliberate hit to earnings
by bringing forward some drug
development costs. Deutsche’s
Mark Clark said this should help
secure 2015 proﬁts. REUTERS
Visitors to the newly-inaugurated Huawei Research and
Development Centre look at the products on display after its
inauguration in Bangalore yesterday. The 20-acre Bangalore
campus, which will accommodate 5,000 engineers, is the largest
Research and Development Centre of Huawei outside China.
REUTERS
focus for GCC: GPCA
McDonald’s Holdings Co (Japan) President and CEO Sarah Casanova speaks during a news conference in Tokyo yesterday.
TOKYO: The head of McDonald’s Japan yesterday
apologised after unexpected objects — including a
human tooth — were found in the chain’s food as
the fastfood giant reported its ﬁrst annual loss in 11
years. The ﬁrm reported a bigger-than-expected loss
of 21.8bn yen ($186m) last year — reversing a yearearlier proﬁt — as sales plunged in the wake of the
embarrassing discoveries.
The unit’s Canadian chief Sarah Casanova said the
poor results marked a “harsh evaluation” by wary customers at a press conference in Tokyo, and bowed deeply
in a common act of contrition for executives in Japan.
“I would like to sincerely apologise once again for all
of the great anxiety and concern,” she told reporters.
A human tooth was found in some french fries sold at
an Osaka outlet last year, the ﬁrm admitted in January.
McDonald’s said there were no employees missing a
tooth at the outlet and it believed there was a very low
possibility of contamination at the US factory that had
shipped the chips.
Two days later, a Japanese woman claimed to have
discovered what was later identiﬁed as “dental material” in a McDonald’s hamburger from northernmost
Hokkaido in September. Japanese media reported several other cases of contamination, including a piece of
AFP
metal in a pancake.
DOHA: Regional governments have put innovation
front and centre on their
national agenda, as evidenced by the growing R&D
budgets in the Arabian Gulf,
said the Gulf Petrochemicals
and Chemicals Association
(GPCA).
GPCA represents the downstream hydrocarbon industry in the Arabian Gulf. The
association voices the common
interests of more than 240
member companies from the
chemical and allied industries,
accounting for over 95 percent
of chemical output in the Gulf
region.
With Saudi Arabia and
Qatar making up the top 40
investors in research and
development worldwide in
2014, according to a recent
study by US research group
Batelle, the region’s sizeable
revenues are now being earmarked into signiﬁcant scientiﬁc endeavours.
According to data compiled
by Batelle, Qatar devotes 2.8
percent of its GDP to R&D,
a level similar to that of the
US or Germany. Saudi Arabia,
although impressive among its
GCC peers, comes in at just 0.3
percent of GDP.
“Attempts to drive innovation in the GCC are still at
an early stage. But as countries increase R&D spending, the results will have a
huge impact on non-oil,” said
Dr Abdulwahab Al Sadoun,
Secretary General, GPCA.
The strategies that drive
research and innovation will
be a key focus of discussion
at the upcoming 2nd GPCA
Research & Innovation
Summit. The key note address
at the conference will be
delivered by Prince Dr Turki
bin Saud bin Mohammed
Al Saud, President of King
Abdulaziz City for Science
and Tehcnology (KACST).
Other speakers include Dr
Ernesto Occhiello, Executive
Vice President, Technology
and Innovation, Sabic; and
Ahmad O Al Khowaiter, Chief
Technology Ofﬁcer, Saudi
Aramco.
The Research & Innovation
Summit will be held in Dubai,
from March 16-18.
THE PENINSULA
14
FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2015
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com
BUSINESS
ECB restricts Greek banks’ access to cash
Athens says ‘will not be blackmailed’ after ECB move
FRANKFURT: The European
Central Bank yesterday cut off
Greek banks’ access to a key
source of much-needed cash,
piling fresh pressure on the
country’s new government to
reach a deal with international
creditors.
In a decision that rattled ﬁnancial markets, the ECB said it would
no longer allow Greek banks to use
government debt, which has a junk
rating, as collateral for loans.
The announcement came just
hours after new Greek Finance
Minister Yanis Varoufakis held
his ﬁrst talks with ECB chief
Mario Draghi as part of the country’s push to renegotiate Athens’
€240bn ($270bn) EU-IMF bailout.
Stock markets fell on the news,
while the euro tumbled by more
than one percent against the
dollar.
Greece said it would not be
“blackmailed” and insisted its
banks were secure after the ECB
move. “The Greek republic does
not intend to blackmail anyone but
will not be blackmailed either,” a
government source said, adding
that the Greek banking system
“was fully secure”.
Athens views this decision as
“an act of political pressure to
enable the rapid conclusion of an
agreement” with Greece’s international creditors, the government
source said.
“The liquidity and funding of
Greek banks is fully safeguarded
by the ELA mechanism,” the
source added, referring to the
ECB’s emergency liquidity assistance programme that has been a
ﬁnancial lifeline for Greek banks.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis
Tsipras spoke with ECB chief
Mario Draghi late Wednesday,
after the bank announcement,
government spokesman Gabriel
Sakellaridis said. While declining to give details, he told private
Mega TV: “We are prepared to
talk to all our creditors.”
“(We want) all sides to understand that Greece is being subjected to an irrational policy,” he
said, adding that Athens wanted
to ﬁnd a solution “without a gun
to our head”.
Tsipras’ anti-austerity government came to power after last
week’s election on a promise to
renegotiate Greece’s EU-IMF
bailout and erase over half the
country’s debt.
He and Finance Minister Yanis
Varoufakis have been holding a
ﬂurry of meetings with EU leaders
and ECB ofﬁcials this week in the
hope of drawing allies to Greece’s
cause. Sakellaridis said the ECB’s
move could speed efforts to reach
agreement on Greece’s demands.
“This pressure can lead all sides
to reach a solution, a mutually
beneﬁcial solution,” he told Mega.
The Greek stock market
plunged more than nine percent
in early trading before recovering
some of its losses.
Elected on a pledge to end austerity policies imposed on Greece
as part of its bailout, Tsipras faces
the delicate task of convincing his
European partners to reverse
course while ensuring Athens
still gets the aid required to avoid
a default.
In Brussels, Tsipras struck
an upbeat note after talks with
European Commission chief JeanClaude Juncker and EU president
Donald Tusk, saying he was optimistic of a “viable and mutually
acceptable solution”.
A Greek government source
said Tsipras and Juncker discussed plans to “jointly” create a
four-year reform plan for Greece,
as well as a bridging deal to give
Athens time to draw up plans for
reforms including on corruption
and tax evasion.
But Tusk acknowledged that
resolving the showdown over
Greece’s debt was likely to be “difﬁcult” and needed “cooperation
and dialogue as well as determined
efforts by Greece.”
Ahead of the ECB talks in
Frankfurt, Varoufakis told the
German weekly Die Zeit that the
ECB “should support our banks so
that we can stay aﬂoat”, acknowledging that Greece was “a bankrupt country”.
The former economics professor later described his talks with
Draghi as “very fruitful”.
But after a meeting of its policy-setting governing council late
Wednesday, the ECB said it was
taking the step to end the special
waiver for Greece because “it is
currently not possible to assume
a successful conclusion of the programme review”.
The waiver, which will end on
February 11, had allowed banks to
pledge their Greek bonds as collateral, even though the securities did
not meet standards for a minimum
credit rating.
Greece faces key payments on
its debt at the end of February and
again at the end of May.
AFP
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis (second right) and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble (left)
arrive for a news conference following talks at the ﬁnance ministry in Berlin yesterday.
Greece hits German wall
ATHENS: Greece’s ambitious
hard-left government yesterday
ran into trouble with Germany
and the European Central Bank
but vowed to push ahead with
its electoral pledge to renegotiate the country’s unpopular
bailout.
After a positive start to this
week’s meetings with European
leaders, Berlin poured cold water
on Greece’s hopes just as the ECB
dealt a blow to its funding. “We
even didn’t agree to disagree from
where I’m standing,” a subduedlooking Greek Finance Minister
Yanis Varoufakis told a news conference following talks with his
counterpart Wolfgang Schaeuble.
But Germany remains opposed
and in a stunning move, the ECB
said it would no longer accept
Greek government bonds as collateral for loans.
Addressing his newly elected
lawmakers in parliament yesterday, Tsipras insisted he would
carry out his party’s promises to
end the “nightmare” of austerity
in Greece.
“We are a sovereign country,
we have democracy, we have a
contract with our people, we will
honour this agreement,” Tsipras
said in a speech frequently interAFP
rupted by applause.
US trade deﬁcit widens; Indonesian growth at 5-year low
weekly jobless claims up
Ford completes
€2.3bn Spanish
car plant
investment
WASHINGTON:
The
US
trade deﬁcit in December widened sharply to its highest level
since 2012 as a stronger dollar
appeared to suck in imports and
weigh on exports, which could
see the fourth-quarter economic growth estimate revised
lower.
The Commerce Department
said on Thursday the trade deﬁcit jumped 17.1 percent to $46.6bn,
the largest since November 2012.
It was the biggest percentage
increase since July 2009 and also
reﬂected a sputtering global economy. “It is not hard to come up
with reasons for the weakness in
today’s report — sluggish foreign
growth and a strong dollar are
the obvious ones,” said Michael
Feroli, an economist at JPMorgan
in New York.
Wall Street had expected the
trade gap to narrow to $38bn.
When adjusted for inﬂation, the
deﬁcit widened to $54.7bn from
$48.7bn in November.
December’s shortfall was
wider than the government had
assumed when it reported last
week that gross domestic product had expanded at a 2.6 percent
annual rate in the fourth quarter. Trade was estimated to have
subtracted 1.02 percentage point
from GDP growth.
Economists said it now
appeared the drag on growth
was bigger and they expect the
government to lower the fourthquarter growth estimate by as
much as four-tenths of a percentage point when it publishes
revisions later this month. On an
inﬂation-adjusted trade-weighted
basis, the dollar appreciated 5.3
percent last year.
While trade is on the back
foot, the labor market is weathering the strong dollar and the
global slowdown. Initial claims
for state unemployment beneﬁts
increased 11,000 to a seasonally
adjusted 278,000 for the week
ended January 31, the Labour
Department said in a separate
report.
The increase, which was less
than economists’ expectations
for a rise to 290,000, left intact
the bulk of the prior week’s huge
decline, which had taken claims to
their lowest level since April 2000.
US stocks were trading higher,
while the dollar slipped against a
basket of currencies. US Treasury
debt prices fell.
January’s employment report
to be released on Friday will
likely show that nonfarm payrolls
increased 234,000, according to
a Reuters survey of economists,
which would be the longest
stretch of job gains above 200,000
since 1994.
A ﬁrming labour market,
together with lower gasoline
prices, is seen bolstering consumer spending, which is expected
to drive growth in early 2015.
“We still believe the US can
remain an oasis of prosperity in
the world even if international
developments are starting to
intrude a little on our buoyant
forecasts for 2015,” said Chris
Rupkey, chief ﬁnancial economist
at MUFG Union Bank in New
York.
REUTERS
JAKARTA: Indonesia’s economy expanded at its slowest
pace for ﬁve years in 2014, ofﬁcial data showed yesterday, hit
by political uncertainty and
weak exports, putting pressure
on the country’s new president
to deliver much-needed reforms.
Southeast Asia’s biggest economy expanded 5 percent yearon-year, the statistics agency
said, down from 5.8 percent in
2013, and the weakest pace since
2009, at the height of the global
ﬁnancial crisis. The ﬁgures “help
to underline the challenge facing
the country’s new president, Joko
Widodo, who despite a promising
ﬁrst few months in ofﬁce faces
a tough challenge”, said Gareth
Leather, Asia economist from
Capital Economics.
Widodo, who won ofﬁce partly
on a pledge to revive the slowing economy, has promised to
woo investors by cutting red
tape and ploughing money into
overhauling the country’s ageing
infrastructure.
He has already slashed crippling fuel subsidies that have in
the past gobbled up 20 percent
of the state budget, promising
to divert the money towards
boosting the economy and helping the country’s poorest. While
his early moves have been praised,
analysts warn that he faces a
tough time to push through more
reforms in a country plagued by
corruption, where protectionist instincts are still strong and
parliament is dominated by the
opposition. Indonesia’s economy,
long a bright spot among the
Group of 20, has been slowing in
recent years as the price of its
key commodity exports are hit
by weakening demand in regional
powerhouse China and other
major markets.
AFP
Vendors prepare clothing for sale at a stall in Tanah Abang market in Jakarta yesterday.
Internet regulator admits US control may be extended
SINGAPORE: The head of the
Internet overseer ICANN conceded yesterday that the United
States may have to extend its
control over the group beyond
September
as
governments
bicker over a replacement regulatory regime.
Fadi Chehade, chief executive
of the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers,
said he still hoped that a new
oversight system could be agreed
in time. “I will be more disappointed if the transition happened
but we are disunited and lose the
trust of the world because (stakeholders) are ﬁghting so hard for
special interests and forget the
public interest,” he said in an
interview. “We are ready for
both scenarios. We are ready if
the contract needs to be extended
a bit and we are ready if it ends.”
ICANN is in charge of assigning Internet domain names and
the numbering codes that lie
behind online addresses. It has
been overseen by the US government since its inception in 1998,
under a contract that expires on
September 30. Some countries
including China and Russia are
calling for ICANN in future to
be supervised by an inter-governmental body, without civil society
or business representation.
Critics say such a model would
provide a powerful tool to repressive regimes. Chehade said that
instead, progress has been made
toward ICANN becoming answerable to a globally representative
group of governments, civil society and businesses.
“It is still possible,” he said of
the prospect of a new model being
agreed before September 30.
“We have a date, and we are
working towards that date, but I
hope that we don’t sacriﬁce everything for that,” he said ahead
of the group’s latest meeting
in Singapore, which begins on
Monday. Chehade said China,
until recently a vocal critic of
the so-called “multi-stakeholder”
model, was showing signs of
warming to the plan after senior
Chinese ofﬁcials attended ICANN
meetings in London last year.
“If the US continues its unique
(stewardship) role in ICANN...
in my opinion, this is what could
fragment the Internet and cause
other governments to say this is
not a neutral and trustworthy
place,” Chehade said.
He also addressed fears by some
US lawmakers that Washington’s
ceding of ICANN oversight could
lead to control of the group
being wrested by other governments, undermining the US’s own
national interest.
AFP
MADRID/DETROIT: US car
manufacturer Ford announced
yesterday the ﬁnal part of a
€2.3bn ($2.6bn) expansion of its
operations in Spain, in what it
called the biggest ever investment in the country’s auto
industry.
The investment consists of an
initial €1.1bn announced in 2011,
followed by another €1.2bn since
2013, Ford said.
The investment in the Spanish
plant continues a trend of auto
production moving south in
Europe, where wages tend to be
lower. Ford closed a factory in
Belgium last year as part of a
restructuring of its loss-making
European operations.
Just as Mexico has a thriving
motor industry making vehicles
for much of the Americas, its
Spanish counterpart is prospering by keeping labor costs down
and targeting markets abroad.
Around 80 percent of the Ford
plant’s production is for export.
Spanish Prime Minister
Mariano Rajoy visited the Ford
plant in the eastern region of
Valencia yesterday and said the
auto industry had played a key
part in the recuperation of the
Spanish economy. The European
Commission has sharply increased
its forecasts for Spanish economic
growth this year.
The investments will allow
Ford to build six different model
lines, up from four currently, and
expand exports to markets outside
of Europe, including shipments of
Transit Connect compact vans
to the United States, a company
spokesman said.
Once the expansions are complete, the Valencia plant will have
capacity to build 450,000 vehicles
a year. That will make Valencia
one of the two largest assembly
operations in Ford’s global manufacturing system, along with the
automaker’s factory in Chongqing,
China. Ford employs around 8,000
people at the facility, the company
said, up from just below 5,000 in
early 2013. Spain’s car industry,
including auto parts manufacturers which spring up around factories to supply production lines,
created 26,800 jobs in 2014, according to Spanish car producers’ association ANFAC.
REUTERS
FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2015
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com
MARKET
QE Indices Summary
QE Index
12,520.66
0.84 %
QE Total Return Index
18,793.1
0.84 %
QE Al Rayan Islamic Index
4,392.14
1.80 %
QE All Share Index
3,235.14
0.87 %
QE All Share Banks & Financial
Services
3,258.24
0.90 %
QE All Share Industrials
4,055.48
0.80 %
QE All Share Transportation
2,435.02
0.67 %
QE All Share Real Estate
2,511.81
1.75 %
QE All Share Insurance
3,863.19
1.20 %
QE All Share Telecoms
1,414.06
0.82 %
QE All Share Consumer Goods &
Services
7,368.98
0.66 %
QE Market Summary Comparison
Index
Change
%
YTD%
Volume
Value (QAR)
Trades
Today
Previous day
05-02-2015
04-02-2015
12,520.66
104.73
0.84
1.91
28,050,472
883,884,281.66
10,641
12,415.93
136.56
1.11
1.06
28,712,862
1,161,812,581.54
10,800
Up 26 | Down 13 | Unchanged 02
WORLD STOCK INDICES
INDEX
All Ordinaries
Day’s Close
5765.468
Pt Chg
31.76
% Chg
Year High
Year Low
0.55
5759.2
5248.5
Cac 40 Index/D
4670.74
-25.56
-0.54
4701.52
4076.16
Dj Indu Average
17673.02
6.62
0.04
18103.4
15340.69
Hang Seng Inde/D
24765.49
85.73
0.35
24995.08
23312.5
Iseq Overall/D
5604.55
1.67
0.03
5639.89
5072.7
Karachi 100 In/D
34672.25
-154.26
-0.44
34844.8
32134.82
Nikkei 225 Index
17504.62
-174.12
-0.98
17850.59
16592.57
S&P 500 Index/D
2041.51
-8.52
-0.42
2093.55
1737.92
Straits Times/D
3406.58
-10.99
-0.32
3432.62
3267.89
Straits Times/D
3290.99
-1.82
-0.06
3387.84
2953.01
Straits Times/D
3274.06
-8.82
-0.27
3291.83
2953.01
15
EXCHANGE
RATE
GOLD & SILVER
GOLD
QR148.2182
SILVER
QR 2.0186
Buying Selling
US$.......................... QR 3.6305
UK ........................... QR 5.5162
Euro ......................... QR 4.1362
CA$.......................... QR 2.8827
Swiss Fr .................. QR 3.9013
Yen .......................... QR 0.0308
Aus$ ........................ QR 2.8209
Ind Re ...................... QR 0.0584
Pak Re ..................... QR 0.0357
Peso ........................ QR 0.0818
SL Re....................... QR 0.0272
Taka ......................... QR 0.0463
Nep Re .................... QR 0.0365
SA Rand .................. QR 0.3162
CRUDE OIL
BRENT
$ 55.02
DUBAI
$ 52.60
QR 3.6500
QR 5.5945
QR 4.1937
QR 2.9398
QR 3.9573
QR 0.0314
QR 2.8767
QR 0.0596
QR 0.0364
QR 0.0834
QR 0.0278
QR 0.0474
QR 0.0373
QR 0.3226
QATAR EXCHANGE | DAILY TRADING REPORT | 05-02-2015
INTERNATIONAL MARKETS A List of Shares from the world
COMPANY
NAME
CLOSE
NET VOLUME Volume
CHG TRADED
A C C-A/D
1504.45 6.15
Aarti Drugs-B/D
1229 -39.25
Aban Offs-A/D
478.7 -12.45
Aegis Logis-B/D 441.65 -3.7
Ahmed.Forg-B/D 313.5 -5.8
Alembic-B/D
42 -1.35
Alkyl Amines-B/D
330 13.6
Alok Indus-A/D
9.89 -0.13
Apollo Tyre-A/D 226.85 -4.2
Asahi I Glass-/D
142.7 -3.2
Ashok Leyland-/D 62.45 -1.45
Bajaj Hold-A/D 1403.5 -20.9
Ballarpur In-B/D
16.1 -0.5
Bata India-A/D 1360.45 -1.7
Bayer Crop-A/D 3475.65 46.25
Beml Ltd-A/D
911.45 -2.9
Bh Electronic-/D 3495.3 -57.55
Bhansali Eng-T/D
18.1
-1
Bharat Bijle-B/D
613.8 -4.3
Bharatgears-B/D
75.1 -3.9
Bhartiya Int-B/D 410.15 -1.8
Bhel-A/D
277.5 -7.6
Bom.Burmah-B/D 434.85 1.55
Bombay Dyeing-/D 75.75 -6.55
Camph.& All-B/D 314.9 5.8
Canﬁn Homes-B/D 616.5 -0.3
Caprihans-B/D
85.05 -1.1
Cast.Bo/D
464.95 -5.3
Century Enka-B/D 164.95 -4.5
Century Text-A/D 524.3 -6.55
Chambal Fert-B/D 59.7 -0.3
22992
3995
235249
2370
51161
162857
6675
1166657
233413
22951
1202171
2234
355923
12043
2850
73838
11355
7585
5734
14884
9761
296194
166425
982772
33297
4548
2941
47181
11088
96785
239567
COMPANY
NAME
CLOSE
NET VOLUME Volume
CHG TRADED
Chola Invest-B/D 543.05 -12.7
Chowgule St-T/D 26.55 0.15
Cimmco-B/D
76 -1.65
Cipla-A/D
661.95 -15.95
City Union Bk-/D 94.95 4.25
Cmc Ltd-A/D
1920
23
Colgate-A/D
1854.25 32.5
Container Cor-/D 1366.95 -28.8
Dai-Tichi Kar-/D
166.2 -1.5
Dcm Financia-B/D 1.17 0.02
Dcm Shram Ind-/D 88.8 1.25
Dhampur Sugar-/D 42.5 -0.1
Dr. Reddy-A/D 3077.15 -25.2
E I H-B/D
107.55 -3.8
E.I.D Parry-A/D 172.55 -6.6
Eicher Motor-A/D 15800 -127.65
Eimco Elecon-T/D
424 -22.3
Electrosteel-B/D
17.5 -0.6
Emco-B/D
39.75 -0.1
Escorts Fin-B/D
5.4 -0.1
Escorts-A/D
126.2 -0.65
Essar Oil-T/D
111.85 -0.95
Eveready Indu-/D 203.1 -0.35
F D C-B/D
159.15 -4.8
Federal Bank-A/D 137.1 -3.05
Ferro Alloys-B/D
5.8 0.08
Fgp Ltd-B/D
2.25 -0.1
Finolex-A/D
290.25 -3.05
Gail-A/D
424.05 -8.75
Galada Power-T/D 27.35
1.3
Gammon India-T/D 22.7 -0.6
23936
9621
32170
96127
1932844
9484
17257
3953
11411
11300
3340
21511
41585
13402
33305
3094
4090
162659
283767
8493
168078
31304
88383
12712
228807
15643
3827
13996
170419
72750
88807
COMPANY
NAME
CLOSE
NET VOLUME Volume
CHG TRADED
Garden P -B/D
28.7
Goodricke-B/D
144.9
Goodyear I -B/D
607.5
Hcl Infosys-B/D
46.2
Him.Fut.Comm-T/D 17.3
Himat Seide-B/D
85.2
Hind Motors-T/D
7.53
Hind Org Chem-/D 19.85
Hind Unilever-/D 908.15
Hind.Petrol-A/D 605.55
Hindalco-A/D
147.8
Hous Dev Fin-A/D 1248.9
I F C I-A/D
37.75
Idbi-A/D
65.65
Ifb Agro-B/D
289
Ifb Ind.Ltd.-B/D 465.95
India Cement-A/D 96.2
India Glycol-B/D 106.25
Indian Hotel-A/D 122.25
Indo-Tcount-T/D
466
Indusind-A/D
860
J.B.Chemical-B/D 193.05
Jagson Phar-B/D 35.25
Jamnaauto-B/D
180
Jbf Indu-B/D
253.6
Jct Elect P -B/D
0.67
Jct Ltd-B/D
4.22
Jenson&Nich.-B/D 5.13
Jktyre&Ind-B/D
116.4
Jmc Projects-T/D
171
Kabra Extr-B/D
89.35
-0.2
-3.45
-6.3
-1.85
0.5
-1.65
-0.17
-0.85
8.2
3.8
-4.25
15.8
-1.4
-3.15
-11.9
-5.3
-7.9
-3.95
-1
-5.5
-1.45
1.85
1.7
-22.8
0.1
0.03
-0.14
0
-0.3
-2.1
-1.65
2080
18475
2605
312541
2291775
19074
55100
37354
117922
237253
489352
180536
904306
468544
2381
7684
338383
115385
72776
26019
96591
162472
59837
40456
176872
8013
653138
19708
200259
3010
4835
COMPANY
NAME
CLOSE
NET VOLUME Volume
CHG TRADED
Kajaria Cer-A/D
749.6 32.9
Kalpat Power-B/D 237.8 0.4
Kalyani Stel-T/D
148 -4.45
Kanoria Chem-B/D 42.75
5
Kg Denim-B/D
24.55 -0.1
Kilburnengg-T/D
49 -1.95
Kinetic Eng-B/D
44.25
0
Kopran-B/D
53.85 -1.45
Lakshmi Elec-B/D 394.9 -43.4
Lgb Broth-B/D
584.3 -2.35
Lok.Hous&Con-T/D 13.02 -0.61
Lumax Ind-B/D 410.65 0.4
Lupin-A/D
1582.5 3.85
Lyka Labs-T/D
38.2
-2
Mah.Seamless-B/D 212.1 -2.55
Mangalam Cem-B/D319.85 0.1
Maral Overs-B/D 24.25 1.85
Mastek-B/D
381.4 -4.55
Max India L-A/D 486.35 -17.6
Mrpl-A/D
53.95
-2
Nagreeka Ex-B/D
24.1
0.1
Nagreeka Ex-B/D
24.1
0.1
Nahar Spg.-B/D
92.1 -1.8
Nation Alum -A/D 48.45
0
Navneet Edu-B/D 108.75 -0.75
Nepc India-T/D
3.04 -0.16
Neuland Lab-B/D 396.7 4.3
Nrb Bearings-B/D
132 -0.95
O N G C-A/D
355.9 -12.45
Ocl India-B/D
539 7.25
Oil Country-B/D
35.05 -1.3
30592
129178
37103
333032
51606
39331
2110
85117
33685
2600
25715
3881
62615
160976
14248
11665
131733
55167
134488
97023
5056
5056
17489
263039
23900
17748
16088
3245
263717
6465
2643
COMPANY
NAME
CLOSE
Onward Tech-B/D
Orchid Chem-B/D
Orient Hotel-T/D
Orient.Carb.-T/D
Paciﬁc Indu-B/D
Patspin India-/D
Radico Khait-B/D
Rallis India-A/D
Reliance Indus/D
Ruchi Soya-B/D
S Bk Bikaner-B/D
Samtel-T/D
Saur.Cem-B/D
Tanfac Indust-/D
Tanfac Indust-/D
Til Ltd.-T/D
Timexgroup-T/D
Tinplate-B/D
Ucal Fuel-B/D
Ucal Fuel-B/D
Ultramarine-B/D
Unitech P -A/D
NET VOLUME Volume
CHG TRADED
51 1.05
63.7 -2.25
23.2 -0.5
463 -67.6
210 -1.3
8.15 0.47
94 0.05
227.15
7.1
462.25 -17.6
36.2 -0.55
640.05 -9.25
7.77 -0.4
42.85 -2.55
22.55 0.3
22.55 0.3
489 -45.85
18.01 0.78
60.35 0.05
145.85 -0.65
145.85 -0.65
67.75 -0.5
17.45 -1.8
2155
146162
2273
43087
9807
7710
44574
25409
71981
80915
14230
4648
226475
12386
12386
48765
220016
53132
34563
34563
5212
8730770
LONDON
3I Group/D
477.2384
1.8
368401
Assoc.Br.Foods/D 3003 -39
182764
Barclays/D
247.75
-1 11931325
Bg Group/D
930.4 -1.6 4487435
Bp/D
444.1 -1.25 12767336
Brit Am Tobacc/D 3690 -45.5
855339
COMPANY
NAME
CLOSE
NET VOLUME Volume
CHG TRADED
Bt Group/D
441
Centrica/D
294.3
Gkn/D
379
Hsbc Holdings/D
611
Imperial Tobac/D 3040
Kingﬁsher/D
330.6
Land Secs Grou/D1300.125
Legal & Genera/D 267.7
Lloyds Bnk Grp/D
74.7
Pearson/D
1367
Prudential/D
1612.5
Rank Group/D 180.6716
Rentokil Initi/D
121.2
Rolls Royce Pl/D 898.525
Rsa Insrance G/D 446.7
Sainsbury(J)/D
264.2
Severn Trent/D
2131
Smith&Nephew/D 1189
Smiths Group/D 1155.85
Standrd Chart /D 922.1
Tate & Lyle/D
654.5
Tesco/D
228.95
Unilever/D
2852
United Util Gr/D 1000.46
Vodafone Group/D 231.75
Whitbread/D
4950
18 19474804
0.9 2332917
3.9 1839048
-4.6 5054872
-40
561539
0.9 1361738
6
805884
-2.8 1865645
0.16 26198505
-3
563661
-15
713736
-2.5
14183
-0.7
199332
-0.5 1766761
-2.5
741299
-2.5 3640429
16
234894
21 1074224
-14
525040
2.9 2437679
-6.5
394659
-0.6 8282768
-32
849592
-1
341213
-4.75 42066426
-19
150394
FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2015
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com
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18
FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2015
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com
SPORT
Spirited Al Wakrah hold
Al Sadd as QSL resumes
Leaders squander lead twice, Qatar SC, Al Khor also win
DOHA: Despite taking a onegoal lead twice in the match,
leaders Al Sadd had to settle for
a 2-2 draw against Al Wakrah
at home yesterday, as the Qatar
Stars League resumed after a
45-day break.
Star striker Khalfan Ibrahim
opened the scoring in the 22nd
minute from just inside the
penalty area. But Al Wakrah
equalised just eight minutes later
when Hamood Yazidi’s brilliant
free kick found the back of the
net.
The ‘Wolves’ again went ahead
in the 64th minute when Ali
Asadallah slotted home from a
corner kick.
But Mouchine Moutouali
levelled the scores again in the
77th minute as he curled the
ball through the gap between
two defenders and past the
keeper.
The 11th-placed side then gave
the league leaders a tough time
but Al Sadd managed to hold on
for the rest of the game to salvage
a point.
That gave the ‘Wolves’ a slender one-point lead at the top of
the standings which could be
short-lived if Lekhwiya beat Al
Gharafa today at the Thani bin
Jassim Stadium.
In yesterday’s other games, Cho
Young-Cheol’s last-gasp goal gave
Qatar SC the win over Al Sailiya
and Al Khor thrashed Al Ahli 4-2.
THE PENINSULA
QSL Results
Al Sadd 2 (K. Ibrahim 23’, A. Assadalla 65’)
Al Wakrah 2 (H. Al Yazeedi 31’, M. Moutouali
77’)
Al Khor 4 (M. Antonio 27’, J. Cesar 48’,
Madson 54’, M. Antonio (Penalty) 77’) Al Ahli
2 (D. Kaluyituka 69’, M. Jabbari 82’)
Al Sailiya 1 (F. Aaish (Penalty) 85’), Qatar SC
2 (H. Harbaoui 12’, Cho Young-Cheol 90+5’)
Ivory Coast’s Yaya Toure (left) celebrates with team-mate Kouassi Gervais
after scoring a goal against the Democratic Republic of Congo during
a semi-ﬁnal match of the Africa Cup of Nations, in Bata on Wednesday.
Ivory Coast ease into
Cup of Nations ﬁnal
BATA, Equatorial Guinea:
Goals from Yaya Toure and
Gervinho helped steer Ivory
Coast into the Africa Cup of
Nations ﬁnal in a 3-1 win over
Democratic Republic of Congo
in the Estadio de Bata on
Wednesday.
Toure, playing at a sixth ﬁnals,
blasted home a missile-like shot
after 21 minutes to give the
Ivorians the lead but a handball
allowed Dieumerci Mbokani to
equalise from the penalty spot
three minutes later.
Gervinho had an effort cleared
off the line in the 40th minute but
the Ivorians won back the ball
and caught the Congolese defence
cold with Wilfried Bony setting
up Gervinho to sweep home less
than a minute later.
Defender Wilfried Kanon
added a third midway through
the second half with a rebound
from a corner.
Ivory Coast will play in
Sunday’s ﬁnal in Bata against
Equatorial Guinea or Ghana who
meet in the second semi-ﬁnal in
Malabo yesterday.
DR Congo might have had the
ﬁrst goal as early as the sixth
minute as the lanky Jeremy Bokila
swept past his marker, forcing a
save from Sylvain Gbohouo with
his shot and then seeing Mbokani
miscue the rebound.
But Toure showed the way with
a stunning shot on the half volley
from the edge of the box that was
Al Sadd’s Khalfan
Ibrahim (left) vies
for possession of
the ball against Al
Wakrah’s Ahmed
Fadel during a Qatar
Stars League (QSL)
match at Al Sadd
Stadium in Doha
yesterday. BELOW:
Al Wakrah’s Mohsine
Moutaouali (left) vies
for possession of
the ball against Al
Sadd skipper Ibrahim
Majed Abdullmajed.
Mickelson says rival Hamilton, Scherzinger split
Woods will have
‘last laugh’ on critics
LA JOLLA, California: Tiger
Woods may be coming off his
worst round as a professional but
longtime rival Phil Mickelson
said on Wednesday the 14-time
major champion will have the
last laugh on critics suggesting
he has the yips.
Mickelson said it is only a matter of time before Woods, who is
struggling in his return to competitive golf after a long layoff due
to a back injury, rediscovers his
form.
“Tiger’s going to have the last
laugh. I think that his short game,
historically, is one of the best of
all time and I think his golf game
is probably the best of all time,”
Mickelson said ahead of this
week’s Farmers Insurance Open.
“When you haven’t played, it’s
(short game) the ﬁrst thing to feel
uncomfortable and the quickest
thing to get back.”
Woods ﬁred an 82 last week in
Phoenix during a round where
he sprayed drives, ﬂew approach
shots over greens, ﬂubbed chips
and missed short putts in his second event in ﬁve months.
He will be in familiar surroundings this week at Torrey Pines,
where he has won seven times and
also claimed the 2008 US Open.
“I think we all, myself included,
have had stretches where we feel
a little uncomfortable, we don’t
hit it solid, and usually it’s just a
small tweak,” said Mickelson.
“Because it’s such a short swing
it’s not a hard thing to ﬁx. I just
don’t see that lasting more than
a week or two.”
Mickelson, a 42-times winner,
is enduring a win drought of his
own having gone over 18 months
since claiming the 2013 British
Phil Mickelson tees off on the
14th hole of the South Course
during the Farmers Insurance
Open Pro Am at the Torrey Pines
Golf Course in San Diego on
Wednesday.
Open. The last time the ﬁvetime major winner and San Diego
resident went this long without
victory was a 19-month stretch
between June 2002 and January
2004.
He opened 2015 with a tie for
24th at the Humana Challenge
and a missed cut in Phoenix.
Mickelson sighted patience as
the key to this week in his own
backyard, being able to accept
long birdie chances and taking
chances when they presented
themselves.
“Last year I didn’t feel good
about my game, I didn’t feel good
about how I was hitting it and my
speed wasn’t up. Now, I feel good,”
said Mickelson.
“Sometimes it takes a few tournaments to get into the course
management aspect, to play the
rounds properly, to be patient, to
know when to attack, when not
to.”
REUTERS
LONDON: Nicole Scherzinger
has allegedly split up with Lewis
Hamilton over his refusal to
marry her. It is the fourth time
the couple have broken up during their seven year relationship.
The 36-year-old singer is said
to be “heartbroken and devastated” about the breakdown of
their relationship.
The Sun has reported that her
decision was due to the 30-yearold Fomula One star refusing to
marry her.
“They’d been ﬁghting for
months but things had got much
worse,” a source told the paper.
“She ﬁnally had enough. Nicole
knew Lewis had no plans to marry
her, she’s completely gutted and
feels lost about her future.
“They spend so much time
apart that things just became
untenable.”
The former X Factor judge, who
is currently performing in London
in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Cats, is usually based in Los
Angeles.
It has been reported that the
couple were struggling to maintain a long-distance relationship
Lewis Hamilton and Nicole Scherzinger in happier times.
as Hamilton is based in Monaco.
Scherzinger has been supported
by her family, with her mother
Rosemary and elderly grandmother ﬂying to London from
Hawaii to be with her.
She has previously spoken
about how she would not wish
a long-distance relationship on
“anyone”.
Both their agents are yet to
comment.
In 2010 the pair split up to
concentrate on their careers after
struggling to maintain their long
distance relationship. But after a
two month break they got back
together. At the time Hamilton
said there was “no truth” in
rumours of marriage, adding:
“Things are good. She’s supporting me with my racing so we’re
focusing on our careers and we’re
doing our best to stay in touch
and keep strong.’’ They split again
in 2011 and in 2013. AGENCIES
Thousands cheer Patriots at parade in Boston
Tom Brady, the New
England Patriots
quarterback and Super
Bowl MVP, holds up
the Super Bowl trophy
during the New England
Patriots Super Bowl 49
victory parade in Boston,
Massachusetts, on
Wednesday. Thousands
of New England Patriots
fans, most wearing
several layers of clothing,
hit the streets of Boston
to celebrate their team’s
Super Bowl victory with
a downtown parade after
two massive snowstorms.
hit with ferocious power.
Bony had been trying to weave
his way through the defence
but lost the ball which spilt in
the direction of Gervinho but
before he could get a foot on it,
Toure came surging through to
almost burst the net with sublime
precision.
A careless handball from
Eric Bertrand Bailly offered
the Congolese the chance for an
immediate response from the
penalty spot, which Mbokani duly
dispatched.
He might have had another
after a clever ball back from the
byline by Yannick Bolasie but
wasted the chance.
Then came Gervinho’s header
that hit the crossbar before
Gabriel Zakuani cleared it while
the Ivorians appealed that it had
crossed the line. But they regained
their composure while DR Congo
were caught ball watching and
Bony’s pass left Gervinho with
little else to do but guide the ball
home.
Bolasie continued to offer a
glimmer of hope for the Congolese
with his mazy runs, having a 55th
minute effort saved.
But it was Gervinho, Bony and
Toure who dictated terms in the
second half and third goal was
always inevitable.
Ivory Coast have now reached
two of the last three Nations Cup
ﬁnals but their only previous success was in 1992.
REUTERS
Hawks bounce
back from loss,
pull away from
Wizards 105-96
ATLANTA: Bouncing back
after their team-record 19-game
NBA win streak was halted,
the Atlanta Hawks downed the
Washington Wizards 105-96 on
Wednesday.
Jeff Teague scored 26 points
and passed off eighth assists to
lead the Hawks, who improved
their Eastern Conference-leading
record to 41-9.
Atlanta’s win streak was
stopped with a loss Monday at
New Orleans but rebounded to
win at home for the 11th consecutive time. Al Horford added
21 points despite 10-of-24 shooting and also grabbed 13 rebounds
for the Hawks, who also had 14
points from DeMarre Carroll and
11 more from Paul Millsap.
John Wall led the Wizards with
24 points and a game-high nine
assists while backcourt partner
Bradley Beal added 23 points and
Brazilian big man Nene contributed 17 points.
It was the fourth loss in a row
for the Wizards, their longest skid
since December of 2013.
Washington fell to 31-19, still
the third-best record in the East
but 10 games behind the Southeast
division-leading Hawks.
AFP
NBA Results
Indiana
Atlanta
Boston
Brooklyn
Houston
Milwaukee
Minnesota
Oklahoma City
San Antonio
Memphis
Golden State
114
105
104
109
101
113
102
102
110
100
128
Detroit
Washington
Denver
Toronto
Chicago
La Lakers
Miami
New Orleans
Orlando
Utah
Dallas
109
96
100
93
90
105
101
91
103
90
114
FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2015
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com
SPORT
19
Cyclists competing
in stage three of the
Ladies Tour of Qatar
from Souq Waqif to
Al Khor Corniche
yesterday.
PICTURES BY:
SALIM MATRAMKOT
Armitstead shows nerves of
steel to grab golden jersey
London Games silver medallist enjoys eight-second lead over team-mate Van Dijk
BY RIZWAN REHMAT
DOHA: British cyclist Lizzie
Armitstead yesterday outpaced
Shelly Olds and Lucinda Brand
in a bunched sprint to win stage
three of the Ladies Tour of
Qatar.
Enjoying near-perfect racing
conditions in the 93.5km stage,
the Boels Dolmans rider took the
race lead from team-mate and
overnight golden jersey owner
Ellen van Dijk to seal her win in
a time of 2 hours 27 minutes and
45 seconds.
The 26-year-old Briton, who
now owns the golden jersey, has
an eight-second lead over Van
Dijk who had won stage two on
Wednesday.
Armitstead,
the
2014
Commonwealth Games gold
medalist and the silver medallist
at the London Games in 2012, is
a comfortable nine seconds ahead
of title favourite Chloe Hosking of
Australia.
Hosking, who rides for new
team Wiggle-Honda, ﬁnished
stage three in fourth spot behind
Brand. The Australian picked up
bonus points at the two intermediate sprints.
“In the ﬁnal kilometres I had
to do nothing, because I knew I
had four girls who could go with
everything and attack if they had
to. I focused on saving myself for
the sprint, and it all worked out,”
Armitstead said after the stage.
“I’m fast, but I’m not the fastest. I have done strength training
this winter but not any speed. I
didn’t expect to do anything in the
sprints here,” she added.
After the intense battle of
the previous day in the north of
Qatar, stage 3 was just as exciting
and intriguing at the same time.
The battle between the favourites started after 50 kilometres of
racing and eventually around 30
riders remained together for the
ﬁnal sprint in Al Khor.
Fastest on the corniche was
Armitstead. Winner of last
year’s UCI World Cup and
Commonwealth gold medallist,
the Boels Dolmans rider not only
claimed her ﬁrst ever success in
Qatar, but she also grabbed the
overall leader’s Golden Jersey.
For the ﬁrst time in its sevenyear history, the Ladies Tour of
Qatar took off from the Souq
Waqif in central Doha for stage
3 of the event.
It was a picturesque start for
the 85 remaining riders who took
off just after 2pm for the 93.5-km
ride heading north. It would prove
to be a tough day for the ladies,
having to ﬁght against the head
wind for most of the day.
As soon as the ﬁrst kilometre,
Beatrice Bartelloni, pearl jersey winner, receiving her award from an
ofﬁcial during the awards ceremony.
Lizzie
Armitstead of
Boels Dolmans
team, winner of
the third Stage
of the Ladies
Tour of Qatar,
celebrates on
the podium after
winning the
yellow jersey.
Qatar Cycling
Federation
President Sheikh
Khalid bin Ali
Al Thani is also
seen. BOTTOM:
Armitstead
celebrates her
victory.
Team Sky’s Viviani, who was
third on Wednesday, is now just
two seconds behind after clawing
back four of the six seconds he
lost to the Etixx-Quick Step rider
on the opening stage.
Cavendish’s team led him into
the ﬁnal kilometre at the front
of the ﬁeld but Astana’s Andrea
Guardini, who lost out to the
Manxman on Wednesday in a
photo-ﬁnish, was ﬁrst to shoot
for the line.
Top 10 riders in stage three
1 Elisabeth Armitstead (GBr) Boels Dolmans
Cycling Team 2:27:45
2 Shelley Olds - Evans (USA) Bigla Pro
Cycling Team
3 Lucinda Brand (Ned) Rabo Liv Women
Cycling Team
4 Chloe Hosking (Aus) Wiggle Honda
5 Pascale Jeuland (Fra) France
6 Lauren Kitchen (Aus) Hitec Products UCK
7 Jolien d’Hoore (Bel) Wiggle Honda
8 Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Ita) Ale Cipollini
9 Emma Johansson (Swe) Orica - AIS
10 Barbara Guarischi (Ita) Velocio-SRAM
General classiﬁcation after stage 3
1 Elisabeth Armitstead (GBr) Boels Dolmans
Cycling Team 7:35:24
Alison Tetrik (OPW) was the ﬁrst
to try her luck. The American
enjoyed a slim 45-second advantage at the 5-km mark but there
wasn’t much she could do alone
against the wind and the chasing pack.
She was caught 6 kilometres
later. At the 26-km mark, China’s
Ya Nan Liu (GPC) was the next
to give it a go - a vain solo effort
that only lasted a little over 4
kilometres.
While the pack was shaken
by a crash at the ﬁrst intermediate sprint at the 45-km mark,
Hosking proved to be the fastest rider to the line, beating
Armitstead and Julien D’Hoore.
Just after the sprint, 34 riders
pulled away but things calmed
down before the second sprint as
the pack bunched up again. Again,
Hosking ﬂew to the line, clinching an extra three bonus seconds
as she beat Giorgia Bronzini and
Emma Johansson.
At that moment of the stage,
Hosking had virtually moved up
to second spot overall, just a second behind Golden Jersey owner
Van Dijk
As the pack turned right and
started heading south towards
Al Khor, the main favourites
Cavendish keeps lead but Viviani
takes 2nd stage in Dubai
DUBAI: Mark Cavendish was
pipped for victory in the second
stage of the Dubai Tour by Elia
Viviani on Thursday but kept
the race leader’s jersey.
The Briton was second on
the 185km run from Dubai
International Marine Club to
Palm Jumeirah but the bonus
seconds he took in winning
Wednesday’s opening stage
ensured he remained in the leader’s blue jersey.
Ladies Tour
of Qatar
Having left his charge too late
on the opening stage, the Italian
went too early this time and
countryman Viviani jumped on
his wheel before powering past
to take a clear victory -- his ﬁrst
since joining Sky this season -with Cavendish passing the fading
Guardini.
Friday’s third and penultimate
stage is the longest of the race
covering 205km from the Marine
Club to Hatta Dam.
AFP
2 Ellen Van Dijk (Ned) Boels Dolmans
Cycling Team 0:00:08
3 Chloe Hosking (Aus) Wiggle Honda
0:00:09
4 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Velocio-SRAM 0:00:15
5 Emma Johansson (Swe) Orica - AIS
0:00:17
6 Jolien d’Hoore (Bel) Wiggle Honda
0:02:14
7 Tiffany Cromwell (Aus) Velocio-SRAM
0:02:15
8 Pascale Jeuland (Fra) France
9 Amy Pieters (Ned) Team Liv-Plantur
10 Gracie Elvin (Aus) Orica - AIS 0:02:23
Points classiﬁcation
1 Elisabeth Armitstead (GBr) Boels Dolmans
Cycling Team 31 points
2 Chloe Hosking (Aus) Wiggle Honda 26
powered away. Fourteen ladies
gathered together at the front
including seven of the top riders
in the GC.
In the closing moments of the
stage, despite the attempts of
several riders, around 30 girls
bunched up again with just under
three kilometres to go. Victory
was to be decided in a royal
bunched sprint.
Well helped out by her Boels
Mark Cavendish of
Etiix-Quicfk-Step
team, winner of the
second stage of the
Dubai Tour, from
Dubai International
Marina to Palm
Jumeirah, celebrates on the stage
in Dubai yesterday.
Dolmans team-mates, Armitstead
went on to capture her very ﬁrst
victory on Qatari soil.
The Briton who had ﬁnished
second of the stage ﬁnishing in
Al Khor last year (behind Kirsten
Wild) beat Olds and Brand to the
line.
With one stage to go in the
event, Beatrice Bartelloni remains
the best young rider (Pearl White
Jersey).
THE PENINSULA
3 Shelley Olds - Evans (USA) Bigla Pro
Cycling Team 23
4 Trixi Worrack (Ger) Velocio-SRAM 17
5 Lucinda Brand (Ned) Rabo Liv Women
Cycling Team 16
6 Ellen Van Dijk (Ned) Boels Dolmans
Cycling Team 15
7 Annalisa Cucinotta (Ita) Ale Cipollini 15
8 Giorgia Bronzini (Ita) Wiggle Honda 14
9 Emma Johansson (Swe) Orica - AIS 12
10 Jolien d’Hoore (Bel) Wiggle Honda 12
20
FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2015
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com
SPORT
Qatar’s Al Sharshani in joint lead at Sail the Gulf in Doha
DOHA:
Qatar’s Waleed Al
Sharshani bounced back from
his overnight third place to
share the lead with Oman’s
Hussain Al Jabri at the end of
the second day of Sail the Gulf.
In the Laser Standard, Al
Sharshani, who was in the third
place, now have 8 nett points the
same as Al Jabri. Another Omani
sailor, Ahmed Al Balushi, slipped
to the third spot.
The local sailors also excelled in
two other categories, Laser 4.7 and
Hobie 16. Adam Bettihthamou is
in joint second in Laser 4.7 along
with Saoud Al Naar of Bahrain,
while Qatar’s pair of Hassan Al
Baker and Mohamed Ahmed
Ismail is in third spot.
UAE ‘s Hamza Al Ali heads the
points tally in the Laser 4.7 with
11 points while Bettihthamou and
Al Naar, have 13 points against
their names.
In Hobie 16, Indian pair of
Chinna Reddy and Yakobu Kalaga
is lying on the top of the summit
with ﬁve nett points. Kuwaiti pair
of Nayef Al Hada and Mohammed
Bastiki, are ﬁve points behind
the leader, while the Qatar’s pair
have 12 points. In Optimist class,
Saif Al Mansoury of UAE, nine
points, is in the top spot followed
by Chitresh Tatha of India, with
12 nett points, followed by compatriot Navyn Prabhakar.
In Standard 470, Pakistan sailors have leap frogged to the ﬁrst
place displacing overnight leaders
Praveen Prabhakar and Vishnu
Sujeesh, pushing them to the
third spot. The pair of Shabahat
Ullah and Shazli Tahir is in the
ﬁrst place followed by Muhammad
Akram Tariq and Khalid Hussain.
In Laser Radial, UAE’s Saeed
Al Zaidi managed to cling to his
overnight lead and is followed by
Ebrahim Showaiter of Bahrain,
while Najeeb Ullah of Pakistan is
in third place.
Around 110 sailors from 20
countries including Argentina,
Australia, Bahrain, Belgium,
Canada, Britain, Denmark,
Germany, India, Iran, Italy, Japan,
Kazakhstan, the Netherlands,
Oman, Pakistan, Portugal,
Romania, UAE and Qatar are
taking part in the championship
which will end on February 7.
THE PENINSULA
Sailors ﬁne tuning their sails ahead of the racing action on day two of the Qatar International Regatta 2015 at Katara Beach in Doha yesterday. Qatar
Rowing and Sailing Federation is hosting the Sail the Gulf and Qatar Match Racing Cup, which will end on Saturday.
Rodriguez gets hurt as Real win
La Liga leaders move four points clear with 2-1 victory over Sevilla
BARCELONA:
James
Rodriguez headed the opener
before going off injured in Real
Madrid’s 2-1 victory over Sevilla
on Wednesday night which
extended their lead at the top of
La Liga to four points.
Real warmed up for the
Madrid derby against Atletico
on Saturday with three points
but it came at a cost with Sergio
Ramos as well as Rodriguez going
off injured in the ﬁrst half.
“I don’t think they will make
it in time,” Real coach Carlo
Ancelotti told a news conference.
Marcelo will deﬁnitely miss the
next game through suspension
after picking up a yellow card but
they will have Cristiano Ronaldo
back after he completed his suspension against Sevilla.
“We may be lacking experience. Ramos, Pepe and Marcelo
are among the best players in the
world but it doesn’t worry me,”
Ancelotti said.
“We have lost experience but
we will have players with plenty of
enthusiasm and that is also very
important.”
Colombia
international
Rodriguez nodded home a
Marcelo cross after 12 minutes
in a copy of the goal he scored last
weekend against Real Sociedad.
Sevilla caused plenty of problems for the Real rearguard,
especially in the ﬁrst half, and
Vicente Iborra hit a post having
been played in by Vitolo.
They had injury concerns of
their own as keeper Beto went off
on the half hour after a collision
with Karim Benzema.
Jese, who had come on for
Rodriguez, combined with
Benzema and Isco before slotting
the ball home Real’s second 10
minutes before the break.
Substitute Iago Aspas continued his recent hot streak in front
of goal with a goal for Sevilla from
close range after 80 minutes but
it was only to be a consolation.
Real lead the standings by
four points from Barcelona with
Atletico seven points adrift.
“It was a difﬁcult game against
a strong side. It was a step forward as we picked up important
points,” Ancelotti added.
Sevilla coach Unai Emery was
disappointed his side did not take
their chances.
“The most important thing is
to create openings when you play
in this stadium which is what we
Real Madrid’s James Rodriguez scores against Sevilla during a La Liga match at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium
in Madrid on Wednesday night.
did but we didn’t ﬁnish them off,”
he told a news conference.
“We competed for the full 90
minutes but we didn’t get the
goals that we deserved. I am
satisﬁed with the work of the
player and we showed that we
were up to the task.”
It was later revealed that
Rodriguez would undergo surgery
on a fractured foot which could
rule him out for two months. Real
Madrid said scans have revealed
a fracture of the ﬁfth metatarsal
in the right foot.
AGENCIES
Sterling, Coutinho strike late Dortmund lose to
to send Liverpool through
10-man Augsburg
LONDON: Last-gasp goals from
Raheem Sterling and Philippe
Coutinho
helped
Liverpool
reach the FA Cup ﬁfth round
and avoid the giant-killing fate
of many of their Premier League
rivals with a 2-1 replay victory
at second tier Bolton Wanderers
on Wednesday night.
The hosts took the lead when
former Chelsea and Barcelona
striker Eidur Gudjohnsen coolly
slotted home a penalty before
Bolton were reduced to 10 men
when Neil Danns was sent off
after receiving two yellow cards.
But Sterling volleyed in the
equaliser with four minutes left
and a long-range Coutinho strike
in stoppage time won the fourthround replay for the Premier
League club.
“It was always going to be a
tough game,” Liverpool manager
Brendan Rodgers said.
“Neil Lennon’s done a brilliant job at Bolton. Going 1-0
behind away from home put us
on the back foot. We must have
hit the bar about ﬁve or six times
but eventually the quality came
through.”
Liverpool, who next face an
away tie at Crystal Palace on
Feb. 14, will fancy their chances
of launching an assault on the
trophy after the exits of Premier
League heavyweights Chelsea and
Manchester City.
Both fell to lower league opponents in a remarkable series of FA
Cup ﬁxtures in which Manchester
Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling celebrates after scoring a goal against the
Bolton Wanderers during a FA Cup fourth-round replay match at the
Macron Stadium in Bolton on Wednesday.
United were taken to a replay by
fourth tier Cambridge United
before they too eased through
with a 3-0 replay win.
Liverpool and Bolton had
played out a goalless draw at
Anﬁeld and the replay started
in the same fashion, with Bolton
defending stoutly to shut out an
attacking Liverpool side.
Bolton took the lead against the
run of play when the 36-year-old
Gudjohnsen rolled back the years
to strike from the spot.
The hosts were reduced to 10
men when Danns received his
a second yellow card for a rash
challenge after being booked for
a similar tackle in the ﬁrst half.
The dismissal gave the visitors
an invitation to push forward led
by captain Steven Gerrard who
was making his 700th Liverpool
appearance, but the former
England captain was subdued.
Just as the Bolton defence
looked to be standing ﬁrm in the
face of a red onslaught, Sterling
steered in a precise volley to
equalise.
Coutinho, who signed a new
ﬁve-year contract at Anﬁeld this
week, proved his worth when his
dipping strike from 25 metres ﬂew
in via the underside of the crossbar to send Liverpool through.
REUTERS
BERLIN:
Last
season’s
Bundesliga runners-up Borussia
Dortmund
slumped
to
a
1-0 home defeat by 10-man
Augsburg on Wednesday to continue their spectacular implosion and remain ﬁrmly anchored
to the foot of the standings.
The 2011 and 2012 Bundesliga
champions completely lacked
ideas in front of a sold-out 80,000
crowd and were easily outmuscled
by European hopefuls Augsburg
for whom Raul Bobadilla netted
the winner in the 50th minute to
seal his club’s ﬁrst ever win over
Dortmund.
Surprise packages Augsburg,
who had Christoph Janker sent
off midway through the second half, completely shut out
Dortmund in the last half hour
and climbed into fourth place on
33 points courtesy of their third
successive league win.
Dortmund, who take on
Juventus in the Champions
League round of 16 this month,
are 18th with 16 points after their
11th league loss this season.
Coach Juergen Klopp was left
speechless after the game while
goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller
and defender Mats Hummels
went straight to speak to their
furious fans.
Dortmund showed attacking
spirit in the ﬁrst half but failed
to intimidate the visitors.
Argentine Bobadilla riﬂed
in from close range after four
Dortmund players failed to stop
a charging Halil Altintop in the
50th minute.
Augsburg kept pressing for
a second goal but held back
after Janker was sent off for
bringing down Pierre-Emerick
Aubameyang outside the box with
only keeper Alex Manninger to
beat.
Dortmund failed to make the
extra man count and did not
carve out a single chance until the
ﬁnal minute when Ciro Immobile’s
close-range header was saved by
Manninger.
Hamburg SV, also former
Bundesliga champions, eased
their relegation fears by beating
Paderborn 3-0, ending a league
goal drought that had lasted 398
minutes.
Rafael van der Vaart converted
a penalty after Hamburg were
awarded the fastest Bundesliga
spot-kick since timings were
introduced in 2004-05 just eight
seconds into the game.
REUTERS
Bundesliga Results
Wednesday’s Matches
Borussia Dortmund 0 Augsburg 1
(Bobadilla 49)
Hoffenheim 1 (Bicakcic 34) Werder Bremen
2 (Di Santo 2, Bargfrede 52)
Hertha Berlin 0 Bayer Leverkusen 1
(Kiessling 49)
Cologne 0 VfB Stuttgart 0
Paderborn 0 Hamburg 3 (Van der Vaart
2-pen, Jansen 72, Stieber 90+1)
ICC mulls
change in
bat size
MELBOURNE:
The
International Cricket Council
(ICC) is considering a limit on
bat size less than two weeks
before the World Cup begins on
February 14, in Australia and
New Zealand.
Dave Richardson, the ICC
chief executive, feels the balance
in modern-day cricket “may have
shifted a little bit too much”
towards the batsman, especially
in limited overs cricket.
“The balance may have shifted
a little bit too much because
sometimes poor shots or mis-hits
are going for six,” Richardson was
quoted as saying by a website.
“ Let us try and rectify that.
What we have done up until
now is try and maximise the
size of the boundary. You will see
for the World Cup, most of the
grounds in Australia in particular, which allow for big playing
surfaces, boundary ropes will be
pushed back to at least 90 yards
where possible,” Richardson said.
New milestones have been
achieved by batsmen frequently
of late, the most recent being AB
de Villiers’s record breaking hundred off 31 balls, surpassing the
effort of Corey Anderson, who
had reached three ﬁgures less
than a year ago off 36 balls.
“No one begrudges an AB de
Villiers, who plays some superb
shots, Brendon McCullum, Kumar
Sangakkara, they are exceptionally talented and no one minds if
they hit some great shots which
go for six. But where some batsmen are mis-hitting balls and it
is just carrying over the rope and
going for a six instead of being
caught at the boundary, that is
what some cricket people believe
has become unfair.
“The bats are so good these
days that the sweet spot is much
larger than it would have been 1015 years ago. The MCC ( World
Cricket Committee), as law makers, and the ICC will be looking at
giving perhaps some consideration to placing limitations on the
depth of a bat in particular,” said
Richardson.
However, MCC’s World Cricket
Committee had decided against
changes to the law governing bat
size. According to Appendix E of
the Laws of Cricket, the length of
the bat is limited to 38 inches and
the width to 4.25 inches.
AGENCIES
SL offers $1m
bonus to lift Cup
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s government yesterday announced
a million-dollar bonus to the
national cricket team if they win
this month’s cricket World Cup
to be played in New Zealand and
Australia.
“We have decided to offer this
money to be shared among the
team as an incentive for them
to bring the World Cup,” government spokesman Rajitha
Senaratne told reporters.
Sri Lanka won the World Cup
in 1996.
AFP
FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2015
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com
SPORT
21
Horse Racing
Results
Thoroughbred Graduation Plate
Distance: 1600m
Running Time: 1:34:37
(Read under as horse, trainer and jockey)
Rising Dawn, Jassim Al Ghazali, Stephan
Ladjadj
Bretherton, Jassim Al Ghazali, Yanis
Aouabed
Horses charge down
the track during
the Qatar Gold
Sword race at the
Qatar Racing and
Equestrian Club
(QREC) in Doha
yesterday.
Leafcutter, M. Hussain, Marco Monteriso
Thoroughbred Handicap Rated 80-100
Distance: 1600m
Running Time: 1:35:06
Archers Prize, Z. Mohsen, L. Dettori
Blackdown Fair, I. Al Malki, Gary Carter
Under The Radar, Jassim Al Ghazali, Harry
Bentley
Local Thoroughbred Conditions
Distance: 1400m
Running Time: 1:23:25
Al Hareth, Jassim Al Ghazali, Harry Bentley
Sraab, Ahmed Kobeissi, Gerald Avranche
Majd, Majid Safedeen, Alberto Sanna
Smart-trained Taraf seizes
Qatar Gold Sword glory
Dettori gives joy to Al Ghazali camp as Dubday wins Qatar Gold Trophy
Qatar Silver Sword
Distance: 1600m
Running Time: 1:44:31
Al Murabitoon, Jassim Al Ghazali, Harry
Bentley
AJS Intifadah, M. Al Yaqout, P. Convertino
Kimfalah, Jassim Al Ghazali, O.Peslier
Qatar Silver Trophy
Distance: 1600m
Running Time: 1:34:24
Itorio, Jassim Al Ghazali, Stephan Ladjadj
Izzthatright, Jassim Al Ghazali, Harry
Bentley
The Blue Eye, Jassim Al Ghazali, O.Peslier
DOHA: Julian Smart-trained
Taraf yesterday galloped to
Qatar Gold Sword triumph as
jockey B Doyle celebrated victory in the feature race at the
Qatar Racing and Equestrian
Club (QREC) where racing
legend Frankie Dettori won
the Qatar Gold Trophy in race
seven.
Taraf outpaced stable-mate
Haashed to the winning post as
Doyle picked up the top prize of
QR885,000 in the 2,200m marathon at QREC.
Kassam, ridden by J P
Guillambert, ﬁnished exactly
two-and-half lengths behind
the day’s winner, who topped
the 13-entry race with a time of
2:26.27. Haashed, ridden by Marco
Monteriso, ﬁnished a length
behind Taraf.
Racing legend Dettori brought
cheer to the Jassim Al Ghazali
camp by guiding Dubday, who won
the Derby on his Qatar debut last
season, to victory in the 2,200m
turf race.
Dubday, currently the highest-rated thoroughbred trained
in Qatar, ﬁnished the race with
a time of 2:14.33. Ponfeigh, ridden by Liam Jones and trained by
Debbie Mountain, ﬁnished second.
Y Bentaher-trained Amico Mio
— who had Monteriso in the saddle — ﬁnished in third spot.
Earlier, Dettori warmed up
with a win in race two, sealing
Qatar Gold Trophy (Gr 2 Pa)
Distance: 2000m
Running Time: 2:10:81
Raddad, A. Marzooqi, Asad Al Seyabi
Al Majh’Hoor, J. Smart, B.Doyle
Al Anga , J. Smart, W. J Lee
Qatar Gold Trophy (Gr 1)
Distance: 2200m
Running Time: 2:14:33
Dubday, Jassim Al Ghazali, L. Dettori
Ponfeigh, Debbie Mountain, Liam Jones
Amico Mio, Y. Bentaher, Marco Monteriso
Qatar Gold Sword
Distance: 2200m
Running Time: 2:26:77
Taraf , J. Smart, B.Doyle
Racing legend Frankie Dettori jumps for joy after winning the Qatar Gold Trophy with Dubday at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club (QREC) in
Doha yesterday. RIGHT: Jockey B Doyle and Taraf pose after winning the Qatar Gold Sword race yesterday.
victory with Archers Prize which
was trained by Z Mohsen.
Blackdown Fair, ridden by Gary
Carter, ﬁnished second, while
Under The Radar, who had Harry
Bentley in the saddle, ended in
third spot in the 1600m race.
Also yesterday, Raddad was a
convincing winner in the Qatar
Gold Trophy as jockey Asad Al
Seyabi celebrated a rare win in
the 2,000m race.
Trained by A Marzooqi, Raddad
clocked a time of 2:10.81.
Al Majh’Hoor, ridden by Doyle,
ﬁnished second while Al Anga,
who had W J Lee in the saddle,
ﬁnished in third spot.
In other winners yesterday,
Stephan Ladjadj won race one
and ﬁve while popular British
jockey Bentley clinched races
three and four.
Yesterday’s feature race event
was the precursor to the blue
riband of the season, The Emir’s
Sword set to be stage at the end
of this month.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa
Al Thani-owned Assy (AmerMargouia) was the winner of the
ExxonMobil Qatar-sponsored
Qatar Gold Sword in 2014.
ExxonMobil were the ofﬁcial
partners of the Qatar Gold Sword
race yesterday also.
“ExxonMobil Qatar and QREC
share a long and fruitful partnership,” Sheikh Mohamed bin Faleh
Al Thani, Chairman of the QREC,
said. “We thank ExxonMobil
Qatar for its ongoing support
Spirit of Qatar wins SuperCat race one
DOHA: Respective race one
victories in the SuperCat Lite,
SuperVee and SuperCat categories at the inaugural UIM
Qatar Cup went to Victory
S-3, Outerlimits and Spirit of
Qatar 20 at Doha Bay yesterday
afternoon.
Qatar’s Mohammed Al Nasser
and Nasser Al Nasser reached the
chequered ﬂag in fourth position
in their Supercat Lite race but
Ali Al Neama and Billy Moore
were in superb form to win the
SuperCat race.
Victory S-3’s Arif Saif Al
Zafeen and Nadir bin Hendi
qualiﬁed on pole for the 10-lap
SuperCat Lite race and managed
to fend off a strong ﬁeld to pass
the chequered ﬂag seven seconds
ahead of eventual race runnersup Robert Nunziato and Dan
Lawrence in The Hulk.
Team Abu Dhabi’s Faleh Al
Mansoori and Rashed Al Tayer
qualiﬁed third and rounded
off the podium positions, while
Mohammed and Nasser Al Nasser
climbed from ﬁfth, at the expense
of Grant Bruggemann and Gary
Ballough in Smart Marine, to
snatch fourth place. LA Marine
retired on the last lap and Smart
Marine succumbed one lap before.
Victory S-3 in action during race one of the SuperCat Lite category at
Doha Bay yesterday.
Spirit of Qatar 20’s Al Neama
and Moore had claimed pole for
the SuperCat race on Wednesday
and they were not to be denied an
emphatic victory on home waters.
They brought their MTi to the
ﬁnish of the 12-lap race 16 seconds in front of the Outerlimits
crew of Joe Sgro and Steve Curtis
— the winners of the SuperVee
category.
The Kiwi crew of Wayne Valden
and Chris Hanley were third in
Pro Floors Racing and Jay Cooke
and Randy Sweers were fourth.
Twisted Metal’s Brett Furshman
and Billy Glueck retired on lap
six.
Pole Position qualifying for
Saturday’s Qatar round of the
2015 UIM World Offshore 225
Championship took place at
lunchtime on Doha Bay. EFE
Project topped the times with a
quickest lap of 1min 57.671sec.
Bigchefs-EFE Project qualiﬁed
second albeit over two seconds
behind.
The ﬁrst C1 and C2 races for
an impressive array of Qatari,
Kuwaiti and Bahraini teams took
place yesterday morning on the
shorter Inshore course.
Ten laps were on the agenda
for the C1 ﬂeet and Kuwait’s
Mohammed
Turki
Jumaa
snatched a 3.12 second victory
from Qatar’s Jassim Abdullah
Al Buainain. An impressive 10
boats took the start and Kuwait’s
Khaled Ahmed Al-Hassan
rounded off the podium.
Six C2 boats ran for nine
laps in their opening race and
the Kuwaiti Ahmed Sulaiman
Al-Fassam reached the chequered ﬂag with a margin of just
under six seconds from fellow
countryman Ahmed Fouad Abul.
Qatar’s Rashid Al-Muhannadi
was third.
Today is a more relaxed day for
the international crews and the
local aqua bike racers take centre stage in front of the pit area.
After a brieﬁng and technical
checks, the Pro Marathon competitors have a 30-minute practice session from 1pm, before their
race starts at 1.45pm.
Both the Inshore and Offshore
courses are then open for afternoon testing for the remainder of
the UIM Qatar Cup ﬁeld.
THE PENINSULA
for horse racing in Qatar, which
serves to strengthen and protect a
sport fostered by our forefathers,”
he added.
“It is our hope that events like
the prestigious Qatar Gold Sword
Race further elevate the status of
horse racing excellence not only
in Qatar, but also throughout the
region and around the world.”
ExxonMobil Qatar shares
Qatar’s view that elevating the
country’s status in the international sports arena helps highlight
Haashed, J. Smart, Marco Monteriso
Kassam, Jassim Al Ghazali, J.P Guillambert
opportunities for long-term
investments in the country and
further strengthens Qatar’s role
as an international business and
investment hub.
Events like The Emir’s Sword,
Qatar Gold Sword Race, the
Qatar ExxonMobil Open tennis
event, and the 2022 FIFA World
Cup add prominence to Qatar’s
position in the global sports arena.
Racing resumes next week on
February 11 and 12.
THE PENINSULA
2015 Qatar Cup – Race 1 Results
SuperCat Lite/Super Stock
1. Nadir Bin Hendi (ARE)/Arif Saif Al-Zafeen (ARE) Victory S-3 34min 07.2sec
2. Robert Nunziato (USA)/Dan Lawrence (USA) The Hulk S-1 34min 14.6sec
3. Faleh Al Mansoori (ARE)/Rashed Al-Tayer (ARE) Team Abu Dhabi 5 35min 13.8sec
4. Mohammed Al Nasser (QAT)/Nasser Al Nasser (QAT) Spirit of Qatar 94 35min 16.2sec
SuperVee
1. Joe Sgro (USA)/Steve Curtis (GBR) Outerlimits 43 38min 07.8sec
Brett Furshman (USA)/Billy Glueck (USA) Twisted Metal 30 (Did not ﬁnish)
SuperCat
1. Ali Al Neama (QAT)/Billy Moore (USA) Spirit of Qatar 20 37min 51.9sec
2. Wayne Valder (NZL)/Chris Hanley (NZL) Pro Floors Racing 51 38min 27.5sec
3. Jay Cooke (USA)/Randy Sweers (USA) Racing for Cancer/Fast Boats 33 38min 29.9sec
4. Dan Lawrence (USA)/Ron Roman (USA) Motley Crew 00 39min 39.6sec
C1
1. Mohammed Turki Jumaa/Mohammed Saud Alrzaihan (KUW) 42min 28.30sec
2. Jassim Abdullah Al Buainain/Hassan Nasser Al Buainain (QAT) 42min 31.42sec
3. Khaled Ahmed Al Hassan/Hamad Youssef Al Sharah (KUW) 43min 19.10sec
4. Abdullah Youssef Mohammed/Abdullatif Al Omani (KWT) 43min 52.93sec
C2
1. Ahmed Sulaiman Al Fassam/Nasser Bader Al Fassam (KUW) 28min 31.98sec
2. Ahmed Fouad Abul/Abdullatif Mohammed Al-Omani (KUW) 28min 37.77sec
3. Rashid Al Muhannadi/Mohammed Jassim Al Harkan (QAT) 28min 59.98sec
4. Hamad Youssef Al Sharah/Abdulrazak Ahmed Al Hassan (KUW) 31min 04.80sec
UIM World Offshore 225 Championship – Pole Position result
1. EFE Project 1min 57.461sec
2. Bigchefs – EFE Project 2min 01.370sec
3. Besiktas – Isiklar 2min 01.805sec
4. S.T.F.A. 2min 06.953sec
Today’s Schedule
1pm-1.30pm: Practice Pro Marathon
1.45pm-2.15pm: Pro Marathon Race
2.30pm–4.30pm: Inshore and Offshore testing
FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2015
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com
22
SPORT
Qatar Rally kicks off in Doha
Action begins with Umm Wishah special stage, drivers from 11 nations taking part
DOHA: The 2015 QMMF Qatar
International Rally ofﬁcially got
under way with the ceremonial
start outside the Qatar Motor
and Motorcycle Federation’s
headquarters on Salwa road in
Doha yesterday.
Ahead of a dozen cars and
competitors from 11 nations lie
12 punishing desert special stages
that will decide the outcome of
the opening round of the FIA
Middle East Rally Championship
(MERC).
Nine of the drivers attended the
ofﬁcial pre-event press conference at the QMMF on Thursday
afternoon.
“For sure, I have the local experience,” said top seed and defending champion Nasser Saleh Al
Attiyah.
“I have raced here since 2002
and won the event 11 times in 12
years. But this rally is not easy.
It never has been. It is fast, technical and experience counts for
a lot.”
Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al Rajhi
has a strategy for success.
“I will drive ﬂat out for three
stages and see what happens and
where I am in relation to Khalid
(Al Qassimi) and Nasser. If I am
close, then I will push. If not, then
I will settle back. I need to ﬁnish
and score points.”
Both Iranian Subaru Imprezas
safely passed scrutineering checks
at the QMMF on their Qatar
debut.
“This is a big thing for Iran to
be involved in an FIA championship and for us to be here in
Qatar for the ﬁrst time,” said Ali
Mergarha.
“We are not here to win. We
are here to gain experience on
some terrain that is actually quite
similar in places to the tracks we
have near Shiraz. We will host the
MERC in May and I hope everyone will come to Iran and support
our rally.”
The QMMF also hosted an FIA
Action for Road Safety seminar
yesterday, with delegates from
the Syrian Automobile Club
attending the event that was
introduced by Hani Shaban, a
long-time organiser of motor
Quotes
Qatar’s Nasser
Saleh Al Attiyah
“For sure, I have the local
experience. I have raced
here since 2002 and
won the event 11 times in
12 years. But this rally is
not easy. It never
has been. It is fast,
technical and experience
counts for a lot.”
Saudi Arabia’s
Yazeed Al Rajhi
Riders taking part in the 2015 QMMF Qatar International Rally pose for a picture at the QMMF headquarters in Doha yesterday. Dakar Rally winner
and defending champion Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah (ﬁfth left) is seen along with other drivers. A dozen cars and competitors from 11 nations will be
competing in the 12 punishing desert special stages that will decide the outcome of the opening round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship
(MERC).
PICTURES BY: BAHER AMIN
sport in Syria and the assistant
clerk of the course of the QMMF
Qatar International Rally, and
moderated by Austrian consultant Claudia Gruber-Filippits.
Tomorrow (Friday), special
stage action gets under way
with a run through the opening
Umm Wishah special stage from
09.53hrs.
This is followed by stages
at Al-Shabana (10.21hrs) and
Al-Kharsaah (10.54hrs), before
crews return to the Qatar Aqua
Park for a regroup and midday
service.
The three special stages are
repeated at 1.22pm, 13.50pm and
2.23pm today before cars are kept
overnight in a Parc Ferme at the
Aqua Park.
The event ﬁnishes at the
QMMF on Saturday afternoon.
THE PENINSULA
2015 QMMF Qatar
International Rally
Starters:
Edith Weiss, the only female rider speaking during the pre-event press
conference of Qatar International Rally. RIGHT: Qatar’s Nasser Saleh
Al Attiyah.
1. Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah (QAT)/Matthieu
Baumel (FRA) Ford Fiesta RRC; 2. Khalid Al
Qassimi (ARE)/Chris Patterson (GBR) Citroën
DS3 RRC; 3. Yazeed Al Rajhi (SAU)/Michael Orr
(GBR) Ford Fiesta RRC; 4. Abdulaziz Al Kuwari
(QAT)/Killian Duffy (IRL) Ford Fiesta RRC; 5.
Abdullah Al Kuwari (QAT)/Enda Sherry (IRL)
Ford Fiesta R5; 6. Khalifa Al Attiyah (QAT)/Adel
Hussein (QAT) Ford Fiesta RRC; 7. Khalid Al
Suwaidi (QAT)/John Higgins (IRL) Ford Fiesta
RRC; 8. Salah bin Eidan (KUW)/Vili Oslaj
(SLO) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX; 11. Rashid
Al Naimi (QAT)/Arif Yousef Mohammed (ARE)
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X; 14. Mohammed
Ghalehbani (IRN)/Seyedmassood Vahedi (IRN)
Subaru Impreza; 15. Edith Weiss (GER)/Vicky
Psarakis (GRE) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX; 16.
Ali Mesgarha (IRN)/Vahidreza Vahdatinikzad
(IRN) Subaru Impreza
“I will drive ﬂat out for
three stages and see what
happens and where I am
in relation to Khalid (Al
Qassimi) and Nasser. If I
am close, then I will push.
If not, then I will settle
back. I need to ﬁnish and
score points.”
Ali Mergarha of Iran
“This is a big thing for
Iran to be involved in an
FIA championship and for
us to be here in Qatar for
the ﬁrst time. We are not
here to win. We are here to
gain experience on some
terrain that is actually
quite similar in places to
the tracks we have near
Shiraz. We will host the
MERC in May and I hope
everyone will come to Iran
and support our rally.”
Al Attiyah says smart navigation
key to victory in MERC opener
BY RIZWAN REHMAT
DOHA: Dakar Rally champion Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah
starts the 2015 FIA Middle East
Championship campaign on
home soil, knowing his mantra of
success is based on making few
mistakes on what is expected to
be a challenging terrain.
The ﬁrst round of the Qatar
International Rally kicks off
today with Al Attiyah itching
to get behind the wheel of his
Ford Fiesta along with co-driver
Mathieu Baumel.
“We have prepared well for this
event. This event doesn’t mean we
have to show speed all the time,” Al
Attiyah said ahead of today’s start.
“You don’t have to be clever.
You should have less number of
punctures, less damage to your
car. That will help you win Qatar
Rally,” the 43-year-old Qatari said
with his trademark smile in place.
Al Attiyah, a bronze medallist
at the London Olympic Games in
skeet shooting, said he wants to
make use of the home advantage
that he enjoys.
“This is an event I have won 11
times. This race is special for me.
It feels like home. I would like to
win again,” Al Attiyah said.
Al Attiyah, clearly Qatar’s most
popular sports personality, said
he had regained energy after a
gruelling Dakar Rally challenge
he won in Argentina and Chile.
“I am quite ready. I am ready.
We did 9000kms in Dakar Rally.
We didn’t have any problem. But
in the last 10 days I was tired but
thanks to Aspetar I recovered
Ludo Loffreda, in action during the free practice session of Radical ME
Cup, at the Losail International Circuit yesterday.
Ashkanani on pole
for Porsche Cup
Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah carries out a pre-event test in the Qatar desert.
really quickly. Thanks to their
expert help I feel ready,” he
warned.
Al Attiyah said the 12 special
stages were carefully charted by
QMMF, the hosting body.
“I would like to thank QMMF
and the people who make this
event successful. The stages here
won’t be easy to handle. You need
a lot of experience. I think organisers have laid out a challenging
course. Good job on their part,” Al
Attiyah said.
Al Attiyah said he is ready for
what would be a busy season with
plenty of events to look at. “We
are so happy to start the season in
Dakar Rally. That was a good race
for us. We hope we can continue
in the same fashion. We have a lot
of experience. We can do result
here as well. Our target is to win
the race,” he said.
“This will be a busy year. I
would like to welcome Iranian
drivers to Qatar for the ﬁrst time.
We look forward to going to Iran
for the ﬁrst ever race in Iran,” Al
Attiyah said.
Al Attiyah said he had teamedup with Baumel, his new co-driver
who brought immediate luck to the
Qatari camp. “Yes, I have new codriver. Mathieu was with me for a
few events last year. Mathieu is one
of the best co-drivers in the world.
He shows great skill,” he said.
“We started from Dakar 2015.
He make a good job and we
decided to bring him to Middle
East.
“I have decided to stick to one
driver to make my plans easier to
handle. I am so happy to have his
services. I think we will have a lot
of fun this year,” he added.
THE PENINSULA
DOHA: Zaid Ashkanani of
Kuwait will start from the pole
position in Race 1 of the Porsche
GT3 Cup Challenge ME.
Yesterday in the qualifying session at the Losail International
Circuit Ashkanani logged the
fastest time of 1:59.545.
The leader of the championship
and double winner in the previous
race at Losail, Clemens Schmid
from Al Naboda Racing Team
impressed in the free practice session whereas Ashkanani clocked
the second best time.
Besides the Porsche Cup,
yesterday the Losail Circuit
hosted the free practice sessions
of Radical ME Cup.
Romain Lutter and Ludo
Loffreda were the fastest drivers
with a lap time of 2:00.102.
Today, the Circuit will host
the fourth round of Qatar
Challenge.
The second race for Radical
willbe held today at 5:30pm and
the race for Qatar Challenge is
at 7:00pm. At 8:15pm, the Race
2 of Porsche GT3 will bring end
to the racing action for the night.
THE PENINSULA
FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2015
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com
BREAK TIME
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1
The Gambler (2D/Drama) – 10:45am, 1:00, 3:10,
7:30, 9:40 &11:55pm; Mortdecai (2D/Action) – 5:20pm
Jupiter Ascending (2D/Adventure) – 2:00, 7:00,
9:30 & 11:55pm; 3D – 11:30am & 4:30pm
Paddington (2D/Family) – 10:20am, 12:20, 2:20 & 4:20pm
Son of A Gun (2D/Action) –7:00, 9:15 & 11:30pm
A Most Violent Year (2D/Crime)
– 10:10am, 2:40, 7:10, 9:40 & 11:50pm
Taken 3 (2D/Action) – 12:30 & 4:40pm
Yellowbird (2D/Animation) – 10:30am, 12:30,
2:30 & 6:30pm; Wild Card (2D/Action) – 4:30,
8:30, 10:30pm & 12:30am
Stone Hearst Asylum (2D/Thriller)– 11:10am
4:00 & 9:00pm; American Sniper (2D/Action)
– 1:30, 6:20 & 11:15pm
TV LISTINGS
SHOWING AT VILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER
TEL: 444933989
444517001
10:10
10:35
11:25
12:15
13:05
13:30
13:55
14:20
15:10
Shamitabh (2D/Hindi) – 12:30, 6:00 & 11:55pm
Selma (2D/Drama) – 10:00am, 3:30 & 9:00pm
Vitamin (2D/Arabic) – 11:15am, 1:30, 6:10, 8:30 & 11:00pm
Mortdecai (2D/Action) – 3:50pm
Jupiter Ascending (IMAX 3D/Action) – 10:00am,
12:20, 2:40, 5:00, 7:20, 9:50pm & 12:10am
Wild Card (2D/Action) – 1:30, 6:30 & 11:30pm
Jupiter Ascending (2D/Action) – 11:00am, 4:00 & 9:00pm
The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2D/Animation) – 2:30pm
Yellowbird (2D/Animation) – 5:00pm
A Most Violent Year (2D/Crime) – 8:30pm
Shamitabh (2D/Hindi) – 10:45pm
Yennai Arindhaal (2D/Tamil) – 2:00pm
Son of A Gun (2DCrime) – 5:00pm
MALL
Jupiter Ascending (2D/Adventure) – 7:00 & 9:15pm
The Gambler (2D/Drama) – 11:30pm
The Gambler (2D/Drama) – 2:30pm
3
American Sniper (2D/Action) – 4:30pm
Vitamin (2D/Arabic) – 6:45pm
Mariyam Mukku (2D/Malayalam) – 9:00pm
08:00
08:30
09:00
10:00
10:30
11:00
11:30
12:00
12:30
13:00
14:00
14:30
15:00
16:00
17:00
17:30
18:00
19:00
19:30
20:00
20:30
21:00
22:00
22:30
23:00
How It’s Made
Airplane Repo
Street Outlaws
Hellriders
Auction Hunters
The Liquidator
Auction Hunters
Tethered
Fat N’ Furious:
Rolling Thunder
Fast N’ Loud
How It’s Made
How It’s Made
Dual Survival
Overhaulin’
Kindig Customs
The Liquidator
Auction Hunters
Overhaulin’
Kindig Customs
Fantomworks
Dual Survival
Fast N’ Loud
Overhaulin’
Kindig Customs
Fantomworks
16:00
16:50
17:15
17:40
18:30
19:20
20:10
20:35
21:00
21:50
22:40
23:30
00:20
01:10
02:00
02:50
Stone Hearst Asylum (2D/Thriller) – 6:30pm
2
23
News
Earthrise
Al Jazeera World
News
Inside Story
News
The Stream
News
101 East
NEWSHOUR
News
Inside Story
The System
NEWSHOUR
News
The Stream
NEWSHOUR
News
Fault Lines
News
Inside Story
NEWSHOUR
News
Wildlife Warzone
Lifelines: The Quest
For Global Health
Wild Life
14:45 Deadly Islands
15:40 Tanked
16:35 Shamwari: A
Wild Life
17:30 Sharkageddon
18:25 Treehouse
19:20
21:10
22:05
23:00
Masters
Wild Things
With Dominic
Monaghan
Gangland
Killers
Treehouse
Masters
Wild Things
With Dominic
Monaghan
11:30 Barbie As The
Princess And
The Pauper
Night At The
Museum
Ploddy Police
Car
Space Dogs
From Up On
Poppy Hill
Back To The
Sea
Ploddy Police
Car
Space Dogs
13:00
A Most Violent Year (2D/Adventure) – 11:15pm
1
13:20 Shamwari: A
15:00
The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2D/Animation) – 2:15pm
Yellowbird (3D/Animation) – 4:45pm
16:15
18:00
A Most Violent Year (2D/Crime) – 6:15pm
Stone Hearst Asylum (2D/Thriller) – 8:30pm
Yennai Arindhaal (2D/Tamil) – 10:15pm
10:10
10:35
11:00
11:25
11:50
12:15
12:40
13:05
13:30
Son of A Gun (2DCrime) – 2:30pm
2
The Gambler (2D/Drama) – 4:30 & 9:00pm
LANDMARK
Jupiter Ascending (3D/Adventure) – 6:45 & 11:00pm
3
Yennai Arindhaal (2D/Tamil) – 2:00pm
Mariyam Mukku (2D/Malayalam) – 5:00pm
Vitamin (2D/Arabic) – 7:15pm
A Most Violent Year (2D/Crime) – 9:15pm
Son of A Gun (2DCrime) – 11:30pm
13:55
Yellowbird (2D/Animation) – 2:30 & 4:00pm
1
Shamitabh (2D/Hindi) – 5:45 & 10:45pm
14:20
15:00
15:45
16:10
17:00
19:05
19:30
20:20
22:00
22:25
22:50
23:10
23:35
Jupiter Ascending (2D/Adventure) – 8:30pm
Stone Hearst Asylum (2D/Thriller) – 2:30pm
The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2D/Animation) – 4:30pm
ROYAL
2
American Sniper (2D/Action) – 7:00pm
The Gambler (2D/Drama) – 9:15pm
PLAZA
Jupiter Ascending (2D/Adventure) – 11:15pm
Son of A Gun (2DCrime) – 2:30pm
3
The Gambler (2D/Drama) – 4:30pm
A Most Violent Year (2D/Crime) – 6:45 & 11:15pm
Vitamin (2D/Arabic) – 9:00pm
22:00
Mother
14:30 Community
15:00 Hot In Cleveland
15:30 The Daily Show With
23:30
Waale
17:00 Maharakshak
18:00
18:30
19:00
19:30
20:00
20:30
21:30
22:00
01:00
Aryan
Gulf Rangoli
Season 4
10 on 10
Hello Pratibha
Jodha Akbar
Jamai Raja
Parwaaz
Zee Connect
Season 4
Agneepath
Best of Fear
Files
10:00 Son Of Rambow
12:00 So I Married An
Axe Murderer
14:00 Held Up (1999)
16:00 Son Of The
Mask-PG
18:00 In A World...
20:00 The Incredible
22:00
00:00
02:00
Burt
WonderstonePG15
The Details
Bad Milo!
In A World...
Jon Stewart
16:00 Modern Family
16:30 The Goldbergs
17:00 Late Night With Seth
11:15 Oggy & The
Meyers
18:00 New Girl
18:30 How I Met Your
19:00
19:30
20:00
21:00
21:30
22:30
23:00
Cockroaches:
The Movie
Mother
Community
Hot In Cleveland
The Tonight Show
Starring Jimmy
Fallon
The Daily Show With
Jon Stewart
Modern Family
Silicon Valley
South Park
12:00 Fight Science
14:00 Megacities
15:00 Mega Factories:
13:00 A Family
Supercars
16:00 Mega
Reunion
14:45 Grace Of
Breakdown
Monaco
16:45 The Wolverine
19:00 Ender’s Game
21:00 Tinker Bell And
The Pirate Fairy
22:45 The Legend Of
Hercules
17:00 Live Free Or Die
18:00 Hunter Hunted
20:00 Mega
Breakdown
21:00 Live Free Or Die
22:00 Hunter Hunted
23:00 Breakout
C R O S S W O R D
HYPER
1
2
3
4
5
14
6
7
8
9
18
23
28
32
33
35
24
25
26
29
Yesterday’s
answer
By Jerry Scott and Rick Kirkman
30
31
34
36
37
38
How to play Kakuro:
The kakuro grid, unlike in sudoku, can be of any
size. It has rows and columns, and dark cells
like in a crossword. And, just like in a crossword,
some of the dark cells will contain numbers. Some
cells will contain two numbers.
However, in a crossword the numbers reference
clues. In a kakuro, the numbers are all you get!
They denote the total of the digits in the row or
column referenced by the number.
Within each
collection of cells
- called a run - any
of the numbers 1
to 9 may be used
but, like sudoku,
each number may
only be used once.
13
19
27
39
40
42
12
21
22
Yesterday’s answer
11
16
20
How to play Hyper Sudoku:
A Hyper Sudoku Puzzle is solved by filling the numbers from 1 to 9 into the blank cells. A Hyper
Sudoku has unlike Sudoku 13 regions (four regions overlap with the nine standard regions). In all
regions the numbers from 1 to 9 can appear only once. Otherwise, a Hyper Sudoku is solved like
a normal Sudoku.
10
15
17
Baby Blues
20:00
13:00 My Boys
13:30 Better Off Ted
14:00 How I Met Your
Suite Life On Deck
Suite Life On Deck
That’s So Raven
That’s So Raven
A.N.T. Farm
A.N.T. Farm
Hannah Montana
Hannah Montana
Wizards Of Waverly
Place
Wizards Of Waverly
Place
Austin & Ally
Girl Meets World
Liv And Maddie
Violetta
Snow Buddies
Girl Meets World
Violetta
I Didn’t Do It
Suite Life On Deck
A.N.T. Farm
Shake It Up
Wolfblood
Wolfblood
13:00 Total Siyappa
16:00 Neeli Chatri
43
41
44
45
49
46
47
48
T
O
W
N
O
B
O
E
J
O
A
D
S
U
P
T
O
P
S
E
A
M
P
A
T
E
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
ACROSS
1 What group founded in
1960 currently has 12
members?
5 What Fox series was set
in Newport Beach?
10 Cab locale
14 What sport has divisions
called chukkers?
15 Rock band?
16 Wizards
17 Classic 1940s-’50s quiz
show
20 Of a bodily partition
21 Winter warmer
22 What are Greek P’s?
23 What automaker makes
the Yukon and Acadia?
26 Pace
27 What is the popular name
for daminozide?
28 The Police and others
30 CBS procedural
32 What do four gills make?
33 Invited to one’s penthouse,
say
34 Muddle
35 À la a siren
61
62
37 School head, slangily
38 Thundered
39 What is hopscotch called
in New York City?
40 Some tides
41 What company owns
MapQuest?
42 What notorious 1999
computer virus was
named after an exotic
dancer?
45 States of madness
49 What rating does the
Michelin Guide give to “a
very good restaurant”?
50 Sacred petitions
51 Mentally pooped
53 Directional suffix
54 Incredulous response
55 ___ Palmas, Spain
56 Response to an oversharer
57 Pots
58 W.W. II inits.
59 Multitude
60 Mercedes roadsters
61 “Scientia potentia ___”
62 C train?
DOWN
1 Goes (for)
2 Juice provider
3 What do mahouts
ride?
4 Twister
5 What best-selling
2004 young adult
novel was written
entirely in the
form of instant
messages?
6 What is the oldest
academic quiz
competition in
the U.S. (since
1948)?
7 Contents of
Suisse banks?
8 What is 1/100 of
a Danish krone?
9 Carry’s partner
10 Fastidiousness
11 Kama Sutra
illustrations, e.g.
12 Converts to
currency
13 What California
congressman
heads the
House Oversight
Committee?
18 Future profs,
maybe
M S
V
I T
A
R D F R
O
A I
A N E
J I T S
E R A
T S
S
T
A T
A Z Z E
O A T
O O L
T M E
R I A
A N S
E
R
E
S
T
U
S
E
A
L
T
A
K
E
S
T
G E
P E N
O M
S
X
S
A
I O N
B L A
L I D
Y O U
19 Dress smartly,
with “out”
23 What were
Russell and Anna
Huxtable on “The
Cosby Show”?
24 Tiny pests
25 Was able to
27 One who makes
an impression?
28 Superskinny
29 What was Caleb
in the Bible?
31 What word
precedes “Eyes,”
“Girl,” “Love” and
“Mama” in Top
40 song titles?
36 Ones with
breaking points?
39 Exhibiting the
most civility
41 Oxygen users
42 Sacred pieces
43 What is French
for “huge”?
44 Neighbor of
Teaneck, N.J.
45 Country singer
West
46 Disturbed
47 Not acquired, say
48 Solicits from
52 Morse bit
S
H
R
I
E E
S K
T S
D
P
E R
M I
I C
N K
O
R
C
O
H
O
R
T
A
B
E
T
N
O
T
A
S
S
T
S
S
I
P O
L U
O X
D
L
T I
A M
M O
K
R
E
M
E
S
A
T
E
D
A
L
E
S
P
E
R
T
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE
FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2015
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com
24
MORNING BREAK
Car-Free Day
PRAYER TIME
Fajr (Dawn)
4:57
Shorook (Sunrise)
6:15
Zuhr (Noon)
11:48
Asr (Afternoon)
2:58
Maghrib (Sunset)
5:22
Isha (Night)
6:52
WEATHER
Today
Saturday
Sunday
Clear
Clear
Clear
High: 27°
Low: 17°
High: 24°
Low: 16
Weather
Conditions:
Hazy to misty
at places at first
becomes moderate
temperature
daytime with slight
dust and relatively
cold by night.
High: 24°
Low: 19
DOHA - SUN & SEA
SUN
TIDE
SEA
SUNRISE | SUNSET
HIGH | LOW
WIND
06:15 17:22
06:30 & 18:15 13:30 & 00:00
15-22/25 KT
TODAY
THE REGION
TOMORROW
HI/LO WEATHER
HI/LO WEATHER
MUSCAT
25/20
Clear
25/21
Partly cloudy
MAKKAH
34/24
Clear
35/23
Clear
KUWAIT
24/08
Clear
24/14
Clear
BAHRAIN
23/13
Clear
23/14
Clear
SANAA
24/05
Clear
24/07
Clear
RIYADH
23/13
Clear
25/15
Clear
DUBAI
26/16
Clear
28/18
Clear
BAGHDAD
22/08
Clear
21/13
Mostly cloudy
TODAY
THE WORLD
TOMORROW
HI/LO WEATHER
ATHENS
17/08
Rain
HI/LO WEATHER
16/07
Clear
WASHINGTON
04/-3
Partly cloudy
10/02
Partly cloudy
SYDNEY
27/18
Partly cloudy
32/20
Clear
LONDON
06/01
Partly cloudy
08/03
Mostly cloudy
PARIS
06/01
Partly cloudy
08/03
Mostly cloudy
ISTANBUL
16/08
Clear
10/04
Mostly cloudy
MANILA
29/21
Partly cloudy
30/22
Clear
DHAKA
27/16
Partly cloudy
27/17
Partly cloudy
DELHI
22/12
Clear
22/12
Chance of storm
ISLAMABAD
15/09
Partly cloudy
16/06
Chance of rain
Top Grammy contenders ﬁnd
grassroots strength in streaming
LOS ANGELES: The old-fashioned radio still reigns as consumers’ top source for ﬁnding new music, but at Sunday’s Grammy
Awards, online streaming might show itself to be the fast track
to industry recognition. With the likes of record-of-the-year nominees Iggy Azalea and Meghan Trainor breaking out on YouTube and
streaming services such as Spotify, this year’s Grammys could be a
celebration for one of music’s few growing segments.
Among the nominees for this year’s top awards — song, record
and album of the year — only British soul singer Sam Smith and
R&B artist Pharrell Williams had a hit that placed among the top 10
radio songs in total plays in 2014, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
“I don’t think anyone who is voting thinks that the Grammys happen in a world where streaming doesn’t exist,” said William Gruger,
the social/streaming chart manager at Billboard.
The online success of Azalea’s rap hit “Fancy” with singer Charli
XCX and Trainor’s ode to full-ﬁgured women “All About that Bass”
underscore the power that streaming - and its young-skewing consumers - have in elevating a song’s proﬁle at the grassroots.
Such is the promise of streaming that Apple Inc bought headphone maker Beats for $3 billion last year, in part for its curated
music service. Grammy voters, however, are supposed to cast their
ballots only on artistic merit, said Neil Portnow, the president of
the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which hands
out the awards. “The fact that music is available to consumers via
streaming and via download or via traditional product, that doesn’t
have anything to do with the awards process itself,” Portnow said.
“There isn’t anything about streaming that relates directly to how
those awards are given.” But falling album sales and digital song
downloads have elevated streaming’s prominence within the industry. In December, Billboard and data compiler Nielsen SoundScan
revamped the weekly album chart to include online streaming.
Services such as Spotify, Beats and Google’s YouTube helped propel
on-demand music streams to 55 percent growth in 2014. “The industry
is paying more attention to it especially when Billboard is changing
their charts,” said Lyndsey Parker, editor of Yahoo Music. REUTERS
People ride their bicycles along a freeway during the Car and Motorcycle Free Day in Bogota, Colombia, yesterday. Residents of Bogota are asked
not to use their cars in an attempt to reduce environmental pollution.
Photo raises $1.2m to
send US pupils to Harvard
NEW YORK: It began as a heart-warming
photograph of a New York school boy that
went viral. Now an online fund has raised
$1.2m to send him and his classmates to
Harvard.
When Vidal Chastanet, 13, bumped into
photographer Brandon Stanton in one of the
most troubled neighbourhoods in New York,
neither had no idea what would happen next.
Stanton runs a wildly popular blog with 12
million Facebook followers that proﬁles pictures of ordinary New Yorkers and captions
them with a short quote summing up their life.
He featured Vidal dressed in a black hoodie
and suppressing a smile, with an inspiring
quote saying that school principal, Nadia
Lopez, was the person who most inﬂuenced
him.
“She tells us that each time somebody fails
out of school, a new jail cell gets built. And one
time she made every student stand up, one at
a time, and she told each one of us that we
matter,” he said.
Stanton was so intrigued he went to meet
Lopez and started proﬁling staff and students
at Mott Hill Bridges Academy in Brownsville,
the neighbourhood with soaring crime rates.
Lopez spoke of her dream of taking her
deprived pupils to visit Harvard, one of
America’s most prestigious universities, to
encourage them to think big and broaden
their horizons.
To fulﬁll that vision, they set up an online
fundraising appeal on January 22, which has
now raised more than $1.2m.
The money raised will go towards Harvard
trips and a scholarship fund for graduates,
with Vidal to be the ﬁrst recipient.
Until Vidal spoke out, Lopez said she had
been on the verge of quitting, burnt out after
four years as principal of a school where she
feared she was struggling to make a difference.
“I’m going to be very honest, up until this
moment I didn’t know I mattered, I didn’t
know that anybody cared what I was doing,”
NBC ﬁlmed her telling students at the school.
The story has generated massive media
interest, culminating with Vidal, Lopez and
Stanton being ﬂown to Los Angeles to appear
on popular The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
DeGeneres said that discount retailer
Target would outﬁt every classroom at the
academy with state-of-the-art technology and
give grants to other schools in the community
totalling $100,000.
“The outpouring of individuals around the
world, speaks volumes. It’s about those children,” Lopez told Ellen.
“The response has been unbelievable,” said
AFP
Stanton.
Botanists ﬁnd unknown
‘warty’ orchid species
LONDON: British botanists
have found a previously unrecorded orchid in the mountains
of Cambodia, they said yesterday, ahead of a major orchid
show at London’s Kew Gardens.
The new species was collected in Cambodia’s Cardamom
Mountains as part of an expedition in 2013 and brought back to
London.
But researchers only discovered it was a new species when
it ﬂowered in one of Kew’s glasshouses in December.
The tubular maroon ﬂower
is about a centimetre long but,
while other orchids are known
for their delicate beauty, it has a
more distinctive look.
“What makes it different from
the others is that it has big warts
on the ﬂower part,” said Andre
Schuiteman, part of the team
who discovered it.
He added that researchers had
faced challenging conditions to
carry out their expedition.
“There are indeed illegal loggers and sometimes drug smugglers so we had armed guards,”
he said.
The new species has not yet
been named but belongs to the
genus Porpax.
The announcement came as
the Royal Botanic Gardens at
Kew in west London prepares
to host a festival of orchids from
Thursday, although the new ﬁnd
is not part of it.
AFP
A picture released by the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew yesterday, and
taken on November 27, 2014 shows a previously undocumented species
of orchid belonging to the genus Porpax, which is so far unnamed,
ﬂowering in the glass house at the premises in west London.
Internet service to be ‘public utility’ under US plan
WASHINGTON: The top US
telecom
regulator
proposed
Wednesday to regulate broadband Internet service providers
as “public utility” carriers, in a
renewed effort to enforce “net
neutrality” rules.
Federal
Communications
Commission chairman Tom
Wheeler unveiled the plan which
aims to prevent Internet providers from playing favorites or
blocking some services or allowing
others to pay for “fast lanes.”
The new proposal comes a
year after a federal court struck
down the FCC neutrality rules,
saying it lacked the authority
because Internet providers were
not “common carriers” under
US telecom law. The plan, which
is expected to unleash a fresh
legal and political battle, aims to
resolve the impasse by reclassifying Internet service providers as
regulated entities under the 1934
Telecommunications Act.
“The Internet must be fast, fair
and open,” Wheeler said in an
essay in Wired magazine. “That is
the message I’ve heard from consumers and innovators across this
nation. That is the principle that has
enabled the Internet to become an
unprecedented platform for innovation and human expression.”
Wheeler said his plan, to be
submitted to the ﬁve-member
commission for a vote later
this month, would call for “the
strongest open Internet protections ever proposed by the FCC.”
He would ban “paid prioritization,” which would allow services
to pay for faster connections, as
well as “blocking and throttling
of lawful content and services.”
Wheeler said he would apply
the rules to the mobile Internet
for the ﬁrst time as well.
“My proposal assures the rights
of Internet users to go where they
want, when they want, and the
rights of innovators to introduce
new products without asking anyone’s permission.”
Critics of the approach argue
that the 1930s-style regulation
would choke off investment in
the Internet and stiﬂe innovation.
Wheeler said, however, that
he would use only portions of the
“Title II” regulation, “tailoring
it for the 21st century, in order
to provide returns necessary to
construct competitive networks.”
He pledged “no rate regulation” or tariffs and said his plans
“can encourage investment and
competition.”
A senior FCC ofﬁcial said the
move represents a “light touch”
effort which uses only some segments of the 1934 law without
imposing fees or other types regulation. The “neutrality” rules aim
to ensure that all services have
equal access to the Internet, so
that a provider such as Verizon
or AT&T could not block a service
such as Netﬂix and favor a rival
like Hulu. Reaction to the plan,
speculation about which has
been swirling for days, was swift.
Doug Brake at the Information
Technology and Innovation
Foundation, a conservative think
tank, said the plan was “an unjustiﬁed, overblown response to what
has in actuality been a by-andlarge hypothetical concern.”
Brake said the plan represents “a strong shift towards a
European-style, precautionary
regulation” and that it would
“Balkanize the Internet into
distinct private networks and
specialized services.” But the
digital rights group Access Now
welcomed the move as a win for
Internet consumers.
“The FCC’s move will be felt far
beyond US borders,” said Access
Now policy counsel Peter Micek.
“Advocates around the world —
from Argentina to Turkey to South
Korea to the European Union —
are ﬁghting for many of the same
protections as those being proposed
by Wheeler. Global policymakers
can now look to the US for clues
as to what will help protect all
Internet users.” Nuala O’Connor
of the Center for Democracy and
Technology said the Wheeler plan
“has protected the foundation of
the democratic Internet. This is an
important day for everyone who
enjoys the beneﬁts of a fair and
open Internet.”
AFP