SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012
@alwatandaily
Issue No. 1391
16 PAGES
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150 Fils with IHT
Syria says revolt over, army to pull out gradually
BEIRUT: Syria says the year-long revolt to topple President Bashar Al-Assad is now over, but it will keep its forces in cities to “maintain security” until it is safe to withdraw in keeping with a UN-backed peace deal. The agreement proposed by United NationsArab League special envoy Kofi Annan says the Syrian authorities must be first to withdraw troops and stop violence immediately. The army kept up an offensive against opposition strongholds on Saturday, pummeling the Khalidiya district of Homs city. “Mortars are falling every minute and the sounds of explosions are shaking the neighborhood,” an activist report said. A child was killed by rocket fire in the Al-Bayyada area and a man was killed in crossfire in clashes near a checkpoint. Rebels battled army forces near a base in Jaramaneh in Damascus province. Five bodies bearing signs of torture were found near Maarat Al-Noaman, the report said. A soldier was killed when rebels ambushed a troop carrier in Deraa province. Despite the violence, Damascus says it has the upper hand.
“The battle to topple the state is over,” Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Al-Makdissi told Syria TV late on Friday. “Our goal now is to ensure stability and create a perspective for reform and development in Syria while preventing others from sabotaging the path of reform.” His assertion follows army victories over rebel strongholds in the cities of Hama, Homs and Idlib, and Assad’s acceptance this week of Annan’s plan that does not demand he step down. Calls by Gulf Arab states to arm the rebels have fizzled. The political opposition remains divided, and prospects of Western-led military intervention are close to zero. Assad has endorsed Annan’s six-point peace plan, which has the UN Security Council’s unanimous backing, but Western leaders say the 46year-old Syrian leader has broken similar promises before and must be judged by actions not words. Assad’s opponents have not yet formally accepted the plan. ‘Friends of Syria’
They were due to meet the foreign ministers of allied Western powers, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on Sunday at a “Friends
of Syria” conference in Turkey, which provides a safe haven for Syrian rebels. Al-Makdissi said Annan, who had talks with Al-Assad in Damascus on March 10, had acknowledged the government’s right to respond to armed violence during the ceasefire phase of the peace plan. He said Syria’s conditions for agreeing to Annan’s plan included recognition of its sovereignty and right to security. “When security can be maintained for civilians, the army will leave,” he said. “This is a Syrian matter.” However, Annan’s plan says Syria must stop putting troops into cities forthwith and begin taking them out. “The Syrian government should immediately cease troop movement towards, and end the use of heavy weapons in, population centers, and begin pullback of military concentrations in and around population centers,” it states. “As these actions are being taken on the ground, the Syrian government should work with the envoy to bring about a sustained cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties with an effective United Nations supervision mechaCONTINUED ON PAGE 4 nism,” it says.
Prosecution prepares to lift Parliament stormers’ immunity
Mohammed Al-Salman, Mohammed Al-Khaldi, Osama Al-Qatari and Ahmed Al-Shemmari Staff Writers
KUWAIT: The Public Prosecution is getting ready to lift the immunity of ten MPs who were involved in the storming of Parliament for interrogation. The concerned lawmakers face charges of assaulting security personnel and inciting disobedience, among others. Sources have told Al Watan that at least 68 citizens are accused of being involved in the attack on Parliament, including 9 current MPs and two former lawmakers. In other news, the parliamentary majority
is facing serious difficulties in reaching a consensus about a number of planned interpellations. The bloc has been keen on coordination in order to avert a looming friction among the members, particularly since this developments came as the National Assembly Speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun has flown to the Ugandan capital of Kampala to attend the International Parliament Congress. Meanwhile, the government has been busy seeking to undo the interpellation that MP Hussein Al-Qallaf filed against the information minister, while it awaits possible motions to question the Minister of Finance Mustafa AlShamali, the Minister of Awqaf Jamal Shehab and the Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad AlHumoud Al-Sabah.
An official source informed Al Watan that at a time when the government opts for facing interpellations, it believes that the cost of political questioning is far less than endorsing bills that can involve huge costs for the State coffers as we as the budget. The source noted that filing multiple interpellations has become so common that it lost its clout. “As such, the government welcomes all interpellations and will face them all without fear,” the source was quoted as saying. In the meantime, the Cabinet is due to discuss today (Sunday) the interpellation filed against the Information Minister Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah by MP Hussein CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 Al-Qallaf.
Residency, services card to whomever adjusts status
Abdullah Al-Najjar Staff Writer
Danish police escort a bus with right-wing protestors as they leave their demonstration in Aarhus, March 31, 2012. A long-planned gathering of far right-wing movements from across Europe met in Denmark on Saturday to try to form a pan-European anti-Islamist alliance, a project that will test the cohesion of a fringe trying to build support from fears about immigration and militant Islamists. (Reuters)
Malians back coup as rebels gain ground
South Korea to work with US to reduce Iran oil imports
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SEOUL: South Korean officials said Saturday that they will continue working with the US to reduce oil imports from Iran after President Barack Obama green-lighted potential sanctions against countries that continue to buy Iranian oil. South Korea is one of several major importers of Iranian oil that have not received exemptions from the US sanctions. Obama announced Friday that he is plowing ahead with the potential sanctions, which could affect US allies in Asia and Europe, as part of a deepening campaign to starve Iran of money for its disputed nuclear program. The sanctions aim to further isolate Iran’s central bank, which processes nearly all of the Iran’s oil purchases, from the global economy. Obama’s move clears the way for the US to penalize foreign financial institutions that do oil business with Iran by barring them from having a US-based affiliate or doing business here. Obama’s goal is to tighten the pressure on Iran, not allies, and already the administration exempted 10 European Union countries and Japan from the threat of sanctions because they cut their oil purchases from Iran. Other nations have about three months to significantly reduce such imports before sanctions would kick in. Foreign Ministry officials in South Korea said Saturday that they expect to reach an agreement with Washington by late June on reducing oil imports from Iran. The officials declined to be named because discussions were still under way. South Korea has already restricted financial dealings with more than 200 groups and individuals with suspected links to Iran’s nuclear program. Seoul relies on Iran for up to 10 percent of its oil. Energy-starved India, which relies on Iranian oil for 12 percent for its power needs, has said that while it would accept UN sanctions against Iran, it does not heed unilateral sanctions such as those imposed by the US and EU. -AP
KUWAIT: The Central Apparatus for Illegal Residents announced that an office concerned with those willing to adjust their statuses is currently operating, and that this office will grant them four benefits, such as residency, subsidy rations, free of charge residency for five years for those above 21 years old, and the payment of residency fees in conjunction with Zakat House. Al Watan received information that a list which includes 6080 people who have Kuwaiti mothers who are eligible for Kuwaiti citizenship will be announced this week, while another list will include the names of military personnel who took part in the 1967 and 1973 wars, and those who will be nationalized for outstanding performance. Sources noted that revising the files of this group of military personnel dropped the number of those who are eligible from 1174 to 350, after a number of them revealed their true identities, while others left Kuwait. Sources stressed that those who were assisting Iraqi forces during the invasion will not be included in the list. It is worth noting that 58 bedouns (stateless Arabs) adjusted their statuses on the first day, including 30 Saudi See also 3 Arabians and 28 Iraqi citizens.
Childbirth takes longer now than 50 years ago
NEW YORK: Many tasks can be tackled more quickly now than 50 years ago, but delivering a baby is not one of them, a new US government study finds. Compared with the 1960s, US women have in recent years spent two to three hours longer in labor, according to researchers at the US National Institutes of Health. The extra time is spent in the first stage of labor – the longest part of the labor process, before the “pushing” stage. New moms, themselves, are different now than 50 years ago; on average, they’re older and weigh more, and their newborns are bigger too. “But even when we take these changing demographics into account, labor is still longer,” lead researcher Dr. Katherine Laughon, of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, said in an interview. “We weren’t able to fully address the potential reasons with this study,” Laughon said. One partial explanation may be epidural pain relief, which is far more common now than 50 years ago. Epidurals are known to slow labor down by about 40 to 90 minutes, Laughon said. And many women may gladly trade the extra time in labor for the pain relief. From there, the explanations get more speculative. Laughon noted that many more women now have labor inductions or planned cesarean sections versus decades ago. So women who actually go into spontaneous labor these days may differ somehow from their counterparts of 50 years ago. But whatever the underlying reasons, Laughon said the findings suggest that doctors may need to rethink the definition of “normal” labor – a concept that’s based on what was the norm for women a half-century ago. For example, doctors have traditionally considered labor to be abnormal if there’s no change in the cervix after two hours in the “active” part of the first stage of labor. At that point, they may intervene by either giving the medication oxytocin, which More on 11 stimulates contractions, or doing a C-section.
Clinton promises US will back Gulf security
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton listens to Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud AlFaisal as they attend a US-Gulf Cooperation Council forum at the Gulf Cooperation Council Secretariat in Riyadh on March 31, 2012. (AFP)
RIYADH: The United States will work with Gulf Arab nations to strengthen their shared defenses against threats including Iran, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Saturday. Speculation about Tehran’s nuclear ambitions is a source of anxiety among Sunni-led Gulf Arab states, for whom Shiite Iran has long been a regional rival. “The commitment of the United States to the people and the nations of the Gulf is rock-solid and unwavering. Our strong bilateral relationships are a rock of stability in the region,” Clinton said in prepared remarks delivered in the inaugural meeting of a new US-Gulf security forum. “Now we look forward to expanding our multilateral cooperation as well,” she said at the opening of the meeting with foreign ministers
from the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes six Gulf countries. Clinton said Saturday’s discussions with Gulf foreign ministers would include the political change that has swept the Middle East in the past year and the violence in Syria, in addition to Iran’s disputed nuclear program “and curbing its interference in the affairs of its neighbors”. Gulf Arab states have accused Iran of backing an uprising in Bahrain, and of fomenting unrest among the Shiite Muslim minority in mostly Sunni Saudi Arabia. Fresh talks between Iran and world powers are expected to get underway in mid-April as Tehran faces increasing economic and political pressure More on 4 over its nuclear activities.
Municipality carries out unannounced inspection campaigns
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Agility Q4 net profit rises 114% to KD 3.5 million
Compiled by Al Watan Daily
KUWAIT: Agility, the logistics firm facing US fraud charges, posted a 114-percent rise in fourthquarter net profit compared with the same period in 2010, the firm said in a statement on Saturday. The company also reported earnings per share (EPS) of 3.45 Kuwaiti fils. Net profit in the three months to Dec. 31 came in at 3.5 million Kuwaiti dinars (12.60 million US dollars) compared with a loss of 23.7 million dinars in the fourth quarter (Q4) 2010. Fourth-quarter revenues were five percent lower at KD 368.6 million due to the loss of government contracting business, Agility said. On a like-for-like basis excluding government and discontinued business, Agility group revenue grew from KD 332 million to KD 345 million, an improvement of four percent despite a slowing economy. The company remains focused on growing
profit through continued financial discipline and transformation of its operating platform with the adaptation of new technology that will increase efficiency. “Profits grew by eight percent in 2011 even though revenues fell as Agility discontinued defense and government business.We are a different company today than we were a year ago, and we consider 2011 a new financial baseline against which we will measure future performance,” said Tarek Sultan, Agility’s Chairman and Managing Director. The statement added that revenue for Agility Global Integrated Logistics (GIL) for the full year 2011 was KD 1.19 billion, a decrease of 1.4 percent from financial year (FY) 2010. Excluding government and discontinued business, GIL’ revenues grew by 3.2 percent from the same period in 2010, despite softened trade volumes that prevailed in the last two quarters of More on 9 the year.
Filipinos hold candles to mark the sixth global Earth Hour in Makati, the financial district of Manila on March 31, 2012. Millions of people were expected to switch off their lights for Earth Hour on March 31, in a global effort to raise awareness about climate change. Since it began in Sydney in 2007, Earth Hour has grown to become what environmental group WWF says is the world’s largest demonstration of support for action on carbon pollution. (AFP)