April 25, 2012

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

@alwatandaily

Issue No. 1415

20 PAGES

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150 Fils with IHT

Immunity lifted of Parliament stormers, MPs to face court Al-Juwaihel to submit interpellation against interior minister

Mohammed Al-Salman, Mohammed Al-Khaldi Staff Writers& Agencies

KUWAIT: In a heated Parliament session on Tuesday, lawmakers overwhelmingly agreed on to lift the immunity of the MPs accused of attacking the National Assembly building. At least, 53 members, including Cabinet ministers, voted in favor of the Public Prosecution’s request to have the immunity of the MPs lifted. MPs Ahmad Mutee Al-Azmi and Dr. Obeid Al-Wasmi voted against, while MP Abdulatiff Al-Omairi abstained.

The nine MPs who have been stripped off their immunity include Musallam Al-Bar-

rak, Faisal Al-Mislem, Waleed Al-Tabtabaie, Mubarak Al-Waalan, Salem Al-Namlan, Falah Al-Sawagh, Mohammad Al-Khalifa, Jamaan Al-Harbash and Khaled Al-Tahous who could face prosecution for storming the assembly last year during protests against the former prime minister.

Earlier, the Deputy Speaker, Khaled AlSultan, who partly chaired the session, was forced to adjourn the proceedings to restore order to the Chamber following bitter haggling among the MPs. The row was triggered by the comments of MP Abdul Hameed Dashti who accused the Parliament stormers of jumping on chairs as “monkeys”, adding that the penal code crimi-

S. Sudan’s leader says Sudan has declared war

NAIROBI, Kenya: Sudan continued with its aerial bombardment of South Sudan on Tuesday, dropping eight bombs overnight, an official said, as South Sudan’s president said the attacks amounted to a declaration of war by Sudan. South Sudan’s military spokesman Col. Philip Aguer said that Sudanese Antonovs dropped eight bombs overnight between 11 p.m. and 1 a. m. in Panakuac, where he said ground fighting had been ongoing since Sunday. Aguer said he has not received information on whether there were casualties from the attack because of poor communications.

On Monday, Sudanese warplanes bombed a market and an oil field in South Sudan, killing at least two people after Sudanese ground forces had reportedly crossed into South Sudan with tanks and artillery.

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir on Tuesday during a visit to Beijing told China’s president that attacks by rival Sudan amount to a declaration of war on his country.

There has yet to be a formal declaration of war by either of the Sudans, and Kiir’s remark, made during talks with President Hu Jintao, signals a ratcheting up of rhetoric between the rival nations which have been teeterMore on 4 ing on the brink of war.

nalizes their action.

In reaction, MP Ahmad Lari called for order and suggested that the word ‘monkey’ be struck off the minutes of the meeting. He elaborated that no matter the differences might be the standing of Parliament should not be overstepped. Likewise, MP Khaled Al-Tahous rejected MP Dashti’s pronouncements, saying that MPs and youth activists should not be insulted. At this juncture, MP Nabeel Al-Fadhl waded in the fray, telling Al-Tahous to stop at his limits. This comment did not go down well with Al-Tahous who addressed Al-Fadhl saying, “Sit down along with the boys of the Nasser Al-Mohammad.”

10-man Chelsea into Champions final over Barcelona

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Tunisian president: GCC citizens exempted from obtaining visit visa KUWAIT: President of Tunisia Al-Moncef Al-Marzouki, who concluded an official visit to the country on Tuesday, confirmed that his talks with His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah dealt with bilateral relations between the two countries at the political, economic, business and tourist levels.

The president, in an interview with Kuwait Television and Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), said all topics that were discussed during the top-level meeting “served one objective, which is full mutual understanding of political issues and aspiration for establishing robust and fruitful economic relations.” Hoping that more Kuwaitis would choose his nation as a tourist destination, Al-Marzouki said he revealed to His Highness the Amir, during the meeting, that his country decided to not oblige citizens from Kuwait and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to obtain a visit visa.

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SPAIN: Fernando Torres (left) of Chelsea passes by goalkeeper Victor Valdes of Barcelona to score the equalizing goal during the UEFA Champions League Semi Final second leg match between FC Barcelona and Chelsea FC at the Camp Nou stadium on April 24, 2012.Ten-man Chelsea withstood another onslaught from Barcelona to reach the Champions League final on Tuesday after hanging on for a 2-2 draw against the defending champion. (AFP) More on page 20

North Korea’s nuclear test ready ‘soon’

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Syrian rebels target security officials in capital

Nearly 60 killed in violence across country

In this Monday, April 23, 2012 photo, Syrian protestors gather around UN observers during their visit in Douma near the capital of Damascus, Syria. Rebels seeking to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime launched three separate attacks on his security forces around Damascus on Tuesday. The attacks took place as a UN team observing Syria’s violence-ridden truce was visiting another area near the capital, the restive suburb of Douma. (AP)

Putin steps down as United Russia party chief

MOSCOW: President-elect Vladimir Putin tried to distance himself from the fraud-tainted ruling United Russia party on Tuesday, announcing he was stepping down as its chairman.

Keen to protect his own ratings which are higher than those of a party discredited by claims its victory in a parliamentary election in December was achieved with the help of fraud, Putin proposed outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev as its new leader instead.

“In line with political practice here, the president stands above parties,” Putin told the leadership of United Russia, describing the head of state as “a consolidating figure for all political forces in the country”.

“In this regard, after the inauguration in May I deem it necessary to step down as chairman,” Putin said.

The powerful prime minister, who will be sworn in as president on May 7, suggested that a party congress in the second half of May should elect Medvedev as the new chairman.

Putin, 59, has also said that Medvedev, a longtime ally who led United Russia’s campaign in the December election to the Duma, the lower house of parliament, will become prime minister.

“Since Dmitry Anatolyevich led the party in the State Duma election campaign, and since I will recommend him for the post of prime minister, I believe it is right for him to head the party as well,” Putin said. “It is a global practice that the government leans on the support of the parliamentary majority.”

The move could be a poisoned chalice for Medvedev, however, whose popularity has dropped since he and Putin announced last September that he would step down as president and make way for Putin’s return to the Kremlin.

-Reuters

BEIRUT: Rebels seeking to topple Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime launched three separate attacks on his security forces around Damascus on Tuesday, killing two ranking officers and rocking the capital with a boobytrapped car, activists and state media said.

The attacks took place as a UN team observing Syria’s violence-ridden truce was visiting another area near the capital, the restive suburb of Douma.

Activists and amateur videos reported shelling and gunfire in that area Tuesday, just a day after 55 people were killed across Syria - most of them in a city the observers had recently visited.

Tuesday’s attacks underline the increasing militarization of the 13-monthold conflict and show the effort by Assad’s opponents to chip away at the security services he relies upon to quash dissent.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said one intelligence officer was killed in the capital’s Barzeh neighborhood but gave no information on how he died.

Separately, an army truck blew up as it was driving through downtown Damascus. The blast in Marjah Square near the Iranian Cultural Center left blood and shattered glass on the road. The truck’s driver and two passengers in a nearby car were injured and taken to a hospital.

Indian shipping firms to carry Iran crude despite reduced insurance

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Company aims to strike it rich by mining asteroids

This computer-generated image provided by Planetary Resources, a group of high-tech tycoons that wants to mine nearby asteroids, shows a conceptual rendering of a near-Earth asteroid. The group’s mega-million dollar plan is to use commercially built robotic ships to squeeze rocket fuel and valuable minerals like platinum and gold out of the lifeless rocks that routinely whiz by Earth.

One of the company founders predicts they could have their version of a space-based gas station up and running by 2020. (AP) More on 15

Pakistani people look at the damaged train waiting lounge after a bomb blast in Lahore on April 24, 2012. A bomb exploded near a luxury train waiting lounge at the main railway station in the eastern Pakistan city of Lahore on April 24, killing at least two people, police said. (AFP)

Philippine court orders breakup of Aquino hacienda

MANILA: The Philippine Supreme Court ruled Tuesday to break up the sugar estate owned by the president’s relatives and distribute it to thousands of farmers following decades of unrest and unfinished land reform.

The landmark ruling is politically charged because President Benigno Aquino III has called on the head of the Supreme Court to step down because of corruption allegations.

Chief Justice Renato Corona, fighting an impeachment trial to remove him, claims that the charges against him were instigated by Aquino because of the court’s rulings favoring the farmers. Aquino has denied this, and divested his share of the estate before becoming president in 2010. Dozens of Hacienda Luisita farmers greeted the court’s ruling with cheers and loud applause. They traveled 100 kilometers (60 miles) from their homes in Tarlac province to northern Baguio city, where the 14 justices deliberated the issue.

Court spokesman Midas Marquez said Corona led the deliberation.

Aquino had no immediate comment, his spokeswoman Abigail Valte said.

The Philippines passed a land reform law in 1988 following the ouster of dictator Ferdinand Marcos. It contained a provision that gave large estates an option to distribute shares of stocks to farmers instead of land.

The Supreme Court last year scrapped the controversial provision because the stock distribution scheme did not improve the lives of plantation workers.

Other estates in the Philippines have been converted to commercial or residential use but not distributed to farmers.

For impoverished farmers, Hacienda Luisita stood as a symbol of injustice and unfulfilled promise of land reform in the country where the landed elite have translated their economic wealth into political influence.

Antonio Ligon, spokesman for Hacienda Luisita Inc., said that nearly 5,000 hectares (12,355 acres) of the estate will be distributed among about 6,300 beneficiaries.

He said that the compensation based on the value of the land in 1989 ordered by the court fell far short of the 2006 rates that the owners were seeking.

Land prices in 2006 were about 25 times their value in 1989. However, the final price will still have to be determined by a special agrarian court. -AFP

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ALWATAN DAILY

kuwait

wednesDAY, april 25, 2012

Immunity lifted of Parliament stormers, MPs to face court

MPs during heated exchange at National Assembly in Kuwait city on Tuesday April 24, 2012 (Al-Watan) continued from page 1

MP Hussein Al-Qallaf interjected and asked the Speaker to stop Al-Tahous and prevent him from insulting his colleagues. The wrangling further escalated when one of the attendants at the public gallery insulted Al-Qallaf forcing the National Assembly Guard to evict him from the Chamber.

In the same vein, MP Adnan Abdulsamad asked the Parliament to show a footage depicting the storming of Parliament. As the film was being played after the MPs apparently agreed

to the request, it was abruptly stopped. Deputy Speaker Khaled Al-Sultan told lawmakers that he was alerted by the Secretary General of Parliament that the Parliament did not agree on showing it. At this point, MP Faisal Al-Duwaisan engaged in bitter exchanges with Al-Sultan demanding that the film should continue.

MP Al-Qallaf mentioned that the Parliament was witnessing an historic incident.

“How dare they attack Parliament and turn to the residence of the prime minister? Although the facts have been distorted the whole Kuwait

knows the truth,” the MP told the Parliament.

National Assembly Speaker Ahmad AlSaadoun earlier rejected requests by MPs Ali Al-Rashed and Marzouq Al-Ghanem to speak.

Consequently, Al-Rashed sharply lashed out at the speaker. For his part, Al-Ghanem yelled and accused the speaker of bias.

In another development, the Parliament agreed to lift the immunity of MPs Nabeel AlFadhl and Mohammad Al-Juwaihel, and declined to lift MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaie’s immunity in a different case. Further, MP Mohammad

Authorities pursue investigating Rhayya fire: Official KUWAIT: Authorities are pursuing investigations to determine causes of the recent huge fire that gutted a dumping site for used auto tires in the district of Rhayya, an official of the fire department announced on Tuesday.

Colonel Yusuf Al-Ansari, the deputy general director for fire combat affairs and development of human resources at the fire department, said the investigation might proceed for two weeks because of difficulties of collecting evidences at the scene and vast space of the location that was scorched in the fiery fire.

Firemen struggled for long hours to put out the blazes at the tires dumping site. The blazes sent huge plumes of black smoke into the skies.

Colonel Al-Ansari said the department would hold a ceremony to honor staff and personnel of all departments that took part in combating the blazes, alluding to teams from the fire de-

partment, the municipality, the National Guard, the ministries of defense and interior, Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), the ministry of labor, the committee for tackling infringements on state properties, Al-Jahraa Cooperative and young volunteers.

He praised the media personnel who covered the event and broadcast instructions to citizens and residents, professionally.

Authorities had warned the citizens and residents to refrain from approaching the fire site to facilitate the work of the teams that battled the blazes and avert close exposure to the black smoke.

On April 19, Minister of Electricity and Water and Minister of State for Municipality Affairs Abdulaziz Al-Ibrahim formed an inquiry panel to probe the reasons behind the fire. The committee will also recommend best methods for disposal of the old tires. -KUNA

‘Establishing residential projects requires allocating more sites’ Shabib Al-Ajmi Staff Writer

KUWAIT: The Organizational Structure Committee (OSC) at the Municipal Council recommended the amendment of some former decisions made by the council, which include allocating new residential sites as well as endorsing some solutions that are expected to contribute in eradicating housing obstacles.

The committee called for such steps during a workshop organized by the committee, in which several government institutions participated including Public Authority for Housing Welfare and Ministry of Public Works.

Meanwhile, the head of the committee Eng. Abdullah Fahad Al-Enzi said that the workshop was held to discuss the possibility of establishing residential projects on certain agricultural areas in addition to discussing the lack of coordination amongst the different government authorities, given that the housing applications are have been increasing rapidly lately and the relevant authorities receive more than 9,000 applications a year.

Al-Enzi emphasized that municipal council has to amend the decisions and obtain more plots, especially that the new residential area, which are expected to be established near the seventh ring road, still face some problems. If this project

GCC seeks to revamp infrastructure: Minister

MANAMA: Kuwaiti Minister of Electricity and Water Abdulaziz Al-Ibrahim said on Tuesday the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states seek o develop their infrastructure and urban planning.

Speaking to KUNA following the opening of a Gulf municipal conference here, the Kuwaiti minister said: “The GCC countries are attempting to revamp their infrastructure and boost the level of urban planning in their cities by means of transferring and exchanging experience and getting acquainted with relevant successful models.” On the conference, Al-Ibrahim, who also doubles as Minister of State for Municipal Affairs, said it mainly aims to discuss diverse municipal activities and services in the GCC countries.

The gathering is also intended to promote successful pioneering projects in the municipal work field; including Gulf, Arab and international projects, the Kuwaiti minister pointed out.

Bahraini Minister of Municipal Affairs and Urban Planning Juma bin Ahmad al-Ka’abi inaugurated the seventh Gulf municipal conference here earlier in the day.

In a keynote speech, he said the GCC countries seek to achieve sustainable development through strategic urban planning. He said the exchanging of information, experience and continuing meetings among the GCC members during such gathering are conducive to the fulfillment of their strategic goals. He added that the gathering would mainly discuss how to revamp Gulf urban planning and municipalities and to share experience among Gulf experts. -KUNA

progresses well then it will set aside more than 6,000 houses.

He asked for amending the companies’ law as it interrupts the establishment of new residential projects as a result of the large number of houses purchased by the banks. He added that the government has to purchase the houses located in the residential areas from the companies and banks to distribute them to the citizens.

On his part, the Chairman of Organizational Structure Department Eng. Saad Al-Mehailibi said that the housing welfare law interrupts the housing process; therefore the law should be amended as it hinders the council from taking many important decisions.

Al-Juwaihel took the Parliament by surprise when he submitted a motion to question the Minister of Interior Sheikh Ahmad Al-Humoud Al-Sabah. The five-point motion includes allegations that the minister has been slack in forgery cases in granting citizenship, and that law has not been applied to dual nationals. Other issues highlighted in the motion include claims of lawlessness, corruption at the Traffic Department and the waste of public funds.

Sources within the Majority Bloc affirmed that the ramifications of the stormy session and

the obvious lack of firm government stance have prompted the interpellation of the interior minister. For his part, the National Assembly Speaker informed the minister of the interpellation and decided to include it in the Parliament’s scheduled session of May 8 so that a date can be set for discussing it.

The interpellation is the third of its kind to be filed by the Minority Bloc after MPs Saleh Ashour and Hussein Al-Qallaf’s motions to question the prime minister and the information minister respectively.

PACI affirms smart cards contain no travel data KUWAIT: The Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) denied on Tuesday reports saying that travel information of smart cards could be disclosed and leaked when used at gas stations.

PACI said in a press statement that at gas stations only the civil ID number and serial number become

known, but travel information does not get stored in the card. PACI added that only the card holder can know information stored in the smart cards.

PACI also reassured to all citizens and residents that the smart cards are safe and stored information can be known only by concerned bodies. -KUNA

Parliamentary Educational Committee say Article 4 conveniently amended Mubarak Al-Shemmari Staff Writer

KUWAIT: As part of the Cultural season and with the participation of the parliamentary members of the Educational Committee in the National Assembly, MP Dr. Jamaan Al-Harbash, Dr. Ali Al-Omair, Dr. Mohammad Al-Hatlani, the Faculty of Staff of the Public Authority for Applied Training and Education (PAAET) held and organized a forum under the title “Jaber University for Applied Science: A Dream comes true?” in the College of Adailiya Theater.

MP Dr. Ali Al-Omair said that when the draft law was presented to the Minister of Education, he approved it immediately, adding that a week later the minister became reluctant and expressed his doubts about the future. The Minister even warned that if the law was to be passed he would stop it “unless certain items in Article 4 are amended,” the lawmaker said quoting the minister.

The parliamentary Educational Committee believes that the departments at PAAET are in conflict, which has been hindering any progress.

“The Committee has borne in mind the issue of flexibility and allows the relocation of all colleges to the University of Jaber after amending and treating some of the conditions and improves its programs.

We will start with the College of Basic Education as it is ready in terms of its major subjects and pro-

grams. As for the College of Medical Science, we will refer to it with the view of relocation in line with other colleges after its situation is amended,” he remarked.

On his part, MP Dr. Mohammad Al-Hatlani said that even though the achievement of the Committee remains short of many people’s expectation, it remains a great one because it has faced tremendous rejection in the first place.

As for the Article 4, the MP stressed that the article remains in its place with slight amendments to some of its provisions “but such amendments are transitional.”

He explained that the Committee feared that the draft law would be rejected if the committee insisted on not introducing amendments to Article 4, hence raising great difficulty. HE added that since it is for the public interest, the committee attempted to ensure comparability and reach common ground.

As for the Chairman of the Educational Committee Dr. Jamaan Al-Harbash, he said that the main objective of the committee is to serve the educational process in the country. He stressed that his committee is seeking the best output for education and that they seek to relocate to the University of Jaber and then the government would be forced to build four colleges. He added that the PAAET will be granted the diploma degree while the University of Jaber would have the proper Bachelor of Arts degree.

MPs, Interior Ministry warn of women’s cafes turning into ‘night clubs’ KUWAIT: Women’s cafes have been stirring much controversy lately especially in the wake of a security report about violations with members of Parliament (MPs) calling for a law that regulates conduct of customers there if the ministry does not curb the phenomenon.

According to a report issued by the Ministry of Interior, women’s cafes have seen various types of indecent behavior especially in private rooms allocated to families.

Following its findings, the ministry announced launching a plan to detect illegal practices that take place in these cafes. Several MPs declared their support for the ministry’s plan which if successful could replace a set of laws

they were about to draft to solve the problem.

Conservative MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei said that the Ministry of Interior has started taking measures against those cafes after reports of illegal and unethical practices made it necessary to take action.

“Young boys and girls take advantage of lack of monitoring in those places and go there to engage in immoral behavior,” he told Al Arabiya.

Owners of those cafes, he added, only aim at fast profit and encourage customers with no fear of punishment because no government measures were taken before.

“Those owners, who also make use of their connec-

tions, have practically turned the cafes into night clubs where prohibited goods like alcohol are consumed. Places like night clubs are not allowed in Kuwait,” he added.

Al-Tabtabaei added that two weeks ago he requested the questioning of the minister of interior and that the issue of women’s cafes topped the list of the topics he wanted to tackle.

“Now that the ministry has started doing something about it, I trust they will do their best to eliminate this phenomenon which is alien to the Kuwaiti society and which violates its values and traditions,” he concluded.

-Agencies

Mandate of Kuwait chairmanship of Arab committee expires BEIRUT: Mandate of Kuwait’s chairmanship of the Arab Transport Committee expired and a leading representative of the Gulf state delivered the post, held on rotating basis among member states, to Lebanon here on Tuesday.Fahad Al-Masoud, the director of land transportation at the Kuwaiti Ministry of Communication, shifted the chairmanship to Abdul Hafith Al-Qaissy, the director of the land and maritime transportation of the Lebanese Ministry of Transportation, at opening of the 13th session of the commission in the Lebanese capital.

In an inaugural statement of the session, AlMasoud affirmed that Arab states succeeded in pursuing execution of international transport agreements and developing this sector despite various challenges in the region. Al-Qaissy also addressed the meeting, underscoring key role of the committee at this field.

Topics of the session will address previous activities, memoranda of understanding among the member states of the commission, harmony of structures of institutions with legislations in transportation in the region of ESWWA, the United Nations Economic

and Social Commission for Western Asia, and funding infrastructural projects for an aspired transport network in the east of the Arab world.

The opening session was attended by Abdullah Al-Dardari, representative of the executive director of ESCWA, representatives of the member states, the Arab League, the Saudi Development Fund and other leading figures from the sector.

ESCWA, founded in 1973, comprises Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, Yemen, Sudan and the GCC states. -KUNA

ALWATAN DAILY

KUWAIT

wednesdAY, april 25, 2012

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Tunisian president says GCC citizens exempted from obtaining visit visa Al-Marzouki aspires to stronger ties, vows facilities for businessmen

KUWAIT: President of Tunisia Al-Moncef Al-Marzouki, who concluded an official visit to the country on Tuesday, confirmed that his talks with His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah dealt with bilateral relations between the two countries at the political, economic, business and tourist levels.

The president, in an interview with Kuwait Television and Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), said all topics that were discussed during the top-level meeting “served one objective, which is full mutual understanding of political issues and aspiration for establishing robust and fruitful economic relations.” Hoping that more Kuwaitis would choose his nation as a tourist destination, Al-Marzouki said he revealed to His Highness the Amir, during the meeting, that his country decided to not oblige citizens from Kuwait and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to obtain a visit visa.

At the investment level, the president affirmed Tunisia’s readiness to remove all barriers in face of the Kuwaiti entrepreneurs to enable them launch businesses in various sectors of the nation, noting that HH Sheikh Sabah expressed readiness to examine Tunisian proposals for carrying out business enterprises in the country.

“We in Tunisia encourage everybody to invest in various sectors in our country, namely in tourism, en-

ergy, sea water desalination, infrastructure and roads ..

Now, we have more than 40 mega projects designed to place Tunisia among ranks of modern states and some of these ventures would be proposed to the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development,” he said. Elaborating, he said the KFAED director general, during their meeting, affirmed readiness to finance a number of these major ventures.

These projects include construction of infrastructural utilities, roads linking coastal regions with inland areas. The Qataris are partially funding establishment of a highway linking the cities of Nafidah, Tozar and Qairawan.

He indicated that KFAED’s activities in Tunis, during era of the former regime, were cut, hoping that the fund would restore its investments on a wide scale, capitalizing on present political, economic and social facilities.

Al-Marzouki added that his talks with HH the Amir tackled regional events, namely Syria. “I listened to the Amir’s views on solving this problem. We share identical opinions on tackling it, for we reject armament, external intervention in that country and aspire that Syria find a settlement within framework of the international organizations.”

Elaborating, he noted that he briefed His Highness the Amir about matters related to the proposed AlMaghreb federation, adding that he addressed an official invitation to the Amir to visit Tunisia for sake of following up on such meetings.

Al-Marzouki expressed deep gratitude for the warm welcome he was accommodated during the visit, noting that he had followed up on plight of the Kuwaiti people under occupation by forces of the former Iraqi regime.

“I am pleased to come to this country which I followed up on its hardships with distress, and at present, I follow up on its comeback among ranks of (free) states with pride and pleasure.” He expressed deep admiration at the unique Kuwaiti democratic experience indicating that he used to follow up on the free debates at headquarters of the Kuwaiti parliament.

Asked about his assessment of the Kuwaiti-Tunisian relations, the president said he was aspiring to elevate the 50-year-old ties into a full-scale relationship covering not only economic issues, but also political, social and cultural affairs.

On post-revolution Tunisia, Al-Marzouki said the “revolution has crossed half of the road .. this revolution was based on dignity and bread, dignity means freedoms and liberation from fears, end of tyranny and the police suppression.”

However, he indicated that greater efforts were needed to achieve development in low-income and poor regions in Tunisia. “We are now seeking to realize such demands and we hope that we will be able to make further achievements for our people amid hard international circumstances.

“We are capable, as a result of support, particularly from our Kuwaiti brothers, of completing program of the revolution, and the Tunisians in two or three years time will relish implementation of the pledges.” All Tunisians are united on renouncing repressive or religious regimes and adopting a ruling system based on a constitution that guarantees individual and public freedoms, he added, acknowledging anew that realizing economic and social development constituted the major challenges facing the Tunisians after the revolution. -KUNA

President of Tunisia Al-Moncef Al-Marzouki. (KUNA)

MP Al-Yahya: Investigations Four Filipinos committees will cause suspected, arrested for drug use, trade Two suspects were tested negative and other Parliament dissolving Abdul Aziz Al-Fadli Staff Writer

KUWAIT: Member of Parliament (MP) Faisal Al-Yahya asserted that investigations committees will lead to the dissolving of the National Assembly, and said that many political mechanisms must be reviewed.

He added that he had made an initiative to amend the Constitution since his electoral campaign, where he called for turning the Constitution into the parliamentary system in order to improve the performance of the political establishment, whether the Cabinet or the National Assembly.

He added that some issues must be prioritized, such as the judges, anti-corruption, integrity authority, and other draft laws enlisted on the agenda.

Moreover, he said that some MPs call for the amendment of Article 2 of the Constitution, while others call for the amendment of Article 79.

He stressed the importance of abiding by the Constitution, since making any amendments is considered to be an act of interpreting the Constitution according to interests. He stated that when MP Ali AlRashed called for amending the Constitution, he was attacked by ‘Anything But the Constitution’ group.

He stressed that the Constitution is the main law that organizes authorities and responsibilities, and explained that it protects the rights of others and their freedom of speech. He noted that teaching democracy at schools has become a pressing issue, and highlighted the importance of teaching the Constitution to students.

Kuwait’s anti-drug program has become an example to be followed BEIRUT: Participants in a workshop on protecting students against drugs have applauded Kuwait’s National Drug Awareness and Prevention Project (Ghiras) as a unique program at the regional level with accumulating experience in the field of combating this serious peril against the society.

Ghiras has become one of the pioneering experiences in this field, said Dr. Ahmad Al-Shatti, the director of the department of public health of the Ministry of Health, in a statement to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) on Tuesday, on sidelines of the workshop that grouped officials and activists from Palestine, Libya, Iraq, Mauritania and Lebanon.

Many anti-drugs authorities have sought to benefit from expertise of the national program against narcotics,

he added.

On agenda of the workshop, Dr. AlShatti said it partially stipulated examining plans and methods for application in educational institutions, namely schools and colleges in the Arab world, to protect the students from drugs and other perils, namely smoking.

Ghiras has signed several agreements with international authorities and establishments, namely the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Executive Bureau of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Health Ministers and the International Mentor organization for drugs prevention.

The Kuwaiti delegation that took part in the five-day gathering included officials of the ministry of education. -KUNA

Iraq president gifts Kuwait envoy Saddam’s gun Photo of a Brno rifle that belonged to Saddam Hussein which the Iraqi president presented to Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on Friday. (AFP)

SULAIMANIYAH: Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has given a visiting Kuwaiti minister a shotgun that belonged to Saddam Hussein, a source at Talabani’s office in Sulaimaniyah told AFP on Tuesday. “The Iraqi president on Friday presented to Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, minister of the diwan (royal court) of the Kuwaiti prince, a Brno rifle that belonged to Saddam Hussein which Talabani recovered after the liberation of Iraq” in 2003, the official said. Sheikh Nasser last week headed a Kuwaiti delegation visiting the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq where Talabani is from. The now-executed former Iraqi leader invaded Kuwait in August 1990 but his troops were driven out of the country in January 1991. The Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, made his first visit to Baghdad to attend the Arab summit on March 29. -AFP

two positive, one was singled out dealing with trade.

Ricky Laxa Staff Writer

KUWAIT: Three Filipino nationals have been arrested on last Wednesday evening in Hawally after undergoing surveillance for the past two months. After the arrest and investigation of the three suspects, another Filipino national was reported and detained early this week.

Recent development of the case reported that on Wednesday evening at 8:30 PM a raid was conducted in a residential house in Hawally where three Filipino nationals were arrested and detained for investigations. The suspects were caught unaware and were found to be in possession of “Shabu”, a prohibited drug known to be addictive and destructive. Official of the Assistance to the Nationals Unit (ATNU) of the Embassy of the Philippines Abdulhalim Langco said that two of the suspects were later released on bail and hired legal counsel, since they claimed no knowledge of the trade and were tested negative of the drug.

The other suspect was tested positive and was found in possession of the drug paraphernalia.

After the investigations, another suspect’s name surfaced and being singled out as the trader that led to his arrest, he was tested positive of drug use.

Two of the suspects who are currently detained sought the assistance of the Embassy of the Philippines. “This is a drug issue and we believe that they know the repercussion of the crime they committed. The case has been reported in the Philippines, as with the case of the two suspects tested negative of use of Shabu. We will appeal to the court on minor charges and hope to repatriate them should the court allow. We are monitoring the development of both cases,” commented Langco.

Currently there are at three Filipinos charged and jailed on similar cases and few have been deported for misdemeanors involving use of the substance. Langco said that two to three years jail term is imposed on those tested but for drug trade cases could extend to as much as ten years and death sentence.

Shabu is a psychoactive stimulant drug that

Shabu or Crystal Meth sold in smaller plastics to clients by traders (Agencies)

increases alertness and energy and in high doses, can induce euphoria, enhance self-esteem and increase sexual pleasure. Methamphetamine has high potential for abuse, activating the psychological reward system by increasing levels of dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin in the brain. It can cause paranoia, hallucinations, raging, anxiety, insomnia, memory loss and other forms of psychotic behavior.

Frequent use can cause the development of sores on the user’s body because he compulsively scratches at delusional “crank bugs,” or has the feeling that bugs are crawling under his skin.

Some side effects of meth use are irregular heart-

Economics play key role in healthcare: Experts KUWAIT: Two senior Kuwaiti health experts highlighted on Monday the significance of the concept of “health economics” in the quest for improving the quality of healthcare. Addressing a workshop organized here by the Arab Planning Institute (API) under the theme of “Health Economics,” Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health for the Planning and Quality Affairs Dr. Waleed Al-Falah said that better handling of the economic tools including auditing, financing and statistics leads to better health services. “The economic concepts help outline the priorities of health services and leverage the human and material resources across the health facilities,” he said.

“The process of health reform should expand from administrative restructuring to revision of the cultural concepts relating to life and death and the manipulation of the financial resources,” Dr. Al-Falah stressed.

“The Kuwaiti community is lacking in the culture of better management of the material resources,” he said, noting that the concept of health economics doesn’t concern hospital

constructions and bed capacity of hospitals only. Dr.Al-Falah added that the budget of the Ministry of Health rose to almost a double in the last five years from 620 million Kuwaiti Dinars in 2007 to KD 1.197 billion this year.

However, the figures aren’t reflected on the aspects of efficacy and quality of the country’s health services, he regretted.

On his part, Dr. Medhat Hassan, the ministry’s advisor for health planning, said the traditional concept of health used to mean that a person is free from diseases or disabilities, but the World Health Organization (WHO) expanded the concept to include a person’s physical, mental and social stability.

“The health economics, part of the economic science, handles the costs of, and spending on, the health facilities and equipment; this concept aims to ensure sufficient and sustainable funding for the health services,” Dr. Hassan added.

The API is a non-profit regional organization whose primary mission is to advance the cause of economic and social development in the Arab countries. -KUNA

beat, increased blood pressure, decreased appetite, increased respiration, hyperthermia (overheating) or weight loss.

Meth users frequently develop what is called “meth mouth” because it causes dry mouth, or cotton mouth, by drying out the salivary glands, bacteria and acidic substances in the mouth that would normally be neutralized by saliva can rot and decay teeth, causing cavities and cracks. A meth user may try to alleviate cotton mouth by drinking a lot of sugary sodas which aides in the decay of tooth enamel. Also, meth addicts do not tend to brush or floss due to a dependence on the drug.

4

ALWATAN DAILY

regional

Thank you, but..

By Hossam Fathi Staff Writer

KUWAIT: Although I have criticized Egypt’s Military Council, now is the time to applaud it for approving the cancellation of the gas agreement that was signed with Israel during Mubarak’s reign. This cancellation is late, but the 14 explosions that occurred to the gas pipe that supplies Israel with Egyptian gas prompted the Military Council to cancel the agreement. Such agreements should have been voided once Mubarak was toppled.

I must also thank the Military Council for approving the amendments made to laws concerning practicing political rights. These amendments have put an end to all the illusions of the strongmen that existed during the previous regime who thought that they can run for elections. However, I hope the Military council takes its decisions earlier without any delay; especially as such delays have caused disastrous events. I understand that leaders above 70 years in age require some time to make decisions, but I hope Egypt will be ruled by a man who is between 40-50 years old.

In all cases, Ahmed Shafeeq will constitutionally appeal the law, and this might lead to postponing the presidential elections. But if the Constitutional Court hands down a verdict that says that the parliamentary elections are unconstitutional, we will all go back to square one. hossam@alwatan.com.kw Twitter:@hossamfathy66

Egypt army passes law banning ex-PM from vote CAIRO: Egypt’s ruling military has approved a law that bans top Hosni Mubarak-era officials from running for the presidency, excluding his last prime minister and further depleting a field reduced by the disqualifications of other front-runners.

A copy of the law published on the website of the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper said the legislation would take effect from Tuesday. It showed that the bill had been printed in the official gazette, confirming that the legislation drafted by the Islamist-dominated parliament had been approved by the military.

The law denies political rights to anyone who served as president, vice president or prime minister in the decade prior to Mubarak’s removal from power on Feb. 11, 2011. It further applies to anyone who served in top posts in the ruling party.

That means Ahmed Shafiq, appointed as prime minister by Mubarak in his last days in power, is out of the race. He had been seen as one of four remaining front-runners for the presidency of the Arab world’s most populous country. The others are Mohamed Mursi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate, Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh, a former member of the Islamist group, and Amr Moussa, a former Arab League chief and an ex-foreign minister. The law exempts former ministers who were not prime minister, so will not affect Moussa’s candidacy.

Parliament approved the legislation earlier this month, an amendment to an existing law governing political rights, in response to a decision by Omar Suleiman, Mubarak’s former vice president and intelligence chief, to run for the presidency. But Suleiman was disqualified a few days later for another reason: he failed to gather the required number of voter endorsements required to run. The committee overseeing the vote also banned nine other contenders, including the Muslim Brotherhood’s first-choice candidate and a popular Islamist preacher. -Reuters

Yemeni army fights to center of Al-Qaeda held city

SANAA: Yemeni government troops have fought their way into the center of an Al-Qaeda-held city in the country’s lawless south after a fierce, six-hour battle that ended early Tuesday, military officials said.

The soldiers, backed by artillery and tanks, launched the push into Zinjibar, the provincial capital of Abyan, under the cover of darkness, the officials said. By the time they made it to the heart of Zinjibar, dozens were killed and wounded on both sides in the battle, the officials said though they had no exact figures. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

At least four Yemeni army tanks, which had previously been captured by Al-Qaeda fighters, were destroyed in the fighting, according to the officials.

Al-Qaeda militants seized Zinjibar last May when fighters from the terror network’s Yemeni branch took advantage of the turmoil in the impoverished nation to capture several cities and towns in the south. In related news, Yemen’s sacked air force commander, who has refused to quit for weeks, on Tuesday left the post he has held for nearly three decades, the United Nations envoy to Yemen said. “General Mohammed Saleh Al-Ahmar has handed his duties over to his successor,” Jamal Benomar told AFP. “I personally attended the handover ceremony.” On April 6, President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi issued a decree in which he sacked Al-Ahmar, a half-brother of deposed president Ali Abdullah Saleh, as well as the ex-leader’s nephew General Tariq Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, who heads the presidential guard.

Both generals had refused to quit, and Ahmar’s loyalists even surrounded Sanaa’s airport and threatened to shoot down planes, forcing its closure for one day. The airport was reopened after international and regional powers voiced support for Hadi, who must restructure the army based on a Gulf-brokered deal that Yemen’s political parties have agreed upon. When asked if General Tariq Mohammed Abdullah Saleh had also agreed to quit, Benomar only responded by saying that “all of Hadi’s decisions are being implemented.”

General Ahmar had refused to comply with Hadi’s order to go unless the defence minister and other senior officials also stepped down. He also demanded that several members of the powerful Hashed tribe, which backed defectors during last year’s anti-Saleh protests, be forced into exile.

The US ambassador in Sanaa, Gerald M. Feierstein, warned on Sunday that the international community could take steps against members of the former regime if Hadi’s orders were not implemented. -Agencies

wednesDAY, april 25, 2012

Syrian rebels target security officials in capital BEIRUT: Rebels seeking to topple Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime launched three separate attacks on his security forces around Damascus on Tuesday, killing two ranking officers and rocking the capital with a booby-trapped car, activists and state media said.

The attacks took place as a UN team observing Syria’s violence-ridden truce was visiting another area near the capital, the restive suburb of Douma. Activists and amateur videos reported shelling and gunfire in that area Tuesday, just a day after 55 people were killed across Syria - most of them in a city the observers had recently visited.

Tuesday’s attacks underline the increasing militarization of the 13-month-old conflict and show the effort by Assad’s opponents to chip away at the security services he relies upon to quash dissent.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said one intelligence officer was killed in the capital’s Barzeh neighborhood but gave no information on how he died.

Separately, an army truck blew up as it was driving through downtown Damascus. The blast in Marjah Square near the Iranian Cultural Center left blood and shattered glass on the road.

The truck’s driver and two passengers in a nearby car were injured and taken to a hospital.

Security officials at the scene said the truck driver did not appear to be implicated in the blast, suggesting the explosives had been planted on the vehicle. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. The Syrian government did not immediately comment on those attacks.

The state news service, however, said “terrorists” killed a retired lieutenant colonel and his brother in a Damascus suburb in a third attack.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks.

An 11-person monitoring team is currently in Syria to observe the cease-fire and prepare for a total team of 300 monitors to arrive later. But some areas that have welcomed the team with anti-government demonstrations have faced apparent retribution from the regime.

A Douma activist, Mohammed Saeed, said via Skype that he had heard the observers arrived but had no information on their visit. “The news here is very bad,” he said. “There are tanks and shelling and gunfire and the army has prevented fire engines

In this Monday, April 23, 2012 photo, Syrian protestors gather around UN observers during their visit in Douma near the capital of Damascus, Syria. (AP)

from entering the city,” he said.

Amateur videos posted online Tuesday showed an explosion in the area and smoke rising into the sky as well as men and young boys dashing for cover as gunfire is heard nearby. Activist claims and videos could not be independently verified as the Syrian government has barred most media from working in the country.

Also Tuesday, the UN food agency said it would deliver aid

Egyptians protest lawyer’s arrest in Saudi CAIRO: Hundreds of Egyptians noisily protested outside the Saudi Embassy on Tuesday to demand the release of an Egyptian human rights lawyer detained in Saudi Arabia for allegedly insulting the kingdom’s monarch.

The incident surrounding Ahmed El-Gezawi has revived long-standing resentment over the treatment of Egyptians working in the oil-rich kingdom, which is a destination for more than a million Egyptians who cannot find work at home.

It also raises questions about whether the Egyptian government does enough to protect its citizens working in the wealthy country or, as many activists claim, curbs its criticism so as not to alienate the wealthy kingdom or endanger Egyptian jobs there.

Anti-Saudi sentiment has flared on a number of occasions in recent years following reports of Egyptian nationals being mistreated in the kingdom or experiencing a miscarriage of justice in a Saudi court.

This time, the prominent Egyptian human rights lawyer was arrested upon his April 17 arrival in the Saudi port of Jeddah, El-Gezawi’s sister told a private Egyptian television channel Monday.

El-Gezawi flew to Jeddah on his way to perform a minor pilgrimage, called umrah, to Islam’s holy shrines in the Saudi cities of Mecca and Madina, said

Israel grants legal status to three West Bank outposts

Shereen El-Gezawi. The fact that he was arrested on his way to perform a religious rite further enflamed Egyptian sentiment.

El-Gezawi’s sister said he had been convicted in absentia and sentenced to a year in prison and 20 lashes by a Saudi court for insulting the king. ElGezawi had earlier filed a lawsuit in Egypt against King Abdullah over the alleged arbitrary detention of hundreds of Egyptians living in the kingdom. A rights group said he has criticized the monarch in television interviews.

The protesters outside the embassy chanted slogans against the Saudi monarch and the kingdom’s ruling Al-Saud family. Some protesters raised shoes alongside a picture of the king, a sign of deep contempt in the Arab world.

Egypt’s foreign ministry said it was closely following the case but warned people not to get too carried away with their anti-Saudi protests. Foreign Ministry spokesman Amr Rushdi said Cairo was in constant contact with Saudi authorities over the arrest.

However, he said the ministry would not help feed a media campaign that incites public opinion.

“Citizens should think about how they voice their views and whether they would serve the interests of the detained citizen or make it worse,” he said. “This is not a football match.” -AP

JERUSALEM: Israel said on Tuesday it had granted legal status to three settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank, a move that could shore up the governing coalition but which drew sharp Palestinian condemnation. Israeli officials played down the decision taken by a ministerial committee late on Monday and rejected accusations that the government had effectively created the first new Jewish settlements for more than 20 years. Most of the international community views all Jewish settlements in the West Bank as illegal. However, Israel distinguishes between settlements it has approved and the outposts which were never granted official authorization. Condemning the decision, Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said “Netanyahu has pushed things to a dead end yet again”.

Palestinians are awaiting a formal response from Netanyahu to a letter they sent last week in which Abbas repeated his call for an end to all settlement activity. Peace talks have been frozen since 2010 over the issue. For years, Israel has promised its main ally, the United States, to remove dozens of outposts, but has done little to fulfill the pledge in the

Sudan planes drop 8 bombs on South Sudan: Official NAIROBI, Kenya: Sudan continued with its aerial bombardment of South Sudan on Tuesday, dropping eight bombs overnight, an official said, as South Sudan’s president said the attacks amounted to a declaration of war by Sudan.

South Sudan’s military spokesman Col. Philip Aguer said that Sudanese Antonovs dropped eight bombs overnight between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. in Panakuac, where he said ground fighting had been ongoing since Sunday. Aguer said he has not received information on whether there were casualties from the attack because of poor communications.

On Monday, Sudanese warplanes bombed a market and an oil field in South Sudan, killing at least two people after Sudanese ground forces had reportedly crossed into South Sudan with tanks and artillery.

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir on Tuesday during a visit to Beijing told China’s president that attacks by rival Sudan amount to a declaration of war on his country. There has yet to be a formal declaration of war by either of the Sudans, and Kiir’s remark, made during talks with President Hu Jintao, signals a ratcheting up of rhetoric between the rival nations which have been teetering on the brink of war.

Kiir arrived in China late Monday for a five-day visit lobbying for economic and diplomatic support. He told Hu the visit comes at a “a very critical moment for the Republic of South Sudan because our neighbor in Khartoum has declared war on the Republic of South Sudan.”

South Sudan broke away from its neighbor and became independent last year. The two countries have been unable to resolve disputes over sharing oil

A Sudanese engineer points at the damage to an oil pipeline in a largely damaged oilfield in Heglig April 23, 2012. (Reuters)

revenue and determining a border. Talks broke down this month after attacks started between the two countries with South Sudan invading the oil-rich border town of Heglig, which Sudan claims it controls.

Following international pressure, South Sudan announced that it has withdrawn all its troops from Heglig but Sudan claimed its troops forced them out.

Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir has vowed to press ahead with his military campaign until all southern troops or affiliated forces are chased out of the north.

Kiir on Tuesday told Hu that he came to China because of the “great relation-

to 500,000 people in Syria, a tenfold increase since December but warned there are still around a million more people in the country who don’t have enough to eat.

The World Food Program said that by the end of the month, it will provide food for 250,000 people with the help from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. It also said it would quickly double that “in the coming weeks,” focusing on the cities of Homs, Hama, Idlib and Damascus. -AP

ship” South Sudan has with China, calling it one of his country’s “economic and strategic partners.”

China’s energy needs make it deeply vested in the future of the two Sudans, and Beijing is uniquely positioned to exert influence in the conflict given its deep trade ties to the resource-rich south and decades-long diplomatic ties with Sudan’s government in the north.

Both have tried to win Beijing’s favor, but China has been careful to cultivate ties with each nation. Like others in the international community, China has repeatedly urged the two sides to return to negotiations. -AP

face of domestic political friction. Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement group, said the change of the three outposts’ status marked the first time since 1990 that the Israeli government had established a new settlement, adding that the four-man committee did not have the authority.

“The Netanyahu government is trying to deceive the public and hide its true policy.” it said in a statement. “This announcement is against the Israeli interest of achieving peace and a two-state solution.” In tandem with the decision on the three outposts, Netanyahu moved to patch up differences within his coalition over the future of a neighborhood threatened with demolition inside the West Bank settlement of Beit El. Israel has promised the Supreme Court, which is looking into Palestinian claims of ownership to the land, to evict the settlers in the disputed homes by May 1. Barak, drawing criticism from several Likud ministers and legislators, has said the government would stand by that pledge. But in an interview with Army Radio on Tuesday, Netanyahu said the government would seek a solution to the problem and ask the Supreme Court to push back the May 1 deadline. -Reuters

Iran halts ‘cyber attack’ on its oil servers

TEHRAN: Iran said on Tuesday it had halted the spread of a data-deleting virus targeting computer servers in its oil sector, and hoped to have all systems back and running within days.

Hamdolah Mohammadnejad, a deputy oil minister heading up a crisis committee to counter what officials described as a “cyber attack,” told the official IRNA news agency that the virus’s impact had been limited by rapid action.

“We shut computers connected to these servers temporarily and fortunately we were able to stop its spread.

Thus no information or data were harmed,” he said.

“We are investigating the causes of these cyber problems and in the next two to three days we hope the problems will be solved,” he added. Reports on Monday said Iran had disconnected several of its computers from the Internet to curb the virus, including ones running its main oil export terminal on Kharg Island in the Gulf.

Mohammadnejad stressed to IRNA that Iran’s oil facilities were continuing to operate despite the digital assault, and that back-ups existed of any data that could have been affected. He said the malware had attacked “a number of National Iranian Oil Company servers ... but cyber security experts quickly restrained it.”

The websites of the Iranian oil ministry (www.mop. ir) and the National Iranian Oil Co (www.nioc.ir) were back on-line on Tuesday, after being inaccessible for many hours after the virus first struck on Sunday.

An oil ministry spokesman, Alireza Nikzad, on Monday admitted that “to say that no data was harmed is not right.” But he said only data related to “some” users had been compromised. Iranian officials and media made no accusations so far over who might have been behind the attack.

But the response to the emergency could be traced back to procedures put in place after a sophisticated 2010 attack on computers linked to Iran’s nuclear program through a worm called Stuxnet. -AFP

ALWATAN DAILY

WORLD

wednesdAY, april 25, 2012

North Korea’s nuclear test ready ‘soon’ China firm boasts about missile-linked North Korea sale

BEIJING: North Korea has almost completed preparations for a third nuclear test, a senior source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing told Reuters, which will draw further international condemnation following a failed rocket launch if it goes ahead.

The isolated and impoverished state sacrificed the chance of closer ties with the United States when it launched the long-range rocket on April 13 and was censured by the UN Security Council, including the North’s sole major ally, China.

Critics say the rocket launch was aimed at honing the North’s ability to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the United States, a move that would dramatically increase its military and diplomatic heft.

Now the North appears to be about to carry out a third nuclear test after two in 2006 and 2009.

“Soon. Preparations are almost complete,” the source said when asked whether North Korea was planning to conduct a nuclear test.

This is the first time a senior official has confirmed the planned test and the source has correctly predicted events in the past, telling Reuters about the 2006 test days before it happened.

The rocket launch and nuclear test come as Kim Jong-un, the third of his line to rule North Korea, seeks to cement his grip on power.

Kim took office in December and has lauded the country’s military might, reaffirming his father’s “military first” policies that have stunted economic development and appearing to dash slim hopes of an opening to the outside world.

Washington, Seoul and Tokyo, which have most to fear from any North Korean nuclear threat, are watching events anxiously and many observers say that Pyongyang may have the capacity to conduct a test using highly enriched uranium for the first time.

FILE - In this Sunday, April 15, 2012 file photo, a North Korean vehicle carrying a missile passes by during a mass military parade in Pyongyang. North Korea has almost completed preparations for a third nuclear test, a senior source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing told Reuters, which will draw further international condemnation following a failed rocket launch if it goes ahead. (AP)

Defense experts say that by successfully enriching uranium, to make bombs of the type dropped on Hiroshima nearly 70 years ago, the North would be able to significantly build up stocks of weapons-grade nuclear material.

It would also allow it more easily to manufacture a nuclear warhead to mount on a longrange missile.

The source did not specify whether the test would be a third test using plutonium, of which it has limited stocks, or whether Pyongyang would use uranium.

South Korean defense sources have been quoted in domestic media as saying a launch could come within two weeks and one North

Korea analyst has suggested that it could come as early as the North’s “Army Day” on Wednesday.

Other observers say that any date is pure speculation.

In more related news, a Chinese firm that intelligence agencies believe provided North Korea with the body of an off-road transport vehicle used to carry missiles appears to have a press release on its website that boasts about the sale, UN diplomats told Reuters.

Washington suspects that the Chinese firm, Hubei Sanjiang Space Wanshan Special Vehicle Co., did not sell North Korea an entire vehicle, but a chassis, and may have believed it was for civilian purposes, suggesting the company did

French rivals scramble to seduce Le Pen voters PARIS: France’s presidential rivals scrambled on Tuesday to seduce nearly a fifth of the electorate that voted for far right anti-immigration crusader Marine Le Pen, voicing sympathy for voters’ distress in the economic crisis.

Conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy, fighting for his political life after being beaten into second place in Sunday’s first round, hammered away at Le Pen’s themes of fear of immigration, insecurity and industrial decline at public rallies and in media interviews.

“I want to talk to the little people, to the foot soldiers, to people in the countryside, to pensioners,” Sarkozy told a public rally, saying the National Front leader had drawn a “crisis vote” in “the part of France that is suffering”.

“You are feeling afraid,” he said. “I have heard you.”

Socialist challenger Francois Hollande, who topped Sunday’s vote and is favorite to win a May 6 runoff, said in an interview with left-wing daily Liberation: “It’s up to me to convince the voters of the National Front.”

Hollande put Le Pen’s unprecedented 18 percent score down to despair among “a suffering electorate of office workers, artisans, and blue-collar workers who are really feeling abandoned” as well as farmers struggling to make ends meet.

Those voters, some of whom came from the left, had wanted to punish not just Sarkozy but also the political system, Europe and globalization, he said.

The two rivals for the second round, which

NEWS IN BRIEF not intentionally flout UN sanctions, a US official said.

The official also said the firm likely made the sale to a front company that was used to mask the buyer’s true identity. The company denies having trade links to North Korea.

UN diplomats in New York said that some UN delegations are also aware of the case and are looking into whether Hubei Sanjiang might have violated the UN ban on selling North Korea technology that can support its ballistic missile program.

Even if it is not a violation of UN sanctions against Pyongyang, the use of a specialized Chinese vehicle to parade North Korean missiles would be more than a little awkward, the Western diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

They said that a press release posted on Hubei Sanjiang’s website last year appears to boast about the sale of the chassis that ended up in Pyongyang, though it did not name the customer.

The press release also said that the company was looking forward to future cooperation with “the consumer” of the item, which the diplomats said has the model number “WS51200”.

It said the successful delivery of “the largest Self-propelled Overload Special Off-road Transporter in China” took place on May 17, 2011.

The English-language press release also refers specifically to the vehicle chassis, which is what Washington believes Pyongyang purchased.

“During the inspection of this delivery, the consumer was very satisfied with the vehicle and indicated the possible of the next cooperation,” it said.

“According to the requirements of the consumer, WS51200, with the total weight of 122 ton, adopted the bran-new overload chassis of WS series which is the largest in China,” it said.

One diplomat said intelligence officials were “99 percent certain” the press release referred to the vehicle the North Koreans used to transport a missile in a recent military parade.

-Reuters

“By contrast, Francois Hollande, who is the heir to a political family that invented the fundamental cleavage of the class struggle, has adopted the posture of a unifier.”

Scorn

An employee removes election posters for Marine Le Pen after the first round of presidential elections, in La Bastide Clairence, southwestern France, Tuesday, April 24, 2012. (AP)

will determine who leads Europe’s number two economy, a nuclear power and activist U.N. Security Council member, are adopting sharply contrasting tactics to woo potential swing voters.

Sarkozy is playing up divisive issues such as “real work” versus “assistance”, curbing public displays of Islam in France and slashing immi-

China leader under scrutiny shows still in control BEIJING: A top Chinese leader under scrutiny amid China’s biggest political scandal in years called for Communist Party unity in a prominent essay published Tuesday that shows his authority holding despite the investigation.

The editorial signed by Zhou Yongkang in the ruling party’s main newspaper, People’s Daily, urges the party’s legal organs to closely follow policies set by President Hu Jintao.

“Let us unify even more closely around the party center with comrade Hu Jintao as general secretary,” the essay says.

Replete with party jargon, the essay repeatedly mentions Hu’s signature “scientific development” doctrine setting a course for rapid social and economic development under strict Communist Party rule.

Zhou, the party’s security boss and its number nine ranking official, wields enormous influence over the police and paramilitary forces charged with maintaining internal stability at a time of growing unrest over corruption and uneven development.

Yet his authority has come under questions about his close association with former party official Bo Xilai, who was toppled over a scandal involving his wife’s alleged participation in the murder of a British businessman.

While unlikely to face charges or be forced to resign, Zhou risks seeing his influence diminish sharply ahead of the nation’s coming transition to younger leaders.

Bo has been dismissed as party boss of the sprawling western metropolis of Chongqing and was earlier this month suspended from the party’s powerful Politburo. Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, and a household aide have been named as suspects in the murder of Neil Haywood, with whom the family maintained a close personal and professional relationship that later soured.

The case, and the unprecedentedly public manner in which it has evolved, has deeply embarrassed a party leadership obsessed with its image and whose inner working remain shrouded in secrecy.

It has also stirred new questions about the party’s future, just months before this fall’s once-in-a-generation appointment of new leaders. -AP

gration, while Hollande is trying to project himself as a calm, unifying presidential figure.

“Nicolas Sarkozy is constantly trying to create cleavages... when what people expect from a president, especially in times of crisis, is to be a unifier,” said veteran political scientist Roland Cayrol of the Centre for Studies and Analysis.

Le Pen poured scorn on both main candidates, saying that her supporters had voted for her ideas and not out of protest or distress at the crisis. She made clear her next objective was to win seats in parliament in June and lead “the real opposition”.

Based on Sunday’s vote, the National Front would reach the second round in some 345 constituencies, more than half of the 577 seats, potentially splitting the right-wing vote in a major threat to Sarkozy’s UMP party.

Le Pen said she would give her view of the second round choice at a rally on May 1, but senior aides made clear she was highly unlikely to endorse either candidate.

Analysts say her party’s strategy is based on defeating Sarkozy and the mainstream right falling apart in the wake of a lost election.

Projecting himself as the outsider in the race and a victim of media and establishment bias, Sarkozy rejected the idea that Le Pen would arbitrate his duel with Hollande.

“There’s only one referee of the second round, as there was in the first round. It’s not the pollsters, it’s not the pundits, it’s the French people, and the French people are free. And it’s not Mrs. Le Pen either,” he told France 2 television. -Reuters

South Africa’s Zuma on track for second term JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma is the favorite to win a second term to lead the ruling ANC in a race dominated by factional politics instead of policy reforms for Africa’s most powerful economy.

More than a dozen insiders in the ruling African National Congress told Reuters that Zuma had the race in hand even though there are strong factions in the party who want him out and could make things difficult.

“It’s Zuma’s race to lose,” said one senior ANC member.

The winner of December’s party vote is almost certain to be its nominee in the 2014 presidential election. Since the ANC enjoys virtual one-party rule, its nominee is almost assured of winning the five year term as president.

The race will be fought at the local level with little attention paid to warnings from all three of the major global credit ratings agencies who have said the economy is on the wrong track under Zuma, posing longterm risks to stability.

The battle to lead the 100-year-old ANC according to party insiders is a twohorse race between Zuma and Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe.

Zuma has a commanding lead in delegates and unless Motlanthe make huge strides by the electoral conference in December, Zuma should secure victory.

Motlanthe, or any other candidate, is not going to openly declare their challenge to Zuma due to a party culture where raising one’s hand too early is tantamount to political suicide.

The race will be fought behind closed

doors, leaving out a public that has grown increasingly angry at the ANC for not doing enough to fix a broken education system, failing hospitals, rampant poverty and chronic unemployment.

“Motlanthe has strong support but it’s all about timing and we want to make sure that his chances are good before nominations open,” said a source close to the deputy president.

A raw nerve

5

The ANC, a former liberation movement that became the ruling party when the white-minority apartheid regime ended 18 years ago, is a broad-tent political grouping with members ranging from hard core communists to business moguls.

Its consensus-building approach has stifled radical ideas from the left that include nationalizing mines and seizing white-owned farmland.

But it has also allowed a rot to set in.

Its allies, its members and voters have criticized it for turning a blind eye to corruption eating away at social welfare spending.

Zuma, Motlanthe and many senior leaders have faced suspicions of corruption, with many in the party using leaks of graft on rivals as a way to settle political scores.

“The perception that corruption is increasing on his watch, and that Zuma can be bought, weigh him down,” one senior official said.

Comments from Nedbank chairman Reuel Khoza, one of the country’s most respected businessmen, touched a nerve when he warned democracy is under threat

from politicians incapable of running the country.

“Our political leadership’s moral quotient is degenerating and we are fast losing the checks and balances that are necessary to prevent a recurrence of the past,” Khoza wrote in the annual report of South Africa’s fourth largest bank.

“South Africa is widely recognized for its liberal and enlightened constitution, yet we observe a strange breed of leaders who are determined to undermine the rule of law and override the constitution,” Khoza said.

The ANC’s top brass denounced Khoza this month, with some members calling him counter-revolutionary.

But economists say if the ANC government keeps up its current policies, South Africa risks slipping to new depths of unemployment, debt and corruption that could swell the ranks of the destitute and undermine long-term prospects.

A ‘Zunami’

Even if Zuma is replaced, it’s unlikely Motlanthe will inject much needed reforms to make the economy more competitive.

Motlanthe, who served as the caretaker president for eight months, when former President Thabo Mbeki was ousted in September 2008 before his term ended, avoided confrontation during his stay in power.

The period was one of the most fractious in the post-apartheid era and Motlanthe was a unifying force in the party.

Although his unionist’s political upbringing was shaped by leftist theories, he is seen at home as a moderate and is well regarded in international circles. -Reuters

Pakistan’s top court to deliver verdict in PM case ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme Court is expected to deliver its verdict later this week in a contempt case against the prime minister that could see him losing his job, the premier’s lawyer said Tuesday.

A guilty verdict could also result in Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani serving up to six months in prison for his refusal to reopen an old corruption case against the president, his political ally. That could stoke fresh political turmoil at a time when Pakistan is trying to patch up its relations with the United States and is grappling with a weak economy and a bloody Taliban insurgency. But even if Gilani is forced to step down - a process that could take months - the deeper political impact could be limited since the ruling coalition has the majority in parliament needed to elect a new prime minister. The court has summoned to Gilani to appear before it Thursday when it is expected to deliver its verdict, said his lawyer, Aitzaz Ahsan.

“I am hopeful that the prime minister will be acquitted,” Ahsan told reporters outside the courthouse in Islamabad. -AP

Death penalty repeal to go before California voters LOS ANGELES: California voters will decide in November whether to repeal the death penalty in a state that is home to nearly a quarter of the nation’s death row inmates, after activists collected the more than 500,000 signatures needed to put the measure on the ballot. The ballot initiative focuses on the high cost of the death penalty in a state that has executed 13 people since capital punishment was reinstated in the nation in 1976. Another 723 inmates sit on death row pending lengthy and expensive appeals. The move, which comes as a number of states reconsider capital punishment, would abolish execution as the maximum sentence in murder convictions and replace it with life imprisonment. If the measure passes, it was expected to save the state in the “high tens of millions of dollars annually,” according to an estimate of the fiscal impact of the bill that is included in the text of the measure. -Reuters

Details of London marathon runners leaked PARIS: The home addresses of all 38,000 runners in Sunday’s London Marathon, including those of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and leading Labour Party politician Ed Balls were mistakenly published online, organizers have admitted. The details were accidentally released on the marathon’s official website and were accessible to anyone logging onto the site on Monday until organizers later rectified the leak. Ramsay, opposition finance minister Balls and model Nell McAndrew all had their personal details published in the glitch, which was uncovered when a member of the public called a television presenter. “We apologize for this error, and are grateful to the BBC for bringing it to our attention,” Nick Bitel, the chief executive of the London Marathon, said. -AFP

Russia’s Medvedev vows to continue modernization MOSCOW: Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev has vowed to pursue his modernization agenda after shifting into the prime minister’s job in a speech that summed up the results of his four-year presidency. Medvedev has agreed to step down after one term to allow his longtime mentor Vladimir Putin to reclaim the presidency in March’s election. The swap was widely seen as a cynical maneuvering, fueling a wave of unprecedented massive protests in the run-up to the vote.

Medvedev raised hopes for liberal reforms early in his presidency but achieved little, largely staying in the shadow of his powerful predecessor, who has continued calling the shots as prime minister. In Tuesday’s speech before the State Council, Medvedev repeated pledges to combat corruption, pursue political reforms and modernize economy. -AP

I’d no reason to suspect wrongdoing: James Murdoch LONDON: James Murdoch defended his record at the head of his father’s British scandal-tarred newspaper arm, saying Tuesday that he had been given assurances by subordinates “which proved to be wrong.”

Murdoch was testifying at Lord Justice Brian Leveson’s inquiry into media ethics to answer questions about his role in the phone hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch’s now-defunct News of the World tabloid.

The 39-year-old Murdoch said he had no reason to doubt his subordinates when he took over at News International, which published the News of the World, in 2008.

“I do recall receiving assurances around journalistic ethics, codes of practice on a number of occasions,” he told Leveson. Murdoch repeated earlier claims that his lieutenants had misled him about the scope of the illegal behavior in the News of the World’s newsroom.

“I was given assurances by them, which proved to be wrong,” he said. -AP

6

ALWATAN DAILY

OPINION

wednesDAY, april 25, 2012

China soon to abandon Bashar, ‘Hasta la vista baby!’

Fuad Al-Hashem

T

he name is Al-Mahrousa, one of the names Egypt is commonly known by, which means “guarded”. The royal yacht was made by Samuda a British company by orders from the Khedive Ismail the Grand Vizier of Egypt back in 1863. Its first cruise was from London to Alexandria.

The yacht is 411 feet in length and 42 feet in width. Its load is 3, 400 tons and equipped with eight bounders Armstrong type to ward off any marine attack.

The longest trip covered by the royal yacht Al-Mahrousa was back in 1976 at the orders of former Egyptian president Anwar Al-Sadat. At the date that it was cruised to the United States, and specifically New York, to participate in the US celebrations of the 200th Independence Day. The royal yacht sailed off for 12,700 knots from Alexandria to its destination. But of all the trips Al-Mahrousa made, it was that one which took the last king of Egypt, King Farouk to his exile in the Italian island of Capri following the military revolution, which had taken place on 23/7/1952. It was the revolution which sealed off the destiny and power of the House of Mohammed Ali. King Farouk consented to the revolution’s demand to abdicate and leave the country. The late monarch, however, had a last request and that was to keep the royal yacht designed by his grandfather’s father. But the request was sternly rejected by Colonel Jamal Abdulnasser. In fact the late president Nasser hated all forms of monarchy and even ordered that the royal yacht be named to Al-Huriya, Freedom.

The Syrian crisis

Finally, China is about to strike a deal with Qatar with the likelihood of which the Chinese will say to the dim-witted Bashar Al-Assad: ‘Hasta la vista baby!

Despite the official change of the name, most of the people referred to the yacht by its original name and in the year 2000 former president Hosni Mubarak ordered that the name would be reverted to its original name officially. The royal yacht is now opposite Al-Teen Palace in Alexandria.

I personally had visited the place some five years ago and I had a wonderful seafood meal there. The menu is characteristically named after members of the royal family of King Farouk. The youngest daughter of King Farouk was born in 1950 and that means two years prior to his final departure to the Italian island. Princess Firyal died some three years ago of cancer in Genève and buried in the cemetery of the royal family in Egypt next to her father.

King Farouk was so happy with the birth of his baby daughter that he gave away one Egyptian pound for all those who were born in the same day that of his daughter.

The Egyptian pound then was the equivalent of four US dollars around 1 1/4 Kuwaiti dinars.

The way I see it is that the day the royal yacht sailed off, with the King Farouk on board to his exile it was the beginning of the end. The trip was made and the clock was tick-

ing away declaring the gradual downfall of Egypt and the people of Egypt. The King left the country, leaving behind Abdulnasser, Sadat, Kamal- El Din Hussein, Abdulhakim Amer, Yousef Siddiq, Khaled Mohyi-Din, Zakariya MohyiDin, Jamal Salem and his insane brother Salah Salem, Hussein Al-Shafi, Hussein Al-Hudaibi, Mashour, Badi, Khayrat Al-Shater, Mohammad Mursi, Hazem Abu Ismail,Amr Musa and Saad Al-Saghir and the rest of the list of the candidates who have devalued the Egyptian pound, and made it 21 pounds for one single Kuwaiti dinars !

I need to express my advice to the people of Egypt. My advice is for the Egyptian people to send the royal yacht of Al-Mahrousa to Genève where His Highness the Crown Prince Ahmad Fuad, better known as Prince Fuad II, asking him with the utmost courtesy aboard the yacht and then sail back to the land of Egypt. Forget Khayrat Al-Shater, forget all others and once again make it a monarchy for the sake of the country and its people. As I was searching in one of my old drawers hoping to find four million Kuwaiti dinars just as MP Musallam Al-Barrak had announced that while searching his mother’s cupboard he found the exact lump

sum of money, I found a cut out of an article sent by the Iranian Embassy in Kuwait dated 15/11/1994. The eighteenyear-old letter goes like this: “Fuad Al-Hashem had written an article full of nonsense about the Islamic Republic of Iran... The man is so rude that he insulted the holy and sacrosanct Islamic Republic of Iran.

This will have political and legal consequences because of his attitude and behavior.We are sure that someone like him with such tarnished reputation in the eyes of the Kuwaitis and Muslims not a lot is expected from him. But we are surprised that such highly esteemed newspaper like yours allows someone like him to write and indulge in besmirching the lives of others bringing disrepute to the newspaper and to the country... therefore we express our staunchest protest against such writings, bearing in mind the Publications Law. The public needs to be aware of this. We would like to be informed of the measures taken in this regard.” Peace be upon you! The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Moving on to the Egyptian current affairs where the Financial Manager of the Muslim Brotherhood Dr. Hussein Shahata said in behind closed door meeting that the organization is receiving five million Egyptian pounds in the form of donations from members in Egypt and the Gulf States each year. He outlined the various business activities of the organization in different parts of the world.

This is what I call true “true to his cause”!!

Finally, China is about to strike a deal with Qatar with the likelihood of which the Chinese will say to the dimwitted Bashar Al-Assad: “Hasta la vista baby!”

BU QUTADA & BU NABIL

The number of monitors are expected to reach 250 but such a decision requires another approval from the UN Security Council.

Why are you fighting?

We are fighting to resolve the issue of development projects.

And we are exchanging blows in order to set up housing facilities for citizens

Oh!!

Abdullah Al-Hadlaq

A

ll of us are pessimistic about sending new international observers to Syria not only His Highness the Amir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani wherein His Highness the Amir has mentioned that the success expectation for the task of observers doesn`t exceed three percent.

We believe that the Amir was a bit optimistic as he expected that there is still hope for the Syrian regime to respond to international calls for stopping bloodshed. We are sure that the success expectation for this task is 0 percent and it had failed even before it started because the brutal Syrian regime is persisting killing and the very regime commits new massacres every day. The dictatorial regime is still committing massacres although international monitors had arrived in Syria and the United Nations Security Council started facing a moral crisis because it failed to protect the Syrian civilians.

The council did not succeed in even endorsing tough decisions to force the barbaric regime to stop killing people. Therefore, the Norwegian head of the monitors’ delegation to Syria withdrew from his position and left Syria. He might have understood that the task would not stop the killings as well as being pessimistic about such a cause.

However, about six monitors arrived in Syria as a first step. More monitors are expected to reach Syria soon. The number of monitors are expected to reach 250 but such a decision requires another approval from the UN Security Council. Anyway, such efforts could fail and the Syrian regime exploits this to gain more time for killing civilians. The current circumstances in Syria created internal conflicts between the senior figures of the regime and that might lead destroying the regime soon. This is in addition the possibility of involving the country in a civil war.

The real way for protecting Syria and the Syrian people is providing the Free Syrian army with weapons to defend civilians against the tanks and air jets of the regime.

Lifting parliamentary immunity Nabeel Al-Fadhl

A

ccording to the news that was published last Sunday on the report, which was prepared by the parliamentary committee for legislative affairs.

About lifting the parliamentary immunity of the MPs who stormed the headquarters of National Assembly, four MPs out of the nine, one who got accused of storming the building attended the meeting of the committee. The four MPs are Mohammad Al-Khalifa, Salem Al-Namlan, Musallam Al-Barrak and Waleed Al-Tabtabaie. The members of the committee had also voted unanimously and all of them rejected the accusation of storming the building, adding that the gates and doors of the building were open!

We wonder how the gates and doors of the building are kept open at night and we even did not hear anybody criticizing security individuals for keeping the gates open!

Let’s complete reading the report which says that the gates were open and demonstrators were afraid of security individuals therefore they escaped towards the building and entered inside.

The MP Al-Barrak stated that he was born to witness that day- the day of storming national assembly! As a result we would like to ask him if he was born to witness or participate in storming the building or escape from police!

Are you serious?

We are also fighting to resolve the issue of traffic jam.

Come and let us trample on your stomach so that price increases are resolved

Run away

Mohmmed Thallab

mthallab@alwatan.com.kw

The question is how have the nine MPs already announced that they support lifting immunity to visit the relevant court?

If he selects the first opinion that as a witness before the committee, then that is false, and if he selects the second then what a brave MP we have!

As long as the members of the committee and the nine MPs asked for lifting immunity then any MPs’ votes against lifting immunity would be dishonest. Or even treacherous because it did not defend the interests of the country. And he doesn’t deserve to represent the Kuwaiti people!

However, not lifting parliamentary immunity means that MPs will be safe as they will not visit the judiciary and they will abandon the youths whom they had incited to storm the parliament. The youths will face their fate alone!

Such steps might deprive the nine MPs from their parliamentary seats after the coming parliamentary elections.

Lifting immunity might lead to tough sentences against

the MPs who stormed the parliament which might even reach to prison for life as well as losing the parliamentary membership therefore the nine MPs will not dare to visit the judiciary.

The question is how have the nine MPs already announced that they support lifting immunity to visit the relevant court? It is a difficult question especially that their colleagues at the Bureau of the Parliament attempted seriously to save them.

In fact, a dodgy bargain could be stricken between the MPs and some decision makers. But until now there are no clear evidences or answers to this question. Reality might come to surface soon.

I have received some information that indicates that the MP Dr. Obaid Al-Wasmi has released a statement against

me and I replied to that statement immediately. Yesterday Al-Wasmi announced that he did not release such a statement. Therefore we apologize to Al-Wasmi and we hope he would deny the statements immediately after being published to avoid a misunderstanding.

Al-Wasmi was the first MP to declare that he was planning to file an interpellation motion against the prime minister. But the motion was dropped later on. And the MP Musallam Al-Barrak announced that and not Al-Wasmi himself!

After that the MP Mohammad Hayef declared that he would grill the minister of Awqaf but other MPs intervened and dropped the motion as well. The MP Dr. Waleed Al-Tabtabaie has also announced that he would grill the minister of interior. However the motion was dropped later on because the Majority Bloc preferred dropping the motion.

The members of the Majority Bloc look like a flock of love birds in harmony or a herd of deer in terms of the interpellation motion of the Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Shamali. As to recall the motion was prepared by the main member of the majority bloc. The members supported the motion although one of the ministers loyal to the majority bloc told them that the very motion might lead to dissolving the National Assembly.

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ALWATAN DAILY

views Chinese values?

Joschka Fischer Project Syndicate

T

here can be little reasonable doubt today that the People’s Republic of China will dominate the world of the twenty-first century. The country’s rapid economic growth, strategic potential, huge internal market, and enormous investment in infrastructure, education, and research and development, as well as its massive military buildup, will see to that.

This means that, in political and economic terms, we are entering an East and Southeast Asian century. Lest we forget, the outcome for the world would have been far worse if China’s ascent had failed. But what will this world look like? We can foresee the power that will shape its geopolitics, but what values will underlie the exercise of that power?

The official policy of “Four Modernizations” (industrial, agricultural, military, and scientific-technological) that has underpinned China’s rise since the late 1970’s have failed to provide an answer to that question, because the “fifth modernization” - the emergence of

wednesDAY, april 25, 2012

democracy and the rule of law - is still missing. Indeed, political modernization faces massive opposition from the Chinese Communist Party, which has no interest in surrendering its monopoly of power. Moreover, the transition to a pluralist system that channels, rather than suppresses, political conflict would indeed be risky, though the risk will grow the longer oneparty rule and the endemic corruption that accompanies it persists.

Ideologically, Chinese leadership’s rejection of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law is based on the contention that these supposedly universal values are a mere stalking horse for Western interests, and that repudiating them should thus be viewed as a matter of self-respect. China will never again submit to the West militarily, so it should not submit to the West normatively either.

And here we return to the concept of “Asian values,” originally developed in Singapore and Malaysia. But until this day, three decades later, its meaning remains unclear. Essentially, the concept has served to justify collectivist-authoritarian rule by aligning it with local tradition and culture, with autonomy defined in terms of otherness - that is, differentiation from the West and its values. Thus, “Asian values” are not universal norms, but rather a self-preservation strategy harnessed to identity politics.

Clearly, national interests, and sometimes pure power, play a part in how the US and other Western countries apply values like human rights, the rule of law, democracy, and pluralism.

Given the history of Western colonialism in Asia, the desire to maintain a distinct identity is both legitimate and understandable, as is the belief in many Asian countries - first and foremost China - that the time has come to settle old scores. But the effort to preserve one’s power, the need for a distinct “Asian” identity, and the desire to settle historical scores will not solve the normative question raised by China’s emergence as the century’s dominant power.

How that question is answered is crucially important, because it will determine the character of a global power, and thus how it deals with other, weaker countries.A state becomes a world power when its strategic significance and potential give it global reach. And, as a rule, such states then try to safeguard their interests by imposing their predominance (hegemony), which is a recipe for dangerous conflict if based

on coercion rather than cooperation.

The world’s acclimation to a global hegemonic structure - in which world powers guarantee an international order - survived the Cold War. The Soviet Union wasn’t ideologically anti-Western, because Communism and Socialism were Western inventions, but it was anti-Western in political terms.And it failed not only for economic reasons, but also because its internal and external behavior was based on compulsion, not consent.

By contrast, the United States’ economic and political model, and that of the West, with its individual rights and open society, proved to be its sharpest weapon in the Cold War. The US prevailed not because of its military superiority, but because of its soft power, and because its hegemony was based not on coercion (though there was some of that, too), but largely on

Markets of magical thinking

7

consent. Which path will China choose? While China will not change its ancient and admirable civilization, it owes its re-emergence to its embrace of the contemporary Western model of modernization - the huge achievement of Deng Xiaoping, who put the country on its current path more than three decades ago. But the decisive question of political modernization remains unanswered.

Clearly, national interests, and sometimes pure power, play a part in how the US and other Western countries apply values like human rights, the rule of law, democracy, and pluralism. But these values are not mere ideological window dressing for Western interests; in fact, they are not that to any significant extent. They are indeed universal, and all the more so in an era of comprehensive globalization.

The contribution of Asia - and of China, in particular - to the development of this universal set of values is not yet foreseeable, but it will surely come if the “fifth modernization” leads to China’s political transformation. China’s course as a world power will be determined to a significant extent by the way it confronts this question.

Joschka Fischer, Germany’s foreign minister and vice-chancellor from 1998 to 2005, was a leader in the German Green Party for almost 20 years.

Argentina vs Elliott: It’s not about pari passu any more

It is difficult to conceive of any case in which deference to the discretion of the district court is more appropriate than it is here.

Felix Salmon Reuters

E

FILE- The shadow of Alessandro Germano, Google’s Brazil’s news business development manager, is seen during the launching of Google’s Art Project website in Sao Paulo April 3, 2012. (Reuters) Esther Dyson Project Syndicate

A

mericans are great believers in the value of entrepreneurs and small business. That faith underlies the JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) Act, a new law that will make it easier for small companies to raise money and bypass the regulatory “friction” that firms encounter when they go public. The law assumes that people who can’t find jobs may be able to find investors instead, and that small companies will be able to get the financing they need to grow bigger and hire more people. Angel investors, friends, and family will boldly go where banks may fear to tread.

The JOBS Act is an extreme example of Americans’ belief in people’s essential goodness, and everyone’s right to self-fulfillment. Every entrepreneur should be entitled to raise funding from willing investors. It is a uniquely American approach, and capitalistic in the best sense of the word, for it encourages (and democratizes) investment, rather than fueling consumption.

Small (under one billion US dollars) companies can raise money directly from small investors in a formalization of the “crowdfunding” approach, whereby a project’s principals post their plans on a Web site and ask for money, essentially opening up the initial public offering (IPO) market. The theory underlying the law is that a new set of accredited third-party marketplaces, rather than the overburdened Securities and Exchange Commission (which missed Bernie Madoff’s monster Ponzi scheme), will ensure that entrepreneurs tell the truth, and that investors know what they are buying. (Of course, that begs the question of how thoroughly vetted and reliable those thirdparty marketplaces and their vetting systems will be.) While this initiative was born in the United States, many countries are wondering how to jumpstart their own entrepreneurial sectors, and may be tempted to follow America’s lead. So why do I hope that they resist that temptation?

Unfortunately, the JOBS Act is as likely to be successful as the US government’s earlier attempts to ensure that American families could buy their own homes. Low down payments, deferred inter-

The JOBS Act is an extreme example of Americans’ belief in people’s essential goodness, and everyone’s right to selffulfillment. est, and other enticements made it attractive for people to buy their own homes (or to speculate with second homes) whether they could afford to or not.

Mortgage brokers were happy to get in on the act. Some were driven by an honest mission to expand property ownership; others were driven by greed. Some knew that the people to whom they were selling houses could not afford it; others simply did not want to know. Some played by the rules; others forged documents. The banks that originated mortgage loans sold their portfolios to investors who didn’t really understand what they were buying.

In the same way, the JOBS Act will ease life for some deserving people - and most likely attract many more who are less deserving. The new system will attract scam artists and promoters who will encourage unsuitable companies to seek investment and oversell the companies to individuals who can’t afford to lose the money that they invest.

I wish I had more faith in the system, but the problem is not a lack of good people, good investors, or good entrepreneurs. The problem is that, without regulation, bad people take advantage of the good ones. While regulation and restrictions may hamper small business, not all regulation and restrictions are useless.

Yes, there are some wonderful, honest companies that deserve investment and can’t get it, but they are not that common. I see a lot of startups. Many are appealing and have good ideas, yet most of them fail. Now the quality of even the honest start-ups is likely to decline as more of them are established, and they will spend more of other people’s money before failing.

For example, with more start-ups, it will be even harder for each of them to find management talent and the right employees. Indeed, many people whom an entrepreneur might have hired will probably become CEOs of competing startups. Meanwhile, all of them will be competing for a finite number of customers, and those companies that make progress will then have to compete for scarcer scale-up capital.

Many investors in these startups are likely to lose their money. Even under the current system, many angel investors lose money. The best route to success in angel investing is to invest in, say, ten or more separate companies, so that you have the chance of at least one big winner. But, again, a broader investor pool is likely to reduce the average number of investments per investor, with inadequate diversification leading to many more losers than winners.

The faith that drives the JOBS Act is the same magical thinking that drives many Internet phenomena: people are good and everyone means well. But the Internet’s easy accessibility and low entry barriers have led to spam and malware and bad behavior; each new service starts out “clean,” but then ends up requiring its own regulations.

Just ask eBay, Google, or Facebook how much they spend on security, fraud detection, and the like. They don’t want to tell you, which says a lot.

As on the Internet, so in real life: sometimes friction has a purpose.

Esther Dyson, CEO of EDventure Holdings, is an active investor in a variety of start-ups around the world. Her interests include information technology, health care, private aviation, and space travel.

arlier this month I wrote about Argentina, Elliott, and the pari passu war - the legal fight between New York hedge funds and the country of Argentina over bonds which Argentina defaulted on almost a decade ago.

The latest development in the case is that Elliott has now filed its own 89-page brief. There’s some smart legal argument in there, as you’d expect from Ted Olson. Elliott has never been a company to scrimp on legal fees.

But the most surprising bit, at least to me, is that Elliott is quite explicitly distancing itself from its own pari passu argument. Elliott more or less invented the pari passu argument, in 2000, when it was fighting a similar case against Peru. But this time around, Elliott’s slicing up the pari passu clause very thinly, and discarding the pari passu bit of it entirely. Here’s the clause that Argentina agreed to when it issued its original debt: The Securities will constitute direct, unconditional, unsecured and unsubordinated obligations of the Republic and shall at all times rank pari passu and without any preference among themselves. The payment obligations of the Republic under the Securities shall at all times rank at least equally with all its other present and future unsecured and unsubordinated External Indebtedness.

And here’s Elliott, parsing it: That pari passu clause is not at issue here. The relevant clause is the second sentence, in which Argentina promises that it will “”rank”” “”payment obligations”” under the FAA Bonds “at least equally”” with obligations under its other “”unsubordinated External Indebtedness.”” To distinguish this undertaking from the irrelevant pari passu clause in the previous sentence, Appellees refer to it as the “Equal Treatment Provision.””

It’s really hard to see how the pari passu clause could be irrelevant in this case while it was relevant in the Peru case, but I’m sure the Second Circuit doesn’t care about that. The important thing, here, is whether, pared down to a single sentence, what Elliott is now calling the Equal Treatment Provision can support a far-reaching court order which doesn’t just encompass Argentina, but also binds the trustees acting on behalf of the holders of Argentina’s new bonds.

After all, the important question in this case is whether the Southern District judge, Thomas Griesa, can slap an injunction on innocent bondholders of Argentina, many of whom took a 70 percent haircut on their original debt, just to satisfy the debts of creditors who took no haircut at all. That’s a very drastic remedy, and Olson really needs his 89 pages to try to persuade the Second Circuit that such a remedy is somewhere to be found in that one slender sentence.

That said, Elliott has the wind behind it in this case, for two reasons.

First is the fact that Griesa is Griesa - a genuinely venerable judge and one whom the Second Circuit will have no particular appetite to overturn, as Elliott puts it.

It is difficult to conceive of any case in which deference to the discretion of the district court is more appropriate than it is here. The same district judge, with nearly three decades of experience on the federal bench, presided over dozens of similar lawsuits against Argentina for more than one of those decades. He has in-depth familiarity with the parties, counsel, and facts, and he has borne witness to virtually every development in the evolving disputes arising from Argentina’s 2001 default. He has extensively examined the arguments and written more than 100 opinions and orders, many of which favored Argentina.

It’s true that Griesa has owned this case from day one, and that it’s going to be almost impossible for anybody on the Second Circuit to challenge the depth of his Argentine knowledge. On the other hand, Griesa’s orders (here here here) are slim: for all that he took his time delivering them, most of the legal reasoning is left implicit. The Second Circuit really has no choice but to work out its own opinion from first principles.

More interestingly, Elliott’s brief comes just as an international legal nightmare surrounding the nationalization of Argentine oil company YPF is about to begin. Argentina’s decision to nationalize YPF was bad enough on its own, but from a timing perspective you can be sure there were quite a few facepalms at the Cleary Gottlieb offices. The Second Circuit sees its main job as upholding New York’s status as a protector of contractual rights, and Argentina is trampling all over those rights in as public a way as it possibly can. That’s going to make a decision in favor of Argentina that much more difficult for the appeals court. So the final decision really could go either way. I’ve got a five dollars bet with Reynolds Holding on this: I’m taking Argentina, he’s taking Elliott. He’s much more of a lawyer than I am, of course.

But I have politics on my side - the United States is siding with Argentina.

Which has got to count for something.

Felix Salmon is the finance blogger at Reuters. The opinions expressed are his own.

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Brand New Items...at half the Retail PRICE...!!!

5) MOTHERCARE Toilet Training Set 6) MOTHERCARE 2 position Baby Carrier 7) SCENIQUE Baby Crib Musical Mobile with Sonic Control 8) AVENT Breast Pump Set with 2 Bottles & Accessories

KD 5 KD 5 KD 5 KD 20

Slimming massage, manicure, pedicure, acrylic and nail extension. Please call

69696177

21-03/21-04

Driving Instructors Available Flexible timing Reasonable price For males and females Abu Khaled

Contact: 55224747

WDLR

We carried out all kind of electrical house holds LCD TV Telephone PBX maintenance and installation. DSL wirings trouble shootings and wireless solutions.

Required licensee for a tax business.Tel:66689802

- Flexible Timing - Reasonable Price - For all languages Mudarrib Nafais : Contact: 65553012

SLR

Kitchen Equipment repairs 24hours.

Abu Mahmud: SLR

Professional gardening services.

Tel:67058331

SLR

Garmin GPS Tel:99226042

for

sale.

Selling the numbers (90008944-5500503).

Tel:69644449 Selling the number (60601313) KD800. Tel:50250500 Used furniture’s for sale with air conditioner.

Tel:99739700 Kitchen Tel:24762688

appliances.

Carpenter.

Tel: 66291129 SLR

Westener teacher available to tutor English American and British Curriculums in English, Math and Science or Art.

For rates, please call

6068 5554

WDLR

Arabic Teacher

Arabic Teacher for non-native speakers Beginners and advanced - All levels of the Arabic language - IGCSE & GCSE. Only 10 KD for an hour and free books contact Mr. Khaled Ph: 99619998 & 55619998

FOR RENT

One big room available for Keralite couple or working ladies in Hawally with Keralite family.

2 bedroom, 1 bathroom rent KD 85. Tel: 50824257

bathrooms, living room and kitchen along a maid room.

Tel: 90958689-99925977

Deluxe villa for rent in Egila, strategic location located around 3 streets, 2 floors, 7 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, 4 living rooms + 2 kitchens and 2 gardens. Tel: 55969322

Apartment in Jabriya, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, living and kictehen.Tel: 66256814 Apartment in Zahra, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, living room and kitchene, KD360, Tel: 99725755 Apartment in Manqaf, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, living room and kitchen.Tel: 90958689 Studio in Salwa, block 1, street 6, house360, KD260.

Tel:66143662

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Tel: 65563683

Apartment in Salmiya, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, living room, kitchen, pool, DSL and kids playground, KD475.Tel: 66297171

Apartment in Manqaf, private entrance, 3 bedrooms, 3

WDLR

Super deluxe furniture apartment in Salmiya, 2 rooms, 2 baths, living room, kitchen and laundry room, KD500.Tel:25352200

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Tel:60001848

Chevrolet Lumina V6 2008 model done 80000 km in good condition for KD 2800, single used. Tel: 99962456

Volkswagen Touareg 2005, navy exterior in a very good condition, KD 2500.Tel: 94404405

Toyota mini buss KD2900.Tel:24747418

2005.

Ford Lincoln, grey exterior.

Tel: 99288558

2005,

Mercury Grand Marquis 2005, hardly used in great condition with valid insurance.Tel:97175533

Lexus IS400 1998, navy full option, KD 1900.Tel: 97803380 Hyundai 2000, green exterior, KD 500.Tel:99628345 BMW 2000, White exterior, beige interior, KD 1250 Tel: 97878183 Toyota Camry 2000, in great condition.Tel:99734995

Learn French, Speak French!

Private French lessons with an experienced teacher in all levels and with all age groups. Interested?

Please call: 97722008

21-03/21-04

Laptop repairs, Formats, anti-virus program and games.

A well known Bakala

located at Block 4 Mahaboula behind Alia and Galia Tower.

Floor space 5mX5m, with bathroom, include 2 chillers, 2 freezers, cash register, vegetable scale, with stocks.

SLR

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Tel:99795097

Interested parties may contact

60452716

SLR

20-03/20-04

I am an MBA holder with more then 23 years experience in Accounting, Analysis, and Business development. Responsibilities in India & Kuwait, now I am looking part time job after 6 pm from Sunday to Thursday, Friday & Saturdays full day free, if any suitable vacancies for me please contact 55710397.

Learn Arabic For foreigners to learn Arabic easily.

Contact: 66972388

SLR

Packing and moving services.

06-03/06-04

Required Sales person for men’s textiles shop with sales experience (speaks Arabic). Salary KD 160 + commission.

Tel: 66970789

Tel:65599091

SLR

24-01/24-02

Laptops rent,

Seeking qualified female Nail Technicians of Filipino Nationality. If interested please contact 99030565 or 25319812.

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16-01/16-02

Required sales person with knowledge of using the computer. Tel:66292269

SLR

Egyptian babysitter, baby sit kids from 1 years old to 4.

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Required chef for Lebanese restaurant. Tel: 6509292697686366

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Apartment in Abdullah Al Ahmad, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living room and kitchen.

Tel:90958689.

Cars

30-01/30-02

Those interested can call: 97932925

Tel:97601745

Apartment in Salmiya, 2 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, maid room, living room and kitchen, KD400.

Tel:67004704

Cars

Nissan Altima Tel:94915050

FOR SALE

Work/Employment

FOR RENT

Room available only for Filipino, single lady near Kuwait National English School, Hawally. Accessible to bus going to City and Sharq. New building with Pinoy TV Channel and large sala & dining area. Tel: 97197268

Investors looking to take advantage of EB-5 Investor Program to obtain US Citizenship, Investing US$ 500,000 in Approved Regional Center, investors receives “Green Card” within 4 months allowing permanent residency. Fund is placed on real estate investment for 5 years with up to 6% income per year. For appointment call: (965) 66834599, Email: nkoni@ konikonsultants.com / website: www.KoniKonsultants .com

25/12 - 25-01

SLR

TREADMILL excellent condition, high-tech screen, KD 35.

Tel:90989840 Billiard table for sale in great condiditon.Tel:66666168

1. Showcase – from Home Centre (three piece – TV unit, book case and glass case)

Price: KD. 15 each

(All three pieces for KD. 35) 2. Wooden coffee table with 4 drawers (Home Centre) Price: KD. 15 3. Side table with wooden drawers (3 shelves) Price: KD. 6 4. Dark brown three door cupboard with two full length mirrors Price: KD. 30 5. Full length light brown cupboard with mirror Price: KD. 30 6. Wooden shelves Price: 500 fills each 7. Book stand Price: KD. 5 8. Ikea Wooden crib Price: KD. 15 9. Ikea changing table Price KD 8 10. Playpen Price: KD. 5 11. Baby Pram Price: KD. 8 12. Sony Trinitron TV, 29 inches Price: KD. 25 13. Queen size bed (includes mattress) Price: KD. 30 14. Wooden Master bed (King size) Price: KD. 40

(includes mattres)

50kgs Weight lifting set of dumbbells - KD 30 Exercise bench for lifting - KD 25 AB King Pro W/C - KD 15 All the above are as good as new.

16-04/16-05

28-02/28-03

Serious buyers please contact 67002524

Tel: 9769364

WDLR

Items for sale

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Driving Instructors available for learners

Birthdays and weddings

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02-04/02-05

EB-5 Investor Program

Pictures and Information of all items available upon request...!!!

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16-04/16-05

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Senior Manager available in Furniture, General Trading, FMCG, Air & Sea Freight Forwarding, Retails, Wholesales.

Can suggest acquiring profitably running Cash businesses with line-of-products.

Please Call: 9983 4436

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Please contact Mr. Sabir, mobile 99509163

Tel: 60091481

30 years experienced

Exercise equipments for sale

GMC Yukon 1999, spacious and clean. KD 1700, price is negotiable. Tel:66694310 Nissan Maxima 2008, 6VS, KD 3200. Tel: 99997494 Nissan Maxima KD1500. Tel: 66565511

2004,

WDLR

Carpool service, female driver covers all Kuwait areas.

Website designer and management

Tel:60361977

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Tel:66070166

Tel:66238890

SLR

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SLR

Baraka: Tel: 99881053

SLR

Brent dips towards $118 on euro zone concern

BUSINESS

wednesdAY, april 25, 2012

m ar ket watc h KUWAIT

DUBAI

0.02% 6327

1.80% 1670

LONDON: Brent crude slipped towards 118 US dollars on Tuesday due to weak demand amid the delicate state of the euro zone economy.

Brent crude futures fell 47 US cents to $118.24 a barrel by 1030 GMT. US crude futures were trading 12 cents lower at $102.97. “(There are) worries about growth in China, weak stock markets and especially the continuing difficulties in the euro-zone,” said Christopher Bellew, broker at Jefferies Bache.

QATAR

OMAN

0.34% 8664

0.11% 5952

ABU DHABI 0.23% 2505

See page 10

OIL MARKETS BAHRAIN

EGYPT

SAUDI

0.27% 1148

0.82% 4944

0.17% 7512

CURRENCIES

US Crude $103.29 $0.18 London Brent $118.67 $0.04 Kuwait Crude $116.08 $0.02 Information Courtesy: KAMCO

US Dollar

British Pound

Saudi Riyal

Qatari Riyal

Indian Rupee

Euro

Japanese Yen

UAE Dirham

Bahraini Dinar

Philippine Peso

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Crude oil exports to China up 79%, biggest rise in 17 months

CNOOC Q1 revenue rises 3.7%

In more news, China’s biggest offshore oil and gas producer China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) Ltd said Tuesday its first quarter revenue rose 3.7 percent yearon-year and it was on track to achieve its growth targets for this year.

The company said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange that oil and gas revenue for the three months to March 31 rose to 48.84 billion Chinese yuan (7.75 billion US dollars) from

Agility files $225 million suit against US agency

KUWAIT: Kuwaiti logistics company Agility said on Tuesday it had filed for 225 million US dollars in claims against the US Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), saying the agency had breached the terms of a contract.

Agility said in a statement US government officials employed by the DLA and Department of Justice “conspired and acted in concert to intentionally deprive Agility of its rights under the Second Prime Vendor Contract.” It said this was “breaching the contract’s express and implied terms and violating regulatory duties.” The US Embassy in Kuwait was not immediately available for comment.

The $225 million comprises the amount owed in performance-based distribution fees plus interest, Agility said. The contract entailed distributing food products to combat units.

Agility, the largest Gulf Arab logistics company, said it had filed the claims at the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals in Virginia. -Reuters

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biz briefs UAE’s NBAD Q1 net up 12%, beats forecasts ABU DHABI: National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) posted a 12-percent rise in quarterly profit on Tuesday, beating analysts’ forecasts, thanks to lower provisions and deposit growth. The country’s largest bank by market value, made a first-quarter net profit of 1.04 billion UAE dirhams (283.3 million US dollars), compared with 927.29 million dirhams for the year-ago period, it said in a statement. Analysts forecast an average net profit of 979 million dirhams in a Reuters poll earlier this month. Operating profits were driven mainly by the international operations and financial markets business which achieved a growth of 30 and 15 percent year-on-year respectively, the statement said. Customer deposits grew 23.6 percent in the quarter to 187.7 billion dirhams. “The first quarter results has got the group off to a strong start for the year in what remains a generally difficult market for banking,” Chief Executive Officer, Michael Tomalin, said in the statement.

Net impairment charges for the first quarter fell to 313 million dirhams, compared with 365 million dirhams in the same period last year. Loans and advances stood at 163.2 billion dirhams ending first quarter 2012, up 2.3 percent over end 2010. The bank’s total assets grew to 289.3 billion dirhams ending March 2012. -Reuters

A tourist takes a picture of Sri Lanka’s Independence Square in Colombo April 24, 2012. Sri Lanka on Thursday said it will exceed its targets for tourist arrivals and leisure industry revenue after the sector outperformed in the first quarter with a more than 20 percent rise in arrivals. The Indian Ocean island nation attracted 260,525 foreign visitors in the first quarter, 21.1 percent higher than the same period last year, while the revenue jumped 28.5 percent to $174.5 million in the first two months of this year. (Reuters)

47.08 billion yuan a year ago.

The listed unit of state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation said it achieved total net production of 79.8 million barrels-of-oil-equivalent in the first quarter and had “made significant progress in exploration”.

“I believe these achievements will strongly support our

KSE ends day trading in green

KUWAIT: Trading ended at Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) Tuesday on a mixed board, though main indices were green. The price index gained one point to reach 6,327.6 points, while the weighted index came to 421.28 points on a gain of 0.82 points. Trades came to 4,822 spot transactions worth 36,708,010 Kuwaiti dinars, with 386,217, 500 shares changing hands till end of session. As for sector indices, there were three readings in green and three in red. Top gainer sector was industrial which put on 34.8 index points, while biggest loser was banking on a down of 42.3 index points.

Top share for the day was that of Ithmaar Bank, while biggest loser was the Al-Dar National Real Estate Co. stock. Top-volume share was that of National Ranges Company.

Trading at Kuwait Stock Exchange starts the day in green with 10 points, reading 6,336.6 points at 9:49 a.m. Tuesday, while the weighted index came to 421.05 points, down 0.59 points.

Trades came to 1,228 spot transactions, valued at KD 8.8 million and with 102.2 million shares changing hands. -KUNA

production growth target,” chief executive Li Fanrong said in a statement. The firm is aiming for compound annual production growth of six to 10 percent between 2011 and 2015.

CNOOC’s result came despite a decline in output because of the shutdown of its Bohai Bay field in northeast China in September after an oil leak. -Agencies

Dubai picks banks for up to $1.5 billion bond DUBAI: Dubai has mandated four banks for a sovereign bond issue of up to 1.5 billion US dollars which may be launched as early as this week, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

The Gulf Arab emirate, which has been slowly recovering from a crippling 2009 debt crisis, is tapping debt markets again nearly a year after it issued a $500 million bond.

It selected Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) Holdings, Citigroup Inc, Dubai Islamic Bank and National Bank of Abu Dhabi for the issue, said the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The books will open soon, probably tomorrow or the day after,” said one source familiar with the matter.

The government is mulling a dual-tranche dated issue which may be an Islamic bond, or Sukuk, said one of the sources. The inclusion of Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) on the deal indicates the government will likely opt for an Islamic structure.

Dubai set up a four billion dollars mediumterm notes program in 2008 which it raised to five billion dollars last year. It recently updated its bond prospectus.

The emirate last tapped debt markets in 2011

when it issued the $500 million, 10-year bond with a five-year put option, allowing investors to redeem their investment ahead of maturity at full value. That bond was last bid at near 103 levels, according to Thomson Reuters data, to yield 5.2 percent.

Helped by an economic revival in trade and tourism and its safe-haven status amid the Arab Spring civil uprisings, Dubai is recovering from the depths of its debt crisis.

The emirate is still battling to reduce or restructure debt levels at state-linked firms. Investors are closely watching a pair of significant upcoming maturities at Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) and DIFC Investments. The two have a combined $3.25 billion due in 2011.

Dubai’s 2012 budget has a shortfall of $498 million, a smaller deficit than 2011 as spending on development projects in the debt-laden Gulf Arab emirate decreased.

The emirate’s five-year credit default swaps have narrowed dramatically since the emirate was hit by the debt crisis.

Spreads stood at around 370 basis points on Tuesday, far below levels of around 650 basis points hit after its flagship conglomerate Dubai World announced it needed to restructure some $25 billion in debt in late 2009. -Reuters

Facebook reveals revenue, profit slide ahead of IPO SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook Inc. reported its first quarter-to-quarter revenue slide in at least two years, a sign that the social network’s sizzling growth may be cooling as it prepares to go public in the biggest ever Internet initial public offer (IPO).

The company blamed the first-quarter decline, which surprised some on Wall Street, on seasonal advertising trends.

“It was a faster slowdown than we would have guessed,” said Brian Wieser, an analyst with Pivotal Research Group. “No matter how you slice it, for a company that is perceived as growing so rapidly, to slow so much on whatever basis - sequentially or annually - it will be somewhat concerning to investors if faced with a lofty valuation,” Wieser said.

Facebook is preparing to raise at least five billion US dollars in an initial public offering that could value the world’s largest social network at up to $100 billion.

“The biggest issue is the realization that Facebook is not going to have an easy time meeting high expectations of the public market,” said Jeff Sica, chief investment officer of SICA Wealth Management, which manages more than one billion dollars in client assets, real es-

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Prices in Kuwaiti fils as of April 24, 2012 Courtesy: KAMCO

Kuwaiti oil price continues decline, drops to $114.32 CAPITALS: Price of Kuwaiti crude oil dropped 61 US cents to 114.32 US dollars per barrel on Monday compared to USD 114.93 pb on Friday, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) said on Tuesday.

The fall of the Kuwaiti crude price was attributed to forecast rise of reserves of the American crude to highest level in 11 months.

Meanwhile, Kuwait’s crude oil exports to China in March increased at the sharpest pace in 17 months, up 79 percent from a year earlier to 1.3 million tons, equivalent to around 308,000 barrels per day (bpd), latest official data showed.

Kuwait’s exports saw the fourth straight month of growth and the biggest jump since October 2010 when it marked 170.1 percent expansion, according to the Chinese General Administration of Customs.

As China’s sixth-biggest supplier in March, Kuwait provided 5.5 percent of the Asian country’s total crude oil imports, compared to a 3.4 percent share in the same month of last year and 4.1 percent in February.

China’s overall imports of crude oil in March rose 8.7 percent year-on-year to 5.57 million bpd.

Saudi Arabia remained China’s top supplier although its shipments fell nine percent from a year earlier to 934,000 bpd, followed by Angola with 859,000 bpd, up 25.0 percent.

Russia became third with imports from the country jumping 47.8 percent to 546,000 bpd. Meanwhile, China slashed its oil imports from Iran by 54.1 percent to 254,000 bpd.

Kuwait has been in talks to build a 300,000 bpd refinery in the southern Chinese city of Zhanjiang with Sinopec and French oil giant Total as part of its aim of more than doubling crude exports to China to 500,000 bpd.

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tate and private equity holdings. “It will affect how people look at the IPO.” Investors are still likely to sign up in droves for the IPO; However, growth concerns may make some investors less likely to keep the stock over the long term, he added. “I’m still encouraging people to participate in the IPO, under the acknowledgement that it could be a bumpy ride,” Sica said. “There are high expectations and I hate high expectations.” The company, founded by Mark Zuckerberg in a Harvard University dorm room in 2004, surpassed 900 million monthly active users in the first quarter and said its full-time staff grew by about 1,100 employees to 3,539 in the past 12 months, according to an updated filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. Facebook also disclosed that it has agreed to pay Instagram $200 million if the company’s recent deal to buy the photo-sharing start-up for about one billion dollars does not go through. Facebook said it paid $300 million in cash for Instagram, along with 23 million shares of Class B common stock. It said the fair value of its Class B common stock was $30.89 per share as of January 31.

Spending roughly doubled over the past 12

months, outpacing the 45 percent revenue increase during the period, it said.

Net income slid 12 percent to $205 million in the quarter, from $233 million a year earlier at the rapidly expanding company.

Facebook said its advertising business, which accounts for the bulk of its revenue, typically slows down in the first three months of the year. The rapid advertising growth may have “partially masked” such trends to date, and seasonal impacts may be more pronounced in the future, it noted.

Revenue, which totaled $1.06 billion in the three months ended March 31, declined six percent from the fourth quarter. It was the first quarter-on-quarter drop since at least 2010.

“It was bound to happen. You are going to see a slowdown,” said Anupam Palit, an analyst at GreenCrest Capital LLC, noting that it is harder to double revenue when the base is larger. But he also said Facebook has not worked out how to make more money in some international markets where it is growing the fastest, such as Brazil, India and the Philippines.

“They have not cracked international markets yet, while others like Google do very well internationally,” Palit added.

Apart from slowing growth, Facebook is also grappling with other issues. Yahoo Inc is suing it for patent infringement even as the social networking company tries to beef up its intellectual property arsenal. On Monday, it said it would pay $550 million for hundreds of patents from Microsoft Corporation.

Payments hint

Facebook gets most of its revenue from advertising, but has a Payments business centered around Facebook Credits, a virtual currency used mainly to buy virtual goods within social games. However, the company hinted at a possible an expansion of Facebook Credits into other areas. Facebook gets a cut of up to 30 percent from virtual goods sales on its platform.

“In the future, if we extend Payments outside of games, the percentage fee we receive from developers may vary,” the company said in its IPO filing on Monday.

Some investors expect e-commerce to be a major area of expansion for Facebook. Some industry experts said that if Facebook Credits were used for purchases of physical goods, the company’s cut would have to be a lot lower than 30 percent. -Reuters

Dubai Aramex Q1 net profit rises 22% DUBAI: Aramex, the Dubai-based logistics firm, posted a 22 percent rise in firstquarter net profit on Tuesday, driven by higher revenues from the Gulf and contribution from its recent South African acquisition. Aramex, a favorite of regional fund managers, made a first-quarter net profit of 61 million UAE dirhams (16.6 million US dollars), compared with 50 million dirhams for the same period last year. Revenues rose 25 percent to 746 million dirhams, Aramex said in a bourse filing. “These results were mainly due to the robust economic growth in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, and the significant contribution of our recent acquisitions in 2011, in particular Berco Express in South Africa,” said Fadi Ghandour, founder and chief executive officer. Aramex had in December last year paid $55.5 million for the acquisition of South African logistics firm Berco Express. The company said it remains focused on its strategy of expanding into emerging growth markets in Africa, South East Asia and Central Asia. -Reuters

Fitch downgrades Nokia debt rating to junk HELSINKI: Fitch ratings agency on Tuesday downgraded Nokia Corporation’s debt to junk status to reflect the company’s poor first-quarter earnings and its uphill struggle to remain competitive.

The ratings agency said the downgrade to ‘BB+’ from ‘BBB-’ reflected the deterioration in the company’s core devices and services division and the “general lack of visibility” in Nokia’s near-term future.

It gave it a negative outlook, meaning more downgrades are possible. “In order to avoid further negative rating action, Nokia needs to demonstrate substantial improvements” in the latter half of the year and in 2013, it said. “Fitch believes that Nokia needs to stabilize revenues and be capable of generating low-single digit ... operating profit margins and positive pre-dividend free cash flow.” The agency said it believes Nokia will not be able to attain that during those 18 months because of the “potential headwinds” facing the cellphone maker. The company’s share price fell more than two percent to 2.63 euros (3.45 US dollars) in Helsinki after Fitch’s downgrade. -AP

Qtel says will use cash to pay off 2012 debt DUBAI: Qatar Telecom (Qtel) will use its own cash to pay off any debts maturing in 2012 and is not “undertaking” any refinancing options currently, the former monopoly said on Tuesday. “Qtel does not have any immediate refinancing requirements and accordingly is not undertaking any refinancing at this time,” the state-controlled company said in an emailed statement. “Current year maturities will be addressed using cash on hand.” On Monday, Reuters Loan Pricing Corp, a Thomson Reuters unit, reported Qtel had sent requests for proposals to international lenders for a two billion US dollars refinancing loan.This was slated to be used to pay off a three billion dollars, five-year loan signed in 2007 that matures this October.The toprated company was seeking to split financing between a one billion dollar standby commercial paper facility and a one billion dollar revolving credit facility, bankers earlier told RLPC. -Reuters

10

ALWATAN DAILY

BUSINESS

wednesDAY, april 25, 2012

Brent dips towards $118 on euro zone concern LONDON: Brent crude slipped towards 118 US dollars on Tuesday due to weak demand amid the delicate state of the euro zone economy.

Brent crude futures fell 47 US cents to $118.24 a barrel by 1030 GMT. US crude futures were trading 12 cents lower at $102.97. “(There are) worries about growth in China, weak stock markets and especially the continuing difficulties in the euro-zone,” said Christopher Bellew, broker at Jefferies Bache.

Investor sentiment in Europe has remained fragile as the Brent price has fallen about 6 percent since the intraday high of $125.97 on April 3.

Brent had trimmed losses and US crude had moved into positive territory briefly after the Dutch bond sales.

The Dutch state successfully sold two bonds at an auction, raising two billion euros, a day after the government collapsed in a crisis over budget cuts.

“That may have a very short-term impact,” Andy Sommer, oil market analyst with EGL in Switzerland, said. “But for the mid- and long-term, we have not changed our view. The market is still underlined by the weak fundamentals. There are more downside risks.”

On Monday, data showed the euro zone’s business slump deepened at a far faster pace than expected in April, suggesting the economy will stay in recession at least until the second half of the year.

“The main dangers to the situation in Europe have been on display over the past couple of days, and these include political support for populist anti-reform economic agendas and inadequate economic growth against a background of fiscal austerity,” said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at the Sydney-based brokerage CMC Markets.

Oil prices were, however, supported by supply concerns stemming from a production stoppage at the North Sea Buzzard oil field, Britain’s largest, and worries over exports from Iran ahead of the EU ban on importing its oil from July 1.

“It is significant that in the face of recent bearish de-

FILE - Gas prices are posted at a gas station in Breezewood, Monday, April 9, 2012. Brent crude slipped towards 118 US dollars on Tuesday due to weak demand amid the delicate state of the euro zone economy. (AP)

velopment, oil is holding above the lows of last week,” Bellew said.

Later on Tuesday, the market focus is expected to shift to the United States, the world’s second-largest energy consumer.

US crude stockpiles are expected to have risen last week, a Reuters survey of analysts showed. The Ameri-

can Petroleum Institute (API) will release its report on at 2030 GMT on Tuesday. The U.S. government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) will issue its data on Wednesday.

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting that begins later in the day to gauge the central bank’s attitude towards further monetary stimulus. -Reuters

124 countries need new energy architecture: WEF GENEVA: The energy systems of 124 countries are currently not ready for a transition to a sustainable and secure energy architecture required to harness economic growth, according to the report ‘New Energy Architecture: Enabling an Effective Transition’, released on Tuesday by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The way energy is produced, distributed, and consumed is currently undergoing fundamental change of almost unprecedented proportion. The report estimates that USD 38 trillion of global investment in energy supply infrastructure is required by 2035 to keep up with an added 40 percent rising energy consumption in the same time span.

Produced in collaboration with the UK Company Accenture, the report reveals that countries which are managing the transition to a new energy architecture will have to deal with trade-offs and difficult choices, ranging from Germany’s nuclear shutdown following the Fukushima disaster and Nigeria’s removal of energy subsidies, to France’s ban on hydraulic fracturing.

The report adds that Petro-states continue to struggle to maximize the value of their assets in a sustainable manner that supports economic diversification. Meanwhile, countries in the developing world are focusing on economic growth and development, often at the expense of environmental sustainability, while a number of nations continue to struggle to supply citizens with basic energy needs; estimates show that 1.3 billion people worldwide

are still without access to electricity at all.

“Never before have we experienced such pressure for change in the way we source, supply, and consume energy,” explained Senior Director and Head of Energy Industries at the WEF Roberto Bocca.

“Decision-makers must understand how they are being impacted by the changing dynamics and how they can effectively create desired change, especially as the choices they make will determine the speed, direction, and cost of the transition.” Two in-depth country studies on India and Japan highlight practical applications that can lead to a new energy architecture. The study on India underlines the challenges posed by supply bottlenecks, which present a considerable risk to the nation’s growth story, and suggests that India considers creating a unified energy regulator to support the expansion of its renewables sector, promote the development of decentralized distribution and generation to expand energy access, and rationalize energy prices through the gradual phase-out of subsidies.

The study on Japan underlines the “crisis of confidence” currently faced in its energy sector and suggests that the country considers establishing a fully independent regulatory agency, complete a full cost-benefit analysis of market liberalization in the electricity sector, and support the development of pan-Asian energy infrastructure.

“The scale and complexity of the energy industry demands a patient and incremental approach to managing change,”

said Arthur Hanna, Managing Director, Energy Industry, Accenture, United Kingdom, and Member of the WEF’s Global Agenda Council on New Energy Architecture. “Our approach helps nations take stock of their energy architecture challenges and identify practical and costeffective solutions.”

The New Energy Architecture report outlines a methodology designed to assist decision-makers in driving an effective transition. While there is no one-size-fitsall solution, the report highlights different archetypes of change for nations to: rationalize and re-organize their mature energy systems; capitalize on significant hydrocarbon reserves; grow their energy supply to support economic expansion; and access basic energy services at affordable prices. To achieve long-term objectives countries within each of the archetypes, enabling environments need to be created through policy initiatives, technology, infrastructure, market structures, and human capacity, all connected by the flow of information.

The New Energy Architecture report benefited from the guidance and support of the Forum’s Industry Partners and the Global Agenda Council on New Energy Architecture. It was produced in collaboration with Accenture. The views expressed in the report do not necessarily reflect those of the advisers to the project. The report includes perspectives from high-level representatives of industry, government, non-governmental organizations, and academia. -KUNA

Iraq exports first oil cargo from second offshore terminal

BAGHDAD: Iraq exported its first cargo of crude oil of two million barrels from its second new floating terminal in the Gulf on Tuesday, shipping data tracked by Reuters showed.

The terminal is the second of four being built by Australia’s Leighton Holdings, each with a capacity of 850,000 barrels per day (bpd) and which are expected to more than double Iraq’s export capacity. Data showed the A Whale vessel left the second new floating Single Point Mooring (SPM) terminal early on Tuesday to deliver the crude to India’s state-run Indian Oil Corporation.

“After bringing a second export terminal online, we are confident that we’re ready to deal with exporting more crude in the future,” an official for Iraq’s state-run South Oil Company (SOC) told Reuters. Iraq began exporting from the first Single Point Mooring (SPM) platform last month at a capacity of 300,000 bpd, which helped boost exports to their highest level since 2003.

The SOC official said operations at the first SPM had been halted during loading of crude at the second platform as there was not enough oil from the fields to feed both terminals. The official said a vessel had already docked at the first terminal and started loading on Tuesday after operations at the second platform were completed. Iraq’s oil production has been held back for decades by infrastructure crippled by years of sanctions and war, including a lack of export capacity on its small strip of the Gulf coast. Production from Iraq’s southern oilfields is expected to hit around 2.75 million bpd by the end of this year and the producer - a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is expected to be the world’s biggest source of new oil supplies over the next few years. -Reuters

UAE’s Dana Gas hires Blackstone on $1 billion debt options

DUBAI: Dana Gas, the Gulf Arab region’s only listed natural gas firm, has hired Blackstone Group as a financial advisor to assess options for its one billion US dollar Islamic bond maturing in October, two sources told Reuters.

The Abu Dhabi-listed firm, whose shares have been battered on fears it might struggle to honor the debt, previously mandated Deutsche Bank as an advisor on the debt restructuring. Deutsche will continue as an advisor to Dana along with Blackstone, the sources said speaking on condition of anonymity.

Both Dana Gas and Blackstone declined to comment. Dana, which has operations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Kurdistan and owns a

three-percent stake in Hungarian group MOL, made a quarterly profit of 147 million UAE dirhams ($40 million), according to Reuters calculations. It had profit of 59 million dirhams in the year-ago period.

Dana has faced payment delays for gas delivered to Egypt, due to political unrest.

Last year, Dana proposed listing some of its assets on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and sources close to the matter said the company was still looking to do so this year, although they would not proceed if market conditions were unfavorable.

Dana Gas shares closed up 2.2 percent on the Abu Dhabi bourse. They have lost about 35 percent of their value in the past year. -Reuters

Libya recovery helps boost OMV Q1 VIENNA: Output from a Libya, recovering from the turmoil of civil unrest, helped OMV boost production slightly in the first quarter, the Austrian energy group said in a trading statement on Tuesday. Production rose to 299,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) from 289,000 in the previous quarter, it said.

“Overall production increased compared to the previous quarter mainly due to the recovery of production in Libya,” it said, putting average production there at around 25,000 barrels per day (bpd). “This increase was, however, partly offset by reduced production in Romania caused by severe weather conditions, as well as lower volumes in New Zealand,” it added.

Libya had provided a tenth of its global output in 2010 before a civil war halted production last year

that is now coming back on line. The group’s refining margin, an indicator of profitability, widened to 1.92 US dollars per barrel in the quarter from $1.77 in the previous three months. Total refining sales slipped to 4.55 million tons. OMV reports quarterly financial results on May 9. It said for 2012 it had entered into oil price swaps, locking in a Brent price of approximately $101.5 per barrel for a production volume of 50,000 bpd. It had euro-dollar average rate forwards at $1.36 that cover approximately $750 million. It expected its reported tax rate to increase versus the last quarter of 2011 given the recovery of production in Libya, partly offset by the positive tax effect of write-offs in Norway and Britain as well as the treatment of a cartel fine in Romania in the fourth quarter of 2011. -Reuters

Indian shipping firms to carry Iran crude despite reduced insurance CAPITALS: Indian shipping firms will continue to transport Iranian crude even if limited insurance coverage due to tightening Western sanctions leaves them financially exposed to a spill or accident, a top executive and industry sources said.

Tough new European Union sanctions aimed at stopping Iran’s oil exports to Europe also ban EU insurers and reinsurers from covering tankers carrying Iranian crude anywhere in the world from July. Around 90 percent of the world’s tanker insurance is based in the West, so the measures threaten shipments to Iran’s top Asian buyers China, India, Japan and South Korea.

The sanctions seek to stem the flow of petrodollars to Tehran to force the member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to halt a nuclear program the West suspects is intended to produce weapons.

Shipping Corporation of India, which is the country’s largest shipping firm, Great Eastern and other Indian tanker firms have asked state insurers to step in and provide up to 50 million US dollars in third-party liability coverage per tanker voyage.

The amount is a fraction of the typical one billion dollar coverage that a supertanker carrying around two million barrels of crude would have from reinsurers against personal injury and pollution claims.

India’s shipping companies would run the risk of shipping the crude even though they would be liable for any claims above $50 million in the case of an incident, industry sources said.

“To the best of our knowledge, over the last 10 years, none of the Indian shipping companies carrying Iranian crude oil into India has had any major incident relating to pollution or anything,” Shipping Corp Chairman S. Hajara told Reuters on the sidelines of an industry conference in Singapore.

“Since there have been no claims in 10 years, we felt if we have cover of $50 million as a commercial organization it would be worthwhile for us to continue in that business.”

India is the world’s fourth-largest oil importer and one of the biggest customers for Iran’s 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil exports. On average, there are 10 crude shipments a month from Iran to refineries on the west coast

FILE - Vessels sail past the Malta-flagged Iranian crude oil supertanker Delvar anchoring off Singapore, in this March 1, 2012 file photo. Indian shipping firms will continue to transport Iranian crude even if limited insurance coverage due to tightening Western sanctions leaves them financially exposed to a spill or accident, a top executive and industry sources said. (Reuters)

of India.

A major oil spill from one of these tankers could leave Indian ship-owners liable for billions of dollars in damages.

The most expensive oil spill was the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska in 1989, which industry groups estimate has cost as much as seven billion dollars so far in clean-up, fines, penalties and claims.

“Exxon Valdez happens once in decades. If you think all

your risk must be covered, then you should not be in business,” Hajara said, adding that liability limits for an oil spill have extended beyond one billion and three billion dollars for other incidents.

“We have been very clear that Indian insurance companies will have a tough task, if not impossible, to get reinsurance if the sanctions really set in. We know if we ask for a huge amount of cover we will never get it.”

The biggest reinsurers are located in Europe and according to some industry experts the only way to cope with the loss of European reinsurers would be for governments of importing countries to provide federal guarantees to cover any expenses relating to personal and pollution claims.

Ship-owners have asked the government for sovereign guarantees, but have not received a response, Hajara said.

Indian firms, along with Japan and South Korea, have also lobbied European officials for exemptions to the EU sanctions.

India’s refiners are already cutting imports to comply with a separate set of US sanctions requiring Iran’s crude clients to significantly cut purchases. Refiners could cut imports by about a quarter in the 2012-2013 year that began on April 1, but are keen to keep the remaining imports coming.

In the fiscal year that ended on March 31, India’s imports from Iran were less than 340,000 bpd, compared with the 362,000 bpd committed under annual term contracts.

India is currently importing about 280,000 bpd.

A finance ministry source said the Indian government would consider any action necessary to keep oil flowing from Iran, India’s second-biggest supplier after Saudi Arabia, including offering sovereign guarantees to shipments.

The shipping firms have sent their request to state insurers United India Insurance, General Insurance Company, New India Assurance Co. Ltd., National Insurance Co. Ltd. and the Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd., said a shipping source.

The shipping and finance ministries were also looking at the proposal.

A final decision is expected “very soon,” Hajara said.

Japanese insurers have also warned ship owners they will only cover one tanker at a time carrying Iranian crude through the Middle East because their ability to provide cover is limited without the European reinsurance market.

That will reduce the number of tankers carrying Iranian oil to three or four a month as each ship takes about a week to 10 days to travel in and out of the Gulf, sources said, compared with about 10 ships a month last year. Japan has cut its April crude loadings from Iran by nearly 80 percent compared to the first two months of the year. -Reuters

Source: KAMCO Research

Best Return Performers (March-12)

KAMCO Research

M-T-MALWATAN DAILY % Chg

Close (AED)

TAMWEEL

1.210 15.24% Al-Mazaya Co. WEDNESDAY, APRIL Holding 25, 2012

1.220

National General Cooling (Tabreed)

1.560

10.64% Dubai Islamic Ins. & Reinsurance

0.777

(29.4%)

Hits Telecom Holding Co.

1.340

9.84% Arab Technical Construction Co.

2.940

(19.0%)

Dubai Refreshments Co.

12.10

7.56% Commercial Bank of Dubai

2.850

(16.2%)

Dubai Financial Market

1.150

7.48% Al Salam Bank - Bahrain

0.475

(15.8%)

Close (AED)

KAMCO Research GCC Equity Markets Review

BUSINESS

GCC Equity Markets Review

companies, as happened in many European countries and the US, and the country is keen to give priority to the shareholders' rights andand theirthe interests expose anytorisk”. companies, as protection happenedofinthe many European countries US, andand thenot country is to keen give priority to the protection of the shareholders' rights and their interests and not expose to any risk”.

Separately, Dubai announced that is planning to enforce a new law in mid-2012 intended to protect property investors to prevent that freshis crisis thattojolted the alocal marketintended in the wake of the Separately, Dubai announced planning enforce newreal law estate in mid-2012 to protect 2008 global financial distress.

The new law will likely be enforced in June and will ban developers property investors to prevent fresh crisis that jolted the local real estate market in the wake of the from global sellingfinancial propertydistress. to investors at least 20 per of theinproject completed.

2008 Thebefore new law will likely becent enforced June is and will ban developers

Worst Return Performers (March-12)

M-T-M % Chg

11 (33.0%)

DFM sees returns of 21.83% in Q1 on robust earnings growth from selling property to investors before at least 20 per cent of the project is completed.

1,850 1,800

DFM General Index Value DFM General Index Value

KUWAIT: The following is a report on the performance of the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) for the first quarter of the year prepared

by Kuwait Projects Company (KIPCO) Asset Management Company (KAMCO). The DFM General Index reversed its two month rally as investors booked profits shedding 4.71 percent to 1,648.87. Regardless, the bourse’s first quarter (Q1) 2012 return remained at an impressive 21.83 percent, ending Q1 2012 as the second top performing market in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region and backed by robust earnings growth and recovery in key economic sectors that are considered the engine for the growth in the emirate’s economy. Volatility surged to a 26-month high recording 33 percent, the highest level since January 2010.

Trading indicators remained highly elevated, with volume increasing slightly by 3.23 percent to 7.9 million shares, while value rose 9.36 percent to 9.6 billion UAE dirhams (2.6 billion US dollars). Market performance was impacted by the drop in the heavyweight Banking and Real Estate & Construction sectors shedding 5.54 percent and 6.19 percent, respectively, to 52.4 billion dirhams ($14.3 billion) and 36 billion dirhams ($9.8 billion). The Investment and Telecommunications sectors grew 3.89 percent and 2.07 percent, respectively, to 18.8 billion dirhams ($5.1 billion) and 15.5 billion dirhams ($4.2 billion), while the Transportation sector shed 1.71 percent to 25 billion dirhams ($6.8 billion).

The recent upturn in the market along with the first real prospects of growth in the emirate has improved investment sentiment significantly. Dubai’s credit risk has dropped to a seven-month low as the prospect of the fastest economic growth since 2007 boosts investor confidence in the ability of local companies to pay debt. The cost to insure the emirate’s debt against non-payment for five years fell 100 basis points this year to 345 bps, the lowest level since August, according to credit-default swap prices compiled by data provider CMA. That compared with an eight-basis point decline to 120 bps in similar contracts for Abu Dhabi.

The credit risk drop signals the markets confidence in Dubai’s debt restructuring plans and its plans for further growth despite the difficult global economic conditions and regional geopolitical risks.

1,800 1,750 1,750 1,700 1,700 1,650 1,650 1,600 1,600 1,550 1,550 1,500 1,500 1,450 1,450 1,400 1,400 1,350

1,300

Company

Ÿ

High

Low

National Bank Gulf Bank Commercial Bank Ahli Bank Ahli United Bank International Bank Burgan Bank Kw Finance House Boubyan Bank

1,080 445 910 275 435 760 590

1,060 440 900 270 430 750 590

Kw Investment Commercial Facilit.

Int'L Financial Adv. National Invest.

Kw Projects Ahlia Holding Coast Invest.

Int'L Investor Securities House Ind. & Fin. Inv. Securities Group Int'L Finance MARKAZ KMIFIC Aref Inv. Group Al AMAN Inv. ALOLA Inv. ALMAL Inv. Gulf Inv. House A'ayan Leasing Bayan Inv. GLOBAL Inv. Osoul Inv. KFIC KAMCO Nat. Int'l Holding Housing Finance MADAR Al Deera Holding Al Safat Inv. Al Salam Group Ekttitab Holding Al Qurain Holding Sokouk Holding Al-Madina Finance NOOR Tamdeen Inv. KW BH Int'l Exch.

Taiba Kuwaiti Holding Kuwait Syrian Strategia Kuwait China Inv. Manafae Inv. Gulf North Africa Amwal Al Masar Al-Imtiaz

106 265 150 325 61 102 158 52 30 38.5 66 280 39.5 232.0 102.0 72.0 196 66 60 52 110

106 260 146 320 60 100 152 51 30 37.0 66 280 38.5 228.0 99.0 69.0 190 66 60 51 108

-

-

Global Index - Banking

ź

Global Index - Investment

Kuwait Insurance Gulf Insurance Ahlia Insurance Warba Insurance Kuwait Re-Ins. First Takaful Ins. Wethaq Insurance

-

Global Index - Insurance

Kuwait R.E. United R.E. National R.E. Salhia R.E. Pearl R.E. Tamdeen R.E. Ajial R.E. Massaleh R.E. Arab R.E. Union R.E. ERESCO Mabani INJAZZAT RE Inv. Holding Grp Int'L Resorts Commercial R.E Sanam R.E. Aa'yan R.E Aqar Kuwait R.E Holding AL Mazaya Al Dar National R.E Themar Int'L Holding Grand R.E Projects Tijara & R.E Invest Al Tameer Arkan Al-Kuwait R.E Al Argan Int'L Abyaar Munshaat First Dubai KBT Manazel REAM Mena Real Estate Al Moudon Intl. R.E Markaz Real Estate Kuwait Remal R.E

57 116 142 234 96 37.5 96 1,020 75 18.5 67.0 90 59 70 86 20.5 46.0 62 48.5 41.0 22.5 37 59 350

Global Index - Real Estate

Nationl Ind Ind. Group Pipes Ind. & Oil Kuwait Cement Refrigeration Ind. Gulf Cables & Elec.

Heavy eng. & Ship.

Marine Services Portland Cement

ŷ Ÿ ŷ ŷ ź ź Ÿ ź ź

Real estate mortgage credit the UAEstock bankshas nearly to asince standstill 2011 after DFM closed Q1 2012 withprovided a stellarby21.83 beencame halted 2008.inThe move recording double digit growth rates in the pre-crisis period and modest growth after the crisis.

The percent performance as the by topthe perDubai’s property sector a Real estate mortgage closing credit provided UAE could banks give nearly came battered to a standstill in 2011 after declineamongst was partits of peers a growth general slowdown in lendingboost by national banks and foreign last year as former in the GCC. asand themodest federal government clean recording double digit rates in theStrong pre-crisis period growth afterunits thehelps crisis.

The they continued in afor building provisions for doubtful debts as well asDubai’s following a last conservative earnings reported fiscalup year (FY)in2011 up national the damage from 2009 realyear estate decline was part of general slowdown lending by banks and foreign units as lending policy.

After nearly doubling in 2007 and more than doubling in 2008, mortgage supported the market rally which was part of bust.

Amlak, which is 45 percent ownedloans by they continued in building up provisions for doubtful debts as well as following a conservative grew 11.9 per cent 2009 and in nearly cent in 2010 before they in loans 2011. alending largerbypolicy. global rally.

Allincompanies reported Emaar Properties, wasinone of slumped the highest proAfter nearly doubling 200715.6 and per more than doubling 2008, mortgage From around AED163.18 bn at the end of 2010, mortgage credit extended by the UAE banks earnings to record 9.5 inbillion ($2.6 filecent victims of Dubai’s construction grew by 11.9 per cent 2009 dirhams and nearly 15.6 per in 2010 beforeextravagant they slumped in 2011. dipped to nearly AED161.5 the end 2011,boom the Central Bank said inended a report. was first billion) for FYAED163.18 2011 as compared 6.9 billion which abruptly the the global From around bnbin atatthe end ofof 2010, mortgage credit extended by after theItUAE banks negative real billion) estate loan growth in many years itCentral was crisis part of a2008. general slowdown lending dirhams - an impressive 38.6ofperfinancial insaid Economy Minisdipped to($1.9 nearly AED161.5 bin at the end 2011,and the Bank in aUAE report.

It wasinthe first

by UAE banks following global and regional debt inslowdown 2009. ininlending cent increase.

The heavyweight banking teritsaid committee had “succeeded reducnegative real estate loan the growth in crisis manysector years and wasadefault part of problems a general drove growing ingdebt fourdefault billionproblems dirhamsin($1.1billion) of total

by UAEmarket banks earnings following the global36.4 crisispercent and regional 2009. general, banking($1.3 system maintains significant to the address a further toIn4.9 billionthe dirhams billion) as comdebtbuffers owed by firm and this indeterioration coordinationin pared to 3.6 billion dirhams ($987.6 million). with the federal government and the local parasset quality.

From their pre-crisis levels in 2008, NPLs have already increased more than In general, the banking system maintains significant buffers to address a further deterioration in The DFM General Index began thelevels ties NPLs concerned”.

Amlak’s totalinliabilities stood threefold in Dubai 10.6pre-crisis per cent ofquarter GLsinwill2008, likely rise substantially further 2012, including asset quality.

Fromto their have already increased more than by snapping a six-month to 6.8 at dirhams11.01billion asof of 30, 2011. from the in ongoing restructuring of Dubai Holding, the potential restructuring other maturing GRE threefold Dubai to 10.6downturn per cent of rise GLs will likely rise substantially further in Sept.

2012, including percent and distressed the positivereal investment sentiment Despite The minister said that “theprofitability commissionhas is keen debt, and estate companies. higher provisioning, been from the ongoing restructuring of Dubai Holding, the potential restructuring of other maturing GRE coupled withbut heavy buying constrained interest pushing to protect growth the rights and the maintained will remain by cautious and of theshareholders ongoing provisioning debt, and distressed real estate companies.

Despite credit higher provisioning, profitability has been trading indicators to increase eight-fold in two continuity of the company, while not exposing required to cover potential NPLs. maintained but will remain constrained by cautious credit growth and the ongoing provisioning months, saw the market soar a further 20.93 them to bankruptcy and the government will requiredsetting to covera potential NPLs. percent year-to-date (YTD) return not showed allow bankruptcies of companies, as sector hapThe Central Bankʼs monthly bulletin issued at in March that total credit to the private the end of February of 27.86 percent.

Dubaiduring is 2011 peneddown in many European countries and AED the US, also slumped to around AED 573.2 billion from AED 581.2 billion and 630 The Central monthly bulletin issued ininMarch that total credit to thepriority private to sector projected to Bankʼs grow 4.5 percent to 5 percent andshowed the country is keen to give the billion at the end of 2010 and573.2 2009 respectively.

Banks remain risk-averse and selective in lending also slumped to around AED billion during 2011 down from AED 581.2 billion and AED 630 2012 according to the Chairman of the Dubai protection of the shareholders’ rights and their billion at the endCommittee. of 2010 andHowever, 2009 respectively. remain selective Supreme Fiscal data re- Banks interests andrisk-averse not exposeand to any risk”. in lending leased in Q1 2012 show that the emirate enSeparately, Dubai announced that is plantered a deflationary phase in Jan 2012. ning to enforce a new law in mid-2012 intended 2 The federal government has cut strugto protect property investors to prevent fresh gling Islamic lender Amlak’s debt burden by crisis that jolted the local real estate market in2 $1.1 billion, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) the wake of the 2008 global financial distress. economy minister said, in the latest effort to The new law will likely be enforced in June and revive the Dubai mortgage provider whose will ban developers from selling property to in-

230 126 1,240 280 154 860

228 122 1,240 280 150 860

5 -10 -5 5 -10 -10 1.06-

104 260 52 148 320 13.0 61 25.0 130 25.0 230 102 120 102 52 35.0 152 51 30 71 38.0 48.5 68 26.0 280 55 38.5 51 39.0 100 230.0 102.0 22.0 22.5 72.0 29.0 188.0 265 114 32.50 75 66 60 52 64 42.50 110 82.45

300 520 500 134 220 122 40.50 43.48

300 520 500 134 220 122 40.50 43.48

Ex-D Ex-D Ex-D -

ź

56 114 136 232 28.5 234 118 96 36.5 110 96 1,000 74 17.5 65.0 89 59 69 79 37.0 86 19.5 87 17.5 44.0 62 65 160 48.0 28.5 41.0 17.5 22.0 134 134 220 58 345 58.35

57 114 138 232 28.5 236 118 91 37.5 110 96 1,000 75 18.5 67.0 89 60 69 79 37.0 83 21.0 87 17.5 46.0 63 65 160 47.5 28.5 38.5 17.5 22.5 134 134 220 59 340 58.38

-1 -2 2.05 1.0-1 1.02.0-1 3 1.52.0-1 1 2.5 0.5Ex-D -1 5 0.03-

ź Ÿ ŷ ŷ ŷ ź Ÿ ź

230 124 460 122 1,240 280 154 860

232 122 460 122 1,240 285 144 870

-2 2 -5 10 -10

ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ

56 114 130 234 96 36.5 95 1,000 74 17.0 64.0 89 59 68 83 19.5 43.5 62 47.5 37.5 22.0 37 56 340

1080 440 790 600 910 280 430 760 600 324.22

ź ŷ ź ŷ ŷ ź ŷ Ÿ ź ŷ ŷ ŷ ź ź ź ŷ ź ŷ ŷ ŷ Ÿ ź ŷ ŷ ź ź ŷ ŷ Ÿ ŷ Ÿ ŷ ź ŷ ŷ ź Ÿ

-

-

-

2 5 -2 5 -1 6 -1 1 2-

0.52.0 3.03.08.0 -2 0.37

Investment & Financial

18,814

Real Estate & Construction

35,962

Transportation

25,020

Materials

Telecommunication

30,312 15,503

189,583

M-T-M % Chg

Monthly Trading Indicators Volume Value (000 Shares) (000 AED)

Valuation Multiples P/E P/B Yield (X) (X) (%)

(5.54%)

1,318,857

1,598,095

12.00

0.72

4.18%

(0.44%)

8

26

NM

3.61

0.33%

3.89%

1,842,010

1,979,106

(6.19%)

2,246,577

3,040,220

(1.71%)

795,354

402,713

2.07%

(2.42%)

vestors before at least 20 percent of the project is completed.

Real estate mortgage credit provided by the UAE banks nearly came to a standstill in 2011 after recording double digit growth rates in the pre-crisis period and modest growth after the crisis. The decline was part of a general slowdown in lending by national banks and foreign units last year as they continued in building up provisions for doubtful debts as well as following a conservative lending policy. After nearly doubling in 2007 and more than doubling in 2008, mortgage loans grew by 11.9 percent in 2009 and nearly 15.6 percent in 2010 before they slumped in 2011. From around 163.18 billion dirhams at the end of 2010, mortgage credit extended by the UAE banks dipped to nearly 161.5 billion dirhams at the end of 2011, the Central Bank said in a report. It was the first negative real estate loan growth in many years and it was part of a general slowdown in lending by UAE banks following the global crisis and regional debt default problems in 2009.

In general, the banking system maintains significant buffers to address a further deterioration in asset quality. From their pre-crisis levels in 2008, non-performing loans (NPLs) have already increased more than threefold in Dubai to 10.6 percent of gross loans (GLs) will likely rise substantially further in 2012, including from the ongoing restructuring of Dubai Holding, the potential restructuring of other maturing GRE debt, and distressed real estate companies. Despite higher provisioning, profitability has been maintained but will

358,774

7,853,504

NM

NM

0.63

0.65

1.48%

2.51%

627,396

9.22

2.04

0.00%

9,562,986

67.22

0.92

2.24%

NM

1.22

1.98%

remain constrained by cautious credit growth and the ongoing provisioning required to cover potential NPLs. The Central Bank’s monthly bulletin issued in March showed that total credit to the private sector also slumped to around 573.2 billion dirhams during 2011 down from 581.2 billion dirhams and 630 billion dirhams at the end 3 of 2010 and 2009 respectively. Banks remain risk-averse and selective in lending the private sector, with preference of the safer public sector which witnessed a rise in its loans to 112.4 billion dirhams up from 91.3 billion dirhams.

Dubai officials announced the implementation of an innovative new company license initiative by the end of 2012. The Depart of Economic Development (DED) said it will bring in the 120 days hassle free license in an effort to promote the Emirate’s competitiveness. “Dubai being a hub, various categories (No-Risk or Low-Risk, & High Risk) of businesses choose to set up in the emirate for faster growth and market access.

The 120-days license is part of DED’s efforts to enable businesses to make full use of the advantages of Dubai and improve the emirate’s ranking in the Doing Business Report of the World Bank,” said the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Business Registration and Licensing Division at DED. The 120-days license allows the businessman to start his business immediately and complete the rest of the licensing requirements, such as approvals from other government authorities concerned, within the next 120 days.

Trading Prices of Kuwait Stock Exchange Date of Closig Prices: 24/04/2012

Previous Close Change 180.91 0.32 6,326.60 1.00 Trading Activity Chng Volume Tran. Value(KD)

106 265 52 146 325 13.0 60 25.0 130 25.0 230 102 120 102 52 35.0 158 51 29.5 71 38.5 48.5 66 26.0 280 55 38.5 51 38.5 100 232.0 99.0 22.0 22.5 69.0 29.0 196 265 114 32.50 75 66 60 52 64 42.50 108 82.82

Ÿ Ÿ ŷ ź Ÿ ŷ ź ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ Ÿ ŷ ź ŷ Ÿ ŷ ź ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ź ŷ Ÿ ź ŷ ŷ ź ŷ Ÿ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ŷ ź Ÿ

-

1080 445 790 600 900 275 435 750 590 323.16

52,445

Banking

Source: KAMCO Research

Source: KAMCO Research

Date of Closing Prices:

DTD 0.18% 0.02%

Last Bid

05 / 01 / 2012

For more Information please contact "Global" at (+965) 180 42 42 or www.globalinv.net

For more Information please contact "Global" at (+965) 180 42 42 or www.globalinv.net Last Close 181.23 6,327.60 Last Prev.

Close Close

Market Cap (Mn AED)

Total Market

Source: KAMCO Research

Date of Closing Prices: 24 / 04 / 2012 For more information please contact “Global” at (+965) 180 42 42 or www.globalinv.net Ÿ

DFM Major Sectors Performance (March-2012)

31.3.11 31.3.11 14.4.11 14.4.11 28.4.11 28.4.11 12.5.11 12.5.11 26.5.11 26.5.11 9.6.11 9.6.11 23.6.11 23.6.11 7.7.11 7.7.11 21.7.11 21.7.11 4.8.11 4.8.11 18.8.11 18.8.11 1.9.11 1.9.11 15.9.11 15.9.11 29.9.11 29.9.11 13.10.11 13.10.11 27.10.11 27.10.11 10.11.11 10.11.11 24.11.11 24.11.11 8.12.11 8.12.11 22.12.11 22.12.11 5.1.12 5.1.12 19.1.12 19.1.12 2.2.12 2.2.12 16.2.12 16.2.12 1.3.12 1.3.12 15.3.12 15.3.12 29.3.12 29.3.12

1,350 1,300

Trading Prices of Kuwait Exchange Trading Prices of Kuwait StockStock Exchange

Global General Index KSE Price Index

850 800 850 750 800 700 750 650 700 600 650 550 600 500 550 450 500 400 450 350 400 300 350 250 300 200 250 150 200 100 150 50 100 0 50 0

1,850

DFM General Index 52 Week Performance Relative to Volume

Vol. Traded (shr. mil.)

Vol. Traded (shr. mil.)

DFM General Index 52 Week Performance Relative to Volume

Dubai Financial Market review

Source: KAMCO Research

Last Ask

MTD YTD 1.07% -1.07% 2.64% 8.83% Div. Annual Close Yield High Low P/E

300,000 590,000 150,000 1,120,000 680,000 1,000,000 1,270,000 5,110,000

15 18 14 25 19 37 35 163

321,600 259,700 135,100 307,450 292,700 750,850 749,300 2,816,700

1,060 440 580 890 270 430 750 580

1,080 445 610 900 275 435 760 590

3.7% 0.0% 0.0% 2.5% 1.7% 1.8% 2.3% 2.0% 0.0% 2.0%

1,220 510 800 680 930 285 480 900 600 326.42

1,040 425 700 600 790 236 410 720 530 314.20

15.55 38.27 1240.61 18.04 33.76 26.31 13.29 27.11 128.53 19.73

20,000 120,000 1,980,000 290,000 1,160,000 1,800,000 17,700,000 3,920,000 2,720,000 1,520,000 40,000 20,000 2,880,000 4,280,000 4,940,000 9,440,000 1,100,000 800,000 80,000 240,000 1,560,000 56,610,000

1 9 42 15 20 30 173 54 30 16 1 1 19 100 91 151 42 12 2 6 32 847

2,120 31,250 292,760 93,050 70,720 181,040 2,756,400 201,960 81,320 58,040 2,640 5,600 111,200 982,920 493,280 656,520 213,200 52,800 4,800 12,320 169,320 6,473,260

104 260 146 320 60 99 118 32.5 156 51 29 38.0 65.0 280 38.0 230.0 99.0 68.0 194 73 65 59 50 108.0

106 265 148 325 61 230 102 120 102 33.5 158 52 30 38.5 71.0 290 58 38.5 232.0 100.0 69.0 198 265 32 80 67 61 52 110.0

0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 6.2% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 2.2% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 3.6% 4.2% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 2.4%

112 285 67 182 345 18.5 69 25.0 130 36.0 230 122 120 102 52 35.5 150 65 35 71 44.0 48.5 70.0 26.0 295 65 39 51 47.5 104 270.0 130.0 25.0 33.5 96.0 29.0 190 310 114 32 89 73 60 59 64 42.5 140.0 85.99

104 255 40 144 295 11.5 50 25.0 130 21.0 230 99 102 50 52 24.0 106 47 21 71 28.5 48.5 64.0 26.0 242 51 36 51 26.0 61 99.0 19.5 19.0 16.0 38.0 29.0 154 255 114 26 58 50 51 47 64 42.5 106.0 74.96

16.47 10.02 0.00

-

-

-

265 460 124 114 28.0

300 510 475 43.0

6.7% 3.8% 5.0% 3.7% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 4.7%

325 610 540 148 220 134 40.5 44.91

13.38 280 13.67 520 11.92 450 21.80 102 63.13 220 102 40.5 64711.96 13.38 42.22

5,640,000 2,760,000 9,380,000 40,000 320,000 1,680,000 920,000 460,000 120,000 24,560,000 10,920,000 1,760,000 160,000 3,360,000 3,960,000 4,640,000 5,440,000 40,000 29,280,000 11,440,000 5,440,000 80,000 760,000 700,000 123,860,000

36 24 235 2 6 17 14 36 3 158 110 17 4 38 70 46 64 1 130 94 50 1 16 30 1,202

315,880 316,680 1,294,320 9,360 30,720 62,080 88,280 468,900 8,920 440,160 712,680 156,720 9,440 230,720 337,600 92,920 242,480 2,480 1,401,000 460,800 121,400 2,960 43,640 241,050 7,091,190

55 112 136 232 26.0 232 118 96 36.5 95 1,000 73 17.0 64.0 89 58 68 79 35.0 85 19.5 87 43.5 62 61 152 47.5 40.5 22.0 57 340

57 114 138 236 31.0 236 138 37.0 110 96 1,020 75 17.5 65.0 90 59 69 83 37.0 86 20.0 92 44.0 63 69 170 48.0 41.0 22.5 37 58 345

0.0% 4.4% 0.0% 6.5% 0.0% 3.4% 0.0% 7.3% 0.0% 6.4% 0.0% 1.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 5.6% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 7.7% 6.3% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 3.7% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1.0%

63 118 152 246 37.5 250 130 100 52.0 120 104 1,080 85 20.0 68.0 97 75 73 90 38.0 92 23.0 91 17.5 45.0 70 80 174 52.0 39.5 40.5 28.5 25.5 134 40 220 70 480 58.42

47 97 108 200 28.5 224 114 77 27.0 108 94 840 62 11.0 35.0 77 54 52 74 33.0 59 13.5 87 17.5 31.0 57 64 116 27.5 22.0 25.0 17.5 15.0 134 31 220 49 270 49.06

1,940,000 1 940 000 560,000 2,500 100,000 180,000 60,000

30 19 1 7 7 7

444,040 444 040 69,400 3,100 28,000 27,600 51,600

228 122 455 126 1,240 275 154 850

230 124 460 1,260 280 860

0 0% 0.0% 0.0% 3.3% 0.0% 5.9% 3.6% 0.0% 7.6%

260 136 475 158 1,480 345 222 920

214 116 415 122 1,240 290 134 660

14.46 0.00 9.03 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 49.78 0.00 0.00 69.83 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 13.76 0.00 0.00 0.00 19.56 20.94 16.18 573.07

0.00 0.00 5.39 14.17

50.32 13.40 16.19 22.83 10.14 15.16 24.12 29.41 0.00 15.51 404.87

108.32 0.00 11.91 8.00 207.01 0.00 0.00 26.88 439.41 0.00 0.00 19.25

20.56 7.17 12.62 19.28 30.81

Shuaiba Industrial

-

Metal Collecting Global General Index 118 Kuwait Foundry KSE Price Index

ACICO 226 United Industries 91 Company High Boubyan Petroch.

620 1,140 Gulf Glass National Bank Gulf Bank 495 Hilal Cement Commercial Bank 770 Al Kout Ind. Project Ahli Bank 640 K-PAK Ahli UnitedMaterial Bank 850 Building International 248 310 Nat. Ind.Co.Bank 460 Burgan BankHolding Equipment 168 Kw Finance House Consumer Industries 890 Boubyan Bank 590 Kuwait Gypsum Global Qurain Index - Banking 216 Salbookh Trading Kw Investment - IKARUS 194 265 Commercial Facilit.

Boubyan Int'LAdv. Ind. 4174 Int'L Financial 174 National GlobalInvest.

Index - Industrial Kw Projects 300 National Cinema Ahlia Holding 13.5 Kw Hotels Coast Invest.

53 425 Agility Int'L Investor Market Complexes Securities House ZAIN 750 Ind. & Fin. Inv. Safat Energy 79.0 Securities Group Educational Group Int'L Finance Indep. Petroleum 110 MARKAZ 160 National Cleaning KMIFIC Sultan - 118 Int'L Inv. Center Group Arabi 146 Aref Inv.Group Group City Group Investment Dar - Tele.

2,460 AlWataniya AMAN Inv. Kw Gulf Link 132 ALOLA Inv. 110 Kw Cable ALMAL Inv. Vision 50 Automated System - Gulf Inv. House NAPESCO 330 A'ayan Leasing KCPC 290 32.5 Bayan Inv. K.S.H Inv. GLOBAL EyasInv. Osoul Hits Telecom GULFINVEST - 108 KFIC -18.5 Al Safwa Holding KAMCO - Human Soft Int'l Leasing & Holding Inv. -78 Privatization Nat. Int'l Holding - Nafaaes Holding - Housing Finance National Slaughter MADAR 134 Aref energy 26.5 AlSafwan Deera Holding AlGulf Safat Inv. 70.0 Petroleum 122.0 AlGulf Salam Group 27.5 Franchising 41.0 Ekttitab Credit Holding & Collection AlNational Qurain Holding -21.5 Ranges Sokouk BurganHolding Well Drilling 16.5 Al-Madina 40.0 IFA H&R Finance NOOR Combinted Group 1,700 Tamdeen Inv. 160 Jeeran Holding KW BH Int'l Exch.

Palms Agro 128 Taiba Kuwaiti Holding 72.0 Safat TEC Kuwait Syrian Mushrif Trading 98 Strategia UPAC 53 Kuwait China Inv. 305 ALAFCO Manafae Inv. Al-Muwasat - Gulf North Africa Mashaer Holding 295 Amwal Fuel AlOula Masar - 265 Future Comm.

Al-Imtiaz 132 126 Hayat Comm.

Global Index - Investment 65 Mubarrad Transport Kuwait Insurance 47.0 Kuwait Resorts Gulf Insurance - Advanced Technolgy - Ahlia Insurance Yiaco Medical 112 Warba Insurance Al Jazeera Airways 450 Kuwait Re-Ins. Al Soor Fuel 236 First Takaful - Future Kid Ins. Wethaq Insurance 285 KGL Global Index - Insurance Al Nawadi Alrai Media Kuwait R.E. 48 Zima R.E. Holding United 100 National 126 GlobalR.E. Index - Services Salhia R.E. 204 LiveStock Trans.

Pearl R.E. Dana Al-Safat 22495 Tamdeen R.E. United Poultry Ajial R.E. Kw FoodStuff Massaleh R.E. - United Food Arab R.E. 30.0 Kout R.E. Food - Union

- ŷ 116 źŸ - źŷ 226 ŷ 90 ź Low 610 ŷ 1,120 - ŷŷ 490 - ŷŷ 770 - ŷŷ 640 - źŷ 800 - Ÿ 248 305 ŷŷ 455 166 źŸ 880 - źŷ 580 - ŷ 216 źŸ - - ŷŷ 192 ź 260 4074 źŷ 170 źź 300 - Ÿŷ 12.5 ŷ - ŷ 52 ź 405 Ÿ ŷ - ŷ - ŷ 740 Ÿ ŷ 77.0 ź - ŷ - ŷ - ŷ 108 - ŷŷ 158 - ŷź - 110 ŷŷ 136 - ŷŸ - - ŷŷ 2,460 ŷź 130 ŷź 108 49 - źŷ - - ŷŷ 330 - ŷź 290 ŷŷ 31.0 - ŷŷ -ŷ - 102 ŷź -18.0 ŷź - - ŷŷ -74 ŷŸ - - ŷŷ - - ŷŷ - ŷŸ 128 26.5 - ŷŷ - ŷŷ 69.0 114.0 26.0 ŸŸ 39.0 - źŷ - 21.0 ŷź 16.5 - ŷŷ 38.5 - źŷ ŷŷ 1,680 158 źŷ - ŷ 128 Ÿ - ŷ 72.0 ź - ŷ 95 Ÿ - ŷ - ŷ 53 ŷ 295 - ŷŸ - - ŷŷ 295 - ŷŷ - 260 ŷŷ 124 - źŷ 120 źŷ 64 ŷ - ŷŸ 47.0 - - ŷŷ - - ŷŷ 108 445 źŷ 236 ź - -ŷ 285 ŷŷ - źŷ 48 - źŷ 100 - Ÿŷ 118 ŸŸ 200 ź - ŷ ŷ 22495 źŷ - - ŷŷ - - ŷŷ 30.0 - źŷ - - ŷŷ

Global Index - Food 98 96 ERESCO 86083 84080 Mabani Sharjah Cement 7590 7487 INJAZZAT RE Gulf Cement Inv. Holding Um QuwainGrp Cement 12.070 11.569 Int'L Resorts Fujaira Cement 78 77 Commercial R.E 124 122 Ras AlKheimah 70 65 Sanam R.E. ARIG 54 53 Aa'yan R.E United Gulf Bank Aqar 300 290 Egypt Kw Holding Kuwait R.E Holding Bahrain Kw Ins. 59 AL Mazaya 60 56.0 House 58.0 14.0 AlGulf Dar Fin. National R.E 14.0 InovestInt'L Holding -71 -69 Themar Ahli United Bank - 170 Grand R.E Projects - 174 - 33.5 Tijara & R.E Invest -36.5 Ithmaar Bank AlGlobal TameerIndex - Non-Kuwaiti Arkan Al-Kuwait R.E 70 70 Markaz Real Estate Safat Global AlInvestment Argan Int'L Funds 28.5 28.0 Abyaar Al-Bareeq Holding 23.5 - 23.5 Munshaat AFAQ First Dubai 26.0 - 25.5 Al-Shamel KBT Al-Safat Real Estate 27.0 19.0 27.0 19.0 Manazel 16.5 - 15.5 Ajwan Real Estate REAM Specialities Group 490 520 - Mena Real Inter.

Estate - Masaken AlDulaqan MoudonR.E Intl. R.E - - Markaz Real Estate 57 56 Eid Food Kuwait Remal 295 - 285 Maidan ClinicR.E

źŷ Ÿŷ Ÿŷ ź ź ŷ ŷ Ÿ ź ź ŷ ź ŷ ŷ Ÿ ŷ ź ŷ ź ŷŸ ŷŸ ŷŸ ŷŸ ź ŷ ŷ ŷ źŷ źŷ ź ŷź źŷ ŷŸ ŷŷ ŷŷ źŷ Ÿ ŷ ź

Last Close Previous Close - Change 216 216 40,000 2 116 176.53114 2 177.24 -0.70 4,680 - 5,754.20 - -27.30 340 3405,726.90 180,000 7 40,680 226 226 Last Prev.

Trading Activity -1 600,000 14 54,280 90 91 Close Close Chng - Volume 1,965,000Tran.

28 Value(KD) 620 1,217,550 620 1,100 1,100 3,796,050 - 1120 1120 69 3,377,500 20 495 495 - 830,000 407,950 216 216 770 770 10,000 1 7,700 - 415 415 640 -20 2 6,400 660 10,000 275 275 800 50 850 350,000 23 282,700 224 Ex-D 224 16 2 248 248 - 700,000 173,600 60,000 310 310 18,550 460 465 -510 500,000 1036 229,750 158 1,420,000 238,440 168 890 -10 880 1,280,000 66 1,127,050 102 102 590 590 607,850 1,035,000 33 128 Ex-D 128 319.37 319.54 8,092,500 6,639,050 0.17-2 2,240,000 24043 214 216 483,840 44 44 106 106 - - - - 200 192 23,080 120,000 Ex-D 260 265 -5 250,000 14 4 65,750 5,920 80,000 4074 1,680,000 -1 67,160 4174 13 2 2,710,760 168.14 9,547,500 209 0.35168.49 170 1,040,000 20 172 -2 177,720 300 110,000 5 33,000 295 5 960 960 7,040,000 12.5 12.5 46 90,920 280 280 1,280,000 22 52 53 -1 67,280 7,120,000 425 2,969,350 20 216 405 25.0 25.0 52 52 130 130 717,900 10 965,000 750 43 740 31.0 31.0 160,000 78.0 79.0 3 12,440 1.0230 230 110 110 102 102 350 350 -108 112 73,920 680,000 18 101,480 640,000 164 4.0160 50 50 -20 112 4,700,000 536,680 151 112 44.0 44.0 220 12,700,000 138 1,783,400 144 52 52 -6 550 550 74 74 - - - - 20,000 2,480 49,200 2,460 28.5 28.5 - -20 -5 149,840 1,140,000 132 134 108 1429 54,920 108 --2 500,000 58 4958 49.5 15,840 -1 320,000 4 300 300 23 - - 23 - - 3,300 --25 10,000 330 355 71 71 -1 11,600 40,000 290 290 31.0 31.0 58,760 1,840,000 22 4 - 255 255 48.5 - 48.5 - - 260 260 - - 68 68 -Ex-D - 2,073,280 19,800,000 300 104 110 20.5 20.5 - -6 26.0 26.0 -53 - -1 6,400,000 115,600 18.5 18.0 244 - 244 - - - 270 270 9478 -1 9477 796,480 10,680,000 108 - - 5199 5199 - - - 36 36 - - - 154 154 51 51 -2 543,840 4,120,000 132 134 130 26.5 26.5 2 6,360 240,000 540 540 75 75 -27 70.0 1,720,000 119,720 70.0 -8.0 120.0 112.0 1,305,280 40,800 27.0 26.0 1,520,000 21218 1.0 11,180,000 2.039.5 41.5 24 77,080 1,920,000 120 120 19.0 19.0 - 0.521.5 190 738,320 22.0 34,640,000 16.5 5 7,920 16.5 480,000 260 260 39.0 0.5- - 10,640,000 93 419,440 38.5 395 395 29.0 29.0 -10 59,000 1,680 35,000 1,680 160 2.0158 12,680 80,000 4 88 88 255 255 2,560 128 126 2 20,000 1 114 114 72.0 2,880 74.0 2.040,000 1 26.00 26.00 50 4 680 000 453 520 98 93 5.0 4,680,000 68 453,520 68 68 335 335 53 200,000 53 10,600 2 300 295 883,050 2,950,000 -5 60 -75 60 168 168 46.5 - - - - 46.5 295 295 430,000 126,850 64 - -10 64 265 15,800 60,000 265 42.50 - 42.50 -5 265 265 128 130 -2 1,240,000 38 157,920 120 120 274,920 2,220,000 55871 76.02 0.1275.90 40,720,000 2,702,550 64 64 42 173,960 2,680,000 -1 325 325 47.0 46.0 80,000 3,760 1.0 - - 560 560 - 770 770 -485 485 - 370 370 118 -8 120,000 110 66 13,200 450 90,000 450 40,400 220 220 Ex-D 236 238 60,000 3 -2 14,160 114 114 - - - 108 Ex-D 108 40.50 40.50 285 285 490,000 21 139,650 43.63 43.43 0.19- 120,000 6 13,200 81 81 118 118 1 3,840 49 -1 48 80,000 98 92,000 9 100 9998 1 920,000 383,920 124 120 4 105 3,100,000 1,836 752.46 747.13 120,210,000 5.34 12,953,740 12 104,680 200 204 -4 520,000 184 184 37.5 37.5 560,000 95 53,200 95 39 224 10.0- 100,000 22,400 234 136 136 120 120 1,360 1,360 82 - - - 82 - 340 340 1 30.0 80,000 30.5 0.5- 2,400 560 560 - 108 108 - - 560,000 334.84 53,200 334.84 31,160 --1 320,000 98 97 89 1,656,950 10 1,935,000 850 57 9 860 480,000 38,960 80 80 2 8,960 120,000 2 7588 7388 1,240,000 25 109,160 1539 23,960 11.5 12.0 0.52,000,000 -1 3,600,000 69 250,960 70 38.0 38.0 91 91 3 18,520 78 77 1 240,000 -4 27,240 6 122 126 220,000 67,400 17 1,000,000 65 70 -5 114 114 4 10,720 54 -1 55 200,000 178 178 90 90 558,000 5 295 290 1,900,000 38 38.0 38.0 Ex-D 455 455 11 59 26,160 440,000 -4 63 21,520,000 1,223,440 57.0 57.0 121 1 80,000 1,120 14.0 14.5 0.5- 1 198,520 2,840,000 -34 9171 9170 6 1,063,720 174 168 6,200,000 -95 17.5 17.5 31.0 31.034.0 36.5 32,320,000 189 1,139,160 3 59 59 4,609,160 0.99 42.40 70,320,000 556 43.39 -4 320,000 2 22,400 70 74 122 122 48.5 48.5 - - - 124 124 12 0.52,720,000 76,880 28.0 28.5 144 144 1.0- 80,000 1 1,880 23.5 24.5 106 106 0.5240,000 6,160 3 26.0 25.5 250 250 Ex-D 946,080 - 0.5- 35,040,000 41 27.0 27.0 80,000 19.0 19.5 1,520 1,200,000 8 1.0- 19,240 16.5 15.5 33 33 - 35 -59 134 134 520 485 940,000 473,500 - - - 134 134 51 51 - - - - 220 220 345 345 1 240,000 6 13,520 57 58 106 106 47 610,850 295 290 5 2,110,000 2,260 2,260 0.02- - 53,085,000 - 332 4,151,200 49.73 49.75 39.5 39.5

Global Index - Real Estate Flex 92.0 Dar Al-Thuraya Real E 242 232 Nationl Ind. Group 232 źŷ Kw Medical Services 128 - 126 - ŷŷ 128 65 Pipes Ind. & Oil 450 Kuwait Cement 455 450 ź Amar For Fin. & Leas.

55 - ŷ 150 - ŷ Refrigeration Ind.Market Total Parallel 1,420 1,420 1,420 ź Gulf Cables & Elec.

335 - ŷ Heavy & Ship.

Totaleng.

Market 212 Marine Services - ŷ GlobalCement Special Indices 720 720 ŷ Portland 720 Ÿ GlobalIndustrial Index - Kuwaiti Co.'s 180 - ŷ Shuaiba ź Global Index - 10 Large 104 104 ź Metal Collecting 110 Cap. 460 ź - ŷ Kuwait Foundry Global Index - Islamic -

92.0 242 -10 13,220,000 - 154 128 - 140,000 6 65 470 20 50,000 2 55 150 -60 1,020,000 1,460 -40 2,500 1 335 386,217,5004,822 212 Close Prev. Close 720 230,000 19 190.92 180 191.02 186.273 106 186.22-2 80,000 460 570.59 576.17

DTD MTD YTD 0.0% 216 180 13.22 216 -0.40% 120 -1.55% -1.55% 0.0% 120 102 112 495 0.0% 315 320 345 -1.50% -0.47% -1.50% 230 2.2% 196 28.05 226 228 Annual Close 79 Last89 Last 91 Div. 0.0% 102 36.84 Bid610 Ask 620 Yield High630 Low550 P/E88.41 0.0% 1,100 3.6% 1,400 1,100 17.40 1,120 3.6% 1,140 1,120 1,100 14.74 490 495 510 490 33.95 224 0.0% 6.9% 216 206 12.38 210 770 780 1.9% 790 770 88.62 390 8.4% 340 9.94 415 640 660 660 640 17.34 300 3.1% 275 5.20 0.0% 300 255 840 850 - 1.6% 850 790 29.68 2.2% 228 224 35.32 246 248 255 248 23.59 310 315 0.0% 3.2% 25.33 325 260 460 465 - 0.0% 475 46051 12.26 0.0% 168 152 880 - 2.3% 900 88093 25.07 870 0.0% 102 590 - 0.0% 580 590 590 112.24 5.5% 128 18.88 128 18.61 216 218 2.0% 0.0% 319.54 210 13.15 222 318.41 0.0% 0.00 102 106 - 0.0% 10651 10641 40.56 190 4.2% 194 8.5% 214 162 17.12 260 265 265 260 12.09 0.0% 4074 4075 0.0% 4288 4070 2.8% 174.76 163.04 13.82 172 168 0.0% 174 170 88.93 295 300 305 295 12.13 960 910 990 6.7% 4.4% 1,120 18.02 12.5 13.0 0.0% 13.5 12.5 1.33 0.0% 280 280 51 52 0.0% 54 52 7.1% 420 425 430 340 16.45 0.0% 25.0 25.0 0.00 0.0% 41 0.00 65 0.0% 130 130 8.7% 740 750 900 690 11.30 33.5 0.0% 36.0 31.0 77.0 78.0 0.0% 81.0 45.0 0.0% 230 230 0.0% 110 110 58.86 0.0% 102 102 0.00 330 355 9.3% 0.0% 350 295 106 110 116 108 158 160 3.1% 170 110 20.44 0.0% 50 50 0.00 0.0% 136 102 - 112 - 114 0.0% 44.0 44.0 0.00 142 144 0.0% 132 12.17 0.0% 52 5284 0.00 540 0.0% 550 530 0.0% 74 74 0.00 2,460 2.0% 2,480 0.0% 2,440 1,920 12.84 27.0 29.5 28.5 28.5 0.00 132 0.0% 0.0% 130 132 110 112 10895 0.00 108 0.0% 49 5056 0.0% 5168 4958 290 320 0.0% 8.3% 350 230 22.18 21 24 23 22 380 395 7.6% 340 8.13 - 0.0% 71 71 0.00 295 0.0% 290 305 3.4% 260 9.91 31.0 32.5 31.5 31.0 - 0.0% 7.1% 260 255 12.82 - 250 48.5 48.5 - 0.0% 260 260 7.7% 4.79 68.0 64.0 68.0 32.31 132 342.76 0.0% - 102 - 104 0.0% 20.5 20.554 - 17.5 - 18.0 0.0% 26.0 26.0 0.00 23.5 14.0 0.0% - 238 244 244 270 0.0% 270 12.91 280 0.0% -77 -78 0.0% 9484 9461 0.00 13.81 6.4% -95 54 51 5184 116.80 102 0.0% 104 0.0% - 0.0% 36 36 0.00 184 154 154 9.95 0.0% 0.0% 51 5191 0.00 128 132 0.0% 120 26.0 26.5 27.0 27.5 520 710 5.0% 520 13.11 540 0.0% 0.0% 75 75 0.00 69.0 78.0 70.0 0.0% 30.0 10.87 99.0 120.0 120.0 118.0 25.5 28.5 16.0 27.5 0.0% 0.0% 19.5 39.0 41.5 120 130 0.0% 0.0% 140 19.0 20.0 19.0 18.0 21.0 21.5 0.0% 0.0% 22.5 0.00 12.0 16.0 16.5 17.0 16.5 275 0.0% 42.66 275 198 0.0% 39.0 38.0 38.5 39.0 400 0.0% 380 86.17 0.0% 490 380 0.0% 29.0 0.00 % 29.0 1,680 1,700 15.98 1,740 1,500 4.2% 156 8.28 3.8% 156 160 162 84 88 5.84 0.0% 89 73 255 22.77 255 270 5.1% 116 128 14.84 7.8% 126 86 11.92 114 0.0% 114 72.0 74.0 0.0% 78.0 57.0 26 27 0.0% 28 0 0% 0 00 98 0.0% 104 80 0.00 68 43.00 63 73 0.0% 68 340 340 345 12.16 9.0% 270 53 53 52 0.0% 55 280 300 305 315 3.92 3.3% 60 61 0.0% 60 130 6.0% 7.71 178 10.8% 168 47 47 - 47 172 4.4% 290 295 305 10.49 64 0.0% 69 64 21.52 0.0% 265 305 42.5 0.00 - 260 - 265 0.0% 42.5 300 128.0 0.0% 265 0.0% 18.62 265 124.0 128.0 132.0 5.19 122 2.4% 124 75.90 70 0.0% 120 10.01 76.32 65 51 0.0% 72 64 16.97 325 300 325 325 48.5 6.2% 0.0% 62.0 20.47 44.0 47.0 12.90 610 510 560 560 1.9% 770 640 31.91 750 4.5% 9.91 460 500 5.2% 520 485 4.1% 390 12.13 345 355 380 17.37 108 114 118 110 0.0% 485 410 9.38 445 450 9.1% 220 220 2.7% 0.0% 270 236 296.83 17.36 234 238 134 11498 110 4.6% 14.91 114 106 108 0.0% 40.5 43.0 0.0% 40.5 300 218 8.72 7.0% 280 285 12.60 44.80 92 43.43 77 8.6% 7.03 77 83 4.7% 0.0% 156 21.95 114 114 120 0.0% 37.20 49 49 48 48 106 0.0% 0.0% 110 12.83 100 100 9994 99 126 0.0% 120 22.21 128 122 12.0% 791.90 705.36 11.50 202 10.0% 200 17.83 208 200 0.0% - 0.0% 222 182 15.27 37.5 37.5 37.5 0.0% 114 234 22490 16.20 22495 4.5% -94 126 3.7% 136 126 6.02 130 120 110 130 - 0.0% 4.8% 1,500 1,360 1,380 11.38 1,360 6.1% 82 82 5.29 85 350 1.5% 390 44.60 340 290 0.0% 30.5 30.0 31.5 610 5.4% 580 6.5% 500 10.04 540 108 108 15.28 112 118 4.2% 365.22 334.34 11.38 0.0% 100 96 39.65 95 98 860 840 21.70 86079 87081 0.0% 0.0% 44 95 76 73 7681 0.0% 7179 0.0% 108 55 0.00 12.573 11.543 11.587 12.088 0.0% 10.1% 32.06 38.0 38.0 35.5 37.0 69 70 0.0% 0.0% 122 46 0.0% 78 14.56 77 77 79 86 8.2% 126 10.94 118 91 0.0% 75 65 65 122 0.0% 132 124 102 54 26.32 0.0% 55 53 54 0.0% 232 112 387.72 172 116 0.0% 90 90 91 174 330 250 6.57 184 6.8% 0.0% 38.0 38.0 40.5 0.00 455 455 290 295 5.5% 63 60 0.0% 59 541.46 40.5 74.0 0.0% 14.5 4.15 14.5 14.0 0.0% 13.5 0.0% 9457 5.5% 91 91 9056 6.9% 9.60 17.5 17.5 - 71 0.0% - 70 33.5 31.0 31.0 19.44 30.0 0.0% 172.0 174.0 0.0% 57 0.0% 59 59 4.2% 40.74 47.16 8.91 70 74 0.0% 78 70 11.37 1,220 1,220 0.0% 0.00 48.5 48.5 116 126 0.0% 144 124 5.38 28.0 28.5 - 0.0% 29.0 28.0 27.28 0.0% 25.0 - 0.0% 24.5 23.5 23.5 5.03 4.7% 25.0 25.5 26.0 25.5 13.99 6.0% 255 0.0% 24.5 28.0 28.5 27.0 0.0% 17.0 21.5 0.0% 15.532 16.034 0.0% 16.5 15.5 0.0% 134 130 134 23.07 16.69 5.5% 510 520 3.7% 32 29 3250 0.0% 32 0.0% 220 - - 0.0% 220 18.82 218 816.78 0.0% 57 60 0.00 5580 57 - 0.0% 9.98 0.0% 295 270 0.00 290 295 - 0.0% 0.0% 1.1% 49.86 49.73 16.27 38.5 42.0 0.0% 22.19

-3,111,120 17,800 122 22,550 455 150 475,020 3,550 1,420 36,708,010 310 Change 710 165,600 0.09 178 -0.05 104 8,480 435 -5.59

92.0 232 13070 465 1,440 340 216 DTD 720 0.05% 190 -0.03% 108 -0.97%

0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 2.2% 0.0% 3.3% 0.6% 4.6% 4.68% 3.0% 2.4% 13.9% 5.6% 0.0% 4.3%

232 260 130 128 470 450 158 150 1,460 1,420 340 335 212 222 MTD 710 740 -1.12% 180 180 -2.13% 104 116 460 460 1.96%

70.58 18.38

14.51 6.49 14.84 8.02 193.84 YTD 96.15 0.78% 10.91 -2.04% 23.15 26.77 1.53%

STOCKS WITH NBK CAPITAL

12

ALWATAN DAILY wednesday, april 25, 2012

April 21, 2009 April 24, 2012

2% 6%

2% 6%

Dubai

Oman

2%

GCC Best Performers

Saudi

95 24-Jan-12 85

24-Feb-12

24-Mar-12

S&P Pan3-Feb-09 Arab Large/18-Feb-09 Mid Composite 19-Jan-09 5-Mar-09

S&P GCC Large/ Mid 20-Mar-09 4-Apr-09 Composite

-6% -2

19-Apr-0

1

MENA Indices Highlights Country (Index)

Index Level

% Chg.

YTD

Sa Saudi Arabia (Tadawul All Share Index) Country (Index)

Index 7,512 Level

UASa UAE (ADX Index) Saudi Arabia (Tadawul All Share Index)

2,505 5,250

0.2% -4.0%

QaUAUAE Qatar (DSM Index) (ADSM Index)

8,664 2,695

-0.3% 0.6%

BaQa Bahrain Qatar (BSE (DSMIndex) Index)

1,148 5,590

-0.3% 3.9%

Jo Jordan (Amman General Index)

2,002

-0.4%

Ku Kuwait (KSE Weighted Index)

UAE (DFM(KSE Index) Ku Kuwait Weighted Index)

OmOman UAE(MSM (DFMIndex) Index)

421

1,670 406

5,952 1,745

Eg Egypt (EGX 30 Index)

OmOman (MSM Index)

Ba Bahrain (BSE Index)

M Morocco (Casa All Shares Index)

Eg Egypt (Hermes Egypt Index (HFI))*

Le Lebanon (Beirut SE Index)

Jo Jordan (Amman General Index)

Pa Palestine (Al-Quds Index)

M Morocco (Casa All Shares Index)*

Tu Tunisia (Tunis SE Index)

Le Lebanon (Beirut SE Index)* *Market Closed

Pa Palestine (Al-Quds Index)

4,908

5,478

1,681

10,357

463

1,170

2,825 469

10,621

5,068

1,094 546

Tu TunisiaClosed (Tunis SE Index)* * Market

3,282

%-0.2% Chg.

17.1% YTD

0.2%

3.9%

-0.5%

-

2.2%

-0.2%

-0.5%

-

-

0.9% -

Mkt.391,854 Cap. USD million

131

Trailing

12.97

101,912

8,071 2,137

84 122

124,405 69,783

11.34 7.29

0 196

17,219 65,352

9.05 8.85

0.4% -18.8%

35.5%

0.7%

0.4%

-6.8%

-6.9%

8.5%

-0.6%

2.4%

-1.6%

6,372 5,860

1,301 316

5,419 1,433

10 305

3,587

90

1,407 12,627

1,129 4,230

2,214

1,921

5,628

12,109 2,903

4,224

10,233

5,044

2,551

1,403 513

465

5,115

4,091

23.6%

739

407

-7.2%

2,119

13.6%

3,418

-

1,164

14,635

18,310 37,413

9,406

-

1,043

-

2,837

-

4

13.73

63,640

7.67

18,727

2

10,447

1.61

1.29

3.23

1.56

6.26

33,782

12.71

6

10,021

15.53

2,512

0.84

2.15

9.03

59,990

1.14

18.36

8,507

2

1.68

15.17

67 1

1.34

8.07

56,904

3.95

1.77

6.47

2,079

0.86

8.67

6,576

MENA Worst Performers

2.50

13.85

1.92

SAUDI ARABIA *Market Closed

UG United Gulf Bank

225 Saudi Industrial Inv. Grp.

101 Riyad Bank

115

-6.4%

291,382,696 216,985,440

115 Alinma Bank (KSA)

Turnover (USD)

149,518,994

201 Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (KSA)

343,553,085 142,202,298

201 Basic Industries Corp.Dev. (KSA) 430Saudi Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Co. (KSA)

119,955,261 115,722,248

115 Bank (KSA) 425Alinma Jabal Omar Development Co. (KSA)

97,126,838

NBKNational Bank of Kuwait (KUW)

1,469,569,541

Market Cap. (SAR '000)

114

88,742,222

7010.SSE Saudi Telecom Co.

7020.SSE Etihad Etisalat Co.

20Saudi Basic Industries Corp.

S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite

43Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Dev. Co.

24-Apr-12

% Chg.

21.95

2.6%

23.10

2.2%

105.00

1.9%

42.60

1.2%

68.75

Turnover (SAR) 1,092,772,524 2290.SSE Yanbu National Petrochemicals Co. 813,760,496 1020.SSE Bank Al Jazira 560,741,083 3020.SSE Yamama Saudi Cement Co. 533,301,278 1090.SSE Samba Financial Grp.

1 Alinma Bank

24-Mar-12

Close

1.1%

Worst Performers

70Zain - Saudi Arabia

24-Feb-12

64,280,166

2250.SSE Saudi Industrial Investment Grp.

Highest Turnover

105

95 24-Jan-12

SAR 24.70

-6.8%

Turnover (USD)

MENA Highest Turnover

9,960,193

Turnover (SAR '000)

-4.0% -8.9%

-2.8% -8.6%

703 Zain - Saudi Arabia (KSA)

7,931 / 5,916 3050.SSE Southern Province Cement Co.

Tadawul Index 52 week High / Low

116

-9.6%

SAR 51.50 SAR 48.00

SAR 13.70

GCC Highest Turnover

0.55

Advance/Decline Ratio

% Chg.

KWD 0.192 SAR 22.95

78% 4250.SSE Jabal Omar Development Co.

% of stocks trading above 1yr avg. price

4.9%

8.0%

0.95 -13.1% -5.0% KWDAED 0.265

7,512 (-0.2%)

Tadawul Index (% Chg.)

125

5.5% 8.6%

BHD 0.260% Chg. -5.1% Close

EMAEmaar Properties (UAE) Best Performers

Summary

6.2% 8.8%

AED 1.98

KFI Kuwait Finance House (KUW)

Rebased Performance

8.0% 9.8%

8.0%

Close

ADNAbu Dhabi National Hotels

0.88 201 229Saudi Yanbu National Petrochemicals Co. 1.74 Basic Industries Corp.

9.50

27,543

OMR 0.720

GCC Worst Performers

1.89 FAC ARK Arkan Building Materials 1.37 Commercial Facilities Co. Co. 1.61 IKA Ikarus Petroleum Industries Co. 0.88 238 Rabigh Petrochem.

9.54

15,024

0

1.04 1.77

10.74 6.87

56,830

46

328

-3.3%

6.5%

34,988 98,547

11

1,572

12,203

1,033

120 718

2.00

0.79 1.52

8,892 5,148

1,754 787

QAR 21.60

BKMBankMuscat

PB

10.84 9.99

-1.2% 12.8%

KWD 0.425

QGTQatar Gas Transport Co.

PB1.44

8.70 10.24

AED 0.39 QAR 6.35

AG Agility

PE 14.42

66,167 264,263

3.61 OMRAED 0.703

DEYDeyaar Development Co. KCB Al Khaliji Commercial Bank

PE

28 2,183

4.5% 6.6%

0.4%

396

Turnover 2,656 USD million

USD5.60 0.135 SAR

ART Arabtec Holding & Contracting GEC Galfar Engineering

Trailing

Mkt. Cap. USD million

2,293 4,130

-0.1% 1.9%

-0.1%

467

525,916 Wk Low

Turnover USD million

2,775 10,090

23.4% -0.2%

5.1%

52 Wk 7,931 High

52 Wk Low

4.2% 9.3%

1.8% 1.8%

-0.8%

52 Wk High

% Chg.

AED 1.28% Chg. 12.3% Close

ITHKingdom Ithmaar Bank 3 428 Hldg. Co.

Period's Liquidity Ratio (PLR x)*

MENA Indices Highlights

Close

4 TAMTamweel

Period's Liquidity 1 Ratio (PLR x)

-1

Abu Dhabi

MENA Best Performers

-2%

24-Apr-12

Tunisia Abu Dhabi

-1%

-6%

Palestine Palestine

90

-4%

Saudi Dubai Dubai

95 100

0%

-2%

Kuwait

Oman SaudiBahrain Bahrain Qatar

0%

105

Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi

0%

100

0%

Kuwait

Qatar Saudi

Return DailyDaily Return (%)(%)

Dubai

Qatar Oman

111

105

110

1%

Qatar

Morocco

114 111

4%

Lebanon Oman

115110

Kuwait Kuwait

113

Jordan

113

DailyIndex Index Performance Snapshot Daily Performance Snapshot

Egypt Jordan

120115

Bull/Bear Indicator Bull/Bear Indicator

Bahrain Bahrain

Rebased RebasedPerformance Performance

433,993,146

42Jabal Omar Development Co.

1040.SSE Saudi Hollandi Bank

Close

% Chg.

51.50

-2.8%

50.25

-2.0%

27.50 50.75

28.70

-2.1% -1.5% -1.0%

Saudi SE

Quotes Company Name 1 Al Rajhi Bank

Close 78.00

-1.0%

64.25

-0.4%

79.00

Low

Turnover (SAR '000)

64.00

27,165

29.80

37,365

1,247

11,334

813,760

30.60

-1.0%

30.90

30.50

2,132

27.50

-2.1%

1 Arab National Bank

1 Bank Al Jazira

30.10

0.0%

30.40

28.30

27.30

22,831

11.50

533,301

68.00

172,694

163.00

3,640

35.00

53,201

1 Banque Saudi Fransi

38.60

-0.8%

39.10

38.00

4 Emaar the Economic City

13.05

0.0%

13.30

12.90

331,525

21.30

433,993

4 Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Dev. Co. 7 Etihad Etisalat Co.

4 Jabal Omar Development Co. 4 Jarir Marketing Co.

4 Kingdom Holding Co.

2 National Industrialization Co.

2 Rabigh Refining & Petrochemical Co.

1 Riyad Bank

1 Samba Financial Grp.

11.75

68.75

21.95

163.50 12.15

0.4%

2 1 Saudi Investment Bank 2 Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co. 7 Saudi Telecom Co. 2

-0.7%

17.80

0.0%

Savola Group Co. 0 3 Southern Province Cement Co. 0 1 SABB 3 Yamama Saudi Cement Co.

2 Yanbu National Petrochemicals Co. 7 Zain - Saudi Arabia

18.80

42.60

-0.5%

19.00

18.75

2,881

22,476

17.60

169,930

34.60

4,104

36.20

8,410

43.00

41.90

298,912

1.9%

105.00

103.00

3,351

-2.0%

51.25

50.00

22,098

-0.8%

9.80

21.60

1.2%

36.50

51.50

43

22.70

-0.3%

50.25

28.70

25,559

23.10

34.90

105.00

94.50

2.2%

17.95

-2.8%

0.5%

35.10

36.90

56.25

10.15

6.20

2,510

19,961 22

51.25 9.65

122,516

1,092,773

1,496 504

27.6

2.6

4.9%

34,895,090

12.0

1.8

91.9%

11,092,500

-15.2%

62.1%

31.3%

68.25

50.00

0.7%

31.0%

29.1%

165.00

101.83

21.40

11.10

13.10

50.75

26.90

7.05

35.10

23.10

165.00

5,494

112.00

87.75

4,397

16.30

1

9,030,000

61.4%

6.05

13.85

200.00

267

3.6

44.4%

120

960

22.4

62.2%

-3.5%

-4.0%

2.6%

-0.9%

32,493

39,938

22.20

13.60

25,700,000

-13.8%

33.50

60,328

23.10

25,332

45,425

17.9%

15.75

-10.6%

13.60

21.60

30.00

31.90

42.40

13.85

29.10

40.00

823

3.6

-7.3%

56.75

-0.4%

-1.0%

292

37.50

-7.3%

-30.2% -7.2%

-10.0%

14.6%

77.6%

80.7%

17.4%

37.3%

-13.0%

59.0%

60.6%

40.5% -7.3%

12,690,000

48,125,000

20,400,330 9,810,000

45,026,470

19,732,968

8.9%

-5.6%

45,675,000

2.3%

-3.7%

3.6%

30.5

11.5 nmf

1.6

1.7

0.8

1.5

9.5

2.6

18.2

10.1

nmf

nmf

8.1

2.3

1.7

1.8

nmf

2.4

10.6

1.6

11.9

1.2

5.0

-7.0%

307,500,000

10.7

2.1

0.4%

57,290,665

98.00

55.50

-1.8%

33.7%

68.9%

29.30

21.42

-2.0%

15.6%

11.8%

9.6%

2.1%

-1.1%

12.0

1.4

11.1

20.9%

6.5%

37,425,000

nmf

45,000,000

32.4%

-15.6%

8,250,000

19,929,000

-10.7%

12.85

26,010,000

-19.3%

24.25

-8.5%

22,725,000

-2.2%

7.1%

PB

15.9

11.3%

51.6%

Trailing PE

117,000,000

-9.2%

481

560,741

28.70

-8.5%

26.60

12.3%

Market Cap. (SAR '000)

2.6%

50.0%

24,904

101.25

13.75

17.20

33.70

12.2%

12 mths

62.0%

50.25

104.00 96.25

32.90

70

YTD

-6.8%

-23.7%

-0.2%

0.5%

-10.5%

420

9.05

21.20

21,574

96.25

48.41

16.25

29.80

178.50

35.00

71.75

53,834

-5.7%

1,536

183.00

-0.9%

67.25

34,827

0.8%

33.50

82.75

22.50

12,565

53.75

on high

803

24.85

-1.5%

36.50

22.85

1,405

% Change

Low

9,733

12.05

25.00

0.4%

1 Saudi Hollandi Bank

Saudi International Petrochemical Co.

12.20

-0.2%

50.75

102.50

22 Saudi Industrial Investment Grp.

22.15

165.50

24.95

2 Saudi Basic Industries Corp.

5 Saudi Electricity Co.

2.6%

-0.9%

70.25

-0.8%

180.00

3 Saudi Cement Co.

1.1%

11.95

35.40

22.75

2 Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Co.

1 Saudi Arabian Mining Co.

-0.4%

High

109,940

14.95

65.50

52-Week

Volume ('000)

77.50

15.30

15.15

1 Bank AlBilad

High

0.7%

1 Alinma Bank 2 Almarai Co.

Daily % Chg.

30,987,500

nmf

1.8

14,726,250

15.6

5.0

11,391,030

11.2

1.5

25.8

1.1

1,745

27.20

18.55

-15.1%

21.6%

153

21.00

15.55

-10.5%

16.4%

0.2%

26.0%

21.4%

85,200,000

11.2

1.8

-1.6%

22.1%

63.4%

14,700,000

16.4

5.6

1,035 9,559

24.45 21.30

17.75 15.50

-11.7% -16.4%

2.3%

-8.0%

10,395,000

19.7

1.7

-0.3%

10,340,000

14.6

1.2

-2.7%

7,023

42.50

33.00

32

106.75

63.25

436

83.25

47.50

-39.6%

-28.2%

-15.5%

5.25

-14.8%

76.6%

42.0%

118

230

2,334

110,299

35.50

46.30

56.25

11.50

23.70

34.20

41.60

-1.7%

-21.2% -8.4%

21.6%

-10.3%

17.0%

28.3%

-18.9%

1.5%

7,920,000

26,700,000

17,450,000

36,500,000

10.8 nmf

13.7

12.6

10,175,625

13.8

13,720,000

nmf

28,968,750

9.1

1.5

1.8

2.1

2.1

3.0

2.8

3.5

STOCKS WITH NBK CAPITAL

13

ALWATAN DAILY wednesday, april 25, 2012

KUWAIT Rebased Performance

Summary

Best Performers 6,328 (0.0%)

KSE General Index (% Chg.)

120

421 (0.2%)

KSE Weighted Index (% Chg.)

54%

% of stocks trading above 1yr avg. price

115

KSE General Index 52 week High / Low

110

Highest Turnover Turnover (KWD) 2,969,350 1,294,320

N National Real Estate Co.

1,217,550

B Boubyan Petrochemical Co.

95 24-Jan-12

24-Feb-12

24-Mar-12

S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite

883,050

A Alafco Aviation Lease and Fin. Co.

24-Apr-12

0.300

1.7%

0.325

1.6%

0.132

1.5%

Worst Performers

A Agility

100

1.9%

28,341,617

Market Cap. (KWD '000) 104

4.9%

0.265

36,415

Turnover (KWD '000)

105

FACIL.KSE Commercial Facilities Co.

467 / 396 AREFENRGAREF Energy Holding Co.

KSE Weighted Index 52 week High / Low

% Chg.

0.425

0.90 ALAFCO.KSAlafco Aviation Lease and Fin. Co. 6,523 / 5,694 KPROJ.KSEKuwait Projects Co. (Holding)

Advance/Decline Ratio

114

Close AGLTY.KSEAgility

750,850

K Kuwait Finance House

Close

% Chg.

IKARUS.KSIkarus Petroleum Industries Co.

0.192

-4.0%

BOUBYAN. Boubyan Bank

0.590

-1.7%

NINV.KSE National Investments Company

0.146

-1.4%

KIB.KSE

Kuwait International Bank

NRE.KSE

National Real Estate Co.

0.275

-1.8%

0.136

-1.5%

KSE Weighted Index

Quotes Company Name

Close

Daily % Chg.

High

A Agility

0.425

4.9%

T Al Themar Intl. Holding Co.

0.087

-

A AREF Energy Holding Co.

0.132

A Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait

0.600

A Alafco Aviation Lease and Fin. Co. B Boubyan Bank

B Boubyan Petrochemical Co. B Burgan Bank

0.590

749

0.435

1.2%

0.620

0.0% -

0.134

0.620 0.435 -

0.128

544

0.610

1,218

-

-

-

-

0.430

293 59

1.680

0.0%

1.700

1.680

0.265

1.9%

0.265

0.260

0.445

1.1%

0.445

0.440

0.395

-

-

-

-

0.192

-4.0%

JAJazeera Airways

0.450

0.0%

0.102

0.0%

0.280

0.460

-

-

1.240

1.240

0.194

0.192

nmf

2,950

0.380

0.280

-21.1%

1,270

0.620

0.530

-4.8%

0.410

-17.0%

0.132

1,965

0.630

680 -

0.085

0.530

0.524

0.420

0.198

23

-1.8%

0.275

0.270

307

K Kuwait Projects Co. (Holding)

0.325

1.6%

0.325

0.320

93

52

0.019

1.680

1.240

0.214

0.138

-10.9%

-7.2%

-27.0%

1,000

1.000

0.720

-25.0%

1,120

0.350

0.236

-21.4%

290

0.405

0.281

-19.8%

60

1.360

1.580

0.660

-16.0%

469

460

1.020

0.691

1.080

0.0%

1.080

1.060

322

300

1.145

0.909

-5.7%

N National Industries Grp. Holding

0.230

-0.9%

0.230

0.228

444

1,940

0.285

0.192

N National Real Estate Co.

0.136

-1.5%

0.130

1,294

9,380

0.168

0.216

0.9%

0.216

484

2,240

0.226

4,700

0.136

0.093

-17.6%

1,760

0.097

0.067

20

2.480

1.880

0.033

N National Industries Co.

N National Investments Company O Oula Fuel Marketing Co.

A Qurain Petrochemicals Industries Co. S Salhia Real Estate Co.

S Sultan Center Food Products Co. T Tamdeen Real Estate Co.

A The Commercial Real Estate Co. S The Securities House N Wataniya

0.310 0.146 0.265

0.0%

-1.4% 0.0%

0.232 0.112 0.234 0.089 0.130

2.460

Z Zain Kuwait

-

0.750

-

-

-

0.310

0.305

0.150

0.146

0.142

0.265

0.260

-

-

0.216

-

19

-

0.118

0.110

0.0%

0.090

0.089

157

-0.8%

2.460

2.460

49

-

1.4%

0.234

0.234

-

-

0.750

0.740

60

-

9

-

40

-

718

965

16.7%

16.4

4.0

142,242

10.0

0.9 2.7

64,309

nmf

-16.8%

-13.2%

179,283

nmf

0.0%

29.7%

-60.0%

-1.1%

281.4%

0.0%

-24.6%

-8.1%

-10.5%

14.8%

-10.0%

260,315

0.0%

17.1

99,000

9.4

73,724

293,322

nmf

0.9

3.8

20.6

2.0

11.4

1.9

36.2

7.8%

-15.4%

285,265

26.3

12.1%

-16.7%

434,387

14.5

78,178

3.7

1.0

0.7

2,178,123

-45.6%

1.5

nmf

-25.0%

546,723

3.1

7.2

144,000 81,894

1.9

nmf

38.3

-24.4%

1.0

162,339

1,004,898

-29.3%

1.5

1.2

1.4

30.8

1.2

0.8

4,701,777

15.5

2.1

-19.3%

-11.5%

-17.9%

297,873

0.056

-19.0%

6.3%

25.9%

0.186

-4.4%

-

1.200

37.2

13.3

-1.0%

0.216

-

54,503

4.3

1.2

6.1%

0.200

0.270

34.3

4.2

0.265

0.246

300,762

1.5

nmf

29.4

0.144

0.360

nmf

611,189

0.260

0.285

-16.0%

1.0

1.5

44.7%

-

0.340

1,980

16

0.0%

-

60

293

537

-0.9%

-

-44.7%

99,000

1,171,724

27.9%

1.000

10.7%

1.9

5.9

-15.1%

-2.0%

1.020

N National Bank of Kuwait

0.0%

8.2%

0.5

20.0

-8.4%

21.1%

0.0%

M Mena Holding

1.9%

-45.6%

1.000

M Mabanee Co.

-7.6%

12.9%

-5.1%

1.620

6.3%

-10.3%

0.236

-

672,061

-12.7%

0.295

0.415

-15.4%

-26.2%

20

0.630

-3.8%

0.0%

-57.9%

-

1,031,459

-16.0%

0.096

0.120

-3.3%

22.6%

0.242

0.485

0.0%

-38.1%

1,800 90

-

0.860

3

120

-

0.275

0.055

233,931

10.7%

-20.2%

-

0.700

907,944

-20.0%

-1.6%

0.285

0.940

0.0%

-4.8%

24.5%

0.495

-

-4.6%

0.0%

-

K Kuwait International Bank

0.860

88,088

3

751

-1.2%

-13.0%

-

0.750

0.860

-4.4%

-19.4%

0.760

P Kuwait Portland Cement Co.

-16.3%

0.425

-1.3%

-

0.079

-8.7%

0.552

6

-

0.104

0.590

590

0.280

-

-

0.657

260

0.750

1.360

16.5

-30.3%

K Kuwait Finance House F Kuwait Food Co.

444,906

0.255

0.280

-

2.4%

0.380

0.0%

PB

13.3%

4,120

40

PE

-2.3%

120

181

Trailing

Market Cap. (KWD '000)

0.248

31

0.445

12 mths

0.435

-13.6%

-

YTD

7,120

1.300

0.100

-

on high

1.945

0.102

-

% Change

Low

35

0.0%

0.450

High

-

0.590

1.5%

IK Ikarus Petroleum Industries Co.

K Kuwait Cement Co.

-

52-Week

Volume ('000)

-

-1.7%

1.240

K KIPCO Asset Management Co.

-

-

0.590

C Gulf Cable and Electrical Industries Co.

IF International Finance Co.

-

-

883

0.049

IF IFA Hotels & Resorts

2,969

0.295

0.790

G Gulf Bank

0.405

0.305

C Commercial Bank of Kuwait G Global Investment House

0.425

1.7%

0.260

F Commercial Facilities Co.

Turnover (KWD '000)

0.300

A Burgan Co. for Well Drilling

C Combined Grp Contracting Co.

-

Low

0.690

0.0%

-8.8%

-48.8%

0.0%

10.7%

-15.1%

0.0%

-6.1%

-48.8%

-26.4%

-11.7%

-14.2%

-5.7%

11.5%

8.4%

-13.3%

1.7%

2.3

107,323

25.3

127,927

nmf

0.1

1.4

nmf

0.8

0.7

nmf

0.7

13.1

1.1

87,370

21.5

118,952

16.6

2.1

12.5%

237,600

-6.7%

-9.7%

64,829

-8.2%

15.6%

23.6%

163,298

15.5

0.7

-0.8%

26.8%

21.8%

1,239,921

3.4

1.5

0.0%

-37.5%

0.9%

21,780

0.0%

-16.7%

-8.2%

87,310

0.0%

88,400

-37.5%

3,230,651

0.9

nmf

1.0

22.8

0.9

nmf

7.0

11.3

1.6

UAE Rebased Performance

Summary

Best Performers 1,670 (1.8%)

DFM Index (% Chg.)

135

2,505 (0.2%)

ADSM Index (% Chg.)

64% ARTC.DFM Arabtec Holding 2.50 DEYAAR.D Deyaar Development Co. 1,754 / 1,301 UPP.DFM Union Properties

% of stocks trading above 1yr avg. price Advance/Decline Ratio

125

DFM Index 52 week High / Low

115

121

ADSM Index 52 week High / Low

114

Market Cap. (AED '000)

Close TAMWEEL Tamweel

2,775 / 2,293 DFM.DFM 543,863

Turnover (AED '000)

106

S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite

24-Mar-12

A Arabtec Holding

Abu Dhabi SE

32,275,893

A ALDAR Properties

24-Apr-12

5.5%

6.2%

Dubai Financial Market

4.6%

1.18

4.4%

Worst Performers

E Emaar Properties 24-Feb-12

0.39

0.46

Turnover (AED) 132,232,822 ADNH.ADS Abu Dhabi National Hotels 73,243,464 ARKAN.AD Arkan Building Materials Co. 62,015,909 AIRARABIA Air Arabia

TATamweel 95 24-Jan-12

12.3%

3.61

400,248,804

Highest Turnover 105

% Chg.

1.28

29,306,225

D Dubai Financial Market

CBD.DFM

Close

% Chg.

1.98

-9.6%

0.62

-1.9%

0.95

Commercial Bank of Dubai

2.71

ADIB.ADSM Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank

3.17

-5.0%

-1.5%

-0.6%

Dubai FM

Quotes Company Name

Close

A Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank

3.13

T Abu Dhabi National Energy Co.

1.35

A Air Arabia

0.62

A Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank

Daily % Chg.

High -

-

3.17

-0.6%

1.98

-9.6%

1.13

1.8%

1.17

3.61

6.2%

A Arkan Building Materials Co.

0.95

D Dana Gas

0.47

A Abu Dhabi National Hotels A ALDAR Properties A Amlak Finance

A Arabtec Holding A Aramex

C Commercial Bank of Dubai D Deyaar Development Co. D du

1.02 1.83

2.71 0.39

3.24

3.18

Low -

3.16

* Closing Prices, Turnover and Market Cap. in USD

4.9%

-18.9%

2,870,021

10.7

-32.7%

-10.0%

-32.7%

1,980,000

0.76

-31.5%

22.8%

-31.5%

4,616,196

3.61

3.36

132,233

37,328

3.63

1.24

-0.6%

127.0%

139.1%

-5.0%

0.96

0.93

384

404

1.68

0.71

-43.5%

-5.9%

2.2%

0.48

0.45

4,258

0.36

4,340

9,141

0.70

0.34

-32.9%

4.4%

3.17

21,339

-

1.1%

-1.5%

5.5%

2.2%

0.3%

-

-

1.84

2.71 0.39

3.30

-

1.80

2.71

-

3.30

8.76 9.20

-

-

-

3,618 7

29,306 1,390

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

258

0.90

1.1%

0.90

0.88

1.28

12.3%

1.30

1.12

73,243

0.46

4.6%

0.44

4,881

-

-

1.09

26,194

2.94

633

-

-

-

1.50

-37.6%

0.67

-27.3%

102.00

74.70

-

4.70

3.00

-

287

9.00 2.24

1.02

-10.7%

2.65

-

-

-15.4%

-11.8%

8.57 6.98

4.63

-16.3%

1.88

11.20 10.75

547

-6.6%

-16.9%

2,642 178

1,577

-

0.46

2.28

2.80

0.0%

0.68

23,024 1,629

-

3.00

692

3.63

1.42

0.20

8.62 9.10

1.94

0.7%

6,588

25,371

0.46

2.75

2.41

-

1.16

11,561

3.24

1.69

3.44

-

3.7%

3

1.96

-

18,999

-

1,973

-

62,016

-

-

3.20

8.60

3.95

2.02

1.65

91.45

U United Arab Bank

2.94

7,496,118

28,565

2.80

U Union Properties

1.1

-3.1%

32,276

2.90

3.00

12.9

0.3%

1.09

0.9% -0.3%

U Union National Bank

8,403,750

-18.9%

2.5%

T Tamweel

-14.6%

0.57

8.71 9.13

1.13

12.5%

0.76

2.89

S Sorouh Real Estate Co.

0.8

-10.7%

8,405

0

7.38

-10.3% -4.4% -4.0%

-11.8%

0.67

-25.2%

211

3.90

2.82

-23.1%

10,698 -

0.50 4.50

0.24

3.28

80.8% 12.1%

-43.5%

1,662,500

nmf

1.0

-32.9%

3,102,941

-2.7%

-5.1%

1,530,000 2,679,303

5,523,934

13.5

7.6

2.4

1.3 0.8

20,101,087

11.2

0.6

-15.8% 1.4%

68,862,479 27,390,000

11.8 7.4

1.8 1.0

15,462,089

18.8

4,961,000

17.7

22.4%

16,061,969

894,996

33,321,202

1.0%

3,104,000

32.9%

-25.2%

2,966,250

3.8%

-11.8%

7,486,875

8.5%

-21.0%

78.3%

nmf

0.4

-4.1%

1.8%

-7.1%

0.6

14,811,429

7,632,079

1.4

0.9

6.1

-1.2%

9,440,000

1.1

6.9

nmf

-25.9%

112.3%

12.7

2,224,530

53.5%

7.1%

nmf

18.8%

-23.9%

-14.1%

-12.2%

1.8

-1.7%

7.2%

0.5

21.2

-10.7%

6.0%

0.2

5,396,950

0.0%

3.6%

-0.9%

7.9

1.1

0.7

-16.9%

-9.9%

6.5

7.2

40.5%

-4.6% 18.2%

-13.4%

0.53

-1.9%

-22.2% -15.1%

1.51 1.49

1.7%

28.4%

23,170 59,507

0.0%

-4.1%

1.63

0.80

PB 5.8

5,199

1

Trailing PE

17,514,220

0.61

1.98

E Emirates NBD

S Sharjah Islamic Bank

2.92

Market Cap. (AED '000)

15.9%

0.62

1.98

2.00

N National Bank of Umm Al Qaiwain

3.55

12 mths

12.6%

-1.9%

2.02

4.51

132

YTD

-5.7%

-17.2%

0.0%

N National Bank of Fujairah

2.69

1.14

2.01

N National Bank of Abu Dhabi

3.32

1.63

D Dubai Islamic Bank

1.09

-

430

1.12

M Mashreq

on high

583

1.18

G Gulf Cement Co.

420

% Change

Low

1.35

4.4%

E Etisalat F First Gulf Bank

-

High

1.36

1.18

3.30

52-Week

Volume ('000)

0.0%

D Dubai Financial Market

E Emaar Properties

Turnover (AED '000)

-2.0%

3.4%

29.3% 11.9%

2,182,950

6.3

nmf

0.7

1.3

9.0

1.3

9.7

0.9

8.9

0.5

4.9

0.7

8.3

1,280,000

13.8

1,548,754

nmf

3,935,785

0.5

11.4

2.4

0.5

0.6

0.6

2.0

STOCKS WITH NBK CAPITAL

14

ALWATAN DAILY wednesday, april 25, 2012

QATAR Rebased Performance

Summary

Best Performers 8,664 (-0.3%)

DSM Index (% Chg.)

120

DSM 52 week High / Low

39% ERES.DSMEzdan Real Estate Co. 0.40 BRES.DSMBarwa Real Estate Co. 8,892 / 8,071 KCBK.DSMAl Khalij Commercial Bank

Market Cap. (QAR '000)

453,019,281

% of stocks trading above 1yr avg. price Advance/Decline Ratio

114

306,277

Turnover (QAR '000)

110

104

14,904,366

Q Qatar Gas Transport Co. 24-Mar-12

S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite

14,557,567

Q Qatar National Bank

24-Apr-12

0.6%

16.46

0.4%

77.50

MARK.DSMMasraf Al Rayan

0.3%

26.95

Turnover (QAR) 38,480,241 AHCS.DSMAamal Co. 23,181,611 VFQS.DSM Vodafone Qatar

MMasraf Al Rayan

24-Feb-12

0.7%

27.65

0.0%

Worst Performers

IQIndustries Qatar

90 24-Jan-12

% Chg.

19.15

QIBK.DSM Qatar Islamic Bank

Highest Turnover

100

Close

10,652,895

B Barwa Real Estate Co.

Close

% Chg.

16.80

CBQK.DSMThe Commercial Bank of Qatar

-2.7%

8.44

-1.2%

140.80

-0.8%

73.70

QEWS.DSMQatar Electricity & Water Co.

QIIK.DSM Qatar International Islamic Bank

-0.8%

51.10

-0.6%

Doha SM

Quotes Company Name A Aamal Co.

Close 16.80

Daily % Chg.

High

-2.7%

K Al Khalij Commercial Bank

16.46

C The Commercial Bank of Qatar

73.70

-0.8%

E Ezdan Real Estate Co.

19.15

0.7%

B Barwa Real Estate Co. D Doha Bank

27.65 59.60

0.4% 0.6%

-0.2%

Low

17.30 16.50

16.75

1,341

27.50

10,653

59.30

2,431

16.30

27.85 74.00

59.60

19.50

Turnover (QAR '000) 2,369

73.40

10,090

19.12

46

IQIndustries Qatar

144.80

-0.1%

145.70

143.60

38,480

Q Qatar Electricity & Water Co.

140.80

-0.8%

141.90

140.80

2,825

-0.6%

51.50

50.80

1,149

M Masraf Al Rayan

Q Qatar Gas Transport Co.

Q Qatar International Islamic Bank Q Qatar Islamic Bank

26.95

0.0%

16.47

-0.5%

77.50

0.3%

51.10

27.10 16.52

77.50

26.75

23,182

16.40

14,904

77.00

1,623

Q Qatar National Bank

133.60

-0.3%

134.10

133.60

14,558

Q Qatar Telecom

128.90

-0.4%

129.00

128.50

3,384

Q Qatar Navigation

69.40

V Vodafone Qatar

8.44

0.0%

-1.2%

70.00 8.55

69.20

2,336

8.36

7,066

52-Week

Volume ('000)

High

% Change

Low

on high

80

22.73

14.00

-26.1%

386

33.25

27.50

-16.8%

144

18.44

137

85.50

41 2

16.06

67.00

16.4%

12,319,189

-4.1%

-3.2%

15.5%

20,212,500

16.55

-11.6%

-5.9%

-10.2%

76.30

-9.1%

-8.1%

-1.9%

18,312,723

69.40

-20.7%

-9.3%

-16.0%

7,948,049

11.3

0.8

7.24

-8.5%

11.8%

6.4%

7,135,176

nmf

1.1

109

141.73

122.73

26

135.70

107.69

9.22

0.9

22.50

45.50

835

8.9

50,795,312

56.20

87.50

10,759,296

-18.1%

22

34

-14.7%

-13.7%

129.50

85.30

1.4

-23.3%

148.00

21

16.9

18.60

20

18.63

8,316,000

2.9%

118.80

906

PB

5.1%

-12.3%

148.50 28.10

Trailing PE

-13.8%

266

861

Market Cap. (QAR '000)

-10.7%

50.00

24.97

16.3%

12 mths

-4.1%

68.00

-10.7%

YTD

-11.0% -2.5%

-4.9%

-9.1%

-5.7%

-5.0%

-7.7%

-7.0%

8.9% 0.9%

-5.4% -3.3%

19.0%

5,925,600

12.1

18,236,798

-1.2%

-3.2%

6.1%

10.1%

9.6

1.9

nmf

1.8

14.4

2.4

10.3

14,080,000

10.3

3.3

4.7

11.1

4.7

12.8

1.7

7,734,943

11.6

93,483,853

12.0

22,686,400

1.4

9.7

79,640,000

9,121,811

8.6%

1.1

1.7 2.3

8.8

1.1

OMAN Rebased Performance

Summary

Best Performers 5,952 (-0.1%)

MSM Index (% Chg.)

120

42% OTEL.MSMOman Telecommunications Co.

% of stocks trading above 1yr avg. price

0.25

Advance/Decline Ratio

114

6,372 / 5,419

MSM 52 week High / Low

3,665

Turnover (OMR '000)

110

7,049,247

Market Cap (OMR '000)

BKDB.MSMBank Dhofar #N/A

#N/A

Close

% Chg.

1.29

0.3%

0.45

0.0%

#N/A

RNSS.MSMRenaissance Services

#N/A

0.64

OCOI.MSM Oman Cement Co.

-0.3%

0.62

-0.3%

106

Highest Turnover

100

Worst Performers Turnover (OMR) 337,746 BKMB.MSMBank Muscat 228,420 NBOB.MSMNational Bank of Oman

B Bank Muscat

O Oman Telecommunications Co.

153,350

O Oman Cement Co.

90 24-Jan-12

24-Feb-12

24-Mar-12

24-Apr-12

S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite

115,817

R Renaissance Services

98,267

N National Bank of Oman

Close

OCOI.MSM Oman Cement Co.

-0.5%

0.30

-0.3%

0.64

-0.3%

0.62

RNSS.MSMRenaissance Services #N/A

% Chg.

0.62

#N/A

-0.3%

#N/A

#N/A

Muscat SM

Quotes Company Name

Close

B Bank Dhofar

0.454

N National Bank of Oman

0.301

O Oman Telecommunications Co.

1.285

R Renaissance Services

0.643

B Bank Muscat

O Oman Cement Co.

R Raysut Cement Co.

Daily % Chg.

High

0.0%

0.453

0.452

-0.3%

0.302

0.300

0.622

-0.5%

0.624

-0.3%

1.070

Low

0.628 0.625

Turnover (OMR '000) 2

0.618

338

0.619

153

1.070

95

52-Week

Volume ('000)

High 3

543

98

Low

246

on high -17.3%

-0.2%

-17.0%

0.324

0.291

-7.1%

-3.5%

-2.0%

0.572

0.629

0.416

-8.4%

-0.8%

1.290

1.280

228

178

1.425

1.041

-9.8%

-0.3%

0.645

0.640

116

180

1.053

0.458

-38.9%

1.070

88

12 mths

0.423

0.3% 0.0%

YTD

0.549

0.679

327

% Change

1.112

0.711

-3.8%

-6.6%

44.4%

Market Cap. (OMR '000)

-7.7%

2.2

333,516

9.8

1.2

8.6

2.0

9.5

206,465

16.1

214,000

14.3

16.1%

963,750

18.0%

-38.1%

181,387

-2.5%

PB

12.5

-1.8%

40.8%

PE

499,453

1,117,606

5.4%

Trailing

1.3

1.4

2.1

nmf

1.1

BAHRAIN Rebased Performance

Summary

Best Performers 1,148 (-0.3%)

BSE Index (% Chg.)

120

Advance/Decline Ratio

114

Turnover (BHD '000)

6,491,628

Market Cap. (BHD '000)

Highest Turnover

101

100

Turnover (BHD) 27,325 UGB.BSE United Gulf Bank 19,024 BATELCO.BBahrain Telecommunications Co.

B Bahrain Telecommunications Co.

U United Gulf Bank 24-Feb-12 24-Mar-12 S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite

7,637

BISB.BSE

2,640

ITHMR.BSE Ithmaar Bank

4,688

A Ahli United Bank

24-Apr-12 Bahrain SE

United Gulf Bank

8.0%

0.62

1.6%

0.09

0.0%

0.46

-1.7%

0.26

-5.1%

Worst Performers

IT Ithmaar Bank

90 24-Jan-12

UGB.BSE

% Chg.

0.14

1,407 / 1,129 BISB.BSE Bahrain Islamic Bank 115 BATELCO.BBahrain Telecommunications Co.

BSE 52 week High / Low

110

Close

26% ITHMR.BSE Ithmaar Bank 1.00 AUB.BSE Ahli United Bank

% of stocks trading above 1 yr avg. price

B Bahrain Islamic Bank

AUB.BSE

Bahrain Islamic Bank

Ahli United Bank

Close

% Chg.

0.26

-5.1%

0.46

-1.7%

0.62

1.6%

0.09

0.14

0.0%

8.0%

Quotes Company Name

Close

A Ahli United Bank*

0.620

A Arab Banking Corp.*

0.420

B Albaraka Banking Grp.* B Bahrain Islamic Bank

B Bahrain Telecommunications Co. B BBK

IN Investcorp Bank* IT Ithmaar Bank*

N National Bank of Bahrain U United Gulf Bank

* Closing Prices, Turnover and Market Cap. in USD

0.930 0.088

Daily % Chg.

High

1.6% -

0.0%

0.464

-1.7%

797

-

0.400

-

0.620 -

Low 0.620 -

0.088

0.088

-

-

0.464 -

0.464

-

-

-

0.135

0.125

0.260

-5.1%

0.274

0.260

-

-

-

8.0% -

-

-

0.135

0.545

Turnover (BHD '000)

Volume ('000)

12 3

-

19 -

72 8

52-Week High

% Change

Low

20

0.680

0.599

30

0.116

0.530

0.420

41

1.063

0.488

-26.3%

1,306,200

0.082

-24.1%

-2.2%

-24.1%

0.380

0.135

0.065

29

0.424

0.260

0.600

3,244,804

-14.6%

797

0.545

-20.8%

0.0%

Market Cap. (BHD '000)

-6.3%

-0.4%

545 -

2.8%

12 mths

-12.5%

0.390

797

-8.8%

YTD

0.857

0.426

-

on high

nmf

0.8

340,542

10.6

0.0%

-30.0%

637,560

-5.2%

-7.6%

466,171

0.0%

107.7%

-38.7%

-13.3%

-9.2%

35.0%

-36.0%

1.3

82,691

0.0%

-6.1%

10.3

0.8

18.4% -3.4%

PB 8.0

-4.9%

-6.1%

-4.5%

943,462

Trailing PE

668,160

361,498

216,986

6.2 8.4

0.4

1.3

1.4

4.5

0.6

10.1

1.7

nmf

nmf

0.6 1.0

LIFE

Help prevent a pulled muscle

A pulled muscle, especially involving the thigh, is a common injury among runners and people who play basketball, hockey or football. And while the injury can’t always be prevented, there are factors that increase your risk. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons says you’re more likely to pull a muscle if: •You have tight muscles that haven’t been properly stretched or conditioned.

•You have muscles that work together, such as the quadriceps and hamstrings, but one muscle in the tandem is weaker than the other. This is known as muscle imbalance.

•You have a fatigued muscle that is no longer able to properly absorb energy when you run or play sports.

wednesDAY, april 25, 2012

Company aims to strike it rich by mining asteroids WASHINGTON: A group of high-tech tycoons wants to mine nearby asteroids, hoping to turn science fiction into real profits.

The mega-million dollar plan is to use commercially built robotic ships to squeeze rocket fuel and valuable minerals like platinum and gold out of the lifeless rocks that routinely whiz

by Earth. One of the company founders predicts they could have their version of a space-based gas station up and running by 2020. The inaugural step, to be achieved in the next 18 to 24 months, would be launching the first in a series of private telescopes that would search for rich asteroid targets.

Several scientists not involved in the project said they were simultaneously thrilled and skeptical, calling the plan daring, difficult - and highly expensive. They struggle to see how it could be cost-effective, even with platinum and gold worth nearly $1,600 an ounce. An upcoming NASA mission to return just 2 ounces (60 grams) of an asteroid to Earth will cost about $1 billion.

But the entrepreneurs announcing the project Tuesday in Seattle have a track record of making big money off ventures into space. Company founders Eric Anderson and Peter Diamandis pioneered the idea of selling rides into space to tourists and, Diamandis’ company offers “weightless” airplane flights.

Investors and advisers to the new company, Planetary Resources Inc. of Seattle, include Google CEO Larry Page and Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt and explorer and filmmaker James Cameron.

The mining, fuel processing and later refueling would all be done without humans, Anderson said. “It is the stuff of science fiction, but like in so many other areas of science fiction, it’s possible to begin the process of making them reality,” said former astronaut Thomas Jones, an adviser to the company.

The target-hunting telescopes would be tubes only a couple of feet long, weighing only a few dozen pounds and small enough to be held in your hand. They should cost less than $10 million, company officials said.

The idea that asteroids could be mined for resources has been around for years. Asteroids are the leftovers of a failed attempt to form a planet billions of years ago. Most of the remnants became the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, but some pieces were pushed out to roam the solar system.

Asteroids are made mostly of rock and metal and range from a couple of dozen feet wide to nearly 10 miles long. The

Why asteroid mining makes huge dollars, sense

This computer-generated image provided by Planetary Resources, a group of high-tech tycoons that wants to mine nearby asteroids, shows a conceptual rendering of satellites prospecting a water-rich, near-Earth asteroid. (AP)

new venture targets the free-flying asteroids, seeking to extract from them the rare Earth platinum metals that are used in batteries, electronics and medical devices, Diamandis said.

Water can be broken down in space to liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen for rocket fuel. Water is very expensive to get off the ground so the plan is to take it from an asteroid to a spot in space where it can be converted into fuel. From there, it can easily and cheaply be shipped to Earth orbit for refueling commercial satellites or spaceships from NASA and other countries.

In the past couple of years, NASA and other space agencies have shifted their attention from the moon and other planets toward asteroids. Because asteroids don’t have any substantial gravity, targeting them costs less fuel and money than going to the moon, Anderson said in a phone interview.

Chinese researchers eye anti-AIDS gel PARIS: Chinese researchers said Monday they have discovered an HIV-blocking agent that could be developed into a gel to limit the sexual transmission of AIDS. Scientists from Hong Kong University said joint research with Shanghai Targetdrug Co., Nanjing University and City University of Hong Kong had discovered a molecule that blocks HIV from entering human cells.

Zhiwei Chen, director of the AIDS Institute of the University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, said the potency of the TD-0680 molecule against sexually transmitted HIV was “encouraging”.

The new molecule could be developed into a microbicide gel to “prevent HIV sexual transmission” by killing off the virus as

it tries to enter the body.

This would give people, especially women, an “alternative method to protect themselves from the virus, in addition to condoms”, Chen said.

“The ideal solution is to develop an effective vaccine. Since such a vaccine remains elusive, we must explore other strategies such as topical microbicide,” he said.

The TD-0680 molecule is several times more potent than Maraviroc, a Pfizer-developed equivalent which has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for clinical treatment, the Chinese scientists said.

Unprotected sex accounts for more than 90 percent of AIDS infections in China, the researchers said in a statement. -AFP

Worm turns sheep clone to ‘good’ fat: China scientists

There are probably 1,500 asteroids that pass near Earth that would be good initial targets. They are at least 160 feet (50 meters) wide, and Anderson figures 10 percent of them have water and other valuable minerals. “A depot within a decade seems incredible. I hope there will be someone to use it,” said Andrew Cheng at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Lab, who was the chief scientist for a NASA mission to an asteroid a decade ago.

“And I have high hopes that commercial uses of space will become profitable beyond Earth orbit. Maybe the time has come.” Space experts said such a bold project has huge startup costs. Diamandis and Anderson would not disclose how much the project will cost overall. Diamandis said by building and launching quickly, the company will operate much cheaper than NASA. -AP

Measles deaths have plummeted over a decade: WHO LONDON: The number of measles deaths worldwide has apparently dropped by about three-quarters over a decade, according to a new study by the World Health Organization and others.

Most of the deaths were in India and Africa, where not enough children are being immunized.

Health officials estimate about 9.6 million children were saved from dying of measles from 2000 to 2010 after big vaccination campaigns were rolled out more than a decade ago. Researchers guessed the number of deaths fell during that time period from about 535,300 to 139,300, or about 74 percent.

But the figures come with a big grain of salt; scientists only had solid data for 65 countries. For the 128 others, they used modeling to come up with their estimates.

Despite the major dent, the progress fails to meet a WHO target to cut measles deaths by 90 percent by 2010.

“This is still a huge success,” said Peter Strebel, a measles expert at WHO and one of the

authors of the study. “You don’t reduce measles deaths by three quarters without significantly accelerating efforts.”

He noted that the global 85 percent vaccination coverage rate was the highest ever recorded.

The study was paid for by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and was published Tuesday in the journal, Lancet.

Measles is one of the most infectious diseases that exists and mostly affects children. It causes a fever, cough and a rash all over the body. The disease kills about one to two children for every 1,000 it infects and can also cause pregnant women to have a miscarriage or premature birth.

Past progress in reducing measles has led some health officials to consider whether they can eradicate it. Smallpox is the only human disease to have been wiped out.

Other initiatives to rid the world of diseases including polio and guinea worm remain largely stalled.

“I am cautious about adopting too many eradication campaigns at once,” said Nancy Leys Stepan, author of a book on disease eradication

Arctic marine mammals and fish populations on the rise

FILE - Peng Peng, a cloned sheep, is seen at a farm in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region March 26, 2012. (Reuters)

HONG KONG: Chinese scientists have cloned a genetically modified sheep containing a “good” type of fat found naturally in nuts, seeds, fish and leafy greens that helps reduce the risk of heart attacks and cardiovascular disease. “Peng Peng”, which has a roundworm fat gene, weighed in at 5.74 kg when it was born on March 26 in a laboratory in China’s far western region of Xinjiang. “It’s growing very well and is very healthy like a normal sheep,” lead scientist Du Yutao at the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) in Shenzhen in southern China told Reuters.

Du and colleagues inserted the gene that is linked to the production of polyunsaturated fatty acids into a donor cell taken from the ear of a Chinese Merino sheep.

The cell was then inserted into an unfertilized egg and implanted into the womb of a surrogate sheep. “The gene was originally from the C. elegans (roundworm) which has been shown (in previous studies) to increase unsaturated fatty acids which is very good for human health,” Du said.

China, which has to feed 22 percent of the world’s population but has only 7 percent of the world’s arable land, has de-

voted plenty of resources in recent years to increasing domestic production of grains, meat and other food products. But there are concerns about the safety of genetically modified foods and it will be some years before meat from such transgenic animals finds its way into Chinese food markets.

“The Chinese government encourages transgenic projects but we need to have better methods and results to prove that transgenic plants and animals are harmless and safe for consumption, that is crucial,” Du said. Apart from BGI, other collaborators in the project were the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Shihezi University in Xinjiang.

The United States is a world leader in producing GM crops. Its Food and Drug Administration has already approved the sale of food from clones and their offspring, saying the products were indistinguishable from those of non-cloned animals.

US biotech firm AquaBounty’s patented genetically modified Atlantic salmon are widely billed as growing at double the speed and could be approved by US regulators as early as this summer. -Reuters

Nobody knows exactly how much asteroid wealth exists, but early estimates point to riches beyond Earth’s wildest dreams. Just the mineral wealth of the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter could be equivalent to about $100 billion for every person on Earth, according to “Mining the Sky: Untold Riches from the Asteroid, Comets, and Planets” (Addison-Wesley, 1996) perhaps slightly less now after accounting for the Earth’s population growth over the past 15 years.

“The near-Earth asteroid population could easily support 10 to 40 times the population of Earth, with all the necessary resources to do that,” said John Lewis, a professor emeritus at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory of the University of Arizona and author of “Mining the Sky.” Even smaller space rocks can have mineral prizes worth tens of trillions of dollars.

The smallest known metallic asteroid that is an accessible near-Earth object has 40 times as much metal as all the metal in Earth’s history, Lewis pointed out. He has joined Planetary Resources as perhaps the most recognized expert on asteroid wealth.

An M-class asteroid about 79-feet (24meter) long could have as much as 33,000 tons of extractable metal and possibly one ton of platinum group metals. The platinum alone could be easily worth about $50 million dollars in Earth’s commodity markets.

PARIS: Arctic marine mammals and fish populations are on the rise, according to a report released on Monday by the Arctic Council’s biodiversity working group at a Montreal conference. In fact fish populations have risen dramatically, according to the findings of the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program, the Zoological Society of London, and the World Wildlife Fund. The three organizations collaborated on the analysis, looking at 890 populations of 323 species of Arctic vertebrates.

The Arctic wildlife population changes, they said in a statement, are linked to “Arctic climate oscillations and changes in commercial harvest” in neighboring waters. The report identified that fish living close to the surface of the water as opposed to near the ocean bottom were most susceptible to climate change, including such commercially important species as Pacific herring, ocean

perch and Arctic cisco. Some mammals were found to be recovering from exploitation, but rising populations of gray whales, bowhead whales and Greenlandic walruses have not returned to historical levels.

Sea ice species ringed seal, beluga whale, and thick-billed guillemot, meanwhile, have declined. As well, marine birds continued a slow and steady decline that started in the late 20th century. The report said this “may be related to changes in climate, sea ice and food availability” and may be the beginning of a longer-term decline.

The effects of Arctic warming also were not restricted to the far north. The Atlantic Ocean is experiencing a decline in vertebrates thought to be driven by Arctic climate shifts, as well as commercial fishing. In contrast, the Pacific Ocean has experienced a dramatic increase in vertebrates, amid warmer sea temperatures. -AFP

Swiss scientists demonstrate mind controlled robot LAUSANNE, Switzerland: Swiss scientists have demonstrated how a partially paralyzed person can control a robot using brain signals alone. The team at Switzerland’s Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne says the experiment takes them a step closer to enabling immobile patients to easily interact with their surroundings through a robot ‘avatar.’

Tuesday’s demonstration involved a

partially tetraplegic patient at a hospital in the southern Swiss town of Sion who imagined lifting his fingers to direct a robot at the university 100 kilometers (62 miles) away.

Similar experiments have taken place in the United States and Germany but they either involved able-bodied patients or invasive brain implants, while the Swiss team used only a simple head cap to record the brain signals. -AP

and a professor at Columbia University. She was not linked to the study.

Stepan said problems like getting good data and the challenges of eradication make it more reasonable to stick to deadlines for reducing measles rather than trying to eliminate it.

In recent years, the disease has surged in Europe - the number of people infected since 2007 has tripled. Doctors say measles cases are rebounding in Europe because people don’t realize how serious the disease is and are skeptical of the vaccine.

The first measles shot was licensed in the US in 1963 and is now widely included in routine childhood immunization programs in developed countries. Last year was the worst year for measles in the US in 15 years, with 222 cases - mostly imported by foreign visitors or by US residents infected overseas.

Daniel Berman, a vaccines expert at Medecins Sans Frontieres, noted there has been a massive increase in measles across Africa in the last two years, largely because of backsliding on immunization campaigns and declining funds. -AP

German scientists unveil ‘intelligent’ tire for all weather

PARIS: Are you fed up of having to change your summer tires for winter tires at the first sign of snow?

Or of being caught out on a long car journey by sudden changes in the weather?

That may soon be a thing of the past, according to a group of researchers at Leipzig university, who are developing the world’s first-ever “intelligent” tire which automatically adapts itself to the prevailing weather conditions even while you are driving.

A team of researchers headed by Detlef Riemer at the University of Applied Sciences in Leipzig unveiled the “adaptive tire” at this year’s Hanover Fair, the world’s biggest industrial fair taking place in the north German city this week.

“Today’s choice of tires are always a compromise between the ability to brake and petrol consumption,” Riemer said. “The car driver has to take into consideration every sort of weather condition and you can’t change tires while you’re driving.” But Riemer’s “adaptive tire” is equipped with electronic sensors which recognize different sorts of terrain – whether motorway or un-tarmacked roads – and whether it’s dry, raining or snowing.

And accordingly, the tires’ profiles are automatically raised or widened accordingly, even when the car is in motion. “That means your car is always equipped with the best possible tire and noise and petrol consumption are automatically optimized, too,” Riemer enthused. “The driver no longer has to think about adapting their tires. The tire itself ‘thinks’ too.” The tire is still a long way from a finished product and research is still ongoing, notably on the materials that can be used for the moveable parts of the tire’s profiles.

“But we’ve patented it already, just in case,” Riemer said. -AFP

16

ALWATAN DAILY

CULTURE

wednesDAY, april 25, 2012

Lalique beauty center launches private label ‘Lalique Magic’ at Missoni hotel

Some photographs from the event.

KUWAIT: Lalique beauty center launched its private label ‘Lalique Magic’ for hair treatment at a glitzy event held at Hotel Missoni.

The event was sponsored by Sheikha Dr. Fariha Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, represented

by Sheikh, the poet Duaij Khalifa Al-Sabah, and in the presence of specialists, personalities and prominent Kuwaiti women.

The ceremony, presented by the Lebanese anchor Malak Najem, started with a special report about Lalique’s achievements. Since its inception in 1999 and the experiences collected in the hair, skin and body treatments, through owning exclusive use of worldwide products in Kuwait, leading up to its creation in conjunction with Nano Keratin global company to create ‘Lalique Magic’ the magical solution for hair loss, and other hair problems, making it straight and silky.

About the product, Sundos Al-Maser, the Executive Director of Lalique Centre explained the steps that the center went through before reaching this achievement, promising her clients with further innovation, to provide the Kuwaiti women with the best and the latest treatments ever, to preserve their beauty and glow.

She added: Our concern is: “The safety of women first and her beauty second”.

She said that the center is very keen on the quality and safety of products used, noting that ‘Lalique Magic’ product does not contain the chemical substance formaldehyde, which may cause significant damage to human health if used in certain ratios”. Danny Mustafa, the agent of Nano Keratin Company in the Middle East, pre-

sented a detailed presentation about the product, pointing to the partnership that brought it into reality. He stressed that the mutual trust between the two companies, led to the success of this product. Danny drew, that “ Nano Keratin laboratories in UK, conducted in-depth studies and laboratory tests on this product before launching it,” asserting that “the center’s aim is to be a leader in the beauty field, and to provide Kuwaiti women always with new, developed and modern products.”

The ceremony included another surprise, where the Center announced winning the “ISO” certificate for quality from “Bureau Veritas” in France as the first beauty center in the Middle East.

The consultant for quality management Dr. Rami Chidiac, attended specifically from Lebanon to celebrate the event, and presented a brief explanation about the meaning of “ISO”, saying that Lalique center deserved this certificate due to the well qualified services it presents to the clients. Then, Sondos Al- Maser received the certificate from Chidiac.

After a luxurious dinner enjoyed by the audience, the ceremony concluded with a draw for ten valuable awards presented by Lalique center.

The first prize value was equal to 1100 KD. At the end, Lalique beauty center thanked Sheikha Fariha Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and Sheikh Duaij Khalifa Al-Sabah, and the attendance, in addition to the staff and “Media Gate” company who helped in organizing the ceremony.

‘We care for the safety of women first and her beauty second’

Onilda Fernandes Staff Writer

KUWAIT: In an exclusive interview with Al Watan Daily, the CEO of Lalique Center, Sundos Al- Mazer talks about the brand that has been in service since 1999.

What makes Lalique Beauty Center unique?

Al-Mazer: Lalique is “unique” because it is not merely a makeup brand. First, it is a beauty centre that cares for treatments regarding the hair, body and face.

It creates its own treatments and this is not familiar in Kuwait.

Our “lalique magic” is a private label that we launched yesterday at Missoni hotel. This is due to the hard work and long experience in this field. Our centre has been established since 1999, and thus we have made a very long leap since then.

What has the response been towards Lalique beauty centre in Kuwait?

Al-Mazer: Lalique succeeded to mark its name in the Kuwaiti market since its establishment, and now we have won the “ISO” certificate which is a new clue for our new, healthy and special services. The Kuwaiti markets know Lalique very well and many companies are looking forward to work with us. Lalique is well known

‘Heritage is record of national history, national identity’: Al-Youha KUWAIT: The National Council for Culture Arts and Letters (NCCAL) General Secretary Ali Al-Youha on Monday stressed on the importance of heritage, as a record to the nations’ history and national identity, as well as a reflector of intellectual and artistic talent to any society. This came during the opening ceremony of the Gulf Heritage Forum, which honored Kuwaiti singer Abdulhameed AlSayyed, which is organized by NCCAL and sponsored by the Minister of Information Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah.

Al-Youha explained that heritage was an indication to the past, in all its social, cultural, religious, and civilized dimensions, which makes it worth caring about, in order to affirm the link between past and present.

He added that the five-day forum would include musical events, which would reflect the other beautiful aspects of authentic traditional music of GCC countries, pointing out that elite Kuwaiti musicians and singers will be joining their brothers from Gulf countries for tasteful and enjoyable evenings of traditional music and popular folklore art, which are known for their richness of rhythms, mel-

The National Council for Culture Arts and Letters (NCCAL) General Secretary Ali Al-Youha honoring the Kuwaiti singer Abdulhameed Al-Sayyed. (KUNA)

odies, and songs that shaped in their verities some of the most distinctive works that are still to this day alive in people’s sentiments. Moreover, Al-Youha noted that the forum embodies the attention of ministers responsible for cultural affairs

in GCC countries, which resulted in a resolution during their 17th meeting last October in UAE on holding joint cultural activities between 2012 and 2016 that included holding the Gulf Heritage Forum here in Kuwait. -KUNA

Immigration crucial in baby-scarce Singapore FRANCE: Singapore’s population will start to shrink by 2025 if no new citizenships are granted to immigrants and the fertility rate remains low, a government paper said on Tuesday.

The paper said that without immigration and if the fertility rate remains at 1.2 babies born per woman -- among the lowest in Asia -- deaths among the ageing population will outstrip births by 2025.

“At that point, our citizen population will start to decline,” said the paper released by the National Population and Talent Division, which is under the prime minister’s office.

Singapore’s total fertility rate (TFR) is well below the 2.1 babies per woman needed for the population to replenish itself naturally.

A shrinking population will also impact on the labor situation, said the paper, which is aimed at generating public discussion on the issue.

By 2030, “Singapore will experience an unprecedented age shift as over 900,000 baby boomers will retire from

the work force and enter their silver years”, the paper said.

The addition of new citizens is vital to ensuring an adequate number of working adults to support the elderly, it added.

“An inflow of 25,000 new citizens per year would keep the size of our workingage citizen population relatively stable,” the paper said.

The number suggested is a 33 percent jump from the 18,758 new citizens accepted in 2010.

Singapore had a total population of 5.2 million in 2011, comprised of 3.26 million citizens and 532,000 permanent residents. The rest -- over one million -are foreign workers on employment passes and their families.

The government’s more open immigration policy was a hot issue during last year’s general elections in which the ruling People’s Action Party suffered its worst setback in the polls, winning an alltime low of 60 percent of the vote.

Singaporeans complain that the high number of foreign workers is giving them

competition for jobs, housing, medical care and even for space on the train.

The government has tightened the hiring of foreign workers and sharpened the difference in benefits between permanent residents and citizens in a bid to appease public sentiment.

But the paper said immigration remains crucial to Singapore’s long term survival.

If the fertility rate stays and no immigrants are granted citizenship, the citizen population could fall to around 2.5 million by 2060, said the paper, which set out five hypothetical population scenarios.

It cited 2012 as a “demographic turning point”, as the country’s first cohort of post-war baby boomers born between 1947 and 1965 start turning 65 years old.

The paper said the scenarios it drew were not predictions or forecasts, but illustrations of the growth and change expected if certain assumptions about future demographic trends continue over a certain period. -AFP

abroad also, and we have clients from KSA, Qatar, Lebanon and many other Arab countries as well as, global places like the UK in which we developed our “Lalique magic”, which is a hair treatment, in corporation with a Nano Keratin Company.

What can we expect from Lalique beauty centre in the future?

Al-Mazer: As we said at the event, Lalique promises her clients with much more best of the best products! We seek to provide the Kuwaiti women with the most effective hair, body and face treatments and at the same time we care for her health. We never ever use un-tested formulas and cosmetics .We work with free chemical products and this is the thing that makes us different.

What is it about the beauty industry that inspired you to become a part of it all?

Al-Mazer: First of all, I didn’t plan to work in this major at all, but I couldn’t go so far away from beauty. As a Kuwaiti woman, I felt the responsibility to provide the gulf women with better cosmetics, treatments and products that fits their hair types and suits their skin, so that’s why I made this “u turn” in my life and I started at this company as the CEO of Lalique and I am still one. Lots of achievements have been met ever since, and we are looking to a bright future too.

Sanctions pull rug from under Persian carpet trade

HAMBURG: Business could not get much worse for the Persian carpet dealers who over the past half-century have turned Hamburg’s historic red-brick warehouses into an unlikely centre of the global Oriental rug trade.

US sanctions forbidding the import of Iranian-made carpets into the United States, even from third countries, have deprived the rug sellers of one of their largest markets at a time when sales are already depressed.

New sanctions on payments to and from Iran have only made life harder. Exquisite hand-knotted carpets with intricate patterns that traders once hoped to sell to hotel chains, embassies or mansion-owners, are now stacked high in dimly-lit storerooms where the smell of wool hangs heavy in the air, their magnificent colors hidden from view. “You will find more carpets here in Hamburg than in all the bazaars of Tehran,” said Monireh Nobari, whose father left the Iranian capital in 1954 to set up the carpet business in Germany she now co-runs with her brother. “A few decades ago there were 300 carpet traders here importing from Iran. Now there are just 45.

We’ve lived through crises in the past, but we don’t see how things can continue.”

Her firm does little more than buy to order now that sanctions have been tightened by Western countries that say Iran is developing the capability to make atomic weapons. Tehran says its nuclear program is purely peaceful. A few yards from Nobari’s carpet business is that of Mir Sadegh Heydarinami, originally from Tabriz.

He says the last few months are the worst he has ever experienced. The mood is the same elsewhere in the long alleys of turreted warehouses in this North Sea port where Iranian names on the door bells provide the only clue of what lies inside.

The rise of cheap competition from China has taken its toll on the Hamburg-based rug trade, as has the modern taste for simple floor coverings from Ikea in place of handcrafted pieces from Isfahan.

Washington has banned Persian carpets as part of sanctions against Iran in the past, but a goodwill gesture by the Clinton Administration in 2000 allowed imports of Iranian rugs, pistachios, caviar, and dried fruit.

The rug loophole was closed in September 2010 in a move carpet dealers say hurt rural women in poor communities who knot carpets, not the Iranian government.

The carpet trade is an important pillar of Iran’s economy. Carpets rank just behind hydrocarbons and their

derivatives, and pistachio nuts, as Iran’s biggest exports.

Tehran exported around $600 million worth of carpets in the calendar year from March 2011 and aims to export up to $1 billion in the year starting March 2012, largely by increasing sales to China and the United Arab Emirates, Iran’s Mehr news agency reported.

Before the embargo hit, the United States imported around $41 million of Persian carpets, according to the US Oriental rug importers’ association.

For the Hamburg dealers the embargo is a heavy blow. The United States accounted for around 15 percent of exports. They survived embargoes before 2000 largely because then, unlike now, trade elsewhere remained strong. Hamburg developed as a carpet centre after World War Two, when its free port regulations allowed businesses to store goods without paying import duty. Germany’s post-war boom saw Persian carpets became an exotic must-have for the affluent, attracting scores of carpet dealers from Iran.

They and their families form the backbone of what they say is Europe’s second largest Iranian diaspora after London. Members of the community in Hamburg overwhelmingly oppose the politics of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Mohammad Reza Nobari, Monireh’s brother, says this also makes it almost impossible to send special dyes to Iran to be used in carpet production, because producers can’t pay.

The Hamburg-based German-Iran Chamber of Commerce said the sanctions imposed by the United Nations, the United States and European Union against Tehran were illogical and ill-conceived.

“There seems to be very little co-ordination or strategy behind the sanctions. We are also seeing that EU sanctions are interpreted slightly differently in each member state,” said Michael Tockuss, business manager of the chamber.

The SWIFT ban has left German companies unable to claim payment for almost 1.5 billion Euros worth of legal business from Iran, he said.

Hamburg’s Iranian community is closely following a renewed round of talks between Iran and the world’s major powers, including Germany, anxious for any sign ties might improve.

“Things are getting worse and worse every day,” said Mohammad Reza Nobari. “The sanctions are hitting the wrong people.” -Reuters

Persian carpets are pictured in a showroom of an Iranian seller in the famous historical district “Speicherstadt” (warehouse depot) in Hamburg, April 17, 2012.

(Reuters)

ALWATAN DAILY

entertainment Song Of The Day

Fahad AlSabah Staff Writer

Song: Who’s Thinking About You Now? Artist: Jason Mraz Album: Love Is A Four Letter Word Genre: Pop/Alternative In short: Love Is A Four Letter Word is Jason Mraz’s first studio album in four years, since 2008’s We Sing. We Dance.

We Steal Things.; preceded by “I Won’t Give Up”, the album has had a very good start at the charts as it is standing still atop iTunes Top Albums charts, unruffled. “Who’s Thinking About You Now?” finds Mraz in his comfort zone with and an acoustic guitar and his heart on his sleeve, singing: “Who’s thinking about you now? / If you were building a wall / Who would tear it all down and pull you through? / Who’s thinking about you? Who’d care enough to send you flowers? / That you could call at all hours? / And give your love to?”

To listen to the song visit www.alwatandaily.com E-mail your feedback to falsabah@alwatandaily.com

The Buzz Noah Wyle arrested at protest in Washington Actor Noah Wyle was arrested at a healthcare protest in Washington, D.C. on Monday, following in the footsteps of his former “ER” co-star George Clooney, who also taken into police custody at a recent political rally.Wyle, 40, best known for his roles in television dramas “ER” and “Falling Skies,” took part in a protest with grassroots organization ADAPT seeking to stop cuts in funding for Medicaid that would affect medical services for the elderly. “Today, I took part in an effort by Adapt to bring attention to the Medicaid cuts that have been made by many States and are threatened to be made on a Federal level ... This issue is about Civil Rights not about medicine,” Wyle said in a statement released through is representatives. -Reuters

Sinead O’Connor cancels tour, says she is ‘unwell’ Sinead O’Connor says she is canceling her 2012 tour due to her bipolar disorder. The singer made the announcement Monday in a posting on her website. She wrote that she is “very unwell” and had been advised by her doctor to not hit the road after her “very serious breakdown between December and March.” In December, O’Connor announced her split from therapist Barry Herridge after 16 days of marriage. -AP

Bieber helps make Call Me Maybe a big success Carly Rae Jepsen says she had a shock when she saw Justin Bieber singing along to her song, “Call Me Maybe.” The 26year-old Canadian singer was talking to her mother on the phone when his YouTube parody popped up online. Jepsen initially thought it was just a bunch of fans lip-synching to her track. She says: “I was like, ‘That guy looks like Justin Bieber and that girl looks like Selena Gomez’ and by the time Ashley Tisdale came on I was like ‘Mom, I got to go’ and I had a little freak-out.” The video has now clocked nearly 35 million views on YouTube. Bieber’s support has helped the song hit the iTunes top 5 and take No. 1 spots in the UK, Canada and Australia. -AP

Russell Brand urges love, compassion for addicts Comedian Russell Brand says “love and compassion” are the key to weaning addicts off drugs. Brand testified to a parliamentary committee on Tuesday about his own experience of addiction, and said society should not “discard people, write them off on methadone and leave them on the sidelines.”

During a 30-minute appearance, Brand said he believed drugs should be legalized. He said: “I’m not a legal expert.

I’m saying that, to a drug addict, the legal aspect is irrelevant.

If you need to get drugs, you will. The criminal and legal status, I think, sends the wrong message. Being arrested isn’t a lesson, it’s just an administrative blip.” -AP

wednesDAY, april 25, 2012

Evidence now focus after Jennifer Hudson testifies CHICAGO: Chicago prosecutors created a buzz by calling Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson as their first witness during the trial of the man accused of killing her mother, brother and nephew. But the hard part starts Tuesday, when they’ll have to get down to the nittygritty of their case.

With no surviving witnesses to the murders, prosecutors must offer overwhelming circumstantial evidence that William Balfour, the ex-husband of Hudson’s sister, committed the grisly crime on Oct. 24, 2008. They are expected to introduce evidence in the next few days that includes cellphone records and security-camera footage that place Balfour in the area of the killings, since he denies he was there.

Another challenge will be tying Balfour to the alleged murder weapon, a silver and black .45-calibre handgun that sat Monday on a stack of papers at the prosecution table in plain view of jurors and Hudson, who testified - and attracted a large crowd of national and local media - earlier in the day.

Public defender Amy Thompson told jurors during her opening statement that DNA found on the gun didn’t match Balfour, which “absolutely, positively” excludes him as the killer. But prosecutors claim that Balfour targeted the family in a horrific act of vindictiveness against his ex-wife.

Shortly after Thompson and prosecutors laid out their cases, Jennifer Hudson took the witness stand in sometimes tearful, gutwrenching testimony. Wearing a simple, allblack dress, the singer-actress broke down at one point, dabbing tears as she testified just yards away from Balfour.

The “American Idol” finalist and Oscar winner, who was in Florida at the time of the shootings, spoke of her family and her reaction to her sister, Julia Hudson, telling her in 2006 that she was marrying Balfour.

In this courtroom sketch, singer and actress Jennifer Hudson testifies Monday, April 23, 2012, in Chicago at the murder trial of William Balfour, charged in the October 2008 killings of her mother, brother and nephew. (AP)

“None of us wanted her to marry him,” the 30-year-old said, her voice cracking as she struggled to hold back tears. Asked later if she was ever friends with Balfour, whom she knew from junior high school, Hudson answered with disgust. “Never,” she said firmly. “I tried to keep my distance from William Balfour.”

With her hair up in a bun, Hudson at first seemed composed on the stand - even as she leaned around the judge’s bench to identify Balfour. But she began crying when talking about seeing her family for the last time the Sunday before the killings.

After just more than 30 minutes, she stepped down, grabbed a fistful of tissues and walked across the courtroom directly in front of jurors. She took a seat next to her fiance, David Otunga, best known for his stint on VH1’s reality show “I Love New York.”

Sitting on a fourth-row bench, she bowed her head and wiped away tears after prosecutors called her sister to the stand and began playing a recording of the 911 call Julia Hudson made after discovering their mother’s bloodied body.

“Oh my God, oh my God,” she is heard yelling at a dispatcher, who tells her to stop

Cuban actors missing en route to US film festival LONDON: Two Cuban actors starring in a film about defecting to the United States have gone missing while en route to a New York festival where they were due to appear at the movie’s US premiere last week, a spokeswoman for the event said on Monday.

Actress Anailin de la Rua de la Torre and actor Javier Nunez Florian, cast members of “Una Noche” (“One Night”), failed to appear at the Tribeca Film Festival debut on Thursday, prompting reports that the two may have defected -- a case of real life imitating art.

“Only Dariel Arrechada attended the Tribeca Film Festival premiere screening of Una Noche on Thursday, April 19. We have not had any contact with Anailin de la Rua de la Torre or with Javier Nunez Florian,” a spokeswoman for the New York City event said in a statement.

“Una Noche,” directed by New York Univer-

Lohan comeback forges ahead with Liz Taylor role LOS ANGELES: Lindsay Lohan is set to play iconic screen legend Elizabeth Taylor in a new TV movie, Lifetime Television said on Monday, confirming what Lohan has claimed for weeks as she forges ahead with her comeback from legal and personal troubles.

Lohan, 25, is the first name to be announced for Lifetime’s original movie “Liz & Dick,” based on the true story of Taylor’s passionate romance with actor Richard Burton, whom she married twice throughout her life.

“I have always admired and had enormous respect for Elizabeth Taylor. She was not only an incredible actress but an amazing woman as well,” Lohan said in a statement, adding that she was “honored” to play the icon.

screaming because he can’t understand her.

“My momma, my momma!”

Balfour, who pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, slumped in his chair and kept his eyes fixed on his former wife, whose divorce from Balfour was finalized just last year.

Julia Hudson described how Balfour repeatedly threatened her and her family after she rejected his pleas in May 2008. “He said, ‘If you leave me, you will be the last to die.

I’ll kill your family first,’” she said, her voice quivering.

Under cross-examination, she acknowledged she was still having sex with Balfour days before the slayings.

The killings happened the day after her birthday. Prosecutors believe that Balfour became enraged by balloons he saw at the home that he thought were from her new boyfriend.

Thompson suggested during her opening that the killings may have been a result of alleged drug dealing by Hudson’s brother, Jason Hudson, in the crime-ridden South Side neighborhood where they lived in Chicago.

She claimed that police pinned the slayings on Balfour because they felt pressured to make an arrest, since the victims were a celebrity’s relatives.

Prosecutors said Balfour went inside the three-story house around 9 a.m. and shot Hudson’s mother, 57-year-old Darnell Donerson, in the living room, then shot her 29year-old brother, Jason Hudson, twice in the head as he lay in bed.

Investigators allege he then drove off in Jason Hudson’s sport utility vehicle with 7-year-old Julian inside, and later shot the boy in the head as he lay behind a front seat.

If convicted of at least two of the murder counts, Balfour would face a mandatory life sentence. -AP

Angelina Jolie visits Ecuador as UN envoy

sity film school graduate Lucy Mulloy, follows the journey of three Cuban teenagers trying to escape the poverty of their homeland to start a new life in Miami.

Havana-based producer Sandy Perez Aguila told the Los Angeles Times on Monday that he last saw the pair of missing actors at Miami’s airport during a layover as they were all traveling to New York.

He told Miami police they were missing, but police said he would have to wait 24 hours to file a report. Upon reaching New York,Aguila opened the pair’s suitcases and they were empty.

“It was very strange,” Aguila told the Los Angeles Times.

“We had no conversation on the plane from Havana or at any other time. They were just excited to come to New York for the premiere.”

-Reuters

Taylor, widely recognized for beauty and glamour, met Burton on the set of the 1963 film “Cleopatra,” and thus began a passionate and tumultuous romance that made headlines worldwide as they married and divorced twice over the years.

Lohan had talked about her role in the TV movie last month in an interview, and she posted a picture of herself dressed as Taylor as her Twitter profile. But there had been no official confirmation from the network until Monday.

The “Mean Girls” actress has been striving to turn around her bad girl image in recent months after being in and out of jail, rehab and court since 2007. -Reuters

Comedian, actor Kevin Hart to perform at Essence

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Special Envoy Angelina Jolie (center) meets with 71-year-old Gerardina in the village of Barranca Bermeja, on the banks of the San Miguel River which marks the border between Ecuador and Colombia April 22, 2012. (Reuters)

QUITO, Ecuador: Actress Angelina Jolie visited Ecuador over the weekend in her first such trip as special envoy for the UN refugee agency.

Jolie has visited various countries over the past decade as a goodwill ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The agency said in a statement Monday that it was her first trip as special envoy since her appointment earlier this month.

The agency said Jolie was on her third trip to Ecuador to assess the situation of thousands of refugees who have fled violence in neighboring Colombia. She pre-

viously visited the country in 2002 and 2010.

During a two-day visit, Jolie met with impoverished Colombian refugees in northern Sucumbios province and talked with Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino.

“I really encourage the government to continue their tradition of assistance to vulnerable families in need,” Jolie said, according to the UN agency’s statement.

There are currently about 56,000 Colombian refugees living in Ecuador, plus thousands of others who are seeking asylum. -AP

Underwood, Miranda Lambert lead CMT nominations

Comedian and actor Kevin Hart has been added to the main stage lineup for the 2012 Essence Music Festival in New Orleans. Organizers say Hart, hot on the heels of his starring role in last weekend’s No. 1 film, “Think Like a Man,” will debut his comedic talents during the festival scheduled for July 6-8 at the Superdome. Hart joins a lineup that includes Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige, Charlie Wilson, Ledisi, Fantasia, and Eve. The festival drew more than 422,000 attendees last year.

Essence Fest began as a one-time event celebrating the 25th anniversary of Essence magazine. The festival is organized by Essence Communications Inc., a media company with a presence in publishing, live events and online services. -AP

Ryan Seacrest to stay on American Idol “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest will remain on the top-rated US TV singing contest, the Fox television network said on Monday, ending speculation the popular personality might jump to a new show. Seacrest has hosted “Idol” for 11 seasons and seen contestants such as Kelly Clarkson go on to singing stardom, Jennifer Hudson win an Oscar and Adam Lambert court controversy with his glam style. “It’s been a wild ride, and I’m excited for my journey with ‘American Idol’ to continue,” Seacrest said in a statement. -Reuters

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FILE - These two file photos show US actress Lindsay Lohan (left) following a press conference on the movie “Bobby” for competition in the 63rd Venice Film Festival at the Lido in Venice, Italy on September 5, 2006, and US actress Elizabeth Taylor (right) during a gala at the Paradis Latin organized for the fight against AIDS on November 11, 1985 in Paris. (AFP)

NASHVILLE: With Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert and Taylor Swift atop the list, look no further than the CMT Music Awards nominations for proof country music’s new favorite color is blonde.

Underwood earned five nominations, Lambert has four as a solo artist and as part of her trio Pistol Annies, and Swift led a contingent of stars earning three nominations apiece for the 11th annual video awards show. Nominations were announced Monday morning on the “Today” show.

Other artists with three nominations include Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Rascal Flatts, Blake Shelton, Thompson Square and The Civil Wars.

Underwood’s “Good Girl” and her “Remind Me” collaboration with Brad Paisley, Lambert’s “Over You” and Swift’s collaboration with The Civil Wars on “The Hunger Games” soundtrack entry “Safe & Sound” are among the 10 nominees for top honor video of the year. Underwood also is up for female video, CMT performance and collaborative video of the year.

Lambert is up for female video as a solo artist and for group video and breakthrough video for “Hell on Heels” with her friends Angaleena Presley and Ashley Monroe in Pistol Annies.

Fan voting for the awards begins Monday on the network’s website and runs through June 4. The show will air live June 6 from Nasvhille. -AP

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ALWATAN DAILY

AROUND TOWN / TIME OUT

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012

If you have an event you wish to include, please email: aroundtown@alwatandaily.com

Feature o f

graffiti

the day

moderately confused

FCAK holds induction ceremony, talent show for Kislap OFW finalists

Sudoku

Elementary KUWAIT: Vice Consul of the Philippine Embassy Rea Oreta officiated the induction of the first set of officers of the ‘Filipino Association for Culture and Arts (FCAK). The group, which is the official organizer of Kislap ng OFW, is composed of Primitivo Aguilar III, (Chairman), Joanne Lolagra (Vice Chairman) Armineonila Menorca (Secretary General), Vicky Fuentes Cruz (Treasurer and Marketing) and Kenette Jim Harion (Auditor).

FCAK Council of Officers (Consultants), Community and OFW Affairs Antonio Trono, Bong Alumno, Multi-Media and Politics Ben Garcia, Tourism, Sports

Month a t

Intermediate

Advanced

and Arts Peter Jun Dadios, Marc Lopez, Emilio San Diego and Business and Entrepreneurship Shirley Sales.

Proceeds from the event will be donated to the Child Haus, a temporary shelter that provides free room and boarding to indigenous patients from the provinces who have no place to stay in Manila while undergoing medical treatment. The house mostly admits children suffering from cancer. The induction ceremony was complemented by a talent show where the finalists for the Kislap OFW took center stage and showcased their talents.

General A n n o u n c e m e n t s

a glance their creativity and sharpening their skills. For more details contact info@ halaexpo.com or follow on http://twitter.com/HalaExpo.

NSPC Charity Exhibition April 25 - 27/ 10 a.m. - 10 p.m./Alraya Center: The National Society for Protection of Children would like to invite you to its annual charity exhibition on April 25, 26 and 27, from 10:00 a.m. till 10:00 p.m. at Al Raya Centre, ground floor in Sharq. The exhibition will include many participants offering kaftans, bags, accessories, fine jewelry, food, sweets, books and paintings from Kuwait and the GCC. The event is available for the public and is free of charge.

Art exhibition

K’S PATH invites applicants for the adoption of pets Sepp is a Domestic Long Haired (DLH) male cat. He will be 2-years-old April 2012. This friendly, laid-back boy loves a good cuddle and likes a high vantage point in a cat tree or ledge to look out from. He would do best in a home with children over 12 years of age.

To adopt, contact +965 67006122 or visit the website www.kspath.org

April 15-26/ 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. / Gallery Tilal: Abdul Rasool Salman’s rhythms are mundane encounters of beauty that sprouted from the ego and surrounding events, creating emotions which dissolved into aesthetic visual messages.

Golden era club

Gulf Jazz Festival Kuwait April 25 - 26/8 p.m./Al Hashemi II Grand Ballroom at Radisson Blu Hotel: Sponsored by Cadillac the Gulf Jazz festival will begin on April 25 with an opening concert and dinner performed by: Full Drive Quartet (Poland) and Vivian Buczek (Sweden). Following night will feature a special concert performed by Michaella Rabitsch and Robert Pawlik Quartet (Austria). Tickets are available at Radisson Blu Hotel in Al Bida’a to contact event holders visit http://www.gulfjazzfest.com/ or call +965 2567 3000.

Hala Ramadan Expo II April 22 - 25/ 10 a.m. - 10 p.m./360 Mall: Hala Ramadan Expo II 2012 is held at the Mall 360’s Exhibition Hall under the patronage of Shaikha Feryal Duaij AlSalman AlSabah. The exhibition will be going on for 4 days from Sunday, April 22 until 25. This Expo aimed to encourage participants in promoting

Mario is a gentle and affectionate 6-years-young Spitz male. This friendly boy does great with people and dogs of all ages.

April 27/ 5 p.m. - 7 p.m./ Rumaithiya: Join the Golden Era (an exclusive seniors club) for a 3500 km, zero carbon footprint, journey to a beautiful European country credited with amazing achievements. Dr. Leos Tovarek’s dynamic presentation will give a unique insight into the Czech Republic; its history, culture, strengths, potential and future. Home sick Czech nationals are particularly invited to share their culture. Venue- House #34, next to AbuTammam Intermediate School for Boys, Sate Alhusari St., Block 2, Rumaithiya. For details call 97172788/ 66208183.

Pretty Little Things Charity Edition April 28 - May 1/3:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m/Sadu House: Try new things, meet the people behind regional brands, help raise funds to refurbish a part of the orphanage, chat under the stars by candlelight and stay a while. Opening day will be April 28 at 7:00 p.m. with special appearance by Fishyface booth and the event will extend from April 29 to May 1 from 3:00 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. held in Sadu House; Gulf Road; in front of the National Museum of Kuwait. Come and meet: Razan Al Azzouni, Fyunka, Sotra Boutique, Th\\’haba, May Jewelry, Paper Design Nest, The Yard, Peices By Farah, AK Eco Gioelli, Muneera Alsharhan, So Lulu, Baby B, Lina Jewelry Design, and more! For more information visit Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ events/122809627847930/.

Dilbert

Holiday Notice The Embassy of India will remain closed on Sunday, May 6, 2012 on account of “Buddha Purnima”.

Open House for Indian Citizens Ambassador of India would be holding an Open House for Indian citizens to address their problems\grievances on Wednesdays of the second and the fourth weeks of every month between 1500 hrs and 1600 hrs in the Embassy. In case Wednesday is an Embassy holiday, the meeting will be held on the next working day. To ensure timely action/follow-up by the Embassy, it is requested that, wherever possible, Indian citizens should exhaust the existing channels of interaction/grievance redressal and bring their problems/issues in writing with supporting documents.

Nancy

Horoscopes Aries: March 21 - April 19

This isn’t the best day for get-togethers, Aries.What starts as a friendly lunch could wind up a gossipfest. No one wins in that situation. You could fear leaving the table because of what they’d say about you. There’s no upside to the situation, so your best strategy might be to stay home and work on chores. At least you’ll have the satisfaction of feeling that you’ve accomplished something.

Taurus: April 20 - May 20

Don’t take anything you hear today at face value, Taurus, especially where money is concerned. A well-meaning friend could approach you with an opportunity not to be missed. Listen to the pitch and take down all the information, but don’t make any kind of commitment. You’ll likely see several flaws when you review the information later. Point them out to your friend.

Gemini: May 21- June 21

This would be a good day to stay home and spend much of the day in bed, Gemini! You’ve been working especially hard lately, juggling both home and work with your usual aplomb. But today you could feel a bit worn out and overwhelmed by everything that remains to be done. Give yourself a day of rest.

Cancer: June 22 - July 22

Love is very much in the air today, Cancer, so take advantage of this auspicious environment! Invite your loved one over to play hide and seek under the bedcovers! Or, if you don’t have a playmate in your life at the moment, find other ways to fulfill the passion you feel. Spend the afternoon reading a good novel or invite a friend to watch a movie with you. Have a good time!

Leo: July 23 - August 22

This is a day to stay close to home and organize the house. You might be thinking how you can best utilize your living space. It’s clear that some improvements are in order, Leo. Perhaps you could begin by tackling all those minor repairs that you’ve been putting off.

Once those are done, a fresh coat of paint will do wonders to brighten both your home and your outlook.

Virgo: August 23 - September 22

You need rest, Virgo. Even though you have a long list of tasks, see if you can leave some for later.

All signs indicate that you shouldn’t stray too far from home today if you can help it. You’re easily distracted, which makes you prone to accidents. Being behind the wheel of a car isn’t the place for you right now.

Libra: September 23 - October 22

You’re on your own when it comes to financial matters, Libra. This may not be what you want to hear, but it’s how things are. Trust that your business acumen will pull you through. Don’t take anything at face value. Pay attention, write down the information, but make no commitments and sign no contracts.The environment isn’t right for any deals. If a deal is valid today, it will still be valid tomorrow.

Scorpio: October 23 - November 21

Today would be best spent alone behind closed doors, if possible. There’s a lot of tension in your household for some reason, Scorpio. Since there isn’t much you can do about it, try to avoid it altogether.

Let your family members fight it out among themselves. You have better ways to spend your time. Why not take in a movie? When you go by yourself, you don’t have to share the popcorn!

Sagittarius: November 22 - December 21

There is a lot of tension in the air today, Sagittarius.

It isn’t just affecting your home environment - everyone you meet seems out of sorts. You’ll be happiest if you spend much of today in solitude. Books don’t honk their horn at you and DVDs don’t curse your driving ability.

Who needs the aggravation that a day like today can bring?

Capricorn: December 22 - January 19

You feel that life would run more smoothly if money didn’t exist! The amount of time and energy you spend sorting out your financial affairs is frustrating. Unfortunately, Capricorn, today will be a frustrating day. Today you need to sit down and sort out some neglected bills. It isn’t fun, but at least by the end of the day you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you got it done.

Aquarius: January 20 - February 18

You feel invincible, Aquarius, as though you can do anything. Enjoy this abundance of energy, for it’s certainly unusual. Take care not to overdo it. If you haven’t jogged in a while, running five miles today will leave you pretty sore tomorrow. Similarly, don’t try to finish all your household repairs in one day. Remember that slow and easy wins the race and keeps you in shape for the long haul!

Pisces: February 19 - March 20

This would be a good day to putter about the house, Pisces. It isn’t a good day to travel or begin any major projects. This could be just the excuse you’ve needed for taking a day off from your life!

You need not answer the phone or fulfill any obligations whatsoever. Simply stay put and tackle some minor household chores.

ALWATAN DAILY

SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, april 25, 2012

Basketball

Spurs crowned best in the West, 76ers reach playoffs

San Antonio Spurs’ Boris Diaw (33) has his shot blocked by Portland Trail Blazers’ J.J. Hickson (21) during an NBA basketball game, April 23, 2012. (AP)

SAN ANTONIO : The San Antonio Spurs have locked up another No. 1 seed. Now comes trying not to blow it again.

Tim Duncan scored 18 points in what might have been his last game before the playoffs start this weekend, now that the Spurs have clinched the top spot in the Western Conference after beating the Portland Trail Blazers 124-89 on Monday night.

The Spurs won their eighth in a row but won’t care about the streak or little else with two now-meaningless regular season games left. All that will matter is their Big Three reaching the postseason fully healthy for the first time since 2008, and that likely means an easy week ahead for Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.

After cruising to the No. 1 spot last season against all expectations, the Spurs bowed out as just the fourth top seed to lose in the first round. This latest one - their sixth top seed in the Duncan era - is somehow even more surprising. Two days before Duncan turns 36, the NBA’s standard-bearers beat out the young Oklahoma City Thunder for ultimate home-court advantage.

Wesley Matthews had 24 points for the Trail Blazers, who lost their sixth straight and have one game

left in a tumultuous season in which the franchise effectively hit the reset button.

J.J. Hickson had 14 points and 10 rebounds for Portland. Raymond Felton scored 13 points and Jonny Flynn had 10 on a night when the injury-depleted Trail Blazers again only used nine players.

Danny Green also had 18 points for the Spurs, while Parker scored 13 and Stephen Jackson and Gary Neal both added 12.

Over in the East, the Philadelphia 76ers claimed the final post-season spot in the conference with a 10587 rout of the New Jersey Nets.

Six players scored in double-figures for the visiting 76ers, who have an identical 34-30 record as the Knicks but are below New York by virtue of the tiebreaker between the teams with two games to play.

Meanwhile, Memphis beat Cleveland 109-101 to move within half a game of the Los Angeles Clippers for fourth spot in the West.

Both teams have two games remaining and are set to face each other in the first round of the playoffs but the Grizzlies could earn home-court advantage if they manage to move ahead of the Clippers by the end of the regular season. -AP

Football

Pearce ponders Beckham, the Olympics and Euros

FILE - LA Galaxy’s David Beckham of England crosses the ball during their friendly match against Melbourne Victory at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Dec. 6, 2011. (Reuters)

LONDON: Stuart Pearce will fly to the United States to watch David Beckham play for Los Angeles Galaxy on May 2 before selecting his 18-man squad for the London Olympics, the British team coach said on Tuesday.

Ex-England captain Beckham, who will turn 37 on the day Pearce watches him in Seattle, is widely expected to be one of the three over-age players in the Under-23 Olympic squad but Pearce said he would select players solely on form and fitness.

“David Beckham will be treated exactly the same as any other individual, whether it is young or overage,” he told reporters.

“Form and fitness will dictate what the make-up of the squad will be. David falls into the same category. I have a duty of care to the Great Britain squad to try and win a gold medal. I will pick the strongest possible squad I can. I will know a bit more when I go to the States to see what form he is in.

He’s made the shortlist and he has been a great ambassador for this country and the Olympics, but that’s no recommendation that he will get in the squad and that’s fair and square across the board for all players.”

Brazilian Ronaldo, who played with Beckham at Real Madrid, reckoned the former Manchester United player should be picked for Britain’s Olympic team with his England career now over.

Pearce is also England caretaker manager and might still lead the side in the European Championship in Poland and Ukraine in June.

The English Football Association have yet to name the man who will take the team into the tournament although Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp remains the favourite to be the permanent successor to Fabio Capello, who resigned in February.

Pearce said that whoever takes charge of the team will find that “everything is in place” for the finals.

The squad for the Euros will be named on May 10 and Pearce is fully prepared to take charge during the tournament if asked.

He was the caretaker when England lost 3-2 to the Netherlands in a friendly at Wembley in February and could be manager for the two warm-ups friendlies against Norway on May 26 and Belgium on June 2 before the competition starts on June 8. “Whether it is me taking the squad or someone else the planning is totally done,” Pearce said. - Reuters

19

Tennis

Returning to number one not a priority, says Nadal SPAIN: Rafa Nadal has played down the significance of his victory over Novak Djokovic in Monte Carlo, saying winning tournaments was his priority rather than reclaiming the world number one spot.

The Spaniard broke a seven-match losing streak against Djokovic with 6-3, 6-1 final victory on Sunday and continues the claycourt season defending his Barcelona Open title this week.

“My challenge is to play well in Barcelona, not to be number one,” Nadal told a news conference on Monday as he reminded people he was closer to world number three Roger Federer than to Djokovic in the ATP rankings. “It was important to beat Novak, but if I am honest, it was more important to win in Monte Carlo. After my career all that will remain are the titles, the victories and not who I managed to win them against.

“My objective is to go day by day. I am starting a special tournament for me because I am playing at home and I hope to do well from the first day and to continue notching wins.”

When it was suggested that he had brought to an end Djokovic’s recent dominance of the sport, like Real Madrid had perhaps done with their 2-1 La Liga victory at Barcelona on Saturday, Nadal defended the Serbian.

“Djokovic hasn’t fallen in the first round, he lost in a final and he came to it after winning in Australia and Miami,”

Spain’s Rafael Nadal hits a return to Serbia’s Novak Djokovic during the MonteCarlo ATP Masters Series Tournament tennis final match, April 22, 2012. (AFP)

Nadal, a Real fan, said. “He is having a spectacular year. Barca have been the best team in the world for three years, there is no doubt about that and it will be very difficult for anyone to repeat what they have done. But Madrid have a great team, as they proved on Saturday, and if they go on to win the league and the Champions League it will be because

they were better than Barca. Sport is normally fair like that.”

Six-time Barcelona Open champion Nadal is competing against other top 10 players Andy Murray, David Ferrer and Janko Tipsarevic for the Trofeo Conde de Godo. World number seven Tomas Berdych has withdrawn with a shoulder injury. - AFP

Murray makes winning start in Barcelona MADRID: Andy Murray comfortably beat Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-3, 6-2 in his first match at the Barcelona Open on Tuesday to book his place in the last 16.

The second seeded world number four, who reached the quarter-finals in Monte Carlo last week, took an hour and 18 minutes to see off Stakhovsky without dropping serve.

“It was a good test, a good start to the

tournament,” Murray told reporters. “I thought I was hitting the ball well and I played better as the match went on.

“It is going to be very difficult to spring a surprise here though, because all the best Spanish players are here. Rafa Nadal is favorite, but Fernando Verdasco, David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro are also very tough to beat on clay.”

The 24-year-old Briton, who has many links with Barcelona having trained there

as a teenager, will play either Santiago Giraldo of Colombia or Dutchman Robin Haase in the next round on Thursday.

Verdasco, the 2010 Barcelona champion, also reached the last 16 with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Belgian Steve Darcis and sixth seed Almagro beat Eduoard RogerVasselin of France 7-5, 7-6.

World number two and top seed Nadal starts the defense of his title against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez today. - Reuters

Cricket

Ponting answers critics with run landmark QUEENS PARK OVAL: Australian veteran Ricky Ponting answered questions about his retirement in customary style as he became Test cricket’s secondhighest run-scorer in the third match against West Indies.

The 37-year-old, who has repeatedly faced down calls to quit, overtook Rahul Dravid’s 13,288 by the narrowest of margins when he was out for 23 on day one at Windsor Park, Roseau. The former Australian captain, who compiled his 13,289 in 165 matches, now trails only India’s Sachin Tendulkar in the all-time list. The “Little Master” is on 15,470.

“My love for the game and passion and desire to play and be successful hasn’t changed,” said Ponting on Sunday, the eve of the final Test, when asked if he was considering quitting.

“Even when things were really tough a few months ago, all I wanted to do was try to give myself the best chance to be able to play well again. I felt I got there through the summer and I feel like I’m batting really well at the moment. I’ve still got a few things I want to achieve and a few games of cricket I want to be a part of and win for Australia. As long as I feel I can play a role winning games of cricket for Australia I’ll continue to do it. I’m enjoying it as much as ever and probably working harder than ever on my game.”

Ponting had previously scored four, 14, seven and 41 in the three-Test series, renewing questions about his future.

The World Cup-winner was axed from Australia’s one-day set-up in February, despite roaring back from a lean

Australian cricketer Shane Watson (back) applauds as his teammate Ricky Ponting fields a ball during a practice session at the Kensington Oval stadium in Bridgetown, April 6, 2012. (AFP)

spell by averaging 108.80 in the 4-0 Test sweep of India.

But he received backing from captain Michael Clarke, who said runs had been hard to come by on the Test tour which Australia lead 1-0.

“If you wanted to make runs here

you had to bat for a hell of a long time, and need a bit of luck as well along the way. Ricky’s one of the guys that has put the team above himself and sacrificed his wicket or tried to take the game forward because we’ve needed to, to try and help us win the game.” - AFP

Ageing Yousuf out to revive Pakistan career KARACHI: Veteran Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf took part in a fitness test on Tuesday to try to revive his international career, insisting he could still compete at the highest level.

The 37-year-old played the last of his 90 Tests against England at Lord’s in 2010 -- a match marred by the spotfixing scandal involving three of his teammates.

He has not been considered for selection in the last two years because he has not played in domestic matches in Pakistan, but he took part in a workout led by new Pakistan coach Dav Whatmore on Tuesday.

“I have given a fitness test and now the result is in the hands of PCB,” Yousuf told reporters outside the national academy here. “I am ready to play for my country and still have enough cricket left in me.”

Yousuf rose from a poor background to become one of the most stylish batsmen Pakistan had ever produced, smashing 1,788 Test runs in 2006, a world record for a calendar year.

His career drifted after the PCB banned him for an indefinite period in March 2010 following the disastrous tour of Australia, which he captained.

The ban was overturned to allow Yousuf a comeback on the 2010 England tour, during which Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer were charged and eventually jailed for arranging deliberate no-balls for money.

Yousuf, who has played 288 one-day and three Twenty20 internationals, said he has been playing regular cricket and wanted to feature in the English county championship, though a deal with Leicestershire fell through.

Whatmore said the fitness of all Pakistani players will be assessed before next month’s tour to Sri Lanka.

“The fitness test was designed to give everyone an idea where they stand now and after a prescription of work to retest and see the improvement,” he said.

Pakistan play two Twenty20s, five one-day internationals and three Tests on their tour of Sri Lanka from late May to mid-July. - AFP

WEDNESday, april 25, 2012

SPORTS

Football

Chelsea reaches Champions League final

Chelsea’s Fernando Torres celebrates with teammates Lampard (center) and Brazilian midfielder Ramires during the UEFA Champions League second leg semi-final football match, April 24, 2012. (AFP)

BARCELONA, Spain: Chelsea eliminated defending champion Barcelona and reached the Champions League final with a grueling 2-2 tie Tuesday night, winning the semifinal on 3-2 aggregate despite playing most of the game a man short.

Seeking its first Champions League title, Chelsea advanced to the final on May 19 at Munich. In the other semifinal, Real Madrid is home Wednesday trying to overturn a 2-1 deficit against Bayern Munich.

Barcelona trailed 1-0 from the first leg but took a 2-1 aggregate lead on goals by Sergio Busquets, his first in 1 1/2 years, and Andres Iniesta in the 44th.

Playing a man short after captain John Terry was given a red card in the 37th for fouling Alexis Sanchez, Chelsea rallied as Ramires scored on a lob over goalkeeper Victor Valdes in first-half injury time. That tied the aggregate and gave Chelsea the advantage on away goals.

Three-time FIFA player of the year Lionel Messi, who has 63 goals this season, had a chance to put Barcelona ahead after Didier Drogba pulled down Cesc Fabregas in the penalty area. But Messi, who has never

scored in seven games against Chelsea, sent a penalty kick off the crossbar in the 59th.

Barcelona, regarded as one of the best club teams ever, then piled on the pressure but couldn’t get another goal despite 72 percent possession, a 22-7 advantage in shots and a 10-1 margin in corner kicks. Sanchez had a goal allowed for offside in the 82nd, Messi hit a post a minute later and Blues goalkeeper Petr Cech palmed a shot by Javier Mascherano in the 89th.

Chelsea substitute Fernando Torres sealed the win when he scored on a breakaway in the first minute of stoppage time.

Four Chelsea players will be suspended for the final: Terry for the red card, and Branislav Ivanovic, Raul Meireles and Ramires for accumulation of yellow cards.

Chelsea lost the final to Manchester United on penalty kicks four years ago.

Barcelona, which had been seeking to first repeat winner of the competition since AC Milan in 1989-90, was coming off a weekend loss to Real Madrid that all just about ended its hopes to win a fourth straight Spanish league title. - AP

Sports Editors Highlight LIVERPOOL, England: Liverpool will open its tour of North America this summer with an exhibition against Toronto FC on July 21.

The Premier League team has scheduled matches against Italian side Roma in Boston on July 25 and English rival Tottenham in Baltimore three days later.

The game against Toronto at the Rogers Center - the home of the Toronto Blue Jays - will form part of the World Football Challenge.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish said Tuesday that ‘’we had a great time playing in front of our supporters in Asia last year, and it will be good to give our fans in North America the chance to watch us this summer.’’ - AP

Bayern boss ready for ‘fierce’ Bernabeu clash MADRID: Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes is bracing himself for a ‘fierce’ night at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium on Wednesday as the Bavarians look to book a place in the Champions League final.

Bayern travel to Madrid for the return leg of their semi-final with a 2-1 lead from last Tuesday’s first leg at Munich’s Allianz Arena, the stadium which will also host the final on May 19.

With Real’s star-studded attack boasting the likes of Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, France’s Karim Benzema and Germany’s Mesut Ozil , Heynckes knows Bayern face a tough challenge.

“It’s extremely important we play to our full potential,” said Heynckes, who coached Real to the 1998 Champions League title. We have to give it 100 or even 110 percent. The last 10 percent comes from emotional energy. If we succeed, we have a big chance of making the final. We’re aware that we’ll need a goal or two, although we’re capable of that because we have outstanding forwards. But for a start, we have to keep it compact and tight, which will give us very good opportunities on the break.”

Chelsea, await in the final Bayern’s first-leg victory was achieved thanks to a 90th-minute winner from Mario Gomez after Ozil had cancelled out Franck Ribery’s opener.

Seven Bayern players, including captain Philipp Lahm and attacker Thomas Mueller, are in danger of being suspended

Franck Ribery of Muenchen celebrates after scoring his teams first goal during the UEFA Champoins League Semi Final first leg match between FC Bayern Muenchen and Real Madrid, April 17, 2012. (AFP)

for the final if they get another yellow card at the Bernabeu.

“It was five players even before the first leg, so we all saw they can deal with it,” said Heynckes. “It’s all a question of alertness, you have to concentrate totally

on the match and your tackles. It shouldn’t play a role. You can’t pull out (of your tackles), because one thing is certain, it’ll be fiercely fought at the Bernabeu. We’ll see all the best ingredients football has to offer.” - AFP

Cagliari gain vital win over Catania

Milan looking for home improvements MILAN: AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri says his team need to improve at home if they are to stand any chance of denying Juventus a first Serie A title since 2003.

AC Milan have now taken just one point from their last two matches at the San Siro. In fact, they are struggling all round with five points from their last four league games and only one win in their last six in all competitions.

It has allowed Juve to stretch their lead at the top of the table to three points and given that the Old Lady of Turin have the better head-to-head record, Milan need to make up four points if they are to win the league.

A month ago Milan seemed on track for a second straight title having opened up a four-point lead over a Juve side that had drawn six out of seven games.

But since then, Juve have recovered and won six straight matches while Milan have stuttered. The Turin giants’ 4-0 win over Roma on Sunday was indicative of their recent form.

Gone are the days when they struggled to score goals and were hamstrung by a string of draws.

Now Antonio Conte’s team have become an unstoppable force, buoyed by Milan’s struggles and helped by their own failure to qualify for Europe this season leaving them fresher.

Even so, Allegri believes his team must simply get back to winning ways before worrying about what Juve

AC Milan’s coach Massimiliano Allegri looks on during the Serie A football match between AC Milan and AS Roma at San Siro Stadium in Milan on March 24, 2012. (AFP)

do, something they failed to manage at home to Bologna on Sunday.

One advantage Milan have is they will be entertaining Genoa who are in disarray and in freefall towards the relegation trap-door. Genoa were thumped 4-1 at home to Siena on Sunday in a match in which some fans held up the match for 45-minutes in protest at how their team was playing.

Genoa have the worst defense in the league and their own fans have turned against them leading to president Enrico Preziosi saying he’d like a stadium closure so they can escape their own supporters.

Juve for their part travel to rock bottom Cesena who will be relegated if they fail to win. Their demotion back to Serie B after just two years in the top flight has appeared sure for some time but they at least showed some spirit in Sunday’s 2-2 draw at home to Palermo.

Stopping a Juve team that has plundered 18 goals in their last six games will be another matter.

Elsewhere Novara could also suffer relegation if they don’t beat Lazio at home, although it would depend on three other teams’ results.

Lazio are defending third place, and the final Champions League qualification spot, with a three-point gap to Udinese, who host Inter Milan.

Napoli, who travel to Lecce, are four points back with Roma, who host Fiorentina, five behind and Inter six off the pace. - AFP

Davide Astori of Cagliari Calcio and David Suazo (9) of Catania Calcio compete for the ball during the Serie A match between Cagliari Calcio and Catania Calcio, April 24, 2012. (AFP)

TRIESTE, Italy: Cagliari edged six points clear of the Serie A relegation zone on Tuesday with an invaluable 3-0 win over Catania which all but ended the Sicilian side’s hope of a place in next season’s Europa League.

Cagliari, who were playing at ‘home’ in Trieste rather than Sardinia because their president Massimo Cellino is in dispute with the Calgiari municipality, secured the three points through goals by their South American contingent.

Brazilian Thiago Ribeiro opened the

scoring in the 21st minute but it was only going into the final 10 minutes of the game they sealed the win as Chilean striker Mauricio Pinilla doubled the lead from a centre by Colombian Victor Ibarbo. Ibarbo grabbed one for himself for good measure in the fourth minute of time added on.

Atalanta also did their survival chances no harm with a 1-0 win over Chievo as a stunning long range strike by Argentinean Maximiliano Moralez sent them eight points clear of third from bot-

Maradona threatens to leave Al Wasl after season DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Diego Maradona has again threatened to leave Al Wasl after this season, saying he plans to meet with the club’s chief executive next week and demand more money to buy players that would allow him to ‘’compete.’’

Maradona, who took up the Al Wasl job in May with a two-year contract, said he has no other offers but felt that the club had broken promises to provide him with half a dozen players of his choosing. As a result, the club hasn’t won any trophies and is likely to miss out on an Asian Champions League spot for next season.

Sounding at times as if he had decided to depart, Maradona said he would be ‘’sad’’ to leave Dubai and would return someday as a tourist. Should he quit, Maradona said he might spend his time helping care for his grandson Benjamin. - AP

tom Lecce, who are away at Napoli on Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday leaders Juventus are away at bottom side Cesena while AC Milan who are three points adrift of ‘The Old Lady of Turin’ host Genoa, who themselves are fighting against relegation and are just a point above Lecce.

This round of matches were originally postponed in tribute to the death of Piermario Morosini, who collapsed and died while playing for second tier Livorno on April 14. - AFP

Mourinho sees ‘no reason’ not to stay with Real

MADRID: Jose Mourinho says he will likely remain coach of Real Madrid beyond this season with the Spanish leader playing for a spot in the Champions League final.

Mourinho is under contract until 2014 and has repeatedly refused to confirm whether he will see out the full four years of his deal. He is reportedly linked to a return to Chelsea or another English club, Manchester City.

Speaking before Wednesday’s semifinal against Bayern Munich, the Portuguese coach said: ‘’I think I will continue. There’s no reason for me to leave.’’

Mourinho says he will speak with his players and club officials at the end of the season to determine whether it’s in everyone’s interests for him to stay. Madrid trails Bayern 2-1 going into the return leg. - AP