WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012
@alwatandaily
Issue No. 1394
www.alwatandaily.com
20 PAGES 150 Fils with IHT
New plan to have loan interest dropped Justice Bloc to submit loan bill, assigns advisers to prepare proposal
Mohammed Al-Salman & Mohammed Al-Khaldi Staff Writers
KUWAIT: Certain MPs within the Majority Bloc have continued to hint at questioning ministers. MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaie announced that he is still determined to file an interpellation motion against the Minister of Interior Sheikh Ahmad Al-Humoud Al-Sabah over the issue of freedoms. He added that the motion will be made available to the Coordinative and Majority Blocs to determine their position and to express their standpoint. The MP further stated that the minister will be questioned over one main issue, which will be further elaborated to include issues pertaining to freedoms. Meanwhile, MP Mohammad Hayef asserted that questioning the Minister of Awqaf Jamal Shehab concerning the places of worships will be filed ‘at any moment’ after the expiration of the ultimatum given to him. “The minister failed to issue any deci-
60% of Kuwait employees expect a raise in the next 12 months
88% state that the cost of living in the past year has increased KUWAIT: The latest MENA Salary Survey conducted by Bayt.com, the Middle East’s number one jobsite, and YouGov, a research and consulting organization, has revealed that despite 48 percent of employees having been unhappy with their last pay rise, more than half believe that salaries in Kuwait are increasing. A third of survey respondents (28 percent) in Kuwait have spent four to six years in their current industry, with a third (31 percent) having worked for their current employer for four to seven years. Four out of ten have between one and five people reporting directly to them, with a collective 71 percent stating that they are midway in terms of seniority (33 percent), or at a fairly senior level, but not yet at the top (38 percent). More on 9
sion up to the last hours, and therefore we are no longer committed to our earlier announcement,” the lawmaker was quoted as saying. Hayef continued, “We don’t target a particular sect per se. However, the law should be applicable to all places of worship without discrimination.” For his part, MP Ahmad Mutee stated that the Majority Bloc agreed that no interpellation should be filed until it is made available to it, and stressed that questioning the Awqaf minister is a constitutionally preserved right. Additionally, MP Saleh Ashour welcomed the interpellation of the said minister and regarded the move as an opportunity to elaborately discuss all issues pertaining to mosques. He accused the government of being unfair with regard to the issuing of licenses, site allocations and the distribution of mosques, in accordance with the districts and the needs of the residents. “Once this dossier is opened, it will not be closed,” the MP warned. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Cancer-causing chemical found in smokeless tobacco
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200,000 flee Mali fighting
GENEVA: Some 200,000 people have fled fighting in Mali, where widespread looting in key northern towns has also forced the UN food agency to suspend its activities, UN agencies said Tuesday. “This 200,000 figure may rise,” warned a World Food Program spokeswoman. “Malian refugees have been crossing into Burkina Faso and Mauritania at an average rate of 400 people per day in the past week,” the UN refugee agency added. About 107,000 people have also been displaced within Mali, where much of the north has fallen to Tuareg rebels since military rulers seized power in Bamako in a coup on March 22. The World Food Program said it has suspended its activities in the north’s Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu and the central town of Mopti, amid widespread looting after insurgents captured the northern towns.”WFP staff have been staying at home,” said the UN food agency. Earlier Tuesday, a French minister said the Tuareg rebels have been spotted near Mopti, and that the Malian army may be unable to stop their advance. -AFP
Syria steps up assault as UN moves to send monitors Russia: Syria has started observing peace plan
This image made from amateur video and released by Shaam News Network Monday, April 2, 2012, purports to show smoke rising from a building in Idlib, Syria. The Syrian government has sent troops backed by tanks into rebellious areas, hunting down activists and torching their homes and bulldozing others, opposition groups said. (AP)
Yemeni airstrikes kill 43 Al-Qaeda militants
SANAA: Yemeni government forces regained control of a strategic gateway in the south on Tuesday after intense, threeday shelling of Al-Qaeda hideouts in the area that left 43 militants dead, military and medical officials said.The military had stepped up attacks and airstrikes against Al-Qaeda in the mountainous area of AlRahha in the southern province of Lahj, a strategically important region that links the south with Yemen’s northern cities. The offensive followed two consecutive surprise attacks by militants on Yemeni army bases in the area. The military officials told The Associated Press that the government forces are trying to reclaim key cities in Aden and Abyan provinces in the south that have been overrun by AlQaeda. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Al-Qaeda-linked militants have taken advantage of a year of internal political turmoil and security vacuum in Yemen to expand their gains in the country’s south. More on 4
CAPITALS: Fierce clashes erupted on Tuesday as Syria’s regime sent reinforcements into rebel areas despite a truce pledge, and the UN said it was rushing a team to Damascus to pave the way for peace monitors. The surge in violence killed at least 10 people, mostly civilians in north and central Syria, and included a string of arson attacks on homes, activists and monitors said. It came a day after peace envoy Kofi Annan told the UN Security Council that President Bashar Al-Assad had given assurances he would “immediately” start pulling back his forces and complete a military withdrawal from urban areas by April 10. Meanwhile, The Syrian government said it has begun implementing a UN envoy’s peace plan that requires it to withdraw its forces from towns and cities within a week, Russia’s Foreign Ministry See also 4 announced Tuesday.
Gulf Film Festival to open with Kuwaiti feature “Tora Bora”
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Children wearing traditional clothes and make-up attend a religious ceremony before entering monkhood at Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon April 3, 2012. (Reuters)
His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah greeted by school children of the national operetta during a ceremony which was held at Bayan Palace to honor members of the Constitution’s Constituent Council and national operetta on Monday, April 3, 2012.
Egypt Brotherhood candidate stirs unease CAIRO: The Muslim Brotherhood’s surprise decision to field a presidential candidate is stirring fears that the two biggest powers to emerge from the ouster of Hosni Mubarak - the Islamists and the military - are maneuvering to put in place a new rule in Egypt not much different from the old, authoritarian one. If they succeed in divvying up the most important positions in government, the new leadership could be a blow to the hopes for an inclusive democracy that drove last year’s uprising against Mubarak. Opponents of the Brotherhood and military warn that the maneuvering could lead to a repeat of the Mubarak-era domination by a single party of all executive and legislative powers - only now with an Islamist tinge. The Brotherhood controls nearly 50 percent of parliament and dominates the constituent assembly that is in charge of writing Egypt’s new constitution. Given its electoral strength, its candidate - Khairat El-Shater, the Brotherhood’s deputy head but in reality its strongest figure - instantly leaps to front-runner status for the presidency in the May 23-24 election. “We didn’t have a revolution to end up with a dictatorship of the one party,” said the head of the liberal Free Egyptians Party, Ahmed Said. “If El-Shater is president, will he rule in the name of the people or according to the orders of the Brotherhood?” The decision to field the Brotherhood’s strongman was a sur-
Clashes in rival towns kill 22 in western Libya TRIPOLI, Libya: Libyan officials say 22 people have been killed in clashes between Arab and ethnic Berber tribal fighters from two rival western towns despite attempts to broker a cease-fire. The fighting erupted over the weekend between the Arab-majority town of Ragdalein and the Berber-dominated town of Zwara. The neighboring towns are located about 110 kilometers (70 miles) from the capital Tripoli. Local Ragdalein official Rami Kaanan says 17 fighters and town residents have been killed in fighting on Tuesday, including two women and one infant. Zwara spokesman Adel Kashbour says five people from his side have been killed and 49 wounded. Their clashes are the latest in a series of local rivalries that threaten to divide Libya along tribal and regional lines. -AP
prise even to many of its own members, some of whom have openly expressed disappointment that the group is breaking an earlier promise not to run. They worry the decision sacrifices the group’s credibility for short-term gains. Liberals and secular leaders are fuming the group has abandoned its repeated promise to share power and fear it could monopolize rule, thwarting hopes for democracy. They worry eventually the Brotherhood may try to impose greater Islamic law restrictions and impose a new ruling elite of religious conservatives. Already, for example, a female Brotherhood lawmaker caused a stir by speaking out against the 4-year-old ban on female genital mutilation. The Brotherhood clearly sees the presidency as vital to protect its political gains. Since Mubarak’s fall, its plan has been to use parliament to wield authority, promote its long-term Islamist agenda, and ensure the new constitution gives greater powers to the legislature, weakening the president’s overwhelming authority. Two months after it convened, the Brotherhood has discovered that the parliament it dominates has little power, its attempts to replace the military-picked prime minister with its own have been blocked by the military, and competing Islamists were making their own bids for the presidency. -AP
Kuwait, Saudi Arabia to trade illegal immigration data
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New flying car successfully tested, cleared for takeoff NEW YORK: Drivers hoping to slip the surly -and traffic congested -- bonds of Earth moved a step closer to realizing their dream Monday, as a US firm said it had successfully tested a street-legal plane. Massachusetts-based firm Terrafugia said their production prototype “Transition” car-plane had completed an eight-minute test flight, clearing the way for it to hit the market within a year. “With this flight, the team demonstrated an ability to accomplish what had been called an impossible dream,” said founder Carl Dietrich. The two-seater craft, which has the rounded features of a Fiat 500 and collapsible wings, is on presale for $279,000 and some 100 vehicles have already been ordered. While many companies have successfully built a flying car, none have succeeded in producing more than a handful of models. But things have changed since the clunky Curtiss Autoplane hopped and spluttered into action in the More on 15 early 1900s.
The mythical creature fountain, designed by Niki de Saint Phalle, stand next to people enjoying the sunny weather Tuesday, April 3, 2012 in Duisburg, Germany. (AP)