WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2012
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Issue No. 1467
12 PAGES
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US plans significant military presence in Kuwait
WASHINGTON: The United States is planning a significant military presence of 13,500 troops in Kuwait to give it the flexibility to respond to sudden conflicts in the region as Iraq adjusts to the withdrawal of American combat forces and the world nervously eyes Iran, according to a congressional report. The study by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee examined the US relationship with the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman – against a fast-moving backdrop. In just the last two days, Saudi Arabia’s ruler named Defense Minister Prince Salman bin Abdul-Aziz as the country’s new crown prince after last week’s death of Prince Nayef, and Kuwait’s government suspended parliament meetings for a month over an internal political feud. The latest developments inject even more uncertainty as the Middle East deals with the demands of the Arab Spring, the end to US combat operations in Iraq at the end of 2011, fears of Iran’s nuclear program and the counterterrorism campaign. “Home to more than half of the world’s oil reserves and over a third of its natural gas, the stability of the
Arabian Gulf is critical to the global economy,” the report said. “However, the region faces a myriad of political and security challenges, from the Iranian nuclear program to the threat of terrorism to the political crisis in Bahrain.” The report, obtained by The Associated Press in advance of Tuesday’s release, provided precise numbers on US forces in Kuwait, a presence that Pentagon officials have only acknowledged on condition of anonymity. Currently, there are about 15,000 US forces in Kuwait at Camp Arifjan, Ali Al Salem Air Base and Camp Buehring, giving the United States staging hubs, training ranges and locations to provide logistical support. The report said the number of troops is likely to drop to 13,500. As it recalibrates its national security strategy, the United States is drawing down forces in Europe while focusing on other regions, such as the Middle East and Asia. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said he envisions about 40,000 troops stationed in the Middle East region after the withdrawal from Iraq. By comparison, a cut of two Army combat brigades and the withdrawal of
Egyptian ex-president Mubarak on life support
Government extend olive branch to Parliament
Staff Writers & Agencies
KUWAIT: The executive and legislative authorities held informal talks on Tuesday, as His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber AlMubarak Al-Sabah paid a courtesy call on the National Assembly Speaker Ahmad Al-Saadun. It has been gathered that the meeting witnessed candid discussions where members of the Majority Bloc were blamed for causing the escalation and the deviation of the relationship between the executive and legislative authorities. Reports have emerged that the premier called on members of the majority, during the meeting, to desist from vengeance and escalation against ministers as well as imposing their tendencies on the government and other political persuasions within the Parliament. According to sources, the approach being pursued by the Majority Bloc had a adverse impact on the performance of ministers and the government’s overall functioning. The prime minister is said to have expressed readiness to lend a hand of cooperation with the Parliament where no authority encroaches on another, in accordance with Article 50 of the Constitution stipulating the separation of powers. It has been informed that the premier
two other smaller units will leave about 68,000 troops in Europe. During the 1990 Gulf War, some half a million US forces were in the Middle East region. The United States maintained about 5,000 troops in Kuwait from the end of the Gulf War to March 2003, when US and coalition forces invaded Iraq to topple the regime of Saddam Hussein. The US-led invasion was in response to reports, later discredited, that Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction. The report also recommended that the United States promote the development of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League while strengthening bilateral links to the six countries; seek opportunities for burden-sharing on operations such as missile defense, combat air patrol and maritime security; and push for the integration of Iraq into the Arab fold. The report emphasized that the region is critical as a counterbalance to Iran, whose conventional military includes 350,000 ground forces, 1,800 tanks and more than 300 fighter aircraft. It also has ballistic missiles with the range to target regional allies, including Israel. -AP
stressed that the government does not shy away from interpellations, considering the fact that it is a constitutionally preserved right for MPs. He, however, reportedly stated that the government rejects turning the interpellation into a tool for vengeance. Sources have reported that His Highness the Prime Minister welcomed the idea of including members of the Majority or whom they deem fit in Cabinet, while urging them not to inflate the number of nominees. According to the sources, the premier asked the bloc to identify about four potential candidates for ministerial posts in order to strike a balance between the executive and the legislature. The Majority Bloc has been recently demanding the inclusion of nine of its members in Cabinet as a means of defusing political tension. In addition, the prime minister is reported to have called on all parties to turn the page on the past whereby the relationship between the government and Parliament is reviewed in order to temper the political atmosphere. Reportedly, he emphasized the need to place the interest of Kuwait above any consideration and to put an end to sensation and setting scores. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
CAIRO: Hosni Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for three decades until overthrown by last year, was on life support in hospital, military officials said on Tuesday, but they denied a report he was clinically dead. Earlier the state news agency, amid high tension over the election of a new president, quoted medical sources as saying the former head of state, aged 84, was “clinically dead”. That description was used also to Reuters by a hospital source. But three sources in the military and security services, which retain control following the revolt, said Mubarak was being kept alive and said they would not use the expression “clinically dead” to describe his condition. General Said Abbas, a member of the ruling military council, told Reuters, that Mubarak had suffered a stroke but added: “Any talk of him being clinically dead is nonsense.” Another military source said: “He is completely unconscious. He is using artificial respiration.” A security source also gave the same account and said: “It is still early to say that he is clinically dead.” The confusion over the state of health of the former leader came as his long-time opponents in the Muslim Brotherhood claimed victory over a candidate drawn from military elite in a presidential election held at the weekend. Results have not been published, and supporters of Ahmed Shafik, Mubarak’s former prime minister who was running against the Islamist Mohamed Morsy, said it was he who had won. State news agency MENA had earlier cited medical sources to say that Mubarak was clinically dead. His heart had stopped beating and could not be revived. Later, however, the agency, citing medical sources, said a medical team was still trying treat a blood clot on the brain, adding that he had not left the intensive care unit at Tora prison, where he had been held since being sentenced to life imprisonment on June 2 for his role in the deaths of protesters. -Reuters
Pakistan Supreme Court disqualifies prime minister
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s increasingly assertive Supreme Court on Tuesday declared Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani ineligible for office, plunging the country into fresh political turmoil during a crisis in relations with the United States. In April, it found Gilani guilty of contempt of court for refusing to reopen corruption cases against the president. “Since no appeal was filed (against the April 26 conviction) ... therefore Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani stands disqualified as a member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (parliament)...,” said Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry in a packed courtroom. “He has also ceased to be the prime minister of Pakistan ... the office of the prime minister stands vacant.” But Fawad Chaudhry, a senior Gilani aide, said only parliament could dismiss the prime minister. While the decision is a big blow to the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), More on 5 it is unlikely to lead to the fall of the unpopular government. Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, arrives at Oxford University in Oxford, England, Tuesday, June 19, 2012. Suu Kyi, who is on her first overseas trip since 1988, has a long association with Britain, where she studied and lived for many years in Oxford with her late husband, Michael Aris, and their two sons, but she has not visited for 24 years. Many of those years were spent under house arrest in Myanmar. On Wednesday, Oxford University will present her with an honorary degree that it awarded in 1993 but that she was not free to collect. (AP)
Threat to ‘web of life’ imperils humans, UN summit told PARIS: A feared mass extinction of wildlife also endangers billions of humans who depend on them for food and livelihood, according to a new assessment of species loss issued Tuesday at the Rio+20 conference. Experts presented a grim tableau of the planet’s biodiversity as world leaders were to arrive for a three-day summit on Earth’s environmental problems and enduring poverty. Out of 63,837 species assessed,
19,817 run the risk of following the dodo, they said. At threat are 41 percent of amphibian species, 33 percent of reef-building corals, 25 percent of mammals, 20 percent of plants and 13 percent of birds, the update of the prestigious “Red List” said. Many are essential for humans, providing food and work and a gene pool for better crops and new medicines, it More on 8 said.
Shadowy Al-Qaeda-linked group claims Israel attack
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip: A shadowy group claiming ties to Al-Qaeda said Tuesday that it carried out a deadly crossborder attack in Israel, the strongest evidence to date to back Israeli claims that the global terror network is operating on its doorstep. While the claim of responsibility, made in a video obtained by The Associated Press in the Gaza Strip, could not be independently verified, it was accompanied by a separate statement with additional details on the attack posted on a website affiliated with Al-Qaeda. In Monday’s attack, two gunmen infiltrated Israel from Egypt’s Sinai desert, killing a civilian worker who was part of a team building a border fence to prevent such attacks. The two gunmen were later killed by Israeli forces. The short video said the attack was carried out by the Mujahedeen Shura Council of Jerusalem, a murky group
that was formed in April. It identifies two men, one Egyptian and one Saudi, as the perpetrators of Monday’s attack. “Soon we will carry out a double suicide mission against the enemy troops on the Egyptian border with occupy Palestine today, Monday, June 18,” said the Saudi man. Later Tuesday, the group issued a statement on an Al-Qaeda-linked website saying the men targeted an Israeli patrol with a bomb, anti-tank rockets and gunfire. It said the attack was dedicated to “Sheik Mujhahid Osama bin Laden,” the Al-Qaeda founder who was assassinated by US troops last year. The Israeli military declined comment on the latest claims. Military officials have been warning for more than a year that Al-Qaeda is operating in the area. -AP
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Egypt’s Islamists to lead anti-military protest
Protesters are seen at a gate as police stand guard during a protest against military council outside Egypt’s parliament in Cairo June 19, 2012. (Reuters)
CAIRO: The Muslim Brotherhood is stepping up its campaign against an interim constitution declared by Egypt’s ruling military that curtails the powers of the next president, calling for protests Tuesday in Cairo and other cities. The protests mark the opening of the possible next chapter in Egypt’s turmoil - a power struggle between the Muslim Brotherhood, which claims its candidate won this weekend’s presidential runoff, and the generals, who have carved out for themselves a status as the ultimate rulers even after they nominally hand over authorities to the new president on by July 1. Brotherhood supporters are also protesting a court ruling last week that dissolved parliament, where the group was the largest bloc with just under half the seats. On Tuesday, a handful of lawmakers made symbolic attempts to enter parliament, but were met by a locked gate and a line of anti-riot soldiers on the other side. The court ruling has been endorsed by the military, whose leader, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, issued a decree dissolving the legislature. The Brotherhood and its Islamist allies dismissed the decree on the ground that the military ruler had no right to issue it less than two weeks before the scheduled transfer of power to civilians. Spokesmen for the campaign of Mohammed Morsi, the Brotherhood presidential candidate, said other political groups were expected to join Tuesday’s planned anti-military protests. Much others participate will be a key measure of whether the Islamist group can rally secular and leftist movements to its side. -AP
Asia, not North America, now has most millionaires
NEW YORK: Weakening economies that roiled markets last year also took their toll on the world’s rich, though faster-growing Asia for the first time had more millionaires than North America, according to a study released on Tuesday. A new report said the global personal wealth of people with $1 million and more to invest fell in 2011 for the second time in four years, reflecting the euro zone crisis and economic sluggishness in developed markets. But several emerging markets also felt pain, as the number of millionaires in India and Hong Kong fell by almost one-fifth.
And with Europe’s debt crisis still in full throttle, the outlook for wealth creation in 2012 remains dim, according to Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management’s latest world wealth report. The world’s population of millionaires grew by 0.8 percent to a record 11 million, according to the report, yet their collective wealth fell by 1.7 percent to $42 trillion. Every region except the Middle East saw declines in wealth. It was the first global drop in millionaire wealth since the 2008 financial crisis, when the ranks of the wealthy fell by 15 percent and their wealth contracted by 20 percent. -Reuters
A woman begs outside a bakery shop in the northern port city of Thessaloniki, Greece, on Tuesday, June 19, 2012. European leaders are locked in a fierce debate over how to solve the debt crisis that is killing off growth on the continent, including whether to ease up on the terms of Greece’s bailout deal. (AP)