FRIDAY, MAY 11, 2012
@alwatandaily
Issue No. 1431
20 PAGES
www.alwatandaily.com
150 Fils with IHT
MP Al-Juwaihel barred from Parliament for spitting
Staff Writers
KUWAIT: In an unprecedented move, the National Assembly on Thursday decided to bar Member of Parliament (MP) Mohammad Al-Juwaihel from attending parliamentary sessions and committee meetings for two weeks. The decision was made in accordance with Article 89 of the Parliament’s Rules of Order. A majority of 48 members voted in favor of the move, while MP Dr. Hamad Al-Mattar abstained. A proposal to ask police to arrest Al-Juwaihel to examine him for alcohol, totally banned in the conservative Muslim state, was referred to Parliament’s legal panel to see if the request was in line with the law. Lawmakers in Kuwait enjoy immunity and protection against arrest or interrogation by the judiciary while Parliament is in session. MP Osama Al-Munawer said that it was the fifth time that AlJuwaihel was drunk when he arrived at the Parliament. His claim was supported by fellow MP Jamaan Al-Harbash who said that he was aware that Al-Juwaihel was drunk. MP Abdullah Al Barghash warned of dire consequences if no action was taken against Al-Juwaihel. Several opposition MPs said that Al-Juwaihel was coming to Parliament while drunk and MP Mussallam Al-Barrak alleged that he was being backed by a number of ruling family members. Information Minister Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Sabah categorically denied the allegation. Moreover, the Parliament decided also to refer two other proposals to the Parliamentary Legislative Committee to examine the constitutionality of arresting Al-Juwaihel and barring him from entering the Parliament. The committee will convene a
Social allowance increases effective starting June
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Judicial tribunal clears former PM in graft probe: Lawyer KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti judicial tribunal investigating graft allegations has cleared the former prime minister of any wrongdoing in a series of financial transactions made abroad, the law firm representing him said on Thursday. Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah’s government resigned last year after some opposition lawmakers accused it of having made a series of illegal financial transfers via Kuwait’s overseas embassies. Sheikh Nasser, had repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. It was the first time that a complaint against a former prime minister and a member of the ruling Al-Sabah family had been investigated at such a high level in the Gulf oil producer. Sheikh Nasser was “cleared and exonerated on all criminal charges filed against him”, a statement from the law firm repreMore on 2 senting him said.
meeting Sunday to look into the said proposals. Earlier, a squabble erupted, over the course of the parliamentary session, during which MPs Mohammad Al-Juwiahel and Hamad Al-Matar traded insults. Parliamentary sources confirmed that Al-Mattar received a barrage of insults from Al-Juwaihel while he was about to leave the Chamber and that the latter even spat on Al-Mattar. MP Mohammad Al-Saqr was seen holding MP Al-Mattar and keeping him at bay. However, Al-Matar screamed loudly describing Al-Juwaihel as “animal and impolite.” As AlMattar approached to set on Al-Juwaihel, lawmakers and ministers flanked him in an attempt to cool him down. But Al-Mattar continued to yell, calling Al-Juwaihel as “filthy and nasty.” Al-Mattar then approached the podium where he asked the National Assembly Speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun to enforce the Rules of Order and said, “You either have to enforce the Rules on him or else I will attack him ... He’s impolite and intoxicated.” Al-Saadoun responded, “Calm down, I will apply the Rules.” The speaker soon adjourned the proceedings to restore order to the Chamber. At this point, MP Hussein Al-Qallaf ushered AlJuwaihel out of the Chamber while others tried to prevent him from leaving the House. When the session was later resumed, the Secretary General of the National Assembly read out a proposal concerning Al-Juwaihel’s violation of the Rules of Order, and the allegation that he was in an abnormal condition. MP Osama Al-Munawer stated that “this is the second time that MP Al-Juwaihel entered the Parliament drunk. I hereby state that his brain will be blown up if he dares enter again in similar condition.”
Damascus rocked by blasts, TV blames ‘terrorists’
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Kuwaiti crude up 16 cents, settles at $108.66
CAPITALS: Price of Kuwaiti crude oil spiked 16 US cents to 108.66 US dollars per barrel (pb) in transactions on Wednesday, compared with $108.50 on Monday, reported Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) on Thursday. The humble hike follows a six-day downturn in shadow of jitters over global economy, rise of the American strategic oil reserves and an anticipated European decision to release another bail-out installment for Greece. In more news, oil traded around $113 per barrel on Thursday as dealers weighed weaker-than-expected Chinese trade data against relatively encouraging US jobs figures against. Rising supply from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) added pressure. The group’s monthly report said oil supply was plentiful and in excess of market requirements. Brent crude slid 33 cents to $112.87 a barrel by 1348 GMT after reaching an earlier high of $113.64. U.S. crude climbed 50 cents to $97.31 by 1348 GMT after reports showed new US jobless claims fell slightly last week.
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Commercial Bank of Kuwait Q1 profit at $1.19 million
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Olympic flame lit for London Games
In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, flames and smoke rise from burning cars after two bombs exploded, at Qazaz neighborhood in Damascus, Syria, on Thursday May 10, 2012. Two large explosions ripped through the Syrian capital Thursday, heavily damaging a military intelligence building and leaving blood and human remains in the streets. (AP)
CAPITALS: Two powerful blasts in quick succession rocked the Syrian capital at morning rush hour Thursday, killing and wounding dozens of people, state television said, blaming the attacks on “terrorists.” “Two explosions caused by terrorists took place on the freeway in the south of Damascus,” the television said, adding that the blasts occurred “as people were heading to work and children to school.” Residents said the explosions rattled windows and sent
Amnesty calls on UAE to release Islamists if held for views
ABU DHABI: Amnesty International has said that two Emirati Islamists detained in an undisclosed location in the United Arab Emirates could be at risk of “torture or other ill-treatment”, and called for their immediate release if they are only held for their views. Saleh Al-Dhufairi was arrested last week in the northern emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah by men who identified themselves as belonging to both state security and local police.A Ras Al-Khaimah police spokesman has denied the police were involved. Al-Dhufairi, general manager of an Islamic organization, the Holy Koran Foundation, was also detained in March for “provoking strife” after criticizing state security services on Twitter. He is also a member of Al-Islah (Reform), a group which is calling for greater adherence to Islamic principles, Amnesty said. Another Al-Islah member, Salim Sahoo, was arrested in the emirate of Sharjah in April, Amnesty said, and was also being held in an undisclosed location, adding that he was apparently not involved in social media activities. “The whereabouts of two men arrested in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in April remain unknown. They might be at risk of torture or other ill-treatment,” the rights group said in a statement dated May 9. “If both men are held solely for their peaceful exercise of
Bodies found at Russian jet wreckage in Indonesia
Greek actress Ino Menegaki (right), playing the role of High Priestess, lights the Olympic flame during the torch lighting ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the site of ancient Olympia in Greece May 10, 2012. (Reuters)
GREECE: The Olympic flame was lit in Ancient Olympia in Greece on Thursday, in a solemn ceremony filled with mystery and tradition that signals the final countdown to the start of this year’s summer Games in London. Actors in ancient Greek costume invoked the god Apollo in the ruins of the 2,600-year-old Temple of Hera, using a concave mirror to harness the sun’s rays and kindle a flame on the torch for a relay that will take it around Greece and Britain. Dignitaries at the ceremony included the president of the International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge, as well as the head of the London organizing committee, Sebastian Coe. “We promise to protect the flame, to cherish its traditions and stage an uplifting torch relay of which we can be proud,” Coe said in a speech, vowing the event would “lift the spirits
and hopes of people across Britain and across the world”. After thanks to the god Apollo, “king of the sun and the idea of light”, in the shadow of the Greek, British and Olympic flags, the flame was handed to the first relay runner, Greece’s Liverpool-born open water swimming champion Spyros Gianniotis. He then passed it to 19-year-old British boxer Alexander Loukos, whose father hails from the Greek island of Lesbos and grew up in the east London borough where the Olympic Stadium is situated. The ceremony marks the start of a week-long torch relay, which will take it to five major Greek archaeological sites, including the Acropolis, before it arrives at the old Olympic stadium in Athens, site of the first modern Games in 1896. More on 19
plumes of smoke billowing into the sky.Television footage at the site of the blasts, which took place on a freeway in the south of the capital, showed an apocalyptic scene with charred bodies and the carcasses of vehicles with smoke still rising from them. The report did not give a breakdown on the number of people killed and those wounded, but said most of the casuMore on 4 alties were civilians.
CIDAHU: Rescuers discovered bodies Thursday near the shattered wreckage of a new Russian-made passenger plane that smashed into the side of an Indonesian volcano during a flight to impress potential buyers. All 45 people on board were feared dead. Due to the remoteness of the crash site and the steep, rugged terrain, the bodies will be placed in nets and lifted by ropes to a hovering chopper, national search and rescue agency spokesman Gagah Prakoso said. Heavy mist was hampering visibility, however, forcing the postponement of evacuations until Friday. “So far we haven’t found any survivors, but we are still searching,” he said as teams of soldiers, police and volunteers continued to troop up the slopes. The Sukhoi Superjet-100 - Russia’s first new model of passenger jet since the fall of the Soviet Union two decades ago - was in Indonesia as part of a six-nation tour of Asia aimed at drumming up new customers. It was carrying dozens of representatives from local airlines and journalists on what was supposed to be a quick, 50minute demonstration flight Wednesday. Some excited passengers snapped pictures of themselves smiling and waving in front of the twin-engine jet before lifting off, then quickly posting them as profile pictures on Facebook and Twitter. More on 5
their right to freedom of opinion and expression, they should be released immediately and unconditionally,” it said. Officials at the UAE Ministry of Interior were not immediately available to comment. The UAE has been clamping down on Islamists in recent months, concerned they could be emboldened by the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in other Arab countries. The major oil exporter has avoided popular uprisings that have toppled four Arab heads of state since last year, thanks in part to its cradle-to-grave welfare system, but it has shown little tolerance towards dissent in a country where Emiratis form a minority and the vast majority of the eight million population are foreign workers. The arrests of Sahoo and Al-Dhufairi last month came a few days after reports that Sheikh Sultan al-Qassimi, a cousin of the ruler of Ras Al-Khaimah and head of Al-Islah, was taken from his house by armed men. The UAE last year revoked the citizenship of six Islamists it described as posing a threat to national security. Some of the men demanded greater power for the Federal National Council, an elected body that advises the federal government in Abu Dhabi. The six men, all members of Al-Islah, were detained after refusing to sign a declaration to seek a new nationality within two weeks. -Reuters
Ex-Miss USA Rima Fakih gets probation in DUI case
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Couples participate in a military mass wedding ceremony in Taipei May 10, 2012. 264 couples tied the knot together on Thursday, with Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu as the witness for the ceremony. (Reuters)