May 26, 2012

Page 1

SATURDAY, MAY 26, 2012

@alwatandaily

Issue No. 1446

12 PAGES

www.alwatandaily.com

150 Fils with IHT

Dow case sparks ultimatum

MPs give oil minister ten days to solve crisis Staff Writers

KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime Minister, Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, held a meeting with the oil minister along with a number of oil sector officials to discuss the circumstances of the sentence that was issued by the International Chamber of Commerce against the Petrochemical Industries Company of Kuwait (PIC). The sentence stipulates the payment of $2.16 billion to the Dow Chemical Company (DOW) as a compensation for cancellation of a previous contract in 2008. Meanwhile, a government source disclosed that the premier has listened to the opinion of oil officials about the contract during the meeting, in addition to the various stages of the contract undertaken, as well as the consultation offices which helped the company in this regard. Following the meeting the case of the contract was referred to the Fatwa and Legislation Authority so that the different legal aspects of the contract may be considered, after which the authority will prepare a memorandum to submit to the cabinet next week. The source added that the cabinet will form

a committee to follow up the legal aspects of the contract, in lieu of the fact of the government’s seriousness regarding bringing all potentially negligent officials to account over the incident. Some MPs issued an ultimatum directed at the Minister of Oil, Hani Hussein, who was working as an advisor for Dow Company in 2008; the minister could either find a solution that would absolve the state from paying such a significant amount in compensation to Dow, or he could quit the current government. They asked the minister to endorse one of the two options within ten days. On his part, MP Ali Al-Omair said, “We were surprised by the sentence and we fear losing considerable funds because of the government’s negligence, which doesn’t seem to show interest in cases that are filed against its institutions, as a result it loses cases and ends up paying compensation.” He also asked for bringing all negligent officials to account and he wondered how Dow managed to win the case despite the fact that Kuwait had not officially applied a signature to the contract in question. The MP went on to say that as a result of current circumstances, the

government must appeal the sentence and look for distinguished lawyers to defend Kuwait’s position. MP Abdulateef Al-Omairi questioned how the contract could include an item which stipulates forcing Kuwait to pay a significant compensation if it cancels the contract, and called on the government to do its best to deal with the case. MP Obaid Al-Wasmi asked the prime minister to issue immediate decisions for suspending the duty of all officials who contributed in preparing the unfavorable deal, adding that some critical mistakes similar to the Dow deal would be enough to cause the country to announce bankruptcy. The MP added that the only option forward would be for the premier to pay the compensation from his own funds, because the funds of the Kuwaiti people should not be wasted on such gross governmental mistakes. MP Abdulhameed Dashti said he is considering filing cases against all officials who were responsible for negotiating the deal with the Public Prosecutor, because the matter represents a dire cost to the Kuwaiti people. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Anti-regime demos in Syrian cities as death toll mounts

UN inspectors find higher-grade uranium traces in Iran VIENNA: United Nations inspectors have found uranium particles enriched to a higher-than-expected level at an Iranian underground site where Tehran has installed more than 50 percent more enrichment centrifuges, a UN watchdog report said on Friday. It said Iran had told the UN agency that the traces of highly refined uranium - at a level that could take Iran further down the road to potential weapons-grade threshold - “may happen for technical reasons beyond the operator’s control”. The IAEA report said environmental samples taken in February at Iran’s Fordow facility - buried deep beneath rock and soil to protect it from air strikes - showed the presence of particles with enrichment levels of up to 27 percent. That takes it across the line from low-enriched to high-enriched uranium. It is “significantly” above the threshold level, one diplomat familiar with the issue said, adding that a “number” of such particles had been discovered and that further samples were taken earlier this month to see whether the find was confirmed. Iran has increased its stockpile of 20 percent uranium to around 145 kg in May from nearly 110 kg some three months ago, the report said. Western experts say about 250 kg is needed for a nuclear bomb, if processed further. The report also showed Iran had installed 368 enrichment centrifuges at Fordow facility in addition to the 696 already operating there. Although not yet being fed with uranium, the new machines could be used to further expand Iran’s output of uranium enriched to a fissile concentration of 20 percent, the part of the country’s nuclear program that most worries the West. -Reuters

Lebanese Hezbollah supporters wave national and party (yellow) flags during a rally in the southern town of Bint Jbeil on May 25, 2012 to mark the 12th anniversary of the withdrawal of Israeli troops from south Lebanon after a 22-year occupation. (AFP)

DAMASCUS: Syrian anti-regime activists on Friday took to the streets of Damascus and other major centers, monitors said, as armed rebels insisted that “protection of peaceful protests” is their top priority. Protests took place at dawn on Friday in five residential neighborhoods of the capital in support of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA), and to call for President Bashar Al-Assad’s downfall, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Demonstrations were also held in the northern city of Aleppo while activists began gathering in other protest hubs for rallies after the Muslim weekly Friday prayers, as has been customary since an anti-Assad revolt erupted in March 2011. The Observatory said six civilians were killed on Friday, four of them, including three teenagers, by regime forces’ gunfire as they guarded their farm in the village of Chizar, in central Hama province. The Britain-based Observatory also said that at least 34 people, including 24 civilians, were killed on Thursday, in violence across the country, including the shelling by regime forces of the rebel stronghold of Rastan, in central Syria. The outgoing leader of Syria’s largest opposition group charged on Thursday that the deeply-divided opposition had failed its people. More on 2

Egypt’s Brotherhood claims early lead

Hollande defends early French pullout from Afghanistan KABUL: French President Francois Hollande made an unannounced trip to Afghanistan on Friday to visit some of the French troops he wants to pull out later this year, defending his plan for their early exit after meeting his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai. Hollande was strongly criticized at a NATO summit last weekend for accelerating France’s withdrawal of its roughly 3,400 troops in Afghanistan to the end of this year, two years ahead of the timetable agreed by the alliance. “The mission of fighting terrorism and chasing out the Taliban is close to being accomplished, and this is something we can be very proud of,” Hollande told journalists at an outdoor press conference in Karzai’s garden palace. “We will stay in Afghanistan but with a different role, our cooperation will focus on civilian fronts,” he said. The drawdown, a promise to voters during Hol-

Pope’s butler arrested in leaks investigation

People wave flags as they wait for the arrival of Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej for a ceremony in Thung Makham Yong in Ayutthaya province, north of Bangkok on May 25, 2012. Thailand’s ailing king traveled outside of the capital Bangkok for the first time in more than two years to visit the ancient capital Ayutthaya. (AFP)

Climate pact process stumbles as countries bicker

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VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict’s butler was arrested on Friday in connection with an investigation into leaks of confidential documents, some alleging cronyism and corruption in Vatican contracts, a senior Vatican source said. The scandal, which has come to be known as “Vatileaks”, involves the leaking of a string of documents to Italian media in January and February, including personal letters to the pope. Some of the documents involved allegations of corruption, mismanagement and cronyism in the awarding of contracts for work in the Vatican and internal disagreement on the management of the Vatican bank. The president of the Vatican bank, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, was ousted by its board on Thursday. Vatican spokesmen said earlier on Friday that a person in possession of confidential documents had been arrested but that they could not disclose his position or identity until they were given permission from Vatican investigators. The Vatican source confirmed reports by Italian media that the person arrested was the butler.

Women, children targeted in renewed Congo clashes KINSHASA: Rival armed groups in Congo’s eastern provinces are targeting each other’s families, killing children, women and the elderly in some of the country’s worst violence in years, officials said on Friday. The fighting, which UN agency UNICEF says has cost up to 80 lives since early May, comes amid a security vacuum in parts of the vast forested region after Congo’s army redeployed elsewhere to capture a renegade general, Bosco Ntaganda, and his men. “All these areas which are without the army, without protection, have been seized again by the (Hutu rebel group) FDLR,” said Jean Luc Mutokambali, a parliamentarian from the region and member of the ruling coalition. “That’s leading to self-defense groups like Raia Mutomboki,” he said, referring to a local militia involved in the clashes whose name means “Angry Population”. The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Friday that it was treating scores of victims from the fighting. “Most of the victims are civilians, some of whom

are very young children, elderly people or women,” Laetitia Courtois, a spokeswoman for the ICRC said in a press release. “Some injured people had to be carried for hours on foot ... to reach healthcare centers.” Both sides in the fighting are targeting civilians, often suspected wives, families and friends of their enemies, said Marie Claire Bangwene Mwavita, the administrator of Masisi territory. She said several villages were recently pillaged near the border between North and South Kivu provinces, and at least four people burnt alive in their homes. The United Nations local peacekeeping mission, known as MONUSCO, has deployed attack helicopters in North Kivu in an attempt to dissuade armed groups from targeting civilians, spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Mactar Diop said. Ntaganda, a former rebel wanted by the ICC for war crimes and who was integrated into the army in a 2009 peace deal, mutinied with around 600 soldiers last month after the government said it would arrest him. -Reuters

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“It’s all very sad,” another senior Vatican source said, commenting on an episode that is the latest in a string of embarrassments for the Vatican. The pope’s butler serves in the apartments of the Apostolic Palace, serving at the papal tables, handing rosaries to visiting dignitaries and riding in the first seat of the popemobile at papal audiences. As an intimate member of the papal household, he is privy to the goings on in the most reserved and private rooms in the Vatican. Italian media said investigators had found documents in his apartment. The pope, who has been shocked and saddened by the leaks, ordered several investigations, including one headed by Vatican police and another by a commission of cardinals. The leaked documents included letters by an archbishop who was transferred to Washington after he blew the whistle on what he saw as a web of corruption and cronyism, a memo which put a number of cardinals in a bad light, and documents alleging internal conflicts about the Vatican Bank. -Reuters

lande’s election campaign following successive attacks by rogue Afghan soldiers on French mentors, breaks with the NATO timetable for a withdrawal of most foreign combat troops by the end of 2014. It raised concern that other alliance nations may follow France’s example and accelerate their withdrawal plans, handing security prematurely to fledgling Afghan forces. At last weekend’s meeting of NATO allies in Chicago, German Chancellor Angela Merkel criticized the early withdrawal, saying she wanted a unified pullout under the alliance’s existing strategy of “in together, out together”. Some 2,000 French troops are due to leave this year but some will remain to provide support and training, and to look after equipment. France has 14 helicopters, 900 vehicles and 1,400 containers that need to be taken out via road and plane. More on 3

Guinea police seize 800 pieces of ivory in bust CONAKRY: Guinea police seized over 800 pieces of ivory, including sculptures and elephant tusks, in the capital Conakry during a raid that led to six arrests, police said Friday. The arrests were made on May 19 and 21, a police official said on condition of anonymity. Security forces “seized over 800 objects made with elephant ivory” including large sculptures and raw elephant tusks. The operation was carried out by Guinean security forces along with the ministries of justice, environment, water and forests, and the Guinea Support for Law on Fauna project. “These arrests are just the beginning. Guinean authorities intend to put an end to this trafficking which has reached uncontrolled levels,” Security Minister Maramany Cisse told journalists on Thursday. On March 28 seven suspected traffickers of protected species were arrested, a first in the country since independence in 1958, according to an environmental official. In that raid 80 kilos of sculpted ivory were seized as well as two panther skins valued at 38,000 euros (47,000 Us dollars). “Ivory trafficking is emptying the African continent of its elephants for a demand essentially destined for the foreign market,” poaching expert Lieutenant Amara Bangoura told AFP. Guinea is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and while ivory trafficking has been illegal in the country since 1997, it lacks the resources to police it. According to CITES figures, only about 470,000 African elephants remain today, down from about 1.3 million in 1979, a loss primarily due to the animals being killed for ivory. -AFP

Giant telescope to explore far reaches of cosmos LONDON/AMSTERDAM: The world’s biggest and most advanced radio telescope, capable of detecting signs of extraterrestrial life in the far reaches of the universe, will be located in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The decision to split the location of the $2 billion “Square Kilometer Array” followed intense lobbying by the two leading bidders, South Africa one side and a joint bid from Australia and New Zealand on the other. Scientists leading the project rejected the suggestion that the decision, which will mean higher costs, meant science had taken a back seat to political expediency. “I can’t deny there is a political aspect to the process because when you are spending very large amounts of public money, politicians are going to be interested,” said John Womersley, Chair of the Board of Directors of the SKA organization. More on 9

Dancers from the “Unost” troupe representing the Ukraine stretch in the foyer of the theatre ahead of their performance at the 10th World Dance Championships in Modern Dance Sport, in Eastbourne on May 25, 2012. (AFP)


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