TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012
@alwatandaily
Issue No. 1428
20 PAGES
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150 Fils with IHT
Second interpellation filed against Al-Shamali MP Al-Wasmi files separate motion against Finance Minister
Mohammed Al-Salman Staff Writer
KUWAIT: Although the Majority Bloc claims that it works synergistically, the fact that the bloc has filed two interpellations against Minister of Finance Mustafa Al-Shamali casts doubts on such claims. Parliamentary sources revealed that the new bloc will witness division, and that disagreements will be more glaring during the coming period. Disagreements surfaced before the press on Monday when MP Obaid Al-Wasmi filed an interpellation against Al-Shamali, during the time MPs Musallam Al-Barrak, Khaled Al-Tahous, and Abdulrahman Al-Anjari also planned to file an interpellation against the same minister. Informed sources mentioned that Al-Wasmi decided to file his interpellation against Al-Shamali after the Popular Action Bloc refused to include him as one of the signing parties of the interpellation, since the bylaw allows only three MPs to sign the interpellation. Such conflicts have negatively impacted the bloc’s image among common Kuwaiti citizens, since these conflicts show that the bloc is unable to reach agreements with its members; thus casting doubts regarding its ability to reach a decision concerning the no-confidence vote. Constitutional sources at the National Assembly explained that since Al-Shamali faces two consecutive interpellations within a short interval, the discussion regarding both interpellations will be merged. MP Al-Barrak criticized MP Al-Wasmi for not attending four meetings that were held to discuss the interpellation. It is worth noting that Al-Wasmi was in Jordan and therefore missed the meetings. Al-Wasmi did not contact Al-Barrak and the other MPs to coordinate with them in regards to the interpellation after he returned from Jordan. However, he asserted that there are no conflicts with Al-Wasmi, since they all seek the interest of the Kuwaiti people.
The interpellation filed by MPs Al-Barrak, Al-Tahous, and AlAnjari will tackle Al-Zour Station, the cancellation of the power and water desalination station project in Al-Sebbeya while increasing the value of the contract, violations of Kuwait Investment Authority, the previous management of Offset, Kuwait Investment Company, taking advantages of bonuses, the Touristic Enterprises Company, favoring interests of banks over welfare of citizens, preventing citizens from taking advantage of drops in interest rates, failing to handle defaulters’ issues and favoring debtors, leniency that led to the loans crisis, not investigating violations that occurred at the Customs Department, alcohol found at embassies, Kuwaitis terminated from the private sector, leniency in enforcing the law regarding state property, and social insurance. The issues included in the interpellation filed by Al-Wasmi are: failing to shoulder supervisory responsibilities over bank loans policies, misleading the public, extending the period of loans which violates banking instructions, leniency in protecting national wealth, misappropriating funds, smuggling of diesel, and refraining from collecting due state funds. Moreover, MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei stated that the Development Bloc will support both interpellations filed against Al-Shamali. He added that the bloc members will meet after the first round of deliberations of Al-Humoud’s interpellation, in order to reach a decision regarding that issue. He stressed that the bloc has no preconceptions regarding the interpellation, and that the interpellation will either be supported or rejected after listening to all parties. Meanwhile, today’s National Assembly session witnesses the deliberation of the interpellation filed by Al-Juwaihel against Minister of Interior Sheikh Ahmad Al-Humoud. Parliamentary sources expect a heated session, since Al-Juwaihel will reveal names and documents that will cause disputes among MPs and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 provoke the government.
Ambassador denies Kuwaiti student abuse in Egypt
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Karzai says Afghan civilian deaths could hinder US pact
KABUL: The strategic pact sealed by US President Barack Obama last week in Afghanistan is at risk of becoming “meaningless” if Afghans do not feel safe, President Hamid Karzai said on Monday, referring to a string of recent civilian casualties by NATO. Karzai summoned US General John Allen, commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, and US Ambassador Ryan Crocker, to his palace to discuss the civilian deaths, a longstanding thorn in ties between Karzai and his Western backers. The killing of civilians also has soured the feelings of many ordinary Afghans towards foreign forces in a war that is becoming increasingly unpopular and is dragging into its 11th year. “Karzai signed the strategic pact with the United States to avoid such incidents (civilian casualties) and if Afghans do not feel safe, the strategic partnership loses its meaning,” a
presidential palace statement said, referring to an agreement setting out a long-term US role in Afghanistan. The statement added that dozens of civilians had been killed in the eastern provinces of Kapisa and Logar, northwestern Badghis province and the southern Taliban stronghold of Helmand over the past three days in NATO air strikes. A spokesman for NATO said the air strikes were under investigation, and the palace statement quoted Allen as saying: “I personally take responsibility for these incidents.” Obama swooped into Afghanistan for the one-year anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s death on May 2 to sign the strategic partnership, which lays out plans for future aid and advisers. The deal may provide Afghans with reassurances that they will not be abandoned when most NATO combat troops leave as planned in 2014. -Reuters
New video of US aid worker kidnapped in Pakistan ISLAMABAD: A 70-year-old American aid worker kidnapped 9 months ago in Pakistan said in a video released by Al-Qaeda that he would be killed unless President Barack Obama agrees to the militant group’s demands. The video posted on militant websites Sunday followed one issued in December in which Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahri said Warren Weinstein would be released if the US stopped airstrikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. He also demanded the release of
all Al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects around the world. “My life is in your hands, Mr. President,” Weinstein said in the new video. “If you accept the demands, I live; if you don’t accept the demands, then I die.” It was unclear when the video was recorded. The White House had no comment Monday on Al-Qaeda’s demands or Weinstein’s plea. A woman who answered the phone Monday at a number listed for Weinstein
in Rockville, Md., said she had no comment when an Associated Press reporter identified herself. Phone messages left for Weinstein’s relatives were not immediately returned. Weinstein was abducted in August in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore after gunmen tricked his guards and broke into his home. He was the country director in Pakistan for J.E. Austin Associates, a US-based firm that advises a range of Pakistani business and government sectors. -AP
Putin sworn in as Russia’s president
Guns shoot salute in honor of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin during his inauguration ceremony in Moscow’s Kremlin, on May 7, 2012. Putin took his oath of office today to become Russia’s president for a historic third mandate at a glittering ceremony inside the Kremlin. (AFP)
MOSCOW: Vladimir Putin has been sworn in as Russia’s president for a third term after four years as prime minister. Putin was first elected president in 2000 and the new six-year term will keep him in power until 2018. Putin’s inauguration on Monday comes a day after an opposition protest drew more than 20,000 people, fewer than the mass demonstrations that preceded his election but still a sign that the anger over Putin’s return to the Kremlin has not faded. The protest turned violent when some demonstrators tried to march toward the Kremlin and helmeted riot police beat back the crowds with batons and detained more than 400 people. A ceremony is under way in a glittering Kremlin hall for the inauguration of Vladimir Putin, who is starting a third presidential term after four years as prime minister. Putin was first elected president in 2000 and the new six-year term will keep More on 5 him in power until 2018.
His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah (center) attends, on behalf of the Amir, the 30th anniversary of the establishment of Zakat House, on Monday, May 7, 2012. (KUNA)
Cabinet OKs privatization council bill KUWAIT: The Kuwaiti Cabinet has approved a draft law authorizing a supreme privatization council under His Highness the Prime Minister, said Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Sabah Khalid Al-Sabah. Emerging from the weekly Cabinet meeting, Sheikh Sabah told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) the council comprises the deputy prime minister and minister of finance, minister of commerce and industry, minister of public works and minister of state for planning and development affairs, minister of communications, minister of electricity and water and minister of state for municipal affairs, in addition to experts Dr. Mohammad Monther Al-Zuhair, Dr. Abdulhamid Ali Hussein and Engineer Naif Al-Lafi. Sheikh Sabah added said the Cabinet was apprised of a recent letter to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlSabah from Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia on bilateral relations and within consultations between the two brotherly countries. The Cabinet was also briefed by the letter to the Amir from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, where the latter expressed content over the advanced level of cooperation reached between Kuwait and the international body at all levels. More on 2
Israeli court rules against Palestinian hunger strikers
RAMALLAH, WEST BANK: Israel’s Supreme Court turned down on Monday an appeal by two Palestinians, who have been on hunger strike for the past 70 days, to free them from detention without trial. But in its decision, released by the Justice Ministry, the court said security authorities should consider freeing them for medical reasons. Thaer Halahla and Bilal Diab, described by the court as active members of the Islamic Jihad militant group, have been refusing food in protest at their “administrative detention”, a policy Israel applies in many security-related cases. Around 1,550 Palestinian prisoners have forsworn food in Israeli jails for three weeks in a protest against the detentions, wide denial of family visits and solitary confinement. Qaddoura Fares, chairman of the main Palestinian prisoners’ organization, decried the ruling as a “death sentence” and accused the court of being politically motivated. “The court knows the gravity of their status and health, but it has decided to reject the petition. This court is a tool More on 4 of the,” Fares said.
Researchers say step closer to meningitis B vaccine
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Rock analysis suggests France cave art ‘oldest’ in world
WASHINGTON: Experts have long debated whether the sophisticated animal drawings in a famous French cave are indeed the oldest of their kind in the world, and a study out Monday suggests that yes, they are. The smooth curves and fine details in the paintings of bears, rhinoceroses and horses in the Chauvet cave in southern France’s picturesque Ardeche region are so advanced that some scholars believe they date from 12,000 to 17,000 years ago. That would place them as relics of the Magdalenian culture, in which human
ancestors used tools of stone and bone and created increasingly advanced art as time went on. But scientists have previously shown through radiocarbon dating evidence of rock art, charcoal and animal bones in the Chauvet cave that the drawings are older than that, likely between 30,000-32,000 years old, befuddling some who believed that early art took on more primitive forms. Now, according to research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a US journal, scientists believe they have confirmation that the paintings are “the oldest and most elabo-
rate ever discovered.” Their findings are based on an analysis - called geomorphological and chlorine-36 dating - of the rockslide surfaces around what is believed to be the cave’s only entrance. The research shows that an overhanging cliff began collapsing 29,000 years ago and did so repeatedly over time, definitively sealing the entrance to humans around 21,000 years ago. That would mean the drawings had to have been done before that, and bolsters the notion that they were created by people in the Aurignacian culture which lived 28,000 to 40,000 years ago. -AFP
Al-Qaeda surprise attack kills 22 Yemeni soldiers
SANAA: Al-Qaeda militants staged a surprise attack Monday on a Yemeni army base in the south, killing at least 22 soldiers and capturing 25 just hours after a US drone strike killed a senior figure in the terror network wanted in connection with the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen. It was not immediately clear if the pre-dawn attack on the military base in the southern Abyan province was in retaliation for the death of Fahd Al-Quso, a top Al-Qaeda leader on the FBI’s most wanted list. The militants managed to reach the base both from the sea and by land, gunning down troops and making away with weapons and other military hardware after the blitz attack, Yemeni military officials said. Government forces later shelled militant positions elsewhere in Abyan, killing 16 militants, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to More on 4 speak to the media.
Supporters wave at Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi as she leaves the National League for Democracy party Lanmadaw township branch office’s opening ceremony in Yangon May 7, 2012. (Reuters)