CR IP TI ON BS SU
MONDAY, JULY 1, 2013
Kuwait officials seek to allay fears of Indians
Europeans want answers over alleged US bugging
Move over Messi, here come the robots
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Rosberg wins but tyre safety debate rages
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NO: 15856
27
Egyptians flood streets to demand Morsi ouster
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www.kuwaittimes.net
SHAABAN 22, 1434 AH
President won’t quit, renews offer to amend constitution
CAIRO: An Egyptian protester waves the national flag as Egyptians gather in Tahrir Square during a demonstration against President Mohamed Morsi yesterday. — AP
Two petitions filed to cancel or defer polls By B Izzak KUWAIT: A petition was filed yesterday to the administrative court demanding that the July 27 election be called off, claiming the Cabinet is illegitimate because it does not have an elected member of the National Assembly, thus making all decisions by the government illegal. A second petition was filed yesterday demanding the election be frozen until Sept 18, when the constitutional court is scheduled to issue its explanation on the ruling it issued on June 16. The administrative court, whose rulings can be challenged, immediately set July 7 to look into the first petition filed by lawyer Adel Abdulhadi who
insisted that the election process will be illegal if it is held under the current scenario. Acting on behalf of a voter, Abdulhadi based his petition on a clause in the constitution stipulating that the Cabinet must include at least one elected member from the Assembly. There can be more than one. In the current Cabinet, Minister of Social Affairs and Labour Thekra AlRasheedi, who was elected to the Assembly on Dec 1, 2012, is the elected MP. But her membership was nullified after the constitutional court nullified the election because of a constitutional violation. Abdulhadi argued that accordingly there is no elected MP in the Cabinet, which makes illegal and Continued on Page 15
Max 48º Min 35º High Tide 05:48 & 18:16 Low Tide 12:20
CAIRO: Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians flooded into the streets on the first anniversary of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi’s inauguration yesterday to demand that he resign in the biggest challenge so far to rule by his Muslim Brotherhood. Waving national flags and chanting “Get out!”, a crowd of more than 200,000 massed on Cairo’s central Tahrir Square. It was the largest demonstration since the 2011 uprising that overthrew Morsi’s predecessor, Hosni Mubarak. “The people want the fall of the regime!” they shouted, echoing the Arab Spring rallying cry that brought down Mubarak - this time yelling it not against an ageing dictator but against the first elected leader in Egypt’s 5,000-year recorded history. While the main protests were peaceful, at least one Morsi supporter was shot dead and 37 people injured in fighting in the town of Beni Suef, south of Cairo, and dozens suffered gunshot wounds during an attack on a Muslim Brotherhood office in Housh Eissa, in the northern Nile Delta. The Brotherhood’s national headquarters in a Cairo suburb also came under attack from militants hurling petrol bombs and rocks and firing shotguns. The liberal opposition National Salvation Front coalition declared victory in what it styled “Revolutionary Communique No. 1” saying the masses had “confirmed the downfall of the regime of Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood”. Organisers called on demonstrators to continue to occupy central squares in every city until Morsi quits. The Tahrir Square crowd roared with approval as an army helicopter hovering overhead dropped Egyptian flags on the protesters. A military source said the move was intended to promote patriotism and was not a gesture of political support. Many demonstrators bellowed their anger at the Brotherhood, which they accuse of hijacking the revolution and using electoral victories to monopolise power and impose Islamic law. Others, including some who said they had voted for Morsi, have been alienated by a deepening economic crisis and worsening personal security, aggravated by a political deadlock over which he has presided. Even some Islamists have disavowed Morsi. Continued on Page 15
Gulf, EU call for Syria talks
MANAMA: High Representative of the European Union Catherine Ashton (front left and on screen) addresses foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council during a joint EU-GCC council meeting yesterday. Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah is seen at right. — AFP
Obama visits Mandela prison ROBBEN ISLAND, South Africa: US President Barack Obama was “deeply humbled” by a visit yesterday to the cell where a now critically ill Nelson Mandela spent years as a prisoner, as he urged a young generation of Africans to take up his hero’s mantle. The US leader lauded Mandela and other anti-apartheid inmates of Robben Island who “refused to yield” in the face of racist white minority rule, as he paid homage to the ailing icon he was unable to see in hospital. Obama, accompanied by his wife Michelle and young daughters Sasha and Malia, visited the bleak lime quarry where 34 anti-apartheid leaders - including Mandela - endured hours of backbreaking work on the rocky outcrop in the Atlantic Ocean. After staring out the barred window of the small damp cell where Mandela spent two thirds of his 27 years in prison, and contracted tuberculosis, Obama took a few minutes to write a note in the visitors book. “On behalf of ROBBEN ISLAND, South Africa: US President Barack Obama our family we’re deeply humbled to stand looks out the window yesterday from the cell where anti- where men of such courage faced down injusapartheid legend Nelson Mandela was once jailed on Robben tice and refused to yield,” he wrote. Continued on Page 15 Island. — AFP
DUBAI: Gulf Arab nations and the European Union pledged yesterday to pool their efforts to help convene a peace conference on Syria, as they wrapped up a oneday ministerial meeting in Bahrain. The gathering attended by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and the foreign ministers of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council also called on Shiite Iran to play “a constructive role” in the Sunni-dominated region. The ministers “reiterated the utmost urgency of finding a political settlement of the Syrian conflict,” said a statement issued at the end of the meeting. They also pledged to “spare no effort in helping to create the appropriate conditions for a successful convening of the peace conference on Syria” which Russia and the United States have been striving to hold in Geneva. The GCC and the EU also took a swipe at Lebanon’s Shiite militant movement Hezbollah which backs the Damascus regime in the 27-month conflict and “condemned” its role “in military operations in Syria”. The statement, however, made no mention of demands by Syria’s armed opposition for weapons to topple the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad. But Saudi Arabia, a key backer of the Syrian opposition along with fellow GCC powerbroker Qatar, insisted the European Union should “immediately” arm the insurgents. Continued on Page 15
Rolling Stones rock Glastonbury PILTON, United Kingdom: The Rolling Stones showed they’ve still got it as they finally took to the stage at Glastonbury with an electric performance that organisers said was the highlight of the British festival’s history. Frontman Mick Jagger, wearing a glittering green jacket, bounded onto the Pyramid Stage on Saturday night with the energy and enthusiasm of a man half his age. “This is great. I want to tell you something - it’s great to be doing this show, doing this festival. You all look amazing,” the 69-yearold told the cheering crowd. He then jokingly added: “After all these years, they finally got around to asking us. Thank you Michael.” He was referring to Michael Eavis, the organiser of Glastonbury who is thought to have been trying to arrange the Stones to play for years. But they have said it never fit with their schedule. Eavis said their
GLASTONBURY, England: Mick Jagger (center) Ronnie Wood (left) Charlie Watts (rear on drums) and Keith Richards of British band the Rolling Stones per form on the Pyramid main stage of the Glastonbury Festival. — AP performance was “the high spot of deliver.” Jagger acknowledged that 43 years of Glastonbury”, telling most of the young audience, which the BBC: “They finally did it, and it reportedly included 28-year-old was fantastic. My God, did they Continued on Page 15