editor@pen.com.qa | adv@pen.com.qa Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Thursday 5 June 2014

7 Sha’baan 1435Volume 19

Number 6087Price: QR2

DAYS TO GO111111111111 444444444444

DAYS TO GO000000000000 777777777777

Business | 21

QP holds meet for suppliers, contractors

Emir receives new envoy

The Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani receiving the creden-tials of new Swedish envoy Ewa Ulrika Polano at the Emiri Diwan yester-day. The Emir also received credentials of Dr Rashid Yahya Ssemuddu of Uganda, Martin Vitek of the Czech Republic and Andre Pung of Estonia.

Tunnel boring machine

A German-made tunnel boring machine (TBM) being delivered at the Doha Port yesterday. Qatar Railways Company (Qatar Rail) has received four more TBMs for phase one of the Doha Metro project.

Report on page 5

Minimum wage for Indonesian maids raisedDOHA: Indonesia has increased the minimum monthly wage for their women to work here as maids to QR1,200 ($332) for inexperienced hands and QR1,500 ($412) for those experienced.

The Indonesian government has, though, imposed a tempo-rary ban on the export of maids here, as also to the neighbour-ing UAE, due to what it says are problems related to working conditions.

An official from the Indonesian embassy told this newspaper yes-terday that the above ban was imposed last April. The embassy, however, stopped endorsing job requests for Indonesian maids in November 2013 itself.

Novi Faitmawti, second secre-tary at the mission, said that the other condition for Indonesian maids to work here is that they be given a day off in the week. She insisted that unless the above conditions are met, the temporary ban was unlikely to be lifted.

THE PENINSULA

Truce in Yemen after fresh strikesSANA’A: A ceasefire between Shia rebels and government forces went into effect yes-terday, the Yemeni Defence Ministry said, after fresh fight-ing and air strikes killed a total of 19 people from both sides.

Nearly 140 people have died in three days of fighting near the town of Omran. REUTERS

DOHA: Whether an expatriate worker would need exit permit or not to travel overseas would be decided by the job contract he signs with his employer once the sponsorship system is changed.

The worker can also put a con-dition in the contract, subject to approval of his employer, that he would be changing the job at the end of his contractual period.

This was disclosed by the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, H E Dr Abdullah bin Saleh Mubarak Al Khulaifi, at an International Labour Conference in Geneva yesterday.

The Minister said procedures to remove the sponsorship system (regulated by Law Number 4 of 2009) were on at a quick pace.

After the sponsorship system is gone, a contractual system would be put in place. The contract inked between a foreign worker and his employer would regulate the relationship between the two, said Al Khulaifi.

“The contract will decide whether a worker needs exit per-mit or not to leave the country. And whether he gets no-objection certificate to take up another job at the end of the contract would

also be decided by this contract.”The wage protection system

(WPS) for workers is being final-ised. “It is in the last stages.”

Exchange houses are also being made part of the WPS network along with banks, said the Minister. It will be mandatory for companies to transfer their workers’ salaries to banks or exchange houses every month. If a worker wants and pro-vides his bank account details in home country, his salary could be credited into this account directly, said Al Khulaifi.

Relevant provisions of the labor law are being amended to facilitate the launch of the WPS, according to him. “Work on the WPS is proceeding very fast.”

This was the 103rd ses-sion of the International Labor Conference (May 28 to June 12) he was speaking at, Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported. For the WPS a separate office is being set up at the labor ministry. It would have adequate staffing and people would be trained to handle the system.

The number of inspectors at the Ministry has been raised from 150 to 200 in the past three months. The plan is to double the number, to 300, in the near future.

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Qatar has plans to change its financial year to January to December from the current April to March to ensure compatibility with the private sector and the listed entities that have their fiscal year beginning from January.

Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported that the weekly Cabinet approved a draft law yester-day incorporating the proposed change in the budget year.

The draft talks of streamlining

the country’s financial system and making public finance efficient in line with best international practices.

Contacted for comment, invest-ment and finance expert, Abdullah Al Khater, told this newspaper that Qatar was taking the right step by changing the financial year to January-December.

“We don’t know what was the basis of having fiscal year from April to March,” said Al Khater. The state’s budget year should

have actually been from January to December, he added.

The business sector, banks and all financial institutions barring state institutions have all have January to December financial year.

“Companies wait until April every year to know public spend-ing figures and development project details whereas their own financial year ends on December 31,” said Al Khater.

THE PENINSULA

Huge rise in property salesDOHA: Real estate sales peaked at a historic high recently, with transactions totaling QR2.3bn in the last week of May (May 25 to 29), up a huge 63.8 percent over the previous week.

Real estate giant, Ezdan, said in a report that a total of 388 trans-actions took place in the week, with the maximum being in Umm Salal Ali, at 197. Ezdan didn’t give reasons for the huge rise in trans-actions but said five massive deals worth QR900m concluded in the week took the total of QR2.3bn.

The largest deal worth a stag-gering QR290m was concluded in Umm Salal Ali. It was a plot land admeasuring a huge 145,000 sq meters. The second largest deal was concluded in Doha with the value of QR250m.

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Investors’ wealth on the Qatari equity exchange is down by a massive QR23.9bn ($6.6bn) in the past three trad-ing days, with cement stocks being one of those shares that have shed substantial value in the period.

The downward trend on the Qatar Exchange (QE), surprisingly, began on the day (June 2) it was expected by investors and analysts alike to witness considerable gain since 10 of its 43 listed shares were to be included in the coveted MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

The market capitalization of the QE on June 1 was QR739.81bn

($203.2bn), and it climbed down to QR732.16bn the next day. The decline continued and yesterday, on the third day of continuous decline, the capitalization figure fell to QR715.87bn — a drop of QR23.9bn.

The main index of the bourse has been losing, and yesterday it was 13, 142.69, having shed more than 550 points, or slightly more than four percent, in the past there days, figures show. Cement shares have been on a losing spree since June 1. The stocks were actually ruling at a high of QR150 on May 29, the last day of trading in May.

However, when the market reopened after weekly closure on

June 1, the stocks lost a huge 4.6 percent, to QR143.10. The decline continued with the shares even-tually falling to QR131.70 at the close of trading yesterday.

Qatar National Cement Company (QNCC) is, though, not part of the 10 most prized shares that are included in the MSCI EM Index. Most of these 10 shares have been losing since June 2. Yesterday, the trading value, volumes and number of transac-tions all came down as compared to the previous days. The trading value was QR935.99m, while vol-umes totaled 18.27 million shares.

THE PENINSULA

Exit permit to be decided by job contract

Plan to change fiscal year

Qatari index continues to fall

Assad wins with 88.7pc votesBEIRUT: Bashar Al Assad won 88.7 percent of the vote in Syria’s presidential election, parliament speaker Mohammad Al Laham said yesterday, secur-ing a third term in office despite a raging civil war which grew out of protests against his rule.

Assad’s foes had dismissed the election as a charade, saying the two relatively unknown challengers offered no real alternative and that no poll held in the midst of civil war could be considered credible.

“I declare the victory of Dr Bashar Hafez Al Assad as presi-dent of the Syrian Arab Republic with an absolute majority of the votes cast in the election,” Laham said in a televised address from his office in the Syrian parliament.

Syria’s constitutional court ear-lier said that turnout in Tuesday’s election and an earlier round of voting for Syrian expatriates stood at 73 percnt. REUTERS

Wage protection system in last stages

04 HOMETHURSDAY 5 JUNE 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Malabar Gold and Diamonds TraQuest 2014

Quiz Master Mansoor Moideen conducting the Malabar Gold and Diamonds TraQuest 2014 organised by Trivandrum District Residents in Qatar at the Ashoka Hall of ICC yesterday. Students from all Indian schools — Al Khor International, Birla, DPS MIS, Ideal, MES, DMIS, and Shantiniketan — participated.

SALIM MATRAMKOT

BY FAZEENA SALEEM

DOHA: The Supreme Council of Health (SCH) said yester-day that there were no new cases of MERS — Middle East Respiratory Syndrome — in Qatar but advised people to take precautions while dealing with camels.

The specialised laboratory at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) conducted tests on some 14,000 samples collected from humans and animals across the country as part of a nationwide survey on the disease.

Until now, nine confirmed cases of MERS have been detected in humans in the country and five of them have died.

Citing a recent survey, SCH there were more chances of people handling camels getting infected.

SCH will soon launch a cam-paign to raise awareness about the issue.

However, the risk of peo-ple dealing with camels getting infected by MERS is not a cause for fear as the disease wouldn’t get severe.

A pilot survey by SCH and the Ministry of Environment says people once affected by MERS are immune to the infection.

The survey, in collaboration with World Health Organisation (WHO) and Erasmus Medical Centre in the Netherlands, was conducted to understand how

MERS corona virus spreads, who is at the risk of being infected, and who actually get infected.

“Among people we examined, around 20 dealing with camels had signs of past infection, but very mild,” Dr Mohammed Al Hajri, Head of Communicable Diseases Control Section, SCH, told a press conference held to discuss survey findings.

MERS cases are prevailing in camels in Qatar and evidence of virus has been found from camels from different locations.

The virus most frequently spreads from nasal secretions, but about 20 percent of virus-pos-itive animals also shed virus from

faeces, according to the survey. “Some camels in Qatar have

been found infected,” said Dr Al Hajri, but did not disclose the number of cases.

However, the survey has not found if the detection of Ribonucleic acid (RNA) of the viral has a direct risk to human health, as it’s not known if infec-tious virus is present in animal secretion, on carcasses or in the milk. Based on the findings of the survey, experts have advised peo-ple to take care of their personal hygiene and have properly cooked camel meet and milk.

Several preventive meas-ures have been taken by SCH in

coordination with WHO. They include being prepared to monitor suspected cases and take steps to prevent infection at all healthcare facilities.

People working at camel farms and slaughterhouses are advised to have good personal hygiene, with frequent hand washing after touching animals, facial protec-tion as far as possible and to wear protective clothing, which should be removed after work and washed daily.

Workers are also advised to avoid exposing family members to work clothing, shoes, or other

items that may have been exposed to camels or camel excretions.

Sick animals are not allowed to be slaughtered for consumption; in cases a particular animal has been tested positive for MERS, people should avoid direct contact with such animals.

Meanwhile, the GCC states have agreed to test camels for MERS when they are imported.

Camels will not be allowed to cross the border except those that have segments of tariff brackets and passports passage.

Therefore, no ban has been imposed on camel imports to

Qatar from the other GCC states. But all camels arriving in Qatar are tested for MERS.

Any camel found with infec-tion will be isolated for 30 days and re-examined. However, the Ministry of Environment has imposed a ban on camel imports from countries outside the GCC.

In December 2013, three cam-els were tested positive for MERS in Qatar. Between November 2013 and May 2014, nine people, including six Qataris, were found to be infected. Currently, no one is being treated for MERS in Qatar.

THE PENINSULA

No new cases of MERS in Qatar: SCHQatar to ban camel imports from outside GCC; HMC lab tests 14,000 human and animal samples

DOHA: Ezdan Holding Group’s stand in the Real Estate Investment and Development Exhibition — Cityscape 2014 — witnessed a large number of visitors, investors and develop-ers who came to learn about the most important and prominent projects of the group.

Ezdan displayed architectural models of many of its major projects and staff represented the group at the expo, includ-ing employees from Ezdan Real

Estate, Ezdan Mall and Ezdan Hotel to introduce the group to visitors and explain major activi-ties of companies.

“The exhibition has witnessed a significant number of inves-tors and developers, which pro-motes the event and gives it great importance to be regionally ech-oed. I expect the exhibition will record great success over the coming editions, especially that the Qatari real estate market is witnessing an upswing helping

promote such gatherings of inves-tors in such an important sector,” said Ali Al Obaidli, Group CEO, Ezdan Holding.

He said the huge turnout at the stand came as a result of the acclaimed position of the group in the local market, through mega projects that have been imple-mented in addition to projects in the pipeline.

He said the long experience has enabled the group to be among leading entities in the local

market and a model for new investors to follow.

Al Obaidli said meetings with some participants had been held on the sidelines and all addressed the posi-tion of the domestic real estate market and means of benefitting from the renaissance experienced by Qatar and its impact on the real estate sector.

The meeting also talked about Qatar World Cup 2022 and its importance as well as impact on real estate investment, stress-ing that the real estate and tourism sectors top the list of sectors expected to wit-ness a boom during the coming period.

The talks also covered the decision of the group to exit the real estate sec-tor and its influence on the real estate market.

Al Obaidli said the group has investments, including in the hospitality industry through Ezdan Hotel units that provide renowned services. He said Al Shamal Hotel is likely to be launched by this year-end, stressing that it will have an important role in and impact on the tourism and hospitality sector in Qatar and will be a vital addition to the group’s hotel chain.

He said Ezdan Holding is keen to participate in the annual exhibition to com-municate with visitors and explain the objectives of projects and answer their questions.

THE PENINSULA

Ezdan attracts record visitors at Cityscape

DOHA: The Supreme Council of Health (SCH) advised pilgrims returning from Umrah or Haj to seek medical attention if they have fever within two weeks as they could be screened for MERS.

People with pre-existing major medical conditions such as diabetes, chronic lung diseases, immunodeficiency, above 65, pregnant women and children are more likely to develop severe MERS infections if they are exposed to the virus.

Pilgrims are also advised to consult a healthcare provider before travelling to review the risk and postponing pilgrimage is advisable, in needed.

They are also advised to get vaccinated at least two weeks prior to travel and maintain good personal hygiene.

SCH also urged pilgrims to avoid close contact with camels, farms, non-pasteurised camel milk or improperly cooked meat.

The Department of Public Health is coordinating with Qatar Haj Committee to have a set of preventive measures for pilgrims in coor-dination with health authorities in Saudi Arabia, SCH officials told a press conference. THE PENINSULA

Pilgrims urged to take precautions

Officials at the press conference.

The Ezdan stand at the expo.

05THURSDAY 5 JUNE 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.comHOME

Family Food Centre holds final GMC draw

Family Food Centre held the final draw of GMC Promotion at its Al Naser Branch yesterday. Gangadas (Coupon No. 0351814) won a GMC Sierra Pickup Truck and Shameer Saithu Muhammed (Coupon No. 0114578) QR10,000. FFC General Manager, Jamal Hyder, and PRO, Mohammed Abdullah, were present at the draw, supervised by Jubran Saeed Al Shahwani from the Ministry of Economy and Commerce. SALIM MATRAMKOT

DOHA: The ‘Qatar Brazil: A Journey from the Amazon to the Desert’ photography exhibi-tion opened yesterday at Qatar Photographic Society (QPS) gallery in Katara Building 18, featuring stunning photos taken by Qatari and Brazilian photographers during a cultural exchange programme.

One of the highlights of the Qatar Brazil 2014 Year of Culture organised by Qatar Museums (QM), the expo showcases 47 of the best photos taken by Aref Al Ammari, Abdullah Al Tamimi, Andre Joaquim and Leonardo Wen.

“The photos express the essence of this year as seen by Qatari and Brazilian photographers.

“They will give a general idea which will encourage Qataris to visit Brazil and Brazilians to visit Qatar,” said the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage H E Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kuwari during the opening of the expo.

In collaboration with QPS and the ministry and sponsored by Qatar Petroleum International and Qatar Shell, Qatar Brazil 2014 sent two Qatari photogra-phers from QPS on a two-week expedition across Brazil to photo-graph its landscapes, people, food, culture, and touristic highlights.

Two Brazilian photographers were invited to Qatar to journey across the Arabian Peninsula to experience its history, people, tra-dition, food and culture.

The Qataris explored Brazil visiting the state of Minas Gerais

with its colourful markets and historical squares as well as pic-turesque towns and villages, cap-turing colonial landmarks, scenic views, iconic buildings and the street life.

“My best moment was on the first day when we went to the local market because the peo-ple were so kind and welcoming. Visiting the local people at old villages, we saw how simple their life was, yet they were very happy and didn’t mind us photographing them,” said Al Tamimi.

They also navigated the Amazon River by boat and stepped into the world of favelas and the unique urban landscape of the cultural capital Rio de Janeiro.

“There are many differences between our two nations, yet

I found many similarities. It’s amazing how far apart we are yet so close to each other,” said Al Ammari.

In Qatar, the Brazilians vis-ited Al Zubara Fort, Al Areesh, a fishing village, Souq Waqif and Zikreet and witnessed the new Richard Serra installation ‘East West – West east. “Spending the night in the desert in Zikreet made a real impact on me. Qatar is a special place on earth; its peo-ple, urban and natural landscape, religion, light and energy make it a unique place for any photogra-pher,” said Wen.

The duo also visited Museum of Islamic Art, Corniche, Katara, the Grand Mosque and Khor Al Udaid.

“I learned more about

photography, especially light painting photography, with my new friends. I also learned a lot about Islam as a religion and Islamic art and culture. It’s really great to see that even in the mod-ern and globalised world, some traditions are still respected and honoured,” said Joaquim.

Mansour Al Mahmoud, Acting CEO, QM, said: “The Years of Culture initiative is all about bringing people together, exchang-ing cultures and celebrating our shared humanity. Qatar Brazil 2014 has achieved all of these objectives through this fantas-tic exhibition that I am sure will touch people from Qatar, Brazil and beyond.”

The expo runs until June 30. THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Qatar Railways Company (Qatar Rail) has received four more tunnel bor-ing machines (TBMs) for phase one of the Doha Metro project.

The TBMs Al Mayeda, Al Khor, Lehwaila and Al Wakra were manufactured by Germany’s Herrenknecht and will be used for the Red Line North and South Underground projects.

TBMs are ideal for Doha; they interfere very little to the vibrant and active city life. Needing only one point of entry, they can tunnel below the city streets, practically unknown to the population above. They are also ideal for longer lengths of uninterrupted tunnel-ling, as is required for the Doha Metro project, Qatar Rail said yesterday in a press statement.

Al Mayeda and Al Khor will be used for the Red Line North Underground. The design and build for the project will be under-taken by a joint venture led by Italy’s Salini Impregilo.

Four TBMs (Lebretha, Al Mayeda, Al Khor and Al Bidda)

already on site to be assembled) are proposed to bore required tunnels for the Red Line North project.

Lehwaila and Al Wakra will be launched for the Red Line South Underground project. The design and build for the project will be undertaken by a joint venture led by the French-Qatari company QDVC Five TBMs (Lehwaila, Al Wakra, Mushaireb, Doha and Al Zubara) will be utilised for the tunnelling on the Red Line South Underground project.

Each TBM will travel between 7km and 9km and take about two years to complete their journeys. The TBM average speed will be between 12m/day and 21m/day, depending on ground conditions.

Daily excavation quantity will be over 600 cubic metres, with an estimated predicted total exca-vation quantity of over 5,000,000 cubic metres.

Work for Red Line North Underground comprises design and construction of about 13.4km twin-bored tunnel, including

seven underground stations, between the proposed Msheireb Underground Station and Doha Golf Course via Doha West Bay. Tunnels will be built at an average depth of about 20 meters below ground.

Red Line South Underground extends from Msheireb in the north to Hamad International Airport in the south. Work includes seven underground sta-tions and design and construction of about 14km twin-bored tunnel to be built at an average depth of about 25 meters below ground. Qatar Rail is awaiting the delivery of another 16 TBMs in the com-ing months, to be utilised between the Red Line North, Red Line South, Green Line and Gold Line Underground projects.

The Green Line, a joint venture led by Austria’s PORR Bau, will receive six TBMs, while the Gold Line – recently awarded a design and build contract to a joint ven-ture led by Greece’s Aktor SA – will also receive six TBMs.

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: The 70th IATA Annual General Meeting (AGM) and World Transport Summit 2014 ended on a high note in Doha on Tuesday after successful rounds of deliberations, key resolutions, negotiations and agreements were passed.

During a closing press brief-ing on the AGM, Qatar Airways (QA) was recognised for its inno-vation in passenger comfort with the Fast Travel Green Award by IATA. QA was praised for host-ing a memorable and engaging conference and its CEO and President of the AGM, Akbar Al Baker, was applauded for his insight and guidance. Prominent issues discussed included avia-tion safety, financial viability and environmental sustainability.

IATA welcomed and recog-nised the participation of QA and Hamad International Airport in two key industry programmes that will help enhance security and passenger convenience.

“QA is proud to have hosted this year’s IATA AGM. It was just one year ago in Cape Town that we gathered for this forum, and now the 70th AGM has finally become a reality being held in Doha and the Gulf for the first

time,” Al Baker told delegates. “With the expansion of the

aviation industry and the ever-growing aircraft manufacturing sector, we have together made travel easily accessible for the masses. Together we have opened up borders and air bridges mak-ing ways for enriched business and cultural exchanges.

“QA is a strong supporter of IATA and this year’s AGM has been a wonderful opportunity for us to showcase our Qatari hospitality, together with the new infrastructure develop-ments in our country, such as our new state-of-the-art Hamad International Airport,” he said.

During the press conference at Ritz Carlton Doha, he con-firmed that QA will pilot two key industry programmes to enhance security and improve passenger experience — Smart Security and Fast Travel. Smart Security is a project between IATA and Airports Council International to strengthen security and increase operational efficiency at airport checkpoints. It this by focusing resources based on risk, using advanced screening technologies and process innovations.

THE PENINSULA

Four lensmen capture journey from Amazon to Desert

The Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage H E Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kuwari (second right) with other officials at the ‘Qatar Brazil: A Journey from the Amazon to the Desert’ photo exhibition at Katara yesterday. QASSIM RAHMATULLAH

Qatar-Brazil expo opens at Katara

QA bags IATA’s Fast Travel Green Award

Qatar Airways CEO, Akbar Al Baker (right), Tony Tyler, IATA Director-General and CEO, (centre) and Angela Gittens, Director-General, Airports Council International, signing confirmation of QA and Hamad International Airport’s participation in Smart Security and Fast Travel pilot programmes.

Four more tunnel boring machines arrive for Doha Metro project

06 HOMETHURSDAY 5 JUNE 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

DOHA: The Cabinet has approved its draft decision forming the tenders and bid-ding committee at the Foreign Ministry.

The Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani chaired meeting at the Emiri Diwan yesterday.

Following the session, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs H E Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud said as per the decision, a committee for tenders and biddings will be set up at the ministry to undertake functions of the central and local tenders committee as stipulated in the related tenders and biddings law of the ministry.

The meeting also endorsed the application of the provisions of law No 24 of 2002 concern-ing retirement and pensions of Qatari employees of Qatar Jet Fuel Company, Woqod Vehicles Inspection, CH2M Hill International PV, Investors’

Group Company, Arrayan Hospitality Company, Aventicum Capital Management Qatar, and Al Rayan Financial Brokerage and Al Rayan investment com-panies affiliated to Masraf Al Rayan

The Cabinet also approved increase in annual financial sup-port to Qatar Cancer Society, hosting of the Ninth Arab Conference on World Trade Organisation in Doha in October, and draft memoranda of under-standing between Qatar Tourism Authority and Qatar Airways and Qatar and Kenya.

The session then reviewed a proposal of the Ministry of Transport extending the exemp-tion of Qatar Ports Management company of franchise fees set by Article 3 of the decree law No. 17 of 2009 and a letter from the Minister of Justice concerning the legal adaptation of a draft memoranda of understanding between Qatar Financial Markets Authority and its counterparts in other countries. QNA

DOHA: Under the auspices of the Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, Police Training Institute held a ceremony to honour win-ners and participants of the third annual research compe-tition 2013 conducted by the Ministry of Interior under the theme ‘Abnormal behaviours of students and the role of security system in treating them’.

The ceremony at Civil Defence Officers’ Club was attended by Legal Adviser to the Interior Minister, Maj. Gen. Dr Abdullah Yusuf Al Mal, Director-General of Police College, Brig. Dr Muhammad Abdullah Al Mohanna, Commander of Ahmad bin Muhammad Military Academy, Staff Brig. Hamad Ahmad Al Noaimi, and directors of various departments.

Maj. Gen. Dr. Al Mal honoured the jury team, including Maj. Nasser Musfir Al Qahtani, Public Guards Department, Capt. Buna Ali Al Khulaifi, Juvenile Police, Dr Basheer Saad Zeghlul, Professor

of Law, Qatar University, and Dr Asma Al Mohannadi, Supreme Council of Education.

Qatari winners included Dr Ibrahim Muhammad Abdullah Al Kaabi (QU), Researcher Khalid Saud Al Dousri (Qatar Foundation), Dr Ayman Ahmad Hafiz and Researcher Rafid Saeed Abdul Razzaq (Ahmad Bin Muhammad Military College) who won first place while Dr Ali Mohna Al Zabit Al Dousari and Researcher Maryam Ahmad Al Zabit Al Dousri second and Researcher Ashwaq Saleh Ali Saleh Al Jormouzi (Strategic Planning Department) and Researcher Nawal Khalid Ewad Omar (Communications Department) third place.

Resident winners included Researcher Khalid Muhammad Abdul Haleem (Public Relations Department, Ministry of Interior) who won first place while Dr Muhammad Mahmud Al Sayed Mursi (Police Training Institute) second and Researcher Mahmud Abdul Jawad Muhammad (Abdullah Al Mosnad Independent

School) third place. The youngest participant,

Nasser Sultan Al Kowari (Ali bin Muhammad Al Thani Secondary School) was also honoured and schools, Family Counselling Centre and other participants were presented with certificates.

Lt. Nasser Mubarak Al Maliki,

who participated in making the largest flag which entered in the Guinness World Records was also honoured.

The topic for the next research competition is ‘The role of social establishments in the prevention of rumours’.

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Passengers arriving at and departing from Hamad International Airport (HIA) will benefit from the expertise of the world’s leading currency specialist, Travelex, which has opened two stores in the new terminal and plans three more this year.

Located in departures and arrivals, the stores combine the latest in retail design and tech-nology to provide customers with simple and fast access to more than 80 currencies, including pop-ular travel destinations such as GCC countries, Europe, and Asia.

Customers will also be able to access a wide range of products and services such as Travelex’s Buy Back Guarantee, a Western

Union remittance service, and prepaid travel money cards. Trained staff will be on hand 24/7 to provide advice and information.

Errol Fonseca, Head of Retail, Middle East, India, Africa and Turkey, said: “We are excited to be part of HIA and delighted to be the only foreign exchange pro-vider at the airport.

“We have built some of the best stores in the region at HIA, to provide a more interactive cus-tomer experience, utilising new technology to enhance customer offerings and meet individual needs of our customers.”

The opening of the stores sees a rapid expansion of Travelex retail business since the com-pany first opened in the airport a

year ago. By the end of the year, it will boast seven stores in Qatar, more than doubling operations. The company has almost 55 stores in the Middle East.

Fonseca said: “Qatar and the Middle East as a region is one of the most rapidly growing for our business as these markets have seen some phenomenal passenger numbers over the past few years.

“The HIA is only going to increase Qatar’s profile as a tour-ist destination and business and global transport hub.

“We are very excited about the future here and look forward to continuing our partnership with HIA in helping provide passen-gers with their travel money.”

THE PENINSULAOne of the two stores at Hamad International Airport.

Travelex opens two new stores at Hamad International Airport

Tenders, biddings panel to be set up at Foreign Ministry

Police Training Institute honours research contest participantsNext contest: ‘Role of social establishments in the prevention of rumours’

One of the participants honoured at the event.

DOHA: The dusty and windy weather is likely to continue until today, the weather bureau said, hinting that it might be a relatively cooler day with day temperatures coming down to 36 to 39 degrees Celsius and wind direction being north-

westerly (blowing from cooler regions in the north).

Wind speed today could go up to 32 knots at places at time and may gradually come down to six knots. “We will have a nor-mal weather from tomorrow but in the seas wind could continue

tomorrow,” a forecaster said.Visibility would likely to be

low and can come down to two to seven kilometres or less at places.

Minimum mercury levels tonight would likely to be between 28 and 30 degrees.

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: The Public Works Authority — Ashghal — has announced a new diversion on Mesaimeer Road from Al Jazeera Academy to the whole-sale market street interchange starting from Saturday.

The diversion will last until the end of this year. The existing two lanes from Al Jazeera Academy to the interchange will be closed, and a new U-turn will be introduced 320m ahead of the interchange.

Commuters from the whole-sale market street and heading to Mesaimeer Road can turn to right at Waab Umm Heesh Street and then left at Al Erbayyat Street to reach Mesaimeer Road.

Those coming from Mesaimeer Road and heading to the whole-sale market street can turn right at Bu Hamoor Street and then left at Wadi Al Ghadeeriyat Street to reach the wholesale market street.

The diversion is to facilitate construction of Al Jazeera flyover.

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: As a result of rapid urbanisation, coupled with influx of foreign workers, in some GCC countries, including Qatar, there is a big gap between demand and supply for afford-able housing units for low- and middle-income households.

Private developers can play a crucial role in bridging the gap, the Riyadh-based real estate firm Best Choice said in a statement, citing industry reports.

Referring to estimates from the United Nations, the statement said the number of people living in cities is growing by an average of 2.1 percent every year, while the region’s population is continu-ously booming and is expected to reach 52.9 million by 2020.

Faced with the enormous chal-lenge of providing decent living to the target income groups, the GCC states have implemented massive social housing projects, housing subsidy programmes, and accessible loan mechanisms to meet the high demand.

The real estate investment and development firm has forecast that the region is set to experi-ence an influx of affordable hous-ing solutions to address the gap.

Samer Choucair, Deputy CEO and Head of Investment, Best Choice, told the recently con-cluded Cityscape Qatar 2014: “There is a great demand for affordable housing solutions, and much is still need to be done to address the shortage in the region.

“The GCC region remains largely under-penetrated when

it comes to financing, with the mortgage penetration in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait ranging only from two percent to 17, respectively.

“Private developers have a major role to play in addressing the shortage of affordable hous-ing stocks. We need to come up with creative solutions to address the deficit in the GCC and other regions.

“Private developers must take a proactive stance to help states

meet the shortage. This part-nership between the public and private sectors is vital more than ever amid continuous migration of people from rural to urban areas as well as rapid increase in the population. They will need a decent place of their own to live. The government and the private sector have the responsibility to meet this demand.”

During the panel discussion, he discussed the GCC states’ efforts to meet the demand in partner-ship with the private sector.

Initiatives included massive social housing projects, housing subsidy programmes, and acces-sible loan mechanisms.

Highlighting Qatar’s initiatives, he said the state, for instance, has developed certain areas such as Abu Hamour and Bu Sidra for its housing projects.

In 2012, the government built around 18,000 residential units. Additional 10,000 units were built in 2013. The UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Oman have executed simi-lar projects to solve the housing deficit.

Choucair looked into the two approaches being made by other countries to solve their housing deficit.

Singapore, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark opt to pro-vide decent and affordable hous-ing to the entire population, while others such as Canada, Malaysia and the US focus on the lower–income group.

Most of these countries provide housing subsidies as the GCC do.

THE PENINSULA

Affordable housing units needed in GCC: Reports

New diversion on Mesaimeer Road from Saturday

Dusty, windy weather may continue

Samer Choucair, Deputy CEO and Head of Investment, Best Choice, addressing the Cityscape Qatar 2014:

Private developers must take a proactive stance to help states meet the shortage.

07THURSDAY 5 JUNE 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.comHOME

Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Akhtar visits Lulu

Lulu Hypermarket Regional Director, Shaijan M O, Regional Manager, M H Z Abideen, the D-Ring Branch General Manager and other officials cutting a cake with Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Akhtar during his visit to the branch yesterday. ABDUL BASIT

DOHA: Winning artworks by students from schools across the country are featured at the second Mathaf Student Art Exhibition at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art.

They were the result of a com-petition under the theme ‘Black and White’ by Mathaf Education Department for students from KG to high school in the fall of 2013. The contest received over 300 entries from 39 schools, including installations, videos, paintings, sculptures and photographs.

Nearly 500 people attended the opening of the exhibition, which featured performances by the Doha Children’s Choir, and stu-dent musicians Shahir Al Dhari and Riham Al Nasr.

Visitors also participated in a collective art work in the Black & White Studio, with images, ideas and words inspired by the expo, led by guest artist Sonia Brewin with the help of winning students. Others enjoyed printing images on their T-shirts in black and white

designs made by VCU-Qatar students.

The artworks were selected by a panel which evaluated the entries based on concept originality, inven-tive use of material and media, cre-ative expression, understanding of the ‘black and white’ theme and artist statement.

Art and education are priori-ties of Qatar Museums (QM). “As Doha’s first museum for modern and contemporary art, Mathaf plays a special role in the creative life of Qatar,” said H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Al Thani, Chairperson, Qatar Museums.

“But Mathaf is much more than a museum. It is a platform where contemporary artistic pro-duction and debate takes place, a showcase for new movements in the art world and creative com-munities where emerging talent can experiment, create and share projects with one another.”

Abdellah Karroum, Mathaf ’s Director, regularly invites visitors and art practitioners to co-think

the museum, and Mathaf ’s exhi-bitions are complemented with publications, lectures, meetings and an education programme. “We are proud that Mathaf fosters the original aim of its current building, initially built as a school, and the way we contribute to art education in Qatar.

“The museum’s role will be fully accomplished when activities we propose are incorporated in the everyday life of our audience. Art makes sense when it is in the world and of the world,” he said.

Maral Bedoyan, Head of Education, Mathaf, said, “The exhibition is realised through students who responded to the question ‘What can you learn by looking, thinking and working through black and white?’ Their responses exceeded our expecta-tions with the depth of their think-ing, creativity, and willingness to experiment, which emphasises the importance of art education and the aim of Mathaf’s education pro-gramme.” THE PENINSULA

Mathaf displays winning artworks by students

The expo is the result of a competition ‘Black and White’ held by Mathaf Education Department in the fall of 2013.

DOHA: Josoor Institute, a centre of excellence for sports and events industries, has concluded a course ‘An Introduction to Venue and Stadium Management’ at Aspire Academy.

The two-day course featured world-class speakers, includ-ing Luis Silva, COO, Maracana Stadium, the venue of the Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup final, and Rod Nenner, Vice-President, Washington’s Redskins.

Topics such as the state of play, stadiums and venues in the Middle East, guiding principles of facility management and environ-mental sustainability options for modern stadiums were discussed on the first day.

Silva delivered a keynote yes-terday, highlighting lessons from Rio on preparing a venue for a mega event, a session on creat-ing stakeholder experience and another on creating an under-standing of the commercial aspect of venue management.

“I am delighted to be invited to

share my experience of building a world-class sports stadium with delegates from Qatar, the Middle East and North Africa. They were keen to hear and learn from expe-riences in Brazil. Qatar has begun its journey towards hosting a suc-cessful 2022 FIFA World Cup and many other events that will hap-pen before it such as the Qatar 2015 24th Men’s Handball World Championship,” said Silva.

The course hosted local and international experts who pro-vided insights into strategies and operations of stadiums and events. The speakers brought over 125 years of experience and included Feras Btaddini, Head, Aspire Dome, Malcolm Tarbitt, Director, Security and Risk Advisory, ICSS, Rainer Schuler, General Manager, FGB Arena, Andy Young, Senior Consultant, Wembley Consulting, and Iain Barnett, Vice-President, Stadium Division, IMG.

Mushtaq Al Waeli, Adviser to the Secretary-General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy on Josoor Institute, told

the opening session: “Our goal at the committee is to help build sustainable sports industry in Qatar and the region. This will help with a successful delivery of the 2022 FIFA World Cup but significantly Josoor Institute will benefit from events that will take place before and long after 2022. Delegates that benefit from this course and Josoor Institute activi-ties will be at the heart of this new sustainable economy.”

Delegates included repre-sentatives from local, regional and international organisations, including the committee, Qatar Stars League, Qatar Football Association, Qatar Foundation, Aspire Logistics, Qatar Handball Association, Lekhwiya Club, Qatar Sporting Club, Al Saad Club, Umm Salal FC, Al Arabi Sports Club, Al Rayyan Club, Khalifa Stadium, West End Park Cricket and regional football asso-ciations of Bahrain, Iran, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the UAE and Yemen.

THE PENINSULA

Josoor Institute holds course in venue, stadium management

One of the sessions in progress.

DOHA: Qatar Shell and Qatar Society of Petroleum Engineers (QSPE) recently con-ducted a two-part educa-tion course, ‘Introduction to Well Construction’, at Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ).

Attended by over 30 professionals, the course explored the role of wells engineers, types of rigs and wells, their components, and aspects of drilling and well completion operations.

It also included an introduction to the basics of geology, reservoir fluid and rock properties, drill-ing techniques, completion engineering and produc-tion technology.

Blake Stephenson, General Manager, Wells Operations, Qatar Shell, delivered the programme to participants from the energy sector, including engineers, technical man-agers, geologists, geophysi-cists and chemists.

On Qatar Shell Research and Technology Centre’s col laboration with SPE, Maha Al Mannai, University Collaboration Manager, said: “It is with great pride that Qatar Shell continues to support the growth of profession-als in the energy industry through collaborations with top-class academic institutions such as SPE and TAMUQ, facilitat-ing the transfer of indus-try best practice through such events is integral to the centre.

“Our support for edu-cational initiatives such as this upholds our com-mitment to promote best industry practices among our stakeholders in the oil and gas industry in Qatar and around the world,” she added.

Stephenson also pro-vided a technical overview

Qatar Shell, QSPE hold course on well construction at TAMUQof the management of drilling oper-ations, including the engineering and installation of completions. He highlighted key risks associated with process safety and manage-ment of hydrocarbons during wells operations.

“SPE has organised this continu-ing education event to bring together engineers and geoscientists to further their understanding and knowledge, which underpins safe operations in

the oil and gas industry for the ben-efit of Qatar,” said Sheikh Faisal Al Thani, Chairman, Qatar Society of Petroleum Engineers Board.

Qatar Shell supports universities and other education institutes by sharing skills and expertise, linking its scientists with professionals in the field to increase the transfer of knowledge pertaining to technology relevant to the energy sector.

THE PENINSULA

Participants attending the course.

E S TA B L I S H E D I N 1 9 9 6

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFKHALID AL SAYED

khalid@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORHUSSAIN AHMAD

hussain@pen.com.qa

EDITORIALTEL: 44557741 / 44557743 FAX: 44557746 / 44557758

P. O. BOX: 3488, DOHA, QATARE-MAIL: editor@pen.com.qa

ADVERTISING: TEL: 44557837 / 780 FAX: 44557870

CLASSIFIED: 44557857 E-MAIL: adv@pen.com.qa

SUBSCRIPTION / HOME DELIVERYTEL: 44557809 /839 FAX: 44557819

E-MAIL: distribution@al-sharq.com

SUBSCRIPTION RATES: ANNUAL QR 675

6 MONTHS QR 340

Cartoon Arts International / The New York Times Syndicate

BY IAN BLACK

NO one was holding their breath for the results of Syria’s presidential election, which was always certain

to confirm that Bashar Al Assad has been given a third seven-year term by a grateful, or frightened, people.

Bleak jokes and cartoons have been circulating for weeks in the anti-Assad camp on the theme of barrel bombs serving as ballot boxes. In 2007, when he faced a referendum with no rivals, he won with a whopping 97.6 percent of the vote. With two approved challeng-ers giving this bizarre contest a veneer of competition, this time he achieved 88.7 percent.

Still, it was never going to be easy for Assad to surpass the 96.1 percent officially attained by Abdel Fatah Al Sisi, the latest general to become presi-

dent of Egypt on a reported turnout of 47.5 percent that, if true, com-pares favourably with the 52 per-cent who voted when the Muslim Brotherhood ’s Mohamed Mursi narrowly beat the ancien regime candidate in 2012. Mursi may have been an unpopu-lar failure, as his enemies say, but it bears repeat-ing that he was still the coun-try’s only demo-cratically elected president when he was overthrown a year ago.

Voting hours were extended in both Damascus

and Cairo. But internationally, the contrast between the elections could hardly be greater. The US, Britain and France all rushed to congratu-late Sisi when the results were pub-lished on Tuesday - though they did

pay lip service to worries about human rights and accountability. The United Nations, to its credit, sounded much cooler.

Sisi’s Saudi and other Gulf allies - untroubled by voters or lobbyists who might question their foreign policy - promised yet more cash support to bolster the creaking Egyptian economy.

The same countries that signalled business as usual with Egypt dismissed Syria’s election as a farce or parody intended to bolster Assad’s position at home and abroad and to ensure that any peace - a distant prospect - is on his terms. Conversely, it was hailed by allies such as Russia, Iran and Venezuela, and given a clean bill of health by the observers they sent.

“Egypt’s presidential elections were surreal enough,” tweeted the blogger Mona Eltahawy. “No words can even begin to describe Syria’s.”

The coincidence of the two sets of results being announced within 24 hours or so of each other underlines the grim state of affairs in the wider Middle East. With the exception of Tunisia, scene of the first Arab spring uprising, no government enjoys demo-cratic legitimacy or pluralist politics as understood in the west.

Libyan politics is in permanent chaos and the government has been unable to impose its authority or rein in independent militias. Conflict is sim-mering between Islamists of varying hues and a nationalist general in the Sisi mode.

The Gulf autocracies have been spending their way out of unrest while suppressing Islamists and others who might challenge them. Performance has been a little better in Morocco and Jordan, which at least have par-liaments. Algeria, scarred by its civil war in the 1990s, has just re-elected a president-for-life - and is casting itself as a bulwark against Islamic extrem-ism. Politics in Iraq and Lebanon are determined by sectarian allegiance. Yemen has undergone a “managed transition” but it is a deeply trou-bled one. The lesson is the familiar one that elections alone do not make democracies.

Sisi faces enormous challenges and

the turnout does not guarantee him the solid support he wanted as he is forced to tackle poverty and unemploy-ment and attract foreign investment.

Hosni Mubarak repressed the Muslim Brotherhood but the new strongman is out not just to exclude but to eradicate them - hardly a basis for long-term stability.

Assad’s future is less clear. Behind his inevitable victory lies the stark truth that votes were cast only in the 40 percent or so of the country he con-trols - which excludes large areas of the north and east.

The Saudis and other Gulf states still support rebel fighting formations - as much because of inertia and hostility to Iran as anything else - but western backing is on a downward trajectory as concerns mount about the risks of blowback from Al Qaeda-linked groups. Counter-terrorism, not Syrian regime change or Syrian freedoms, is at the top of the agenda in Washington, Paris and London these days.

“The US is reverting to the pre-Arab spring status quo,” Shadi Hamid, author of an acclaimed new book on Islamist movements, told a Chatham House audience on Wednesday. “And democracy is being relegated to second-rate status.” The question is whether, by the time Assad’s new presidential term ends, it will be back to business as usual in Syria too.

(Ian Black is the Guardian’s Middle East editor)

THE GUARDIAN

ALMOST exactly a year from now and a day before next year’s federal budget speech, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar

will present the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2014-15. The survey will be a report card of sorts on the promises Mr Dar made on Tuesday in his budget speech in the National Assembly. Already, it is relatively easy to guess what the report card in the form of the economic survey will look like a year from now. In all likelihood, it will be a replica of this year’s Economic Survey: virtually all targets will be missed, though headline growth and deficit figures will be creeping in the right

directions. For what Mr Dar revealed in his speech was a run-of-the-mill, business-as-usual, few-new-ideas budget that will stabilise the Pakistani economy in the short run, but that may also set up the same semi-boom, semi-bust cycle the country has suffered over the decades.

Assessing the quality of a budget is necessarily linked to how effectively it addresses the particular challenges the economy is facing in any given period, but there are at least three basic ele-ments that need to be looked at always: the revenue and expenditure sides; a growth strategy; and a vision for equi-table growth that touches all sections of

society. On all three counts, the govern-ment has offered little of substance. To begin with, a deficit of Rs1.4tr has been targeted by the government — a large sum in absolute and even real terms, but still an improvement in percentage terms on previous years. But it is plain to anyone with even a modicum of knowledge about how the state func-tions and is structured that neither the expenditure nor the revenue projections will hold up. Tax revenue projections almost as a rule never materialise and the slippages will begin almost immedi-ately — particularly since Mr Dar seems uninterested in pursuing reforms of the tax-collection machinery. And that is

before the reversals on tax measures that routinely happen under heavy pres-sure from special interests — as hap-pened with SROs last year. Meanwhile, on the expenditure side, with no real attempt to restructure how and where the federal government spends the money at its disposal, the inevitable will happen to keep the budget deficit in check: development outlays will be held up. It is an age-old formula. Yet, if little can be expected on the ways in which the government struggles to bal-ance its books, what about economic growth, the cornerstone of the PML-N’s electoral appeal?

DAWN

A tale of two polls

Lebanon’s security for years has been of paramount concern to the United States, and that is why I have to say that the current political stalemate here in Lebanon is deeply troubling.

Quote ofthe day

John Kerry US Secretary of State

The other side

Mursi may

have been an

unpopular failure,

as his enemies

say, but it bears

repeating that

he was still the

country’s only

democratically

elected president

when he was

overthrown a year

ago.

Bleak jokes and

cartoons have been

circulating for weeks in

the anti-Assad camp

on the theme of barrel

bombs serving as

ballot boxes.

BARACK Obama’s decision to appoint the US’s first ambassador to Somalia since the Black Hawk Down incident more than 20 years ago shows that better times are ahead for the war-torn nation.

Somalia has been fighting two battles all these years. First and most serious, the internal battle with terrorists, with the government in Mogadishu spending all its energies on defeating Al Shabab which could never be defeated in a true sense, and second, the international isolation, with several governments shunning this Horn of Africa nation, being too unsafe and unstable to do business with. The restart of relations with the United States provides an opportunity to Somalia to focus on gaining more international acceptance and getting their help in the fight against terrorism and in rebuilding its shattered economy.

Wendy Sherman, the American under-secretary of state for political affairs, said Somalia had become ‘a synonym for chaos’ but there were hopeful signs of improvement in security and the economy. That’s a correct assessment of the situation on the ground. The US decision will further boost the confidence of Somali government and deal a blow to extremists. “As a reflection both of our deepening relationship with the country and of our faith that better times are ahead, the president will propose the first US ambassador to Somalia in more than two decades,” she told the US Institute of Peace thinktank in

Washington.The US was forced to leave

Somalia in an ignominious state. In 1993, the Battle of Mogadishu was the deadliest firefight involving US forces since Vietnam. Somali fighters shot down two US helicopters, killing 18 Americans and injured 73. The 15-hour battle ultimately resulted in a withdrawal of US troops from the country, which descended into two decades of anarchy and extremism.

Last year, Britain became the first EU state to reopen its embassy in Somalia, with staff living inside the capital’s fortified airport compound. Now that the US too is sending an ambassador, other

countries which don’t have envoys in Mogadishu need to follow suit. Somalia has made considerable progress in its struggle for peace and stability, and this progress should not be ignored. Restoring normal relations is one way to help strengthen the hands of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. In fact, western diplomats began increasing ties with Mogadishu after Sheikh Mohamud was elected president in September 2012.

The challenges ahead are huge for the Somali government. Al Shabab is still able to mount complex attacks and has frequently targeted the UN-backed parliament. Two weeks ago, they attacked the country’s parliament in Mogadishu, leaving at least 10 people dead. But it’s a weakened outfit, having been pushed out of major cities in 2011 and 2012.

Progress in Somalia

The US decision to appoint an ambassador in the war-ravaged nation will strengthen the hands of the government in Mogadishu.

Editorial

08 VIEWS THURSDAY 5 JUNE 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

A disappointing budget

Let me first thank the Minister of Municipality and Urban Planning, H E She ikh

Abdurrahman bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, for his state-ment published in Al Sharq news-paper on May 14, 2104.

In this statement, the minis-ter said his ministry deals with all issues transparently, whether it is discussion of any issue or outlining reasons behind any problems. He also said that his ministry paid attention to issues discussed in the local media and social media. He, however, called on the media to be fair in discuss-ing issues related to roads and infrastructure.

The Minister of Municipality and Urban Planning said he would never shirk his responsibilities, regardless of the nature of the responsibilities. What the minis-ter said was related to what I and others had written on the flooding of a tunnel on Salwa Road.

To the minister, I would like to say: People like me feel proud of you and also love you because you are a kind and dear brother. Despite all the love and esteem

we harbour for you, we have to abide by Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) instruction that good Muslims should advise each other. The Prophet also instructed us to advise everybody. Ali bin Taleb (one of the companions of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH)) said your real ‘friend is the one who tells the truth, not the one who believes you’.

As members of society, we need to be a part of the solution, not the problem. We need to coop-erate to solve problems and also advise each other.

For your information, I have repeatedly called on the govern-ment to be decisive in bringing its officials to account when they commit big mistakes. I even wrote the following in one of my articles: “Due to the fact that the state of Qatar is a state of institutions and one that cherishes the rule of law, this law has to be applied to everybody.

This is one reason why anybody who commits a mistake must be brought to account, regardless of whether we are talking about sen-ior government officials or junior ones. Accountability in this regard

does not aim to undermine people or humiliate them. On the con-trary, it is only done with respect to the law and the people.”

Responsibility for the damage that occurred that day is defined by article 209 of law No. 22/2004.

The minister has the right to ask the media to be accurate in discussing issues related to roads and infrastructure. At the same time, we call on the minister not to consider articles written in news-papers to be an underestimation of the work of his ministry. Nobody can deny that the ministry does vital work. It has many achieve-ments to its name and nobody can deny these achievements.

The minister, however, has to view articles written in this regard as work done by honest people who believe in this coun-try and who want to serve the public interests by ensuring the best results.

Al Sharq newspaper has taught us never to fabricate news or seek to please officials, regardless of who they are. The newspaper has taught us to view matters fairly and in the light of available infor-mation. This is why the focus is always on the actions and words of every official in the executive.

Sometimes, we use phrases that can be described as harsh. These phrases, however, never aim at taking revenge on any govern-ment official. They are used only to draw their attention to specific issues. Experience tells me that nice words never prompt offi-cials to engage with issues under discussion.

Thanks are due to God that my article made you state the real reason behind the problem, even though you did not mention this reason in your statement.

You did not say in your state-ment that the real reason behind the problem was the fact that the tunnel’s pipes were full of water from earlier rains and that these pipes should have been emptied so that the tunnels would not be flooded. The sorry thing was that the pipes were not emptied, caus-ing the flooding.

We totally agree with the com-mittee in its demand that those responsible for this problem must be brought to account.

Before I come to the end of this article, I say to every government official, including the esteemed minister: We respect you and we all fear for each other, not fear each other. I plead with Almighty God that we remain like this for-ever. I also plead with God to pro-tect this country and its rulers.

Now, I would like to dedicate the last part of this article to the sponsorship law, which is called the “Law on the Entry and Residence of Expatriates in the State of Qatar”.

The law will abolish the cur-rent sponsorship system. It will introduce work contracts that will replace the sponsorship system. The law will also abol-ish the current requirement for sponsored workers to take per-mission from their sponsors and employers when they want to leave the country. This require-ment will be replaced by a new mechanism that will be controlled by the Ministry of Interior, which means that the state will be the sponsor of all expatriates.

I cannot write about this law now because I need to read it carefully first. Still, I have writ-ten several articles in the past about our society suffering at the hands of foreign workers. I wrote

these articles when the current sponsorship law was in place. The question now is what will the sit-uation be like when the current system is replaced by another?

The new system will not give employers any control over their

workers. After all, these employ-ers make a huge effort to select these workers. They also spend time and money training these workers. The new law, however, means that somebody else will reap the fruits of all this work.

QATAR PERSPECTIVE 09THURSDAY 5 JUNE 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Political detentions in the Arab world are connected with freedom of speech in

most cases. Although freedom of speech and belief are guaranteed by international human rights treaties, which have been signed and ratified by all Arab countries, detentions and violations of these rights never stop, rather they are increasing.

The irony of the Arab world is that freedom of speech has turned into a crime, not the desire to suppress this freedom and strangle it. Just look at the laws and restrictions put in place to trim this freedom along with all other human rights in this part of the world. All legal and illegal means are used to suppress this

freedom and other human rights. Prisoners of conscience are

treated more harshly than crimi-nals. The worst thing is that Arab regimes deal with issues of freedom in a shameful manner. Because these regimes deny the prevalence of political detention or the existence of political detain-ees, they do not recognise the term “political detention”.

Political detention has become an ubiquitous practice in the Arab world over the past few years. No country is free from it, whether it is going through the Arab Spring or the Arab Autumn.

The chairman of the Gulf Forum for Civil Societies, Anwar Al Rashid, has disclosed the pres-ence of around 40,000 prisoners of conscience and detainees in the GCC countries. He says some of these detainees and prisoners have been forced to stay in jail even after serving their sentences.

Al Rashid noted that some freed prisoners have been deprived of their rights, including the freedom to travel. The prisoners of con-science include doctors, teachers and writers in addition to political activists, politicians and members of parliament.

He said he had collected this information from human rights activists in the Gulf as well as from international organisations.

In its last report, Amnesty International accused the Gulf countries of indiscriminate deten-tion, unjust trials and treating detainees harshly.

Some people have been in prison for decades now.

Putting an end to political detention is a human and even international demand. This is why we call for releasing all prisoners of conscience in the Arab world.

I have written several times about national security and foreign labour. I would like

to remind policymakers in our country again that our national security is in danger and that we, as citizens, have a national obli-gation to safeguard the various dimensions of this security. Each of us should do this in his/her own place.

I may presume that wired and wireless communications are the nerve centre of any security sys-tem, besides the role of armed forces and the education system, which plays a central role in this regard. The whole thing depends not only on good teaching staff but also on the school curricula.

When it comes to the wired and wireless communications sector, we hardly find Qatari nationals, with most of them expatriate workers, very few of whom are Arabs. Qataris can only be found in higher administrative positions. But I am sorry to say that these people have nothing to do with what happens on the ground or in the field. Their role is limited to reviewing reports related to delivery of service to subscribers.

What is also noticeable is that Arab workers are making them-selves scarce in this field, even as they are present in abundance out-side it. True, it is not easy to find Qatari labour specialising in com-munications. But if we encourage

Qataris to work in this field I think we can find some Qataris who are ready to do this job.

What made me write on this topic again is an article I read in the Qatari newspaper Al Arab on May 27. The newspaper wrote about the postponement of the trial of foreigners accused of spy-ing on Qatar. These foreigners are from an East Asian country and one of them used to work for the intelligence service in his coun-try before coming to Qatar. The defendant in the trial used to work as a budget and contract supervi-sor in a major company in Qatar.

The newspaper reported that investigations had shown that the Asian worker had leaked important information about the Qatari company he worked with, its future projects, local and inter-national investments as well as information about senior officials and the minutes of some meetings.

He leaked all this informa-tion to a foreign agency, which harmed the company and caused it huge losses which ultimately also harmed Qatar’s economy and its international standing.

The worker also managed to leak information about Qatar Emiri Air Force to an intelli-gence officer from the East Asian

country. All these details and more were mentioned in the article.

This worker, however, was not alone. Two other people working as technicians for government institutions also worked with him. These two workers offered the first worker the information he needed.

What I want to say is that in such cases information that is concealed is far more dangerous than what is revealed. The three defendants had managed to leak documents to a foreign intelligence agency.

This brings me to the perils entailed in the presence of foreign labour in the communications sec-tor in our country. These people can eavesdrop on the calls of sen-ior government officials and vari-ous state agencies. They can also spy on computers, bank accounts and the Central Bank of Qatar, and herein lies the danger.

Now, how can we get out of this closed circle? Qatari labour is not available, and if we find it, skills and knowledge will most likely be unavailable. Some nationals also refuse to do such jobs.

The solution to this problem, I think, is that some honest Arabs have been living with us with their families for tens of years. Most of

these people were born in Qatar. I also think that these people do not have any other homeland. They were brought up here, received their education and have lived here with their families, and this is why they have a feeling of affili-ation with this country.

These workers and their fami-lies should be given permanent residence in Qatar. Most of these people do not do a specific job. Why do we not benefit from these peo-ple? If they commit a mistake, we can punish them as we do Qatari nationals who do not protect the security of their country.

By doing this, we can achieve two goals: first, we can reduce dangers emanating from the large-scale presence of foreign labour. Second, we will benefit from labour available in our country, given the fact that these people know our traditions and will surely cherish what they gain here. This will ulti-mately help us reduce our depend-ence on foreign labour.

In conclusion, I want to say that the whole region is experiencing exceptional conditions regarding security. This is why we should turn to our Arab brothers living here with us and integrate them into our society so that they can use their knowledge and skills to help this country in a way that brings about the desired security and stability for our country and a life of dignity for their families.

Ending political detentions in the Arab world

Media criticism in public interestMOHAMED ALI AL KUBAISI

JASSIM SAFAR

The government official sitting in his office looked at those around him and said: “This is an order: I want my page to be clean as far as onlookers, inspectors and officials are

concerned”.This was greeted with warm applause by those in attendance.

The official looked around. Some of the people attending the meet-ing may have thought of the importance of cooperation with the official for public good. There was endless silence. The discussion itself had opened the door to boredom.

Mobile phones were barred in this meeting.“Pay attention, the decisive moment is coming to my mind. I

have a strong desire for developing and upgrading everything,” the government official said.

A talkative official attending the meeting ventured to ask the government official whether he was talking about the condition of streets.

Roads that “we do not know where they start or end”, the eloquent official said. “Do we mean we need to redesign these streets?”

“Do you mean our hospitals, outside which citizens stand in long lines until their turn comes, in the absence of enough beds and space?

“What kind of development you are talking about? Tell me exactly,” another eloquent offi-cial asked.

Another man attending the meeting had nothing but praise for the streets of this coun-try. He said the streets were straight and well-decorated.

“You are either not convinced or aware of the millions of riy-als spent on construction of demolished roundabouts in the sun and during rush hours,” the man said.

“These people call the chaos they create a summer upgrade and development,” the man said.

The government official, however, was quick to ask those present to think more and search for things that were more important and exciting. He said this was important for them to find things to write about in their report.

“Spend the money you have in your pockets. God will send you more money”, the government official said, quoting a famous Arab proverb.

“The real loss is the loss of life,” the government official said, quoting another famous Arab saying. “Don’t ask me to rationalise my spending. I have done this enough already,” the man added.

For one of the hypocrites, austerity was synonymous with real-ity. To say the truth, everything is clear now. We are learning how to spend millions of riyals in the blink of an eye. How prices are inflated in front of law-enforcement officials. Projects are not completed on schedule. Showing the realities will reveal how some skilful people invent the need for the implementation of specific projects that swell their wallets at the end of the day.

All files must be reopened from the beginning. You need to think of how you can fight corruption and put an end to wasteful government spending so that planning can reach standard levels. Some government projects are still full of errors. The problem is not supervision.

To sum up, citizens sometimes ask why it is necessary for us to reduce spending when we are in a good financial condition, and why should the government save?

National security and foreign labourAusterity and the reality

The views expressed in the articles on this page do not reflect the viewpoint of the

newspaper.

DR MOHAMED SALEH AL MUSAFAR

Another man attending the meeting had nothing but praise for the streets of this country. He said the streets were straight and well-decorated.

KHALID AL JABER

The Minister has the right to ask the media to be accurate in discussing issues related to roads and infrastructure. At the same time, we call on the Minister not to consider articles written in newspapers to be an underestimation of the work of his ministry.

A motorist stuck in one of the tunnels on Salwa Road following heavy rains in late March.

10 MIDDLE EASTTHURSDAY 5 JUNE 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Hamas gives up two Gaza ministries GAZA: Islamist Hamas handed control of two government min-istries in Gaza to members of the new Palestinian unity gov-ernment yesterday, a further sign of reconciliation between the rival factions after the col-lapse of peace talks with Israel.

Palest inian President Mahmoud Abbas swore in the cabinet on Monday in a deal with Hamas that elicited a US pledge to work with and fund the new administration, setting Washington on a collision course with Israel, which has shunned it.

Hamas, which advocates Israel’s destruction, has run the Gaza Strip since seizing the territory from Abbas’s Fatah forces in a brief civil war in 2007. Numerous past fence-mending efforts fell through over power-sharing disputes.

The new government’s main aim is to facilitate presidential and parliamentary elections to be held within six months, after which a permanent administra-tion is set to take over.

In Gaza, new cabinet ministers Saleem Al Saqqa, a Gaza law-yer, and Mufeed Al Hassayna, a US-educated engineer took over from outgoing Hamas minis-ters respectively at the Justice Department and the Housing and Public Works Ministry.

The moderate Abbas, whose Palestinian Authority exercises limited self rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and depends on foreign aid, appears to have banked on Western acceptance of a 16-member cabinet of what he described as politically unaf-filiated technocrats.

Ehab Bessaiso, spokesman for the new administration, said ministers in the West Bank had already assumed their posts and only two more ministries in Gaza remained for handover in the coming days.

But he said the new cabi-net’s ability to function would be harmed by Israeli curbs on

officials wishing to cross Israel to travel between the two separated Palestinian territories and called for international help to press Israel to remove the ban.

“Restrictions on movement are an attempt to undermine the work of the unity government. It was the first declared step by Israel but it is a tough one and it will affect the mission of min-isters so we call on the interna-tional community to compel to Israel remove these unjust meas-ures,” Bessaiso said.

Setting a policy in line with US and European Union demands, the Western-backed Abbas said his new administration would continue to honour agreements and principles at the foundation of a peace process with Israel.

“The whole world has welcomed the new government, which includes neither Fatah nor Hamas members, and only Israel has stood against (it),” Bessaiso said. The United Nations on Tuesday also lauded the formation of the Palestinian unity government and the European Union voiced pre-paredness to work with it.

Still, while no longer in gov-ernment, Hamas will maintain ultimate power in Gaza. The unity government will tackle the day-to-day problems of Palestinians only. Decisions about diplomacy and security will be taken elsewhere, and no further peace negotiations are on the horizon.

Acting on the agreement with Hamas, Abbas called on the Central Elections Committee to “immediately” begin preparations for the elections. A presidential election was last held in 2005 and a parliamentary vote in 2006.

Political rifts between Hamas and Abbas’s more secular Fatah faction worsened in 2007, when Hamas ousted Fatah from the Gaza Strip, and have repeatedly scuppered any chance of holding elections.

REUTERS

Control transferred to unity govt

Free Mariam protest

A banner reads ‘Belief is no crime! Freedom for Mariam!’ during a human rights protest against the death sentence for Sudanese Christian Mariam Yahia Ibrahim, in Berlin, Germany, yesterday.

Yemeni troops, Houthi rebels strike truce after 19 killedSANAA: A ceasefire between Shia Muslim rebels and gov-ernment forces went into effect yesterday, the Yemeni Defence Ministry said, after fresh fighting and air strikes killed a total of 19 people from both sides.

Nearly 140 people have died in three days of fighting near the town of Omran, where gov-ernment forces and allied Sunni Muslim tribesmen have been trying to hold back the powerful rebel militia from capturing the city for nearly two months.

US-allied Yemen, an impover-ished country of 25 million that shares a long and porous border with the world’s top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, has been in turmoil since 2011, when mass protests forced long-ruling president Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down.

The fighting in northern Yemen, which had taken on a

sectarian tone, has further unset-tled a country struggling to over-come many problems.

The Defence Ministry said the agreement, which calls for deploy-ing neutral observers to monitor the truce, had taken effect from 1200 (0900 GMT).

It also called on both sides to stop sending reinforcements to Omran, withdraw from the cen-tral prison and open the main road between Omran and the capital Sanaa.

The agreement came after the fighting which began earlier this week intensified with the Yemeni army using the air force to deliver deadly strikes on Houthi rebel positions in Omran.

Ahmed Al Bekry, deputy gov-ernor of Omran province, said on Tuesday that more than 100 rebels and about 20 government soldiers had died in fighting and in air strikes on Houthi positions

the day before.Hours before the ceasefire

went into effect, Houthi fight-ers killed five government sol-diers in clashes outside the city of Omran, according to Houthi rebels, who also said that 40 gov-ernment troops surrendered to the group.

The Yemeni air force responded with air strikes and killed at least 15 fighters, local tribal chiefs said.

The groups’ top leader, Abdel-Malik Al Houthi, proposed a ceasefire on Tuesday night and offered to free 100 government soldiers held by the group as part of an agreement with the Defence Ministry that would guarantee the safety and security of Omran’s inhabitants.

“We are willing to cooperate in a manner that would serve secu-rity and stability,” Abdel Malik said in the statement.

REUTERS

Army and police officers loyal to the Shia Al Houthi group march during a demonstration in Yemen’s capital Sanaa yesterday.

Suicide bomber kills pro-govt militia leader in Iraq provinceBAGHDAD: One of the leaders of Iraq’s pro-government Sunni tribal fighters was killed late on Tuesday by a suicide bomber in western Anbar province’s capi-tal of Ramadi, one of his men said.

Mohammed Khamis Abu Risha was touring a checkpoint manned by his fighters in Ramadi when a suicide bomber hugged him, said one of his men. Four of Abu Risha’s bodyguards were killed in the blast, the source added.

“He used to routinely visit us to give us directions and duties.... Tonight we were waiting for him at our checkpoint,” said the fighter, who asked not to be iden-tified for security reasons. “But we suddenly heard an explosion at the preceding checkpoint. We rushed to the scene and he was killed. His body was mutilated beyond recognition.”

Abu Risha, who was in his 30s, was the commander of hundreds of men in the desert province’s capital, where security forces and a smaller number of pro-govern-ment Sunni tribal fighters have for months been battling tribes-men furious at Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki and militants hailing from the Al Qaeda splin-ter group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Risha was the nephew of Ahmed Abu Risha, who is the formal leader of all pro-govern-ment Sunni fighters in Anbar. But both men’s reputation has suffered in the five-month war. Many Anbaris accuse the two of corruption and pursuing a per-sonal agenda.

Both had supported anti-gov-ernment protests all last year, but then turned on the demonstrators at the end of 2013.

When security forces forcibly cleared Ramadi’s protest camp in late December, tribal fighters revolted, but ISIL moved swiftly to take advantage of the insur-rection by sending fighters into Ramadi and its sister city Falluja. The Abu Rishas soon organ-ised a pro-government fighting force, and Mohammed Khamis Abu Risha became his uncle’s pointman.

Maliki promoted the Abu Risha family’s fighters as proof that western Anbar’s general popula-tion was on his side. REUTERS

DIYARBAKIR, TURKEY: Turkish security forces fired tear gas and water cannon in dawn operations yesterday against Kurdish demonstrators blocking highways in southeast Turkey, in an effort to end pro-tests which have spread across the region over the last 12 days.

The unrest presents a chal-lenge for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who hopes to win Kurdish support for his expected bid for Turkey’s presidency in an August election.

The protests also highlight the fragility of peace talks launched by Erdogan in 2012 with jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan that aim to end a 30-year-old insurgency which has killed an estimated 40,000 people.

In the Lice district of Diyarbakir province, dozens of protesters hurled petrol bombs, fireworks and stones in response to the gendarmerie police inter-vention, security sources said.

The protests, in which the youth wing of Ocalan’s Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has played a prominent role, are aimed at halting the construction of mili-tary outposts to tighten security and have spread to other prov-inces in recent days.

In the province of Mus, helicop-ters set down soldiers and special forces teams to back up another early morning operation against some 1,000 demonstrators who clashed with security forces there.

Local villagers joined the pro-test, setting up makeshift bar-ricades and throwing stones at armoured vehicles travelling

through, security sources said.Despite the unrest, the govern-

ment and pro-Kurdish politicians said this week the peace talks were advancing.

Ocalan himself said the proc-ess had reached a new stage. The PKK is designated a terror-ist group by Ankara, the United States and the European Union and Ocalan remains widely reviled among Turks.

Erdogan, who has invested significant political capital in the peace efforts, faces a hard balancing act to win the backing of Kurdish voters for his presi-dency bid without scaring away nationalist-minded Turks who loathe Ocalan and remain highly sceptical of the Kurds’ push for more autonomy.

He would need a simple major-ity to win in the first round of the August presidential election. His ruling AK Party secured support of around 43 percent nationwide in municipal elections at the end of March, suggesting every vote will count. A ceasefire called by Ocalan in March 2013 has largely held, but the PKK halted a rebel withdrawal to bases in northern Iraq last sum-mer, complaining about the slow pace of negotiations.

They have increased their activity in recent months with kidnappings and acts of sabotage.

There were no immediate indi-cations that yesterday’s security operations had brought an end to the protests, in which the demonstrators have set up road-blocks and have dug trenches to close country roads between the provinces. REUTERS

Turkey troops try to break Kurdish siege

Grenade fired at PM’s office in LibyaT R I P O L I / B E N G H A Z I , LIBYA: Gunmen in Libya shot dead a Swiss national working for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), fired a grenade at the prime minister’s office and tried to kill a renegade general in a series of attacks yesterday.

Anarchy is spreading in the North African oil-producing country where turmoil and politi-cal infighting have reigned since the 2011 uprising that ousted Muammar Gaddafi. A plethora of armed militias operate at will beyond state authority.

In the east outside Benghazi, ex-general Khalifa Haftar sur-vived an assassination attempt. In Sirte, gunmen killed a Swiss ICRC official. And in the capital Tripoli, gunmen fired a rocket propelled grenade at the office of Prime Minister Ahmed Maiteeq.

“The Swiss head of a sub-dele-gation of the ICRC was shot dead by unknown gunmen while he was leaving a meeting in Sirte with another two ICRC members,” said Salah Uddin, spokesman for the ICRC in Libya.

Nobody was hurt when the grenade hit the kitchen on the same floor as Maiteeq’s office, an aide said. Maiteeq was elected by parliament last month in a chaotic vote that many lawmakers disputed. Outgoing Premier Abdullah Al Thinni has refused to hand over power, saying he wants to wait for a legal ruling on whether Maiteeq’s election was legitimate. REUTERS

Syria asked to clarify toxic gas disparityUNITED NATIONS: Inspectors overseeing the destruction of Syria’s chemi-cal weapons arsenal have asked President Bashar Al Assad’s government to clarify dispari-ties in its original declaration on its cache of toxic gas, UN diplo-mats said yesterday.

The envoys were citing remarks by Sigrid Kaag, head of the joint mission to Syria of the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, who was briefing the

15-nation UN Security Council.“The (UN-OPCW) team has

been in Damascus seeking clari-fication on discrepancies in the original declaration,” a diplomat present at the closed-door meet-ing told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Last month, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that a June 30 deadline for the destruc-tion of all of Syria’s declared chemical weapons would not be met. French UN Ambassador Gerard Araud said on his Twitter

feed that Kaag’s mission “will need to continue its activities beyond this date (June 30).” Another dip-lomat said Kaag had made clear the destruction work would not be completed this month.

Assad, embroiled in the fourth year of a civil war with rebels fighting to oust him, agreed last year to hand over the country’s entire chemical weapons stockpile and ensure its total destruction by June 30, after hundreds of peo-ple were killed in an August 2013 sarin nerve gas attack. REUTERS

MIDDLE EAST 11THURSDAY 5 JUNE 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

West nudges Iran on nuclear bomb inquiryVIENNA: Iran faced Western pressure yesterday to speed up its promised cooperation with a long-stalled UN nuclear watch-dog investigation into sus-pected atomic bomb research by Tehran, something the Islamic state denies.

The United States, the European Union and others welcomed at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency signs that Iran has begun engaging with the IAEA inquiry but they also made clear Tehran must do much more to fully address their concerns.

US officials say it is vital for Iran to resolve the IAEA’s questions if parallel negotia-tions between Tehran and the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia on long-term settlement are to succeed.

Those talks aim to set veri-fiable, civilian limits to Iran’s nuclear activity and end punitive international sanctions imposed on Tehran.

The IAEA has long been inves-tigating suspicions that Iran may have coordinated efforts to proc-ess uranium, test explosives and revamp a ballistic missile cone in a way suitable for a nuclear war-head. Iran says the allegations are false but has offered to help clarify them since pragmatist Hassan Rowhani took office as Iranian president last year.

The EU — which groups three of the six powers seeking to nego-tiate a settlement to a decade-old dispute with Iran over its nuclear programme — noted that “some” progress had been made in the separate talks between Iran and the IAEA.

But, the 28-nation bloc added in a statement to a quarterly meeting of the IAEA’s 35-nation governing board, “We call on Iran to provide all the relevant infor-mation to the agency, to address

fully the substance of all of the agency’s concerns and to accel-erate its cooperation with the agency.”

Canada’s ambassador to the Vienna-based IAEA put it more bluntly, saying Iran was using a kind of “salami-slicing way” in its dealings with the UN watchdog.

“We are definitely of the view that Iran is moving too slowly to address these long-standing questions. They do need to move faster,” Mark Bailey told Reuters.

Adding to the pressure, Group of Seven leaders meeting in Brussels this week are to call on Iran to cooperate fully with the IAEA and “resolve all outstand-ing issues”, according to a draft statement read to Reuters by an EU diplomat.

Tehran says its uranium enrichment programme is a peaceful energy project whereas the West fears it is covertly ori-ented to developing a nuclear weapons capability. Western diplomats have long accused Tehran of stonewalling the IAEA’s investigation.

Tehran’s talks with the IAEA and with the big powers are complementary as both focus on suspicions it may have secretly sought the means and expertise to assemble nuclear weapons.

After years of rising tension with the West — and fears of a new Middle East war erupting — last June’s election of Rowhani paved the way for a dramatic thaw in relations.

However, the sides remain far apart on what a final nuclear agreement should look like, with a self-imposed July 20 deadline approaching.

The IAEA inquiry into what it calls the possible military dimen-sions to Iran’s nuclear programme focuses on whether the country has worked on designing a nuclear warhead.

REUTERS

Tehran told to speed up cooperation

Assad’s win won’t hit peace bid: RussiaUNITED NATIONS: Russia’s UN ambassador insisted yes-terday that Syria’s presidential election, which Bashar Al Assad has won, is not an obstacle to a political settlement of the dev-astating war and urged the UN chief to quickly appoint a new envoy to revive stalled peace talks.

Vitaly Churkin criticised Western countries that believe Tuesday’s election has ruled out any progress on the political front as “fundamentally flawed.” He said it’s unacceptable “after just two five-day rounds of talks to say things are so stalemated that there is no need to continue those negotiations.”

Churkin said a replacement for UN-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is needed “to

create conditions to move the talks between the government and opposition forward,” stressing that there is no military solution to the three-year conflict which activists say has killed more than 160,000 people.

Brahimi resigned on May 13, marking a second failure by the United Nations and Arab League to end the war. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon blamed Syria’s opposition but especially Assad’s government, the divided UN Security Council which has been impotent and feuding influential nations for failing to help Brahimi achieve a peace settlement.

Churkin said Brahimi was “heavily supported” by the UN, not by the divided Arab League which expelled Syria, and Russia wants his replacement to be a UN

envoy only, not a joint envoy. The secretary-general is reported to be considering this issue as well as a number of candidates from the Middle East and elsewhere.

Churkin held a wide-ranging news conference at the start of Russia’s month-long presi-dency of the Security Council and expressed hope that mem-bers will adopt a resolution to speed up humanitarian aid in Syria, and a resolution demand-ing an immediate halt to deadly clashes in eastern Ukraine and the establishment of “humanitar-ian corridors.”

But the council is deeply divided on both issues.

Churkin said Russia opposes a draft resolution proposed by Jordan, Australia and Luxembourg that would authorise

the delivery of humanitarian aid into Syria through four border crossings without approval from the Assad government, under Chapter 7 of the UN Charters which means it can be enforced militarily.

He backed a rival Russian draft, not under Chapter 7, that calls for local ceasefires to deliver humanitarian aid.

Churkin urged speedy approval of the Russian-drafted resolution circulated on Monday express-ing “grave concern” at “the dire situation of thousands of civil-ians trapped in besieged areas” in Russian-speaking southeast-ern Ukraine and demanding “the immediate cessation of hos-tilities” leading to “a sustainable cease-fire.”

AP

Kerry urges Lebanon to elect president soonBEIRUT: US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Lebanon’s politicians yesterday to overcome their “deeply trou-bling” stalemate and elect a new president to help respond to the damaging fallout of civil war in neighbouring Syria.

Kerry, on a brief visit to Beirut, also announced more aid to help Lebanon and other countries in the region struggling to cope with millions of Syrian refugees.

“Lebanon’s security for years has been of paramount concern to the United States, and that is why I have to say that the cur-rent political stalemate here in Lebanon is deeply troubling,” he said after meeting Prime Minister Tammam Salam.

Lebanon has been without a president since May 25, when Michel Suleiman’s six-year term expired. Attempts by politicians to pick a successor have found-ered on longstanding divisions exacerbated by tensions over the Syrian war. Political rifts have been accompanied by sectarian violence including bombs, gun-battles and rocket fire. Salam’s government also faces widening budget deficits and a growing strain on services such as elec-tricity, water, health and educa-tion from more than 1 million Syrian refugees in a country of 4 million.

“Lebanon needs and Lebanon deserves to have a fully empowered, fully functioning,

complete government. We hope the Lebanese parliament will select a president quickly,” Kerry said.

The presidency, allocated to the Maronite Christian community under Lebanon’s sectarian divi-sion of power, is one of the three main political offices alongside the prime minister, a Sunni Muslim, and the parliamentary speaker, a Shiae Muslim. The war in Syria has split Lebanon’s Christians just as it has divided Muslims. Shia Hezbollah — a powerful mili-tant group and political force in Lebanon — has sent fighters to reinforce Assad, a fellow ally of Shia Iran, while some Lebanese Sunnis have joined Syria’s mainly Sunni rebels. REUTERS

US Secretary of State John Kerry (left) with Maronite Patriarch Beshara Al Rai in Beirut, Lebanon, yesterday.

LONDON: A Saudi man who became infected with and died of the new Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus contracted the disease from a camel in his own herd which was also sick, scientists said yesterday.

In a study which reinforces the case against camels as the prime suspects for transmitting the deadly virus from the ani-mal world into people, research-ers said that in this case it was highly likely the animal’s nasal secretions were to blame.

MERS, also known as MERS-CoV, has infected 691 people and killed at least 284 of them in Saudi Arabia alone since it first emerged in 2012.

Sporadic cases of the disease, which is caused by a virus from the same family as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS, have also been reported across the Middle East region, as well as in Europe, Asia and the United States.

Documenting the case of a 44-year-old previously healthy Saudi man who died of MERS on November 18, 2013, Saudi scientists led by Tariq Madani said their analysis suggested a so-called zoonotic event - when a virus circulating in animals makes a jump into the human population.

“The patient had applied a topical medicine in the nose of one of the ill camels seven days before onset of the patient’s ill-ness,” they wrote in the study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

REUTERS

Washington urges Sisi to carry out political reformsWASHINGTON: The US has said it is looking forward to working with the gov-ernment of the Egyptian President-elect Abdel Fatah Al Sisi, while urging him to carry out human rights reforms.

The US President, Barack Obama, will speak with the former army chief in the coming days, the White House said in a statement. Washington looked forward to working with Sisi “to advance our strategic partnership and the many interests shared by the United States and Egypt”, it said.

Sisi took a sweeping 96.9pc of the vote in an election held nearly a year after he top-pled President Mohammed Mursi, whose Islamist allies boycotted the polls.

The US refrained from calling the change of government a coup, which would have forced it under US law to stop provid-ing Egypt with billions in annual aid.

In the statement, the White House said observers found the elections were held in accordance with Egyptian law. But it also expressed concern about what it called the “restrictive political environment” in which the vote took place and urged Sisi’s govern-ment to step up human rights reforms.

“We have consistently expressed our concerns about limits on freedom of peace-ful assembly, association, and expression and call upon the government to ensure these freedoms as well as due process rights for all Egyptians,” it said. The statement added: “We urge the president-elect and the government to adopt the reforms that are needed to govern with accountability and transparency, ensure justice for every individual, and demonstrate a commitment to the protection of the universal rights of all Egyptians.” THE GUARDIAN

Study confirms Saudi man died of MERS from camel

Free Syrian Army fighters fire a rocket towards forces loyal to President Bashar Al Assad in the Hama countryside yesterday.

A billboard of president-elect Abdel Fattah Al Sisi is seen on top of a building as a sandstorm hits Cairo yesterday.

12 INTERNATIONALTHURSDAY 5 JUNE 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Poignant memory

Donta’e Acker, 8, looks at a makeshift memorial in the East New York section of the Brooklyn borough of New York yesterday. Police found Prince Joshua Avitto, 6, and a 7-year-old girl with stab wounds to their torsos at the building in Brooklyn’s East New York neighbourhood after responding to a 911 call. A man with a kitchen knife stabbed two young children, one fatally, in an elevator in a New York City apartment building on Sunday evening.

Kerry says not right to judge Bergdahl nowBRUSSELS: Critics should wait for the facts before rushing to judge released Taliban detainee Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl (pictured), US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said yesterday.

Bergdahl, held for nearly five years in Afghanistan, was freed last week in a controversial pris-oner-swap deal with the Taliban brokered by the Qatari govern-ment. Five Taliban militants were released from the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and flown to Qatar.

Some former comrades have accused Bergdahl, who was cap-tured in unknown circumstances on June 30, 2009, of walking away from his unit and prompt-ing a massive manhunt they say cost the lives of at least six fellow soldiers.

“I do not know of specific cir-cumstances or details of US sol-diers dying as a result of efforts to find and rescue Sergeant Bergdahl,” Hagel told a news con-ference after a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels.

The army had announced it would review all the circum-stances surrounding Bergdahl’s disappearance, he said.

“Until we get the facts, until we have ... a review of all the circum-stances, it is not in the interest of anyone and certainly I think a bit unfair to Sergeant Bergdahl’s family and to him to presume anything. We don’t do that in the United States. We rely on facts,” Hagel said.

Republican members of the US Congress have said President Barack Obama set a danger-ous precedent with the swap for Bergdahl — who is undergoing physical and mental assessments

at a military hospital in Germany - and might have broken the law.

Hagel, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, was asked if he thought Bergdahl still deserved to be a sergeant.

“It’s not my place as a former sergeant in the United States Army, which I am very

proud of, to decide who is wor-thy of being a sergeant and who isn’t and I think any further talk of that is irresponsible,” Hagel replied.

“Let’s get the facts, but let’s first focus on getting Sergeant Bergdahl well, getting his health back, getting him reunified with his family,” Hagel said.

“Let’s not forget Sergeant Bergdahl is a member of the United States armed forces ... The United States of America has, and always will have, responsibility for getting its soldiers back. Other questions and facts regarding Sergeant Bergdahl will be dealt with at a later time,” he added.

Obama defended on Tuesday the operation to rescue Bergdahl, saying the United States was committed to freeing its prison-ers of war regardless of how they were captured.

A video released by the Taliban showed a dazed Bergdahl being led by two militants, one carry-ing a makeshift white flag on a stick, to a Blackhawk helicopter in eastern Afghanistan ending his captivity.

The Pentagon says Bergdahl is in a stable condition at the US Army’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. Officials have indicated there is little desire to pursue any disciplinary action against him given what he has been through.

REUTERS

Top US diplomat stresses facts

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth sits with Prince Philip as she waits to deliver her speech in the House of Lords, during the State Opening of Parliament at the Palace of Westminster in London yesterday.

British Queen’s speech unveils minor lawsLONDON: Queen Elizabeth unveiled yesterday Britain’s last legislative programme before the next national election, cit-ing mostly minor new laws and fuelling opposition criticism that the coalition was out of ideas.

In a ceremony in the upper house of parliament rich in pomp and pageantry, it took the queen less than 10 minutes to list 11 new pieces of legislation Prime Minister David Cameron’s gov-ernment plans to enact before a May 2015 general election.

With the exception of legisla-tion overhauling Britain’s pen-sions system, much of what she announced was already known and many of the measures were

relatively minor in scale.She confirmed plans to give

people more control over their pension savings, with new meas-ures including the introduction of collective pension schemes which allow members to pool risk.

The yearly Queen’s Speech is regarded as a major fixture of political life when governments can unveil up to about thirty new laws. Incumbent governments have often used such pre-election occasions as an opportunity to try to woo voters with eye-catching measures.

But Cameron’s government, a sometimes fractious tie-up of his right-leaning Conservative Party and the centre-left Liberal Democrat Party, cannot agree on

how to tackle many of the bigger policy issues such as European integration and immigration.

As next year’s election draws closer, both are also keen to dif-ferentiate themselves from one another to appeal to their tradi-tional voters, further undermin-ing any incentive to coordinate policy-making.

However, the introduction of fixed five-year parliaments in 2011 and both parties’ desire to appear responsible in voters’ eyes means that in practice the government is obliged to hold together even if ideological dif-ferences prevent the coalition partners from agreeing a fuller legislative programme.

REUTERS

Left Monica scandal behind, says HillaryWASHINGTON: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a likely Democratic presidential contender, said she has “moved on” from the scan-dal surrounding her husband President Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky.

“I think everybody needs to look to the future,” Clinton said in an interview with People magazine released yesterday.

The interview came ahead of the June 10 publication of Clinton’s memoir “Hard Choices,” about her time at the State Department.

Lewinsky, the former White House intern, returned to the public eye last month by writing an essay published in Vanity Fair about the scandal that marred Bill Clinton’s second term as president and led to his historic impeachment.

Clinton said she had not read the essay, but some of her

Republican detractors have recently raised the Lewinsky affair as a way to criticise her possible bid for the presidency.

The country’s top diplomat between 2009 and 2013, Clinton has also faced persistent criticism from Republicans over the 2012 attack on the American outpost in Benghazi, Libya, which left four dead, including US Ambassador Chris Stevens.

Clinton is expected to address her foreign policy record directly while touring the country pro-moting her book. She is sched-uled to appear in New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other major North American cities in the coming weeks.

Clinton has said she will decide whether to run for the White House after November’s mid-term elections, but she is widely considered the Democratic front-runner. REUTERS

Jury in hacking trial told not to be dazzled by defendantsLONDON: The jury in the phone-hacking trial has been told not to envy the lifestyle enjoyed by the defendants and to remember that no one is so powerful that they can ignore the law.

In his summing-up of the case, which is now in its 126th day at the Old Bailey central criminal court in London, Justice Saunders told jurors that “everyone is enti-tled to their privacy” and not to have their phones hacked.

He said the jury should not to be “dazzled” by the fact that some

of the defendants, which include former News of the World edi-tors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, were friends of politi-cians and stars and were in posi-tions of influence.

The jury already knows that Brooks received advice from Tony Blair at the height of the phone-hacking scandal.

“Some of those on trial enjoyed a lifestyle you can only dream of, not just in financial terms but influence they brought to bear,” Saunders said. “They were friends of politicians, they are friends of

the stars. Many people only get to see them in the cinema or the football pitch. “You do not envy them their success or be dazzled by it. “Respect their success but everyone is subject to the law of the land — no one is so powerful they can ignore the law.”

Saunders gave detailed direc-tions to the jurors on how they should consider each count against the seven defendants and addressed allegations by the pros-ecution that some defendants may have lied or withheld evidence during police interviews that they

later relied on court.He told jurors that Brooks was

being tried on a number of dif-ferent bases, one of which was that at the very latest she must have known that the missing child Milly Dowler’s phone was hacked was in April 2002 when she returned from holiday.

She was editor of the News of the World at the time, but was away in Dubai the week it carried a story which contained references to the missing schoolgirl’s voice-mails. The paper was edited by her deputy, Coulson, who the judge

reminded jurors had said he hadn’t rated the Dowler story and had moved it back in the paper between editions. Saunders said if the jury was “sure” that the prosecution’s allegation that Brooks would have learned about the Dowler story, and therefore the hacking, on her return from Dubai, it was entitled to conclude “that Rebekah Brooks has lied in her evidence given on oath as she said she did not know phone hacking of Milly Dowler’s voicemails until revealed by the Guardian on 4 July 2011”.

THE GUARDIAN

LONDON: UK Home Secretary Theresa May has publicly questioned fellow Conservative cabinet member Michael Gove over whether his education department knew years ago about allega-tions of a plot by extremist Muslims to take over schools in Birmingham.

In a letter to Gove, she has asked about claims his depart-ment was aware of the alleged plot in 2010, four years before an anonymous letter detailing a scheme to force state schools to adopt a more Islamic culture was made public.

The anonymous letter, revealed in March this year but never veri-fied, outlined “Operation Trojan Horse” — an alleged campaign to install school governors and teaching staff who would support a conservative Islamic religious agenda.

It claimed such tactics had already been used in Birmingham.

In May’s letter to Gove, pub-lished on the Home Office web-site, she said the allegations raised serious questions about the quality of school governance in Britain.

“There have been serious alle-gations of extremism in some Birmingham schools and accu-sations about the inability of local and central government to tackle the problem effectively,” she wrote.

“Is it true that Birmingham City Council was warned about these allegations in 2008? Is it true that the Department for Education was warned in 2010? If so, why did nobody act?”

REUTERS

May questions fellow minister on extremism in schools

Britain uses toys to fight Scottish independenceLONDON: Britain’s govern-ment has opened a new front in its campaign to convince Scottish voters to reject inde-pendence, using irony and Lego toys to try to get its message across, but not all Scots are amused.

In postings on social media site Buzzfeed and an official website, the government listed 12 things Scots could buy with the extra £1,400 ($2,300) a year it said they would have if they voted to stay part of the United Kingdom.

The first suggestion was a beach holiday outside Scotland.

Each option is illustrated with the Danish children’s toy Lego, ranging from a Lego woman sun-ning herself on a beach to a hair salon made out of Lego blocks.

The latter advised Scots that with £1,400 they could “Go for one haircut a month for over 3 and half years ... you can go for sig-nificantly more if you’re a man!”

Not all Scottish voters saw humour in the proposals. “How do dare they treat us all like imbe-ciles? How anyone can vote ‘no’ (to independence) is completely beyond me,” said Twitter user Elizabeth Stanley.

Other suggestions on the gov-ernment website included trav-elling between Edinburgh and Glasgow 127 times by bus, taking two friends to watch Aberdeen’s football team play all season - complete with meat pies and beef tea - and paying for a year’s worth of household utility bills.

REUTERS

US sends new envoy to CubaWASHINGTON: US has selected career diplomat Jeffrey DeLaurentis as its new top diplomat in Havana, a State Department official said yes-terday. DeLaurentis, who has previously worked as a diplomat in Havana, Bogota and at the United Nations, will lead the US Interests Section in Havana.

AFP

At the edge of poverty

People line up to receive food delivered by volunteers of the Banco de Alimentos (Food Bank) in Valencia, Spain, yesterday. According to charity Caritas, around 25 percent of the Spanish population lives at the edge of poverty and social exclusion.

INTERNATIONAL 13THURSDAY 5 JUNE 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

KIEV, UKRAINE: Ukrainian government forces battled separatists with artillery and automatic weapons yesterday as fighting raged for a second straight day in and around the eastern town of Slaviansk, forc-ing many frightened residents to flee.

The Kiev government, trying to break rebellions by pro-Russia militias which it fears could lead to dismemberment of the coun-try, said more than 300 rebels had been killed in the past 24 hours in the “anti-terrorist operation” centred on the town, a strategi-cally located separatist strong-hold. Rebels denied this and said losses by the Ukrainian side dur-ing a government offensive which began on Tuesday exceeded theirs.

Ukraine said yesterday there is no humanitarian crisis in the country and dismissed a Russian draft resolution to the UN Security Council that seeks to create corridors to allow civil-ians to escape fighting in the east. Russia circulated a brief draft resolution to the 15-member council on Monday, calling for an end to violence in southeastern Ukraine and and introduction of humanitarian corridors for refu-gees from Ukraine into Russia. But Western envoys say Ukraine is suffering a political security crisis not a humanitarian crisis.

“We don’t find that this resolu-tion is necessary. Why? Because we don’t have a humanitarian crisis,” Ukraine UN Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev told a news con-ference at the United Nations. “If there is no humanitarian crisis, no assistance of the kind of pro-vision in the draft resolution is needed.”

Ukraine and its Western allies accuse Moscow of fueling a pro-Russian uprising that threatens to break up the former Soviet repub-lic of 46 million people. Russia

denies orchestrating the unrest and says Ukraine’s attempts to end it by military force are making the situation worse.

Heads of the G7 leading indus-trial nations, chaired by David Cameron, yesterday called on Vladimir Putin to engage with Ukraine’s incoming President Petro Poroshenko, but stopped short of triggering fresh sanc-tions against Russia at a curtailed two-day summit in Brussels. The group is keeping its options open, saying it is willing to esca-late sanctions if Russia fails to engage in a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

The G7 leaders — many of whom are due to see the Russian president individually later this week about the D-day commemo-rations in Normandy — are likely

to impress on Putin to meet Poroshenko to open a dialogue on the kind of federal structure Ukraine might develop, as well as future trade relations.

Cameron’s spokeswoman said: “The Ukrainian elections last week had given a clear man-date, and we will work with the new president.” She added there was no sign yet that Russia was using its influence to rein in the Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The G7 statement described the Russian annexation of Crimea as illegal, stating: “We are united in condemning the Russian Federation’s continuing violation of the sovereignty and territo-rial integrity of Ukraine”. It also condemned “the use of energy supplies as a means of political

coercion” and called for energy security and the diversification of supplies to be “at the centre of our collective agenda”.

Putin had been due to chair a full meeting of the G8 in Russia, but the remaining seven nations pulled out in protest at the annex-ation of Crimea. It is the first time Russia has been excluded from the forum in 17 years.

Putin will meet Cameron on Friday, as well as the German chancellor Angela Merkel, for meetings on the margins of the Normandy D-day commemora-tions. He will also meet President Francois Hollande in Paris the night before the celebrations, suggesting Putin is hardly being excluded from discussions with western leaders.

AGENCIES

Fighting rages in Ukraine town, residents fleeKiev says no humanitarian crisis, no UN resolution needed; G7 presses Putin for peaceful end to crisis

BERLIN: German prosecu-tors have opened an investiga-tion into the alleged monitoring of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone by the US National Security Agency, officials said yesterday, in a move that could again complicate diplomatic relations between the two allies.

It was not immediately clear what the new investigation might mean in terms of possible pros-ecutions of Americans.

Documents provided by National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden indicated in October that the US was monitor-ing Merkel’s cellphone conversa-tions, as well as those of 35 other foreign leaders. Merkel expressed outrage and accused Washington of a grave breach of trust.

In the ensuing diplomatic fall-out, President Barack Obama acknowledged Germany’s anger and promised that new guide-lines would cut back on such monitoring, except in the case of a national security interest.

“The leaders of our close friends and allies deserve to know that if I want to learn what they think about an issue, I will pick up the phone and call them rather than turning to surveillance,” Obama said at the time. Following the news of the German probe, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes, said the US believes direct dialogue between the two countries rather than an investigation is the best way to address Germany’s concerns.

“We believe we have an open

line and good communication” with Merkel and her team, Rhodes told reporters aboard Air Force One as Obama flew to Brussels for a meeting of the Group of Seven nations.

After mulling for months whether to open a formal probe, Chief Federal Prosecutor Harald Range determined “that suf-ficient factual evidence exists that unknown members of U.S. intelligence services spied on the mobile phone of Chancellor Angela Merkel,” his office said.

In a similarly thorny diplomatic case, Germany got as far as issu-ing warrants for 13 unidentified CIA agents suspected of kidnap-ping a German terrorism suspect and taking him to a detention center in Afghanistan. AP

Germany probes alleged Merkel phone tap by US security agency

Venice mayor arrested in graft caseMILAN: Italian authorities put the mayor of Venice under house arrest yesterday and issued warrants for more than 30 people for suspected cor-ruption over a ¤5bn ($6.8bn) flood barrier project, the lat-est scandal to engulf Italian politics.

The Moses project, designed to save the famed canal city from sinking into the lagoon it is built on, was first mooted back in 1966 but construction did not start until 2004, due to wrangling over its design, funding and environ-mental impact.

In a statement, Venice prosecu-tors said they had issued 25 jail warrants and 10 for house arrest - on allegations of corruption, illicit party financing and tax fraud.

Police sources said Venice’s centre-left mayor, Giorgio Orsoni, was among those placed under house arrest.

REUTERS

WARSAW: US President Barack Obama endorsed Ukraine’s president-elect Petro Poroshenko yesterday, offering Kiev financial and security help and saying he was the right choice to lead the country through its stand-off with Moscow.

With the death toll mount-ing from fighting between Kiev’s forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, Obama met Poroshenko for the first time since his election last month and said he was impressed with what he found. “What Ukrainians said in the elections is that they reject that path. They reject violence,” and want the opportunity to deter-mine their own future, Obama told reporters after meeting Poroshenko in the Polish capital.

“That’s the hope that

President Poroshenko repre-sents,” Obama said. “In my discussions with him today it’s clear he understands the hopes and aspirations of the Ukrainian people.”

Obama described Poroshenko as a “wise selection” by the Ukrainian people and said: “I have been deeply impressed by his vision.” Poroshenko, a bil-lionaire confectionary magnate who now takes over a country in deep crisis, told reporters he was preparing to unveil a plan for “the peaceful resolu-tion of the situation in the east” soon after his inauguration on Saturday.

He said a gathering of world leaders in Normandy, France, on Friday to mark the 70th anni-versary of the World War Two D-Day landings would be crucial for the plan. REUTERS

Obama gives backing to Ukraine’s new president

A Federal Border Headquarters building seized by militants in Lugansk, Ukraine, yesterday.

US President Barack Obama and President-elect Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine during a meeting in Warsaw, Poland, yesterday.

Indonesia poll campaign

Indonesian presidential candidate Joko Widodo shakes hands with PDIP party members in a ceremony to launch the presidential campaign in Jakarta yesterday. Indonesia will go to the polls to select a new president on July 9.

BEIJING: China deployed its vast security apparatus yes-terday to snuff out commemo-ration of the suppression of pro-democracy protests around Tiananmen Square 25 years ago, flooding the streets with police as censors scrubbed the Internet clean of any mention of the crackdown.

Several governments including the United States urged China to account for what happened on June 4, 1989, comments that riled China, which has said the protest movement was “counter-revolu-tionary.” Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama used the anniversary to call on China to embrace democracy.

Taking no chances yesterday, police, soldiers and plainclothes security personnel enveloped Tiananmen Square, checking identity cards and rummaging through bags looking for any hint that people might try and sneak onto the square to commemorate the day.

Police escorted a reporter off the square, which was thronged with tourists, saying it was closed to foreign media. Police also detained another journalist for trying to report on the anniver-sary in one of Beijing’s university districts, releasing him after a few hours.

Public discussion of the crack-down is off-limits in China. Many young people are unaware of what happened because of years of government efforts to

banish memories of the People’s Liberation Army shooting its own citizens.

“They have covered up history. They don’t want people to know the truth of what they did,” vet-eran activist Hu Jia said from his home in Beijing, where he said police were present to prevent him from leaving.

While the anniversary has never been publicly marked in mainland China, more than 150,000 people are expected to gather yesterday evening in Hong Kong for a candlelight vigil.

A large number of mainland Chinese are expected to join the event in the former British ter-ritory, which returned to Chinese

rule in 1997 but remains a free-wheeling, capitalist hub. The vigil has been held in Hong Kong every year since 1989.

The protests began in April 1989 as a demonstration by uni-versity students in Beijing to mourn the death of Hu Yaobang, the reformist Communist Party chief who had been ousted by

paramount leader Deng Xiaoping. The protests grew into broader demands for an end to corruption as well as calls for democracy.

Many Chinese would balk at the idea of mass revolution today. China is now the world’s second biggest economy, with most Chinese enjoying individual and economic freedoms never

accorded them before.But Wu’er Kaixi, a leading fig-

ure in the pro-democracy move-ment of 1989, said Chinese people could rise up once more against the Communist Party in anger at anything from endemic graft to the country’s badly polluted air, water and soil.

“Yes, you gave us economic freedom, but you are jumping in and looting us, robbing us of our future, corrupting the culture, our values and the environment,” Wu’er Kaixi said ahead of the anniversary from Taiwan, where he works at an investment firm.

“All this has been clearly and widely expressed by Chinese peo-ple in the last two decades. This discontent will emerge into one thing one day: a revolution. I am sure the Communist Party is very well aware of this.”

Rights group Amnesty International has said at least 66 people had been detained in the period leading up to the anniversary.

In democratic Taiwan, which China claims as its own, President Ma Ying-jeou said China should ensure that a “tragedy” like June 4 never happen again.

United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay called on China to reveal the truth about what had happened 25 years ago.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei the Dalai Lama had “ulterior motives” for his Tiananmen comments.

REUTERS

Clampdown on Tiananmen Square memorialUN urges China to reveal the truth about what happened, Dalai Lama calls on Beijing to embrace democracy

Tens of thousands of people take part in a candlelight vigil at Hong Kong’s Victoria Park yesterday to mark the 25th anniversary of the military crackdown on the pro-democracy movement at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989.

BANGKOK: China and Vietnam have expressed sup-port for Thailand’s new military government, an army spokes-man said, as pro-army support-ers held a small gathering at the Australian Embassy in protest against downgrading of rela-tions after last month’s coup.

Several foreign governments have voiced disapproval of the coup, which saw General Prayuth Chan-ocha take power after months of political unrest that undermined the government of Yingluck Shinawatra.

“China’s and Vietnam’s ambas-sadors to Thailand met Supreme Commander General Thanasak Patimaprakorn yesterday and assured us that they still have a

good relationship with Thailand and that they hope the situation will return to normal quickly,” Yongyuth Mayalarp, a spokes-man for the military’s National Council for Peace and Order, told reporters.

Myanmar’s foreign affairs min-istry said it recognised Thailand’s new military rulers.

“Thailand is a sovereign state and the military government has been endorsed by their king,” Aung Linn, a director-general at Myanmar’s foreign affairs minis-try, said yesterday.

“Of course we do recognise them.”

China’s foreign ministry had no immediate response to the report.

The United States scrapped

joint military programmes with Thailand days after the May 22 coup while the European Union has urged the military to free political detainees and end censorship.

Australia downgraded its ties with Thailand on Saturday, imposed a travel ban on junta leaders and cut defence coopera-tion, the toughest measures taken by a foreign government since the change of regime.

A handful of pro-military dem-onstrators gathered outside the Australian Embassy yesterday to protest against what they see as foreign meddling in Thailand’s internal affairs. Some handed roses to police guarding the embassy. REUTERS

SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott yester-day said he hopes to seal secu-rity and intelligence pacts with Indonesia as he looks to repair ties hurt by spying allegations.

Abbott is due to meet Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono yesterday, admitting there had been “rough patches” in the “critically impor-tant relationship”.

Ties sunk to their lowest point for years in November after reports that Australian spies tried to tap the phones of Yudhoyono and his inner circle.

Jakarta called the actions “mind-boggling” and recalled its ambassador from Canberra, who only returned last month, while suspending cooperation in several areas.

This included on people-smuggling -- another sensitive topic with Jakarta unhappy over Australia’s military-led opera-tion to stem the flow of boatpeo-ple, who mostly make the journey from Indonesia.

Abbott said he was deter-mined to put the relationship back on track in his meeting with Yudhoyono on the Indonesian island of Batam.

“There has been some rough patches in the relationship with Indonesia over the last nine months or so,” he said, adding that some of the difficulties stemmed from before he took office.

“I am proposing to deal with that today.”

At the height of the damaging spying revelations, Yudhoyono said a code of conduct to govern behaviour must be established.

Abbott said he was confident this would happen.

“The discussions with President Yudhoyono will be fairly broad-ranging and I’m hoping that at some time in the not-too-distant future we can have a security, an intelligence memorandum of understanding,” he said.

“I think it is important that we have an intelligence-sharing memorandum of understand-ing between Australia and Indonesia because we have a lot of shared intelligence and security interests.”

He said this was not just about combating people-smuggling but also “combating the spread of jihadist terrorism”, amid con-cerns about people returning from fighting in Syria “radicalised and militarised”. Both countries have seen nationals head to Syria to fight in the conflict.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa on Tuesday said the code of conduct was in Australia’s hands.

“We are waiting for the Australian side, for their response,” he said.

“It’s very simple, in a way a no-brainer. It essentially says the two countries commit to not undertake irregular surveillance activities.”

The meeting on Batam comes a day after Indonesia admitted that reporters had been allowed to lis-ten in on a phone call between Yudhoyono and Abbott last month aimed at improving relations, in an apparent protocol breach.

Jakarta said it was a mistake while Abbott brushed off the inci-dent. AFP

Australia, Indonesia in bid to repair relations

Sri Lanka snubs devolving of police powersCOLOMBO: Sri Lanka yes-terday again rejected devolv-ing police powers to the provinces as requested by new Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and required by the constitution as a means to ease tension with minority Tamils.

Sri Lanka agreed with India in 1987 to devolve powers, including over police and land, to a regional level as a means to improve relations between Tamils and majority Sinhalese.

A war between the military and Tamil rebels, seeking a homeland in the north and northeast, lasted a quarter of a century and killed more than 100,000 people before it ended in 2009.

“Police power is important for provinces to maintain law and order,” Primus Siraiva, a northern provincial councillor, said.

“Otherwise, there could be lawlessness in provinces and the Provincial Council won’t be able to control it.”

Scientist to retract papersTOKYO: A Japanese stem cell scientist accused of fabri-cating research has agreed to retract papers published in the respected journal Nature, an official said yesterday.

Haruko Obokata, 30, would withdraw two papers at the centre of the controversy, said a spokeswoman for Riken, the respected research insti-tute that sponsored the study, marking a steep fall from grace for the young researcher.

She added that Riken was “still discussing” a retraction with coauthor Charles Vacanti of Harvard University.

Body of missing Briton foundKUALA LUMPUR: A search party looking for tourist Gareth Huntley on a Malaysian resort island has found a body believed to be that of the missing Briton, a media report said yesterday.

The Star newspaper quoted local police saying the corpse was found yesterday afternoon in a pond on Tioman Island off Malaysia’s east coast.

AGENCIES

China, Vietnam back Thai junta

SYDNEY: Australia was yes-terday investigating an account from a sailor who said she may have seen Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 on fire, as offi-cials said the hunt for the plane could dive much deeper.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), which is leading the search at the request of the Malaysian government, is looking at the claim from a British yachtswoman made this week.

“The ATSB received... a mes-sage from a member of the public,

reporting that they had seen what they believed to be a burning air-craft in the sky above the Indian Ocean on the night of the disap-pearance of MH370,” a spokesman said in an email.

“That information has been forwarded to the ATSB’s MH370 Search Strategy Working Group for review.”

Flight MH370, which was en route from Kuala Lumpur to the Chinese capital Beijing when it inexplicably diverted, is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean.

An extensive search for the plane, which vanished on March 8 with 239 people on board, has so far found nothing, including an intensive underwater hunt with a mini-sub that could dive to 4,500 metres.

The ATSB yesterday released a request for tenders for a company to dive even deeper, to depths of up to 6,000 metres.

It said the successful bidder would be engaged as a prime con-tractor and provide the expertise, equipment and vessels needed to carry out the search for the

Boeing 777 from August.“The successful tenderer will

use the data from a bathymetric survey (already under way) to navigate the search zone, which has water depth between 1,000 and 6,000 metres,” it said.

An international team is now determining a search zone of up to 60,000 square kilometres based on where the aircraft last communicated with an Inmarsat satellite.

British yachtswoman Katherine Tee added to speculation about the location of a possible crash

site by revealing she saw a glow-ing plane over the Indian Ocean in March.

The 41-year-old said she told Australian authorities of her sighting of a plane with “what appeared to be a tail of black smoke coming from behind it” while she travelled from Kochi in India to Phuket in Thailand.

“There were two other planes passing higher than it -- moving the other way -- at that time,” she wrote on sailing site Cruisers Forum, a firm for which she also works. AFP

Australia investigates possible MH370 witness account

14 ASIATHURSDAY 5 JUNE 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

PHILIPPINES 15THURSDAY 5 JUNE 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

China snubs Manila’s case in sea rowMANILA: China yesterday rejected an arbitration tribu-nal’s ruling giving it six months to respond to a case filed by the Philippines over disputed waters, saying it has no plans to take part.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, rejecting rival claims to parts from Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei in one of Asia’s most intractable disputes and a possible flashpoint. It also has a separate maritime dispute with Japan over islands in the East Sea.

The tribunal in The Hague gave Beijing until December 15 to reply to the first international case filed against China related to the energy-rich waters.

In giving China time to respond to the Philippines’ filing, the tri-bunal was fulfilling its obliga-tion to assure “each party a full

opportunity to be heard and to present its case,” it said in a state-ment on Tuesday.

China has said all along it will not participate in the arbitration proceedings, preferring a bilateral approach to resolve the conflicts.

“China’s stance of not accept-ing and not participating in the relevant Philippines’ arbitration case has not changed,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters yesterday.

Manila is seeking confirmation of its right to exploit waters in a 200-nautical mile exclusive eco-nomic zone as allowed under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, its lawyers have said.

“We continue to urge China to reconsider its decision not to participate in the arbitration proceedings,” said Charles Jose, spokesman for the Philippine Foreign Affairs Department.

“We also wish to reiterate that arbitration is a peaceful, open and friendly resolution mechanism that offers a durable solution to the disputes in the South China Sea.”

The United States has said it supports the Philippines’ arbi-tration case, closely watched by other claimant states including Vietnam which said last month it was considering legal action against China after Beijing moved an oil rig into waters claimed by Hanoi.

That move triggered protests in Vietnam, with angry mobs attacking Taiwanese factories which they mistook to be owned by mainland Chinese. It also led to confrontations in the waters that included the sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat which Hanoi blamed on China.

REUTERS

Philippine President Benigno Aquino talking to visiting US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker during the latter’s visit to the Presidential Palace in Manila yesterday. Pritzker arrived in Manila on Monday with a delega-tion of US CEOs and the US-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Business Council as part of a trip to underscore the US commitment to deepening economic engagement in the Asean region.

Philippine-US economic meet

Bangsamoro bill still under reviewMANILA: Malacañang has not yet submitted to the House of Representatives the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law. It is supposed to go through a plebi-scite after hurdling Congress. Leaders of the Senate and the House have agreed on a timeta-ble to pass the basic law before the end of the year.

Once the Bangsamoro Basic Law is approved in a plebi-scite, Congress will set up a Bangsamoro Transition Authority to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) before the 2016 elections.

Congress is scheduled to adjourn sine die next week and resume on July 28 for President Aquino’s State of the Nation Address. Thereafter, lawmakers would be busy deliberating on the proposed 2015 national budget, as well as other priority bills.

Last Monday, Malacañang spokesmen said the Bangsamoro Basic Law was still being reviewed. Speaking to reporters, Leyte Rep Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, independent bloc leader, said Malacañang had announced that the basic law would be submitted to the House early last month.

“The administration is doing a great disservice to the peace proc-ess because they’ve promised our Muslim brothers and sisters that work will be done as soon as pos-sible but now, we’re being held hostage here (in the House) and submit the draft bill late and we’ll be rushed, just like the impeach-ment proceedings and say the President’s image is at stake,” he said.

“Why bother inviting the inter-national community, (Malaysia) Prime Minister Najib Razak (to the signing of the agreement) and disturb him from Flight MH-370

crisis if the document is still not final.” Malacañang had all the time to study the annexes of the peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (Milf) as they came in stages, he added.

Romualdez said he expects administration officials to blame lawmakers for any delay in the passage of the draft law even if it was their fault in the first place.

“We have to make sure the draft law is not unconstitutional and legal even as we expect it to be questioned in the Supreme Court,” he said.

“I know the Speaker (Feliciano Belmonte) and other leaders of the House are putting a brave face and that everything’s hunky-dory, but it’s not.”

Milf chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar said on Tuesday that the delay in the sub-mission of the Bangsamoro Basic Law to Congress for passage into law is causing anxiety and restless-ness among the Bangsamoro peo-ple. “What I can say is that the Bangsamoro people are worried because of the delay,” he said.

The Milf is not impatient over the slow pace in the law’s submis-sion to Congress, but hopes that Congress would have enough time to deliberate and pass it, he added. Last April 23, the Bangsamoro Basic Law was submitted to Malacañang for endorsement to Congress.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles dismissed speculations the peace process could suffer a setback. “I know some people would like to take advantage of that and try to stir up some things, but I think the two parties are committed to try to explain this to everyone,” Deles said.

THE PHILIPPINE STAR

Govt, Milf and clerics to attend peace meetMANILA: Starting tomorrow, representatives of the govern-ment, Milf and senior religious leaders will gather for a two-day International Conference on Inter-religious and Intercultural Dialogue for peace to demonstrate their continu-ous support for the Mindanao peace process.

Funded by the European Union and Italy, the conference is being convened by Cardinal Orlando Quevedo, Archbishop of Cotabato, together with the Community of Sant’Egidio and in cooperation with the Muhammadiyah from Indonesia.

The peace conference will take place on June 6-7, two months after the visit of EU and member states’ ambassadors and repre-sentatives to Mindanao in early

April to promote the culture of peace.

The peace conference is aimed primarily to promote and inten-sify the dialogue between the different religious and political stakeholders in Mindanao.

It seeks to encourage the actors of today’s peace process to meet the challenges of building the new society built on peaceful living together, the respect for human rights, and the participation of minorities in public life.

The Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) and the completion of the draft of the basic law represent institutional milestones of a formal process.

The conference represents an effort to ensure that these mile-stones are shared and endorsed by all members of society so that

what is achieved in Mindanao is a lasting peace.

The conference will also be an opportunity to inform relevant peace stakeholders on develop-ments in the peace situation in the country.

Since 2007 the EU has been promoting and supporting the conclusion of a politically negoti-ated settlement of the conflict in Mindanao.

EU Ambassador Guy Ledoux said, “Our commitment to co-fund this event is not only an expression of belief and convic-tion in the path towards peace in Mindanao.”

Ledoux added, “It emphasises our strong confidence that inter-faith dialogue has the capacity to go beyond political processes: to promote understanding, the

respect and appreciation of oth-ers, as well as their different val-ues, principles and faiths.”

“Our own European experi-ence may provide useful point-ers to serve as basis for mutual understanding and societies in Mindanao where people share val-ues and promote peace through-out their communities.”

Italian Ambassador Massimo Roscigno said: “The government of Italy is glad to support this event, as well as the overall role that the community of Sant’Egidio is playing in contributing to the peace process in Mindanao.

“Italy has a long tradition as an upholder of interfaith and inter-cultural dialogue as a powerful tool to foster social harmony and mutual understanding.

THE PHILIPPINE STAR

Italy won’t let corruption stop development aid to MindanaoMANILA: Alleged misuse of development funds will not stop Italy from providing assist-ance to Mindanao. Speaking to reporters, Italian Ambassador Massimo Roscigno said Italy will continue its agriculture aid programme for Mindanao with an Italian project manager based in Cotabato City oversee-ing the implementation.

“Corruption is present and is the main concern in ODA (offi-cial development assistance) programmes all over the world, but it is not a good reason to step backward,” he said.

He spoke for the European Union and Italy-funded International Conference on Inter-religious and Intercultural Dialogue for Peace to be held on June 6 and 7 in Cotabato.

Roscigno said some assistance

from Italy for different ODA programmes have not been well spent, but did not identify the projects and the countries that received the funding.

“But we cannot stop because of this,” he said. “As a donor country what can we do? We can just try to monitor at best its programme that it funds or co-funds through its monitoring team, contacts in the local government and try to ensure it is doing it the best way possible.” Roscigno sees the need for fostering local capacity build-ing involving people in barangays who can be trained and taught how the programme works and how it will benefit them.

“They will help and keep an eye on it and maybe they will report something wrong to the project manager if they notice something. This is the way to go about it,” he

said. Roscigno said any moment in the history of Mindanao presents opportunity to step forward and explore all avenues to improve the lives of the people.

“Without that there can be no progress. They have to go for-ward,” he said.

Roscigno said part of Italy’s programme for implementation in Mindanao is aimed at local capac-ity building to help people, local governments and farmers’ groups.

“We are at the point when we are ready to start in a few weeks,” he said. “The programme will be split in many small projects for livelihood of the grassroots level, so we will have many villages that will be involved.”

Italy is currently implement-ing the Italian Assistance to the Agrarian Reform Community Development Support Programme in Mindanao, a project amount-ing, on the Italian side, to around 27.45 million euros to be disbursed in six years.

The total programme budget

requirement is 41.98 million euros, equivalent to about P2.5bn financed through the following:

From the government of Italy, a soft loan of 26.19 million euros, and a technical assist-ance grant of 1.35 million euros which includes Italian technical experts composed of a chief tech-nical advisor, an engineer and a microfinance specialist, and seven national consultants.

From the government of the Philippines, a total counterpart of P866.3m (about 14.43 million euros).

The main objective of the pro-gramme is to contribute to the improvement of the living condi-tions of about 53,000 rural fami-lies in four provinces of Mindanao: Sarangani and Sultan Kudarat, and Lanao Sur.

THE PHILIPPINE STAR

Ambassador Massimo Roscigno

Senator quits as ICC judgeMANILA: Invoking poor health, Sen Miriam Defensor-Santiago has resigned her post as judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In a June 3 letter to Sang Hyun Song, president of the ICC, Santiago said she is quitting her post due to her chronic fatigue syndrome.

“Pursuant to my commitment, I hereby confirm that the court should proceed on the basis that I am stepping down as elected judge,” she said.

“I will support the procedures of the Assembly of State Parties later this year, so that a replace-ment judge can be duly elected,” she added.

She furnished President Aquino a copy of her letter. She likewise notified Senate President Franklin Drilon and Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, and requested the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to circulate her letter “with thanks” to all parties of the Rome Statute.

Santiago was “overwhelmingly elected” to the ICC based in The Hague, Netherlands in December 2011. She was elected to a nine-year term.

She is the first Filipino and the first Asian from a developing country to be elected to the tribu-nal, which tries cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

She was scheduled to report to the ICC since last year. In September, she said she would file a parallel request for permis-sion to report to the ICC when she recovers from her illness early this year. But she also hinted that she might just back out from the post.

The senator was also unable to report for work at the Senate regularly due to her illness.

THE PHILIPPINE STAR

Pupils inside a makeshift classroom in the city of Tacloban in Leyte province which was devastated by Super Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013. Tens of thousands of students began the school year in steamy tents and other makeshift classrooms, seven months after Haiyan devastated the region.

Makeshift classrooms in Tacloban

Philippines offers friendly solution to territorial disputes

Islamabad unveils housing credit scheme for the poorISLAMABAD: The govern-ment yesterday announced a Rs20bn credit scheme for poor to buy low-cost housing units.

Unveiling the salient fea-tures of the scheme, the finance minister said banks and finan-cial institutions would provide loans of up to Rs1m under this scheme while the government would guarantee 40 per cent of the portfolio amount.

Loans will be provided to 25,000 low and middle-income families through this innovative scheme. Describing housing as a basic need, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said the government owes it to its people to facilitate provision of housing.

Giving details of the initiatives being planned to promote hous-ing sector, he said a Mortgage Refinance Company was being established with a broad share-holding of the Government of Pakistan, commercial bank,

development finance institutions, multilaterals and others for this purpose, to generate long-term liquidity for housing finance.

Total paid up capital of the company would be Rs6bn.

The company will provide refi-nance facilities through purchases of loans from the financial institu-tions engaged in loan origination and packaging them for sale to long-term investors. The govern-ment will invest Rs1.2bn in the equity of the company.

Dar said House Building Finance Company Limited (HBFCL) has been the premier for providing housing finance to low and middle-income families.

There is an urgent need to rehabilitate this institution to enable it to play its important role in the housing sector.

He said the HBFCL will be restructured and its board of directors will immediately be formed. INTERNEWS

16 PAKISTAN / AFGHANISTANTHURSDAY 5 JUNE 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

ISLAMABAD: Saying that this year’s budget contains almost no relief for the com-mon man, opposition parties almost unanimously rejected the federal budget 2014-15, lamenting that the masses have further been overburdened with taxation.

They also criticised the govern-ment for not meeting the targets it set for itself a year ago in areas such as revenue generation, infla-tion, expansion of the tax net and overcoming the fiscal deficit.

Senior PPP leader Shazia Marri took the government to task for not meeting revenue collection tar-gets and instead, levying additional taxes. She said this year too, the government had set itself a reve-nue collection target of Rs2,810bn, which was impossible to achieve in the current circumstances. Marri called the 10 percent increase in salaries “a joke”.

She said the federal govern-ment was treating Sindh like a stepson, as only 59 percent of its total Public Sector Development Programme allocation was dis-bursed last year.

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah said the finance minister’s speech was completely out of touch with ground reali-ties. The government, he added, claimed to have controlled infla-tion, but the prices of onions, tomatoes, potatoes, wheat flour and other commodities were at an all-time high.

He said the minister had talked about austerity measures, but he forgot that the prime min-ister had taken 14 official visits abroad in just his first year in office. “Austerity begins at home, so the government must cut its own expenses,” he added.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Q rejected the budget outright, calling it an anti-people bill and claiming that it was nothing but a jumble of figures. PML-Q spokes-person Kamil Ali Agha said: “The

PML-N government had claimed that it would put an end to dou-ble taxation in this budget, but it has only increased them.” He also criticised the government’s deci-sion to tax real state, saying that if someone had brought property through their own hard earned money, they would have to pay more taxes on it.

He said the government had promised to tax agricultural products, but nothing has been done in this regard either.

The Jamaat-i-Islami main-tained that this budget con-tained privileges for the elite and deprived the masses.

“Far from being a revolutionary budget, this is yet another tra-ditional jumbling of words that aims at giving false hope to the masses,” JI chief Sirajul Haq said.

He said that electricity was a basic requirement and the budget proposed an advance tax on every household, which was sheer injustice. A 17 percent tax on sunflower and canola seeds would only increase the prices of ghee and edible oil, adding to the masses’ plight.

The proposal to withdraw a 10 percent tax on motor vehicles above 1800cc was merely a favour to the rich, he contended. The party’s secretary general, Liaqat Baloch was also disappointed saying that women, labourers and pensioners were completely ignored by financial planners.

Even the government’s part-ner — Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) — believed that this budget was “more of the same”, said party spokesperson Jan Achakzai.

He called the budget ‘pro-IMF’ and said there was nothing in it for farmers and the middle-classes. He also lamented the lack of employment-creation in the budget and said there was no visi-ble emphasis on the energy sector. The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement reserved their reactions.

INTERNEWS

Pakistan oppn parties slam new budgetNo relief for the common man

KABUL: A dazed Bowe Bergdahl is led by two militants, one car-rying a makeshift white flag on a stick, to a Blackhawk helicopter in eastern Afghanistan ending his five years in captivity, a video released by the Taliban showed yesterday.

In the first publicly aired footage of Bergdahl’s dramatic handover to the US military at the weekend, the clip shows Taliban cadres dotted on nearby hills armed with rocket launchers watching the transfer. The opera-tion, from the moment the heli-copter touched the ground amid a cloud of dust to take-off, was all over in a minute.

“Do not panic,” the militants shout as the Blackhawk lands in the barren valley deep in Khost province, close to the border with Pakistan.

Bergdahl, a US army sergeant, was released on Saturday in exchange for five senior insurgent leaders, who had been held in a US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since it opened in 2002.

Before his rescue, Bergdahl is seen sitting in the rear seat of a 4-wheel-drive truck, blinking rapidly, apparently either dazed by the light or anxious about the events unfolding around him.

A plane and helicopters are seen circling overhead as fighters chant “long live our mujahideen” and “long live the spiritual leader”.

As the Blackhawk lands, two of the militants approach the helicopter, one carrying a white cloth crudely tied to a stick and the other leading Bergdahl by the hand. Three men walk from the American chopper. One is an interpreter, the Taliban’s reporter says in the clip.

One of Bergdahl’s escorts has his faced covered by a checkered scarf and in the cloud of dust thrown up by the Blackhawk, the tension is clear. Soldiers dressed in military fatigue stand by the helicopter observing the handover.

One of the American team steps forward to shake their hands, keeping as wide a distance as possible as though worried the

militants might blow themselves up. He quickly offers his right hand to one, his left hand to the other and simultaneously grabs Bergdahl by the arm. In the same movement, he sweeps his hand across to Bergdahl’s back.

“We told them: If he is not in good health, please tell us. We tried to communicate with them through their interpreter, but they did not wait,” the Taliban reporter says in the clip.

As the first man leads the freed prisoner to the aircraft, the inter-preter waves and the second man steps backwards, his eyes still trained on the Taliban.

A careful but rapid body search is performed before Bergdahl is helped aboard the Blackhawk. Then, they take position with their legs dangling and lift off.

The video starts plays a Taliban victory song and the message in English flashes up: “Don’ come back to Afghanistan”. Then, it cuts to the arrival of the five released leaders in Qatar after more than a decade spent in

Guantanamo Bay, where they are received with warm embraces.

The video’s authenticity could not be independently verified. The Pentagon said it had no reason to doubt its authenticity, but was reviewing it.

Bergdahl appears clean-shaven, in a traditional, white salwar kameez as he squints at the Taliban militants outside leaning in to talk to him. His head is also shaved. They tell him: Next time you come back to Afghanistan, you will not leave alive.

Eighteen fighters, the Taliban’s reporter explains, dot the hills around the valley as agreed with the Americans, including some armed with rocket-launchers.

Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban after leaving his base in unclear circumstances and spent five years in captivity, learning Pashto and taking an interest in Islamic books, according to the Taliban. The 28-year-old is now in a military hospital in Germany, undergoing physical and mental assessments. REUTERS

Taliban video shows handover of Bergdahl

TOP LEFT: A Taliban militant speaks to US Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl waiting in a pick-up truck. RIGHT: Bergdahl waits before being released at the Afghan border. LEFT: Bergdahl being led to a Blackhawk helicopter at the Afghan border.

WASHINGTON: A Nato-led training mission in Afghanistan next year is likely to total about 12,000 soldiers, including about 8,000 Americans, while some 1,800 Americans will conduct counter-terrorism missions, a senior US military official said yesterday.

The United States would also be keen to see participation in the counter-terrorism effort by nations with well-trained spe-cial forces, such as Britain or Australia, the official said. The 12,000 figure for the Nato train-ing mission given by the official on the sidelines of a meeting of Nato defence ministers in Brussels was at the high end of planning assumptions previously spoken of in Nato corridors.

US President Barack Obama said last week that the United States will cut its force in Afghanistan to 9,800 from the start of next year, split between soldiers who will form part of the Nato training mission and others who will be part of a US mission to combat Al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan.

The United States had not said how many soldiers would be in each mission, “but my assessment is that somewhere on the order of 8,000 will be part of the Nato mission ... and the overall number of 12,000 did include as a planning figure 8,000 US and 4,000 Nato,” he said. Lack of clarity about the counter-terrorism mission until now had hindered detailed discus-sions on what Britain or Australia might want to contribute, the US official said. REUTERS

Lockdown continues in Karachi

A supporter of Pakistan’s Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) political party, holds a poster of Altaf Hussain as he chants slogans along with others to show solidarity with their leader, in Karachi yesterday. About 2,000 of his supporters rallied in support of Hussain but elsewhere the city was in lockdown, with markets and petrol stations closed and its usually chaotic and bustling streets empty of traffic. A spokesman for London police said Hussain remained in custody where he is being questioned on suspicion of money laundering.

LAHORE: Pakistani police have arrested two brothers who par-ticipated in a mob attack during which their sister was stoned to death with bricks for marry-ing against the family’s wishes, a police spokesman said yesterday.

Nayab Haider said the two men, Ghulam Ali and Zahid Ali, were arrested from a home in the eastern Punjab province follow-ing an intensive manhunt. Police arrested a third man for taking part in the assault, who claimed the woman, 25-year-old Farzana

Parveen, was married to him at the time she wed against her fam-ily’s wishes.

If true, it would add yet another twist to the increasingly bizarre story. Authorities said last week that the woman’s husband, Mohammad Iqbal, was accused of killing his first wife in 2009, but that the case was dropped after he was forgiven by the woman’s family.

Parveen was killed May 27 before a crowd of onlookers near a downtown courthouse in the east-ern city of Lahore. Authorities

arrested the woman’s father after the attack, and four other people were arrested last Friday.

Rizvi said a total of eight peo-ple were now in police custody, including the woman’s father, two brothers, two cousins, an uncle, a driver, and the man who claims he was married to Parveen. “Senior and experienced police investiga-tors are questioning the arrested persons. We will soon determine who hit the woman in the head with bricks,” he said.

AP

4 soldiers killed in Taliban attackISLAMABAD: Suspected Taliban fighters attacked Pakistani outposts from positions on the Afghan side of the border, kill-ing four soldiers, Pakistani mil-itary officials said yesterday.

One military source said four soldiers were also wounded. It was not clear if the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban, allied but sepa-rate entities each seeking to set up Islamic states, were believed to have been involved.

The assault, which took place in Pakistan’s Bajaur tribal region, comes after Afghan officials said an air strike by Pakistani forces killed four civilians on Saturday.

“In Bajaur region during the early morning today, terrorists from across the border fired on Pakistani border posts,” said the military source. “Four soldiers were martyred and four are injured.

“This is the third incident of cross-border attacks and firing since May 25 from Afghanistan,” the source added.

REUTERS

Three more held over woman’s stoningNato to keep 12,000 troops in Afghanistan next year

A lesson from the guru

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama arrives for his lesson for the Tibetan school and college students at the Tibetan Children’s Village School in Dharmsala.

INDIA 17THURSDAY 5 JUNE 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Lok Sabha meets, adjourns over Munde’s deathModi expresses gratitude to votersNEW DELHI: The 16th Lok Sabha met for the first time yesterday and was adjourned for the day as a mark of respect to union minister Gopinath Munde, who died in a road acci-dent on Tuesday.

The adjournment of the Lok Sabha was the first instance of a newly constituted house having been adjourned on the first day following the death of a sitting member.

As soon as the house assem-bled, pro-tem speaker Kamal Nath, who had taken oath earlier at Rashtrapati Bhavan, condoled Munde’s death.

Following this, Lok Sabha sec-retary general P Shreedharan tabled the list of newly-elected members as notified by the Election Commission.

Kamal Nath then asked the members whether the oath tak-ing exercise should be taken up Thursday. As the members agreed, he postponed the exercise to Thursday and adjourned the house for the day.

“The house is being adjourned till 11am Thursday because of the sad demise of our colleague Gopinath Munde,” he said.

The house also observed a two-minute silence in the memory of Munde.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who entered the house a few minutes before the sitting commenced, walked over to the opposition benches and greeted Congress president Sonia Gandhi

and other leaders with folded hands.

Modi, whose act of bowing his forehead and touching the steps of parliament May 20 before his election as the Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentary party leader was widely noticed and com-mented upon, sought to reach out to the opposition yesterday through his gestures.

He occupied his seat on the treasury benches in his new role as prime minister and leader of BJP parliamentary party after greeting opposition leaders, including Mallikarjun Kharge and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Earlier, BJP and National Democratic Alliance members stood up and some even thumped their desks as Modi entered the Lok Sabha. As he went along the front rows, more members stood up in their seats.

The celebratory mood in the new Lok Sabha was tinged with sadness at the loss of a member and minister.

Speaking to the media before entering the house, Modi expressed his gratitude to the cit-izens of the country for their deci-sive mandate in the Lok Sabha polls. He said his government will make all efforts to fulfill the hopes and aspirations of the people.

He said: “The people of India have voted in unprecedented numbers, blessed their repre-sentatives and elected the 16th Lok Sabha.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi (centre) speaks to the media as he arrives to attend his first Parliament session in New Delhi yesterday.

Modi yesterday walked over to the opposition benches and greeted Sonia Gandhi and other leaders with folded hands as the members, a majority of them newcomers, assembled for the first time in the 16th Lok Sabha, but the celebratory mood was tinged with sadness at the loss of a member and minister.

As he neared the Congress benches, Congress president Sonia Gandhi walked into the house and the two leaders exchanged greet-ings briefly.

The 16th Lok Sabha has 315 first-time MPs in a house of 543 elected MPs, the highest for any house in the last 30 years, accord-ing to data compiled by PRS Legislative, a research body that tracks the working of parliament.

The new house also reflected the new reality — of BJP and NDA’s ascendance and Congress decimation in the polls. With only 44 members, the Congress strength is less than a fourth of its numbers in the last house.

As the proceedings began, BJP members appeared to be present in full strength but there were a few empty seats on the opposition benches.

The visitors’ gallery had only a few occupants as oath-taking of new members had been deferred by a day. BJP members felt an acute sense of loss over Munde’s demise but also had a sense of ela-tion over the party’s first-ever full majority in the Lok Sabha.

“So many BJP members have been elected for the first

time. This is a matter of happi-ness,” senior party leader Murli Manohar Joshi told IANS.

Party MP Giriraj Singh said it was a day of happiness but there was pain in the heart over Munde’s death. “The mood would have been celebratory if he was there. Today it is not the same situation,” he said.

Former union minister B.C. Khanduri said it was nice to see treasury benches full of mem-bers of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. “The other side had sparse numbers,” he said referring to the Congress.

Congress MP and former union minister Shashi Tharoor said the members were all conscious of the tragedy of Munde’s demise.

IANS

Indian students leave east Ukraine, on way homeKIEV/NEW DELHI: The first batch of 500 Indian stu-dents has arrived safely in Kiev from Ukraine’s restive eastern region of Lugansk and will be returning to India after the Indian mission facilitated their evacuation.

According to external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin, the students from Lugansk region arrived in Kiev “responding to the advisory to leave the region”.

The Indian mission in Ukraine has been facilitating the evacu-ation of 1,000 Indian nation-als, particularly students, in the wake of growing tension in eastern Ukraine between pro-Russian rebels and the Ukraine government.

The mission arranged 500 train tickets for Tuesday and another 500 tickets for yesterday for the Indian students and nationals in Lugansk.

The embassy said those Indian nationals and students who have booked railway tickets for later dates must travel June 3/4 “and not delay their departure from Lugansk to a later date as the sit-uation may deteriorate further”.

Among the Indian students in Lugansk, there are 350 from Kerala, 300 from Tamil Nadu, 150 from Andhra Pradesh, 60 from Punjab, 25 each from Jammu and Kashmir and Maharashtra, 20 from Uttar Pradesh and 10 from Gujarat.

The total number from the other states is 200, according to an external affairs ministry state-ment. There are approximately 2,500 Indian students studying medicine and engineering in Ukrainian universities, accord-ing to the Indian embassy website.

IANS

Jumping Red light causes most accidentsNEW DELHI: Four people were killed every day in the national capital this year, police said, and in most cases motor-ists jump the red lights, leading to fatal road accidents, as was seen in union minister Gopinath Munde’s death.

“During investigation, we found that most of the accidents have taken place either late nights or in morning hours,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Anil Shukla said.

According to knowledgeable sources, Munde’s driver jumped the red light and was hit by another car at a central Delhi four-point crossing at 6.20am though police did not confirm that officially. Munde died due to the impact

Shukla said that in many road accidents, seats belts have acted as protection. “Around 50 percent people’s life are saved because they were wearing seat belts (when the accidents happened),” Shukla said.

Officials said in 2013, until May 15, a total of 660 deaths were reported, while the figures for the same period this year stands at 581. The police statistics show that until May 15 this year, the Delhi traffic police have booked 329,000 vehicles for jumping red lights as compared to 340,000 peo-ple in the corresponding period in 2013. Rs100 is the fine for red light jumping.

IANS

Munde’s last rites held in Beed; politicians face public ireBEED, Maharashtra: The mortal remains of union minis-ter Gopinath Munde, killed in a road accident in New Delhi on Tuesday, were consigned to the flames at his birthplace here yesterday even as several poli-ticians, including Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and MNS chief Raj Thackeray who were present faced the ire of the people demanding a CBI probe into the death.

Munde’s mortal remains were consigned to the flames with his

teary-eyed eldest daughter and legislator Pankaja Munde-Palve performing the ceremony and lighting the funeral pyre as the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader had only three daughters and no son.

Pankaja’s action was symbolic and was expected to send positive signals in the Marathwada region which has been regularly in the news for incidents of female foeticide besides heralding her as the claimant to her father’s political legacy.

Slogans of ‘Gopinath Munde

Amar Rahe’, ‘Gopinath Munde Come Back’ and ‘Gopinath Munde Zindabad’ were raised as the funeral ceremonies got underway.

Thousands of people also raised a chorus for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe and virtu-ally cornered several VIPs who had arrived here for Munde’s last rites.

At one point a crowd sur-rounded Chavan’s vehicle and started thumping the windows and bonnet forcing the security personnel to carry out a baton charge to disperse them.

Elsewhere, some miscreants torched an unidentified vehicle and pelted stones at other vehicles and even at a helicopter parked near the funeral venue outside Vaijnath Sugar Factory premises.

Among the personalities who faced angry slogan-shouting by the crowds were Chavan, min-isters Narayan Rane, R R Patil, Chhagan Bhujbal, Harshvardhan Patil, Jayant Patil, Nitin Raut as well as Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray.

Supporting the demand for a

CBI probe, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray later said that public sen-timents must be respected, and he was endorsed by Republican Party of India chief Ramdas Athawale. Both parties are allies of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state.

Minor clashes were witnessed between unidentified mourners and security personnel at various places around the funeral venue in Parali-Vaijnath, Munde’s birthplace in Beed district, but later the situ-ation was brought under control.

IANS

Telengana CM promises super-speciality hospitalsH Y D E R A B A D : Telangana Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhara Rao yes-terday announced that a super speciality hospital will be set up in each district of the state.

Speaking at his first public meeting after taking over as the first chief minister of Telangana three days ago, he said the pro-posed hospitals would be on the lines of Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) of Hyderabad.

KCR, as the chief minister is popularly known, was addressing the meeting on his first visit to his Gajwel constituency in his native Medak district.

He reiterated his determination to make Telangana a golden state by ending political corruption.

The chief minister said welfare of scheduled castes and minori-ties would be the top priority of his government and pointed out that he kept the welfare portfolios with himself. He said the government would spend Rs1 lakh crore for the welfare of the weaker sections of the society during next five years.

KCR said agriculture would be the other priority of the TRS government. He said the election promise to waive off crop loans would be implemented.

Also the TRS chief, KCR promised to develop Gajwel into a model constituency in the state.

Participating in the state forma-tion day celebrations, he assured the people that the government will take all measures for all-round development of Gajwel.

KCR said a development agency would be constituted for the constituency. The chief min-ister also announced appointment of an aide in the constituency to enable people to submit their representations.

The chief minister said steps would be taken to improve irriga-tion facilities and to develop agri-culture sector in the area.

Rao yesterday said his govern-ment was committed to waive crop loans of up to Rs1 lakh.

Rao held a meeting with the top bank officials to discuss the implementation of the scheme to waive farm loans as promised by his Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in its election manifesto.

Finance Minister E Rajender, however, clarified that the scheme will apply only to the loans availed during fiscal 2013-14.

KCR directed the bankers to submit details of all crop loans of up to Rs.1 lakh. Rajender told reporters that the bankers will submit the details by Monday. “After receiving the details, we will hold another meeting with the bankers to work out modali-ties of the scheme,” he said.

IANS

Kejriwal furnishes bond, granted bail in defamation caseNEW DELHI: A court here yesterday granted bail to former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and two other AAP leaders — after the three furnished personal bonds — in a criminal defamation case filed against them by an advocate.

Metropolitan Magistrate Muneesh Garg granted bail to Kejriwal, former state minister Manish Sisodia and Aam Aadmi

Party leader Yogendra Yadav and asked them to furnish a personal bond of Rs10,000 each. The three leaders furnished the personal bonds and were released.

Kejriwal and others appeared in the court following summons issued against them on a defama-tion complaint filed by advocate Surender Kumar Sharma.

Sharma, in his complaint, said that before the December

2013 Delhi polls, AAP volun-teers approached him and asked him to contest the election from Shahdara in east Delhi on a party ticket saying that Kejriwal was pleased with his social services.

Sharma further added that he incurred expenses of about Rs.5 lakh on the campaign but on Oct 14, 2013, read articles in leading daily newspapers in which “derog-atory and defamatory language”

was used against him.Sharma alleged that “defam-

atory, unlawful and derogatory words used by the accused persons as published in the newspapers” lowered his repu-tation in the bar and society. It also mentioned that AAP had decided to replace its candidate from the Shahdara constitu-ency, he said.

IANS

19INDIA THURSDAY 5 JUNE 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

World Environment Day

A man stands next to a boat on the banks of a polluted lake, on the eve of World Enviornment Day, in Bhopal, yesterday. World Enviornment Day is marked every year on June 5 to raise global awareness of the need to take positive environmental action.

SC lifts freeze on Sahara group’s assetsSubrata Roy to remain in jailNEW DELHI: Sahara group chief Subrata Roy will remain in jail even as the Supreme Court yesterday lifted the freeze on the group’s moveable and immovable assets so it could raise Rs10,000 crore for part repayment of investors money collected by two group companies.

A bench of Justice T S Thakur and Justice A K Sikri however said the money so generated will be deposited in an account opened by market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

“FDs, bonds and securities held by Sahara Group of companies may be encashed by the holders thereof subject to the condition that the maturity value/sale con-sideration of such FDs, bonds and securities shall be deposited in the designated bank account of SEBI,” the court said in its order.

The apex court on March 26 said Sahara Group will deposit Rs10,000 crore as part payment of investors’ Rs24,000 crore that its two companies — SIRECL and SHICL — had collected through optionally fully convertible deben-tures (OFCDs) as a condition for the release of Roy and two other directors Ravi Shankar Dubey and Ashok Roy Choudhary in judicial custody since March 4.

Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Limited (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Limited (SHICL) had raised the money by issuing bonds in 2008 and 2009.

Soon after the pronounce-ment of judgment, senior coun-sel Srinivasan Ganesh urged the court to grant five days parole to

Roy so that he could be with his ailing mother. The court asked him to file an application and it will pass an order after seeking SEBI’s response.

The court declined the plea by Roy and the other two that they be shifted to a guest house for continued custody till they com-ply with the court’s March 26 directions.

Pointing to the nature of the proceedings and the stakes involved, the court appointed senior counsel Fali Nariman as amicus curiae.

In yeserday’s hearing, the court was told that FDs, bonds and securities worth Rs2,421.67 crore would be worth about Rs2,500 crores along with interest.

For mobilising the remaining Rs2,500 crore of Rs5,000 crores that Sahara has to give to SEBI in cash, the court permitted the firm to sell its immovable properties situated in nine different cities with a total worth of approxi-mately Rs2,500 crore.

However, in a rider, the court said that “such sales are not for a price lower than the estimated value indicated in the statement filed before this court or the circle rates fixed for the area in which such properties are situated”.

Ruling that the properties to be sold would not be purchased by any of Sahara’s entities, the judg-ment said: “The seller shall furnish to this court the details of the val-uation of the properties sold and the terms of sales together with a declaration that the purchaser is not a related party qua Sahara.”

IANS

Italian minister phones SushmaNEW DELHI: Italy’s Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini yesterday spoke to Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj over phone to congratu-late her and also discussed the issue of the two Italian marines facing trial in India for the killing of two Indian fishermen in 2012.

“It was basically a courtesy call to congratulate the external affairs minister on the party’s vic-tory. The issue of the two Italian marines also came up,” said informed sources.

Sushma Swaraj is reported to have told her Italian counterpart that the case is sub-judice.

The two mar ines

— Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone — are in New Delhi facing trial for the shooting of two Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast mistaking them to be pirates.

The marines were onboard the ship Enrica Lexie.

According to Italian news agency ANSA, the Italian govern-ment has said it hopes that India’s new government of Narendra Modi will be open to negotiations on the issue, but failing that it will take the case to international arbitration.

On Monday, Latorre and Girone sent a Republic Day video message back to Italy from New Delhi.

Latorre said that all they can

do is “suffer with dignity” as they wait for a resolution to the case against them involving their actions while on an anti-piracy patrol.

Last month, the Italian govern-ment announced it was opening a “new phase” in the saga, replacing its special envoy in the case and sending its ambassador back to New Delhi to help steer the case towards arbitration by an inter-national organization such as the UN.

Nicola Latorre, who chairs the Senate defence committee, urged further talks with India’s new government and new parliament during a radio interview yester-day, said ANSA.

IANS

Kashmiri Pandits threaten ‘fast unto death’SRINAGAR: Dozens of migrant Kashmiri Pandits yes-terday held a peaceful protest here against what they called callous attitude of the central and state governments towards their problems.

Shouting slogans against the central and the state governments, representatives of All Parties Migrants Coordination Committee (APMCC), Jammu and Kashmir, told reporters that if their demands are not fulfilled, they would “sit on fast unto death” during the Janmashtami festival on August 17.

The six-point charter of demands of the migrant Pandits includes re-drafting of the pending Kashmir temples and shrines bill in the state assem-bly, and probe into encroachment of shrine and temple lands in Kashmir Valley.

Besides, the Psndits also want a dialogue with Pakistan for facili-tating their visit to the Sharda Peeth temple in the Pakistan-administered Kashmir, establish-ment of Sharda Peeth University in the state, and a special employ-ment package for the unemployed youths of the community.

The representatives showed a 2013 letter of state Rehabilitation Minister A.A. Khan, request-ing one of their members, Vinod Pandita, to end his fast-unto-death, undertaken in Porbandar (Gujarat) to press for the demands.

Rahul will revive Cong, says TharoorNEW DELHI: The Congress yesterday said although its tally was reduced to a mere 44 MPs in the Lok Sabha, it had a pres-ence in every village and every city in India and party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi will work to increase that base.

“One should not think that Congress is only about 44 MPs. The Congress is in every village, every town of this country wher-ever its ideology finds reflection in people’s belief,” Congress spokes-person Shashi Tharoor told the media. Rahul would be instrumen-tal in reviving the party, he added.

“Rahul not becoming the leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha should not be seen as his reluc-tance to lead the party. He will be tackling issues across India and revive the Congress,” said Tharoor.

Rahul knew how he would be most effective for the party and his visit to Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun showed his resolve to keep meeting people and give voice to their grievances, he added.

IANS

Indian airports now among world’s best service providersNEW DELHI: New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) and Mumbai’s Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) have found place in the top five of the best service quality providers in the world.

While IGIA has been adjudged as the second best in the 25-40 million passengers per annum (MPPA) category in the world in the Airports Council

International’s (ACI) airport service quality (ASQ). CSIA is the fifth best in the list.

Even Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) has won the second best service quality award in the 5-15 MPPA category.

Airport-wise, the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), the company which manages the IGIA said that the award was bestowed by the ACI

at a ceremony in Seoul on May 27. This is the third time in a row

that IGIA has won the coveted award for airport service quality (ASQ) from ACI.

“In an airport setup, it serves as the cornerstone for not just delivering a world class passen-ger experience consistently but also achieving a healthy financial performance,” said I Prabhakara Rao, Chief Executive, DIAL.

“We strongly believe that if we

ensure sustainability in all our services, retail offerings, opera-tional efficiency, and environment friendliness then we can attain perpetual success.”

IGIA has made rapid progress in enhancing the service quality over the last seven years since its privatisation.

The airport scored a 4.84 points on the ASQ scale out of five points and has been recognised as the sixth best airport in the world

amongst 235 participating airports. IGIA’s ASQ score of 2007 stood at 3.02 points and a ranking 101 out of the 125 participating airports.

IGIA has an annual capacity of over 60 million passengers. Around 36.88 million passengers passed through it in 2013. It also handled nearly 600,000 tons of cargo and over 300,000 air traf-fic movements (ATM) during the same period.

IANS

Thousands stuck as snag hits Delhi MetroNEW DELHI: Thousands of commuters had a har-rowing time yesterday evening as a technical snag hit Delhi Metro’s Blue Line (Dwarka to Noida City Centre/Vaishali) causing the trains to run slow and halt for several minutes at many stations resulting in overcrowding that lasted for hours, officials said. It has been rectified now.

The fault occurred at 6.43pm and was rectified at 9.10 p.m. as per Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).

“Due to the snapping of a strand of the overhead electrical wire between Dwarka and Dwarka Morh sta-tion, single line operation was on between Dwarka and Janakpuri west while a short loop was running between Janakpuri west and Rajiv Chowk,” said an official of the DMRC.

“Normalcy was restored at 9.10pm. The problem started at 6.43pm” the official said.

The fault led to chaos at many stations along the route — one of the busiest in the capital — that links Dwarka on the western edge of Delhi with Noida and Vaishali in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.

According to many stuck commuters, the trains were stopping at each station for close to 20 minutes and many passengers got off and took auto-rickshaws and taxis whose drivers added to their woes by fleec-ing them.

“I took the metro from Noida sector 18 and after one and a half hours I have only managed to reach Rajiv Chowk. I am getting off and taking an auto,” said Rupali Singh, a 24-year-old professional.

Buses - both private and Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) - were running packed to capacity as stranded commuters latched on to them, not willing to be left at the mercy of overcharging autos and taxis.

“I intended to travel to Patel Nagar (west Delhi) from Pragati Maidan (central Delhi) and the auto driver wanted me to cough up Rs400 for the short trip. So, I had no option but to take the bus which is already bursting at the seams,” said Rajiv Kelkar, a 38-year-old businessman.

IANS

Thursday 5 June 20147 Sha’baan 1435

Volume 19Number 6087

Price: QR2

editor@pen.com.qa | adv@pen.com.qa Editorial: 44557741 | Advertising: 44557837 / 44557780www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

France hits back at US mega fine on BNPHollande to raise $10.1bn penalty with Obama todayPARIS: France, trying to mini-mise US penalties against BNP Paribas on charges of breaking sanctions, said that a reported $10.1bn fine was excessive and warned it could damage trans-Atlantic trade talks.

The remarks from French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius ramp up French concern at the size, manner and likely effects of the expected fine that could be imposed on the French bank.

The New York Times newspaper reported that the governor of the Bank of France, Christian Noyer, had visited top US officials on the case in New York last week to warn that such a fine, equiv-alent to €7.4bn ($10.1bn), could have grave effects on the financial system.

President Francois Hollande has also recently raised con-cerns about a plea deal with the White House, the paper wrote. He will discuss the issue with US President Barack Obama at a din-ner today, a day before attending ceremonies to mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day land-ings of Allied troops in Normandy, French diplomats said.

Fabius, commenting on charges that BNP Paribas broke sanctions against Iran, Sudan and Cuba, said in a television interview that

the figure sought by the United States was not justified. “If there was a fault, then it is normal that there be a sanction, but the sanc-tion has to be proportionate and reasonable. These figures are not reasonable,” he said.

France would defend the bank, he said, adding that the dispute “raises a very, very big problem”.

“Meanwhile, we are in the process of discussing a trans-Atlantic partnership with the United States. This trade part-nership can be established only on a basis of reciprocity. But here, we would have the example of an unjust and unilateral decision.”

Finance Minister Michel Sapin warned France was “ready to react firmly to protect its funda-mental interests”, if the US failed to be fair in the BNP Paribas case.

“If all American authorities — five are looking into this case —do not treat BNP Paribas fairly, France will react firmly to protect its fundamental interests,” he said in an interview with Les Echos financial paper.

“We are not defending a bank that has admitted to something reprehensible,” he said. But he added: “We must protect the sta-bility of France’s financial system to make sure that it can properly finance the economy. What [BNP

Paribas] has done is not repre-hensible in France or Europe. But US law is being applied.”

Shares in the bank initially rallied on the news the French government lent official support. They closed down 0.33 percent at €50.91, while the Paris market was down 0.27 percent overall.

Fabius was referring to the fifth round of negotiations on a free-trade agreement between the European Union and the United States which was held in Washington on May 19.

“One cannot consider that reciprocity must be the rule if, at the same time, there is a decision like this. Furthermore, when one looks at the role of Paribas, which is the leading European bank, the figures mentioned, which are absolutely unreasonable, could have a considerable negative knock-on effect,” ” said Fabius.

Noyer, who also sits on the pol-icy-making body of the European Central Bank, met state and fed-eral prosecutors in New York, the New York Times reported, citing people close to the matter.

Noyer stressed the case could have major repercussions both for BNP Paribas, the biggest French bank by capitalisation, and the global economy.

AFP

Participants at the panel session held as part of the forum.

LONDON: Euronext’s London market has been approved as a full exchange by Britain’s finan-cial regulator, putting it on a level footing with rivals such as the London Stock Exchange Group and BATS Chi-X Europe.

The pan-European exchanges group said yesterday its London market had received Recognised Investment Exchange (RIE) status from Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority.

Registration as a full exchange means Euronext London can compete more effectively with rivals for listings and business, as some retail and institutional investors are restricted to trading on fully regulated exchanges.

The approval comes as Euronext, which also operates bourses in Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and Lisbon, is expected to list on three of its markets in an initial public offering later this month that could value the com-pany at more than €1.5bn.

“With over €6bn of equity secu-rities traded daily on our markets, Euronext London is a logical entry point for international issu-ers wanting to access the deep liquidity found within our mar-ket,” Euronext CEO Dominique Cerutti said in a statement.

IntercontinentalExchange acquired NYSE Euronext in a $11bn deal last year. The US exchange group committed to spinning off Euronext and has lined up a group of European long-term investors to take a 33 percent stake in the firm on its market debut. REUTERS

Euronext London gets UK regulatory approval

US sets new import duties on Chinese solar productsWASHINGTON: The United States slapped new import duties on solar panels and other related products from China after the Commerce depart-ment ruled they were produced using Chinese government sub-sidies, potentially inflaming trade tensions between the two countries.

The US arm of German solar manufacturer SolarWorld AG filed a petition complaining that Chinese manufacturers are side-stepping duties imposed in 2012 by shifting production of the

cells used to make their panels to Taiwan and continuing to flood the US market with cheap prod-ucts. The new complaint seeks to close that loophole by extending import duties to also cover panels made with parts from Taiwan.

In a preliminary determina-tion, the Commerce department imposed duties of 35.21 percent on imports of panels and other products made by Wuxi Suntech Power and five other affiliated companies, 18.56 percent on imports of Trina Solar and 26.89 percent on imports from other

Chinese producers. A prelimi-nary decision on the anti-dump-ing section of the complaint is due by July 25. That section cov-ers panels assembled in China from Taiwanese inputs or third-country cells made from Chinese inputs.

The anti-subsidy duties will hurt the Chinese solar indus-try, although the overall impact should be limited given the US accounted for just about 10 per-cent of Chinese solar shipments last year, industry officials and analysts say.

“The import duties, which are in line with our expectations, will wipe out the price competitiveness of Chinese products in the US market,” said Zhou Ziguang, ana-lyst at Chinese investment bank Ping An Securities in Beijing. The Chinese government, which has been scrambling to boost domes-tic demand to offset declines in orders from Europe — previously the dominant buyer of Chinese solar products 1 on Wednesday expressed its “strong dissatisfac-tion” with the US decision.

In a notice posted on its website,

China’s Ministry of Commerce said the United States had “ignored the facts” and abused trade rules in order to protect its own industry, adding that the use of trade measures “would not solve the development problems of the US solar industry.”

China retaliated against the original US duties by introducing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on imports of US polysili-con, the key raw material in solar cells, and has accused the United States of trying to curb Chinese imports. REUTERS

Qatari stock market to see more initiatives: CEODOHA: Qatar stock market will see more initiatives in near future to boost the confidence of investors, said Rashid bin Ali Al Mansoori, CEO of Qatar Stock Exchange speaking in a panel discussion held during the Annual Conference of the Arab Federation of Exchanges (AFE), held yesterday in Dubai.

Speaking about the implica-tions of the upgrade of the Qatari market status and inclusion in the MSCI Emerging Markets index, Al Mansoori said the reclassifica-tion process highlighted a number of issues that had been addressed by the exchange and other compe-tent authorities in order to raise the efficiency of the market.

“I would like to thank all of the investment community, including MSCI, for the issues they high-lighted a number of issues dur-ing the reclassification exercise. While upgrade brings immediate

benefits of increased liquidity, market depth and institutional investor participation, we have really achieved improvements in the operational efficiency of our markets,” said Al Mansoori. “The road does not end here. We have a long way to go. With this in mind, we have identified a number of other areas that will allow us to capitalise on the emerging mar-ket classification. Initiatives like expansion of securities lending and borrowing, margin trading, omnibus accounts, risk manage-ment and the introduction of a CCP will add further confidence to the robustness of the market infrastructure,” he added.

The participation of Al Mansoori was to talk about the upgrade to emerging market sta-tus by both MSCI and S&P and the implications of that upgrade.

He also touched up on the les-sons learned and the underlying

implications resulting from the upgrade such as the increase in market liquidity and other advan-tages that could be leveraged, such as in the development of investor relations and the promotion of the principles of corporate governance. Al Mansoori said the key criteria of the MSCI upgrade was the oper-ational efficiency of the market measured against both qualitative

and quantitative MSCI standards, especially the degree of openness of the market to the international investment community and an established and well tested oper-ational framework in line with international best practices.

“The upgrade of the Qatari market clearly and evidently reflected the recognition of the positive steps made by Qatar

Stock Exchange over the past few years to meet the requirements of MSCI, in terms of the devel-opment of the market infrastruc-ture and the implementation of a number of important projects and initiatives, which were wel-comed by international financial and investment institutions,” Al Mansoori added.

THE PENINSULA

Rashid bin Ali Al Mansoori (second left), CEO of Qatar Stock Exchange, at Arab Federation of Exchanges, in Dubai.

DOHA: The Qatar Petroleum Suppliers and Contractors Forum, kicked off at the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) here yesterday with the participation of more than 800 representatives from over 470 local and international companies.

Organised by QP’s Purchasing and Contracts Department, the one-day forum was held under the patronage of H E Dr Mohamed bin Saleh Al Sada, the Minister of Energy and Industry and Chairman and Managing Director of QP.

In his keynote address, Ahmed Abdul Rahman Al

Mulla, Corporate Manager for Purchasing and Contracts, said: “The QP vision, which was launched by Dr Al Sada in October 2013, reinforces our belief that a successful Qatar Petroleum is reliant upon our business relationship both here in Qatar and internationally with you — our contractors and suppliers. Without your commitment and dedication, we would not be able to ensure the continuity of the supply chain. This is something that we clearly recognise.”

During his speech, Al Mulla also highlighted QP’s continued support to local companies as he pointed out that up to 78 percent

of contracts, 82 percent of pur-chases and 90 percent of supply agreements have been awarded to local suppliers over the past three years. In addition, he stressed that the building of business relation-ships with local and international companies is at the foundation of the activities of QP’s Purchasing and Contracts Department.

Al Mulla’s speech was followed by four presentations related to the QP Vendor e-Registration System, QP’s major projects and preferred vendor lists, procure-ment management, as well as compliance and performance matters.

THE PENINSULA

QP holds suppliers, contractors meet

Walmart holds shareholder meeting

Walmart employees cheer at the Walmart US associates meeting in Fayetteville, Arkansas yesterday. The meeting was part of Walmart’s annual shareholder meeting.

BUSINESS22THURSDAY 5 JUNE 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

India may ease restrictions for online retailersMUMBAI/NEW DELHI: India could allow global online retailers such as Amazon.com Inc and eBay to sell their own products as early as next month, removing restrictions that have held back competition in one of the world’s biggest, and most price-sensitive, retail markets.

The decision, which is likely to be announced in or alongside the budget, is one of the first tangible signs of eco-nomic reform by the business-friendly government of Prime Minister Narendra

Modi, who was sworn in 10 days ago. The move could allow the government to cir-cumvent political opposition to opening up India’s $500bn retail sector to global retail giants such as Walmart Stores Inc.

Four people privy to discussions within the government said that officials believed a more robust online retail sector would spur manufacturing and consumption, helping revive an economy that has grown at below 5 percent for two years, the longest period of sub-par expansion since the late 1980s.

“Most stakeholders support FDI (for-eign direct investment),” said a senior government official, referring to e-com-merce. “We have pitched for opening it up completely.”

Industry surveys say e-commerce could contribute up to 4 percent to India’s economy by 2020 from under 1 percent now. When asked about the decision, a spokesman for India’s commerce and industry ministry declined to comment.

“The way the government is initiat-ing discussion, it is very clear that they

are extremely serious about it,” said an executive with a global online retailer who was invited to a meeting two weeks ago between the government and foreign and domestic companies.

“They understand this will help small traders to grow their business, expand and reach out to a larger market,” he said. While Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been a vocal critic of the country’s multi-brand retail policy, it has remained quiet on the proposal to open up the e-commerce sector.

On the campaign trail, Modi had asked small traders not to feel intimated by big online retail chains. “We should not worry about these things. Our children have taken IT to the world. We’ll have to embrace it,” he told a gathering of small traders in February.

Modi will eventually decide invest-ment guidelines as well as the foreign ownership cap, but the sources said the rules will be clearer and better than those for foreign investment in the supermar-ket sector. REUTERS

Opening up of online retail to benefit Amazon, eBay; announcement may be made as part of budget next month

DOHA: International Bank of Qatar (ibq) has won the Best Customer Service Award for the fifth year at the annual Banker Middle East Industry Awards 2014 ceremony held recently in Dubai.

The award recognises ibq’s contin-ued leadership in delivering innovative, value-added products, in addition to the bank’s investment in technology, human capital and streamlined banking opera-tions focused on delivering high quality customer service and experience, the bank said a statement yesterday.

Jabra Ghandour, Managing Director of ibq said: “This award is a testament to our commitment to continue deliver-ing on our objective of providing unpar-alleled services dedicated to customer satisfaction. This is truly an important accomplishment, one which will further encourage us to develop new innova-tive services and solutions to enhance our customers’ experience. Our team has also played a vital role by embrac-ing the customer service standards in every possible way. We’ll continue to work hard to provide state-of-the-art banking solutions that are providing our customers, whom we also consider as partners for success, with choice and convenience at every touch point.”

Andrew Ball, Head of Retail Banking at ibq, said: “We’re proud to be recog-nised once again by the Banker Middle East awards for our commitment to high quality service in Qatar.”

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Al Khalij Commercial Bank (al khaliji) QSC, has again been named the “Best Premium Bank” in the Middle East by the Banker Middle East Industry Awards 2014. Organised by CPI Financial, the annual Banker Middle East Industry Awards sets the benchmark for suc-cessful banking in the Mena region.

Commenting on the recognition, al khaliji Group CEO Robin McCall said: “We are honoured to receive this award, which reaffirms the value of a close working partnership with our clients. We have recognised the need for a quality service, flawless execution, appropriate products and transpar-ent pricing. Our aim is to ensure our preferred clients receive a dedicated, specialised banking service to meet their needs”.

This year’s Banker Middle East Industry Awards witnessed nomina-tions from a large number of banks and financial institutions from across the region covering a broad spectrum of financial services including retail, corporate, investment, premium and private banking, asset management, fund management, finance companies and consultancy practices.

This is the second award for al kha-liji in less than three months, hav-ing received dual recognition from the International Banker for “Best Practice Investor Relations” and “Best Commercial Bank of the Year in Qatar”.

THE PENINSULA

LAGOS: French cement maker Lafarge will combine its South Africa business with publicly traded Nigerian unit Lafarge Wapco, listing its Africa interests together on the Lagos bourse, its country chief executive officer said.

Guillaume Roux said the deal, worth $1.35bn, will see the Lafarge group get $200m in cash and 1.4 billion new shares in Lafarge Wapco to effect the merger.

The new company, Lafarge Africa Plc, will have a market capitalisation of more than $3bn and will be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Roux told a news conference. Lafarge group will own 73 percent of the combined entity.

The combined company would seek to boost capacity by 5.5 million tonnes to 17.5 million tonnes after the merger. “The consolidation will enable the enlarged entity to accelerate growth on the continent and expand its prod-uct offering in South Africa across the region,” Roux said.

He said Standard Chartered Bank acted as independent valuation adviser on the deal while Nigerian-based invest-ment bank Chapel Hill Denham was financial adviser on the merger. Lafarge Africa will become the sixth highest capitalised company on the Nigerian bourse, Roux said. Lafarge faces intense competition in Africa, especially from arch rival Dangote Cement, owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote. The company, Nigeria’s biggest with a market capitalisation of around $24bn, is set to roll out cement plants across Africa.

The combined entity accounted for $1.25bn in 2013 annual sales, and earn-ings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) stood at $345m. Roux said cement industry demand was projected to grow by around 14 percent over the next five years in Nigeria while it will grow by around 4 percent in South Africa over the same period. REUTERS

Lafarge to merge S Africa, Nigeria units in $1.35bn deal

IBQ recognised forcustomer service

Al khaliji gets another award

23BUSINESS THURSDAY 5 JUNE 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

GM sorry for sending recall noticesDETROIT: General Motors apologised to families of accident victims who have been notified to bring in cars for replacement of defective ignition switches. “We are deeply sorry to those families who received a recall notice,” said GM spokesman Greg Martin.

GM has recalled 2.6 million of its most popular models to replace a defective switch that it has linked to 13 fatalities. Some fami-lies who lost loved ones in fatal crashes have complained that GM should not have sent them notices to bring in cars for repairs.

Terri DiBattista, who lost her 16-year-old daughter Amber Marie Rose in a 2005 Maryland accident involving a Chevrolet Cobalt, said she received two recall notices from GM last week ask-ing her to bring in the vehicle to fix the ignition switch and power steering. The car was destroyed when Rose crashed into a tree.

The postcards were mailed to the family at its new address in South Carolina, where DiBattista said they moved to recover from the loss. Sent by a local GM dealer, the cards detailed three different recalls GM has issued

involving the Cobalt in recent months. DiBattista said GM could have identified the destroyed car through a simple check of Vehicle Identification Numbers.

Rose has been identified as one of the 13 victims GM links to the faulty switch.

Federal regulators now say they believe that GM’s death toll is an undercount. An analysis of federal crash data found at least 74 peo-ple have died in General Motors cars in accidents with some key similarities to those that GM has linked to the defective switches.

Martin said in an email that GM “continues to look into all claims we are made aware of in the recall population.”

Some families say they are still seeking answers on whether fatal accidents could be linked to the switch. Kim Pierce, who lost her 17-year-old son, Austin Sloat, in a crash in Maine involving a 2004 Saturn Ion, said she learned about GM’s problems with a defective switch from news reports early this year. She then obtained a police accident report that showed the driver’s side air bag did not deploy when he crashed at high speeds into a tree. Another

Victims’ families protest the move

teenage driver was charged in the accident, which involved racing.

Pierce has hired an attorney and contacted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

regarding the incident that led to her son’s death. Martin declined comment on whether GM was reviewing Sloat’s case.

“Out of respect for their

privacy, we do not discuss pri-vate conversations we may have had with family members or their legal representation,” he said. REUTERS

Mary Theresa Ruddy (left), whose daughter was killed in 2010 when she lost control of her 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt, holds a picture of the vehicle, as General Motors CEO Mary Barra testifies before the Senate Commerce and Transportation Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Insurance subcommittee in Washington.

TOKYO: Dai-ichi Life Insurance said yesterday it would buy US-based Protective Life for $5.7bn in a record deal, the latest overseas takeover by a Japanese firm to counter a declining mar-ket at home.

The company, Japan’s number two insurer, said it would pay $70 per share for the American firm and issue up to 250bn yen ($2.4bn) in new stock to help finance the deal. The price is a 34 percent premium on Protective Life shares when they closed on Friday in New York, before reports of the deal emerged.

Dai-ichi said the purchase of Protective Life, a mid-sized firm based in the southern US state of Alabama, was aimed at broaden-ing its overseas business beyond Asia by entering the world’s big-gest market for insurance sold to consumers.

“As a result of the acquisition, the company’s business composi-tion in terms of premium income, profits and risk exposure will be more diversified globally, encom-passing Japan, North America and the Asia-Pacific region,” Dai-ichi said in a statement.

“The group anticipates the acquisition to be a transforma-tive event for (its) aspiration to become a ‘global insurance group representing Asia’, enabling us to accelerate growth and expand our business further,” it added.

The buyout — which is expected to be completed later this year or early 2015 — would be the larg-est acquisition of a foreign firm by a Japanese insurer, eclipsing Tokio Marine’s $4.7bn takeo-ver of US-based Philadelphia Consolidated in 2008. Last month Japan’s Suntory Holdings said it had completed a nearly $16bn purchase of the firm behind Jim Beam bourbon, creating one of the world’s biggest high-end spirits makers and giving it a foothold in the major US liquor market.

That deal — which dwarfed pre-vious Suntory acquisitions — was the third-biggest overseas takeo-ver by a Japanese firm, after mobile carrier SoftBank’s $21.6bn buyout of US-based Sprint Nextel last year and Japan Tobacco’s 2007 purchase of Britain’s Gallaher for almost $19bn. Dai-ichi’s announcement was the latest in a recurring trend for Japanese companies as they see their home market decline due to a shrinking population. AFP

DUBAI: Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) has completed the purchase of a 24.9 percent stake in Indonesia’s Bank Panin Syariah from its parent firm, an executive at Bank Pan Indonesia was quoted as saying yesterday.

Dubai Islamic Bank, the largest Islamic bank in the United Arab Emirates, said last month that it was in talks to buy 24.9 percent of Indonesia’s only listed shariah-compliant lender, which it would jointly man-age and operate with Bank Pan Indonesia.

In two separate statements to the Indonesian stock exchange, Bank Panin Indonesia said an unidentified buyer had acquired 10 percent of the Islamic unit on May 21 and 13.5 percent on May 22.

No purchase price was given in the filings.

However, Roosniati Salihin, vice president of Bank Panin Indonesia, told The Jakarta Post that the buyer was the Dubai-based bank.

“The agreement (with Dubai Islamic Bank) was made official about two weeks ago,” Salihin was quoted as saying.

“Now Dubai Islamic Bank controls a 24.9 percent stake in Bank Panin Syariah, while Panin remains the majority share-holder with 64.01 percent,” she added.

The deal was said to be worth 251.79bn rupiah ($21.2m), the newspaper wrote.

Dubai Islamic Bank didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

REUTERS

Dubai Islamic Bank buys 24.9pc of Bank Panin

LONDON: Price cuts by euro-zone firms failed to prevent business growth from losing momentum in May, all but seal-ing the case for looser monetary policy a day before the European Central Bank meets.

Markit’s Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) showed that while output across the bloc remained solid in May the pace of growth eased — despite output prices falling for the 26th straight month.

“Today’s PMIs remain consist-ent with some recovery in the eurozone,” said Annalisa Piazza at Newedge Strategy. “That said, we rule out that the picture of mod-erate recovery will be an obsta-cle for the ECB to justify further accommodation this week.”

ECB policymakers have flagged a move at today’s meeting.

Sources said last month the bank was preparing a package of policy options, including cuts in all its interest rates and targeted measures aimed at boosting lend-ing to small and mid-sized busi-nesses. Annual eurozone inflation, which the ECB prefers to be just under 2 percent, fell unexpect-edly in May to just 0.5 percent, increasing the risks of deflation and making a policy response today a virtual certainty.

Industrial producer prices, a proxy for consumer prices, fell as expected both on the month and on a year ago in April, Eurostat also said yesterday.

In Britain, which does not use the euro, the services industry expanded faster than expected in May, and hiring notched a 17-year high, adding to a debate at the Bank of England about how soon

it should raise rates. The BoE is widely expected to be the first major central bank to begin hik-ing interest rates from a record low of 0.5 percent — although not until next year. “Record low inter-est rates are no longer necessary. The (UK) economy is growing rapidly and, if anything, is pick-ing up pace,” said Christian Schulz at Berenberg. Just as Britain’s recovery seems to be progressing at a faster rate than that of the neighbouring euro zone economy, parallel divergences have emerged within the currency union.

The bloc’s growth was once again supported by Germany and pointed to euro zone GDP expanding 0.4-0.5 percent this quarter. But French business activity slipped back into con-traction after just two months of growth. REUTERS

Eurozone economy stutters as ECB gears up for action today

WASHINGTON: US companies hired far fewer workers than expected in May, but an acceleration in services sector growth supported views the economy was regaining strength after sagging early this year.

While other data yesterday showed the trade deficit hit its widest point in two years in April, a rise in imports to record highs underscored the economy’s resil-ience. “May job growth may have been a little less than expected but with imports rising, it looks like the economy is mov-ing forward solidly,” said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania. Private employers added 179,000 jobs to their payrolls in May, the ADP National Employment Report showed, compared to 215,000 jobs in April. That was below economists’ expectations for a gain of 210,000 jobs in May.

It was released ahead of the govern-ment’s comprehensive employment report tomorrow. The ADP report,

however, does not have a good record predicting nonfarm payrolls. A survey forecast payrolls rising 218,000 after a 288,000 increase in April.

Separately, the Institute for Supply Management said its services sector index rose to 56.3 last month as new orders and business activity jumped. It was the highest reading in nine months and was up from 55.2 in April.

In another report, the Commerce Department said the trade gap increased 6.9 percent to $47.2bn as imports hit a record high. It was the largest deficit since April 2012 and followed a $44.2bn shortfall in March.

US financial market were little changed after the data. When adjusted for inflation, the trade deficit increased to $53.8bn from $50.9bn in March, sug-gesting that trade remained a drag on growth in the second quarter.

Trade subtracted almost a percentage point from first-quarter gross domestic product growth. REUTERS

US private hiring slows, but services sector expands

People use computers at a job fair in Detroit .

Dai-ichi Life to buy US firm for $5.7bn

Ford to ‘shed weight’

Visitors look at a Ford Lightweight Concept car at the TechShop in San Francisco, California, yesterday. Ford said the vehicle uses advanced materials to explore weight reduction solution in an effort to improve fuel efficiency.

BUSINESS24THURSDAY 5 JUNE 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

*Periodic Distribution Amount

IMPORTANT NOTE: Published by HSBC Bank Middle East Limited, P O Box 57, Doha, Qatar which is licensed and regulated by Qatar Central Bank and Jersey Financial Services Commission. Information quoted is from publicly available sources or proprietary data and subject to change. HSBC accepts no liability for any loss or damage arising out of the use of all or part of this material. This information is general and does not take into account individual circumstances, objectives or needs. The price of bonds can and does fluctuate. The secondary market for bonds may not provide significant liquidity or may trade based on prevailing market conditions. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. You should consider these matters and consult your financial advisor prior to making any investment decisions.

QATARI MARKETBond Coupon Maturity Currency Mid-Price Yield Moody’s S&P

Qatar Govt 3.125% 1/20/2017 USD 105.44 1.02 % Aa2 AA

Qatar Govt 6.55% 4/9/2019 USD 121.13 1.96 % Aa2 AA

Qatar Govt 5.25% 1/20/2020 USD 115.00 2.39 % Aa2 AA

Qatar Govt 4.5% 1/20/2022 USD 110.75 2.92 % Aa2 AA

Qatar Govt 9.75% 6/15/2030 USD 163.25 4.26 % Aa2 AA

Qatar Govt 6.4% 1/20/2040 USD 125.00 4.71 % Aa2 AA

Qatar Govt 5.75% 1/20/2042 USD 116.00 4.71 % Aa2 AA

Qatari Diar 3.5% 7/21/2015 USD 103.44 0.41 % Aa2 AA

Qatari Diar 5% 7/21/2020 USD 113.00 2.69 % Aa2 AA

Comqat 5% 11/18/2014 USD 101.88 0.74 % A1 A-

Comqat 3.375% 4/11/2017 USD 104.63 1.70 % A1 A-

QIB 3.856% 10/7/2015 USD 104.00 0.82 % NR NR

QNB 3.125% 11/16/2015 USD 103.13 0.95 % Aa3 A+

QNB 3.375% 2/22/2017 USD 104.50 1.67 % Aa3 A+

Doha Bank 3.5% 3/14/2017 USD 104.63 1.78 % A2 A-

Qtel 3.375% 10/14/2016 USD 105.25 1.12 % A2 A-

Qtel 7.875% 6/10/2019 USD 125.50 2.44 % A2 A-

Qtel 4.75% 2/16/2021 USD 109.63 3.14 % A2 A-

Qtel 5% 10/19/2025 USD 107.63 4.15 % A2 A-

Rasgas 5.5% 9/30/2014 USD 101.63 0.22 % Aa3 A

Rasgas 5.832% 9/30/2016 USD 106.63 2.84 % Aa3 A

Rasgas 5.298% 9/30/2020 USD 109.75 3.56 % Aa3 A

SOVEREIGNSBond PDA* Maturity Currency Mid-Price Yield Moody’s S&P

Abu Dhabi Govt 6.75% 4/8/2019 USD 122.50 1.87 % Aa2 AA

Dubai Govt 6.7% 10/5/2015 USD 107.75 0.80 % NR NR

Dubai Govt 4.9% 5/2/2017 USD 109.50 1.55 % NR NR

Dubai Govt 7.75% 10/5/2020 USD 126.25 3.15 % NR NR

Dubai Govt 6.45% 5/2/2022 USD 121.25 3.37 % NR NR

Qatar Govt 4% 1/20/2015 USD 102.13 0.53 % Aa2 AA

Bahrain Govt 6.273% 11/22/2018 USD 116.63 2.33 % NR BBB

Bahrain Govt 5.5% 3/31/2020 USD 110.50 3.49 % NR BBB

Egypt Govt 5.75% 4/29/2020 USD 105.00 4.77 % Caa1 B-

Morocco Govt 4.5% 10/5/2020 EUR 108.63 2.99 % NR BBB-

US auto sales hit nine-year high in MayDouble-digit growth for major brandsDETROIT: Brisk demand for SUVs and pickup trucks — and five sunny weekends — pushed US auto sales to a nine-year high in May.

Chrysler, Nissan and Toyota all reported double-digit sales gains over last May. Even General Motors, battling bad publicity from a mishandled recall, sur-prised with a 13 percent sales increase.

Ford’s sales rose a better-than-expected three percent, while Hyundai’s were up four per-cent. Of major automakers, only Volkswagen’s sales fell.

May is traditionally a strong month for the auto industry, as buyers spend their tax returns and think ahead to summer road trips. This year’s calendar, with five weekends, gave it an extra boost. Sales were particularly strong the last weekend of the month, automakers said.

Sales rose 11 percent to just over 1.6 million in May. That was the highest monthly total since July 2005, according to Kelley Blue Book.

The surge helped erase doubts about the strength of the indus-try. January and February sales were weaker than expected as consumers spent more time shoveling snow than shopping.

“It’s the continued recovery in the summer selling season,” said Jeff Schuster, executive vice president of forecasting for LMC Automotive, an industry con-sulting firm. “Kind of everything aligning in the month of May.”

June should bring more of the same, said Karl Brauer, a senior ana-lyst with Kelley Blue Book. May sales were driven by pent-up demand from the winter, he said, but the summer months will likely be strong because of other factors, including low inter-est rates, good lease deals and entic-ing new vehicles.

Automakers didn’t need big discounts to boost sales. Car buy-ing site TrueCar.com estimated incentives were flat from last May and up four percent from April to $2,677 per vehicle. TrueCar said Hyundai, Kia and Honda had the biggest increases in incentives in May. Chrysler, GM and Nissan offered fewer deals.

GM said May was its best month since August 2008. Sales of its GMC Yukon and Buick Encore SUVs more than doubled, and buyers snapped up the new Chevrolet Corvette. GMC Sierra pickup sales gained 14 percent.

Brauer said buyers haven’t been deterred by GM’s multiple recalls — 13.8 million vehicles so far this year — and questions about how long the company took to report safety problems in older cars.

“Car buyers are willing to forget the past and look at the present and future for GM,” he said.

Toyota’s sales increased 17 percent over last May. Sales of the Camry midsize sedan, the country’s best-selling car, rose 26 percent to nearly 50,000. Luxury Lexus brand sales gained 21 percent.

Ford said it was a record month for the Fusion sedan and Escape SUV, which both topped 30,000 in sales. Sales for the Lincoln luxury brand gained 21 percent as the new MKC small SUV went on sale.

But Ford’s truck sales dropped four percent as the automaker reduced incentives. Ford said it’s trying to manage pickup truck inventories as it prepares for the new aluminum-clad F-150 pickup, which is due out later this year. Ford plans to close its truck plants for a total of 13 weeks this year. It would normally make around 90,000 trucks in that time.

AP

Germany to set new rules for frackingBERLIN: Germany plans to draw up new rules in the com-ing weeks for the controver-sial method of fracking for gas, which will impose tight restric-tions on the technique that has led to a shale gas boom in the United States.

The guidelines will include environmental audits and a ban on drilling in areas where water is protected. Germany’s ruling par-ties had promised in their coali-tion agreement last year to set a legal framework for fracking.

Hydraulic fracking involves pumping water and chemicals at high pressure through drill holes to prop open rocks. Many Germans oppose it due to envi-ronmental worries, especially fears about possible contamina-tion of drinking water.

The technology was used in Germany for decades for deep-lying, or “tight” gas, but there has been an effective moratorium on the granting of new permits for the past two years.

Economy and Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel outlined his plans to draft the guidelines in a letter dated May 23 to the head of the parliamentary budget committee.

“The goal is to finalise these drafts in the coming weeks,” the let-ter said, adding that the aim was to get a version ready for the cabinet to approve before the summer recess.

Fracking has been embraced in the United States to obtain shale gas cheaply. But in the coalition deal agreed between Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and Gabriel’s Social Democrats (SPD), the section on fracking mentions a “significant potential for risk” and rejects the use of chemicals.

Last month the state of Lower Saxony, which holds 95 percent of Germany’s gas reserves, tried to speed up an end to the ban on frack-ing by saying it would take a draft law to the Bundesrat upper house.

REUTERS

Lithuania to adopt euro from 2015B R U S S E L S / V I L N I U S : Lithuania meets all the cri-teria for joining the euro, the European Commission said yes-terday, clearing the way for the Baltic state to become the 19th member of the single currency from the start of next year.

To adopt the euro, a country has to have government debt no higher than 60 percent of gross domestic product, a budget deficit below three percent of GDP, low inflation and interest rates and its own currency has to be stable against the euro.

Of the 28 countries in the European Union, only Britain and Denmark do not have to strive to adopt the euro because they have negotiated formal opt-outs.

All the others are supposed to

switch to the single currency at some point provided they meet the criteria. The Commission assesses such compliance every two years in what it calls a con-vergence report.

“The 2014 Convergence Report concludes that Lithuania meets the criteria for adopting the euro. As a consequence, the Commission is proposing that Lithuania adopt the euro on 1 January 2015,” the Commission said.

The European Central Bank, which must give its opinion on the readiness of a country to join, also said Vilnius was ready but warned about maintaining low inflation rates. “Maintaining low infla-tion rates on a sustainable basis in Lithuania will be challenging in the medium term, as it may

be difficult to control domestic prices pressures and avoid eco-nomic overheating in an environ-ment of fixed exchange rates,” the ECB said.

EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn told a news conference that while the ECB and Commission reports differed in nuance the inflation outlook was not worrying.

He said the Commission expected inflation in Lithuania to accelerate to 1.1 percent this year and 1.8-1.9 percent in 2015 from a 12-month average of 0.6 percent measured to April 2014.

“The analysis of fundamen-tals ... clearly support a positive assessment of the price stability criterion,” Rehn said.

REUTERS

Bahrain’s Mumtalakat ends losing streakDUBAI: Bahrain’s Mumtalakat will remain profitable from now on, its chief executive said yes-terday, as the sovereign fund ended five straight years of losses in 2013 due to improved performance at Gulf Air and lower impairments.

The fund, fully owned by the Bahraini state but run on a com-mercial basis, made a net profit of BD82.7m ($219m) in 2013 com-pared with a net loss of BD181.7m in the previous year, a statement

said. The profit was driven “by significantly lower impairment losses and improved operating performance across portfolio companies, in particular Gulf Air”, the statement added.

“We are very hopeful that we are now on the right path and growth and profitability will stay with us going forward, that I can assure you,” Mahmood Al Kooheji, Chief Executive of Mumtalakat, said in a telephone interview.

“We’re out of the red and we’ll

not be back there again, God willing.”

Mumtalakat has struggled in recent years due to problems in its home market, namely a local real estate crash followed by Arab Spring-inspired unrest in the Gulf Arab kingdom.

The fund has also been weighed down by Gulf Air, the loss-mak-ing carrier which has undergone a series of cost-cutting measures to help turn around its fortunes.

Bahrain’s national carrier,

which cut routes and staff dur-ing a five-year restructuring, nar-rowed its net loss to BD95.4m in 2013 from BD183.8m a year ago.

For Mumtalakat, route closures fed through to a 5.6 percent dip in group revenue but this was offset by cost reductions at the airline.

“It’s a temporary drop (in reve-nue) and now we will grow slowly but surely, with routes based on commercial viability,” Kooheji said.

REUTERS

Mining exports drive Australian economy upSYDNEY: The Australian econ-omy expanded a better-than-expected 1.1 percent in the first quarter of 2014 with a strong rise in mining exports driving growth, data showed yesterday. Annual growth was 3.5 percent, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said, compared with analyst expectations of 3.1 percent.

Markets watchers expected growth in the three months to March to be 0.8 percent.

The Australian dollar rose by a third of a US cent to 92.92 US cents on the back of the strong quarterly figures, which followed a 0.8 percent expansion in the three months to December.

The mining sector made up 80 percent of growth in the March quarter as net exports contrib-uted 1.4 percentage points to GDP.

Consumption added 0.3 per-centage points, but some of the gains were partially offset by inventories, which subtracted 0.6 percentage points.

The improved GDP figures were foreshadowed by the Reserve Bank of Australia in its monthly meeting on Tuesday, where it held the cash rate at a record low of 2.5 percent for the 10th straight month.

Central bank governor Glenn Stevens flagged a “period of sta-bility” in monetary policy in a cautiously optimistic statement about the Australian economy.

AFP

BY ALLISON SCHRAGER

Starting last month, and continu-ing through July, Detroit’s 170,000 creditors will vote on the terms of the “Grand Bargain” that will end the city’s bankruptcy.

Different groups are contributing to the deal: the state of Michigan, the city of Detroit, as well as philanthropic organisations includ-ing the Knight and Ford foundations. They’ll either contribute money or reduce salaries of city employees, in order to restore Detroit’s solvency and ability to pay its retirees.

So far, absent in the bargain is support from the federal government. On April 24 Treasury Secretary Jack Lew visited Detroit, raising hopes that a $100m bailout from the government would materialise. The money would come under the category of “blight eradication,” a preexisting federal programme designated for urban renewal. The federal government is careful to avoid setting a precedent of bailing out state or municipal pensions because it doesn’t want to take on a massive liability.

This is a mistake. The federal government should use Detroit as an opportunity to take a more active role in state and municipal pensions. Unless the American economy experiences unprecedented growth, future federal bailouts of state and municipal retirement benefits are inevitable. The more likely scenario of low or normal growth will

make these retirement benefits a burden to all taxpayers, regardless of where they live. At some point the federal government will inevitably be stuck with the tab, either from increased political pressure or from states gaming existing federal programmes.

The sooner the federal government acts, the lower the cost to taxpayers because the financial hole will only get bigger. In both the mortgage and European debt crises, the world saw how much damage an unacknowl-edged, but expected government guarantee can cause. Debts became unmanageable and creditors looked to the central government for bailouts. The lack of clarity caused uncer-tainty and wreaked havoc on financial mar-kets. Rather than staying on the sidelines or engaging in backdoor bailouts, this time the federal government should take a more active role in shoring up state pension finances.

The problem is dire. Retiree benefits — both pensions and healthcare — will become increasingly expensive to provide, and strain state and local governments nation-wide. According to a task force chaired by Richard Ravitch and Paul Volcker, in the future many states and municipalities will probably have to choose between services for other taxpayers (like schools, roads and safety), paying benefits, or significantly rais-ing taxes. Even if pension assets earn their expected 8 percent return each year, says economist Josh Rauh, by 2025 20 states will run out of money, and there will be even

more financial strain at the local level.The federal government may claim, as it

is in Detroit, that it is not on the hook for local retirement benefits. But it is, for both political and financial reasons.

The federal government can avoid this type of large, unexpected cost by getting more involved in state pensions now. In the private sector, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation — a quasi-US government agency that is technically independent — insures corporate pensions, paying employ-ers a large fraction of their promised benefit if their company goes bankrupt. In exchange for that guarantee, corporations are sub-ject to more stringent accounting stand-ards and insurance premiums. There is no such insurance for state and local pensions, but there should be, because it would force states and municipalities to pay for that implicit federal guarantee.

A less radical alternative involves tax subsidies. The government could start to enforce more sensible accounting stand-ards and offer states and municipalities the option of issuing tax-advantaged bonds, where the proceeds would fully finance pen-sion and healthcare liabilities.

With either of these options, the federal government would fulfil its obligation to state and local workers — and give Detroit and other struggling American cities the help they deserve.

REUTERS

BY PETER R ORSZAG

In the hoopla over whether Thomas Piketty’s data on growing global inequality are correct, an important

question about how to address the problem has been obscured. Piketty describes his own global wealth tax idea as more of a “use-ful utopia” than a practical pol-icy suggestion. Is there anything more plausible that can be done?

Two suggestions come to mind, at least for US policymakers.

The first is a progressive con-sumption tax. This kind of tax is already embraced by many conservatives thought leaders because it is, compared with other types of taxes, economi-cally efficient. But it is efficient in no small part because it imposes a tax on wealth. People have no way to convert their money into anything they consume without paying the tax.

As William Gale and Benjamin Harris of the Brookings Institution have pointed out, the efficiency benefits from a consumption tax occur from a combination of effects, including imposing a one-time tax on existing wealth.

As they note, this tax on wealth that already been accumulated “is a major component of the effi-ciency gains because of the crea-tion of a consumption tax.”

The dirty little secret about consumption taxes is that their putative benefits come largely from Piketty’s core idea: a tax on wealth.

The inherent problem with a consumption tax, though, is that it is regressive, because low- and middle-income people consume a larger share of their money than high-income people do.

A tax on net wealth permits an offset for debt and should not be confused with a property tax on real property or certain assets.

For example, a tax on real property will generally be based on a percentage of the market value of the property whereas a net wealth tax applicable to the same property applies to the market value less the outstand-ing mortgage.

A net wealth may be practi-cal for all types of wealth where a country, such as the United States, has worldwide tax juris-diction but less suited to countries with territorial tax jurisdiction or

for taxation at the state or local level.

So while a plain vanilla con-sumption tax would tax wealth, it would exacerbate the core prob-lem that Piketty is worried about.

The solution to this dilemma is a progressive consumption tax, such as the X tax proposed by the late Princeton University professor David Bradford. Under the X tax, wages are subject to a progressive tax, and business cash flow is taxed at the high-est wage-tax rate. The result is a consumption tax that imposes larger proportionate burdens on high-income families than on low-income ones. This version of a consumption tax would mitigate the distributional concerns but still impose a substantial tax on existing wealth.

Its parameters could be adjusted to focus increasingly on the very wealthy, rather than the merely wealthy.

And yet the X tax has been promoted by the conservative American Enterprise Institute, whose economists are most unlikely to embrace a simple wealth tax.

A wealth tax is generally

conceived of as a levy based on the aggregate value of all household assets, including owner-occu-pied housing; cash, bank depos-its, money funds, and savings in insurance and pension plans; investment in real estate and unincorporated businesses; and corporate stock, financial securi-ties, and personal trusts.

A wealth tax is a tax on the accumulated stock of purchasing power, in contrast to income tax, which is a tax on the flow of assets (a change in stock).

Three caveats should be noted for the record.

First, the AEI economists favour imposing a consumption tax that gives generous transi-tion relief to existing owners of capital, substantially reducing the tax on current wealth and also attenuating the efficiency benefits of the reform.

Such relief is not a necessary component of the reform, how-ever, and progressives could insist on minimising the transition relief — in the name of economic efficiency and to accomplish the tax on existing wealth.

Second, the X tax was not originally designed to address

concerns about the top 0.01 per-cent rather than, say, the top 10 percent, and modifying it to do so would require a stretch, albeit only one about parameters rather than, as with a wealth tax, the entire construct.

Finally, the AEI economists favour imposing a progressive consumption tax as an alternative to existing forms of taxation. But such a tax could instead be added to the existing system.

Another idea to address grow-ing concentrations of assets that would be more practical in the US than a global wealth tax would be to shift the US estate tax to an inheritance tax.

The difference between the two is crucial: While an estate tax imposes the same tax burden on bequests regardless of how many people receive them and there-fore regardless of the impact on wealth inequality, an inheritance tax creates an incentive to split large estates up among a larger number of beneficiaries, thereby lessening inequality over time.

Consider as an example a $50m estate. Under the estate tax, that $50m is subject to the same tax regardless of whether

it is bequeathed entirely to one person or dispersed among 10.

The United States Constitution prohibits any direct tax on asset holdings (as opposed to income tax or capital gains tax) unless the revenue collected is appor-tioned among the states on the basis of their population. Although a federal wealth tax is prohibited unless the receipts are distributed to the States by their populations, state and local gov-ernment property tax amount to a wealth tax on real estate, and because capital gains are taxed on nominal instead of inflation-adjusted profits, the capital gains tax amounts to a wealth tax on the inflation rate.

Under an inheritance tax, by contrast, the $50m inherited by one person in the former case would be taxed at a much higher rate than the $5m inherited by each of 10 people in the latter.

Neither a progressive con-sumption tax nor an inheritance tax may be politically viable at the moment, but everything in life is relative.

Compared with a global wealth tax, they seem eminently doable.

WP-BLOOMBERG

Why federal govt should help bail out Detroit City

BY DINA ELBOGHDADY

Since the housing market unravelled in 2008, lenders have slashed the interest rates on millions of mortgages belong-ing to struggling borrowers — but only for a limited time.

And for about 2 million of the loans, that time is up, or soon will be.

Starting this year, the rates will begin to gradually rise on those mortgages, and it’s unclear if the homeowners will be able to handle the higher payments, according to an analysis released Monday by Black Knight Financial Services, a mort-gage research firm.

Roughly 40 percent of the loans belong to borrowers who are “underwater,” meaning they owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, the analysis said.

Those borrowers therefore can’t sell their properties or refi-nance if they run into financial trouble once the higher rates kick in, which increases their chances of defaulting on their loans.

“Given that the data has shown quite clearly that equity — or the lack thereof — is one of the primary drivers of mortgage defaults, these resets may indeed pose an increased risk in the years ahead,” Kostya Gradushy, Black Knight’s manager of loan data and customer analytics, said in a statement.

The analysis does not provide any estimates on how much more the 2 million borrowers would have to pay once their interest rates reset, or how many of them are likely to default. The firm studied loan modifications made from 2008 through 2013, both through government initiatives and programmes developed by individual lenders.

Regulators and consumer advocates have voiced concerns about the most prominent of the government’s efforts: the Home Affordable Loan Modification Programme (HAMP).

About 800,000 borrowers who remain enrolled in HAMP will see their rates gradually rise starting this year, eventually increasing payments by more than $1,000 a month in some cases, accord-ing to a report released earlier this year by the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Programme.

Housing experts have warned that many of these borrowers may not be much more financially stable now than they were when they initially turned to the government for help.

The federal initiative was based on the assumption that the economy would bounce back more quickly, undoing the damage wrought by plunging home prices and high unemployment. But the average household income has been flat for all but the highest earners since the programme launched in 2009.

Most of the HAMP borrowers had their interest rates cut for five years, some to levels as low as 2 percent, so that their mort-gage payments did not exceed 31 percent of their gross monthly income.

After five years, the rates are supposed to rise by up to a full percentage point a year until they reach whatever the average interest rate was for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at the time the loan was modified.

A report last month by the Urban Institute concluded that most HAMP borrowers whose loans were modified in 2009 will be able to cope with the first two payment jumps. The third pay-ment increases, however, “may prove problematic,” the report said. And the first substantial defaults should take place in 2016, and pick up the following year.

Still, the report concluded that fears of massive re-defaults are overblown in part because the rate adjustments will be taking place in a healthier housing market, and because some borrow-ers are likely to strike deals with lenders that will keep their rates low.

Even borrowers who did not get their loans reworked through a federal programme or any other initiative face potential chal-lenges, Black Knight concluded in its analysis.

Aside from underwater borrowers, the company focused on homeowners who are almost underwater — with less than 10 percent equity in their homes.

It found that about one of every 10 borrowers fall into that bucket based on the company’s own price index, which tracks the repeat sales of homes in more than 19,000 Zip codes nationwide. Those who are nearly underwater are susceptible to even slight changes in prices, Gradushy said in an interview.

Even if borrowers are not technically underwater, those who have very little equity in their homes will most likely have to bring cash to the table if they decide to sell their homes just to cover the commissions of the real estate agents involved in the deal. WP-BLOOMBERG

Better ways than a wealth tax to shrink inequality

Interest rate breaks ending soon in US

Cartoon Arts International / The New York Times Syndicate

25 BUSINESS VIEWS THURSDAY 5 JUNE 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

QATAR EXCHANGE | DAILY TRADING REPORT | 04-06-2014

INTERNATIONAL MARKETS A List of Shares from the worldCOMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED

A C C-A/D 1423 7.1 20555

Aban Offs-B/D 725.4 -13.3 292169

Ador Welding-B/D 190.45 7.75 13745

Aegis Logis-B/D 193.85 6 18922

Ahmed.Forg-B/D 358.4 15.7 91311

Alembic-B/D 20.8 0.8 561743

Alok Indus-B/D 11.1 0.73 13501541

Apollo Tyre-A/D 180.2 -4.1 375565

Asahi I Glass-/D 73.95 2.1 50989

Ashok Leyland-/D 33.95 0.55 1404612

Ballarpur In-B/D 18.05 -0.5 522775

Bata India-A/D 1152.35 -2.95 10947

Beml Ltd-B/D 663.1 -6.75 87922

Bh Electronic-/D 1730.95 18.8 121165

Bharatgears-B/D 56.35 5.8 21764

Bhartiya Int-B/D 271 -2.55 17323

Bhel-A/D 257.9 0.6 912178

Bom.Burmah-B/D 148.5 -0.95 172268

Bombay Dyeing-/D 81.7 2.2 1128013

Camph.& All-B/D 223.85 4.1 14440

Canfin Homes-B/D 365.05 11.15 22759

Caprihans-B/D 44 0 9022

Cast.Bo/D 299.2 4.85 77103

Century Enka-B/D 176.05 7.35 52425

Century Text-A/D 535.9 21.95 201025

Chambal Fert-B/D 52.8 3 973476

Chola Invest-B/D 358.55 16.4 7984

Cipla-A/D 390.4 2.4 160588

City Union Bk-/D 70.2 0.9 149334

Colgate-A/D 1390.3 -9.85 8855

Dai-Tichi Kar-/D 74.75 0.7 13165

Dcm Shram Ind-/D 102.15 3.05 15694

Dhampur Sugar-/D 59.85 -0.05 203979

Dr. Reddy-A/D 2325.2 -12.8 21251

E I H-B/D 90 1.35 368022

E.I.D Parry-B/D 211.1 6.55 80653

Electrosteel-B/D 31.6 -1.35 408555

Emco-B/D 38.65 1.85 402696

Escorts-B/D 130.8 -0.05 326989

Essar Oil-A/D 96.9 1.5 936946

Eveready Indu-/D 65.2 -2.15 84373

F D C-B/D 124.6 6 70185

Federal Bank-A/D 122.35 6.65 809591

Ferro Alloys-B/D 8.64 0.42 70954

Finolex-B/D 261.1 4.75 21276

Gail-A/D 380.4 -1 146153

Gammon India-B/D 30.6 0.9 114198

Garden P -B/D 44.7 1.6 53799

Goodricke-B/D 165.85 1.55 139040

Goodyear I -B/D 448.35 3.3 11911

Hcl Infosys-B/D 71.65 -0.1 1132083

Him.Fut.Comm-B/D 15.13 -0.02 1092728

Himat Seide-B/D 63.5 2.15 76513

Hind Motors-B/D 9.7 0.02 224869

Hind Org Chem-/D 22.15 1.75 133497

Hind Unilever-/D 605.35 13.35 220073

Hind.Petrol-A/D 425 0.45 98508

Hindalco-A/D 160.55 5.4 1357465

Hous Dev Fin-A/D 902.35 -10.4 78687

I F C I-A/D 40 2.4 4385215

Idbi-A/D 112.35 15.25 3596833

Ifb Ind.Ltd.-B/D 111.45 1.7 13489

India Cement-B/D 109.65 2.5 281512

India Glycol-B/D 118.25 2.75 205533

Indian Hotel-A/D 95.05 -0.45 268223

Indo-Bcount-B/D 75.7 4.45 42968

Indusind-A/D 540.5 -1.3 60424

J.B.Chemical-B/D 147.5 1.65 59121

Jagson Phar-T/D 15.6 0.61 12740

Jbf Indu-B/D 118 3.35 75480

Jct Elect P -B/D 0.73 0.03 57792

Jct Ltd-T/D 2.53 0.11 1511632

Jenson&Nich.-B/D 2.93 0.03 8001

Jik Indust-T/D 1.01 0.03 77842

Jktyre&Ind-B/D 236.75 5.6 159728

Jmc Projects-B/D 155.15 0 8338

Kabra Extr-B/D 60.95 0.2 27743

Kajaria Cer-B/D 596.75 13.35 269302

Kakatiya Cem-B/D 101.5 -0.2 9117

Kalpat Power-B/D 181.9 -1.55 32695

Kalyani Stel-B/D 100.65 -1.8 155343

Kanoria Chem-B/D 51.9 2.65 270660

Kg Denim-B/D 15.9 0.46 26464

Kilburnengg-B/D 34 3.05 66629

Kinetic Eng-B/D 52.2 0.55 9417

Kopran-B/D 36.95 1 159554

Lakshmi Elec-B/D 309.15 28.1 8245

Laxmi Prcisn-B/D 38.1 -0.95 9159

Lloyd Metal-T/D 9.24 0.06 32960

Lloydsfin.-T/D 0.71 0.03 32034

Lok.Hous&Con-B/D 16.4 0.55 150578

Lupin-A/D 924.7 9.15 26088

Lyka Labs-B/D 14.02 1.16 67722

Mafatlal Ind-B/D 143.05 12.25 23295

Mangalam Cem-B/D 210 8.35 121040

Maral Overs-B/D 25.5 4.25 141749

Mastek-B/D 179.95 2.55 22355

Max India L-A/D 325.5 26.9 543334

Mrpl-A/D 72.45 1.6 494249

Nahar Spg.-B/D 139.65 23.25 550918

Nath Seeds-T/D 5 -0.24 8434

Nation Alum -A/D 56.2 2.9 3019728

Navneet Edu-B/D 75.7 1.55 91692

Nepc India-B/D 4.76 0.22 36952

Nrb Bearings-B/D 85.05 0.45 23794

O N G C-A/D 409 -7.8 874854

Ocl India-B/D 250 19.45 12925

Oil Country-B/D 56.75 4.3 288333

Orchid Chem-B/D 69.65 -2.3 867886

Oudh Sugar-T/D 26.6 0.8 30679

Patspin India-/D 9.47 0.45 16275

Radico Khait-B/D 103.85 0.6 84800

Rallis India-B/D 186.3 -0.45 33115

Reliance Indus/D 616.75 8.75 291005

Ruchi Soya-B/D 45.35 1.1 234934

S Bk Bikaner-B/D 529.6 7.2 16825

Saur.Cem-B/D 31.7 1.5 34468

Thirumalai-B/D 94 2.75 35511

Timexgroup-B/D 13.96 0.3 100114

Tinplate-B/D 73 0.15 65965

Ucal Fuel-B/D 66.9 2.75 22068

Ucal Fuel-B/D 66.9 2.75 22068

Unitech P -A/D 30.35 0.55 8420827

Univcable-T/D 35.85 0.55 10101

3I Group/D 424.8 -1.2 571339

Assoc.Br.Foods/D 3047.7 29 139718

B Sky B/D 873.5 0.5 719433

Barclays/D 241.2 -2.9 22132253

Bg Group/D 1227 -0.5 1251822

Bp/D 498.35 -4.85 9812451

Brit Am Tobacc/D 3572.5 3 586757

Bt Group/D 398 0.2 4045007

Centrica/D 330.7571 -4 5627373

Gkn/D 385.7 -0.5 988989

Hsbc Holdings/D 624.7 0.7 5259797

Imperial Tobac/D 2684.9 23 327978

Kingfisher/D 386.2 -1.4 1344602

Land Secs Grou/D 1070.25 0 149109

Legal & Genera/D 230 0 4206793

Lloyds Bnk Grp/D 77.55 0.5 34784188

Marks & Sp./D 444.9 -1.6 726206

Next/D 6602.1758 10 47477

Pearson/D 1161 -10 398648

Prudential/D 1370.475 -3.5 739472

Rank Group/D 162.992 -0.7 7577

Rentokil Initi/D 116.7 -0.5 576693

Rolls Royce Pl/D 1056.2248 0 944303

Rsa Insrance G/D 481.1 -1 634062

Sainsbury(J)/D 327.67 -6.2 5620472

Schroders/D 2585.15 13 122275

Severn Trent/D 1969 1 145860

Smith&Nephew/D 1052.16 23 1590815

Smiths Group/D 1314.72 3 84904

Standrd Chart /D 1338.5 -5.5 1623587

Tate & Lyle/D 692 2 289886

Tesco/D 293.8301 -3.55 15633923

Unilever/D 2698.2 7 922748

United Util Gr/D 867.5 -1 602600

Vodafone Group/D 203.75 -3.8 26688665

Whitbread/D 4199 15 109634

LONDON

QE Market Summary Comparison Today Previous day

04-06-2014 03-06-2014

Index 13,142.69 13,221.29

Change 78.60 329.89

% 0.59 2.43

YTD% 26.62 27.38

Volume 18,431,162 35,623,423

Value (QAR) 2,488,389,819.04 1,689,793,342.18

Trades 9,123 13,842 Up 22 | Down 18 | Unchanged 05

QE Indices SummaryQE Total Return Index 19,598.59 0.59 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic Index 4,418.46 0.59 %

QE All Share Index 3,311.27 0.25 %

QE All Share Banks & Financial Services

3,202.84 0.16 %

QE All Share Consumer Goods & Services

6,861.92 3.21 %

QE All Share Industrials 4,323.17 1.20 %

QE All Share Insurance 3,282.71 0.15 %

QE All Share Real Estate 2,779.71 0.33 %

QE All Share Telecoms 1,810.41 2.23 %

QE All Share Transportation 2,293.7 0.18 %

26 MARKETTHURSDAY 5 JUNE 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

EXCHANGE RATE

GOLD & SILVERWORLD STOCK INDICES

CRUDE OIL

Buying SellingINDEX Day’s Close Pt Chg % Chg Year High Year Low

US$ ..........................QR 3.6305 QR 3.6500

UK ...........................QR 6.0642 QR 6.1495

Euro .........................QR 4.9308 QR 4.9993

CA$ ..........................QR 3.3004 QR 3.3663

Swiss Fr ..................QR 4.0397 QR 4.0960

Yen ..........................QR 0.0352 QR 0.0359

Aus$ ........................QR 3.3472 QR 3.4128

Ind Re ......................QR 0.0608 QR 0.0620

Pak Re .....................QR 0.0367 QR 0.0374

Peso ........................QR 0.0821 QR 0.0838

SL Re .......................QR 0.0277 QR 0.0282

Taka .........................QR 0.0466 QR 0.0475

Nep Re ....................QR 0.0382 QR 0.0389

SA Rand ..................QR 0.3356 QR 0.3423

BRENT

$ 109.22

DUBAI

$ 105.49

GOLDQR146.1995

SILVER QR 2.2111

All Ordinaries 5426.76 -33.726 -0.62 5533.3 5072.7

Cac 40 Index/D 4497.98 -5.71 -0.13 4536.83 4080.6

Dj Indu Average 16722.34 -21.29 -0.13 16756.6 14551.27

Egypt Cma Gn Idx 1026.29 32.57 3.28 999.95 312.38

Hang Seng Inde/D 23151.71 -139.33 -0.6 23469.33 21137.61

Iseq Overall/D 4926.4 30.9 0.63 5195.97 4522.4

Karachi 100 In/D 29452.23 -52.75 -0.18 29938.93 25273.11

Nikkei 225 Index 15067.96 33.71 0.22 16164.01 13885.11

S&P 500 Index/D 0 0 0 1925.88 1560.33

Straits Times/D 3280.17 -16.5 -0.5 3308.8 2953.01

Straits Times/D 3274.06 -8.82 -0.27 3291.83 2953.01

27SPORT THURSDAY 5 JUNE 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

NBA finals: It’s Spurs vs HeatBasketball superstars LeBron James and Tony Parker prepare for the battleNEW YORK: The San Antonio Spurs will be looking to avenge last year’s agonizing loss to the Miami Heat in the NBA finals when the two teams return for a best-of-seven showdown that Hall of Famer Jerry West com-pares to an all-out brawl.

“It’s going to be a knockdown, tough battle for both teams,” the former Los Angeles Lakers guard and 14-time All-Star told said. “It’s just a remarkable effort by both teams to get here again.”

Both teams tweaked their ros-ters since last year’s epic series, won by Miami in seven games. The big question, however, is how the memory of last year’s late-game meltdown by the Spurs in Game Six will be played out.

The Heat overcame a title-busting, five-point deficit in the final 28 seconds of regulation and held on in Game Seven at home to win their second straight championship.

“We have four more (games) to win,” San Antonio forward Tim Duncan said on Saturday, seconds after the Spurs defeated Oklahoma City to win the Western Conference. “We’ll do it this time.”

The series begins today in San Antonio in a 2-2-1-1-1 format, where the Spurs, unlike a year ago, have the home-court advan-tage, based on their NBA-best 62-20 regular-season record.

Miami, once again led by the so-called Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, went 54-28 this season, two games behind Indiana in the East.

But the Heat beat the Pacers in six games to reach the champion-ship round and are playing their

best ball of the year. A four-time NBA MVP, James averaged 27.1 points this year and Wade, who was hobbled in last year’s play-offs but is now healthy, chipped in 18.7. James, the MVP of the finals the last two years, said of the Spurs: “They wanted us, they got us.

“They don’t like us. They don’t,” James said. “I can sense it from Timmy’s comments over the last couple days. They wanted this. They wanted us. We’ll be ready for the challenge. We’re confident. We’re not shying away from them. We want them too.”

The Spurs are led by their own top-gun trio of Duncan, ball handler Tony Parker and veteran shooting guard Manu Ginobili. But greater output from Danny Green and Patty Mills and the improvement of Marco Belinelli make the Spurs better than they were a year ago.

West, the MVP of the finals in 1969 in a losing effort, said the Spurs and Heat are the best teams in the NBA, adding they’re both supremely talented but in different ways.

“The Spurs are the pretti-est team in basketball to watch because of their ability to pass the ball, the way they play together and the efficiency of the way they run their offense. San Antonio, from one to 10 is more talented than Miami, but Miami has a player that’s like four players - I’m talking about LeBron James. He just keep getting better and better. He looks like the perfect teammate. He makes those other guys a lot better than they would be with another team. But that’s who he is. That’s the greatness of LeBron James.” REUTERS

Profile of San Antonio Spurs

NBA titles: Four (2007, 2005, 2003, 1999)

��The San Antonio franchise was founded in 1967 as the Dallas Chaparrals, a member of the old American Basketball Association, and after being known as the Dallas and Texas Chaparrals they became the San Antonio Spurs in 1973.

��Three years later they joined the NBA, one of four former American Basketball Association teams to remain intact in the NBA after the two leagues’ 1976 merger. They are the only former ABA team to have won an NBA championship and currently play in the Southwest Division.

��San Antonio, led by Hall of Famer George Gervin, captured five division titles in their first seven years in the NBA and were a perennial playoff participant.

�� They won their first title in 1999 behind the Twin Towers of future Hall of Famer David Robinson and current standout Tim Duncan.

�� The addition of French shooting guard Tony Parker and Argentine point guard Manu Ginobili brought three more titles - in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

��Current head coach Gregg Popovich has been a part of all four title runs.

��Their four NBA titles are the fourth most in league history, behind the Boston Celtics (17), Los Angeles Lakers (16) and Chicago Bulls (6).

��2013-14 Regular season record: 62-20

�� How they qualified for the NBA Finals: Won Southwest Division in the regular sea-son. Beat Dallas Mavericks 4-3 in conference quarter-finals, beat Portland Trail Blazers 4-1 in conference semi-finals and beat Oklahoma City Thunder 4-2 in conference finals.

Head coach: Gregg Popovich

Top playoffs scorer: Tony Parker (17.2 points per game)

Top playoffs rebounder: Tim Duncan (8.9 rebounds per game)

Profile of Miami Heat

NBA titles: Three (2013, 2012, 2006)

��Miami were admitted to the NBA in 1988 as an expansion franchise. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference.

��Nicknamed the Heat, they have made the playoffs in 18 of their 26 seasons.

��After a slow start, they began to emerge as a leading team in the mid 1990s after hiring Pat Riley as head coach, winning divisional titles in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000.

�� Miami won their first championship in 2006, shortly after they had drafted Dwyane Wade and acquired Shaquille O’Neal from the Los Angeles Lakers.

�� Before the 2010-11 season, LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined Wade in Miami to establish the Big Three. In their first season together they won the Eastern Conference but lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.

�� The Big Three captured their first NBA title together in 2012 with a 4-3 series win over the Oklahoma City Thunder and success-fully defended their title a year later with a 4-3 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

��2013-14 Regular season record: 54-28

��How the qualified for the NBA Finals: Won Southeast Division in the regular season. Beat Charlotte Bobcats 4-0 in conference quarter-finals, beat Brooklyn Nets 4-1 in conference semi-finals and beat Indiana Pacers 4-2 in conference final.

Head coach: Erik Spoelstra

Top playoffs scorer: LeBron James (27.1 points per game)

Top playoffs rebounder: LeBron James (6.8 rebounds per game)

Miami Heat’s LeBron James drives to the basket past Indiana Pacers’ guard George Hill in this last month’s file photo. Heat hope for James key role from James in the final. BOTTOM: San Antonio Spurs’ Tony Parker waits for the ball during the 2014 NBA Play-offs in this last month’s file photo. Spurs want Parker to play the crucial battle as he suffered from an ankle injury, earlier this week.

MLB: Astros outsmart Angels NEW YORK: Collin McHugh tossed five scoreless innings and, after the Los Angeles Angels fashioned a mini fightback, the Houston Astros turned on the power en route to a win.

Angels outfielders Collin Cowgill and Josh Hamilton smacked solo home runs in the eighth inning, their fourth and third, respectively, to reduce Houston’s lead to 5-2.

However, the Astros answered in their half of the frame with first baseman Jon Singleton and designated hitter Chris Carter drilling back-to-back homers that rebuilt the five-run lead.

Home runs by Josh Willingham and Brian Dozier proved to be enough offense for right-hander Sam Deduno as the Minnesota Twins beat the Milwaukee Brewers.

Deduno (2-3) went five innings and held the Brewers (35-24) to two runs on six hits and four walks while striking out two.

D e v i n Mesoraco hit a two-run home run and right-hander Homer Bailey pitched six solid innings, lift-ing the Cincinnati Reds to a victory over the San Francisco Giants.

Cincinnati (27-29) has won four straight games overall and 11 of its past 12 against San Francisco.

Right fielder Hunter Pence went 3-for-4, including his eight home run, for San Francisco (37-21).

Jose Bautista’s RBI single in the ninth broke a scoreless deadlock and Brett Lawrie capped the five-run outburst with a three-run homer as the Toronto Blue Jays topped the Detroit Tigers.

R e d - h o t Toronto (35-24) has won 12 of its last 14 games.

J.D. Martinez hit a three-run homer off Steve Delabar with two out in the ninth for Detroit (31-23), which has lost 11 of its last 15.

John Buck’s first home run of the season put Seattle ahead in the sev-enth inning as they came from

behind to beat Atlanta.The Mariners fought back from

a four-run first-inning deficit, tied the game 5-5 in the fifth and used Buck’s two-run blast to extend their winning streak to four games.

Jordan Zimmermann pitched

eight shutout innings, and Ryan Zimmerman returned to the lineup as a left fielder and hit two doubles as the Washington Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies.

Ryan Zimmerman missed 44 games because of a broken thumb, and sparked the Nationals (28-28) in his debut in left field mov-ing from his regular post of third base.

Nelson Cruz punctuated his Texas homecoming with a three-run home run in Baltimore’s six-run eighth inning of the Orioles’ victory over the Texas Rangers.

Cruz’s only hit in four at-bats in his first game at Texas (29-29) since leaving the team as a free agent in the offseason helped make a winner of the Orioles.

Adam Jones also went 4-for-5 for Baltimore (29-27).

The Kansas City Royals over-came deficits of 4-0 and 7-6, win-ning in the ninth inning due to Eric Hosmer’s heroics. REUTERS

Houston Astros’ first baseman Jon Singleton (28) hits a home run during the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Minute Maid Park yesterday.

Rangers’ Carcillo can feature in Cup finals after ban cut LOS ANGELES: New York Rangers’ forward Daniel Carcillo will be eligible to play in Game Four of the Stanley Cup Finals after the National Hockey League reduced his original 10-game ban to six yesterday

Carcillo was suspended last month for physically abusing an official during a play-off game but NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman decided to reduce the penalty after holding a hearing with the player in New York on Friday.

According to reports, he had elbowed Driscoll in the face as the linesman restrained him to keep him away from a fight between teammate Derek Dorsett and the Montreal Canadiens’ Brandon Prust and get Carcillo to the pen-alty box for a charging penalty.

“I’m just happy I could say my piece and be a part of it, say my side of the story,” Carcillo told reporters at Staples Center on

Tuesday ahead of Game One of the eagerly-awaited Stanley Cup Finals against the Los Angeles Kings.

“I think he took it into account, and Gary was great. The league was great.”

Carcillo’s initial ban resulted after he was assessed a game mis-conduct penalty under Rule 40.3, “Physical Abuse of Officials,” the league said in a statement while giving its version regarding the matter.

The 29-year-old left wing physically applied force to lines-man Scott Driscoll while being escorted to the penalty box late in the first period of New York’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens on May 22.

“Any player who deliberately applies physical force to an offi-cial in any manner ... without intent to injure, or who spits on an official, shall be automatically suspended for not less than 10 games,” the NHL said at the time.

However, Bettman yester-day ruled that Carcillo’s actions. “were more appropriately deemed a violation of Rule 40.4 for delib-erately applying physical force to an official for the sole purpose of getting free of such official dur-ing or immediately following an altercation”. Bettman said in a statement:

“The National Hockey League does not and will not, under any circumstances, tolerate or con-done the abuse, physical or oth-erwise, of our on-ice officials.

“The strict and proper enforce-ment of Rule 40, therefore, plays a critical role in safeguarding the integrity of the game by maintain-ing a safe and respectful working environment for our officials,” he said while explaininig.

Carcillo has already served three games of his original sus-pension, and therefore would be eligible to return for Game Four of the Stanley Cup Finals, in New York on June 11. REUTERS

Dan Marino to withdraw from NFL concussion lawsuit LOS ANGELES: Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino yes-terday said he will withdraw from a lawsuit that accuses the National Football League of hiding the effects of concussions because he was inadvertently listed as a plaintiff in the case.

Marino, 52, who was the high-est-profile former player involved in legal action against the league over head injuries, said in a state-ment issued to Sports Illustrated magazine that in the past year he authorized a legal claim to be made on his behalf if he ever needed medical coverage due to the long-term effects of football-related head trauma.

“In so doing I did not realise I would be automatically listed as a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the NFL,” the former Miami Dolphins star said in the statement.

“I have made the decision it is not necessary for me to be part of any claims or this lawsuit and therefore I am withdrawing as a plaintiff effective immediately,”

Marino said, adding that he is not currently suffering from head injuries.

His longtime agent, Marvin Demoff, earlier said Marino would not take part in the suit with 14 other ex-players filed last week in US District Court in Philadelphia. The suit alleges the NFL knew there was a link between concussions and long-term health problems for dec-ades and hid information about “football-related brain injuries” from players.

Marino spent his entire 17-year career with the Dolphins and set numerous NFL passing records before retiring in 1999. He then spent 12 years as an NFL analyst for CBS Sports.

The other players in the suit asked for monetary damages to be determined at a jury trial and for medical monitoring.

Each player submitted a short-form complaint with stand-ard language that they suffer from brain injuries and exhibit

symptoms that have developed over time but did not specify the nature of their injuries.

This latest filing follows a $760m settlement between the NFL and more than 4,500 former players over concussions that was rejected in January by a US judge who said it might not be enough to pay all of the affected players.

Up to 20,000 former players could ultimately still be eligible for payments over the settle-ment’s 65-year span.

That lawsuit, filed in 2012, con-tended that the league hid the dangers of brain injury among players while profiting from the sport’s violent physical contact.

A growing body of academic research shows that repeated hits to the head may produce a condi-tion known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which can lead to aggression and dementia.

The research already has prompted the NFL to make changes on the field.

REUTERS

Baseball ResultsCleveland 5 Boston 3

Oakland 5 NY Yankees 2

Washington 7 Philadelphia 0

Toronto 5 Detroit 3

Seattle 7 Atlanta 5

Cincinnati 8 San Francisco 3

Miami 1 Tampa Bay 0

Kansas City 8 St Louis 7

Baltimore 8 Texas 3

Chicago Cubs 2 NY Mets 1

Minnesota 6 Milwaukee 4

Houston 7 LA Angels 2

Arizona 4 Colorado 2

Chicago White Sox 4 LA Dodgers 1

Pittsburgh 4 San Diego 1

SPORT28THURSDAY 5 JUNE 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Qatar’s Al Kuwari determined to repeat last year’s achievements Rally driver relishes new Puma partnership, urges sponsors to support local talent DOHA: Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al Kuwari is eyeing a long rallying career, saying he is confident of repeating his ‘fantastic’ run in 2013 when he won three WRC2 races.

The 34-year-old, who has the services of Irish co-driver Killian Duffy, has recently teamed up with Puma for the rest of the sea-son and is featuring at this week’s Rally Italia Sardegna.

In September 2013, Al Kuwari won the Rally of Australia to complete his set of three wins in the WRC2 category.

He also won the Rally of Mexico and Rally of Argentina last year.

“I believe I can continue for another 10-15 years,” Al Kuwari said when asked about career goals following his new partner-ship with Puma.

“If I have a long-term partner-ship, I could definitely push my cause. I can see myself improv-ing my rallying around the world,” the 34-year-old said.

“I am hoping I can get a long-term sponsorship so that I can make more elaborate plans with regards to events around the world,” he said.

When asked about his part-nership with Puma, Al Kuwari said he and his co-driver Duffy couldn’t be happier.

“My association with Puma started in Portugal. It is an exciting challenge for me. My co-driver is also happy about the association,” Al Kuwari said while expressing his content with the partnership.

“We love the new logo and liv-ery on the car. It is an amazing experience to be in this position. It is a global brand and we want to do our share of the work by getting good results,” Al Kuwari said.

“We used different livery in Portugal but starting from the

Qatari rally driver Abdulaziz Al Kuwari poses next to his car.

Rally of Serdegna, we will sport our new design. I am looking for-ward to the rest of the season as we join hands with Puma,” he added before recalling his per-formance the previous year.

“Last year, we did great in the WRC2. I got great results and we were in top driving form. That’s why we are keyed up for this season and in the months ahead as we join Puma, a true global brand,” he said.

Al Kuwari further said that the year 2014 has been a mixed bag at the half-way mark of the season.

“Honestly, speaking this hasn’t been like the previous season We have not done as many rallies as we would have liked. We have done 3-4 rallies so far. I finished second in one of the rallies,” he said.

Al Kuwrai stressed on the fit-ness, saying he would work on the aspect in the next three months

during the break. “There’s going to be a big break from July until September (Rally of Argentina). It is a difficult time for any rally driver as it feels you are sitting on the bench on a football team. I have improved my level but I need to keep driving to stay on top of my game,” Al Kuwari said.

“It will be a long break and I will have to keep myself physically fit. I can’t help not driving during this time. Physical fitness is also a

key point in our sport,” he added.Al Kuwari said the Qatar driv-

ers needed sponsorship backing to take the sport forward.

“There are a lot of talented drivers in Qatar. There is abso-lutely no doubt about that. What we need is a sponsorship culture in the country. In Europe, you do one or two good races in the world championship, and sponsors come after you,” Al Kuwari said while calling for the culture of sponsors

for local drivers. “Obviously the drivers need more budget (money) to manage themselves,” he said before eyeing improved performance.

“I have achieved a great deal so far and I want to move forward. I was second in three WRC2 rallies last year. I have featured in more than 50 rallies around the world. I can do better. I know what it takes to get good results,” he explained. THE PENINSULA

Livery of Abdulaziz Al Kuwari’s car.

Three players to add QSL flavour in World CupDOHA: As many as three play-ers from the prestigious Qatar Stars League will be featuring in the upcoming World Cup in Brazil.

Al Gharafa, 2014 league cham-pions, Lekhwiya and Umm Salal have all had one player each selected to head to the World Cup.

They are Australian veteran midfielder Mark Bresciano (Al Gharafa), Iranian defender Pejman Montazeri (Umm Salal) and Madjid Bougherra (Lekhwiya).

Madjid Bougherra: The 2014 QSL champ has had

another successful season as his side largely dominated the domes-tic Qatari league. With Algeria in Group H they have a real possi-bility to qualify; their opponents will be South Korea, Russia and Belgium.

This group won’t be easy but at the same time only Belgium stands out as a real threat to the Desert Foxe’s chances of qualification.

Bougherra, 31 will probably be appearing for the last time at a major finals for his nation, a natu-ral leader and physically robust defender, he will most likely fea-ture in the first eleven in Brazil.

A key player for Algeria will be France-born Sofiane Feghouli, 24, the attacking midfielder for Valencia was described a year ago by Arsene Wenger as “excep-tional” and “a physical beast”.

Diego Maradona and Rivaldo have also been queuing up to sing the virtues of Algeria’s class of 2014 - the only Arab nation present in Brazil. Maradona pre-dicts Algeria “will cause a sur-prise”, while Rivaldo says “the possibilities of reaching the sec-ond round are abundant”.

Mark Bresciano:The Gharafa attacking mid-

fielder will have a big challenge ahead of him with his Socceroo team-mates as they are possibly in one of the toughest World Cup groups.

Group B sees them pitted against 2010 World Cup Finalists Spain and the Netherlands not to mention a decent Chilean side.

Australia qualified behind Japan and largely struggled to impress with some late goals sparing their blushes.

Bresciano is one of Australia’s most talented footballers and has a renowned eye for goal. He usu-ally plays his football on the left side of midfield but can also play

as a forward and in the central or right midfield role.

A versatile player who often assists in both attack and defense and is also a set-piece specialist.

The 34-year-old stepped away from the Australian side after the 2010 World Cup in what was described then as a “sabbati-cal” from the team, returning in February 2012 he instantly re-established himself in the side.

The break from the national team was due to a persistent back problem which plagued the player, forcing him to have surgery to correct the issue. The opener against Chile will be key to decid-ing things as the two Group B underdogs play each other in the Amazon, before facing off against the Netherlands and Spain.

Pejman Montazeri:Carlos Queiroz the Iranian

national team coach has chosen the 24 players who will fly out to Brazil for the World Cup which will be played from June 12 to July 13.

Queiroz added to his list the defender Pejman Montazeri who plies his trade in the QSL. The defender arrived last season and although Umm Salal struggled at the start, his assured perform-ances in the second half of the season helped Salal shore up their defense and go on a run that saw them move from relegation to fin-ish in 7th position in the league.

Iran will be participating in the

World Cup for the fourth time after playing in 1978, 1998, and 2006 in Germany.

Primarily a domestic-based squad, Iran will do well to improve on their World Cup record of one win in nine attempts. They only conceded twice in eight matches during the final qualifying phase. Iran will be in Group F with Nigeria, Argentina and Bosnia Herzegovina.THE PENINSULA

England face make or break against NZ LONDON: As a depleted England prepare for the first of three Tests against New Zealand on Saturday, many are questioning the wisdom of tak-ing on the world champions in their own back yard 15 months before hosting the World Cup.

Coach Stuart Lancaster has made steady upward progress since taking over from Martin Johnson following the 2011 World Cup and has repeatedly stated that he wants England to be number one or two in the world when they host the next

tournament. He has refused to shy away from taking on the best of the southern hemisphere nations and knows that his rela-tively inexperienced squad need to test themselves against them and the the lessons learned may prove invaluable down the line.

The alternative view is that much of the good work could be undone if the ruthless All Blacks expose England’s frailties and that Lancaster would then have little time to rebuild their confi-dence, and reputation.

“It’s not ideal when you come

to play the world champions in their own backyard and don’t have your best side available,” Lancaster said.

England’s cause is hardly helped by the fact that they wil play the first test with a virtual shadow team.

The first Saturday in June had been set aside as an international rest day by the International Rugby Board, meaning the first test should have been played on June 14. However, it was argued that instead of the first Saturday, it should be interpreted as

meaning the first weekend, which meant Sunday June 1 was desig-nated as the international rest day, despite coming less than 24 hours after the Premiership and French Top 14 finals.

“It’s not ideal when you come to play the world champions in their own backyard and don’t have your best side available,” Lancaster said.

“But it’s a situation I inher-ited. The scheduling is done way in advance. We’re not going to sit and moan about it.”

REUTERS

Hendricks to get first run for Boks at Newlands CAPE TOWN: Former sev-ens star Cornal Hendricks will make his first appearance for South Africa’s 15-man side when they meet a World XV in an exhibition match at Newlands on Saturday.

The Cheetahs wing, who was named South Africa’s Sevens Player of 2013, is the only uncapped player in the team that also sees Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield reunited in the

second row. “Cornal is a player I’ve been following for some time and I thought he made a very good transition from sevens to the 15-man code earlier this year,” Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer said in a statement released by the South African Rugby Union yesterday.

Matfield will captain the side aged 37, while fellow lock Botha played his first test in over two years in November. REUTERS

Madjid BougherraMadjid Bougherra Mark BrescianoMark Bresciano Pejman MontazeriPejman Montazeri

29SPORT THURSDAY 5 JUNE 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

England, SL in row ahead of Test series Cook predicts ‘spice’ up matches after Buttler’s run out BIRMINGHAM: England captain Alastair Cook said he expected the controversial run out of Jos Buttler during the fifth one-day international against Sri Lanka to “spice up” the forthcoming Test series between the teams.

Cook insisted a “line had been crossed” after Sachithra Senanayake ran out England’s Jos Buttler as the non-striker backed up during Sri Lanka’s 3-2 series-clinching six-wicket win in the fifth and final one-day interna-tional at Edgbaston on Tuesday.

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews, asked by the umpires if he wanted to uphold what was a legitimate appeal, didn’t call Buttler back and the wicket-keeper, whose blistering 121 had so nearly taken the hosts to vic-tory in their seven run fourth ODI defeat at Lord’s on Saturday, was out for 21.

“I’ve never seen it before in a game,” Cook told a post-match press conference.

“I was pretty disappointed with it to be honest with you. You don’t know what you’d do if you were put in that situation, the heat of the moment, until you are. I’d hope I wouldn’t do it.”

But Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews insisted Buttler had been repeatedly warned before Senanayake took the bails off to send Buttler on his way.

This was only the eighth reported instance of a batsman being run out backing up in an international match and the first since South Africa’s Peter Kirsten was dismissed by India’s Kapil

Dev in a one-day international at Port Elizabeth in 1992/93.

Yet even though ‘Mankading’, the term coined after India’s Vinoo Mankad ran out Australia non-striker Bill Brown during the 1947/48 Sydney Test, remains a legitimate dismissal, there are those who regard it as against the ‘spirit of cricket’.

“This is just different,” said Cook. “For some reason it’s dif-ferent. In my opinion there’s a line and that line probably, I think, was crossed today (Tuesday).”

“If he (Buttler) was properly trying to steal a single, I could possibly understand it.”

England and Sri Lanka meet in the first of two Tests at Lord’s next week and Cook added: “Probably, it (the run out) will spice it up a bit, there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just impor-tant you let your cricket do the talking as well.”

The fact it was Senanayake, reported on suspicion of a suspect action by the umpires at Lord’s but was still allowed to play in this match under International Cricket Council rules at Edgbaston, who ran Buttler out only added to the row.

But senior Sri Lanka batsman Mahela Jawywardene, who made 53 as the tourists chased down a target of 220 which Cook, for all the Buttler furore, admitted was “20-odd runs short on that wicket”, insisted Senanayake had done nothing wrong in dismiss-ing Buttler and defended he off-spinner’s action.

“We gave him (Buttler) a fair chance twice -- before the first

England’s captain Alastair Cook leaves the field with team-mate Ian Bell after England lost the fifth and final ODI against Sri Lanka at Edgbaston cricket ground in Birmingham on Tuesday. Cook is unhappy over Buttler’s controversial run out.

warning as well, we told the umpires that they’re taking too much of a lead,” Jayawardene said.

“He (Buttler) was told not to take a start and then warned again, so it’s fair enough.

“At Lord’s, they took 22 twos in the last 12 overs. Ravi (Bopara) and he ran riot, and most of the time they were taking starts -- which was not legal by the writ-ten law.”

As for the reporting of

Senanayake, initiated by umpires Ian Gould (England) and Marais Erasmus (South Africa), Jayawardene said:

“We are disappointed as a group.

“Unfortunately the skills of our guys, good skills ... are being questioned.

“Sachi’s a fantastic young player in the group, we had a spe-cial dinner for him last (Monday) night.” AFP

Run out raises debate on spirit of game again LONDON: Nothing tends to divide fans more than a sup-posed affront to the ‘spirit’ of cricket, the standard of conduct that sits alongside its laws to help govern the so-called gen-tleman’s game.

When Sri Lanka’s Sachithra Senanayake removed the bails as batsman Jos Buttler was backing up at the non-striker’s end during Tuesday’s fifth and final one-day international at Edgbaston, howls of outrage could be heard before the England man was back in the pavilion.

He became one of the few players run out in such circum-stances - known as ‘Mankading’ after Vinoo Mankad, who dis-missed Australia’s Bill Brown in a test in Sydney in 1947 in similar circumstances.

Boos erupted as Buttler departed for 21, his dismissal overshadowing a mediocre England batting display as they stuttered to 219 all out with the series poised at 2-2, eventually falling to a six-wicket defeat.

The dismissal falls within law 42.15, which states: “The bowler is permitted, before releasing the ball and provided he has not completed his usual delivery swing, to attempt to run out the non-striker.”

That failed to stop Senanayake, subject of an investigation for a suspicious bowling action, and captain Angelo Mathews com-ing in for criticism from those claiming the pair’s conduct was unbecoming of international cricketers.

“I blame the captain of Sri Lanka, Angelo Mathews, for the run out of Jos Buttler,” former England captain Michael Vaughan wrote in the Daily Telegraph.

“He could have called him back and set the tone.

“An international captain should say to his bowler, ‘let’s just get on with the game’. But the incident reflects poorly on the Sri Lanka team and Sachithra Senanayake. I know he was out

of his crease but Jos Buttler was not trying to steal a single. He was only a few inches out of his ground.”

Former England spinner Graeme Swann said on Twitter: “To be clear on this I think the Mankad is just wrong even though it’s not illegal. Like cuddling your sister while watching a film.”

Unsurprisingly Sri Lanka were steadfast in their belief that they were in the right, and were offered support by numerous fig-ures within the sport.

“At the end of the day I think as long as the player’s warned it’s obviously in the rules so you can make whatever decision you want,” Australian captain Michael Clarke said.

And Mike Atherton, the former England captain, wrote in the Times: “The cat-calls, boos and whistles that accompanied Jos Buttler’s return to the England dressing room yesterday, having been ‘Mankaded’ by Sachithra Senanayake, illustrate just how far the woolly notion of the spirit of cricket has confused things.

“Sri Lanka were well within their rights to send Buttler on his way. You could even argue that they had been extra courteous by affording the batsman a warning.”

Cricket has often been viewed by its admirers as a cut above other pastimes, but a host of incidents including match-fix-ing, sledging and the underarm bowling controversy involving Australia’s Trevor Chappell in 1981 indicate it is not as pure as some would believe.

Things become murky in situ-ations - such as the underarm delivery - that technically are not illegal. Sri Lanka themselves have been involved in similar controversy. During a test in Christchurch in 2006 Muttiah Muralitharan was run out by New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum, having left his ground to con-gratulate Kumar Sangakkara on making a century.

REUTERS

Misbah welcomes fitness based contracts KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) plans to introduce fitness-based cen-tral contracts for the cricket-ers received a thumbs-up from captain Misbah-ul-Haq who believes the team will reap its benefit in the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

The PCB is set to introduce the new contracts from this year with a penalty-and-point system to up the fitness level of a side not really known for their athleticism on the field.

“It is a constructive step because the better the fitness of the players, the more they will be able to endure pressure and perform consistently well,” test and one-day captain Misbah told reporters in Lahore yesterday

Misbah, 40, said was moving in the right direction by laying stress on fitness levels.

“In modern day cricket, fit-ness is a key element for suc-cess because teams are playing virtually non-stop international cricket and players also take part in these T20 leagues now,” he said.

REUTERS

International cricketers to feature in T20 tournaments at West End Park DOHA: A number of former and current international players will be seen in action as ‘guest players’ at the two Twenty20 floodlight cricket tournaments to be hosted this summer by West End Park Stadium, it was announced here yesterday.

Mana Ibrahim Al Mana, Chairman of West End Park, and Qatar Cricket Association (QCA) officials yesterday launched the two tournaments aimed at pro-moting talents at the local cricket clubs .

“I am excited to launch the first ever Challenge Cup and Ramadan Tournament at West End Park Stadium. Ramadan is a traditional period to pro-mote Qatar’s sporting heritage and I’m sure both tournaments will be popular among the local cricket fraternity,” Al Mana said, while speaking during a press conference.

“The two tournaments are designed to give local cricket clubs at all levels the opportu-nity to compete at the finest facilities in the country. Interest is sure to be high and I would urge teams to register to avoid

Mana Ibrahim Al Mana (centre),

Chairman of West End Park, QCA’s Gul Mohammad Khan (right) and Michael Scallon, Director Euphoria

Sports pose with the event’s trophy after the

press conference yesterday. PICTURE BY

ABDUL BASIT

disappointment,” he added. “To add to the excitement, each team will be permitted to recruit four ‘guest players’ ; it is hoped that a few international cricket stars might showcase their talents this Ramadan,” he said.

The tournament will be the first of many highlights to be focused around West End Park Stadium, the venue has ambitious

plans to eventually become a hub of cricket in the Middle East.

“It is my vision to create a cricket community at West End Park and the Challenge Cup and Ramadan Tournament are the first steps to achieve this,” Al Mana said.

“It is also my goal to develop the stadium in to a member’s club with full facilities. In addition,

plans to develop the stadium to ICC certification, an academy and new practice facilities are cur-rently in the pipeline. I believe cricket will have a wonderful future in Qatar,” he added.

The West End Park Challenge Cup will take place this month, dates which will be announced in the next few days, followed by the inaugural Ramadan Tournament

starting from July 1 – both of which will be played under floodlights.

The Challenge Cup will be open to 16 member clubs of the Qatar Cricket Association ‘B & C’ Division. The two finalists will qualify for the Ramadan Tournament, a higher standard of competition.

The Ramadan Tournament will be limited to ten teams, this will include eight leading Qatar Cricket Association ‘A’ Division clubs as well as the two Challenge Cup finalists. This will ensure the highest level of competition, organisers said.

To register each team will pay QR 5,000.

Teams will be entered in to a league system and then qualify for the knockout stages. An array of individual and team prizes will be up for grabs throughout.

Other officials preset for the press conference were Michael Scallon, Director - Euphoria Sports, event organisers, and Gul Mohammad Khan, Tournament Director. Interested teams are requested to contact the West End Park team on +974 4476 9888 to participate.THE PENINSULA

Former cruiserweight champion Mormeck set to return to the ring PARIS: Jean-Marc Mormeck, the two-time former WBC and WBA cruiserweight champion, announced yesterday that he will return to the ring after an absence of over two years when he takes on Hungary’s Tamas Lodi in June.

Mormeck has not fought since losing out in the fourth round to Wladimir Klitschko in a WBO-IBF-WBA heavyweight title fight in March 2012 in Duesseldorf,

Germany. Speaking on the day of his 42nd birthday, Mormeck admitted the cruiserweight bout in Asnieres near Paris on June 26 will be his last if he loses.

“I am setting myself one last challenge. The objective is to contest my 10th and last world championship this year. “I know this is my last chance to win a belt. If I lose, I will say goodbye to the ring.” Lodi, who has won 13 of his 16 fights to date, including

two KO’s, was beaten on points by Albania’s Nuri Seferi in his last bout for the WBO European cruiserweight title in Hamburg in May.

Mormeck, won the WBA titles in 2002 and 2005 and the WBA-WBC crowns in 2005 and 2007.

He was set to meet Poland’s Krzysztof Wlodarczyk in a cruis-erweight bout in May last year only to pull out with a shoulder injury. AFP

Wada will not appeal sprinter Gay’s one-year doping banLONDON: The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) will not appeal banned American sprinter Tyson Gay’s controver-sial one-year doping ban, it said yesterday.

The global agency said the ban, which has been widely criticised in Europe as too lenient, was “compatible with the World Anti-Doping Code.”

Gay, the world’s joint second

fastest man, last month had accepted the one-year suspension by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) after a 2013 positive test for an anabolic steroid.

The ban was backdated to June 23, 2013, making the US 100 metres record holder eligi-ble to return to running later this month. His first race will be a 100 metres at Lausanne’s Diamond League meeting on

July 3. Normally athletes receive a two-year suspension for their first major doping offense but under anti-doping rules the ban can be reduced for substantial cooperation.

“After careful review and scru-tiny of the full case file, Wada is satisfied that Gay provided sub-stantial assistance to USADA in an appropriate fashion,” the global agency said. REUTERS

SPORT30THURSDAY 5 JUNE 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Portugal sweat over Ronaldo’s fitnessFLORHAM PARK, United States: Portugal were gearing up for the World Cup on Tuesday in New Jersey, fretting over the fitness of superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

With the World Cup looming, the FIFA Ballon d’Or winner as best footballer of last year, had some bad news about his recent aches and pains.

Ronaldo has a “muscle injury on the back of his left thigh as well as left-leg patel-lar tendinitis,” the Portuguese Football Association said in a report on his medical issues and those of stars Raul Meireles, Pepe and Beto.

Amid some heavy downpours, the four spent their time at the New York Jets’ training center grinding it out on differ-ent exercises meant to get them in the best possible shape in the final sprint before the World Cup starts June 12.

While Portugal have previously discussed superstar Ronaldo’s thigh injury -- sus-tained late in the season -- it was the first time they reported patellar tendinitis.

The Portuguese have been drawn in Group G at the World Cup and will face Germany on June 16 in Salvador, the United States a week later in Manaus and then Ghana on June 26 in Brasilia.

“We hope that Cristiano is in good enough shape to play -- and to help the team,” teammate Nani, who plays for Manchester United, told reporters.

Ronaldo “is going well, and he is relaxed about it ... Things are going the right way,” he added, after hundreds of fans welcomed the team at the Newark airport in New Jersey, just outside New York City.

Portugal will play two friendlies while in the United States.

They take on Mexico in Foxboro near Boston on Friday -- at the home of the NFL’s New England Patriots.

Next Tuesday they face Ireland at the Jets’ MetLife Stadium -- which hosted the Super Bowl in February.

Nani, 27, who missed out on the last World Cup in South Africa due to a shoul-der injury, said fitnes woes can make a player “distracted and less sure of himself.”

“If for some reason (Ronaldo) is not there, whoever is there playing has to be confident in their ability to get the job done,” he said.

“The World Cup is a one-of-a-kind chal-lenge. I want to be fully fit, and in top form alongside my teammates. I could not be there last time, but happily, I am here now,” said Nani, who has played 73 games and

scored 14 goals with Portugal’s national side.

He said the first clash with Germany will be key to setting the tone for the rest of the tournament, preferably a winning one.

Meanwhile, Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) said in a statement that Ronaldo is suffering from tendinosis in the region around his left kneecap, the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) said in a statement yesterday.

The FPF said that Real Madrid forward Ronaldo had undergone “specially adapted, individual” training on Monday but did not give any further details.

The World Player of the Year missed last Saturday’s 0-0 draw at home to Greece with what the FPF described as a left thigh injury.

Portugal are training near New York and face Mexico in a friendly in Boston tomor-row. Ronaldo struggled with minor injuries during the closing weeks of Real’s season before playing 120 minutes in last month’s Champions League final against Atletico Madrid and scoring the final goal in their 4-1 win with a penalty.

Portugal’s opening World Cup match is against Germany in Salvador on June 16.

AFP

Schwarzer worried about inexperienced SocceroosSYDNEY: Australia’s most capped player Mark Schwarzer yesterday said he was worried about how inexperienced Ange Postecoglou’s World Cup squad is and said he would not have axed Luke Wilkshire.

Postecoglou on Tuesday culled his squad to 23 by sending home veteran pair Wilkshire and Josh Kennedy, along with injured playmaker Tom Rogic and Mark Birighitti.

It was already light on experi-ence after the dropping of former captain Lucas Neill and the recent international retirements of Schwarzer, Harry Kewell, Brett Emerton and Brett Holman.

Chelsea keeper Schwarzer said Postecoglou’s regeneration of the Socceroos may prove too hasty at the World Cup.

“I personally wouldn’t have left him out -- I would’ve taken him,” he told reporters of defender Wilkshire, who has 80 caps.

“When you look at it from afar, and knowing what the squad’s like and knowing what it’s like to play a World Cup and how dif-ficult it can be, I am surprised that he’s opted to go with so lit-tle experience.

“But obviously he’s got his own reasons for doing so.

“He’s got ideas of how he wants to play and what type of players he wants to use. Eventually he’ll be judged on those decisions and the performance of the team.”

Postecoglou insisted he was confident in the ability of Ivan Franjic, now the only recognised right back after the surprise omission of Dynamo Moscow’s Wilkshire.

“We have had to weigh up form, fitness and squad balance,” he explained.

Schwarzer said the team would have been better off with Wilkshire and Neill.

“Lucas Neill, to me, is still one of the best defenders we’ve got,” he said in Sydney.

The Socceroos face Croatia in Salvador tomorrow in their final warm-up before meeting Chile on June 14 in Cuiaba.

Schwarzer o said he expects to sign a new deal with Chelsea after manager Jose Mourinho indicated he wanted him to stay for another season. Schwarzer, 41, joined the Premier League powerhouse on a one-year contract last year and largely played second fiddle to Petr Cech.

But Mourinho has been impressed with the Australian and another one-year deal is on the cards despite the reported return of Thibaut Courtois from a three-year loan to Atletico Madrid.

“I’ve had messages from the boss, he’s very keen for me to re-sign with the club,” Schwarzer said in Sydney.

“And that’s all I really need to know -- that he wants to keep me at the club and I’ll leave the rest up to the powers-that-be to sort it all out.

“I’m confident it’ll be sorted out in the next week or two.”

AGENCIES

Bosnia build steam with close victory over Mexico Hajrovic scores match winner; El Tri’s’ eight-game unbeaten run ends

CHICAGO: Izet Hajrovic’s first half goal gave Bosnia and Herzegovina a deserved 1-0 win over Mexico in an international friendly between two World Cup-bound sides at Soldier Field in Chicago on Tuesday night, ending ‘El Tri’s’ eight-game unbeaten run.

Bosnia dominated the first half and could easily have gone to the break with a bigger advantage but, in the end, had goalkeeper Asmir Begovic to thank for two great saves to deny Mexico an equaliser.

Mexico coach Miguel Herrera experimented with his line-up but the performance of his team will have disappointed an overwhelm-ingly Mexican capacity crowd of 60,707.

Edin Dzeko, whose two goals gave Bosnia a 2-1 win over Ivory Coast on Saturday, was a menace to the Mexican defence from the outset and went close to scoring three times in the opening eight minutes.

After forcing Alfredo Talavera into a save with a low shot in the fourth minute, Dzeko twice fired just over the bar as Bosnia’s midfield, prompted by the classy Miralem Pjanic, took control.

Mexico’s first real chance came in the 24th minute with Javier Hernandez, given a start in attack, latching on to a fine ball from Miguel Layun and striking the outside of the post with a low

shot. However, Bosnia’s deserved lead came, four minutes before the break, when Sejad Salihovic whipped in a ball from the byline and Hajrovic met it with a confi-dent first-time strike.

A series of substitutions dis-rupted the game in the second half but Mexico began to pile on the pressure in the closing min-utes as they sought to defend coach Miguel Herrera’s unbeaten record.

Francisco Rodriguez’s glanc-ing header from an inswinging free-kick forced a great save out of Begovic and the Bosnia keeper was at full stretch again moments later to push a fierce Miguel Ponce long-range effort around the post.

Mexico, who face hosts Brazil, Cameroon and Croatia in World Cup Group A, will wrap up their preparations with a friendly against Portugal in Foxborough tomorrow.

Bosnia, who are featuring in their first World Cup as an inde-pendent nation, will now head to Brazil, where they are drawn in Group F with Argentina, Iran and Nigeria.

“This is good for our confidence to beat Ivory Coast and then to beat Mexico in front of their great fans,” Manchester City striker Dzeko told ESPN.

“We are prepared well for the World Cup. This is an amazing thing for our team and our small

country, we have waited over 20 years for this and we want to do our best to make the second round - and then we will see.”

Brazil face Croatia in the open-ing match of the tournament in Sao Paulo on June 12 with the final taking place in Rio de Janeiro on July 13.

Meanwhile, Herrera was angered yesterday by last-minute changes made by Bosnia to their starting line-up for a World Cup warm-up friendly at Soldier Field.

“It is not right that these cheaters come out with a lineup different from the one they had submitted,” Herrera said.

Based on the starting lineup presented by Bosnian coach Safet Susican hour before the match, Herrera said he had prepared his side to face a team including Sead Kolasinac, Ognjen Vranjes and Anel Hadzic.

Instead, Zvjezdan Misimovic, Sejad Salihovic and Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko took the field for kick-off.

“In the World cup they won’t be able to do this,” said Herrera, who added that he had given his team instructions in their pre-game talk based on the earlier lineup.

Herrera reserved some of his ire for the Guatemalan officiating crew led by Oscar Reyna.

“If the refs had stood up to this they would not have allowed the game to start,” he said.

AGENCIES

Cristiano Ronaldo (left) of Portugal’s National Team stretches with team-mate Raul Meireles as they practise at the NFL New York Jets practice facility in Florham Park, New Jersey, yesterday.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

midfielder Izet Hajrovic

(20) cel-ebrates his goal against the Mexico during the first half at

Soldier Field on Tuesday

night.

Greece, Nigeria play to goalless draw in tune-upPHILADELPHIA: Greece and Nigeria battled to a score-less draw on Tuesday night in an international friendly match that served as a World Cup warm-up for both teams.

Greece had their fair share of chances, but couldn’t get past Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, who made a superb double save on Georgios Samaras and Dimitris Salpingidis in the 8rd minute.

Greece had the major-ity of the opportunities in the first half as well, with Lazaros Christodoulopoulos firing a 30-yard rocket that just went high in the 21st minute.

Ioannis Fetfatzidis was turned away in the 28th minute by Enyeama.

Early in the second half, Nigeria picked up their attack on the strength of Chelsea attacker Victor Moses, but his runs from the left wing came to nothing.

In the 90th minute, Moses belted a shot from just outside the box that went wide.

Nigeria were coming off a 2-2 draw against Scotland in a friendly in London.

The Africa Cup of Nations champions will play the United States in Jacksonville, Florida, in another tune-up friendly on Saturday and kick off their games in Brazil against Iran on June 16 in Curitiba.

They will also face Argentina and Bosnia in Group F.

Greece will play Boliva in Harrison, New Jersey, on Friday before heading for their base camp in Brazil at Aracaju.

Meanwhile, Romelu Lukaku’s hat-trick during Belgium’s 5-1 win over Luxembourg last week is to be wiped from official records after soccer’s world governing body FIFA ruled that it was not an official international.

FIFA said in an emailed state-ment that it did not recog-nise the friendly as an ‘A’ game because Belgium made too many substitutions.

The ruling means that not only is Lukaku’s first international hat-trick not officially recog-nised, Adnan Januzaj’s apparent senior debut for Belgium is also scrubbed. FIFA’s rules limit the number of substitutes allowed in a competitive match to three - and six for friendlies. AGENCIES

England’s Lampard looking at MLSMIAMI: England midfielder Frank Lampard suggested he would probably retire from international football after the World Cup, with a move to Major League Soccer among his post-Chelsea options.

Lampard, 35, announced on Monday that he was leaving Chelsea after 13 years with the club and while he will captain England against Ecuador in their pre-World Cup friendly yesterday, he acknowledged this tournament could mark the end of his time with the national team.

“It is very difficult to get the words out to say that. I am very proud and very happy to play for England so I certainly want to say it after.

“If we go and win then I prob-ably will certainly hang my boots up. I don’t like to say it because I love playing but its kind of obvi-ous that it comes in the end but I am just appreciating and enjoying every minute at the moment,” he told reporters after training.

Lampard believes that in Brazil he can offer England manager Roy Hodgson more than just an experienced presence in the

dressing room and says he is glad to have been able to extend his international career.

“I have had quite a few oppor-tunities. Most players sort of

finish with England in their low thirties at the most and I have had some of my most enjoyable England years at the back end, in the last two years,” he said.

“I have appreciated what I have got. When you are young you don’t always appreciate it. I’ve enjoyed the squad, the ambi-ence around the squad and that is why I won’t write myself off yet,” he said

Lampard said he also wants to wait until after the tourna-ment before making a decision about his future, but his agent has reportedly been in talks with new Major League Soccer club New York City FC who will start playing in February 2015.

The club, which is jointly owned by Manchester City and Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees, signed Spain interna-tional David Villa on Monday and while nothing is yet agreed with Lampard he said it was an option he was considering.

“The America thing is an option, I make no bones about that. I am looking at different options. The main thing is that I want to carry on playing, I feel very fit and fresh and I am enjoy-ing it,” he said. “So I will keep going for as long as I feel that way. I’d love to play for a few more years.” AFP

Frank Lampard talks to the

media during an England press

conference at the Sunlife

Stadium in Miami, Florida on

Tuesday night.

31SPORT THURSDAY 5 JUNE 2014

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Easy win for Brazil in warm-upNeymar helps hosts to 4-0 win over Panama in penultimate friendly matchGOIANIA, Brazil: World Cup hosts Brazil strolled to a 4-0 win over Panama in their penulti-mate warm-up Tuesday night, with goals from Neymar, Daniel Alves, Hulk and Willian secur-ing the win which barely satis-fied their coach.

After a tentative opening, the Selecao easily saw off limited opponents as Neymar, with his 31st international goal, set the ball rolling, rifling in a free-kick for the opener on the half hour.

Alves drove in the second five minutes before the interval and a cheeky Neymar backheel was enough to pave the way for Hulk to dispatch the third early in the second period before Willian put the icing on the cake 17 minutes from time.

With only Friday’s friendly against Serbia to come before the Brazilians meet Croatia in their June 12 World Cup opener in Sao Paulo, 2002 title-winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari seized the chance to use several second string players.

Afterwards, he indicated he saw room for further improvement.

“I am still concerned. We are getting better -- but we know we have a fair way to go,” indicated the man who lifted Brazil’s fifth Cup in Japan 12 years ago and who now wants to deliver first success on home soil.

“The run out was worthwhile but we must up our rhythm and be a lot better for the Croatia game,” prior to further group games against Mexico and

Cameroon. Scolari explained the opening minutes of Tuesday’s game had concerned him.

“We were a bit off beam in the opening minutes and it could have been different had we been playing a superior opponent. Afterwards, we improved.”

With Neymar scoring one and making two -- he also earned a yellow card -- Scolari said of his star man: “Everyone knows Neymar’s talent. But he always comes up with something new to surprise.”

Scolari added that with the striker having missed a chunk of Barcelona’s run-in to the end of the Spanish league campaign through injury he planned to give him another full 90 minutes against the Serbians.

Scolari had called on his side to pull their socks up after a slov-enly training session on Sunday and they responded after a quiet

opening quarter of an hour.Luis Tejada picked up a yellow

card for the visitors with a foul on Neymar and Brazil’s star man swiped his free kick high into the net to delight a 30,000 crowd.

The Barcelona starlet then crossed for Fred but the Scolari favorite directed a header off target.

Alves then smacked home the second with a low effort to all but break the visitors’ sagging resist-ence and allow Scolari the luxury of six changes.

Neymar’s superbly weighted backheel allowed Hulk to slot in a cool third with the outside of his boot. Panama tried to respond with a Roberto Nurse header which Julio Cesar, finally called into action, tipped over before Brazil scored again on 72 minutes with Neymar feeding Maxwell, who found Willian for a routine finish. AFP

Spain finding fitness ahead of World CupWASHINGTON: Spain’s play-ers said yesterday they’ll be fit for the defense of their World Cup crown in Brazil, despite the rigors of a long club season.

Right back Juanfran is just one of the players on Vicente del Bosque’s squad who have been nursing injuries, but he vowed he would be “100 percent” healthy and ready for Brazil.

“I don’t have any problem, and I am 100 percent with the team,” the Atletico Madrid defender told a press conference in Washington, where Spain will train prior to a Saturday friendly against El Salvador.

Juanfran suffered a sprained right ankle in the Champions League final that Atletico Madrid lost to Real Madrid on May 24.

The 29-year-old said he was limping in the wake of the pain-ful injury, but insisted he was now recovered and had told Del Bosque: “When you need me, I’ll be there and I’ll do my best.”

“I’ve had difficult moments in my career and I’ve overcome them -- this is one more,” he said.

Spain’s squad includes seven players who competed in the Champions League final -- the extra duty adding to physical wear and tear.

In a comparison of combined minutes played in 2013-14 by various World Cup-bound teams, the BBC calculated that based on predicted starting lineups, Spain have played a 37,888 minutes.

That compares to 37,130 for Italy, 34,410 for England and 30,656 for hosts Brazil.

Midfielder Santiago Carloza doesn’t think Spain will be any less ready than their opponents.

“The season has been tough for everyone. I don’t think we are any more or less tired than the other teams,” Carloza said, adding that Spain’s squad is “physically better every day.”

Juanfran also came out in defense of Spanish-Brazilian striker Diego Costa, who was included by Del Bosque in his final World Cup squad despite a nag-ging hamstring injury that limited him to just nine minutes in the Champions League final.

“He’s great, and I’m convinced he will be one of the great players of the World Cup,” Juanfran said of his Atletico team-mate.

The Spanish squad arrived on Monday in Washington, which boasts the same humid conditions that they’ll face in Brazil.

El Salvador, who didn’t qual-ify for the World Cup, aren’t expected to offer the reigning champions a searching test in Saturday’s tune-up match, but they will be a big draw for the US capital’s large Salvadoran com-munity, thus making for a good game-day atmosphere.

Spain face Chile and Australia in World Cup Group B along with the Netherlands -- the opponents in their 2010 World Cup final triumph.

They will open their campaign against the Dutch on June 13.

AFP

Rooney gets chance to build sharpnessMIAMI: England manager Roy Hodgson will give Wayne Rooney another chance to improve his match-sharpness with a start in friendly against Ecuador.

And the former Liverpool boss is set to try-out Manchester City midfielder James Milner at right-back. Rooney’s form has been a talking point in England but Hodgson said the decision not to rest him, unlike several other starters from Friday’s 3-0 win over Peru, was mainly about get-ting him up to match-preparation.

“The thinking behind Wayne starting a second game is quite simple. He only played 60 minutes the other day, he didn’t play many games before he came to join us, we think that he is recovering his

match fitness and we think start-ing the game and playing a part of the game will be to his advantage.

“We will see how long he plays and that will be based on how his fitness is progressing,” he said.

Much of the debate around Rooney has focused on whether he should be used as an out-and-out striker, in a withdrawn role or out wide, but Hodgson said he was sim-ply pleased to have those options.

“Wayne is a very useful player in that you don’t have to pin him down and say this is the only posi-tion that he can play. We have seen him play centre-forward, we have seen him play behind the centre-forward and we have seen him play wide. If he has done all of those things at the very top level

for Manchester United there is no reason why I can’t use him in those positions as well,” he said.

“There is a real obsession with Wayne which I don’t necessarily share. As far as I am concerned I have got Wayne Rooney here as one of 23 players, I am very happy to have him here as one of 23 players but I don’t have to share the obsession that he has to play here, or has to do that.”

Milner, who normally operates in midfield for Manchester City, will be given a chance to show if he is a viable alternative to Liverpool’s Glen Johnson.

Hodgson said Milner could be used as back-up full-back in the World Cup and the friendly at SunLife stadium offered the

perfect chance to test him in that role. “He’s going to play right-back on Wednesday because I think he has the qualities to play there and I think there may be moments during the World Cup where we would like to use him there,” Hodgson said after training.

The England manager said Milner was still considered pri-marily as a wide midfielder but stressed he wanted to take full advantage of his versatility.

“He is in the squad quite rightly as a right or left-sided midfielder and that is where we see him mostly but thanks to his ability to do other jobs we think it will be interesting to see how he gets on at right-back against Ecuador.

“I have seen him play there for

Manchester City for me it was always obvious that if we needed someone to step in there he could do the job and Wednesday will be the moment to try it,” he said.

Midfielder Frank Lampard, said he was glad there was now debate over how to squeeze England’s talented young options into a starting eleven.

“The good thing is that we are arguing about where to play all these talented players, whether it be Wayne Rooney, Ross Barkley, Raheem Sterling, Ox (Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain) and they are the things that we bemoaned a few years ago -- that we didn’t have that excitement in that squad and now we do,” said Lampard. AFP

Ecuador national football team players strech during a training session at Miami Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, yesterday. RIGHT: Neymar of Brazil runs with the ball during an international friendly match against Panama ahead of the 2014 World Cup, in Goiania, on Tuesday night.

Brazilian supporters wait for the start of a friendly football match between Brazil and Panama.

Italy’s Mario Balotelli (top) and Italian Football Federation (FIGC) President Giancarlo Abete prepare to pose for an official photo in Coverciano, near Florence, on Tuesday.

Japan confident of Cup victory ralliesCLEARWATER, United States: Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni and his players are relying on the team’s never-say-die attitude to spur them on at the World Cup.

Japan are prepping them-selves to do things the hard way in Brazil as they have a history of falling behind early in games.

A day after battling from behind for a 3-1 victory over World Cup-bound Costa Rica, the Blue Samurai were taking stock of a belief built over four years of hard work since a run to the last 16 at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

“We don’t give up,” Japan goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima said Tuesday. “We run to the end. There have been many moments in the last four years where we have been able to come back after a difficult situation.”

It’s a faith created from facing tough times together, including losing all three matches at last year’s Confederations Cup in Brazil.

And for Italian Zaccheroni, who guided AC Milan to a pair of Serie A titles, such bonds have given his team a resilience to bounce back from misfortune and make the most from opportunity.

“We have a solid team concept. We have a team identity, a cer-tain character. These factors are a power greater than the first goal,” Zaccheroni said.

“When we give the opponent the first goal, they definitely can play more defensively. The impor-tant thing is to analyze why we give up the first goal, realize our

error and improve our game. Even if we give up the first goal, we make our chances and we have to focus on finishing.”

Where Japan might have once been one-dimensional and defen-sive-minded, now there is versa-tility and attacking flair behind such strikers as AC Milan’s Keisuke Honda and Manchester United forward Shinji Kagawa.

This is a Japan team that knows it can fight back if it must.

“There is an Italian proverb -- all grass is different,” Zaccheroni said. “It means every situation is unique.

“In the World Cup, we might

give the opponent the first goal. But we will try to score more than they do. We have to focus on the complete game. If something bad happens, we should still try to improve and face it.

“Until the World Cup, we will focus on improving the players’ mentality and finishing goals.”

Shinji Okazaki, a striker who helped Germany’s Mainz reach next season’s Europa League, says World Cup warm-up wins over Cyprus and Costa Rica have pro-vided a confidence boost when it matters most.

“I feel there is a very good atmosphere in our team. Every single player knows that final preparation for the championship is vital,” Okazaki said.

“In the game we have to decide the details, such as when and how to put pressure on the opponent. When times are tough, what we should do to win the game is also up to us.”

“We need to decide this through good communication among the players, which is a bit different from how things were before. I learnt from the previous World Cup that the coherence of the team might decide the match.”

In South Africa, Paraguay ousted Japan on penalties 5-3 to reach the last eight after a goal-less draw.

“As we had good results thanks to a united team last time, I expect we can go further with our four-year effort and the power of a united team,” Okazaki said. “Japan can play very harmoni-ously together when it counts.”

AFP

Japan’s Yoshito Okubo heads an exercise ball during a train-ing session in Clearwater, Florida, yesterday.

Every World Cup player to have drug test

Sport Thursday 5 June 20147 Sha’baan 1435

Volume 19Number 6087

Price: QR2

editor@pen.com.qa | adv@pen.com.qa Editorial: 44557741 | Advertising: 44557837 / 44557780www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Sport | 27 Sport | 29

It’s Spurs vs Heat in NBA Finals

England, SL in row ahead of Test series

Nadal downs Ferrer to reach last fourMurray snuffs out French hopes; Petkovic, Halep to clashPARIS: Defending champion Rafa Nadal survived David Ferrer’s early fury to reach the French Open semi-finals with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, 6-1 win in a repeat of last year’s all-Spanish final yesterday.

World number one Nadal, chasing a record-extending ninth Roland Garros title, had no answer to the fifth seed’s pace on court Suzanne Lenglen in the first set.

But Ferrer, one of three men who have beaten the claycourt machine on his favourite surface this year, ran out of steam in the second before Nadal devoured him in the third.

Nadal won 10 games in a row - and 13 of the last 14 - to wrap up victory on his first match point, setting up a meeting with Wimbledon champion Andy Murray who beat local favourite Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 1-6, 6-0 in the last eight.

“David on clay? He is one of the best players of the world. He gets better and better. I’m sorry for him today,” Nadal reporters.

“In the first set I made too many mistakes with my back-hand,” he said.

Ferrer was on fire in the open-ing set, piercing Nadal’s concrete defence with his devastating forehand.

Nadal, who has a 64-1 record on the Paris clay, realised in the opening set he was in for a dogfight.

At the end of a 31-shot rally, he unleashed one of his trademark forehands down the line and paused for a fraction of second as if certain it had done the job. But Ferrer retrieved the shot with a chopped forehand that landed in the open court, out of Nadal’s reach.

Ferrer, as quick between his serves as Nadal is slow, took the set on his opponent’s serve with a forehand winner into the corner.

Then, however, things started to click for the King of clay.

Nadal broke for 2-1 with a stunning backhand down the line. Ferrer had three chances to break back in the sixth game but could not convert them.

From then on, Nadal rolled on towards his 22nd win over Ferrer in 28 meetings.

He carries into tomorrow’s

semi-final clash a 14-5 record against Murray, whom he has beaten five times out of five on clay for the loss of two sets

Murray ended home hopes by beating Monfils in front of a roaring crowd to reach his first French Open semi-final since 2011.

The last Frenchman stand-ing in Paris sent the decibel lev-els soaring when he stole back the third and fourth sets but Wimbledon champion Murray was in a hurry to take the fifth and ensure the match did not go into today due to the fading light.

Showing few sign of the back injury that kept him out of last year’s tournament, the seventh seed controlled play from the baseline in the first set, although the 23rd seed gave home fans hope with some returns from improbable angles.

The Scot stormed to a 5-1 lead in the second, but took eight set

points to close it out after the game was halted when a ball dropped out of Murray’s pocket during play, sending both play-ers to lobby the umpire before Murray conceded the point.

Meanwhile, ‘Twisted soul’ Andrea Petkovic joyously planted a kiss on her racket frame after she battled through drizzle and swirling winds yesterday to set up an unlikely French Open semi-final showdown with Romanian Simona Halep.

The 28th seeded German came close to turning her back on ten-nis a year ago after being hobbled by back, ankle and knee injuries but 12 months on she was get-ting up close and personal with her racket after blowing Italy’s Sara Errani off court with a 6-2, 6-2 win.

A match featuring 10 breaks and 32 unforced errors was never going to be pretty and a three-hour rain delay left Roland Garros feeling more like

a winter wonderland as tempera-tures dipped to a chilly 10 degrees Celsius.

But Petkovic won the points that mattered.

A match that started with spectators huddled under blan-kets on Philippe Chatrier Court ended with Petkovic beaming in delight as Errani slapped a back-hand wide.

After becoming the first German woman to reach the last four in Paris since Steffi Graf in 1999, a player who is influenced by the writings of a number of phi-losophers said she would now “like to call Freud and ask him what he thinks about... my twisted soul.”

Such a thought is unlikely to trouble Halep, who will be more interested in concentrating on Petkovic’s tennis skills after she too reached her first major semi-final with an equally scrappy 6-2, 6-2 win over 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.

AGENCIES

LAUSANNE: FIFA is on an ambitious mission to make sure that for the first time every player who takes part in the World Cup has a drug test and carries a ‘biological passport’.

Football’s governing body wants to impose the passport -- already used in cycling and ath-letics -- that will follow a player throughout his career, giving details of blood and urine tests.

Since March, a team of FIFA doctors and nurses have been carrying out random blood and urine tests at internationals and team training camps.

Lionel Messi’s Argentina and France were visited last week at their camps to prepare for the tournament, according to media reports.

Brazilian star Neymar, Italian captain Gianluigi Buffon and Spain’s Andres Iniesta were among those who gave samples at last year’s Confederations Cup.

Chelsea, Barcelona, Santos and Monterrey stars were tested during international club compe-titions over the past 18 months.

Players can expect a tap on the shoulder right from the first matches of the World Cup which starts June 12.

“We can test anybody, any-time, anywhere, any amount of times,” said Jiri Dvorak, FIFA’s chief medical officer in a recent interview.

So far nothing alarming has turned up, according to Dvorak. “The hematological parameters are normal,” he said.

FIFA is building up a biologi-cal passport on all players.

It has taken at least two test samples from most players while some have given up to four.

So far teams have made the doping investigators welcome. “They understand what we are doing and they consider that kind of examination as part of their professional life,” said Dvorak.

The FIFA tests look for dis-crepancies in haemoglobins and red cells that could indicate EPO doping or other banned efforts to boost endurance. These kinds of tests are already used in cycling and athletics.

Football’s governing body also checks hormone levels and for

anabolic steroids in the urine. The drug testing logistics in

Brazil face difficulties, Dvorak acknowledged.

There is no international standard laboratory in Brazil. The World Anti-Doping Agency withdrew its accreditation for the only facility in Rio de Janeiro last year.

FIFA will be sending its sam-ples to a laboratory in Lausanne, Switzerland, which will add $250,000 (180,000 euros) to the doping clampdown costs.

And as blood samples must be analysed within 36 hours of being drawn, it will be a race against time to get samples from far-flung World Cup cities such as Manaus in the Amazon and Fortaleza.

“It is a challenge,” acknowl-edged Dvorak.

But transport from stadiums has already been tested.

“There are a few games that are difficult. But the majority of the samples will arrive at the laboratory between 24 and 48 hours,” said Dvorak. The Lausanne laboratory will work 24 hours a day during the World Cup, he added.

“Some of the matches are critical, the critical matches we will look at very carefully,” the medical chief said.

Football has had relatively few declared cases of performance-enhancing doping.

Argentine star Diego Maradona was sent home from the 1994 World Cup after test-ing positive for the stimulant ephedrine.

Last year there were cases involving internationals from Jamaica, Peru and Tahiti. But FIFA believes the smaller foot-ball nations are less aware of the risks involved.

Cannabis and cocaine have made up the majority of drug failures in football in recent years, according to FIFA.com, the world body’s website.

FIFA’s biological passport could spread further than the World Cup though.

A scientific review of the FIFA campaign will be published at the end of the year. If it backs the drug testing, the world body may press the major leagues to start their own regimes. AFP

Switzerland’s defender Fabian Schaer (centre) falls during a friendly football match against Peru, in Lucerne, central Switzerland, yesterday, ahead of the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil.

Rafael Nadal of Spain in action during his quarter final match against David Ferrer of Spain at the French Open at Roland Garros in Paris, France, yesterday.

Former US cycling rider Greg LeMond (left) and French tri-ple and long jumper

Teddy Tamgho attend the men’s

quarter-final match between Andy

Murray of Britain and Gael Monfils of

France.

French Open Results from the French Open quarter-final matches yesterday.

Men’s

7-Andy Murray (Britain) bt 23-Gael Monfils (France) 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 1-6, 6-0

1-Rafa Nadal (Spain) bt 5-David Ferrer (Spain) 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, 6-1

Women’s

4-Simona Halep (Romania) bt 27-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) 6-2, 6-2

28-Andrea Petkovic (Germany) bt 10-Sara Errani (Italy) 6-2, 6-2

Order of play

Order of play on show courts on the 12th day of the French Open today (prefix number

denotes seeding, all matches semi-finals, play starts at 1300 GMT/9 AM ET):

Court Philippe Chatrier:

7-Maria Sharapova (Russia) vs 18-Eugenie Bouchard (Canada)

4-Simona Halep (Romania) vs 28-Andrea Petkovic (Germany)