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Tuesday 9 April 2013

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Al Sada openshi-techdrilling rig

GCC Athletics: Qatar’s Francis wins gold

Egypt satirist criticised fortargeting Qatar‘Bassem show will spoil relations’

DOHA: An Arab ministerial committee met here yesterday to discuss ways to revive the stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace process and plans to send a mis-sion to Washington, the Arab League chief said.

The talks of the Arab Peace Initiative Committee was chaired by the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani in the presence of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

The meeting was attended by the Arab League Secretary General Dr Nabil Al Arabi, and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and heads of delegations of the member states of the Arab Peace Initiative Committee, as well

as the United Arab Emirates, Sultanate of Oman and Kuwait.

“This meeting was to discuss the mission of the Arab delega-tion that will visit Washington on April 29,” Al Arabi said.

Arabi said before the meeting that the delegation would go to the UN Security Council in New York. It is not clear if the delega-tion will still visit the UN head-quarters. The proposal to send a delegation to New York was agreed at an Arab summit held in Doha last month.

Palestinian foreign minister Riyad Al Malki said that the del-egation being sent to Washington would meet US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry. The team will include the foreign ministers of Egypt,

Jordan, Morocco, the Palestinians, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, as well as the Arab League chief, he said.

Abbas told visiting Kerry on Sunday that Israel should freeze settlement construction and release prisoners, especially those arrested before the 1993 Oslo Accords, before any resumption of peace talks. Kerry said in Israel that he was focused on a “quiet strategy” to breathe new life into the peace process, but he would not be rushed.

Abbas also wants Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to present a map of the borders of a future Palestinian state before talks can resume, but a top politi-cal official told Israel’s Maariv newspaper this was out of the question. QNA/AFP

The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani (centre) with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (left) and Arab League Secretary General Dr Nabil Al Arabi at the Arab Peace Initiative Committee meeting in Doha yesterday.

Ministers discuss reviving Mideast peace process

DOHA: A show last Friday of a popular Egyptian TV sati-rist that made a mockery of Qatar for helping their country financially has led to a contro-versy, with a large number of Egyptians criticising the host of the TV programme for insulting a friendly country and attack-ing its policies.

Bassem Youssef, the host, is also being criticised for making a parody of a national song of the 1960s about Arab unity to mock at Qatar. The song titled Watani El Akbar had been made into Qatari Habibi for the contro-versial TV show. The parody has been viewed on YouTube more than 350,000 times, Egyptian news websites report.

The tune, a parody of a popu-lar song of Gamal Abdul Nasser’s era, mock at Qatar for provid-ing financial assistance to Egypt, and the so-called plans of the Egyptian government to sell Suez Canal and lease the pyramids to Qatar — accusations that Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani, earlier laughed at and described as wild and baseless.

Youssef ’s last Friday’s weekly programme, that focused on Qatar, ran the controversial par-ody which, among other things, mocked at the Egyptians them-selves as it said: “After the revolu-tion we are begging overseas” — a reference to Qatar.

The original song was a cho-rus that was sung by a number of famous Egyptian singers in 1960. According to Egyptian newspaper El Akhbar, social net-working websites in Egypt were filled with comments criticising Youssef ’s Friday show.

“The show shouldn’t have been used to target a friendly country while handling our own national issues,” the newspaper quoted a commentator on a social network-ing site.

Some commentators have even gone to the extent of urg-ing military intervention to stop the parody from being viewed on YouTube and expressed anger at the show saying it aimed at spoil-ing Egypt’s relations with Qatar.

Some have said Youssef has misused what is a platform for entertainment to attack other countries and their policies.

At least one commentator on the Twitter, who gave his name as Ahmed Al Darwi said that Qatar was the only country that helped Egypt when the latter was in a deep crisis. Another named Jamad Eid said on the Twitter that insult-ing Qatar was akin to insulting their own homeland (Egypt).

Critics of the show point out that Hamdeen Sabbahi, a politician who lost to Mohammed Mursi in the presidential election, was present during the show and he didn’t utter a word when Qatar was being tar-geted. THE PENINSULA

Continued on page 6

DOHA: The Supreme Council of Health (SCH) has warned against the use of azithromycin, one of the world’s bestselling antibiotics, without a prescrip-tion or guidance of a doctor due to its potentially harmful side effects.

The SCH has also asked doc-tors and other health workers to take the side effects and risk fac-tors into consideration while pre-scribing the medicine to patients.

Azithromycin is used to treat or prevent certain bacterial infec-tions, such as middle ear infec-tions, strep throat, pneumonia, typhoid, bronchitis and sinusitis.

It is widely prescribed for infants and those with weak immune sys-tems. The medicine is available under various product names such as Zimax, Azalid, Zithromax, Azi-once, Azomycin, Zocin, Zetrocin, Mazit and Zomax.

The SCH warning applies to the medicine in its various forms and is based on a health alert issued by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently.

FDA had warned that azithro-mycin can cause abnormal changes in the electrical activity of the heart that may lead to a potentially fatal irregular heart rhythm.

Patients at particular risk of developing this condition include those with known risk factors such as existing QT interval prolonga-tion, low blood levels of potassium or magnesium, a slower than nor-mal heart rate, or intake of certain drugs used to treat abnormal heart rhythm, or arrhythmia.

FDA had said that the warning was based on a study by medical researchers and another study by a manufacturer of the drug that assessed the potential for azithromycin to cause abnormal changes in the electrical activity of the heart.

Enquiries with pharmacists here yesterday revealed that the antibiotic in its various product names is widely sold in Qatar and is commonly prescribed by doc-tors, especially for children.

“Azithromycin, like other anti-biotics, can be sold in Qatar only with a prescription. It is one of the bestselling antibiotics in the country and is widely prescribed for children because it is highly effective in treating infections in the upper respiratory track,” said a pharmacist. He said since the medicine is not available here without a prescription, the SCH warning might be target-ing mainly doctors to make them aware of its potential side effects.

THE PENINSULAContinued on page 3

DOHA: Qatar yesterday pledged $500m to support development projects in Darfur.

This is part of the $3.6bn com-mitted by the participating coun-tries at the International Donors Conference for reconstruction and development of Darfur which concluded here yesterday.

Qatar will make an immediate contribution of $88m, half of the $177m needed for urgent projects in the war-torn region, Deputy Premier and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs H E Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud said yesterday.

The pledges include the $2.65bn committed by the Sudanese government in a July 2011 peace deal.

Qatar is also contribut-ing $200m initially to the $2bn Darfur Development Bank, Amin Shakawi, the Deputy Country Director of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said at the end of the conference.

Although the pledges fell short of the $7.2bn the UN had hoped to raise, the biggest commitments were made by Arab countries.

“Qatar has pledged $500m…

some countries might increase their pledge when they look at the projects in detail,” said Al Mahmoud

Qatar’s charitable organisa-tions announced $141m for reha-bilitation projects in Darfur at the conference.

This included pledges by Qatar Charity, Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah for Humanitarian Services (RAF), Sheikh Eid Charity, Qatar Red Crescent, Al Asmakh Charity and the Sheikh Jassim bin Jabor Charity.

The 2011 Doha Peace Document on Darfur, signed with an alliance

of rebel splinter groups, seeks support for the six-year, $7.25bn strategy to wean Darfur off food handouts and other emergency aid, and lay the foundation for lasting development through improved infrastructure.

The European Union (EU) promised $35m and Germany agreed to contribute €13m in aid.

Britain had on Sunday offered at least $16m for Darfur annually over the next three years to help the communities grow food and develop employment skills.

THE PENINSULAContinued on page 6

Qatar to invest $200bn in core sector projectsDOHA: The hydrocarbons-rich Qatar has plans to invest about $200bn in infrastructure devel-opment over next 10 years, of that $140bn will be invested within next five years, accord-ing to the Minister of Economy and Finance H E Yousuf Hussein Kamal. Full report on page 17

US visa lottery WASHINGTON: A US visa pro-gramme ran a lottery to award 85,000 slots for high-skilled workers just one week after the application period opened, the US Citizenship and Immigration Service said, signaling compa-nies feel confident enough about the economy to hire more foreign workers. The USCIS held the lot-tery to approve petitions for the slots after it received approxi-mately 124,000 H-1B petitions last week, including petitions filed for holders of advanced degrees from US universities.

15 killed in DamascusDAMASCUS: A huge suicide car bomb ripped through the heart of Damascus yesterday, killing at least 15 people and wounding more than 50. The blast caused extensive damage and intense gunfire was heard afterwards.

Full report on page 10

Margaret Thatcher dies aged 87LONDON: Margaret Thatcher, the “Iron Lady” who transformed Britain and inspired conservatives around the world by radically roll-ing back the state during her 11 years in power, died yesterday fol-lowing a stroke. She was 87.

The government said Thatcher would have a ceremonial funeral with military honours at London’s St Paul’s Cathedral, which falls short of a full state funeral. Flags on government buildings and royal palaces were lowered to half mast. “We’ve lost a great leader, a great prime minister and a great Briton,” British premier David Cameron said.

More reports on page 11

US to send laser weapon to GulfWASHINGTON: The US Navy said yesterday that it will deploy a laser weapon prototype in the Gulf capable of disabling patrol boats and destroying flying drones, according to UPI. The ship-board laser will be mounted on a converted amphibious transport and docking ship in the Gulf, where Iranian fast-attack boats have harassed American warships, The New York Times reported. The laser attack weapon will not be operational until next year, but in making the announcement, Admiral Jonathan W Greenert, chief of naval operations, appeared to warn Iran not to step up activity in the Gulf, the newspaper noted.

US, Gulf allies plan naval exercise DUBAI: The United States and its allies will stage a naval exercise in the Gulf in May to practise minesweeping and escorting ships, the US Navy said yesterday. Representatives from more than 30 nations will gather in Bahrain for the International Mine Countermeasures Exercise 13 from May 6-30. In a separate development, a US fighter jet crashed into the North Arabian Sea after an engine failure but both crew were recovered unharmed. AGENCIES

SCH warns against use of antibiotic azithromycin

Qatar pledges $500m for Darfur projects

Flowers and mementos left by public and admirers outside the home of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in central London yesterday.

02 HOMETUESDAY 9 APRIL 2013

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

BY FAZEENA SALEEM

DOHA: The incidence of life-style diseases is high among low-income workers in Qatar and many remain unaware that they have this condition.

New cases of diabetes, high blood pressure and high cho-lesterol levels are common and some workers also suffer from mental stress and cardiovascular diseases, according to healthcare experts involved with an annual free medical camp being organ-ised by Indian Islamic Association Qatar (IIAQ) and Indian Medical Association (IMA).

The camp is being held under the auspices of Primary Health care Corporation (PHC) and Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC). It is sponsored by Ooredoo.

“Lifestyle diseases are common problems among workers,” said Dr K P Najeeb, President, Indian Doctors Club (IDC) and Indian Medical Association (IMA).

He was speaking on the side-lines of a press conference held yesterday to announce the 12th Free Medical Camp and Health Awareness Programme, at the Holiday Villa Hotel and Residence.

The camp diagnoses many new cases of diabetes, high blood pres-sure and high cholesterol levels and some with skin diseases, said Dr Najeeb who has served the camp for over five years.

The camp each year sends a detailed report to the Supreme Council of Health on new and interesting cases. The camp will be held on Friday at Tariq bin Ziad School in Salata Jadeed. It will be open between 7am and 8pm, mainly for low-income workers from Asian countries.

More than 1,800 pre-registered low-income labourers from India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will benefit from the camp. Volunteers of the IIAQ have

Lifestyle diseases high among workers

already met these workers who have health problems.

Besides the pre-registered workers, more than 2,000 people are expected to attend the camp and the concurrent health aware-ness exhibition and lectures.

The organisers said the camp’s inauguration ceremony, which will begin at 9am, will be attended by Sanjiv Arora, Indian Ambassador, senior officials of the PHC, HMC, Ooredoo and representatives of various governmental and non-governmental organisations.

They said more than 150 doc-tors and 150 para-medical staff will be available to attend to regis-tered participants. Services at the camp include tests for blood pres-sure, blood sugar, and cholesterol;

oral cancer screening; eye tests; ultrasound and ECG tests as well as consultation and counselling.

Free medicines will be dis-tributed for common diseases, as per prescription by doctors who include orthopaedics, cardiolo-gists, dermatologists, ophthalmol-ogists, ENT specialists, dentists and general physicians.

The Ophtha lmolog y Department at HMC will offer glaucoma test. HMC will also facilitate audiometric tests for interested participants and a breast cancer awareness programme.

Hamad Training Centre will make a presentation on basic life support while the Traffic Department will hold an

awareness programme.This year, physiotherapy will

be provided as a new service at the camp.

The camp will also support deserving patients to get health cards. “Many workers who come to the camp don’t have health cards. We help them to get cards so they can go to health centres,” said Dr Najeeb.

The camp also aims to provide healthcare education to workers vulnerable to some life-threat-ening diseases due to stress from their complex work environment, lack of adequate rest and proper healthcare and a disorderly lifestyle. Awareness lectures will be held on ‘Major Health Issues Among Expatriates,’

‘Healthy Food Habits,’ ‘Stress related Illnesses,’ and ‘Urology Diseases.’

“We aim to increase the knowl-edge of participants through five lectures,” said Dr Sameer Moopan, General Secretary of Indian Doctors Club and Indian Medical Association in Qatar.

“We are going to give more attention to increasing aware-ness, because we find people coming without knowing that they have some illnesses for a long time.”

Referral will be provided for patients to HMC’s walk-in clin-ics depending on the requirement.

The camp provides periodi-cal check-ups and assistance for deserving patients with chronic

illnesses. Visitors to the camp who are interested to donate blood and organs will be helped to register with Hamad Medical Corporation.

A health quiz contest will be held for grade 8, 9 and 10 students.

The press conference was attended by Fatima Sultan Al Kuwari, Director of Public Relations, Ooredoo, Dr Muhammed Ali Al Mahamoud, Head of Pharmacy, Primary Healthcare Corporation, Dr Najeeb, K T Abdurahman, President of IIAQ, Dr Sameer Moopan, General Secretary of IMA, and Mohammed Najeeb C H, General Secretary of IIAQ.

THE PENINSULA

Over 1,800 pre-registered labourers to benefit from 12th Free Medical Camp organised by IIAQ and IMA

FROM LEFT: Dr K P Najeeb, President, Indian Doctors Club and Indian Medical Association (IMA), Abdul Rahman Ahmed, President, Indian Islamic Association Qatar (IIAQ), Fatima Sultan Al Kuwari, Director of Public Relations at Ooredoo, Dr Sameer Moopan, General Secretary, IMA and Dr Mohamed Ali M Al Mahmoud, Head of Pharmacy, Primary Health Care Corporation during the press conference to announce the 12th Free Medical Camp, at Holiday Villa Hotel and Residence, in Doha yesterday. KAMMUTTY V P

03TUESDAY 9 APRIL 2013

www.thepeninsulaqatar.comHOME

Emir meets Ecuador minister Heir Apparent with Sudanese leader

The Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani with the Ecuador’s Minister of Tourism Freddy Ehlers at the Emiri Diwan yesterday.

The Heir Apparent H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani with First Vice President of Sudan Ali Osman Mohamed Taha at the Emiri Diwan, yesterday.

Heir Apparent receives phone call from Saudi Crown Prince DOHA: The Heir Apparent H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani yesterday received a phone call from Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

The Heir Apparent and the Saudi Crown Prince reviewed fraternal relations and ways of developing them, as well as regional and international issues of common concern.

Premier meets League chief DOHA: The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani met yesterday Arab League Secretary-General Dr Nabil Al Arabi, who is here to participate in the meeting of the Arab Peace Initiative Committee.

They discussed topics on the agenda of the committee’s meeting.

The Prime Minister also met Italian Ambassador to Qatar Guido De Sanctis and greeted him on the occasion of assuming office in Qatar.

He wished the ambassador success in his duties and Qatari-Italian relations further develop-ment. QNA

DOHA: Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has started its drive to recruit 1,000 Qataris following a successful Qatar Career Fair (QCF) 2013.

Hundreds of aspiring candi-dates visited the Corporation’s pavilion at the QCF which was held from April 1 to 6 at the Qatar National Convention Centre.

HMC — one of the largest gov-ernment employers in the coun-try — is offering Qatari graduates, undergraduates and those seek-ing new opportunities a range of rewarding career opportunities.

During the career fair HMC officials received 368 applications from attendees, with 47 initial interviews held during the Fair.

Of those interviewed, 32 were made offers by HMC across a range of job categories. Among the applications received 244 were by high school graduates, 19 were in their final year of high school, 10 hold diploma and 66 hold Bachelor’s of Masters degrees.

HMC is committed to develop-ing its talent and offers scholar-ships for Qatari nationals in high school and university so they have

access to training and education required to further their careers. At the QCF 29 attendees applied for scholarships under this scheme to support their further studies.

The Exhibitors at the QCF impressed with the quality of appli-cants. Many companies reported that they had successfully recruited job-seekers who possessed impres-sive qualities and qualifications and many others were signed into the various graduate, internship, train-ing and development programmes offered by these companies.

THE PENINSULA

HMC begins recruitment after Qatar Career Fair

New Sri Lankan School principal dies in ColomboDOHA: The newly-appointed principal of the Stafford Sri Lankan School Doha, Dr Wilfred J Perera, (pictured) who was supposed to travel to Doha soon to assume his position, has died in Colombo. Dr Perera had come to Doha early this year and stayed for two months but had to return to Colombo on a short leave.

After a brief illness, he died last Friday and was laid to rest yesterday in Colombo, community sources told this newspaper yesterday. Prior to joining the school, Dr Perera was a consultant to the Ministry of Education and the Finance Commission. He was also a former deputy director general of the National Institute of Education and former head, Centre for Education Leadership Development, Meepe, Sri Lanka.

He started his career as a science teacher. Later he was appointed as a special education teacher, supervisor — special education, lecturer – special education, Teachers’ College, Maharagama, project officer/chief project officer, director of National Institute of Education, head of Centre for Education Leadership Development and teacher empow-erment and education consultant, Finance Commission.

THE PENINSULA

1,000 Qataris will be offered rewarding positions

Antibiotic still in useContinued from page 1

According to a private physi-cian, the medical community in Qatar in general is not aware of the recent FDA warning and the antibiotic is still being prescribed here without the required cau-tion. THE PENINSULA



DOHA: The Deputy Secretary General of the Myanmar Red Cross Society, Dr Aung Kyaw Htut, and Maung Maung Khin, head of the disas-ter management of the Myanmar Red Cross, vis-ited the disaster manage-ment camp organised by Qatar Red Crescent in Al Khor yesterday.

They toured the facilities with the Director of the Camp, Rashid Saad Al Mohannadi, met with the participants and witnessed part of the theoreti-cal and practical components carried out to international standards.

Htut expressed his admi-ration for the good organisa-tion, the strong capabilities of QRC and the effective-ness of the training. He also expressed interest in future cooperation and participation in the next QRC DMTC.

The next phase of training will comprise assessment, in the form of a simulated dis-aster scenario. The partici-pating volunteers will visit a number of institutions and

facilities in Al Khor with the hypothetical disaster taking place on the ninth day of camp training.

The training includes gen-eral health, first aid, water and sanitation and nutrition, as well as a component enti-tled ‘Emergency Assessment-its Importance and Goals,’ held by Dr. Hossam Faisal, disaster management official in the Middle East and North Africa and Said Musa of the Sheikh Eid Charity.

Faisal and Musa covered the most important areas, including the stages of evalu-ation of a disaster, beginning with rapid assessment, which is carried out within the first week after the disaster, detailed assessment, which is carried out during the first month of the disaster, and continuous evaluation which is carried out at regular basis.

The volunteers also received training on evalu-ation tools used to collect statistical data, interviews, survey tools and others, as well as being exposed to dis-aster situations requiring

strenuous efforts in a bid to prepare them for the real thing.

Participants were also exposed to scenarios which required them to work in teams, with their team lead-ers to respond fast and effi-ciently to manage a sudden ‘crisis’ when the camp man-agement used real life situa-tions, such as creating a flood situation requiring the par-ticipation of the civil defense and the ambulance services to respond.

In addition to coordination meetings which highlight the importance of coordina-tion during emergencies and obstacles to coordination and how to overcome them, the volunteers participated in a practical program on field coordination between the various agencies in the field. This coordination training came after the volunteers had received training on the International Sphere Manual provided by QRC’s Mohammed Aderdor and Abdrabi Ben Sahraa’.

THE PENINSULA

Myanmar Red Cross officials hail disaster management camp

DOHA: Qatar Airways has received more than 500 appli-cations form job-seekers and graduates attending last week’s Qatar Career Fair held at the Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha.

These applicants applied for over 100 new positions dedicated to Qatari Nationals across the airline, including its subsidiaries and the country’s new aviation gateway — Hamad International Airport.

The positions are available in different fields including com-mercial, finance, operations, administration, human resources, marketing, information tech-nology, corporate planning and ground services.

The two development pro-grammes — Aviation Management and the Graduate Career Rotation

— were the most popular for job-seekers, with more than 120 expressions of interest received.

Qatar Airways’ Scholarship Programmes continue to build momentum with more than 200 applications received for Aircraft Maintenance Engineering, Pilot Cadetships, university studies, internships and scholarships.

In total, there are over 150 scholarships and internships on offer.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said the interest level demonstrated an elevated level of pride held in the community for the national carrier.

“We want our local talent to join the Qatar Airways family and work with us to continue our jour-ney as the world’s fastest growing and best airline,” he said.

“The response we received at last week’s Qatar Career Fair was extremely encouraging, far more than last year, and we look forward to welcoming many new Qatari employees.”

Qatar Airways Nationalisation Vice President Dr Kholode Al Obaidli added: “Qatar Airways is a serious employer dedicated to encouraging the employ-ment of high calibre Qataris on a full time basis or within our scholarship and development programmes.

“The quality of applications was higher at this year’s event with more candidates applying via our e-recruitment system. Interviews were conducted for a selection of HR roles at the career fair and we are now working hard to follow-up with candidates and recruit.”

THE PENINSULA

Over 500 apply for Qatar Airways jobsCarrier to fill 100 positions dedicated to nationals

Participants receive training at the disaster management camp, organised by Qatar Red Crescent, in Al Khor.

Job-seekers at the Qatar Airways booth at the recently concluded Career Fair.

Culture Minister receives invitation DOHA: The Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage H E Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kuwari received an invitation from his Afghani counterpart, to participate in the ceremonies marking Afghan city of Ghazni as the Capital of Islamic Culture 2013.The invitation was delivered yesterday by Afghanistan’s Charge d’Affaires in Doha Mohamed Qasim Himmet. QNA

QF hosts Ecuador ministerDOHA: Qatar Foundation (QF) recently hosted Freddy Ehlers, Ecuador’s Minister of Tourism. He and his delegation were introduced to many educational initiatives, community development plans and scien-tific research programmes undertaken by QF. They were also briefed on QF’s sustainability initiatives and climate action solutions. After the presentation, they were shown an impressive 3D scale model of current buildings and future construction projects, at Qatar Foundation.

“Qatar and Ecuador are trying to discover projects of mutual interest and form a close partnership. Like Qatar Foundation, we have a plan to build a university city in Ecuador. This is partly why we want to speak with Qatar Foundation representatives about the experience they have had thus far,” Ehlers said.

“This new city will be for academics and researchers to gather in one place and we really hope that we can work with Qatar Foundation in this endeavour, as our aims are similar,” he added. THE PENINSULA

Ecuador’s Minister of Tourism Freddy Ehlers during his visit to Qatar Foundation.

HOME 05TUESDAY 9 APRIL 2013


DOHA: The local community is once again invited to attend the Qatar Foundation — FC Barcelona (FCB) Fan Zone tomorrow, when FCB take on Paris St-Germain in the second leg of their delicately poised Champions League quarter-final tie.

Qatar Foundation’s partner-ship with FCB is dedicated to encouraging young people to achieve their potential through the pursuit of excellence.

And, tomorrow evening, Fan Zone visitors will be able to dem-onstrate that passion drives us

all by participating in a selection of sports-themed competitions before settling down to watch the big match.

Last Tuesday, in an atmos-phere of high excitement, hun-dreds of supporters attended the Fan Zone to watch an absorbing first leg contest between the two European giants, which ended 2-2.

And, as a result of cor-rectly guessing the time of the first strike in the match, a ‘golden goal’ winner will be in Barcelona to watch the game live tomorrow, courtesy of

Qatar Foundation. This time round, Fan Zone

attendees will once again have the opportunity to enter a ‘golden goal’ competition for the chance to win a fabulous trip to Camp Nou to watch FCB live in action later in the season.

The Qatar Foundation — FC Barcelona Fan Zone is located at the football pitch outside Qatar Foundation’s Recreation Centre. The event kicks off at 8pm, with visitors encouraged to arrive as early as possible.

THE PENINSULA

Football fans invited for another ‘golden goal’ chance at Fan Zone

BY RAYNALD C RIVERA

DOHA: A sophomore at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q) has devised an effective and creative way to raise awareness on car safety and the dangers of irresponsible driving.

Business Administration stu-dent Mohammed Al Matwi, along with some volunteers, has been conducting dramatic ‘flash mob’ performances depicting one of Qatar’s pressing problems which has taken many lives.

“I felt that car safety is one of the issues that we are fac-ing right now and that we should take action,” Al Matwi told the audience at the Doha Community Engagement Program (DCEP) recognition night yesterday.

He is the winner of this year’s DCEP for his unique car safety campaign Ahmeek (I’ll save you).

Through CMU-Q’s DCEP, stu-dents directly initiate and create programmes that enhance their community through engage-ment and raising awareness of a social issue.“Using flash mob theater is something different and attractive and an effective way to send the message,” Al Matwi explained.

He believes the manner he has chosen in presenting the message to the audience would create more impact as “seeing is more effective than listening.”

“I thought of using this method because it touches hearts and is more interactive with the com-munity,” he said.

For the project, Al Matwi recruited 20 volunteers to stage scenes on car safety and acci-dents through flash mobs which

Flash mob performances depict one of Qatar’s pressing problems

CMU-Q student unveils car safety programme

have been generating much attention in their campus. The scenes were inspired by arti-cles from newspapers and other media.

“There is high incidence of car accidents in the country and I believe it’s time for us to step up and take action to effect change,” said Aisha Fakhroo, one of the volunteers. Not only the audience but also the volunteers benefit from the campaign.

“The volunteers live the expe-rience, feeling the emotions that they show to the audience through the scenes. So both are influenced by the act- the volun-teers who show the act and the

people who see the act,” said Al Matwi. But the project does not stay in the confines of the school; he wants to take it to the larger community making it a sustain-able project.

“I plan to introduce this to the Doha community within the year,” he said, adding he plans to take it to schools, universities and public places such as malls and in addition use social media to make the campaign wide-reaching. “We are a small country and we should love, protect and care for each other and I believe through this campaign I can contribute to the community.”

THE PENINSULA

Mohammed Al Matwi introducing his programme at the Doha Community Engagement Program recognition night at the CMU-Q campus, yesterday. ABDUL BASIT



DOHA: Over 200 engineers took part recently in a seminar about highrise buildings organ-ised by the Spanish Business Council and hosted by Harinsa Qatar, a construction company which belongs to ECISA, a Spanish Group with activity in all construction sectors.

The event had Qatar Society of Engineers and the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning as special guests. Among the speakers were Carmen de la Peña Corcuera, Ambassador of Spain in Qatar, Abdullah Mohamed Al Baker, board member of the Qatar Society of Engineers, Mohuiddin Sami Jamaleddin and Amer Khadim A Al Mubarak from the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning, Luis Andreu Cabrera, Harinsa Contracting Company Qatar

Area Manager, and Guillermo Baraut Bover, Engineering Director at OSA Sustainable Architecture & Engineering. The Ambassador, said in her inau-gural speech: “The seminar will offer the Spanish investors an opportunity to identify the areas of cooperation with their Qatari counterparts and exchange ideas and technological know-how”.

The lecturers went through topics related to the planning, design and execution of high-rise buildings in Qatar. Plans for the neighbourhood city of Doha that will be one of the most pedestrian-friendly areas in the region when it is completed in 2017 were unveiled as well.

Representatives of Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning (MMUP) said that the existing West Bay tower area and business centers in

Doha will be replaced by a planned network of pedestrian circulation areas in the near future. They also revealed that the quality of materials used in construction will be strictly monitored.

Spanish contracting company ECISA/HARINSA, through Area Manager in Middle East, Luis Andreu Cabrera, gave a view of the construction process of this type of buildings, high-lighting the key factors in order to succeed on the construction in terms of time, cost and qual-ity. Engineer Guillermo Baraut, shared with the audience the main points in sustainability and design of this type of buildings and their contribution to the development of Qatar through an innovative building in the Cornice of Doha.

THE PENINSULA

The Spanish Ambassador, Carmen de la Peña Corcuera at the seminar on highrise buildings, organised by the Spanish Business Council and hosted by Harinsa Qatar.

Highrise buildings in focus

Action sought against TV channel

Continued from page 1

Al Masri, another Egyptian newspaper, reported that a famous Qatari journalist, Ahmed Ali, has lambasted the show and urged legal action against Youssef and the TV channel for insulting the Qatari flag.

CBC TV, which runs Youssef ’s popular weekly programme has, however, blocked the YouTube of last Friday’s show, fearing legal repercussions. At the end of his programme titled Albernamej (The Programme), Youssef, however, said that he had no problems with Qatar and its people.

“The problem is not with the one who is a buyer, but with the one who is selling,” he said, hint-ing he was targeting his coun-try’s government in his satirical show.

Qatar’s foreign policy, accord-ing to analysts, is to help fellow Arabs in need. Qatar has not only helped Egypt when it needed assistance but has extended a helping hand to a number of fel-low Arab countries, including Libya, Tunisia, Lebanon (after the 2006 war with Israel), and Palestine, including Gaza.

Qatar is currently involved in restoring peace in the troubled Darfur region of Sudan.

Qatar pledged financial help to Egypt during the military rule after the revolution and not during the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood-backed President Mohamed Mursi, Qatar’s support-ers remind. Also, Qatar supported Tunisia and Libya before Islamic regimes came to power in these countries. THE PENINSULA

Continued from page 1

Chad, Darfur’s neighbour, pledged $1m at the conference that aimed to endorse a strategy to rebuild Darfur.

A declaration issued at the end of the conference stressed that the Darfur development strat-egy was the main approach to the gradual shift from humanitarian aid to development.

The statement welcomed the Justice and Equality Movement joining the Doha agreement for peace in Darfur and called on other parties that have not signed the agreement to follow suit to achieve security, stability and development in the region.

The meeting approved a one-year technical committee chaired by Qatar with one representative each from Sudan, the Regional Authority of Darfur, the United Nations Country Team (UNCT), UNAMID, and donors’ partners to activate speedy implementa-tion of the development strategy, in particular the basic short-term projects. It commended interna-tional and regional efforts led by Qatar to promote the peace proc-ess and support development and stability in the Darfur region, and its ongoing efforts to encourage movements and non-signatories to join the peace process.

The statement stressed that a lasting solution to the Darfur crisis was to be achieved through

peaceful dialogue that leads to sustainable peace, pointing out that Darfur now needs a transi-tion from humanitarian relief to early recovery, reconstruction and development.

Meanwhile, thousands of civil-ians in Sudan’s troubled Darfur have sought protection around

peacekeeping bases after rebel attacks, as international donors seek support for a region scarred by a decade of conflict, AFP reports from Khartoum.

The African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) Sunday confirmed rebels of the Sudan Liberation

Army’s Minni Minnawi faction “attacked and seized” the towns of Muhagiriya and Labado. There were also reports of possible air strikes. “Thousands of civilians, many with their livestock, are concentrated around UNAMID team sites in Muhagiriya and Labado for protection. The

pressure from the presence of civilians, especially in Muhagiriya, is growing,” the peacekeepers said in a statement.

On Saturday the rebels said they had killed government troops and occupied the areas, about 100km east of the South Darfur state capital Nyala.

The latest unrest came as insurgents, who have been fighting for 10 years in Darfur, denounced an international donor conference which seeks support for “rebuild-ing” the devastated region.

“I would like to condemn very strongly” the meeting which began Sunday in the Gulf state of Qatar, said Abdel Wahid Mohammed al-Nur, who heads another faction of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA).

“To have (a) donors’ confer-ence you have to have peace and security on the ground first,” said Nur, who launched the uprising in 2003. Speaking to AFP, he alleged that donated money “will not go to the people”. Gibril Adam Bilal, spokesman for the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), asked the international community “not to participate in giving the govern-ment of Sudan a chance to conduct crimes” against the people.

The Doha conference, which ends yesterday, was agreed under a July 2011 peace deal which Khartoum signed in the Qatari capital with an alliance of rebel

splinter groups.“This conference is a unique

opportunity for Sudan and Darfur to turn the destiny of this conflict-ridden region,” said Jorg Kuhnel, team leader of the UN Development Programme in Sudan. In his speech at Doha, Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha urged “all armed groups to make the historic deci-sion to respect the will of the people of Darfur,” referring to militants who have so far refused to join the 2011 peace agreement. Major rebel movements including JEM and the SLA have refused to sign the peace pact, although a breakaway faction of JEM acceded to the deal on the eve of the donors’ conference.

While the worst of the violence has long passed, rebel-govern-ment clashes continue along with inter-Arab battles, kidnappings, carjackings and other crimes.

But the $7bn draft development strategy on the table in Doha says there will probably never be an ideal time for recovery, and delays can only make the process more difficult. Sudan is perceived as one of the world’s most corrupt countries. The development plan proposes an independent moni-toring mechanism and says other safeguards will be built in, includ-ing from the United Nations and World Bank.

THE PENINSULA/AFP

FROM LEFT: Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister H E Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud, Sudanese presidential adviser Mustafa Osman Ismail and Sudan’s Liberation and Justice Movement leader Eltigani Seisi address the news conference at the end of the International Donor Conference for Reconstruction and Development in Darfur, in Doha, yesterday.

Darfur: Qatar to chair one-year technical panel

Sudan’s Liberation and Justice Movement leader Eltigani Seisi (right) greets Sudanese presidential adviser Mustafa Osman Ismail in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister H E Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud during the International Donor Conference for Reconstruction and Development in Darfur, in Doha, yesterday.

MIDDLE EAST 07TUESDAY 9 APRIL 2013


Egypt sectarian clashes claim two more livesPM speaks to church, Al Azhar headsCAIRO: Two more deaths were reported yesterday after sec-tarian violence at Cairo’s Coptic cathedral that the Egyptian government and Muslim and Christian leaders scrambled to calm.

A security source said a 21-year-old Muslim man, named only as Mohamed, died of a frac-tured skull in hospital after fight-ing between local Muslims and Copts who had been attending a funeral for four Christians shot dead in a town near Cairo.

The health ministry said at least 90 people, including 11 policemen, were wounded around the cathedral, seat of the Coptic Pope, in one of the worst sectarian flare-ups since the fall of auto-cratic president Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Separately, the state news agency Mena said one person was killed and 14 wounded in fresh clashes on Sunday night in the town of El Khusus, north of

Cairo, where the latest wave of sectarian strife began on Friday.

Prime Minister Hisham Kandil said the government was tak-ing all measures to protect the safety of Egyptians of all faiths, promising to bring to justice the perpetrators of sectarian attacks and to crack down on unlicensed weapons.

He also spoke to the heads of the Coptic church and of the Islamic Al Azhar institution to discuss ways to resolve the cri-sis and prevent any repetition, a cabinet statement said.

The violence erupted as Egypt is negotiating with a visiting International Monetary Fund delegation for a loan of at least $4.8bn to ease a deepening eco-nomic crisis aggravated by politi-cal and sectarian turmoil that has hit investment and tourism in the Middle East’s most populous nation.

Muslim and Christian reli-gious leaders appeared together

People near the damaged wall of the main Coptic cathedral in Cairo after clashes yesterday.

on late-night television to call for calm and national unity after the clashes around St Mark’s Cathedral, headquarters of the Coptic church, which raged for several hours on Sunday.

Muslims pelted Christians sheltering in the church com-pound with petrol bombs and rocks after angry young Copts leaving the funeral service chanted slogans against President Mohammed Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood movement.

Witnesses accused the police of standing by as the Copts were attacked and of firing teargas at mourners in the compound as they emerged from the cathedral under a hail of rocks.

A statement posted on the Interior Ministry’s website blamed Christians for starting the trouble by vandalising sev-eral cars.

Mursi telephoned Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II on Sunday evening to condemn the

violence, telling him that “any attack on the cathedral is like an attack on me personally”.

In a condolence message to the families of the victims, Tawadros said yesterday: “Heavenly justice will be spoken at the appropriate time.” Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s 84 million peo-ple and have complained that the authorities have failed to protect them since Mubarak’s overthrow, giving radical Islamists a free hand.

REUTERS

Kuwait opposition chief’s lawyers walk out of courtKUWAIT CITY: The defence team of the main opposition leader in Kuwait, former MP Mussallam Al Barrak, walked out of court yesterday after the judge refused requests to hear defence witnesses, a lawyer said.

Barrak faces charges of making statements deemed offensive to the ruler of the oil-rich Gulf state at a public rally on October 15. If convicted he could be jailed for up to five years.

“We walked out of the session... after the court refused repeated appeals to hear our defence wit-nesses,” Mohammad Abdulader Al Jassem said. “We said this is an illegal practice.”

Jassem said that the defence team had demanded to hear the testimony of several dignitaries including Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al Sabah, former opposition MPs Khaled Al Sultan and Jamaan Al Harbash and others.

After the defence team left the courtroom, Barrak asked Judge Wael Al Atiqi to postpone the trial until he finds a new law-yer, but the judge refused and set April 15 as the date to issue a verdict, Jassem said.

The court had been expected to hear the final arguments of the defence team during Monday’s hearing.

Jassem said the decision to set a date to announce the rul-ing without hearing the defence arguments was “illegal”, and “any ruling on the case will be null and void.”

Barrak, a key leaders of the opposition, was detained for four days in late October and released on bail. He is also facing trial on several other counts including charges of storming parliament and taking part in protests.

Dozens of Barrak supporters staged an unprecedented protest outside the courtroom in late January when the court did not allow them to attend the trial.

AFP

Seven killed as tribesmen, army deserters clash in YemenSANA’A: Seven people were killed in clashes between army deserters and tribesmen in south Yemen yesterday, officials and residents said, in another sign of disorder in a country of multiple conflicts next to oil export giant Saudi Arabia.

Restoring security in Yemen is a priority for the US and its Gulf

allies to contain threats from Al Qaeda militants and separatist tribes to Saudi Arabia and nearby sea lanes where oil tankers pass.

In a separate incident, tribes-men blew up the main Maarib oil pipeline in south Yemen only two weeks after it was repaired, the interior ministry said.

Local officials and residents

reported the clash between deserters and tribesmen in the southern province of Al Bayda.

“Dozens of former members of the Republican Guard left their camp and entered Redaa city with their weapons and cars,” one resi-dent said. “They deserted their base and started extorting people before they eventually assaulted

a resident,” he said, prompting tribesmen to intervene to try and stop them. A local government official said the soldiers had been demanding additional financial benefits which they said the gov-ernment had promised them for fighting battles against Al Qaeda militants in Al Bayda.

He said four soldiers and three

armed tribesmen were killed in the clashes. In December, President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi ordered an overhaul of the military to try and unify ranks split between allies and foes of his predecessor, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was ousted last year by mass protests but remains influential.

REUTERS

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Back when Britain called her Maggie, when it seemed she would have her wish and “go on and on” in ruling the country,

her opponents would lament some new step towards social ruin with the with-ering, two-word verdict: “Thatcher’s Britain.”

It was meant as a term of condem-nation, a concise way of arguing that riots in the street or the devastation of a pit village were the inevitable features of this new land that had arisen in the 1980s, a country reshaped by the woman at the top.

Curiously, the phrase does not sound as dated as it should. That’s because, 23 years after she was ejected from Downing Street by her own party in

a move whose psychic wounds linger on, the country remains T h a t c h e r ’ s Britain. The British stil l live in the land Margaret built.

Just look around. Visit a station and notice the pleth-ora of competing train companies, replacing the sin-gle British Rail that operated in the pre-Thatcher days — the fruit of a rail privati-sation that was not hers, but was made possible only by the serial privatisations she

had pioneered and made normal. Look at the cars on the road, none made by the old, nationally-owned British Leyland and only few by the British marques that once dominated but which went the way of much of British indus-try — unable to survive the chill wind of “market forces”, another phrase which filled the air back then.

Viewed from today, that past Britain is indeed a foreign country. In her 1982 party conference speech, Margaret Thatcher offered a prediction for the future: “How absurd it will seem in a few years’ time that the state ran Pickfords removals and Gleneagles Hotel.” Absurd or not, it does indeed seem alien — not least to those born in the 1980s, the gen-eration we shall always call Thatcher’s children.

Selling off the family silver Labour called it, as Margaret Thatcher set about reversing the 1945 nationalisa-tions that had put oil, gas, coal, elec-tricity and an airline as well as a house removal company in public hands.

For some, the only consequence of that shift, still visible today, will be a changed brand name or higher bills. But for others, the change in landscape is all too real.

Across Yorkshire or south Wales, Kent or Nottinghamshire, there are vil-lages that have never recovered from the closure of coal mines, ordered by a Thatcher who ruled there was no place for pits that were not “economically viable”, regardless of the social conse-quences. Some places have become her-itage parks, remembering an industry now vanished. But other villages have never recovered, their heart and pur-pose ripped out. Those abandoned places are also landmarks in Thatcher’s Britain.

To have achieved all this alone would have made Margaret Thatcher a tower-ing, transformational figure, one who altered the physical fabric of the nation. But these concrete achievements do not wholly explain why she still looms so large, large enough that not one but two current West End plays — The Audience and Billy Elliot — grant Thatcher a pivotal, if largely unsympathetic, role, whether seen or unseen.

For she changed the ethos of Britain as well as its landscape. In 2009, London mayor Boris Johnson lamented that Thatcher had become “a boo-word in British politics, a shorthand for selfish-ness and me-first-ism, and devil-take-the-hindmost and grinding the faces of

the poor.”The mayor regretted that usage, but

he surely understood its origins. The set text is still Thatcher’s declara-tion — quoted in The Audience — that “There is no such thing as society”. Her defenders always insisted that sentence had been misunderstood, but it stuck because it seemed to capture something essential about the Thatcherite creed: its embrace of individualism and appar-ent disdain for the collective.

At its best, that has meant a mood of freedom and choice that has made these islands a brighter, less drab place than they once were. One might even credit Thatcher with a willingness to jettison the old rules and conventions that used to prevent individuals deciding their own destiny. For her own part, she was a social conservative — and yet today’s right for, say, “queer” couples to marry if they want to fits with one aspect of the Thatcherite vision of personal choice.

But at its crudest, the Thatcher ethos translated into the get-rich-quick, greed-is-good spirit of the 1980s. The Big Bang of City deregulation, the scramble for buying and selling shares, the sense that money is the high-est value, wealth the greatest sign of worth — all these were hallmarks of the Thatcher era in its mid-80s pomp. Few would argue that they have not endured. On the contrary, consumerism and materialism have been the norm ever since, rising inequality the consist-ent trend as the rich soar ever further away from the rest. Moreover, it’s hard not to see the roots of the 2008 crash in the unshackling of the financial sector two decades earlier.

More subtly, Thatcher bequeathed a kind of instinctive rejection of once-valued forms of collective activity. Her onslaught on the trade unions left those movements pale imitations of their former selves, too weak to resist the drive to the “flexible labour mar-ket” which has seen Britain become the home of what one senior Labour figure calls “crappy jobs”, with low pay and no protection.

GUARDIAN NEWS

A KEY driver of Kim Jong-un is loss of face. Protection of reputation is central to Korean culture. It is especially

important for a 30-year-old inherited leader who has been embarrassed his by closest ally, China, and humiliated by displays of US force.

In the United Nations last month Beijing broke new ground by sup-porting sanctions against Pyongyang for its nuclear tests in February. Kim responded by nullifying all agreements of non-aggression and denuclearisa-tion with South Korea. Tit-for-tat moves have since escalated, making the risk of dangerous miscalculation very high.

Kim’s decision to block access to the joint North-South economic zone of Kaesong also undermines hopes among South Koreans that the split nation can survive constructively. Having reversed himself into a corner, Kim needs to find, or be shown, a way out. That must bolster the security of the US’s allies and fulfil China’s require-ment that North Korea not collapse spectacularly. The proper response for Australia is to urge China and the US to pursue diplomatic options that allow all sides to save face.

Julia Gillard has made the correct gestures so far. She has supported South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye

and in Hainan Island in China on Sunday she welcomed ‘’the growing co-opera-tion of all regional governments to pre-vent conflict on the Korean peninsula and to counter North Korean aggres-sion’’. As she headed into talks with President Xi Jinping on Sunday night, it was a timely reminder that Australia needs to ensure its alliance with the US does not prevent constructive but hon-est relations with China.

Diplomacy is, of course, not the only option with North Korea. Many analysts want a return to tactical nuclear deter-rence. They aim to stop Pyongyang accessing imports to bolster its nuclear capacity, prevent exports to other rogue

powers and to be prepared to retali-ate. Such a strategy assumes Kim will always want a nuclear industry yet would never strike first because that would ensure self-destruction. Without economic reform as a concession to gain Western aid, and with less help from China, Kim relies on the nuclear bargaining chip. The difficult aspect of such a ‘’contain, constrain and be prepared’’ policy is how to stop Kim’s endless provocation and avoid a cata-strophic mistake. The West must realise Kim is trying to convince his starving people he can ensure North Korea’s survival.

The Sydney Morning Herald

How Thatcher changed the landscape of Britain

The UN is now in the position to deploy in Syria — in less than 24 hours all logistical arrangements will be in place.

Quote ofthe day

Ban Ki-moonUN Secretary-General

The other side

Selling off the family silver Labour called it, as Margaret Thatcher set about reversing the 1945 nationalisations that had put oil, gas, coal, electricity and an airline as well as a house removal company in public hands.

T EN years ago, a towering figure fell in the centre of Baghdad. That marked the virtual conquest of Baghdad — by American forces. Twenty-one days into the Iraq war, Saddam Hussain’s statue became

the target of incendiary feelings nursed over decades by his population. As American troops lent a hand, Iraqis did not hesitate to bring down the symbol of one of the Middle East’s most controversial leaders. Pulled by a tank with the noose of a rope around the neck, Saddam’s statue fell haltingly in Baghdad’s Firdos Square — the legs finally torn away from the structure amid jubilation by scores of Iraqis. Some dragged the sculpture in the street, beating it with shoes, others did whatever they could to shower insults on the soon-to-be toppled leader.

However, on the fateful day —April 9, 2003, Saddam Hussain was reportedly in Baghdad. A day before, his information minister Mohammed Saeed Al Sahhaf — famously called “Comical Ali” — had even offered that American troops could surrender or face being burned in their tanks.

About ten years after the fall of Saddam regime, how far has Iraq changed? The American troops declared the war over and pulled out of the country at the end of 2011.

The decision of the US government to invade Iraq to stop Saddam from using the so-called weapons of mass destruction was one of the biggest disasters. It was being speculated that Saddam had built an arsenal of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, which he intended to use against anyone challenging his regime and his desire to stay in power till he wanted.

What befell the nation in the wake of the US invasion was more bloodshed and violence. Shia-majority Iraq was trapped in an unending cycle of violence. There

were almost daily bombings in densely-populated areas and car bombs became the symbols of a conflict that took the form of sectarian strife. Eleven years of US presence saw the country lose the lives of thousands of civilians and also hundreds of US troops. Militant leaders like Mahdi Army chief Muqtada Al Sadr raised their head to challenge the might of the state.

Washington and its allies had a tough time convincing the world that the Iraq invasion was justified. Less than two years after foreign troops left, Iraq is trying to get back on its feet. Though violence has come down dramatically, peace is a far cry. Hardly any week passes without the news of a major bombing or sectarian attack. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Iraq is still deeply divided along sectarian lines.

American intervention threw out a much reviled figure in the Middle East years before the Arab Spring was born in countries of the region. However, one needs to ask whether much has been achieved beyond this after billions of dollars spent and thousands of lives lost •

Fall of a symbol

Ten years on, Iraq remains a divided nation despite domestic and international efforts to bring peace and reconciliation.

Editorial

08 VIEWS TUESDAY 9 APRIL 2013


Buying time the crucial factor against Kim’s provocation

VIEWS 09TUESDAY 9 APRIL 2013


The retreat of virtue has become a plague of our times. Greed is legitimate.BY WILL HUTTON

There was a time when to live a life virtuously was well understood. It embraced personal integrity, commitment to a purpose that was higher than personal gain, a

degree of selflessness and even modesty. Those at the top may have got there through ruth-lessness and ambition, but they understood that to lead was to set an example and that involved demonstrating better qualities than simply looking after yourself.

No more. Perhaps the greatest calamity of the conservative counter-revolution has been the energy it invested in arguing that virtue, what-ever its private importance, has no public value. The paradox, the new conservatives claim, is only through the pursuit of self-interest can the economy and society work best. Responsibilities to the commonweal are to be avoided.

The retreat of virtue has become the plague of our times. Greed is legitimate; to have riches however obtained, including outrageous bonuses or avoiding tax, is the only game in town. But across the west the consequences are becoming more obvious. Politics, business and finance have become blighted to the point that they are dysfunctional, with a now huge gap in trust between the elite and the people.

The drama playing itself out in France is a classic example. François Hollande was elected president of France less than 12 months ago, promising an “exemplary” administration after the sleaze of the Sarkozy years. Then came Jérôme Cahuzac. Until four weeks ago, he was the French socialist budget minister, leading the crusade against tax avoidance. It now transpires that he himself had hidden ¤600,000 in a secret Swiss account. He has resigned, but it has triggered not just a crisis for the French president, but for the entire French political class and political system.

Already two former presidents — Chirac and Sarkozy — have been mired in charges of embezzlement and illicit campaign financ-ing respectively. But the Cahuzac affair goes further — with illegality intertwined with hypocrisy. Already beaten into third place by the National Front in a recent byelection, Hollande’s socialists now face the charge not just of incompetence and lack of politi-cal direction but of cheating and lying. Who understands the need for public virtue?

With the mainstream political right in dis-array and no less compromised, the danger is that the major beneficiary will be France’s National Front, riding the disillusion not just with politicians but with the entire elite. There is one rule for them, it seems, and another for ordinary people who confront austerity, declining living standards and unemployment at a 16-year high.

The extreme right’s pitch is clear — France can no longer trust its leaders. It must assert

its republican virtues against its own elite, foreigners, immigrants, Muslims and even the interference of Brussels. Vote National Front.

Meanwhile in Spain, the Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, was recently alleged to have hidden €250,000 from the tax authorities. Now King Carlos’s daughter, Cristina, faces trial over her role in her husband’s allegedly nefari-ous business affairs. In Italy, Beppe Grillo’s anti-elite Five Star Movement won nearly 30% of the vote as a protest against a political class that is corrupt from top to bottom. Grillo at least is not a quasi-fascist. Less comforting is the prospect that if he fails to get the con-stitutional changes he calls for, the unstable forces he has unleashed could easily manifest themselves in a much uglier form.

In these countries, what is needed are cred-ible, clean politicians with a credible pro-gramme to take on the super-rich, restore virtue to public life and relaunch their stag-nating economies. But popular opinion knows the new rules of the world of tax havens, bank-ers’ bonuses and corporate self-interest along with the ideology that justifies them.

Today, the state is seen as ineffective and repressive. The rich have no compunction in hiding their wealth and avoiding tax because selfishness is legitimate, even indeed a moral obligation. Electorates doubt not just their politicians, but their capacity to do anything even if they were minded.

Britain is also captive to these trends. The MPs’ expenses scandal may not have exhibited hypocrisy and corruption on the Cahuzac or Italian scale, but it has similar roots. Lawyer Anthony Salz (a member of the Scott Trust that owns the Observer and Guardian), in his report into the culture at Barclays, inveighed against the ethical “vacuum” of the seriously overpaid 70 top bankers over the last decade. The promotion of their own interests trumped those of the bank or even basic ethics. Centrica, custodian of the near-monopoly British Gas, felt justified in creating a bonus pool of £15m for five executives running essentially a risk-free

business. Senior police officers are jailed for accepting bribes from tabloid newspapers. Disproportionately of reward, preoccupation with one’s own interests and diminishing public virtue disfigure Britain, too, and into the trust gap marches populist Ukip.

We know the precepts of a fair society — a proportional relationship between reward and effort, helping each other when bad luck strikes and sharing the benefits of good luck. But this sort of society needs to be led by people who live by those virtues. Up until 50 years ago, belief in God underpinned our pub-lic morality: Even if the elite behaved badly at least it knew it behaved badly. Today, we are living through the revolt of the elites as historian Christopher Lasch warned nearly 20 years ago. The moral code undergirded by Christianity and which supported fairness has been enfeebled by secularisation and the pre-cepts of free market economics. Nor are there powerful labour movements, informed by a belief in the feasibility of socialism, to keep the elites honest.

Lasch’s view was that there was only one way forward — the reaffirmation of democ-racy. What we need is not the democracy of the one-off referendum. We need the deep democracy of transparency and accountabil-ity, along with constitutional mechanisms and processes that hold our private and public leaders to account day by day.

In this respect, Grillo in Italy may foretell a better future — the insistence that Italian poli-tics is completely opened up has to be right. We are also learning more about who is doing what, thus Cahuzac’s fall. But this is only the first foundation of what is necessary to bridge the trust gap. We need even more openness, with the same principles extended to our businesses and banks. There needs to be a new under-standing of the legitimacy of the public domain and public intervention. The time has come to hold our leaders — in the public and private sector alike — to account for their actions.

THE GAURDIAN

Europe an leaders lose trust of their people

BY DAVID H. PETRAEUS and MICHAEL O’HANLON

As politicians in Washington focus on reining in America’s worrisome deficit, they

tend to have attitudes of doom and gloom. They convey fears of shortchanging future generations, overtaxing workers, depriving the needy, killing the fragile economic recovery and failing to make cru-cial investments.

This narrative contains ele-ments of truth. But it is too pes-simistic and contributes to our psychological and political paral-ysis, reinforcing convictions held by members of both parties that they must not yield on core prin-ciples, lest the country’s future be compromised.

There is, however, a more positive and more accurate reality. The US could be on the threshold of a period of remark-able progress. It has a number of unique opportunities, including:

An energy revolution. We are the world’s largest producer of natural gas, with a 100-year sup-ply, and we are on track to become among the largest producers of crude oil;

A manufacturing revolu-tion. We are rapidly developing robotics and 3-D printing, areas in which the US is among the world’s leaders;

A revolution in life sciences. Genetics and stem-cell technol-ogy offer great potential in fields such as agriculture and pharma-ceuticals and fundamentally new approaches in medicine;

The IT revolution and the transition to cloud computing, in which we are also leading.

With all of these advantages, together with our NAFTA part-ners, the energy-rich and eco-nomically dynamic Canada and Mexico, we could be on the threshold of the New North American Decades.

The prospect is that North America — not China, Japan, Europe or India — will pull the world out of the global economic slowdown. But we will do so only if government gets the basics right.

Huge debt is incompatible with long-term growth. Yet seques-tration’s arbitrary cuts — par-ticularly to certain defence and domestic programs that pro-vide the foundation and seed for future growth — make it far from optimal as a deficit-cutting action.

Our priority should be to reduce, in a rational manner, the ratio of deficit to gross domes-tic product, which is about 75 percent. We need to get the

debt curve to begin declining to, say, 72 percent of GDP over the next 10 years. The objective should be to do this while avoid-ing measures that would choke off the still-modest recovery. Sequestration-scale cuts done wisely can achieve this goal. The key is to achieve a virtuous cycle in which economic growth yields greater revenue and government spending declines relative to the size of the economy.

How to do this? We suggest that, for the good of the nation, each party agree to achieve equal amounts of something nei-ther wants to do: Republicans should produce, say, $500bn in additional revenue over 10 years, and Democrats should identify $500bn worth of reforms to enti-tlement programmes over the same period.

Sequestration would be repealed. (Reductions in discre-tionary spending beyond those mandated by the initial provi-sions of the 2011 Budget Control Act should be sought, although they need be only $100bn or so, given the substantial cuts already locked in law.)

One simple approach would be for Democrats to propose refinements to the (overly gen-erous) cost-of-living-adjustment formula for Social Security and certain other programs. This has the advantage of being a mod-est change over time while pro-tecting the basic structure of Social Security. For their part, Republicans could propose clos-ing tax loopholes to increase rev-enue, with the proviso that half of any new revenue obtained be dedicated to lowering income tax rates, as economist Martin Feldstein has suggested. In essence, each party gives some, but neither is asked to capitulate on core principles.

The national focus should then shift to addressing issues that would enable the country to capitalise on its extraordinary opportunities:

Regarding energy, agree on the Keystone XL pipeline while fostering partnerships between extraction companies and envi-ronmental groups; determine required regulatory rules; and grant a modest number of licenses to export natural gas.

Not all of this will be achiev-able at once. But pursued with optimism, rather than lamenta-tion and finger-pointing over our supposed national decline, it may prove more actionable. Given the opportunities before the US, the future should be remarkable. Let’s get on with it.

WP-BLOOMBERG

A future filled with promises

BY PETER BEAUMONT

Historical forgetfulness is, per-haps, one of the unintended symptoms of the new media age. Although we can find out

anything from history’s timeline at the click of a button, the need to weigh and interpret constantly moving events on an hour-by-hour basis too often removes context from our understanding.

Small events become magnified, obscur-ing what actually drives them. North Korea’s present bellicose behaviour under its new leader, Kim Jong-un, is a case in point. While only a fool would assert that a real war is an absolute impossibil-ity, the record of the Pyongyang regime’s behaviour under the three leaders from the same totalitarian dynasty — as well as South Korea and the west’s responses to it — suggests that it is unlikely.

It is true that North Korea has attacked South Korea, most infamously under the guise of military manoeuvres in the assault that launched the Korean war. However, in the decades-long history of tension between the two countries, that has been the exception rather than the rule.

Among the most insightful and pre-scient chroniclers of what he called the “Pyongyang playbook” in an essay three years ago for Foreign Affairs has been Sung-Yoon Lee, a professor of Korean studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

A persistent misperception about North Korea, Lee argued then, “is that its provocative international behaviour is unpredictable”. Instead, he insisted, Pyongyang’s methods have been highly consistent since the early 1960s. “Its strategy has been to lash out at its ene-mies when it perceives them to be weak or distracted, up the ante in the face of international condemnation (while blaming external scapegoats) and then negotiate for concessions in return for an illusory promise of peace.”

He further argued that since it could not compete economically with the flour-ishing South Korea, Pyongyang “can rely only on military and political brinkman-ship to make up ground”.

What that has meant in reality is a long history of dangerously inflamma-tory incidents that have created discrete crises short of full-blown conflict.

If the present actions feel full of febrile

danger, it is worth recalling other North Korean adventures. In 1968, it attempted to kill the south’s President Park Chung-hee and, when that failed, captured a US vessel, the Pueblo, killing one sailor and holding its crew captive for 11 months.

Commando raids, kidnappings, nuclear and missile tests have conformed to a pat-tern, often, as Lee asserts, being followed

by a de-escalation and suing for negotia-tions and a return to the status quo ante.

If there are some marked differences in the current crisis, it is the distinct changes that have occurred in the atti-tudes of both North Korea’s closest ally and almost exclusive economic buttress, China, and, indeed, the US.

Where China once saw North Korea,

in the midst of the cold war, as a use-ful foil, these days its relationship with Pyongyang, as diplomats have argued for some time, is defined by an oddly tenta-tive relationship driven by fear of regime collapse in its neighbour, which Beijing believes would trigger a flood of refugees into China.

After the sinking of the Cheonan, a South Korean naval vessel, by a North Korean submarine in 2010, some believe that Kim Jong-un’s father, Kim Jong-il, was carpeted by Beijing during a meeting in China some months later.

Washington’s policy, too, has changed, under President Obama, from attempt-ing to respond to Pyongyang to what has been dubbed “strategic patience” — a refusal to play its role in North Korea’s waltz of provocation and escalation. This change might, paradoxically, have con-tributed to the tension at a time when a new and relatively untested leader is using his current manoeuvres to establish his claim to continue his family’s long franchise in power.

The stark reality is that Pyongyang is a basket case and a historical anomaly, whose strange regime is slowly approach-ing its end. While it is capable of a stupid and dangerous provocation, one indeed that could claim lives, as has occurred so often in the past, the best reaction is a combination of grim forbearance while keeping economic pressure on those in North Korea’s elite. Anything else, as Sung-Yoon Lee insists, is to play into North Korea’s hands. THE GUARDIAN

Is North Korea’s threat more than posturing this time?It’s wise to look at Pyongyang’s strategy over the past 50 years to understand the present crisis.

French President François Hollande (right) is not the only one beset by scandals.

This photo taken by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency shows North Korean soldiers taking part in a shooting training towards targets with images of South Korean Defence Minister Kim Kwan-Jin (left) and a US soldier (back right), at an undisclosed location.

Ashton meets Mursi

Catherine Ashton (left), High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice President of the European Commission, with Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi in Cairo.

10 MIDDLE EASTTUESDAY 9 APRIL 2013


At least 15 dead in Damascus suicide blastUN Syria inspection team in CyprusDAMASCUS: A massive sui-cide car bomb ripped through the heart of Damascus yester-day, killing at least 15 people and littering a central street with dead bodies and the car-casses of charred cars.

“Terrorists detonate car bomb between Sabaa Bahrat Square and Shahbander Street,” state televi-sion reported, adding that initial information suggested it had been a suicide attack.

“The preliminary toll from the terrorist bombing... is more than 15 martyrs and 53 injuries,” the broadcaster added.

A correspondent said the blast caused extensive damage and that intense gunfire was heard shortly afterwards. The blast damaged the AFP Damascus office, blow-ing out the windows, but no staff were hurt.

State television broadcast scenes of devastation as huge plumes of thick black smoke bil-lowed up around buildings in the area, partly obscuring them.

Dozens of vehicles were dam-aged, some crumpled almost beyond recognition, others with their windows blown out or cracked by the blast. Several were completely gutted, only their charred chassis remaining.

Firefighters rushed to the

area, attempting to control blazes started by the explosion, which one state broadcaster said took place near a school, adding that children were believed to be among the dead and wounded.

The footage showed bloodied bodies with limbs askew and chunks of flesh strewn on the streets, with bystanders draping clothes or cardboard boxes over them.

One group of men worked to retrieve a body from a badly dam-aged yellow taxi, tugging at its jammed doors. A veiled woman wept as she walked from the scene, passing a man holding a terrified, sobbing young girl.

“I was in the street with my colleague when the ground shook beneath our feet,” 32-year-old Anana said, not far from Sabaa Bahrat Square.

“People started to scream ‘explosion, explosion’ and we saw a cloud of thick, black smoke emerge from the scene of the attack.”

“We have to stop this blood-bath! When we leave home we don’t know if we’ll return alive,” sobbed Mayssa, who worked near the scene of the blast.

“We say to those behind these attacks that the Syrian people... will move forward to crush these

Smoke billows as men walk past destroyed cars at the scene of a deadly car bomb explosion in Damascus yesterday.

armed terrorist gangs,” Prime Minister Wael Al Halaqi said, speaking to media at the scene.

The attack, which was not claimed by any group, occurred near the Syrian central bank, and security forces and the army quickly moved into the area to prevent people from approaching the site of the attack.

On March 21, a huge explo-sion ripped through a Damascus mosque killing at least 49 people, including a key pro-regime Sunni

cleric. And a month earlier, on February 21, at least 83 people were killed in a spate of bomb-ings in the city.

Elsewhere, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said yes-terday that a UN inspection team was in Cyprus and ready to deploy to Syria to probe the alleged use of chemical weapons in the conflict.

“I can announce today that an advance team is now in Cyprus, the final staging point” before

the mission heads to Syria, Ban said in The Hague. “We are ready.”

“The UN is now in the position to deploy in Syria — in less than 24 hours all logistical arrange-ments will be in place,” Ban said after President Bashar Al Assad called on the UN to probe alle-gations rebels had used chemical weapons.

“All we are waiting for is the go-ahead of the Syrian govern-ment to determine if any chemical

weapons have been deployed,” he added.

“We are still in the process of discussing it with the Syrian government.”

Syria’s conflict, now in its third year, is believed to have killed more than 70,000 peo-ple. On Sunday alone, 157 peo-ple were killed throughout the country, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog.

AFP

Hamas cracks down on ‘inappropriate’ hairstylesGAZA CITY: Hamas security forces in Gaza have been round-ing up young men and forcing them to get haircuts on grounds of inappropriate hairstyles, a rights group has charged.

Some of the youths have even been beaten for styling their hair in a way deemed unacceptable to Hamas, or wearing low-hung trousers, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights said on Sunday.

“Palestinian police have stopped several young men walking in different areas in the Gaza Strip in the last three days and taken them into custody saying their hair styles are inappropriate,” said the PCHR.

“Those young men were forced to get haircuts in a humiliating way and several of them were beaten. They were also forced to sign state-ments saying they will never grow their hair or have strange hairstyles or even wear low-waist trousers.”

The PCHR urged the attorney general to immediately open an investigation into the attacks and the beatings, saying they “under-mine personal freedom”. “We severely condemn the detention of several young men in the past few days by the Palestinian police,” said the PCHR.

Police spokesman Ayman Al Batinji confirmed some young people had been compelled to get their hair cut.

AFP

Kerry holds talks with Fayyad ahead of meeting PeresJERUSALEM: Top US dip-lomat John Kerry yesterday held talks in Jerusalem with Palestinian Premier Salam Fayyad ahead of a meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres on his second trip to the region in two weeks.

Kerry, who is US President Barack Obama’s new pointman on the Middle East, is back on a fresh mission to coax Israel and the Palestinians back to negotia-tions which have been frozen since

September 2010. After touching down in Israel on Sunday, he headed straight to the West Bank town of Ramallah for 90 minutes of talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in what a top State Department official said was “a constructive meeting.”

Early yesterday, he attended an official ceremony marking Holocaust Memorial Day then headed to the US consulate in west Jerusalem for talks with Fayyad, a US-educated economist

who has won respect for cleaning up the finances of the Palestinian Authority and improving security in the West Bank.

“I believe if we can address the security needs of Israel, and they are real, and if we can the state aspirations of Palestinian people, and they are real, I believe that if we can get on a track where peo-ple are working in good faith to address the bottom line concerns, it is possible to be able to make progress and to make peace,” Kerry

said before the meeting. He was to meet Peres immediately after-wards then have dinner with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom he was to hold a work-ing meeting this morning.

During his talks with Abbas, their third meeting in little over a month, they first discussed eco-nomic development with several top aides, then held a private ses-sion at which Kerry insisted the specifics be kept under wraps “in order to keep moving forward in

a positive direction.”Abbas told him the release of

prisoners held by Israel was a “top priority” for resuming peace talks, his spokesman said.

The Palestinian leader has repeatedly made clear there would be no return to negotia-tions without a settlement freeze, but he has also made it known he would suspend for two months all efforts to seek international recognition of a Palestinian state.

AFP

Darfur rebels claim moving in to key townKHARTOUM: Rebels in Sudan’s Darfur said yesterday they were near a key town as demonstrations continued against a donors’ conference where billions of dol-lars were pledged to rebuild the region.

The insurgents said they moved in to Ashma village, eight kilometres from the South Darfur state capital Nyala.

Ashma was “occupied by our forces” on Sunday, said Hussein Minnawi, of the Sudan Liberation Army’s Minni Minnawi faction.

He did not know whether rebels were still there on Monday, but he said they contin-ued to hold Muhagiriya and Labado, about 100km east.

The African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) confirmed

that Minnawi rebels “attacked and seized” the two towns early on Saturday.

Peacekeepers also reported “several pos-sible air strikes” in the area and said thou-sands of civilians had sought protection around UNAMID bases.

Sudan’s army spokesman could not be reached for comment.

Violence has also been reported in Umm Dukhun, in Darfur’s southwest.

“UNAMID has received reports that in the last two to three days there have been more clashes, with an unspecified number of victims,” after a member of the Misseriya tribe shot a Salamat tribe member, said UNAMID spokeswoman Aicha Elbasri.

A civil society activist said yesterday that

demonstrations in camps for displaced peo-ple had continued for three days in opposi-tion to the donors’ conference in Qatar.

“They said basically that the people in Doha are not representing us,” said the activist, declining to be named.

The United Nations says 1.4 million peo-ple are still living in camps for the internally displaced, a decade after Minnawi and other rebels from black tribes began their upris-ing against the Arab-dominated Khartoum regime.

While the worst of the violence has long passed, rebel-government clashes continue along with inter-Arab battles, kidnappings, carjackings and other crimes.

AFP

INTERNATIONAL 11TUESDAY 9 APRIL 2013


WikiLeaks launches searchable US historical archiveWASHINGTON: WikiLeaks yes-terday launched a searchable archive containing 1.7 million US State Department documents from 1973-76 that had been officially declassified but were not easily accessible to the public.

The “Public Library of US Diplomacy” brings together the archived memos — referred to as the “Kissinger Cables” after then secretary of state Henry Kissinger — and the 250,000 cables leaked by the anti-secrecy website in 2010.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said that even though the 1973-1976 cables were declassified, they previously could only be accessed through the US National Archives in a non-searchable PDF for-mat. The cables were “hidden in the bor-derline between secrecy and complexity,” Assange told reporters in Washington via video link from the Ecuadoran embassy in London, where he has been holed up since last summer.

He also said the documents were at risk of being made secret again, citing a 2006 report by a research institute at George Washington University that found some 55,000 government documents had been secretly reclassified.

Although the documents have long been in the public domain, their release in a searchable archive has generated head-lines internationally, mainly because the release was coordinated with more than a dozen media outlets.

One such outlet, India’s Hindu news-paper, cited the cables in a report say-ing that Rajiv Gandhi, whose family still dominates India’s ruling party, may have been a middleman for an arms deal in the 1970s. Another cable has the Vatican in the 1970s dismissing reports of massacres by Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet as “Communist propaganda.” The archive can be viewed at wikileaks.org/plusd/

The National Archives and Records Administration could not immediately be reached for comment. AFP

© GRAPHIC NEWSPictures: Getty Images, Associated Press

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LONDON: Margaret Thatcher, the “Iron Lady” who trans-formed Britain and inspired conservatives around the world by radically rolling back the state during her 11 years in power, died yesterday following a stroke. She was 87.

Britain’s only woman prime minister, the unyielding, out-spoken Thatcher led the Conservatives to three election victories, governing from 1979 to 1990, the longest continuous period in office by a British pre-mier since the early 19th century.

A grocer’s daughter with a steely resolve, she was loved and loathed in equal measure as she crushed the unions, privatised vast swathes of British industry, clashed with the European Union and fought a war to recover the Falkland Islands from Argentine invaders.

She struck up a close relation-ship with US president Ronald Reagan in the Cold War, backed the first president George Bush

during the 1991 Gulf War, and declared that Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was a man she could do business with.

“Very few leaders get to change not only the political landscape of their country but of the world. Margaret was such a leader. Her global impact was vast,” said Tony Blair, Labour prime minister from 1997-2007. “Some of the changes she made in Britain were, in cer-tain respects at least, retained by the 1997 Labour Government, and came to be implemented by governments around the world,” said Blair.

Prime Minister David Cameron cut short a visit to Europe to return to Britain and British flags on government buildings and royal palaces across London were lowered to half mast.

Mourners began to lay roses, tulips and lilies on the doorstep of her house in Belgravia, one of London’s most exclusive areas. One note said: “The greatest

‘Iron Lady’ Margaret Thatcher diesUK to give ceremonial funeral with military honours

competition, private enterprise, thrift and self-reliance, gave birth to a political philosophy known as “Thatcherism”.

Thatcher’s combative oppo-sition to greater European

integration antagonised allies in Europe and ultimately helped to sow the seeds of her own downfall.

In a few tense weeks at the end of 1990, Thatcher fell from power as some of her most senior

ministers turned on her in what she said later was treachery. “Her memory will live long after the world has forgotten the grey suits of today’s politics,” said London Mayor Boris Johnson. REUTERS

British leader” while another said to “the iron lady”.

Thatcher died peacefully yes-terday morning at the Ritz hotel after a stroke. She had been in poor health for months and had declined into dementia in her final years.

Lord Bell, a spokesman for the family, compared her to her hero Winston Churchill, while Cameron said she would go down as Britain’s greatest peacetime prime minister. “We’ve lost a great leader, a great prime minister and a great Briton,” Cameron said.

The British government said Thatcher would have a ceremo-nial funeral with military honours at London’s St Paul’s Cathedral, which falls short of a full state funeral, in accordance with the wishes of her family.

The abiding domestic images of her premiership will remain those of conflict: huge police confrontations with the miners’ union, her riding a tank in a white headscarf, and flames rising above Trafalgar Square in the riots over an unpopular local tax which ulti-mately led to her downfall.

“It’s very sad to hear of her death but her legacy and death are two different things. Politically, she did not leave a good legacy for the working class,” Kevin Robertson, a 39-year-old garage manager, said in Edinburgh.

Some opponents said on social media that they would hold a party to celebrate her death while a web-site set up to ask if Thatcher was dead had received 170,000 likes by midday. To those who opposed her she was blunt to a degree.

While often deeply unpopular at home — especially in north-ern England, Wales, Scotland and parts of Northern Ireland — Thatcher’s strength won her praise and high regard in both Washington, Berlin and Moscow.

The Soviet defence minis-try newspaper Red Star dubbed Thatcher the “Iron Lady” and she revelled in the nickname though she worked closely with Gorbachev as he opened up the Soviet Union. She formed a strong alliance against communism with Reagan and was rewarded by seeing the Berlin Wall torn down in 1989, though she warned Gorbachev that a unified Germany would come to dominate Europe.

Her personal credo, founded on

World leaders pay tribute MOSCOW: Former friends and foes alike from across the world paid tribute yesterday to the late British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, remember-ing an “extraordinary leader” who stamped her authority everywhere.

The “Iron Lady” was a polaris-ing figure in Britain and beyond during her time in office, but foreign leaders were unanimous in acknowledging her place in 20th-century history, with US President Barack Obama mourn-ing a “true friend of America”.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he had never met Thatcher in an official capac-ity, but was still “inspired by her leadership”. German Chancellor Angela Merkel hailed Thatcher as “an extraordinary leader in the global politics of her time”. And French President Francois Hollande called Thatcher a “great figure who left a profound mark on the history of her country.”

European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso paid trib-ute to Thatcher’s “contributions” to the growth of the European Union, despite her reservations about continental integration.

Former Soviet leader Mikhail

Gorbachev said the British pre-mier will go down in history for her commitment and resolve. “Margaret Thatcher was a great politician and a bright individual. She will go down in our memory and in history,” the Nobel Peace Prize winner said. “Thatcher was a politician whose words carried great weight,” he added, calling her death “sad news”.

Former US president George H W Bush called her “a leader of rare character ... whose principles in the end helped shape a better, freer world”. Former US secre-tary of state Henry Kissinger told CNN that Thatcher was a “gutsy personality ... who learned the fact that a leader needed to have strong convictions”.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was one of the very first leaders to speak publicly of Thatcher’s passing, saying that “she was truly a great leader”.Israeli President Shimon Peres said: “There are people, there are ideas. Occasionally those two come together to create vision. ... (Thatcher) showed how far a person can go with strength of character, determination and a clear vision.”

AFP

PARIS: France’s Socialist government promised yesterday to publish details of individual ministers’ assets next week as it scrambled to stem a deepening scandal over a former budget minister’s secret for-eign bank account. Jerome Cahuzac quit his post in March and was placed under formal investigation for alleged tax fraud last week as he acknowledged he had been caught “in a spiral of lies” over his previous denials of holding a Swiss bank account. The Cahuzac affair has dealt a grave blow to a 10-month-old government President Francois Hollande had prom-ised would be beyond reproach. Weekend surveys found 60 percent of the public want Hollande to reshuffle his team and three-quarters view most politicians and elected officials as corrupt. Threatening an escalation of the Cahuzac scandal, Swiss RTS TV reported on Sunday, citing banking sources, that the minister had sought to transfer $20m from one Swiss account to another — far more than the ¤600,000 he said last week he had in an undeclared foreign account. Separately, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius firmly denied local media speculation that he may also hold a Swiss account.

Exhumation of Chilean poet Neruda beginsISLA NEGRA: The remains of Chilean Nobel prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda were exhumed yesterday to determine if he died of cancer or was poisoned by the Pinochet dictatorship he strongly opposed. Workers broke open the tomb housing his remains at his last home overlooking the sea in Isla Negra under the supervision of Judge Mario Carroza, lawyers and a dozen forensic experts. The leftist author, who died 12 days after the 1973 military coup that ousted socialist president Salvador Allende and brought General Augusto Pinochet to power, was long believed to have died of prostate cancer. But judicial authorities in 2011 opened an investigation into four-decade-old claims by Neruda’s driver that he

was poisoned by agents of the Pinochet regime. Police investigators and govern-ment forensic experts set up a tent to shield and protect the tomb where the remains of Neruda’s third wife, Matilde Urrutia, are also interred.

Single dose anti-AIDS drugGA-RANKUWA: South Africa’s health minister yesterday launched a new single dose anti-AIDS drug which will simplify the world’s biggest HIV treatment regime to just one life-saving pill a day. The three-in-one combination anti-retroviral (ARV) was secured at a record-low price and will cost the state 89 rand a month ($10) per patient. “Before 2010, we were buying the most expensive ARVs in the world. Now we are a country where the ARVs are the cheapest in the world,” said Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi. After years of refusing to roll out ARVs, South Africa now has 1.9 million people on treatment among its 5.6 million HIV-positive population, which is the world’s largest.

Serbia rejects Kosovo dealBELGRADE: Serbia yesterday rejected a European Union-brokered plan to tackle the ethnic partition of its former province Kosovo, a move that could hurt Belgrade’s hopes of starting membership talks with the bloc. But the coalition government called for the “urgent” continuation of negotiations to reach an accord, with the EU set to consider this month whether to recommend the start of accession talks with Serbia.

Montenegrin president winsPODGORICA: Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic claimed a third term yesterday in the largely ceremonial post, but opposition allegations of elec-tion fraud could trigger instability in the tiny Adriatic republic seeking European Union membership. Election authorities declared Vujanovic winner of a Sunday election, but the narrow margin of victory marked a blow for the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists after more than two decades in power. AGENCIES

France to publish ministers’ assets

PAJU, SOUTH KOREA: North Korea suspended its sole remaining major project with the South yesterday, after weeks of threats against the US and South Korea, as Russian President Vladimir Putin said any nuclear conflict could make Chernobyl look like a fairy tale.

North Korea’s decision to all but close the Kaesong industrial park coincided with speculation that it will carry out some pro-vocative action — another nuclear

weapons test or missile launch.Tension has been rising since

the UN imposed new sanctions against the North in response to its third test of a nuclear weapon in February. Pyongyang has been further angered by military exer-cises by South Korea and the US and threatened both with nuclear attack.

Putin said conflict could cause greater devastation than the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. “I would make no secret

about it, we are worried about the escalation on the Korean penin-sula, because we are neighbours,” he told a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a visit to Germany.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the North could not go on “confronting” the author-ity of the Security Council and challenging the international community.

A North Korean official, quoted by the official KCNA news agency,

said after a visit to Kaesong that authorities would withdraw North Korean workers and decide on whether it would continue to operate.

The North last week barred South Koreans from entering the zone and South Koreans had been leaving gradually as raw materials and food begin to run out.

China said it wanted to see nuclear-free peace on the penin-sula. The Foreign Ministry said China “believes that the only

way to realise denuclearisation is dialogue among all the parties concerned”.

US Secretary of State John Kerry visits Seoul this week and the North holds celebrations and possibly military demonstrations next Monday to mark the birth-day of its founder, Kim Il-Sung — grandfather of current leader, Kim Jong-un, 30.

Japan ordered its armed forces to shoot down any North Korean missile headed towards

its territory, the Defence Ministry said.

The order by Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera will see Aegis destroyers equipped with sea-based interceptor missiles deployed in the Sea of Japan. The ministry said the order was rou-tine and being kept low-key.

It is similar to those the min-istry issued in April 2009 and in April and December last year, when North Korea launched what it called a satellite. AGENCIES

N Korea closes last project with SouthPutin cites Chernobyl; Japan orders deployment of Aegis equipped with sea-based interceptor missiles

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s prime minister has ruled out a new blas-phemy law despite a mass cam-paign by Islamists to introduce the death penalty for bloggers whom they accuse of insulting the Prophet Mohammed.

As part of their push for a change in the law, the Hefajat-e-Islam group yesterday forced the closure of schools and busi-nesses and barricaded inter-city motorways and railways across the country in a general strike.

Police said at least 30 people were injured in clashes between pro-government activists and Islamists, already infuriated by the recent convictions of leading opposition figures for war crimes.

But Sheikh Hasina, who has been leading a secular government in the Muslim-majority country since 2009, said existing laws were adequate to prosecute anyone accused of insulting a religion.

“Actually, we don’t have any plan to (bring in a new law). We don’t need it,” Hasina said yesterday.

“They should know that exist-ing laws are enough,” she added, before stressing that “this coun-try is a secular democracy”.

Last Saturday hundreds of thousands of Islamists rallied in the capital Dhaka to demand a blasphemy law, with provisions

for the death penalty for those who defame Islam.

There has been vociferous debate between staunch athe-ists and fundamentalists in Bangladesh’s social media for years, but it took a deadly turn in February when an anti-Islam blogger was murdered.

Four online writers were arrested last week on charges of hurting religious sentiment through their Internet writings against Islam.

Under existing cyber laws, any-one convicted of defaming a reli-gion on the Internet can be jailed for up to 10 years.

Hefajat-e-Islam, which describes itself as a non-political organisation, has given the govern-ment until the end of the month to meet a series of demands or face a blockade of the capital.

The group also wants Islamic education to be made mandatory in primary and secondary schools, members of the Ahmadi sect to be declared non-Muslims and the restoration of pledges to Allah in the constitution, which Hasina’s government has deleted.

Hasina said her government would “go through all the demands” to see “if there is any reasonable one” which it could act on.

Her party, however, accused

Hefajat, which draws its support from the country’s tens of thou-sands of Islamic seminaries, of being a pawn of the opposition.

Wielding sticks, thousands of Hefajat activists clashed with rul-ing Awami League activists in the port city of Chittagong and north-ern city of Mymensingh as they barricaded roads and inter-city highways.

At least 30 people including five policemen were injured in the clashes, local police chiefs said, adding they fired tear gas and blank shots to disperse the protesters.

About 2,000 Islamists also bar-ricaded a railway in the eastern Brahmanbaria district, halt-ing trains between the capital Dhaka and Chittagong for about four hours, local police chief M Moniruzzaman said.

Hardline Islamist groups have accused Hasina’s government of trying to intimidate the opposition through a series of trials for war crimes allegedly committed during the 1971 war of independence.

Three Islamists have so far been convicted and two of them were sentenced to death. At least 96 people have been killed dur-ing protests over the trials since January.

AFP

TAIPEI: Dozens of Taiwanese building workers staged a pro-test yesterday as part of their dispute with a contractor that has halted work on a new de facto US embassy since last month.

The US-headquartered Weston Solutions in 2009 won a US gov-ernment contract worth $54.4m to design and build the first phase of the new American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) located in the capi-tal city’s suburbs.

The AIT has represented US interests in Taiwan since Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.

But three Taiwanese

subcontractors say that since November 2011 Weston Solutions has been defaulting on payments to them. They say the arrears now total Tw$473.83m ($15.8m).

No Weston officials were immediately available for comment.

More than 60 people from the three companies held signs and shouted slogans like “Pay me the money due, I want to live on!” and “AIT owes us explanations!” during the demonstration at the construction site.

“At the moment the AIT is probably the sole party who can help solve the issue,” Tu Chung-ren, spokesman for Wei Chuan Arch Contracting Co, one of the

three subcontractors, said.“If the AIT feels it has nothing

to do with this, then we might be forced to halt the project indefi-nitely,” Tu said, adding that 160 employees of the three subcon-tractors have either been laid off or taken unpaid leave.

AIT spokesman Mark Zimmer said the dispute was between the contractor and subcontractors. “AIT is not directly involved, but we hope the dispute will be solved in an amicable manner.”

He said the entire project, including the phase two contract to be awarded to another contrac-tor, is scheduled to be completed in 2015.

AFP

New blasphemy law ruled out

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian security forces yesterday stopped a boat carrying 32 armed Filipinos trying to join a two-month-old incursion into the east Malaysian state of Sabah, police said.

Sabah police chief Hamza Taib said the group, armed with guns and machetes, was arrested about 12 nautical miles from the east coast, less than an hour away by boat from the southern Philippines.

The wooden motor boat was towed to Sandakan on the east coast of Sabah on Borneo island but no details were given of where they were being held.

More than 200 armed Islamist followers of the self-styled “Sultan of Sulu” — a new-defunct southern Philippine sultanate — landed in February to claim Sabah for their leader, reviving a centuries-old territorial row.

The incursion and a Malaysian counter-assault in early March left at least 68 militants dead along with 10 security personnel, according to authorities, and strained relations with Manila.

But authorities appear to have failed to catch most of the militants, leading to a prolonged security crisis which has forced Malaysia to relocate villages on the coast considered vulnerable to infiltration.

Philippine media earlier on Monday cited Muslim rebels as saying that 1,000 gunmen were trying to break through a naval blockade to support the fight against Malaysian security forces.

AGENCIES

Taiwan firms protest US deal

Taiwanese workers chant slogans during a demonstration at the construction site of a new office complex of American Institute in Taiwan, in Taipei, yesterday.

32 armed Filipinos detained off Sabah

MANILA: Almost a million Filipinos abroad are set to cast their absentee votes starting Saturday.

Commissioner Lucenito Tagle said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) had completed prepara-tions for the conduct of the over-seas absentee voting (OAV).

“The voting machines are already there for those that will use the automated system,” he said. “The ballots are also already there and other election paraphernalia.”

The chairman of the Comelec’s Committee on Overseas Absentee Voting (COAV) said they have set the schedule for the Final Testing and Sealing (FTS) in the seven areas where the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines will be used.

The first to vote using the auto-mated machines are Filipinos in Hong Kong, followed by Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, he added.

OAV is set to be held on Sunday at the Bayanihan Centre in Victoria Road, Kennedy Town and at the Philippine embassy on D3 Collector Road C Diplomatic, Riyadh.

Filipinos in the UAE will vote

at the Philippine embassy on Al Bateen, Abu Dhabi.

Tagle said they have sched-uled on Thursday the FTS at the Philippine embassy in Singapore on Nassim Road and the Philippine Consulate General in Dubai on Al Quasis Area 3.

On Friday, the FTS will be at the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah on the Rehab District and Philippine embassy in Kuwait on Faiha.

The Comelec opted to hold auto-mated polls in areas where there’s a large concentration of Filipinos.

Comelec records showed Hong Kong has 83,118 voters; 50,063 in Singapore; 55,842 in Dubai; 30,328 in Jeddah; 30,468 in Kuwait; 53,396 in Riyadh; and 21,645 in Abu Dhabi.

Tagle said all senatorial candi-dates, party-list groups, political parties and accredited citizens arms are requested to send their official watchers.

In other areas, OAV participants will still utilise the personal and postal method of voting, he added.

Comelec commissioners are now in the countries where PCOS will be used.

THE PHILIPPINE STAR

Overseas Filipinos set to cast vote

Ethnic Rohingya refugees from Myanmar wave as they are transported by a wooden boat to a temporary shelter in Krueng Raya in Aceh Besar, yesterday. Some 74 Rohingyas, who were heading for Australia, were found stranded on Aceh island by Indonesian fishermen on Sunday.

Rohingya refugees Nepalese dies on EverestKATHMANDU: A Nepalese mountaineer responsible for setting up climbing routes on Mount Everest plunged to his death on Sunday, an offi-cial said yesterday. Mingmar Sherpa was a member of a team known as the “icefall doctors” who maintained routes and set up ropes and ladders which are used com-mercial climbers. He was returning to his campsite when he fell in a crevasse.

5 dead, 53 hurt in bus plungeBANGKOK: Five people were killed and 53 injured when a Thai tour bus plum-meted off a hillside in north-ern Thailand after its brakes failed, police said yesterday. The coach swerved several times on mountain roads and ploughed through a fence into a ravine in Phitsanulok prov-ince, 380km from Bangkok.

British granny’s death upheldDENPASAR: An Indonesian court yesterday upheld the death sentence given to a British grandmother, 56, found guilty of trafficking cocaine into the resort island of Bali. The Bali High Court, sitting in the island’s capi-tal Denpasar, confirmed the sentence given to Lindsay Sandiford in January, after prosecutors recommended 15 years imprisonment. She was at the centre of a drugs importing ring involving three other Britons after a haul worth $2.4m was found in her suitcase when she arrived on a flight from Bangkok last May.

Flu cases rise to 21 in China BEIJING: China reported three more H7N9 infections, bringing the total to 21 yes-terday. The latest case was reported in Anhui Province, where a male worker, 55, from a poultry firm was diagnosed with the virus, authorities said. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention diagnosed Li, who began showing flu symp-toms on March 28 and was taken to hospital in Bozhou City on April 1.

AGENCIES

12 ASIA / PHILIPPINESTUESDAY 9 APRIL 2013


Homemade landmines

Boat ride

Afghan policemen display home made landmines which were allegedly planted by Taliban on Mazar-e-Sharif and Baghlan Highway to target Nato and Afghan forces, in Baghlan, yesterday.

Women take a boat ride down the Rawal Lake in Islamabad, yesterday.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s former dictator Pervez Musharraf will not appear per-sonally in the Supreme Court today to answer a summons over alleged treason during his time in office, officials said.

He was summoned by the Supreme Court, the first time Pakistan’s top court has sum-moned a former military ruler over allegations of misconduct.

Elections next month will mark the first democratic transition of power in the country’s history.

Musharraf returned last month from four years of self-imposed exile to contest the May 11 poll, saying he wants to “save” the nation, although his powerbase has shrivelled since he stepped down in 2008.

But lawyers sought to have the

ex-general face trial under Article Six of the High Treason Act 1973 for imposing emergency rule and arresting judges in 2007.

Lawyer Hamid Khan told the Supreme Court that Musharraf had subverted the constitution and should be “punished with death or be jailed for life”.

Judge Jawad Khawaja said it was the “obligation” of the state to take effective measures against Musharraf “and others who sub-verted the constitution”.

“The office shall ensure serv-ice of notice to the respondents for tomorrow,” Khawaja told the court, referring to Musharraf and a representative of the state. He also barred the ex-leader from leaving the country.

But Musharraf ’s team announced late in the evening

that he would not appear in per-son. “I have directed my panel of eminent lawyers to forcefully rep-resent me in the Supreme Court of Pakistan tomorrow... These

cases do not frighten me and I will fight all the cases in the court of law!” his Facebook account quoted him as saying. His lawyer, Syed Afshan Adil, said there would be a “security issue”.

The Pakistani Taliban threat-ened to assassinate Musharraf on the eve of his March 24 return to Pakistan. Last month he also had a shoe thrown at him by an angry lawyer at a court in Karachi—a deeply insulting gesture in the Muslim world.

“It has been decided that his lawyers will represent him. However when the court consid-ers it necessary he will appear in person,” Adil said.

His supporters say only the federal government can initi-ate a treason case. Pakistan is currently being overseen by an

interim administration until a new government can be sworn in after the elections. Musharraf was authorised Sunday to stand as a candidate in the remote northern area of Chitral, although a lawyer has vowed to appeal that decision, but he was rejected in three other seats.

But Musharraf ’s homecoming was muted and the 69-year-old faces a number of other legal cases dating back to his 1999-2008 rule.

He has been bailed over the 2007 killing of former prime min-ister Benazir Bhutto and a Baluch rebel leader in 2006, and for sack-ing and arresting judges during emergency rule in 2007.

Musharraf dismissed around 60 top judges including Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry,

who was held under house arrest.The judges were belatedly

reinstated by President Asif Ali Zardari, who was elected to replace the general in March 2009 following months of protests.

Some analysts doubt that the Supreme Court will force the case against Musharraf and believe he will be free to run for the Chitral seat. “I don’t think the Supreme Court will order his prosecu-tion, this will be seen as settling accounts with Musharraf,” politi-cal analyst Hasan Askari said.

“If the Supreme Court takes any action then the argument will be that it is a personal vendetta.”

Musharraf ’s APML party, founded in exile with the help of Pakistani expatriates, is not thought likely to win more than a couple of seats. AFP

GHAZNI: A roadside bomb exploded under an Afghan bus southwest of Kabul yesterday, killing nine people and wound-ing at least 22 others in an attack blamed on Taliban mili-tants, officials said.

The bus bombing in the flash-point province of Wardak came as Afghanistan endures a bloody few days at a time of year that often sees a surge in violence as the cold winter recedes and the so-called “fighting season” begins.

A woman was among the dead and children among the wounded, officials said.

“At around 8:00am an IED hit a bus,” Attaullah Khogyani, the governor’s spokesman in Wardak province, said. “At least 22 peo-ple are wounded and nine others, including a woman, are dead.”

Khogyani said the Taliban, who have been fighting for 11 years against the US-backed Kabul gov-ernment, were behind the attack.

The bus was a government

service making daily trips between the capital Kabul and Ghazni, the neighbouring province further to the southwest.

“I helped evacuate several dead and wounded. There were lots of people in the bus. Only a few survived unhurt, others were killed and wounded,” witness Mohammad Sarwar said.

Ghulam Farouq Wardak, the public health director of the prov-ince, confirmed that nine people had died and said there were three children among the wounded. Several of those taken for medi-cal treatment were described as in a critical condition.

Wardak is a Taliban hotbed close to Kabul and seen as a key strategic battleground in the fight against the Islamist extremists.

US-led coalition forces are winding down their operations before a scheduled withdrawal of the bulk of their 100,000 troops by the end of 2014.

AFP

LAHORE: A 900,000-strong Christian community in Pakistan, mainly residing in central Punjab province, forms the dominant minority within the province. Unlike the Sikhs and Hindus, who have a thin presence, the Christians are the focal minority group that election hopefuls hungrily seek out to help sweep them into parliament since the 2002 gen-eral elections, their votes have played a vital role.

Asif Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party former MP Pervez Rafique has said that this time around Christians are determined to cast their vote in favour of the PPP.

According to him, previous polls have shown that the com-munity casts votes keeping in view the national circumstances and the political parties policies towards minorities. In 2002, the Christians in Lahore supported

Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran head Dr Tahirul Qadri, contesting on behalf of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek party.

Then, in 2008, the Christian vote bank was split between the PPP and Nawaz Sharif ’s Pakistan Muslim League-N, and both par-ties benefited from the group.

Various Christian leaders told The Express Tribune in a report published yesterday that, at present, the community resents PML-N?s rightwing policies and its nexus with religio-political parties. During the party’s five year tenure in the Punjab govern-ment, the Christian community faced a lot of hardships it had never faced before.

Christians were attacked and their properties set on fire in the Gojra incident in Faisalabad, the Joseph Colony episode in Lahore, and the Shanti Nagar ruckus in Khanewal. Furthermore,

a Christian youth in Sialkot, imprisoned under Article 295 C, was killed in jail.

As a protest, all houses of the Christian community were burnt. Additionally, the killing of two young Christians within the Faisalabad court premises fuelled feelings of bitterness towards the PML-N.

Elaborating more on why the community will vote for the PPP, Rafique said that the party’s slain governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, sacrificed his life for a Christian woman, Asia Bibi. Furthermore, Benazir Bhutto was assassinated by the Taliban, lead-ing the community to further feel that PPP deserves their support the most.

However, a former PML-N MPA, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, suggested a differ-ent outcome.

He said that although PPP

may have the Christian support now, the PML-N knows how to purchase votes, through jobs and other lucrative giveaways. Moreover, many Christian colo-nies exist in the middle of posh areas, which makes managing, and ultimately pocketing, their votes much easier.

Sikh leader Sardar Bishon Singh said that it is unfortunate that no political party is willing to appoint members of his com-munity as MNAs (members of National Assembly), due to pres-sure from security agencies.

The establishment, according to him, has counselled these par-ties not to give any slots to Sikhs in the National Assembly and the Senate. In this way, Sikhs are being deprived of basic rights, he regretted.

Despite being as patriotic as Muslims in Pakistan, Sikhs are treated like Indian citizens, he

said, adding that although the Evacuee Trust Property Board has been established to look after their lands and places of worship, no Sikh or Hindu has been appointed to the board thus far.

Jarringly, retired generals usu-ally hold key appointments, almost an implication that Sikhs or Hindus are a part of Indian forces, and generals have to remain at top positions to keep tabs. Singh said the state should recognise their rights and show openness to pluralism. He expressed the hope that they will soon be appointed to the Parliament.

Additionally, only a nomi-nal number of Hindus exist in Punjab. Although some reside in Bhel, Bahawalpur, and Rahim Yar Khan, their votes are usually cast in accordance with the wishes of the local feudal chiefs.

INTERNEWS

LAHORE: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has expressed con-cern over systematic attempts to exclude candidates from the electoral process and sabotage people’s ability to elect candi-dates of their choice or call them to account for their mistakes.

In a statement issued by the HRCP’s executive council at the conclusion of its meeting, the commission said: “It is mani-festly clear now that the latest process of scrutiny of candidates is a witch-hunt aimed at harass-ing and humiliating candidates. It undermines the essence of what democracy entails and shows a

complete lack of faith in people’s right and ability to choose their representatives,” it said.

“HRCP acknowledges the abil-ity of political governments to overcome the challenges thrown at them one after the other, including establishment of the caretaker set-up. However, where we stand today is in large meas-ures the result of the political governments shying away from acknowledging overt interference in active politics by state institu-tions who had no business doing that,” the statement added.

“That is why the process today is subject to manipulation by a number of vested interests of

non-representative groups, insti-tutions and bodies.”

It said the people were able to tell the difference between fair and puritanical polls, adding the selection of candidates had also raised questions.

“The completely arbitrary barring of candidates by return-ing officers at this scale can-not be without instructions and encouragement to take this tack. HRCP sees a clear and system-atic sabotage of the democratic process. This abuse of the process appears to be a bid to complete Zia-ul-Haq’s agenda to accommo-date extremism into mainstream politics.” INTERNEWS

Musharraf to skip court over treason‘These cases do not frighten me,’ says ex-ruler; a panel of top lawyers to represent him in Supreme Court

Nine killed as bomb explodes under bus

Christian vote drifts towards Bhutto’s party

Sabotage of democracy feared

Pervez Musharraf

13PAKISTAN / AFGHANISTAN TUESDAY 9 APRIL 2013


French hostage in Wardak freedKABUL: A Frenchman kid-napped in Afghanistan at the end of November has been freed, the French embassy said yesterday, giving no fur-ther details. Pierre Borghi, who was trying to estab-lish himself as a photogra-pher, was freed in Wardak province outside the capi-tal on Sunday night, Afghan police said. Shoib Sharifi, Director of the Afghan Public Protection Force, said Borghi might have escaped from his captors. “Apparently he had escaped from his captors. He was found near one of our checkposts in Maidan Shar at around 9pm. Our guards brought him to Kabul,” he said, adding Borghi was taken to the Interior Ministry and handed over to the embassy.

No EU observers for restive areasISLAMABAD: European Union monitors will not observe upcoming polls in Pakistan’s restive regions, including the northwest tribal zone because of secu-rity fears, officials said yes-terday. None of the EU’s 110 observers will be posted in the tribal areas or the southwest-ern province of Baluchistan to keep watch on the May 11 general election. But the head of the EU monitoring mis-sion, Michael Gahler, said he was confident his team would still be able to work effec-tively to observe the land-mark polls, which will mark the first democratic transi-tion of power in Pakistan’s history. There are more than five million registered vot-ers in Baluchistan and the seven tribal districts which border Afghanistan and are a hideout for Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked extremists.

Baluchistan rail tracks blown upISLAMABAD: Railway tracks were partially blown up late on Sunday in the Dabanndan area of Baluchistan province, secu-rity sources said yesterday. There were no casualties as a passenger train had passed by the area before the blast.

12 Taliban die in ISAF raids KABUL: Afghan security forces and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) killed 12 armed Taliban in the past 24 hours. According to the Afghan Interior Ministry, raids were conducted in Kunar, Nangarhar, Kapisa, Jowzjan, Kandahar, Zabul, Maidan Wardak, Ghazni, Paktiya and Helmand provinces. A large quantity of light and heavy round ammunitions and 2,000kg of explosives were seized. AGENCIES

Tulip Garden

Tourists at the Tulip Garden, claimed to be Asia’s largest, in Srinagar, yesterday. The garden is spread over 12 hectares.

14 INDIATUESDAY 9 APRIL 2013


Rajiv had hand in aircraft deal, says WikiLeaksNEW DELHI: An explosive WikiLeaks cable that claimed the late Rajiv Gandhi may have been a middleman for a Swedish firm trying to sell its fighter aircraft to India has led to a storm, with the Congress dismissing it as “base-less” and the BJP asking the gov-ernment to “come clean”.

The Congress slammed the claim in the WikiLeaks cable as “baseless” and “unfounded”.

Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi asserted there was no basis to the allegation against Rajiv Gandhi that he may have acted as a middleman much before he became prime minister.

He accused WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange of “spreading lies and falsehoods”.

Dwivedi also urged the media not to fall for “temporary gains”.

“...We are very hurt with the news,” he told reporters after The Hindu newspaper, which as part of a col-laboration with WikiLeaks, accessed and published the cable on its front page.

“Having noted what the Swede has said, the cable makes the comment that there was no additional informa-tion to either refute or confirm the information. The foundation of the whole story falls flat here,” Dwivedi said, quoting parts of the cable.

The leaked US embassy secret cable claimed that Gandhi was the “main Indian negotiator” for a massive aircraft deal for which his “family” connections were seen as valuable.

The cable from October 21, 1975, says that the “Swedish Embassy Official has informed us that main negotiator with Swedes on Viggen (a fighter aircraft) at New Delhi end has been Mrs Gandhi’s older son, Rajiv Gandhi. Latter’s only association with aircraft industry (to our knowledge) has been as pilot for Indian Airlines and this is first time we heard his name as an entrepreneur.”

In another cable, the Swedes said they “understood the importance of family influences” in the final decision.

The cable adds: “Our colleague describes Ranjiv Gandhi [sic] in flattering terms, and contends his technical expertise is of a high level. This may or may not be. Off hand, we would have thought a transport pilot [is] not the best expert to rely upon in evaluating a fighter plane, but then we are speaking of a transport pilot who has another and perhaps more relevant qualification.”

Dwivedi said: “Today a reputed newspaper of the country has pub-lished a peculiar report. What is a matter of deep regret is that those sections of media, in whose wisdom, most people in the country rely have also now begun to believe in sensa-tional news.”

He also said that the earlier leaked cables that were published by Wikileaks were “till date not verified”.

“...I do not understand what is the basis of what has been published in the newspaper today,” he added.

Rajiv Gandhi and several others were accused of receiving kickbacks from Swedish company Bofors AB for winning a bid to supply India 155 mm field Howitzers.

The Rs640m (approx $12m) scan-dal, bigger than any that India had seen before, led to the defeat of the Congress in the November 1989 elections.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said, “The cables are not being taken seriously anywhere in the world and I don’t know why we should make an exception.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party, how-ever, seized the opportunity to launch an attack on the Congress and sought clarification.

“The WikiLeaks revelations are serious,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told reporters.

“They are connected to the first family of Congress. All defence deals have some relation with the Congress’ first family. They should come clean on this. All the docu-ments should be made public, and we want the government, Congress and Gandhi family to come clean,” Javadekar told reporters.

IANS

Congress dubs allegations baseless

Priyanka, Bhushan allowedto buy land in HimachalSHIMLA: Congress presi-dent Sonia Gandhi’s daugh-ter Priyanka Vadra and lawyer Prashant Bhushan are among 881 outsiders who were allowed to buy land in the past three years in Himachal Pradesh, Revenue Minister Kaul Singh said here yesterday.

Priyanka Vadra got permis-sion in 2011 under Section 118 of the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972, to purchase 922 square metre land in Charabra, the minister said in a written reply in the assembly. The land, meant for building a cottage at a height of 8,300 feet amid thick verdant forests of pine and cedar, is 15 km uphill from state capital Shimla.

Likewise, Aam Aadmi Party leader Prashant Bhushan’s

Kumud Bhushan Educational Society was allowed to pur-chase 4.68 hectare land near Palampur town in Kangra district in 2010. Both the per-missions were granted by the previous BJP government.

In another written reply, the revenue minister said that in the past three years, 246 cases of violation of Section 118 had been registered.

According to the writ-ten reply, 61 violations in this period were recorded in Shimla district and 47 in Hamirpur, the home district of former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal.

The 881 outsiders who were granted permissions included 52 educational societies and three private universities to set up bases. In 2007, Priyanka Vadra bought a three-and-a-half bigha (one bigha is 0.4

hectare) agricultural plot on which she had constructed a two-storey five-room cottage.

However, it was razed in 2011. Official sources told IANS that it would now be re-constructed in typical hill architecture style with wooden frames and a slop-ing roof. The land allotted to Bhushan is under scrutiny by the current government.

“On the face of it, the per-mission granted to Prashant Bhushan is questionable. We have sent 11 queries to the dep-uty commissioner concerned,” Kaul Singh told reporters in Shimla last month. He said the government would act on the basis of the deputy commission-er’s report. According to the state’s laws, land-use of a tea garden could not be changed as these are exempted under the ceiling act. IANS

Singh’s Germany visit to boost tiesNEW DELHI: India and Germany are likely to sign a series of pacts in education, science and technology and green energy during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Berlin from tomorrow unti Friday with five cabinet ministers.

The prime minister, who will be in Germany at the invitation of Chancellor Angela Merkel, is also set to co-chair with her the second meeting of inter-govern-mental consultations launched in 2011 to discuss all possible areas of cooperation.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah, Human Resource Development Minister M M Pallam Raju and Science and Technology Minister S Jaipal Reddy are part of the delegation.

Germany is India’s largest trad-ing partner in Europe. IANS

Death for driver who killed nineMUMBAI: A rogue bus driver who killed nine people in a rampage through the crowded streets of Pune last year was sentenced to death yesterday, a report said.

Thirty-year-old Santosh Mane took the bus from a depot last January and then sped through the city, crashing into motorists, pedestrians and foodstalls during a terrifying half-hour wrecking spree in the morning rush-hour.

During the trial, the driver’s lawyer and family pleaded that he was “mentally unstable”, but

the judge dismissed their argu-ments and found the crime jus-tified the death penalty.

“The accused has commit-ted the murder of nine persons by moving the bus dangerously with the intention and knowl-edge that the act was so emi-nently dangerous that it will cause death or bodily harm,” the Press Trust of India agency quoted the judge as saying.

Mane, a licensed driver of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation, was convicted last week of murder, attempted murder and damage

to property by the court in Pune.

The death penalty — handed down in India for the “rarest of rare” crimes — will have to be ratified by a higher court and defence counsel Dhananjay Mane said his client would appeal the sentence.

The driver ultimately has the option to appeal to the president for clemency.

Mane was caught when members of the public wrestled him from the controls after he rammed into another bus. Some 40 vehicles were left mangled,

with cars damaged and autor-ickshaws overturned.

The Press Trust of India said that 37 people were injured by Mane, who had a history of reckless driving and had reportedly seen his demand for shorter working hours refused by his bosses the night before the rampage.

India rarely carries out exe-cutions but has recently put to death two men convicted for terror offences. There are more than 400 people on death row and the courts add to that every year. AFP

BIDAR: Three priests were found burnt to death early yesterday in an ashram at Chouli near Bidar in the state’s northern district, police said. “The three swa-mis (priests) self-immolated in the complex by jumping into a heap of firewood they had lit in the wee hours. Their bodies have been sent for post-mortem,” Bidar Deputy Superintendent of Police Vijayanath Jyothi told IANS. Jagannath Swami 30, Pranav Swami, 16, and Veera Reddy Swami, 40, immolated them-selves in the ashram. 670km from Bangalore. A suicide note written by one of the priests said they were “leav-ing the world to meet their guruji Gyaneshwar Swamji”, 58, who died on February 28.

IANS

Resentment brews in Kerala as official fails to meet peopleIDUKKI (KERALA): As the helicopter carrying Planning Commission mem-ber K Kasturirangan failed to land here yesterday because of bad weather, local people were up in arms, saying the state government was playing truant.

Kasturirangan was to meet local people here yesterday to ascertain the reasons for their opposition to the report of the Madhav Gadgil-headed Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, released last year.

Incidentally, Idukki district, with an area of 4,479 square km, is the second-largest district of Kerala, with rugged mountains and forests covering about 97

percent of the total area. The district has a large number of people, including indigenous tribes, whose ecological con-servation is the subject of the Gadgil panel report.

Local people fear that implementation of the Gadgil Committee report would be detrimental to their interests. Kasturirangan’s visit was sched-uled as part of the process of hearing the grievances of local people. Local CPI legislator E S Bijimol said: “This is nothing but a short-cut to implement the Gadgil report. Who does not know that in the morn-ings, helicopters would have a visibility problem in Idukki dis-trict? If the state government

was serious about hearing peo-ple, the Planning Commission member would have arrived by road. After all, we are all here.”

Bijimol had earlier button-holed State Water Resources Minister P J Joseph, who also hails from this district.

Representatives of local peo-ple and officials yesterday held a meeting at which a crowd gath-ered, expressing resentment at being left out of policy planning for the area. When they were told that Kasturirangan had left for Wayanad, and would arrive by helicopter today to meet them, the meeting ended. A government official said the fears of the people were unfounded. IANS

Three priests kill selves for guru

TUESDAY 9 APRIL 2013


Tuesday 9 April 201328 Jumada I 1434

Volume 18Number 5664

Price: QR2

[email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 44557741 | Advertising: 44557837 / 44557780www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

BY SATISH KANADY

SINGAPORE: The Minister of Energy and Industry H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada inaugurated one of the most technologically advanced off-shore drilling rigs to ever oper-ate in Qatar, here yesterday.

Designed and built for Qatar’s Gulf Drilling International (GDI) by PPL Shipyard in Singapore, the BMC375 Pacific Class rig is a proven series that has been well accepted by the industry.

This is the largest-ever offshore rig developed by the PPL and the delivery was made in a record 15 months’ time.

The inaugural ceremony held at the shipyard was attended by senior executives from GDI and top Singaporean officials.

Named as “Al Jassra”, the state-of-the-art offshore drilling rig is scheduled to set out from the western coast of Singapore to Doha by end of this month. The gigantic rig, with the support of a Heavy Lift Carrier (HLC), is expected to arrive in Doha dur-ing the first week of May 2013.

“Al Jassra” will begin its opera-tions in the Al Shaheen offshore field by mid-2013 according to a contract between GDI and Maersk Qatar Oil.

Dr Al Sada said: “GDI has

taken major steps to keep pace with the rising demand for more oil and gas wells, making it the leading provider of drilling serv-ices in Qatar. We expect GDI’s expansion plan to contribute significantly to the increased revenues of GIS, whose stock is traded on the Qatar Exchange, thereby adding more value to its shareholders.”

The Minister thanked GDI’s efforts to help realise its vision to expand and capitalise on Qatar’s vigorous economic growth.

The Chairman of GDI Saad Sherida Al Kaabi noted: “This achievement exemplifies the ambitious expansion plan of GDI. Receiving this new drilling rig is a major step forward in that plan. Al Jassra is an extremely valuable addition to our fleet of offshore rigs.”

GDI’s CEO Ibrahim Jassim Al Othman commented: “The inau-guration of Al Jassra drilling rig allows us to show our apprecia-tion for this great achievement, before we embark on our next challenge, which is to commence drilling operations in Qatar.”

He expressed his gratitude to the staff of GDI and PPL Shipyard who made this feat possible.

The rig will come with accom-modation for 150 persons, have a 75 feet cantilever outreach and be

Al Sada inaugurates hi-tech drilling rigAl Jassra, the massive offshore drilling rig built for GDI, is scheduled to reach Doha by the end of this month

The Minister of Energy and Industry H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, Chairman of GDI Saad Sherida Al Kaabi, CEO of GDI Ibrahim Jassim Al Othman and other board members of GDI at the inaugural event in Singapore yesterday.

able to operate in water depths of up to 400 feet and drilling to depths of 30,000 feet. On deliv-ery, this jack-up will be the most technologically advanced drilling rig operating in Qatar.

This is the third new offshore rig being built for GDI in the last six years. The rig that comes with

accommodation for 150 persons, have a 75-foot cantilever out-reach. It is equipped with a heli-deck and aviation fuelling facility.

It has been constructed to pro-vide exceptional drilling services for Maersk Qatar Oil over the next four years, with options to extend for up to 2 more years.

Al Jassra is the first of three new offshore rigs being built for GDI. Receiving this new rig sup-ports the Company’s growth plan, which aims at add seven new rigs to its fleet (comprising three off-shore drilling rigs, two onshore drilling rigs and two accommoda-tion jack-up barges) during 2014.

Once completed, this expansion plan will result in GDI owning 5 hi-spec, premium offshore rigs in its fleet, not only making it a lead-ing provider of drilling rig serv-ices, but also a leading provider of accommodation barge and lift boat services.

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: The hydrocarbons-rich Qatar has plans to invest about $200bn in infrastructure development over next 10 years, of that $140bn will be invested within next five years, accord-ing to the Minister of Economy and Finance H E Yousuf Hussein Kamal.

“Infrastructure is vitally impor-tant. We plan to invest $140bn over the next five years in projects such as a new airport, a new sea-port and a rail and metro system. Total infrastructure investment, including the 2022 FIFA World Cup, will be about $200bn over the next 10 years… Qatar’s invest-ment benefits the whole region, not just Qatar itself.”

The Minister’s keynote speech, at the opening of the ongoing ‘2nd Bloomberg Doha Conference’, was read on his behalf by Abdulrahman Al Shaibi, Board Member and Managing Director of Qatar Financial Centre.

Under the National Vision 2030, Qatar has a clear long-term strategy for the sustain-able development of a diversified, knowledge-based economy. “The principal goal of the vision is the promotion of a substantial and

competitive private sector sup-ported by modern, progressive and pro-business public institu-tions.” Development of a vibrant asset management industry is an important element in Qatar’s strategy for diversifying the economy.

“Our infrastructure (develop-ment) programme will create a wide range of funding and invest-ment opportunities for the private

sector, such as project finance, bond and Sukuk issues and pub-lic-private partnerships,” he said.

He further added: “Our support for, and active participation in, the Bloomberg Doha conference is testament to our objective of building a thriving financial serv-ices industry.”

Highlighting macro-economic fundamentals, he said that Qatar is one of the world’s fastest grow-ing economies with highest per capita income. Growth averaged 13 percent a year between 2008 and 2012.

“We have highest proportions of high net worth individuals and highest percentages of million-aire households. Moreover, the country’s standard of living has risen to a level comparable to the leading industrial nations,” said Kamal.

He noted that Qatar’s political stability and economic strength have helped the country to emerge as a regional leader.

“We are determined to main-tain our leadership position in the GCC and to continue to grow our influence in the world beyond,” he said.

THE PENINSULA

BY MOHAMMAD SHOEB

DOHA: The Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFC Authority) yesterday released the first edition of its ‘Mena Asset Management Barometer’, offering a comprehensive por-trait of current market senti-ment to be tracked over time.

The releasing ceremony to announce the findings of the 120-page annual market survey report for the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region was held on the sidelines of the ongoing two-day ‘Bloomberg Doha Conference’.

The QFC Authority is partner-ing with Bloomberg Link to host the conference that is exploring the challenges and opportunities for asset managers in the GCC and Mena regions.

Present were QFC Authority CEO and Board Member Shashank Srivastava, Chief Strategic Development Officer at QFC Authority Yousuf Mohammed Al Jaida, Gwyn Roberts and Yusuf Jehangir.

The report predicts high note for GCC equity markets in 2013,

and shows particular strength in Qatar as infrastructure spending programmes pay off.

According to the findings of the survey, nearly 70 percent of asset managers are confident about future Asset under Management (AuM) growth across the Mena region, and over 47 percent of asset managers are expected to add equity strategy funds in 2013 followed by Shariah compliant with 42.1 percent.

A majority 77 percent of the respondents (asset managers) believed that the biggest area of cost beyond salaries was regula-tion and compliance, according to the report. The Barometer, which is intended to be published annu-ally, found that asset managers are showing an increasingly “risk-on” attitude towards the growth potential in local equity markets. Additionally, asset managers are united by the need for clearer regulation and better distribution opportunities.

Shashank said: “The QFC Authority is proud to launch its inaugural Mena Asset Management Barometer,

providing industry practition-ers with detailed insight into the regional asset management indus-try. The Barometer is a ground-breaking piece of research which exemplifies the QFC Authority’s commitment to thought leader-ship serving the financial services industry in the MENA region as well as in Qatar.”

Commenting on the Barometer’s findings, Yousuf Al Jaida, added: “The Barometer paints an optimistic yet realistic picture. It reveals confidence in the continued expansion of GCC and Mena markets in 2013. Fund managers expect more weight-ing towards equities and away from fixed income, encouraged by government investment and progress in developing financial centres around the region. They would also like to see more regu-latory convergence. Regulation is seen as having the biggest impact on the conduct of business and as the major cost. There is strong support for Shariah-compliant finance, but again fragmented regulation is a hindrance.”

THE PENINSULA

Infrastructure spending pays off, says QFC report

FROM LEFT: Gwyn Roberts, QFC Authority Chief Strategic Development Officer, Yousuf Mohammed Al Jaida, QFC Authority CEO and Board Member Shashank Srivastava and Yusuf Jehangir during the press conference at the launch of the Mena Asset Management Barometer yesterday. ABDUL BASIT

Qatar to invest $200bn in major projects

Board Member and Managing Director of Qatar Financial Centre Authority, Abdulrahman Al Shaibi, addressing the Bloomberg conference yesterday. ABDUL BASIT

DOHA: PCP Capital Partners, an investment house run by British dealmaker Amanda Staveley and Qatar First Bank, have submitted a £250m ($383.79m) bid for a US Navy building in London’s Mayfair.

The joint bid for the property, 20 Grosvenor Square in Mayfair, was submitted recently, Staveley

said on Monday, declining to pro-vide further details. Overseas investors have parked billions of pounds in London real estate during the global financial cri-sis, drawn to the relative safety of investing in the city’s best properties.

Staveley is seen as a go-to broker for the Abu Dhabi royal

family, and played a prominent role in Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahayan’s 2008 investment in British bank Barclays.

Acquisitions by regional sov-ereign wealth funds have been slower in recent months, Staveley said on the sidelines of an indus-try event in Doha. REUTERS

Qatar First Bank bids for US Navy building

18 BUSINESSTUESDAY 9 APRIL 2013


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.

*Periodic Distribution Amount

QATARI MARKETBond Coupon Maturity Currency Mid-Price Yield Moody’s S&P

Qatar Govt 5.15% 4/9/2014 USD 104.50 0.60 % Aa2 AA








Qatari Diar 3.5% 7/21/2015 USD 105.25 1.17 % Aa2 AA

Qatari Diar 5% 7/21/2020 USD 114.88 2.73 % Aa2 AA

Comqat 5% 11/18/2014 USD 105.75 1.38 % A1 A-

Comqat 3.375% 4/11/2017 USD 104.75 2.13 % A1 A-

QIB 3.856% 10/7/2015 USD 105.00 1.80 % NR NR

QNB 3.125% 11/16/2015 USD 103.88 1.60 % Aa3 A+

QNB 3.375% 2/22/2017 USD 104.88 2.06 % Aa3 A+

Doha Bank 3.5% 3/14/2017 USD 104.69 2.25 % A2 A-

Qtel 3.375% 10/14/2016 USD 105.63 1.72 % A2 A

Qtel 7.875% 6/10/2019 USD 130.94 2.44 % A2 A

Qtel 4.75% 2/16/2021 USD 112.25 2.99 % A2 A

Qtel 5% 10/19/2025 USD 111.75 3.81 % A2 A

Rasgas 5.5% 9/30/2014 USD 106.13 1.30 % Aa3 A

Rasgas 5.832% 9/30/2016 USD 108.00 3.37 % Aa3 A

Rasgas 5.298% 9/30/2020 USD 111.00 3.61 % Aa3 A

SOVEREIGNSBond PDA* Maturity Currency Mid-Price Yield Moody’s S&P

Abu Dhabi Govt 5.5% 4/8/2014 USD 104.88 0.56 % Aa2 AA

Abu Dhabi Govt 6.75% 4/8/2019 USD 126.00 2.11 % Aa2 AA

Dubai Govt 6.7% 10/5/2015 USD 110.31 2.41 % NR NR




Qatar Govt 4% 1/20/2015 USD 105.56 0.85 % Aa2 AA

Bahrain Govt 6.273% 11/22/2018 USD 115.94 3.16 % NR BBB

Bahrain Govt 5.5% 3/31/2020 USD 110.00 3.85 % NR BBB

Egypt Govt 5.75% 4/29/2020 USD 89.00 7.81 % Caa1 B-

Morocco Govt 4.5% 10/5/2020 EUR 106.50 3.51 % NR BBB-

DOHA: Qatar’s preliminary full year 2012 GDP data, which was released at the end of March showed that real GDP grew 6.2 percent, which was 0.4 percent points stronger than QNB Group had projected.

The non-oil and gas sector was the main driver of growth in 2012, as QNB Group had expected, expanding by 10.0 percent. The share of the non-oil and gas sector in the overall economy increased to 42.2 percent in 2012 from 40.7 percent in 2011.

Growth in the oil and gas sec-tor was just 1.7 percent as an increase in gas production to sup-ply the new Pearl Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) facility more than offset declining crude oil production. The same project helped drive strong growth of 11.8 percent in the manufacturing sector.

Manufacturing was also sup-ported by a ramp-up in pro-duction of petrochemicals and fertilisers at new facilities. Strong growth in government services of 11.5 percent in 2012 was another important factor driving growth, supported by expenditure in pub-lic administration, healthcare and education. This trend is likely to continue with the recent 2013/14 budget announcement including 21 percent higher capital spend-ing and 16 percent higher cur-rent spending than in the 2012/13 budget.

A pick up in project activity in the second half of 2012 boosted both construction and transport and communication.

These sectors grew at 10.6 percent and 12.1 percent in 2012. With the strong government capital spending increases, they

are likely to see continued growth in 2013-14. Financial services achieved a strong growth rate of 6.7 percent, although this is slower than in the rest of the non-oil and gas economy. With some major new road, rail and other project phases likely to be initi-ated in 2013-14, financial services should receive a positive boost going forward.

HOSPITALITY SECTOR GROWS

The trade, restaurants and hotels sector grew by 7.7 per-cent in 2012, driven by popula-tion growth. The average annual increase in the number of people in Qatar was 6 percent in 2012.

The Y-o-Y increase has accel-erated to an average of 8.5 per-cent so far in 2013, which should provide further impetus to this sector.

Government efforts to promote Qatar as a destination for con-ferences have also helped boost this sector. Of particular note was the 18th UN Climate Change Conference in Doha in December 2012. Strong real growth in the non-oil sector is a positive indi-cation for government plans to diversify the economy, accord-ing to QNB Group. Trade data for 2012 was also released at the end of March. Overall, exports increased 16 percent to $133bn in 2012.

The bulk of the increase came from exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which accounts for around 40 percent of oil and gas exports. Production of LNG was close to full capacity in 2011 and remained level in 2012. Therefore,

the increase in export earnings from LNG was mainly due to higher prices.

Benchmark Japanese LNG prices were 14 percent higher in 2012 than in 2011 and EU prices were 9.1 percent higher. Exports of crude oil fell by 1.1 percent in 2012 as production dropped while prices remained largely unchanged.

Non-oil exports grew strongly in 2012. Recently completed manufacturing facilities in the petrochemicals, metals and fer-tiliser sectors have helped to boost production and exports. This is a further indication that efforts to diversify the economy are gaining some traction.

Having fallen since 2008, Qatar’s imports picked up by 17 percent in 2012. Typically, around half of imports over the past five years have been machinery and transport equipment related to major projects in Qatar.

The completion of all new LNG production facilities by early 2011 played a large role in the slow-down of imports during 2008-11. The reversal of this trend in 2012 is an indication that project activity is again beginning to pick up with the roll out of major infrastructure projects, such as the metro, roads and real estate developments.

According to QNB Group, the strong revenue stream from the oil and gas sector will support an expansive government expendi-ture outlay for infrastructure development going forward, as demonstrated by the large increase in expenditures in the 2013/14 budget.

THE PENINSULA

Public spending will boost diversificationNon-oil sector main driver of growth in 2012: Report

DOHA: Qatar Development Bank (QDB) was recently rec-ognised for its exemplary efforts to grow a solid entrepreneurial industry in Qatar.

The coveted accolade of Best SME Startup Scheme was awarded to QDB by the prestig-ious Banker Middle East Product Awards 2013 to underline the bank’s commendable commitment to devise and roll-out successful programs for the development of a promising private sector in the country.

Chief Executive Officer of CPI Financial, Adam Broom, presented the award to QDB Executive Director for Strategic Planning and Control Abdulaziz Al Khalifa.

“Banker ME Product Awards are a region-wide awards pro-gramme that helps to set the benchmark for the Mena region’s financial services industry,” Adam Broom said.

He said these awards are designed to encourage, inspire, and reward distinction in the banking and finance industry by applauding those products and services that are either excep-tionally innovative or are con-ducive to a better functioning market.

“QDB’s SME-oriented service portfolio is a true model and a quintessence to follow for the private sector to flourish and become integral to the progress of the economy,” he said.

Qatar Development Bank’s Chief Executive Officer Mansour Bin Ibrahim Al Mahmoud said: “We’re very honoured to be the recipients of this eminent award which culminates essentially the amount of research and initia-tives which we champion here at QDB with the aim to develop solid fundamentals and a favour-able atmosphere for SMEs.”

THE PENINSULA

QDB wins accolades for supporting SMEs

S&P affirms Doha Bank’s credit ratings PARIS: Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services yesterday said that it had affirmed its ‘A-/A-2’ long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings on Qatar-based Doha Bank. The outlook is stable.

The affirmation follows the bank’s announcement on March 26 that it had success-fully raised its capital by about 25 percent through the issu-ance of 51.7 million new shares.

“We believe the capital increase will enable the bank to participate in Qatar’s strong lending growth and main-tain strong capital ratios. Furthermore, the bank’s capi-talization is now more in line with that of its rated domestic peers,” a release from S&P said yesterday.

Doha Bank raised about QR1.5bn in March through the issuance of new shares sub-scribed by the existing share-holders. The bank publicly disclosed that it might raise additional capital in the form of global depositary receipts (GDRs), although no details were disclosed. The recent capital increase, and the GDR issuance if executed, should mitigate the bank’s likely rapid loan growth.

“We are therefore less con-cerned about the bank’s capi-talisation, especially given that the transaction will likely boost the bank’s risk-adjusted capital ratio, our key figure in analys-ing a bank’s capital, to almost 13 percent. However, we expect this ratio to remain at less than the 15 percent threshold we usually associate with “very strong” capital and earnings, according to our criteria. We expect the bank’s capitalisa-tion to moderately erode over the next few years, following a rapid increase in lending for infrastructure development,” S&P said.

The stable outlook bal-ances Doha Bank’s strong capital and earnings against the risks attached to poten-tial rapid asset growth, matu-rity mismatches, and strong competition.

The ratings agency said it could raise the ratings on Doha Bank if it increased the granu-larity of its loan portfolio and funding base, while improving asset quality and maintaining strong capitalisation.

“We could lower the ratings if Doha Bank’s concentration risk materialised on either side of the balance sheet, which could undermine the bank’s funding and liquidity profile or risk position,” the agency said.

THE PENINSULA

Chief Executive Officer of CPI Financial, Adam Broom, presenting the coveted award to QDB’s Executive Director for Strategic Planning and Control Abdulaziz Al Khalifa.

DOHA: Islamic Holding Group disclosed its financial results for the period ended on March 31 following the meeting of the Company’s Board of Directors on April 8 under the chairmanship of Dr Yousuf Ahmad Al Nama, Chairman and Managing Director (pictured).

The results showed that the net profit of the Group amounted to QR2.106m, com-pared with QR1.941m for the same period in 2012.

Dr Yousuf Al Nama said the results confirmed that the Islamic Holding Group is mov-ing in the right direction and working on consolidating its position in the domestic mar-ket and making great efforts to upgrade the company’s various activities. THE PENINSULA

Islamic Holding Group profits surge to QR2.106m

GE boosts presence in oil business

A man walks past a Lufkin oil drilling pump in McKenzie County outside Williston, North Dakota. General Electric Co said it will buy oilfield services provider Lufkin Industries Inc for about $2.98bn to boost its pres-ence in the energy business.

19BUSINESS TUESDAY 9 APRIL 2013


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LONDON: British prompt gas prices retreated yesterday as surging supplies and warming weather alleviated concerns that abnormally high demand would empty the last of reserves in storage.

The price of gas for yesterday’s delivery slid 6 percent to 75 pence per therm, moving closer to the May gas contract at 67.50 pence, which reflects more typical prices for the time of year.

UK gas prices spiked towards record highs in recent weeks as abnormally cold weather, pipe-line closures and production outages rapidly depleted inven-tories and stirred fears of a gas supply crunch. Liquefied natu-ral gas (LNG) imports from Qatar, Algeria and Trinidad and increased pipeline flows from Norway have allayed those con-cerns, driving prices lower across the board as the coldest March in half a century gives way to milder April temperatures.

Algeria and Qatar are both sending fresh shipments of LNG to UK ports due to arrive this week, while Belgium’s Zeebrugge terminal expects another three tankers between now and April 20. Britain’s stored reserves continued to drop, with the last measurements on Sunday indicat-ing sites were just 3.36 percent full, although the rate of decline has slowed down somewhat in recent days.

Inventories at Britain’s biggest such facility, Rough, ran down to 7 mcm below its advertised

minimum capacity yesterday, analysts said, although the site is understood to contain around 100 mcm of additional supply. Operator Centrica last week said it planned to take Rough storage offline for maintenance tomorrow and on Thursday, preventing gas withdrawals from the site.

Another smaller storage site at Humbly Grove was hit by an unplanned outage on Monday, operator Petronas Energy Trading said. “There’s still some gas in Rough, the weather is get-ting warmer, we’re getting very good flows from Norway, and with the all the LNG that’s on the horizon now, people are getting more comfortable,” a trader with a European utility said.

Storage levels should also improve from next week when warmer weather and lower gas prices will prompt re-injection into various sites, he said.

Gas for immediate delivery fell 5.25 pence to 75 pence.

Further along the curve, the benchmark winter 2013 gas con-tract shed 0.33 pence to 73.44 pence, reflecting increasingly bearish prompt market senti-ment. The gas market was over-supplied by around 27 mcm as demand at 281 mcm aligned more closely with seasonal norms.

In its April 12-21 weather fore-cast, Britain’s Met Office said: “By the end of the period, southern and eastern areas are likely to turn rather sunnier, and it may also turn warmer at times inland.”

REUTERS

New shipments allay Britain’s LNG concernsQatar, Algeria sending more supplies

SHANGHAI: China and Australia will begin direct conversion of their curren-cies in a sign of growing busi-ness links, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said yesterday on an official visit.

“The Australian and Chinese currencies will be directly traded on the Chinese main-land for the first time,” she told Shanghai’s China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong, a Communist Party school.

China, the world’s number two economy, is Australia’s larg-est trading partner according to Canberra, spending billions on resources it needs to fuel its growth, while Australia is China’s seventh largest partner.

The currency move allows the Australian dollar and Chinese yuan to be directly swapped without using the US dollar as an intermediary, mak-ing foreign trade settlement more convenient and cutting transaction costs.

“This reflects the rapid growth of our bilateral trade and the value of two-way investment — and it also cre-ates opportunities for new financial integration,” Gillard said in a speech.

Analysts said the agreement marked an important step towards China’s gradual moves to make the yuan freely con-vertible, with an eye towards rivalling the US dollar as a glo-bal currency.

“It’s a necessary step towards internationalisation of the yuan,” Jiang Shu, a Shanghai-based foreign exchange analyst at Industrial Bank said.

“It can reduce the depend-ence of Sino-Australian trade on the US dollar... which will further lift the yuan’s global status and influence,” he said.

The US dollar and Japanese yen are also directly traded with the Chinese currency. China’s foreign exchange mar-ket started direct trading between the yuan and Japanese yen in June last year. AFP

China, Australia to allow direct currency trade

DUBAI: The UAE’s top telecom operator Etisalat has stopped blocking the website of Skype, the world’s No.1 Internet-based phone call provider, although the move could put further pressure on the state-controlled firm’s revenue.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers such as Skype allow for free Internet-to-Internet phone calls and messaging, while tariffs for Internet-to-mobile or landline phone calls are dramati-cally cheaper than by conven-tional means.

Skype is owned by Microsoft Corp.

Etisalat, in an announcement made on its Facebook page, said it had unblocked access to Skype’s

website on Monday. Such access had been denied for several years.

The statement did not say whether Skype-to-phone calls were also now possible and Etisalat did not reply to requests for more comment. It initially announced it had unblocked access to Skype’s website last week via Twitter, then deleted the tweet.

“It is becoming less sustainable to maintain restrictions on VoIP because the way people use com-munications is rapidly changing,” said Matthew Reed, a principal analyst at Informa in Dubai. “So there is an argument that it’s bet-ter for operators to find a way to work with over-the-top Internet players such as Skype, rather

than forlornly trying to fight mar-ket trends.”

Yet allowing these services will mean operators lose a big chunk of their international call rev-enues, Reed added.

These are an important source of income in a country where the vast majority of the population are expatriates and instant mes-saging services such as Whatsapp and BlackBerry Messenger have also eaten into international text revenue.

Skype from the UAE to the US costs $0.019 per minute while Etisalat costs $0.58 per minute peak and $0.37 per minute off-peak, making Skype’s rate about 1/19th of Etisalat.

REUTERS

Etisalat unblocks Skype

DOHA/DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s banks helped lift the bourse yes-terday after two lenders posted estimate-beating earnings, while other regional markets also gained as bargain-hunters bought blue chips.

Qatar Exchange was down 15.92 points or 0.19 percent to 8,520.71 points from the previous closing of 8,536.63 points.

The volume of shares traded up to 4,347,837 from 4,309,506 on last day, and the value of shares increased to QR271,173,399.84 from QR267,043,020.98 on Sunday.

Among the top losers were Qatar National Bank whose share dropped 0.82 percent to QR133.40, Industries Qatar lost 0.50 percent to QR159.20, Qatar Insurance fell 4.82 percent to QR53.30 and Doha Bank down 3.79 percent to QR45.70.

The Qatar banking and finan-cial sector dropped 0.37 points while the Insurance sector down 2.85 points.

The Qatar industrial sector lost 0.29 points and the Services sec-tor fell 0.03 points.

Riyad Bank, Saudi Arabia’s third largest bank by market cap-italisation, rose 1.7 percent. The lender posted a 5.5 percent rise in profit due to higher income, beat-ing estimates of analysts.

Saudi Investment Bank jumped

8.4 percent after saying profits in the first three months of 2013 surged 48 percent compared to the year-earlier period.

Saudi bank shares have under-performed the wider market in 2013 after modest loan growth and pressure on net interest margins weighed on earnings in the previous quarter. The sector’s index is up 2.9 percent year-to-date.

Elsewhere, Dubai’s bourse made its largest one-day gain in three months, rising 2.2 percent.

Abu Dhabi banks also rallied ahead of earnings expected in the coming weeks. The emirate’s benchmark gained 0.5 percent.

REUTERS

Saudi banks help lift index; Qatar slides

YESTERDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS QATAR: The index declined 0.2

percent to 8,521 points.

SAUDI ARABIA: The index climbed

0.7 percent to 7,161 points.

BAHRAIN: The index slipped 0.3


DUBAI: The index rose 2.2 percent

to 1,917 points.

ABU DHABI: The index gained 0.5


KUWAIT: The index advanced 0.4


OMAN: The index gained 0.3 per-

cent to 6,149 points.

EGYPT: The index rose 1.6 percent

to 5,113 points.

Ezdan Mall to open doors on April 15 DOHA: Ezdan Mall at Gharafa, the first mall to be launched by Ezdan Holding Group, is all set to open its doors for visitors on April 15 at 10am, a press statement said yesterday.

Strategically located on Al Shamal road in the Gharafa area the mall is a visually prominent three-level build-ing featuring a wonderful mix of 140 outlets that includes six anchor tenants. Shedding light on the future plans of Ezdan Holding, Chairman of the group Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Thani bin Abdullah Al Thani said, “Ezdan Mall Company was set up to manage the operations of all future malls of the group, as we plan to open several malls over the next few years. Our next mall to open is located opposite the new Al Wakra Hospital.”

The 142, 792 sqm shopping mall will feature the first Tim Hortons in Qatar, in addition to a massive portfolio of 52 excit-ing new brands that would be unveiled in the coming months.

The Group CEO of Ezdan Holding, Ali Al Obeidly thanked the tenants for their confidence in the group and said, “The introduction of major new groups and brands in Qatar for the first time will provide opportunities for Qatari entrepreneurs and will give the consumers a larger choice at competitive prices.”

Appreciating the efforts of the mall management, Nasser Abdullah, Deputy Group CEO of the Group said, “I would like to congratulate the Ezdan Mall management team for opening the mall in record time. We are thrilled to offer to the Qatari community an exciting addition to the retail and shopping expe-rience in Qatar.”

THE PENINSULA

BRENT

$104.99

DUBAI

$103.28

QATAR EXCHANGE | DAILY TRADING REPORT | 08-04-2013

INTERNATIONAL MARKETS A List of Shares from the worldCOMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED





A C C-A/D 1127.9 -1.55 11764

Aarti Drugs-B/D 158.3 1.55 1618

Aban Offs-B/D 268.15 -3.95 42556

Aegis Logis-B/D 124.4 -2.1 5043

Ahmed.Forg-B/D 101.25 -2.35 1212

Alembic-B/D 17 -0.05 83818

Alok Indus-B/D 9.09 0.3 1249314

Andhra Paper-B/D 191.35 0.3 7696

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Container Cor-/D 1099.55 39.25 1886

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Gail-A/D 320.45 3.75 33105

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Goodyear I -B/D 259.25 0.25 2736

Hcl Infosys-B/D 39 -0.15 11206

Him.Fut.Comm-B/D 8.77 0.07 259727

Himat Seide-B/D 31.7 -0.1 1318

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Hind Org Chem-/D 12.14 0.3 6671

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Lloyd Steel-B/D 10.03 0.17 18172

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Mafatlal Ind-B/D 99 -0.95 10100

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LONDON

EXCHANGE RATE

GOLD & SILVERWORLD STOCK INDICES

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Buying Selling

QE Market Summary Comparison Today Previous day

08-04-2013 07-04-2013

Index 8,520.71 8,536.63

Change 15.92 40.23

% 0.19 0.47

YTD% 1.94 2.13

Volume 4,347,837 4,309,506

Value (QAR) 271,173,399.84 267,043,020.98

Trades 2,964 2,172

Up 20 | Down 15 | Unchanged 03

INDEX Day’s Close Pt Chg % Chg Year High Year Low

20 MARKETTUESDAY 9 APRIL 2013


GOLDQR185.3461

SILVERQR 3.2075

US$ ..........................QR 3.6305 QR 3.6500

UK ...........................QR 5.5444 QR 5.6217

Euro .........................QR 4.6390 QR 4.7042

CA$ ..........................QR 3.5595 QR 3.6306

Swiss Fr ..................QR 3.8770 QR 3.9323

Yen ..........................QR 0.0366 QR 0.0373

Aus$ ........................QR 3.7602 QR 3.8338

Ind Re ......................QR 0.0662 QR 0.0675

Pak Re .....................QR 0.0367 QR 0.0375

Peso ........................QR 0.0874 QR 0.0892

SL Re .......................QR 0.0287 QR 0.0293

Taka .........................QR 0.0462 QR 0.0471

Nep Re ....................QR 0.0416 QR 0.0424

SA Rand ..................QR 0.3995 QR 0.4075

All Ordinaries 4912.707 13.462 0.27 5174.4 4664.6

Cac 40 Index/D 3689 25.52 0.7 3871.58 3600.81

Dj Indu Average 14565.25 -40.86 -0.28 14684.5 12035.1

Egypt Cma Gn Idx 1026.29 32.57 3.28 999.95 312.38

Hang Seng Inde/D 21718.05 -8.85 -0.04 23944.74 21703.28

Iseq Overall/D 3819.82 11.25 0.3 4009.59 3396.67

Karachi 100 In/D 18653.06 17.03 0.09 18717.67 16036.31

Nikkei 225 Index 13192.59 358.95 2.8 13225.62 10398.61

S&P 500 Index/D 0 0 0 1573.66 1266.74

Straits Times/D 3284.61 -15.17 -0.46 3331.26 3160.83

Straits Times/D 2989.31 24.69 0.83 3035.78 2657.77

QE Indices SummaryQE Index 8,520.71 0.19 %

QE Total Return Index 12,169.97 0.19 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic Index 2,571.22 0.04 %

QE All Share Index 2,166.93 0.30 %

QE All Share Banks & Financial Services

2,031.29 0.37 %

QE All Share Consumer Goods & Services

5,229.49 0.03 %

QE All Share Industrials 3,005.82 0.29 %

QE All Share Insurance 1,985.58 2.85 %

QE All Share Real Estate 1,543.25 0.38 %

QE All Share Telecoms 1,188.56 0.84 %

QE All Share Transportation 1,451.78 0.19 %

23SPORT TUESDAY 9 APRIL 2013


Clippers win division title Yankees salvage series finale against Detroit TigersDETROIT: How important was the Yankees’ game against the Detroit Tigers yesterday?

Even the ever-cool closer, Mariano Rivera, a man not prone to hyperbole, called the Yankees’ 7-0 victory a “must-win.”

Sure, there are 156 games left for the Yankees, but after they lost four of their first five, with half their team hurt, they felt the urgency to salvage the series finale against Justin Verlander.

And they got the best pos-sible person to deliver a terrific performance — their ace, CC Sabathia.

The big lefty threw seven scoreless innings and perhaps eased some concerns of those who hang on every tick of the radar gun when Sabathia pitches.

Sure, Sabathia’s fastball only hit 92 mph yesterday, but he proved he can be effective without his mid-90s heat.

He was more precise with his slower stuff than he was in his disappointing Opening Day start and he kept the vaunted Tiger lineup off balance on a sunny afternoon at Comerica Park.

“I think CC really has a lot of pride in what he does and under-stands the ace role and that we needed to win a game today,” Joe Girardi said.

The Yanks got surprise offense from Jayson Nix, who was 3-for-4, including a two-run homer off Verlander, and Francisco Cervelli, who knocked in two runs. Kevin Youkilis, their best hitter so far, added a two-run single and Ichiro Suzuki hit a sac fly. The Yanks’ seven runs and 13 hits were season-highs.

“We need days like that,” Cervelli said. “When they can pitch like that, I know everybody can support the guys like Andy (Pettitte) the other day and CC today. I believe this next week, everything is going to change.”

Sabathia’s fastball topped out at 91 mph on Opening Day, prompt-ing some concern.

Yesterday, he hit 92 four times, according to MLB.com’s Gameday tracker, and mostly threw it between 88-91 mph.

Still, he only gave up four hits and three walks while striking out four.

He threw 68 of his 114 pitches for strikes. AGENCIES

LOS ANGELES: The Los Angeles Clippers clinched their first division title in their 42-year history with a 109-95 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers behind a 24 point, 12 assist effort from Chris Paul yesterday.

Blake Griffin finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for the Clippers who ended the Lakers’ five-year run atop the Pacific Division standings.

“We did a tremendous job of starting the second half. This is my first division win, but we kind of had the mind set that this was what we’re supposed to do,” Griffin said.

The Clippers also swept the season series against the rival Lakers for the first time since 1974-75 when they were known as the Buffalo Braves.

Jamal Crawford came off the bench to score 20 points for the Clippers at Staples Center arena.

Kobe Bryant had 25 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds for the Lakers, who are in a fight with the Utah Jazz for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The Lakers have five games left, four of them at the Staples Center.

We did a tremendous job of starting the second half: Blake Griffin

Kobe Bryant (24) of the Los Angeles Lakers handles the ball guarded by Matt Barnes (22) and DeAndre Jordan (6) of the Los Angeles Clippers during the second half of the NBA game at Staples Centre in Los Angeles, California, yesterday. The Clippers defeated the Lakers 109-95. RIGHT: Barbadian singer Rihanna attends the same game yesterday.

“Give them credit, they hit big shots, they played well. They’re very athletic, they’re long and they’re good. They were quicker to the ball than we were,” Lakers head coach Mike D’Antoni said.

Dwight Howard finished with 25 points as the Lakers had their modest three-game winning streak halted.

The Memphis Grizzlies and Charlotte Bobcats are the only teams in National Basketball Association history to not win a division championship.

Meanwhile, Carmelo Anthony

scored 36 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead New York over Oklahoma City 125-120 yesterday, stretching the Knicks’ NBA win-ning streak to 12 games.

Anthony, who had scored at least 40 points in each of the Knicks’ past three triumphs, hit 15-of-29 from the field as New York snapped a five-game losing streak at Oklahoma City.

The Knicks, who have not lost since March 17 at the Los Angeles Clippers, improved to 50-26 -- their winningest season since 1999-2000 -- and moved within

one victory or Brooklyn loss of clinching the Atlantic division title. New York’s current win streak, the third-longest in club history, is the best since a 15-game run during the 1993-94 campaign. JR Smith added 22 points for New York, including two key baskets in a late 11-2 run in the fourth quarter. Raymond Felton scored 16 points and eight assists, Tyson Chandler had 15 points and Jason Kidd added 14.

With the loss, the Thunder fell to 56-21 and dropped one game behind San Antonio in the

race for the best record in the Western Conference and a home-court edge in the playoffs that begin later this month. Russell Westbrook scored 37 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and passed off eight assists for the Thunder. Kevin Durant, battling Anthony for the NBA scoring title, netted 27 points and contributed seven assists. A Westbrook layup put the Thunder ahead 111-110 with four minutes remaining, but Smith hit a jumper and a 3-pointer and Anthony tipped in another basket to seal the win. AGENCIES

NBA ResultsNY Knicks 125 Oklahoma City 120

LA Clippers 109 LA Lakers 95

Boston 107 Washington 96

Cleveland 91 Orlando 85

Memphis 89 Sacramento 87

Detroit 99 Chicago 85

Utah 97 Golden State 90

New Orleans 95 Phoenix 92

Dallas 96 Portland 91

Blackhawks clinch play-off spot with win over PredatorsCHICAGO: It is no surprise the Chicago Blackhawks are in the play-offs for the fifth straight year.

After all, the NHL leaders started the lockout-shortened season with points in their first 24 games - a league record.

But the Blackhawks made a strong statement yesterday in becoming the first team this sea-son to clinch postseason berth, as they used a third-period rally to beat the Nashville Predators 5-3.

Rookie Brandon Saad and Jonathan Toews scored 55 sec-onds apart midway through the third. Chicago (29-5-4) had fallen behind 3-2 early in the period on a goal by Nashville’s David Legwand, but Saad and Toews connected against Pekka Rinne to put the Blackhawks back ahead.

The Blackhawks defeated the Predators for the second time in two days and improved to 13-0-1

against Central Division teams.“We obviously wanted to stay

in the spot we’re in in the stand-ings,” Toews said, “but first and foremost, our No. 1 goal coming in every season is we want to make the playoffs.

“To beat a team like Nashville twice in a row, first on the road and then at home, is a great thing. We did a lot of good things in that game, but most of all, we didn’t stop working. We found a way to win in the third.”

Patrick Kane, who set up Toews’ eventual game winner, added an empty-net goal with 32 seconds left to complete the scoring. Andrew Shaw and Bryan Bickell also scored for Chicago.

Kane’s hustling assist on Toews goal at 10:32 of the third might have been the pivotal mark on the score sheet.

Kane outraced two Predators to a loose puck on the back boards, then centered to Toews, who connected on a low shot from the right circle.

“That should be the headline, because you don’t see that too often. I’m just kidding,” Toews said. “It was a great play by him.

“I came flying off the bench and he saw me in the slot. My first thought was to try and find Saad backdoor because I could see him kind of going to the net there, but I went against that instinct and shot the puck.” AP

NHL ResultsSt Louis 1 Detroit 0

Dallas 5 San Jose 4

Florida 2 Ottawa 1

Minnesota 3 Columbus 0

Washington 4 Tampa Bay 2

Chicago 5 Nashville 3

Buffalo 3 New Jersey 2

Anaheim 4 Los Angeles 3

Shea Weber (6) of the Nashville Predators controls the puck under pressure from Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Centre in Chicago, Illinois, yesterday.

Japan’s Miura takes WBC super featherweight title TOKYO: Japan’s Takashi Miura said his late father helped him win the new World Boxing Council (WBC) super featherweight champion yes-terday, after a technical knock-out in the ninth round against Gamaliel Diaz.

The 28-year-old challenger floored the Mexican title-holder with a straight left one minute and 21 seconds into the ninth to finish the contest, having already knocked his opponent to the can-vas several times during the bout.

“I have no words but I’m happy. I wanted to show this belt to my father, but he passed away a month ago. I think he helped me. I made it,” said Miura, who was fighting for the world title belt for a second time.

Miura, who had been the 10th-ranked challenger, lost one pen-alty point due to butting in the opening round, but fought back aggressively in the second, con-necting with a left straight.

The Japanese challenger knocked Diaz down in the third

round with a counter-attack as he gained momentum, but after the fourth the scores were even at 37-37.

In the fifth, Miura unleashed a barrage of straight lefts, cutting Diaz’s right eye, after the 32-year-old Mexican’s left eye had already been cut by the earlier butting.

Another straight left knocked Diaz to the canvas again in the sixth, and a right hook had the Mexican down once more in the seventh, before the technical knockout brought the fight to an end.

Miura took his record to 25 wins, including 19 KOs, against two defeats and two draws.

Diaz had been making his first defence of the title he wrested from Takahiro Aoh of Japan in October last year. His record now stands at 37 wins, including 17 KOs, against 10 defeats and two draws.

Meanwhile, Challenger Akira Yaegashi won a close-range bat-tle to outpoint fellow Japanese Toshiyuki Igarashi in a World

Boxing Council (WBC) flyweight title bout yesterday.

Three judges scored it 115-110, 116-109 and 117-108 in favour of the challenger.

“It’s like a dream. A small boxer like me was able to fight in a big class. It was a nice challenge. I’m the strongest in the world,” said Yaegashi, who had a 0-4 record against Igarashi when the two were amateur fighters.

“I tried to fight in my style until the end,” added Yaegashi, 30, who improved his record to 17 wins, including nine KOs, against three defeats.

Igarashi started cautiously against Yaegashi, who unleashed numerous left jabs and left and right hooks to lead 3-0 after the fourth round. In the next four rounds both fighters were penalised for butting but each landed hooks to the other’s face and opened eyebrow cuts. It was Igarashi’s second defence of the title. He has now 17 wins, includ-ing 10 KOs, against two defeats and a draw. AGENCIES

New World Boxing Council (WBC) super featherweight cham-pion Takashi Miura of Japan (centre)

celebrates his victory over Gamaliel Diaz of Mexico (unseen)

after their title bout in Tokyo, yesterday.

Baseball ResultsNY Yankees 7 Detroit 0

Boston 13 Toronto 0

Cincinnati 6 Washington 3

NY Mets 4 Miami 3

Minnesota 4 Baltimore 3

Atlanta 5 Chicago Cubs 1

Kansas City 9 Philadelphia 8

Cleveland 13 Tampa Bay 0

Chicago White Sox 4 Seattle 3

Arizona 8 Milwaukee 7

Oakland 9 Houston 3

St Louis 14 San Francisco 3

LA Dodgers 6 Pittsburgh 2

Colorado 9 San Diego 1

Texas 7 LA Angels 3

SPORT24 TUESDAY 9 APRIL 2013


Di Canio vows to keep his cool as pressure mounts LONDON: Paolo Di Canio vowed to keep his volatile temper under control after the controversial Italian’s debut as Sunderland man-ager ended in a frustrating 2-1 defeat against Chelsea.

Di Canio’s two-year spell in charge at Swindon was described as “management by hand grenade” by the club’s former chairman and his reign with the Black Cats has the potential to be equally explosive.

The notoriously temperamental Di Canio not only has to cope with the tension of a Premier League relegation battle, but also seemed destined to be plagued by questions about his support for fascism.

The former Lazio and West Ham striker was confronted with more inquiries about his politics at the post-match press conference following Sunday’s loss at Stamford Bridge.

But Di Canio refused to answer the questions and beat a hasty retreat before the interrogation could go any further.

He was more sanguine on the touchline as Sunderland squandered a first half lead given to them by Cesar Azpilicueta’s own goal.

An own goal from Sunderland’s Matthew Kilgallon was followed by Branislav Ivanovic’s deflected winner, yet Di Canio kept his cool and he believes that attitude will be crucial if his team are to avoid relegation.

“When you are a manager you know you have responsibility for many others. You have to be careful sometimes,” Di Canio said.

“We all change, you are not the same as you were 20 years ago. When you are a manager you like to have respect from others but you can’t make everybody happy.”

Sunderland, above the relegation zone only on goal difference, are now without a win in nine matches and they looked desperately short of attacking inspiration against Chelsea.

Di Canio acknowledged his players struggled at times, but he made it clear he believes he can inspire them to beat the drop.

“You cannot say we play against Accrington. We are playing against top players in the world,” he said.

“At Swindon I used to prepare only to win, but now it is different, you have to prepare for the other team as well. That can be a big change but when you are a very good manager like me you will adapt.

“Some of the players told me what we did in the last few days is fantastic and what they needed.”

Asked if the relegation fight will go down to the wire, Di Canio added: “I hope not, but probably every week it will change because Stoke now are involved completely.”

He added: “Every week it can change, the situation. I think it will for everybody, Aston Villa, us, Wigan and Stoke.”

Di Canio’s presence meant Chelsea’s interim manager Rafael Benitez was able to enjoy a rare afternoon out of the spotlight and the Spaniard cut a more relaxed figure than usual after his side’s third successive win.

In the space of seven days the Blues have knocked Manchester United out of the FA Cup, secured a 3-1 lead over Rubin Kazan in the Europa League quarter-finals and reclaimed third place in the Premier League.

And while Benitez is unlikely to win over Chelsea’s supporters, he believes the upbeat mood will help his team’s bid for a successful end to a frustrating season.

“The support of everyone sticking together and pushing in the same direction has helped,” Benitez said.

“I try to concentrate on my job but the feeling is that everyone has realised we have to support the team. That is the best way.”

The only concern for Benitez was an ankle injury suffered by Demba Ba that forced the Senegal striker to come off at half-time.

If Ba is sidelined, Benitez can at least take heart the form of Spanish striker Fernando Torres, who followed his two-goal heroics against Kazan by coming off the bench to inspire Chelsea’s comeback on Sunday.

“I said before these games he was training well and working hard,” Benitez said.

“When he scored against Kazan he had more confidence. You could see he was fresh. He gives us another option.” AFP

A member of the grounds crew works on a flower

bed in front of the

clubhouse as preparations

continue for the 2013 Masters at

the Augusta National Golf Club

in Augusta, Georgia,

yesterday.

Tiger feels his age as teen reaches MastersChina’s Guan Tianlang set to become youngest starter AUGUSTA, GEORGIA: Tiger Woods fears almost nothing in golf, but having 14-year-old Chinese prodigy Guan Tianlang set to become the youngest starter in Masters his-tory has sent a shiver down his spine.

Guan had not been born when Woods won his first major title at the 1997 Masters, but the Asian schoolboy has been inspired by Woods and has spent the past month in Augusta preparing for his historic debut on Thursday.

“It’s frightening to think that he was born after I won my first Masters,” Woods said. “I mean, that’s just frightening.”

Woods, 37, played in his first Masters at age 19 and Italy’s Matteo Manassero, at age 16 in 2010, had been the youngest player in Masters history until now. Guan qualified for his his-toric moment at Augusta National Golf Club by winning last year’s Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Thailand.

“I’m so excited,” Guan said. “I’m really happy to become the youngest player at the Masters.”

Guan, a native of Guangzhou, was born on October 25, 1998 and has intently studied Woods, who has served as an inspiration for young talent globally in collecting 14 major wins, four shy of Jack Nicklaus’ career record.

“It’s exciting that I have inspired kids to play and not just here in the States but obvi-ously in China and around the world,” Woods said. “The game has become global. There are more countries represented on the PGA Tour than ever.

“It’s only going to increase, and we’re going to have a lot of players from countries that traditionally haven’t been into golf that are going to start to play this game at a high level.”

Helping that cause has been golf ’s inclusion

in the list of Olympic sports starting with the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games.

“With the Olympics being involved, govern-ment funding is going to be involved trying to get these kids to that type of level, and that’s only going to make it better for the game of golf.”

That could put Woods and Guan, rivals this week for the green jacket symbolic of a Masters champion, on a collision course once again in three years for another epic prize -- Olympic gold. “It is every athlete’s dream to represent their home country to compete at the Olympics,” Guan said last month. “It will be the greatest honor to me if I can represent China at the 2016 Olympics, and I will defi-nitely keep working hard on it.”

Guan began playing at age four and won the world junior title by 11 shots in 2011 in San Diego. Last year, he became the young-est player in a European Tour event when he played the Volvo China Open at the age of 13 years and 177 days.

Facing the undulating greens of Augusta National and the intense spotlight of a major championship, Guan said making the 36-hole cut will be an achievement this week.

“It’s an honor for me to be able to play with the best golfers in the world,” Guan said. “To me, the only goal is to enjoy the event and give my best and, of course, if I can make the cut that would be even better.”

But Guan already hungers for the ultimate prize of every elite golfer around the world.

“I have a dream since I was a little boy,” Guan said. “I wish, one day, I can win all four majors in one year.”

That’s a feat not even his idol Woods has achieved, although Woods did win four in a row, the 2000 US and British Opens and PGA Championship and the 2001 Masters for the “Tiger Slam.”

“At one point in my career to have all four of them on my coffee table in a row was a pretty neat feeling,” Woods said of golf ’s major trophies. AFP

Winner Guan Tianlang of China (left) holds a certificate of invitation to the 2013 US Masters Tournament along with runner-up Pan Chung-

Tseng of Taiwan during the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at Amata Spring Country Club in

Chonburi in this November 2012 file photo. Guan earned

an invitation to the 2013 Masters after winning the

event by a stroke.

LPGA Kraft Nabisco ScoresRANCHO MIRAGE: Leading final-round scores here yesterday in the $2m LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship (USA unless noted; par-72):

273 Inbee Park (KOR) 70-67-67-69

277 So Yeon Ryu (KOR) 73-71-68-65

279 Suzann Pettersen (NOR) 68-75-67-69, Caroline Hedwall (SWE) 71-68-72-68

282 Karrie Webb (AUS) 72-71-67-72, Haeji Kang (KOR) 72-69-73-68

283 Catriona Matthew (SCO) 72-73-70-68, Giulia Sergas (ITA) 70-69-76-68, Hee Young Park (KOR) 70-70-72-71, Jiyai Shin (KOR) 70-71-71-71, Anna Nordqvist (SWE) 69-72-72-70, Jodi Ewart Shadoff (ENG) 68-72-74-69

284 Paula Creamer 74-68-69-73, Pornanong Phatlum (THA) 71-69-70-74, Hee Kyung Seo (KOR) 72-70-71-71, Moriya Jutanugarn (THA) 70-72-72-70, Jennifer Johnson 72-71-73-68, Caroline Masson (GER) 70-73-71-70

285 Cristie Kerr 71-71-72-71, Se Ri Pak (KOR) 72-69-75-69, Angela Stanford 70-74-66-75, Karine Icher (FRA) 72-70-68-75, Jane Park 70-73-73-69, Ayako Uehara (JPN) 72-72-70-71

South Korea’s Park claims Kraft Nabisco crown RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIFORNIA: South Korea’s Inbee Park claimed her fifth LPGA Tour title and second major championship with a closing round of three-under 69 to win the Kraft Nabisco Championship by four strokes.

The 24-year-old Park, who also won the 2008 US Women’s Open, blitzed the field yesterday as she opened with two straight birdies in a round that also included a couple of 30-foot plus putts.

“I played so solid this week and this is a tournament that I always wanted to win,” Park said.

Park finished with a 15-under-par 273 total to easily beat runner-up So Yeon Ryu, who closed with a seven-under 65 in the first major championship of the season.

Park, who also won the 2008 US Women’s Open, earned her fourth tour title with a win in Thailand earlier this year.

Yesterday she and Ryu led a South Korean assault on the leader-board at the Mission Hills Country Club as five of the top 12 finishers were from South Korea.

Park capped her win in the traditional fashion yesterday by leaping into the pond off the 18th green with her caddie. It is a move that has had health risks in the past but organisers have made it much safer to take the celebratory plunge.

“I was really worried about the first three holes, and the first three holes went really well today and that made my day much easier,” said Park, whose previous best finish at this event was ninth five years ago. “I holed a lot of long putts today.”

Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall (68) and Norway’s Suzann Pettersen (69) tied for third at nine-under, South Korea’s Haeji Kang (68) and Aussie Karrie Webb (72) finished tied for fifth at six-under and South Koreans Jiyai Shin (71) and Hee Young Park (71) highlighted a group of six tied for seventh at minus-five.

Park took a three-shot lead over American Lizette Salas into the final round and quickly increased the margin with birdies on the par-four No. 1 and the par-five second hole.

Park never let up, collecting four more birdies in her brilliant round. Ryu said she never expected to catch Park. REUTERS

Inbee Park (left) of South Korea jumps into Poppie’s Pond surrounding the 18th green along with her fiance Gi Hyeob Nam (centre) to celebrate winning the Kraft Nabisco Championship LPGA golf tournament in Rancho Mirage, California.

Brazilian football fans watch a match between Esporte Club Bahia and Esporte Club Vitoria of the Baiano Championship at the ‘Arena Fonte Nova’ stadium during its official inauguration in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil on Sunday. Fonte Nova Arena is the third stadium to be finished ahead of the 2013 FIFA Confederation Cup, which will start in June this year. The same venue will be used for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Argentinian former football player and director of

Estudiantes de La Plata team, Juan Sebastian Veron (left), poses with a woman as he takes part in the handling of food

for those affected by the floods at the Unico

Stadium in La Plata, Argentina, yesterday. Veron played 73 games for Argentina and scored nine goals

in a career that began in 1996 and

ended in 2010.

25 SPORT TUESDAY 9 APRIL 2013


Tennis: Argentina, Serbia reach Davis Cup semi-finalsPARIS: Argentina are into the Davis Cup World Group semi-final after their world number 71 Carlos Berlocq beat 13th-ranked Frenchman Gilles Simon to hand the South Americans a 3-2 win on Sunday night.

A distraught Simon, who saved five match points before finally succumbing, said it was the lowest point of his tennis career.

“By a long way that was the most dif-ficult defeat to accept of my entire career,” he said.

“What disappointment, it was a very important match for everyone. I had to win it, but didn’t.

“I did the best I could.“All I wanted to do was win -- for me,

for the others, for Jo (Tsonga) who didn’t deserve to lose after winning two matches.”

Argentina will face defending champi-ons Czech Republic after they eliminated Kazakhstan earlier in the day. Serbia and semi-final newcomer Canada also won their quarter-finals on Sunday.

Berlocq said he didn’t want to let down his family, friends and teammates who were pulling for an Argentina victory at the Parque Roca in Buenos Aires.

“When you are in your own country, with everyone around, your family, your friends, who have confidence in you, their confidence is contagious.

“All the team believed victory was pos-sible. It was a battle, fortunately we won it.”

France had levelled the quarter-final tie earlier after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga dismantled Juan Monaco 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 in one hour, 42 minutes to force a deciding rubber.

Against the odds, that went to Berlocq, who fought back to prevail 6-4, 5-7, 7-5, 6-4 against Simon who was called in late to replace Richard Gasquet.

David Nalbandian and Horacio Zeballos had also come from behind to win Saturday’s doubles, which gave the hosts the upper

hand going into the final day. World No. 1 and Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic’s victory over Sam Querrey of the United States on Sunday advanced Serbia into the semi-finals. Djokovic, who had to battle through an ankle injury he suffered in the opening set, earned a 7-5, 6-7 (4/7), 6-1, 6-0 win to give the Serbians an insur-mountable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five tie. It is the second win for Serbia in four years over the 32-time titlist USA. In their only other previous Davis Cup encounter Serbia defeated the Americans in Belgrade in 2010.

“I am sorry for team USA but it was a thrilling weekend for all of us,” Djokovic said. Djokovic had to play through the pain of a bad right ankle, which he sprained in

the third game of the opening set. “I took some anti-inflammatories, and they kicked in at the end of the second set,” he said.

Djokovic said he probably wouldn’t have finished the match if it wasn’t Davis Cup.

“If I wasn’t playing for Serbia and didn’t have my team watching me, I don’t know if I would have continued,” he said.

The 25-year-old Djokovic clinched the victory over world number 20 Querrey with a backhand winner, ending the two hour, 35 minute match.

Serbia will now meet Canada after Milos Raonic sent the Canucks to their first-ever semi-final by beating Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. AFP

West runs into engine troubleMoto2 rookie Sucipto achieves his goal DOHA: There was a feeling of elation and dejection in the QMMF Racing Team camp on Sunday when one rider finished the race while the senior pro failed to complete the opening round of the 2013 Moto3 World Championship.

QMMF Racing Team rider Anthony West could have taken a top ten finish in Sunday’s season-opening Grand Prix of Qatar, but saw his chances dwindle when he ran into unexpected engine trou-ble right from the start of the Moto2 race.

Tenth after the opening lap, the Australian battled fiercely to defend a strong position, but couldn’t match the speed of his opponents on the straights. When he tried to stay with his rivals anyway, he finally crashed on the seventh lap, out of twelfth position.

On the contrary, team-mate Rafid Topan Sucipto reached his

goal of making it to the cheq-uered flag and finishing the race safely.

The Indonesian Grand Prix rookie took the 20-lap-event as another valuable learning experi-ence and is now looking forward to the next race at Austin, Texas, in two weeks.

West cut a forlorn look after the race.

“The bike was working per-fectly in the race, the chassis set-up was at a 100 per cent. But there was a problem with the engine. It was so slow that I couldn’t stay with anybody on the straights,” West said.

“Even when I was right at the rear wheel of others and having their slipstream coming on to the straight, I couldn’t hang on, they would just pull away.

“After the race, the mechanics found out that the engine over-heated on the grid, which indi-cates that maybe a gasket blew,

because there is no way in this temperature that the engine could overheat without a mechan-ical problem, since I am not one of the riders that revs the engine much sitting on the grid.

“The temperature was at 100 degree all the time and when that happens the electronic map-ping puts additional fuel into the engine and you lose power,” the Australian added.

“I was trying to override it because I felt ten times better than everyone else in the cor-ners, but eventually I went a bit too hard and tossed it away!”

Sucipto said: “I’m happy because my target for this race was to finish the race and this is exactly what I achieved.”

The young Indonesian added: “I keep learning lap by lap, corner by corner and I am getting faster step by step. I hope I can step up a little higher at the next race in Texas.” THE PENINSULA

QMMF Racing Team rider Rafid Topan Sucipto in the pits before the start of the Moto2 race of the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar at Losail International Circuit on

Sunday.

Jorge Lorenzo of Yamaha team (left), winner of MotoGP Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar is congratulated by Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) President, at Losail International Circuit on Sunday. Valentino Rossi of Yamaha finished second, while Marc Marquez of Honda came third. PICTURE BY: SHAIVAL DALAL

Strong start was key to victory, says LorenzoDOHA: A strong start was key to victory said Jorge Lorenzo of Yamaha who celebrated his vic-tory from pole position in the Commercial Bank Grand Prix of Qatar on Sunday.

Having started on pole, the World Champion pulled away from the charging field, at that point headed up by 2012 champi-onship rival Dani Pedrosa.

As the Repsol Honda Team rider began to fight with the likes of Marc Márquez, Cal Crutchlow and Valentino Rossi, Lorenzo dis-appeared at the front.

“I’m really happy, really pleased and really proud of myself and the team,” the Yamaha Factory Racing rider told motogp.com.

“This weekend has been quite perfect, especially in the race as we were very strong from the beginning. I made a good start and I knew that and pushing over the first laps were key.

“I opened up two or three seconds of a gap which gave me

the focus and allowed me to stay calm.”

“This is a perfect result for Yamaha and the team and I’m really happy for Valentino, who had had a very bad situation over the last two years. He has dem-onstrated again that he is a very quick and complete rider.”

Sunday night’s success marked the continuation of Lorenzo’s 100% podium record at Losail, having never finished off the rostrum in any class since the tracks’ debut in 2004. Lorenzo says Yamaha cannot afford any degree of complacency despite a perfect start to the season after he led team-mate Valentino Rossi home in Qatar.

While Rossi had to fight his way through to second, Lorenzo dominated from the outset, lead-ing away from pole and extending his advantage every lap. His even-tual winning margin was 5.9 sec-onds. Lorenzo insisted he had to ride at his extreme limit in order

to first establish a gap over 2012 title rival Pedrosa and the chasing pack, an effort he feels indicates Yamaha still has work to do and pace to find.

“To start the season in this way is fantastic. I wanted to get away at the start but I knew it would be difficult because the other riders were very strong, so I had to push at more than 100 per cent for just a few tenths each lap.

“Once I got a few seconds it was a bit easier and it started to be four or five tenths, which gave me the confidence to stay calm and focussed, and that’s when a rider is at their best.

“We have to celebrate the result, but we (can’t) be too calm because we know we have things to improve on the bike.

“The next race (at Austin) will be hard for us as we saw in pre-season, and in different cir-cumstances, different weather, anything is possible. We will have a lot of work.” AGENCIES

Novak Djokovic of Serbia hits a return against Sam Querrey of the US during the 2013 Davis Cup World Group quarter final at Taco Bell Arena in Boise, Idaho, USA, yesterday.

SPORT26 TUESDAY 9 APRIL 2013


Galatasaray face uphill task against Real MadridIt could be that we are in our best form of the season, says RonaldoISTANBUL: Didier Drogba and his Galatasaray team-mates have a tough task when they try to overturn a 3-0 deficit against Real Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League quar-ter-final today.

Drogba, who won the title last season with Chelsea, will take some cheer from his performance in Saturday’s domestic champion-ship game against Mersin Idman Yurdu when he scored two sec-ond-half goals in a 3-1 win.

However, the mood at Galatasaray was soured at that game by coach Fatih Terim’s anger at refereeing decisions in a row which led to him and his two assistants being sent to the stands, overshadowing prepara-tions for today’s return leg in Istanbul.

In Madrid last week, Galatasaray were taught “a good lesson” by the Spanish side, according to Drogba.

“We’re not at their level but I think it’s a lack of experience more than anything else,” Drogba told beIN Sport. “We’re learning, we’re a young team. There are things that need improving.

“It’s a good lesson, and one we have to show we’ve learned well in the return leg. We wanted to contain Madrid but we could have done it in a different way, with more audacity and aggression. We could have caused them problems as we had chances but that’s the way it is,” he said.

One of Galatasaray’s biggest headaches is the absence of key striker Burak Yilmaz, who is sus-pended after picking up a yellow card in Madrid.

Turkish media reported on Friday that the Istanbul side had applied to UEFA to have the yel-low card annulled.

Galatasaray will also be missing central defender Dany Nounkeu after his booking in Madrid ruled him out.

Real romped to a 5-1 victory at home to mid-table Levante on Saturday as coach Jose Mourinho left several top performers, including forward Cristiano Ronaldo, out of his starting lineup.

Ronaldo came off the bench at halftime with Real leading 2-1 and netted his 29th goal of the La Liga campaign before setting up fellow substitute Mesut Ozil.

Centre back Sergio Ramos

Real Madrid’s striker Cristiano Ronaldo (front) attends his team’s training session at Galatasaray Area Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey, yesterday. Real Madrid will face Galatasaray in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg match today. RIGHT: Dortmund’s head coach Juergen Klopp (left) talks to Dortmund’s Polish striker Robert Lewandowski at the training ground, in Brackel near Dortmund, western Germany, on the eve of the UEFA Champions League match against CF Malaga.

Malaga’s preparations hit by death and lightningBERLIN: Malaga were hit by lightning and the death of coach Manuel Pellegrini’s father as they prepared for today’s Champions League quarter-final second leg at Borussia Dortmund.

The Spaniards, who drew 0-0 in the first leg against Dortmund, slumped to a 4-2 defeat at Real Sociedad in La Liga on Saturday, with Pellegrini returning to Chile immediately after the game for the funeral.

Malaga said the coach intended to travel to Germany today, a day later than his players.

The Spaniards also had to endure a nerve-wracking flight up to the Basque Country on Friday, when their aircraft was caught in a thunderstorm.

Unable to land in San Sebastian and diverted to nearby Bilbao, the plane touched down after being struck three times by lightning and the team had to finish their journey by coach.

“It was generally a week-end to forget and let’s hope we can give the coach some joy on Tuesday,” captain Weligton told reporters.

Pellegrini rested a host of key players as the Qatar-owned club slipped four points behind the

fourth-placed Basque club with eight games left. Centre back Weligton and midfielder Manuel Iturra both played as they are suspended for today’s game but playmaker Isco, winger Joaquin, midfielder Jeremy Toulalan and forward Javier Saviola, among others, did not feature.

“The defeat is painful but we have no time to dwell on it and we have to focus on Tuesday,” forward Roque Santa Cruz told reporters.

The Germans, European cham-pions in 1997 and undefeated in the competition this season, enjoyed a perfect dress rehearsal, easing past Augsburg 4-2 with coach Juergen Klopp fielding a second-string team to rest seven starters.

Klopp, aware that Pellegrini led another team - Villarreal - to the last four in their debut season in 2005/6, will have to wait and see whether central defender Mats Hummels and midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski will be fit in time.

“Between two not unimportant Champions League games it was important to play to win (against Augsburg). The team passed the character test with flying col-ours,” said Klopp.

Mario Goetze and Robert Lewandowski made second-half appearances and the Poland inter-national added his 21st goal of the season to lead the Bundesliga scorers’ list.

Dortmund, who saw Bayern Munich clinch the Bundesliga title on Saturday with six games to spare, have won all their home games in the Champions League this season, beating Real Madrid, Manchester City and Ajax in the group stage.

They are looking for their first semi-final spot in 15 years. As reigning champions in 1998 they were eliminated at that stage by another Spanish team, Real Madrid.

Teams (probable):Borussia Dortmund: 1-Roman

Weidenfeller; 26-Lukasz Piszczek, 4-Neven Subotic, 15-Mats Hummels, 29-Marcel Schmelzer; 8-Ilkay Guendogan, 6-Sven Bender; 19-Kevin Grosskreutz, 10-Mario Goetze, 11-Marco Reus; 9-Robert Lewandowski

Malaga: 13-Willy Caballero; 2-Jesus Gamez, 4-Diego Lugano, 5-Martin Demichelis, 25-Antunes; 8-Jeremy Toulalan, 6-Ignacio Camacho; 7-Joaquin, 10-Julio Baptista, 22-Isco; 9-Javier Saviola.

REUTERS

and midfielder Xabi Alonso both played the full 90 minutes as they are suspended for today’s game.

“It could be that we are in our best form of the season,” Ronaldo, top scorer in the Champions League this season with nine goals, told reporters. “We have a complete squad with all the

players available and that is very positive news.”Today’s game in Istanbul, he added: “It’s a tough match and our passage to the next round is not yet assured. Three goals is a big lead but we have to go there and play and at least get one goal.

“We have to take things step by

step, game by game, but I think we have a good chance of getting to the final.”

Teams (probable):Galatasaray: 25-Fernando

Muslera; 27-Emmanuel Eboue, 26-Semih Kaya, 11-Albert Riera, 53-Nordin Amrabat; 14-Wesley Sneijder, 10-Felipe Melo, 8-Selcuk

Inan, 4-Hamit Altintop; 19-Umut Bulut, 12-Didier Drogba

Real Madrid: 41-Diego Lopez; 17-Alvaro Arbeloa, 2-Raphael Varane, 3-Pepe, 5-Fabio Coentrao; 6-Sami Khedira, 19-Luka Modric; 22-Angel Di Maria, 10-Mesut Ozil, 7-Cristiano Ronaldo; 9-Karim Benzema. REUTERS

Malaga´s Argentinian defender Martin Demichelis attends a press confer-ence in Dortmund, western Germany, on the eve of the UEFA Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund.

FA probe shows no Ferdinand racist abuse

Chelsea to face City at Yankee Stadium in May

LONDON: The Football Association yesterday con-firmed they have been unable to find evidence that England fans chanted racist abuse about Rio and Anton Ferdinand during the recent World Cup qualifier against San Marino.

Anti-racism group FARE had reported England to FIFA over the alleged singing of an abusive song directed at the Ferdinand brothers during England’s 8-0 win in Serravalle last month.

But FA director of communi-cations Adrian Bevington told Sky Sports News: “We have been asked to make a submission to FIFA and have been through all the evidence recorded by our security team.

“We haven’t been able to find or identify any individuals chant-ing but I want to make clear I am not disputing or refuting that the individuals who reported this heard it.”

The allegations centred on a chant by a section of the England crowd that suggested the Ferdinand brothers should be burned on a bonfire.

It has been suggested the song had racist overtones because QPR defender Anton Ferdinand was the target of racist abuse from Chelsea’s former England captain John Terry last season.

Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand, called up after a two-year absence from the England squad, also angered fans by claim-ing he was unavailable to play in the San Marino qualifier due to his intricate fitness regime.

Kick It Out chairman Herman Ouseley described the chants as “vile”, but Bevington said: “Quite clearly people were acting in good faith and we have to welcome any individuals reporting anything they hear. That’s how to address things moving forward.

“But we want to make sure the general majority of our fans are praised for their good behaviour. They spend a lot of money and the players are really appreciative of it. AFP

LONDON: Chelsea yester-day announced that they will play a glamour friendly against Premier League rivals Manchester City at New York’s Yankee Stadium in May.

The Blues were already sched-uled to fly to the United States to take on City at St Louis Cardinals’ Busch Stadium home on May 23 but have now confirmed a second clash with Roberto Mancini’s men on May 25.

The two meetings are pen-cilled in for the end of a gruel-ling season for Chelsea, who are on course to play 70 competi-tive matches this term if they advance to the Europa League and FA Cup finals.

Chelsea face City in Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final at Wembley and take on Rubin Kazan in the Europa League quarter-final sec-ond leg on Thursday.

The west London club, winners of the Champions League last sea-son, have prior experience of the Yankees’ stadium after their 1-1 friendly draw against Paris Saint German at the Bronx venue in July 2012.

“The club is excited to be play-ing a double-header in the US this May and thrilled to be returning to Yankee Stadium,” said Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay.

“We were delighted to take part in the first ever football game there, and we received sensational support in what was a sea of blue fans inside and outside the sta-dium that day.

“Spending the week in St Louis and New York also provides a great opportunity for the club to reconnect with our US fans before we head to Asia in July for pre-season.

“America has long been an important place for Chelsea Football Club, and we have seen first-hand the continued rise of the game’s popularity.” AFP

27SPORT TUESDAY 9 APRIL 2013


Al Rayyan miss key players in AFC Champions League clashDOHA: Qatar’s Al Rayyan will be without midfielder Daniel Goumou and defender Cho Yong-Hyung for the visit of Al Ain, while striker Jarralla Al Marri is an injury doubt as Diego Aguirre’s side seek to keep their campaign alive in Group D of the AFC Champions League.

Goumou is suspended and Cho is sidelined with an injury, although Uruguayan midfielder Alvaro Fernandez is eligible to return after missing last week’s 2-1 defeat by Al Ain due to suspension.

A repeat of that result coupled with Esteghlal avoiding defeat to Al Hilal, would see hosts Al Rayyan end their campaign in the group stage for a fifth time.

“Our situation is complicated and we know that we are facing a decisive match against Al Ain as we want to win the game in order to revive our chances of qualify-ing for the knockout stage of the competition,” said Al Rayyan coach Aguirre.

“We know Al Ain well and I have good confidence in the play-ers that they will have a good performance. We create a lot of chances in our matches but the main problem that we have is scoring and we must improve this aspect.” THE PENINSULA

Qatar’s Samuel Francis (third left ) wins the men’s 100m final on day

one of the 14th GCC Athletics

Championships at Khalifa

Stadium in Doha yesterday.

PICTURES: KAMMUTTY VP

Qatar’s Francis wins gold14th GCC Athletics Championships: The star sprinter tops 100m field

Qatar’s Abdullah Ateeq Al Abdullah (centre), winner of the juniors 110m hurdles final, is seen with second-placed Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Usman (left) and Othman Abdurahman, also of Saudi Arabia, on day one of the 14th GCC Athletics Championships at Khalifa Stadium in Doha yesterday. RIGHT: Ibrahim Mousi Adam (centre) of Qatar, Mishel Khaleefa Al Matheri (left) of Kuwait, and his compatriot Hussain Ali Ahmed are seen after the juniors 100m final.

DOHA: Popular sprinter Samuel Francis of Qatar yes-terday won the 100m final with an impressive run on day one of the 14th GCC Athletics Championships.

Francis, 26, clocked a time of 9.99secs and finished ahead of Barkat bin Mubarak of Oman to clinch the gold medal.

Mubarak clocked a time of 10.13secs to secure the silver medal at Khalifa Stadium.

Hamood Ali of Saudi Arabia was third fastest with a time of 10.34 to grab the bronze.

The three-day championships have attracted more than 200 athletes from the region.

The participants - which also includes juniors competing in var-ious disciplines alongside the sen-iors - are contesting in shot put, 110m, 100m, 400m, javelin throw, high jump, long jump, pole vault and the 10,000m competitions.

In another final, Qatar’s Mohammed Ibrahim bagged a silver medal in the men’s javelin throw competition.

Ibrahim’s best throw was 67.25m. Saudi Arabia’s Abdullah Al Ghamdi (68.61) won the gold whereas Abdullah Adnan of Kuwait picked up the bronze. Adnan’s best throw went a dis-tance pf 66.59m.

In the men’s 110m hurdles, Abdulaziz Almandeel led a Kuwaiti 1-2. Amnaldeel won the gold with a time of 13.45 while compatriot Fawaz Al Shammari bagged the silver with a time of 13.71.

Saudi Arabia’s Ali Hussain

(13.91) picked up the bronze medal.

In the 400m final, Saudi Arabia’s Ismael Al Sabyani (46.09) picked up the gold ahead of Oman’s Ahmed bin Mohammed (46.74) who won a silver for his efforts.

Oman’s Usman bin Ali (47.26) walked off with a bronze medal.

Today in the championships - organised by Qatar Athletics Federation (QAF) - athletes will compete for 12 medals. Six medals will be won by the senior athletes while a similar number will be up for grabs for the juniors.

In the championships tomor-row, athletes will compete in 13 events (8 for seniors and 5 for juniors).

Qatar’s London Games star Mutaz Essa Barshim will compete in the long jump event tomorrow at 5:30pm.

Barshim - who won a bronze medal in the London Games long jump competition - is currently out of the country training for the season.

Three juniors will compete in every discipline from each par-ticipating country, QAF said yesterday.

A soft opening ceremony was held at Khalifa Stadium where the three-day

Also yesterday, the regional chiefs in athletics converged at Sheraton Doha for a meeting pro-posed and hosted by QAF.

During the meeting headed by QAF President Dahlan Al Hamad, proposed a ‘kids festival’ for young athletes from across the Middle East.

QAF is also keen to stage a championships designed for female athletes, Al Hamad said and the proposal was also put for-ward in the meeting.

“The leadership in Qatar is keen to bring nations together through sports,” Al Hamad said in the run up to the championships to be held at Khalifa Staidum.

“This will be first step for the regional athletics family to come closer in this fashion. We will hold discussions and make proposals,” Al Hamad said.

“The successful agreements would be taken to the National Olympic Committees in the region and then possibly to the Asian body and the IAAF,” he said.

QAF is currently preparing for a series of activities with the Heir Apparent Athletics Cup and the Emir Athletics Cup events sched-uled for later this month.

On May 10, the QAF will assem-ble top names like Yohan Blake of Jamaica and David Rudhisha of Kenya for the one-day Samsung Diamond League season-opener at Qatar Sports Club Stadium. THE PENINSULA

Dahlan Al Hamad (right), President, Qatar Athletics

Federation (QAF), is seen with Bahrain’s

retired athlete Ruqaya Al Ghasra (second

right) and other officials during a

meeting in Doha. QAF will honour Ruqaya and other former

athletes and track and field officials

during the three-day 14th GCC Athletics

Championships.

Samuel Francis factbox

■ Samuel Adelebari Francis (born 27 March 1987) is a Nigerian-born Qatari sprinter who specialises in the 100m. He became a naturalised Qatari in April 2007 and competed for his new country from July 2007. His personal best of 9.99 seconds is the current Asian record for the 100m.■ At the 2007 Asian Championships he first set a new championship record of 10.18 seconds during the heats. In the final he ran in a new Asian record, breaking the 10-second barrier with a time of 9.99 seconds, bettering Koji Ito’s mark of 10.00 seconds at the 1998 Asian Games.■ He also went onto to win the silver medal as part of the 4x100 metres relay team for Qatar. ■ After competing at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, he ran at the next major cham-pionships, the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, reaching the quarter-finals stage.■ At the 2007 Asian Indoor Games he won with a Games record time of 6.54 seconds. The following year at the 2008 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships he won gold in record time.

Dahlan Al Hamad (front, left), President, Qatar Athletics Federation (QAF) and Mohammed Al Kuwari, Tournament Director and Secretary General, QAF, with Samuel Francis of Qatar, Barkat bin Mubarak of Oman and Hamood Ali of Saudi Arabia after the 100m final at Khalifa Stadium. RIGHT: Francis prior to the 100m race yesterday.

AFC Champions League Fixtures

SINGAPORE: AFC Champions League group games to be played today and tomorrow:

TodayGroup B

At TashkentPakhtakor (UZB) vs Lekhwiya (QAT) at 4:00 pm (1100 GMT)

At DammamAl Ettifaq (KSA) vs Al Shabab

Al Arabi (UAE) at 8:00 pm (1700 GMT)

Group DAt Doha

Al Rayyan (QAT) vs Al Ain (UAE) at 6:40 pm (1540 GMT)

At TehranEsteghlal (IRI) vs Al Hilal

(KSA) at 9:00 pm (1730 GMT)

Group FAt Jeonju

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (KOR) vs Urawa Red

Diamonds (JPN) at 7:00 pm (1000 GMT)

At NonthaburiMuangthong United (THA) vs Guangzhou Evergrande (CHN)

at 7:00 pm (1200 GMT)

Group HAt Kashiwa

Kashiwa Reysol (JPN) vs Suwon Bluewings (KOR) at

7:00 pm (1000 GMT)

At GuiyangGuizhou Renhe (CHN) vs

Central Coast Mariners (AUS) at 7:30 pm (1130 GMT)

TomorrowGroup A

At Abu DhabiAl Jazira (UAE) vs El Jaish

(QAT) at 7:40 pm (1540 GMT)

At TabrizTractorsazi Tabriz (IRI) vs Al

Shabab (KSA) at 8:15 pm (1545 GMT)

Group CAt Doha

Al Gharafa (QAT) vs Al Nasr (UAE) at 6:30 pm (1530 GMT)

At JeddahAl Ahli (KSA) vs Foolad

Mobarakeh Sepahan (IRI) at 8:45 pm (1745 GMT)

Group EAt Sendai

Vegalta Sendai (JPN) vs FC Seoul (KOR) at 7:00 pm (1000

GMT)At Buriram

Buriram United (THA) vs Jiangsu Sainty (CHN) at 6:00

pm (1100 GMT)

Group GAt Pohang

Pohang Steelers (KOR) vs Sanfrecce Hiroshima (JPN) at

7:30 pm (1030 GMT)

At BeijingBeijing Guoan (CHN) vs

Bunyodkor (UZB) at 7:30 pm (1130 GMT)

Tuesday 9 April 201328 Jumada I 1434

Volume 18Number 5664

Price: QR2Sport

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NBA: Clippers win division title

Galatasaray face huge task against Real

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Barca sweat on Messi fitness for crucial tieCatalonian club takes on Qatar-backed PSG tomorrowMANCHESTER, England: Real Madrid and Bayern Munich have one foot in the Champions League last four as they go into this week’s quarter-final sec-ond legs while Barcelona face a harder fight for their berth with doubts over the availability of injured Lionel Messi.

With Real holding a comfort-able 3-0 lead over Galatasaray before yeserday’s trip to Istanbul and Bayern travelling to Juventus with a 2-0 advantage tomorrow, two semi-final spots seem already taken.

The other ties are much more delicately balanced with com-petition favourites Barca locked at 2-2 before hosting Paris St Germain tomorrow and Borussia Dortmund tied at 0-0 before entertaining debutants Malaga today. The goals and magic of World Player of the Year Messi would usually be enough to dig Barca out of any sticky situation - as they did against AC Milan in the previous round - but if the Argentine does not play the team will need a different approach.

Messi sat out Saturday’s 5-0 win at home to Real Mallorca in La Liga with a hamstring prob-lem, the first league game he has missed through injury since the 2010-11 season.

He had physiotherapy and did some fitness work on Sunday but

it was unclear whether he would be fit to face PSG.

Barca, though, still have reason for optimism that they can reach a sixth succes-sive Champions League semi-final as Messi’s stand-in against Mallorca, Cesc Fabregas, net-ted a hat-trick and coach Tito Vilanova was back on the bench after cancer treatment.

They are in good spirits after the return to competitive action of defender Eric Abidal follow-ing a liver transplant, while they remain 13 points clear of Real at the top of La Liga and have not lost at home in Europe for more than three years.

“There is life beyond Messi,” Barca wrote on their website (www.fcbarcelona.es). “Maybe it’s not as beautiful, but it exists.”

Qatar-backed PSG geared up for the Barca trip by fielding a largely reserve team in a 2-0 win at Stade Rennes that restored a seven-point lead at the top of Ligue 1.

Brazil centre back Thiago Silva is a doubt because of a knee injury

he sustained in the first leg, while hold-ing midfielder Blaise Matuidi is suspended and could be replaced by Clement Chantome, who could feature alongside David Beckham.

There could be three Spanish sides in the last four as Malaga enjoy a dream

run in their first season in Europe’s elite club competition.

There has never been a tie that has ended 0-0 after two legs since the Champions League for-mat began in 1992-93 and Malaga know any away goals they score at Dortmund could be key.

Malaga’s preparations for the game have been far from ideal, though, with the death of coach Manuel Pellegrini’s father, a 4-2 defeat at Real Sociedad in La Liga on Saturday and the team’s plane being hit by lightning on the way to that match.

Fellow La Liga side Real Madrid enjoyed a far better warm-up to their second leg at Galatasaray, thumping Levante 5-1 in the league on Saturday despite having rested several first-choice players.

First-leg goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain have put nine-times European champions Real within grasp of a 24th semi-final appearance although they are not getting carried away.

“It’s a tough match and our passage to the next round is not yet assured. Three goals is a big lead but we have to go there and play and at least get one goal,” Ronaldo told reporters.

Centre back Sergio Ramos and midfielder Xabi Alonso are sus-pended for today’s game at the Turkish side, who have won once at home in this season’s competi-tion and have reached the semi-finals only once, in 1988/89.

Newly crowned German cham-pions Bayern Munich are in a similarly comfortable position after David Alaba scored inside 30 seconds before Thomas Mueller added a second in their first leg at home to Juventus last week.

Last season’s losing finalists, who are looking for a third semi-final appearance in four seasons, secured their 23rd German league title in record time on Saturday by winning 1-0 at Eintracht Frankfurt. Juventus, however, will take some hope from the fact that they have won all five European quarter-finals they have played against German opponents. REUTERS

Rajasthan Royals clinch second winJAIPUR: Rajasthan Royals put up a gritty performance to beat defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders for their sec-ond straight win in the Indian Premier League here yesterday.

Brad Hodge (46 not out) took Rajasthan to 144 for six and then the bowlers did well to restrict a powerful Kolkata batting line-up to 125. Siddharth Trivedi and Kevon Cooper struck thrice for the home team as Eoin Morgan’s splendid innings of 51 went in vain.

Kolkata batsman played far too many loose shots in the ini-tial part of the chase, stumbling to 44 for five in the eighth over.

Rajasthan’s new signing Rahul Shukla struck twice in his first over, removing Manvinder Bisla and the great Jacques Kallis to be on a hat-trick. Going out with an all pace attack on a green pitch with good carry and bounce worked well for the hosts.

Trivedi produced another dou-ble strike to put his side on top. The medium pacer caught Manoj Tiwary (14) in front of the stumps and dismissed opposition skipper Gautam Gambhir (22) three balls later, with wicket-keeper Dishant

Yagnik taking a stunning catch.And when Laxmi Ratna Shukla

was holed out at long on, Kolkata was left reeling at 56 for six.

Eoin Morgan played some attacking shots to keep his team alive in the game but wickets falling regularly at the other hand made his job tougher. The southpaw still managed to take his team close to the target and crossed the 50-run mark with a six over fine leg.

With Kolkata needing 23 off the last 12 balls, he played on to the stumps while trying another premeditated stroke off Cooper, ending all hopes for the visitors.

Earlier, Hodge lent respectabil-ity to the total after Rajasthan lost key wickets of Ajinkya Rahane (36) and Cooper (0) in successive balls. Both batsmen fell to the guile of Sunil Narine.

Hodge looked in supreme touch in his unbeaten effort which com-prised seven cracking boundaries. Wicket-keeper Yagnik chipped in with a handy 16 off 11 balls.

The last two overs went for 30 runs with 18 coming from Narine’s fourth over. The West Indian ended with figures of two for 28. IANS

Rajasthan Royals bowler Siddharth Trivedi celebrates after taking a wicket during their IPL match against Kolkata Knight Riders in Jaipur, yesterday.


















Rajasthan Royals bowler Siddharth Trivedi celebrates

after taking a wicket during their IPL match against

Kolkata Knight Riders in Jaipur,

yesterday. Trivedi won the man-of-the-match award. Rajasthan Royals defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by

19 runs to register their second suc-

cessive win.

Champions League Fixtures

Champions League quarter-finals, second leg fixtures (all 1845 GMT, first leg scores in brackets)

Playing today

Borussia Dortmund (0) vs Malaga (0)

Galatasaray (0) vs Real Madrid (3)

Playing tomorrow

Barcelona (2) vs Paris St Germain (2)

Juventus (0) vs Bayern Munich (2)

Dortmund’s defender Mats Hummels (left) and

Dortmund’s defender Marcel Schmelzer

warm up during a train-ing session ahead of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final match between Real

Madrid and Galatasaray AS at Estadio Santiago

Bernabeu, at Turk Telekom Arena, yester-

day .

Real have everything to lose: Mourinho ISTANBUL: Real Madrid may have a comfortable 3-0 advan-tage over Galatasaray ahead of today’s Champions League quarter-final, second leg here but coach Jose Mourinho is not resting on his laurels.

The Portuguese boss, chasing a third European title with a third different team in a third differ-ent country, believes his side face a tricky situation as they have nothing to gain and everything to lose.

“If we lose 4-0 or 5-1 or on pen-alties, the world will open their mouths, it would be a very bad situation for all of us,” he said.

“Especially for Real Madrid because it would be something unexpected, we have everything

to lose and nothing to win because everyone is waiting for us (to progress).

“My challenge is to not think about the 3-0 but to think about a football match. And when you want to think about a football match you want to win and you play to win, and that’s my chal-lenge to the players.

“If we come here tomorrow (Tuesday) and lose 2-0 or if we lose 3-1, I’m not going to be happy, I’m not going (to go) home happy.

“I want to win the match and if we can’t win we will try to have a draw.”

Real outclassed the Turkish champions at the Bernabeu last week and for many people the second leg is little more than a

formality. But Mourinho says the Turkish fans won’t see it that way.

“I remember a UEFA Cup match in 2003, I think, with Porto we played against Denizlispor. We won the first match 7-0, 7-1 or 6-0 (actually 6-1), I can’t remember.

“When we came to Turkey for the return leg we arrived in a full stadium in front of motivated fans and against a team that was noth-ing like the one we beat 6-0 or 7-0.

“If a Portuguese, Spanish or Italian team loses the first leg 4-0 or 5-0, for the return the stadium is empty and the fans jeer.

“Here, the fans will support their team right to the end. We’re expecting a white-hot sta-dium but we like that. I think the

players will appreciate that and will play well.”

But despite his apparent con-servatism, Mourinho couldn’t help but admit he truly believed the tie was over.

And he already has one eye on who his side will face in the last four.

“Before these quarters I thought all eight teams had the same chances of winning the competition.

“After the first legs it was clear certain teams are ahead. We’re ahead, as are Barcelona and Bayern (Munich).

“In the semi-finals there will be four teams who certainly will all have the same possibilities of winning. AFP

RAJASTHAN ROYALSS R Watson c Morgan b Lee ......................... 5A M Rahane c Bisla b Narine ...................... 36R Dravid b Bhatia ...................................... 17S T R Binny lbw Shukla .............................. 14B J Hodge (not out) ................................... 46K Cooper st Bisla b Narine ........................... 0D H Yagnik (run out-S Ahmed/Bisla)............ 16S Sreesanth (not out)................................... 1Extras (B-1, LB-6, W-1, NB-1) ..................... 9Total (for 6 wkts in 20 overs) ............... 144Did not bat: S K Trivedi, S W Tait, R Shukla.Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-46, 3-63, 4-101, 5-101, 6-137.Bowling: B Lee 4-0-20-1 (1w); Shami Ahmed 3-0-26-0; S P Narine 4-0-28-2; J H Kallis 4-0-28-0 (1nb); R Bhatia 3-0-21-1; L R Shukla 2-0-14-1.KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERSM S Bisla b Shukla ...................................... 1

G Gambhir c Yagnik b Trivedi ...................... 22J H Kallis c Yagnik b Shukla .......................... 0M K Tiwary lbw Trivedi ............................... 14E J G Morgan b Cooper ............................. 51Y K Pathan c Yagnik b Cooper ...................... 0L R Shukla c Shukla b Trivedi ....................... 2R Bhatia c Binny b Tait ............................... 12B Lee c Shukla b Sreesanth ......................... 5Shami Ahmed c Rahane b Cooper ................ 5S P Narine (not out) ..................................... 2Extras (LB-5, W-6) .................................... 11Total (all out in 19 overs) ..................... 125Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-20, 3-40, 4-43, 5-44, 6-56, 7-90, 8-103, 9-122, 10-125.Bowling: S Sreesanth 4-0-25-1; S W Tait 4-0-29-1 (2w); R Shukla 3-0-28-2 (2w); K Cooper 4-0-15-3 (1w); S K Trivedi 4-0-23-3.Result: Rajasthan Royals win by 19 runs.Player-of-the-Match: S K Trivedi (Rajasthan Royals).

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