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Tuesday 6 November 2012

21 Dhul-Hijja 1433 - Volume 17Number 5510 Price: QR2

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Emir visits exhibition

The Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani at the 1001 Inventions Exhibition at the Museum of Islamic Art yesterday. The Emir, accompanied by Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Qatar Museums Authority, H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, toured the exhibition and was briefed on the sci-entists’ creations in the Golden Age of Islamic Civilisation. The exhibition had the theme “Explore Our Past To Inspire Our Future”.

Business | 17 Sport | 28

Europe seeks Asian support on debt crisis

Murray off to winning start at Tour Finals

Ministry, CMC members spar over projectsDOHA: Senior officials of the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning have been privately accusing Central Municipal Council (CMC) members of taking the credit for launching and completing various civic projects to hog the limelight, say some local media circles.

The projects are actually being conceptualised, launched and completed by the civic and other ministries but the CMC is using the media to create the impression that it is behind all development efforts, say ministry officials.

The CMC vehemently denies any difference of opinion between its members and ministry officials and says any misunderstandings that arise during the course of their interaction can be sorted out at the routine monthly meeting of its chairman and the municipal minister. Notwithstanding the CMC’s denial, some in media cir-cles insist the public representa-tive body is indeed on a collision course with the ministry.

Public pressure is, therefore, mounting on both sides to sit across the table and sort out their differences in the public interest. And, interestingly, despite its denial of differences with the civic ministry, the CMC maintains its members do have the right to claim credit for development projects launched or completed in their constituencies.

The CMC blames sections of the media for what it says is their tendency to manufacture stories

of its rising rivalry with ministry officials.

“We are a public representa-tive body with only consultative status. We don’t enjoy executive powers. However, on the demand of our constituents we do pro-pose some projects to the civic ministry and they are accepted and implemented as well,” CMC chairman Saud Al Hanzab told The Peninsula yesterday.

He said his personal estimates suggest that out of a 100 civic projects launched or completed in a constituency, some 20 to 40 are the brainchild of the CMC member. “If a CMC member sug-gests a project for his ward and if that proposal has been accepted and the project has been launched or completed, it is natural that the member would be happy and claim credit for that, so what’s the harm,” asked Al Hanzab.

Besides, the budget of the civic ministry for development work is divided among the 29 munici-palities so each ward gets its due share. “A CMC member is always under pressure, for he has been chosen by his constituents so he must deliver. The constituents have every right to make demands for projects in their locality,” said the CMC chief.

Denying differences with the ministry, Al Hanzab said he meets the Municipal Minister as a mat-ter of routine every month and raises issues that might affect the smooth coordination between the CMC and the ministry.

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CMC accused of taking undue credit

Blasts kill two Asians in BahrainDUBAI: Five bombs exploded in the heart of the Bahraini capital Manama yesterday, kill-ing two Asian street cleaners, officials said, prompting mutual accusations from activists and a government trying to put down a mostly Shia pro-democracy uprising.

The Interior Ministry said the bombs were home-made and described the blasts as “terrorist acts” — its term for violence by opposition activists.

But an opposition politician and a rights activist said the attacks, which came days after the gov-ernment said it had banned all rallies and opposition gatherings

to ensure public safety, could have been the work of government forces trying to justify the ban or a further crackdown.

Injuries to protesters or police are relatively common in the 21-month-old uprising, but attacks on the public have been rare on the island, where the Sunni Muslim Al Khalifa dynasty rules over a majority Shia population.

The explosions took place between 4.30am and 9.30am (0130 and 0630 GMT) in the Qudaibiya and Adliya districts of Manama, the BNA agency said, citing a police official. It described the explosives as “locally made

bombs” and said a third Asian worker had been wounded.

One of the attacks took place outside a cinema, where one of the street cleaners died after kick-ing a package that then blew up. A witness said there was little material damage at that scene, suggesting the blast had not been large.

Police say they have been the target of numerous attacks with home-made bombs since April, including one that killed a police-man last month, as the govern-ment has stepped up efforts to quell an uprising that has crippled the economy.

Opposition politician Matar

Matar of the Shia party Wefaq said he doubted that opposition activists were behind yesterday’s attacks, noting that leading Shia clerics had called on followers to avoid escalating the conflict with the government.

He suggested the police or mili-tary might have been responsible, or a rogue unit.

“This incident is strange — why would anyone target workers?” he said. “I’m worried that police and military are losing control of their units or it is (preparation) before declaring martial law.”

US has urged Bahrain to begin dialogue on democratic reforms with the opposition. REUTERS

Syria’s rebel bloc agrees to include 13 more groupsDOHA: Syria’s main opposi-tion bloc, under pressure from Washington to reshape into a widely representative govern-ment-in-exile, agreed yester-day to broaden its structure to accommodate other groups, a spokesman said.

The decision by the Syrian National Council came on the second day of a four-day meet-ing of opposition groups in Doha aimed at forging a more united front against Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s regime.

Participants “have agreed a restructuring plan and to reduce the number of (current) mem-bers of the general secretariat to accommodate 200 new members representing 13 political groups and independents,” said SNC spokesman Ahmad Kamel.

He said that the number of members has been reduced from 313 to 220 while 200 new ones would be added. The SNC gen-eral secretariat would convene in its revamped structure today, he added. The meeting is also expected to discuss an initiative by leading dissident Riad Seif, which seems to enjoy US support amid reservations from some SNC members, to unite all Syrian groups opposed to Assad. AFP

See also page 10

Emir to address Advisory Council

Pakistan president arrives today

DOHA: The Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani will address the 41st session of the Advisory Council at White Palace today. The Emir’s speech will mark the inaugura-tion of the regular weekly ses-sions of the Council. The speech will highlight the important achievements of Qatar in the economic, political, cultural and social sectors, locally and internationally. The Emir will also speak about Qatar’s role in international and regional issues and the major issues and challenges facing the Arab world.

DOHA: The President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, arrives here today on a two-day official visit. The visit is tak-ing place at the invitation of the Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.

See also page 7

Rise to e-media challenge, Al Attiyah tells newspapersBY RAYNALD C RIVERA

DOHA: Newspapers need to forge ahead in providing high quality news and deeper analysis of issues for them to compete with the burgeon-ing online media, says Chairman of the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority, H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah.

Al Attiyah was addressing local media yesterday at the opening of the second Media, Advertising and Printing Technology Exhibition (Media Expo Qatar 2012), organised by Dar Al Sharq at the Doha International Exhibition Center.

“As we have seen in some countries, newspapers have been replaced by elec-tronic media, newspapers therefore need to develop themselves by providing high quality news and deeper analysis to their

readers to compete with e-media which is providing news fast,” said Al Attiyah.

Having come from a generation which loves reading, Al Attiyah expressed the hope that newspapers and books would be able to compete with electronic media with the emergence of advanced technology.

“I can’t imagine a world without newspapers and books,” he said after touring the various stalls represent-ing television channels, media houses, printing companies, government enti-ties and newspaper companies including Al Sharq newspaper where he was pro-vided a glimpse of the newspaper’s evo-lution from its oldest copies to the latest technology it uses. He also feted Dar Al Sharq, organisers of the expo, as it celebrates its 25th anniversary.

THE PENINSULAContinued on page 4

General Manager of Dar Al Sharq, Abdullatif Al Mahmoud (right), presenting a memento to Chairman of the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority, H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, at the 2nd Media Expo Qatar 2012 at the Doha International Exhibition Center yesterday. Also seen are Editor-in-Chief of Al Sharq Jaber Al Harami and Deputy General Manager of Dar Al Sharq Ibrahim Al Sayed.

Qatar and Ethiopia resume ties after four-year hiatusADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia and Qatar have resumed dip-lomatic and economic ties, the prime ministers of both coun-tries said yesterday, ending a four-year row over claims that the Gulf state was backing

armed opposition groups in the Horn of Africa. Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani said security was a priority for development in the Horn of Africa.

“We believe peace brings devel-opment, and these countries in this part of the world need a lot of development,” he said, adding that the high-level meeting between both countries was agreed upon when he met with Ethiopia’s late

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in February.

“We are in a time where we can flourish and strengthen our relationship and our relationship is based on mutual trust as well as a good heart,” Ethiopian Prime

Minister Hailemariam Desalegn told reporters after meeting Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem in Addis Ababa. “Now we want to continue with this relationship for the future,” he added. AFP

See also page 4

DOHA: Dar Al Sharq, Qatar’s lead-ing media house, has launched the largest cartoons exhibition at the Media Expo Qatar 2012 which is being organised by it at the Doha Exhibition Center.

Khalid Al Sayed, Editor-in-Chief of The Peninsula, which is one of the key publications of Dar Al Sharq, said in his address to the Expo that his com-pany had instituted an Arabic cartoon prize which is an initiative to encour-age the art of cartooning.

He said this is the largest prize money for Arabic cartoons ever offered in the entire Arab world.

Dar Al Sharq has announced an Arab Cartoon prize to encourage tal-ented Qatari and other Arab cartoon-ists as part of its efforts to help develop the media as a whole.

The total award money is QR 100,000.

This award will be presented on the sidelines of the Media Expo Qatar 2012 which kicked off yesterday and will last until tomorrow.

The aim is to attract cartoonists from different Arab countries and to explore talent in the field, said Al Sayed.

Cartoon is satirical art that exag-gerates in image display to show the distorting nature or features of char-acters or bodies in way to make criti-cal commentary on social and political

issues in a c o u n t r y . Car toons are in many cases considered much pow-erful than articles and newspaper reports in addressing issues.

Cartoons represent

news art that attract the attention of readers because of the simple ways of expressing community issues

Khalid Al Sayed, who is supervising the cartoon contest, announced on the occasion that the number of partici-pants of this cartoon contest is 154 and they are from different Arab countries and the number of the cartoons that have been received for the contest is a high of 870.

Women’s participation in the con-test, according to Al Sayed, has been very encouraging as they represent 10 percent of the total.

Some of these cartoons will be dis-played at the Media Expo 2012, he added. The majority of participants

are from Egypt, Morocco, Palestine, Syria and Jordan.

The technical and professional com-mittee that has been formed to assess the quality of the cartoons taking part in the contest comprises elite cartoon-ists from across the Arab world, said Al Sayed. They have done their best in making their assessments — a cred-ible feat.

The Committee has on it eminent cartoonists like Nidal Hashim from Jordan, Khalid Al Sharradi, from Morocco, and Abdul Aziz Sadeq, from Qatar.

The cartoons that are part of the contest include both published and unpublished ones. The only condition

is that they should not have won any prize before, Al Sayed said in his speech.

He added that this prize is being offered for the first time in Qatar and that was why no subject was specified for the contest. The age of the partici-pants ranges from 20 to 60 years. But Arab Spring dominates the subject, he said.

The result of the contest will be announced on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee of Al Sharq on November 7.

The first prize carries a cash award of QR50,000, second QR30,000 and third QR20,000. All the cash prizes will also carry a shield of appreciation.

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04 HOMETUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2012

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Continued from page 1

“I congratulate Al Sharq on the occasion of its silver jubilee; it has been playing a big role in national development. I hope all Qatari newspapers will develop and will be able to compete regionally making its presence felt in various social media such as Twitter and Facebook.”

He lauded the expo saying “it gives the new generation an idea of the latest on printing and digital technology and how useful they are to media.”

Aside from state-of-the-art technology, one of the attractions at the expo is a collec-tion of ancient cameras, projectors, typewrit-ers and printers including newspapers dating back over a hundred years.

The three-day expo serves as a platform for people representing media organisations and technology providers to share latest advances in media-related technology world-wide and discuss urgent issues concerning media in the region.

The meeting of the General Secretariat of the Gulf Press Union and a seminar on ‘Syria… Live Facts’ highlighted yesterday’s programme, along with an exciting first

round of the Sudoku contest in which big prizes are at stake.

Events scheduled today include the second

round of the Sudoku competition, Caricature contest and ‘Symposium on public relations and the media.’ THE PENINSULA

Second round of Sudoku competition today

Khalid Al Sayed, Editor-in-Chief of The Peninsula, showing a cartoon to the Chairman of the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah at the Media Expo Qatar 2012 yesterday as Dar Al Sharq Deputy General Manager Ibrahim Al Sayed looks on. RIGHT: Al Attiyah with Media Expo Executive Manager Eiz Eldin Abdrhaman, Ibrahim Al Sayed and other officials. PICTURES BY QASSIM RAHMATULLAH

A contestant taking part in the Sudoku competition yesterday.

Exhibits of the caricature contest.

Arab Spring dominates Dar Al Sharq cartoon show

Khalid Al Jaber, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Al Sharq with Nasser Al Othman, veteran Qatari journalist at the exhibition.

HOME 05TUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2012

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DOHA: A health expert has said that there is a shortage of Qatari doctors here because few young citizens are interested in studying medicine.

The Director of the Emergency Section at the Heart Hospital, Dr Omar Al Tamimi said that the hospital has “a shortage of Qatari doctors”. Currently there are 100 physicians and consultants, but

only 10 percent are Qatari. “Many Qataris don’t want to study medi-cine, so we are doing our best to increase the number by training them and giving them opportu-nities for further studies,” local Arabic daily Al Raya quoting Al Tamimi as saying.

Al Tamimi added that over 120 patients visit the hospital daily and there is a waiting list

of appointments for over three weeks. “The hospital is doing its best to implement the latest quality and the best type of medi-cines,” he said.

He added that the hospital con-ducts about 20 surgical operations of different types related to the heart every month.

The Director of Emergency also commented that there is a plan to

expand the hospital with another building to increase capacity. At the moment, there are 120 beds, which include intensive care, sur-gery and heart divisions.

The hospital only receives patients transferred from Hamad Hospital or those who seek emer-gency care (20 percent of the patients), and the staff has been trained to give First Aid and deal

with heart cases. Surgeries using robots are also performed which has proven to be 100 percent successful.

Al Tamimi, said: “The emer-gency section has 22 beds and the hospital is well equipped but we need more professionals to improve our capacity. Many of the cases that come to the hospital are related to strokes, chest pain

or vein and artery problems.” The Heart Hospital coordinates all these cases with Hamad Hospital to transfer patients who are suf-fering from heart problems. “Some nationals have complained of the overcrowding. This is due to the growing population; this is why we are expanding the hospi-tal,” he concluded.

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Shortage of Qatari doctors as young not keen to study medicine: Expert

BY ISABEL OVALLE

DOHA: Williams F1 is work-ing on education projects to promote road safety in Qatar, and considers putting a driv-ing simulator with accurate images of Doha at the disposal of students. Williams is work-ing with Mowasalat to train taxi drivers as well.

To address these issues Prince Michael of Kent, patron of the Williams F1 team, visited the Williams Technology Centre in Qatar yesterday, accompa-nied by Alex Burns, CEO of Williams, and the founder of Williams, Sir Frank Williams, among others.

Wi l l iams Advanced Engineering in Qatar has taken the simulator technology used by the Williams F1 Team to train its racing drivers and adapted and extended it for use as a training tool for road going vehicles.

The simulator has been developed in partnership with Mowasalat, Qatar’s transport company, and aims to improve the safety, environmental effi-ciency, passenger comfort and cost efficiency of drivers.

The simulator was devel-oped and built at the Williams

Technology Centre in Doha’s Science and Technology Park, using the skills of local Qatari engineers and graduates.

It has a state-of-the-art soft-ware package called 3D Doha that accurately maps the roads of Doha and simulates realistic driving scenarios. Drivers also sit in an authentic chassis with true to life controls further add-ing to the simulator’s realism.

After taking a tour through the Williams Technology

Centre at the Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP) and trying out the simulator personally, Prince Michael of Kent said that “the work they are doing here is very inter-esting, because they are using their technical knowledge of F1 to help the man in the street with driving skills.”

Kent is involved with Global Road Safety Commission, a UN based organisation.

“Our aim is to reduce the

amount of deaths and serious injuries by 2020. At the moment every year more people get killed on the roads, we hope to decline it by half in 10 years”, he explained.

Prince Michael said that the collaboration between Qatar Foundation and Williams on road safety is “just the begin-ning of a very important movement”.

In this context, he stated that if Qatar keeps working on this direction on road safety, it will receive international recogni-tion after taking this project to other countries, “they could get all the credit”.

On the other hand, Sir Frank Williams explained that “we are in Qatar to invest in applying F1 technology to everyday life, par-ticularly road safety. The team has had a long affinity with the Middle East, including when I was first sponsored by a Saudi airline company in 1977”.

Frank Williams added that “the prince is, and has been for a very long time, an advocate of road safety and has a rela-tionship with the Ruling Family here. He is here to understand what we’re doing with road safety in Qatar”. THE PENINSULA

Williams promotes road safetyBritish F1 team developing simulator with accurate images of Doha

Prince Michael of Kent (left) at Williams Technology Centre at Qatar Science and Technology Park yesterday. ABDUL BASIT

06 HOMETUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2012

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

DOHA: Qatar Petroleum (QP) and the College of North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q) yes-terday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) covering the general framework and gov-erning principles of their coop-eration related to the training and professional development of QP staff.

The MoU was signed by the Minister of Energy and Industry, who is also the Chairman and Managing Director of QP H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada and Dr Latifa Ibrahim Al Houty, Vice Chair of the Executive Committee and the Joint Oversight Board of CNA-Q.

The signing ceremony, which was held at QP headquarters, was attended by many senior officials from both QP and CNA-Q as well as by members of the media.

“This agreement reflects our

firm commitment to the full development of our employees as we provide them with varied opportunities for further skills development and training, thus ultimately boosting their effi-ciency and confidence in the per-formance of their duties.

“The MOU also reaffirms our confidence in the capacity of local providers, like CNA-Q, in delivering high-quality training programs to our staff,” said Dr Al Sada.

Under the MoU, QP and CNA-Q will establish a solid relationship in developing and conducting technical, vocational and corporate training as well as professional development programmes for QP employees, besides undertaking collaborative applied research projects.

CNA-Q is providing train-ing and development to 916

trainees and employees from QP and its affiliates under the following programmes: Technicians, Clerical Preparation Programme (CPP) certificate, Engineering Technology, Business Administration, Information Technology and Lab Technician.

Up to 226 of these trainees are expected to graduate by next year. Since 2010, QP had a total of 816 graduates who had completed various programmes offered by CNA-Q.

This is the third MoU to be signed by QP this year with edu-cational institutions and non-profit organisations.

In early January, the corpora-tion also signed a similar coop-eration agreement with the Qatar Foundation, and this was followed by another agreement in May with Qatar University.

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CNA-Q inks deal to train QP staff

The Minister of Energy and Industry and Chairman and Managing Director of QP, H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada and Dr Latifa Ibrahim Al Houty, Vice Chair of the Executive Committee and the Joint Oversight Board of CNA-Q exchanging the documents.

DOHA: Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFS-Q) is set to host Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Thani, Chairman of Qtel Group, who will be holding a lec-ture in the Georgetown SFS-Q auditorium entitled ‘Technology and the Changing Arab World’ today at 6pm.

As the Chairman of the Board of Directors for Qatar Telecom (Qtel) and Qtel Group since 2000, Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani, will bring his insights on how technology is shaping the Arab World in today’s fast paced tech savvy environ-ment with the public audience at SFS-Q.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani, said: “Technology and the digital generation is a key topic in Qatar, the Middle East and North Africa region, and the entire world. At Qtel Group, we have a vital inter-est in delivering life-enhancing services to our customers, ena-bling socio-economic development and cross-cultural conversations through social media. It is a pleasure to address Qatar’s stu-dents and thought leaders, who are able to foster positive changes in domestic and international affairs.”

Sheikh Abdullah has been instrumental in the restructur-ing and regional expansion of Qtel, taking it from being a single nation operator to a group with a presence in 17 countries from North Africa to South East Asia.

Mehran Kamrava, Director of the Centre for International and Regional Studies at Georgetown (CIRS) commented on Qatar’s growing prominence in this field.

“We are pleased to host the discussion by Qtel’s Chair Sheikh Abdullah on the interplay between technology and the digital genera-tion,” Kamrava said.

Event registration is required: CIRSevents@georgetown.edu or 4457 8400. THE PENINSULA

Qtel chief to talk about technology at SFS-Q lecture

DOHA: Aspire-Med, one of three conferences included in this year’s Aspire4Sport con-gress and expo, has confirmed a range of world-renowned experts and decision makers as speakers, organisers said yesterday.

Under the patronage of the Minister of Health and Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Health, H E Abdulla bin Khalid Al Qahtani, the conference will start with a welcoming speech by Dr Khalifa Al Kuwari, CEO of Aspetar who will introduce a keynote address by Dr Hanan Al Kuwari, Managing Director of Hamad Medical Corporation, representing the minister.

Included on the list of speakers is Dr Mario Zorzoli, Chief Doctor of the International Cycling Union [UCI] who was a member of the UCI leadership team that reviewed the US Anti-Doping Agency’s [USADA] case against cyclist Lance Armstrong.

Speakers covering all spe-cialities in sports medicine, sports science and sports per-formance research include; Dr Adbulhameed Al Attar, Chairman of Sports Medicine Committee, United Arab Emirates National Olympic Committee; Dr Ghazi Sarhan, Consultant Physical Therapist and EMG, Bahrain Physical Therapy Centre; Prof Jaspal S Sandhu, Secretary General of the Asian Federation of Sports Medicine; Prof Roald Bahr, Chief Medical Officer, Norwegian Olympic Committee.

Dozens o f o ther

physiotherapists, orthopaedic surgeons, doctors of sports med-icine, dieticians, trainers and coaches are expected at Aspire-Med - a unique and fascinating one-day conference focusing on the challenges faced by the world’s leading sports medicine and sports science professionals.

Supported by Aspetar Qatar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital, the conference boasts dynamic sessions on preven-tion, rehabilitation and innova-tive treatments of sports injuries will be delivered in addition to engaging case studies on athlete’s psychology, sport physiology and performance enhancement.

Attendees will explore a wide range of related topics including; Sport Physiology: Discovering Why and How Specific Training Affect Performances, Maximising Sport Performance in Hot Climatic Conditions and Genetically Modified Athletes: Myth or Reality?

Aspire4Sport, the Middle East’s leading sports business congress and exhibition, will return this year from November 12 to 15 delivering three different conferences for each day of the event; Aspire Build, Aspire Tech and Aspire-Med.

The world-class congress is a platform for leading sports per-sonalities, managers and deci-sion-makers who will deliver informative, opportunity-driven and versatile content and pro-vide opportunities to discuss the latest trends, technologies and breakthroughs in the world of sport. THE PENINSULA

Top medics to take part in Aspire forum Aspire4Sport meet from Nov 12-15

DOHA: Qatar University (QU) will host the fourth annual con-ference of the Middle East and North Africa Association for Institutional Research (MENA AIR) from November 7 to 9.

Under the theme of “Innovations in institutional research: promoting institu-tional effectiveness in the MENA region” the three-day forum will bring together international experts to discuss best practice in data gathering and institutional research specifically in higher education.

Institutional research (IR) enables organisations to collect data in a targeted way, analyse it and implement changes which will benefit the organisation as a

whole in terms of its efficiency, effectiveness, satisfaction of staff and its overall reputation. QU has used IR to make improvements across the university and it plays a crucial part in the university’s application for international accreditation.

Organised by QU’s Office for Planning and Development (OIPD), this year’s event will attract professionals in the field of institutional research, plan-ning, assessment, quality assur-ance, institutional effectiveness and accreditation from across the region and USA.

The formal opening session will take place on November 8, when QU President Prof Sheikha Abdulla Al Misnad will deliver the

keynote speech, along with MENA AIR President Rasha Radwan. The session will be facilitated by Dr Jamir Chowdhury, Director of Institutional Research at QU. Following the conference, Dr Chowdhury will assume the posi-tion of President of MENA AIR for the academic year 2012-13.

QU President Prof Sheikha Al Misnad said: “MENA-AIR conference provides an oppor-tunity for expert institutional researchers to come together and share their insights and lessons learned. It also plays a crucial role in improving professional-ism among key players in the field to prepare them to develop strategic plans, conduct extensive research and provide, enhance,

and maintain a quality of edu-cation that matches the highest international standards.

“As the host, QU is committed to delivering excellent education in Qatar, in line with the best international practices.”

The conference will include plenary sessions, workshops and panel discussions that will cover areas including strategic plan-ning, accreditation, sharing best practice, online evaluation of teaching and learning and qual-ity assurance and will be led by experts from across the MENA region and the USA.

The programme is available at http://mena-air.org/MENA-AIR/preliminary_program.

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QU to host annual regional research forum

DOHA: The Traffic Department has launched a new initiative to train members of different expatriate communities who can support in its ongoing traf-fic safety campaign.

The first training programme for representatives of more than 40 Asian community organisa-tions was held recently at the headquarters of the Traffic Department.

This is a new initiative to spread traffic safety awareness among the expatriate communities.

The department will train select members from different communities on traffic safety, who will then conduct aware-ness programmes for the respec-tive communities in their native languages. “In this way we aim to reach out to more people in a more organised manner,” said a source at the Department.

Some 43 trainees representing 43 community organisations from eight Asian countries attended the first training session that focused on the basic aspects of traffic safety.

The participants were from India (19), Nepal (nine), Filipino (six), Sri Lanka (four), Bangladesh (one), Pakistan (three) and Indonesia (one).

The training programme was part of the “Pedestrian Safety Campaign 2012 - 2013” which started last Ramadan to raise awareness on pedestrian safety, especially among the expatriate labourers.

In his inaugural address, Director of Traffic Department Brig Mohammed Saad Al Kharji said: “We urge the commu-nity representatives attend-ing this session to spread these safety messages to the highest number of members from their communities.”

The four hour training pro-gramme led by the Director of Karwa Training Centre Robert

G Mokando was held in two ses-sions. Faisal Al Hudawi of Public Relations Department at the Ministry of Interior presented the first session on the topic “Pedestrian accidents: Reasons and remedies”, while the second session on the topic “common traffic mistakes” was presented by Robert Mokando.

The presentations shed light to the reasons for traffic acci-dents involving pedestrians such as difference in traffic system between Qatar and countries of the expatriate workforce, absence of traffic culture among labourers, and difference in the speed limit on highways in Qatar and their countries,.

Wrong calculation of speed by pedestrians, weak eye sight of some road users, work pressure and depression because of the new job atmosphere, wrong crossing of roundabouts and negligence of traffic rules and regulations and to self safety have also been cited as reasons. In his presenta-tion Mokando explained the most common mistake committed by drivers and the pedestrians.

These include a failure to move the vehicles to the nearest park-ing area in case of minor acci-dents, driving vehicles slowly on the fast track, especially by new drivers from Asian countries, talking on the phone while driv-ing, not fastening seat belts by drivers and the front seat pas-senger, approaching the signals and roundabouts in high speed, running red signals and overtak-ing from the right side.

The next training session for representatives of other commu-nity organisations will be held in December.

Those interested to participate have been asked to send a fax mentioning their interest along with the contact numbers and email to 44323339.

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Traffic Department to train expat groups on road safety

DOHA: American University of Sharjah (AUS) will continue its regional roadshow and student recruitment campaign in Qatar, introducing the university’s accredited programmes, aca-demic excellence and multicul-tural campus life to prospective students from across the region.

The roadshow began in Kuwait, followed by Qatar until November 8 and ends in Jordan on November 17.

As a good proportion of AUS students come from the various Middle Eastern countries, the roadshow gives interested high school students the opportunity to discover whether they can pursue their studies at AUS, which places special emphasis not only on study but also on personal, social and cultural growth.

Being the main provider of high-quality American style higher edu-cation in the Gulf region, AUS accepts only distinguished stu-dents who are among the top 20 percent of high school graduates.

AUS Chancellor Dr Peter Heath stated: “In just 15 years, AUS has become the benchmark for quality university education in the Gulf,

favoured by students, parents and employers. Students come to AUS to experience true campus life within a regional setting, and for the quality of teaching and learning experiences we provide. Our track record and independ-ent accreditations attest to this. The excellent quality of educa-tion offered by AUS and the great student life within a fully self-sustained campus is unmatched in the MENA region.”

AUS, recently named one of the top 500 universities worldwide by QS World University Ranking, is one of the few institutions accredited by the Commission for Academic Accreditation of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in the United Arab Emirates and by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools in the United States.

During their Qatar roadshow, AUS representatives will be avail-able at the Concorde Hotel Doha, Al Matar Street, until November 8 to meet parents and prospec-tive applicants from 5pm to 8pm each day. AUS’ bachelor of

science programmes in chemi-cal engineering, civil engineering, computer engineering, compu-ter science, electrical engineer-ing and mechanical engineering are accredited by ABET, of the United States while the Bachelor of Architecture programme of the College of Architecture, Art and Design is accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting

Board (NAAB) of the United States. The Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) as well as the Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) degrees are accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

THE PENINSULA

American University of Sharjah to hold roadshow

A view of the main building of the American University of Sharjah.

HOME 07TUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2012

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DTFF to focus on diverseaspects of film makingDOHA: Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF), the cul-tural celebration of Doha Film Institute (DFI), will highlight the diverse aspects of filmmak-ing – from story development, implementation of technology, to distribution, at ‘Doha Talks,’ featuring a series of 13 thought-provoking industry events, spe-cial screenings, and extended Q&A sessions with renowned filmmakers.

From an ‘In Conversation with Robert De Niro,’ to discuss some of the most illustrious moments in his career, to vivid insights on of the making of The Reluctant Fundamentalist with Mira Nair, mapping her dynamic journey through five cities on three con-tinents; the public panels at this year’s Doha Talks will debate the key issues in the regional and international cinematic landscape.

Headlining the Doha Talks seg-ment are the Industry Events, open to industry guests, will fea-ture over 45 regional and inter-national industry professionals and veterans. Doha Talks aims to stimulate dialogue, promote the skills of emerging talent and discuss the newest trends in the global filmmaking landscape.

In addition to the ‘In Conversation with Robert

De Niro’ and ‘The Global Landscape: Making the Reluctant Fundamentalist,’ the public pan-els under Doha Talks include: Transmedia: Storytelling in the Digital Age, which explores the boundaries of film in correlation to gaming, modern technology, and the future of storytelling; Khaleeji Films: Overcoming Stereotypes, discussing the regional and international influences on cur-rent Khaleeji filmmaking; Going Global: Can Bollywood Films Really Cross Over?, which empha-sises the future of Bollywood’s audience saturation; Emerging Cinema of Change, hosted by Northwestern University Qatar and representing the continuity of socially conscious films, and an evolving cinematic language and form; and Express Yourself, exploring creative potential in the young and the young-at heart; in addition to two extended Q&As for Michael Singh’s Valentino’s Ghost and Rambod Javan’s No Entry for Men.

Panelists include actors Robert Deniro and Hend Sabry, actor, producer and writer Jeremy Brock, Academy award win-ning editor and producer Lisa Fruchtman, filmmakers Mira Nair, Hayfa Al Mansour, Shimit Amin, Michael Singh, Rambod Javan and Ashutosh Gowariker,

producers Titus Kreyenberg, Kurt Woolner, Bassam Al Thawadi and animator Mohammed Saeed Harib amongst others.

Another key component of the Festival is Doha Projects, DFI’s innovative industry programme, which will pave the path for 40 DFI grantees to network with regional and international film experts through one-on-one meetings and exclusive sessions. Aiming to nurture home-grown cinema talent, Doha Projects will enable the participants to engage in productive meetings and net-working sessions for potential development, realisation, distri-bution, and promotion of their works internationally.

Building upon the mandate of DFI’s Film Financing divison, Doha Projects will link projects with mentors and financiers through a series of industry ses-sions including: Distribution and How to make your Film Travel, which highlights different ter-ritories, market trends and dis-tribution platforms; Investment Strategies in the Global Film Industry, hosted by Miramax, offering valuable insight into emerging trends, risk mitigation, available financing options, and distribution models, among oth-ers.

THE PENINSULA

Qatar Airways playing crucial role in economic growth: CEODOHA/ WASHINGTON DC: Aviation has been a key compo-nent of the economic backbone of Qatar and Qatar Airways, the country’s national carrier, has been highly instrumental in transforming Doha into an international business destina-tion and a tourist centre, Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker told an elite gathering in the US.

Al Baker was speaking at the 21st Annual Arab-US Policy Makers Conference in the US capital on the topics, ‘unprece-dented emergence of the aviation sector in the GCC’

Addressing policymakers, stu-dents, intelligence officials and governmental leaders, Al Baker spoke of how Qatar Airways was increasingly playing a pivotal role in Qatar’s economic growth.

He said the GCC region stood apart as a powerful base in global aviation, spurring new alliances, international route expansion and uncompromising service

standards. The GCC’s draw as a tourist destination and economic hub continued to fuel the region’s unprecedented growth on the world stage, he stressed.

“At Qatar Airways and in Qatar we want to nurture a continua-tion of the region’s growth. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to link Doha with as many glo-bal gateways as possible,” said Al Baker. “We believe that by being a global connector, we act as an enabler; a purveyor of economic growth, bringing people and busi-nesses closer together,” he added.

During his speech, Al Baker ear-marked the close relationship Qatar and the GCC countries shared with the US. “US exports to Qatar include aircraft, machinery, cars, trucks and agricultural products, as well as uni-versities with American educational establishments in Qatar. Hundreds of Qataris study at US academic institutions every year, both in campuses in Qatar and across the United States.

“We look forward to even more

US investment in Qatar as we move forward with a National Development Strategy which is designed to improve infrastruc-ture, real estate and medical facil-ities over the next decade and is funded in part from the expand-ing tourism and conference indus-try which is made possible, again, by Qatar Airways,” he added.

Al Baker also spoke about Qatar Airways’ involvement in GTL (Gas to Liquids) projects in Doha which will not only support Qatar’s own environmental initiatives, but the entire world since the fuel that will be developed can be exported and used by other airlines.

Other speakers included Mohamed bin Abdulla Al Rumaihi, Ambassador of Qatar to the US; Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, former Saudi Ambassador to the US; and Jose W Fernandez, the cur-rent US Assistant Secretary of State for Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs.

THE PENINSULA

ROME: The Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee has signed an agreement with Interpol, the world’s largest international police organisation, to create a Group of Major Sporting Event Security Experts to ensure the safety and security of 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.

At a ceremony at Interpol’s General Assembly, the Chairman of Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee’s Security Committee, H E Sheikh Abdulla bin Nasser Al Thani, met with Ronald K Noble, Secretary General of Interpol, to sanction terms of the agreement that will see Interpol provide a permanent Chairperson and Vice Chairperson to assist the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee in its planning.

The Interpol Group of Major Event Security Experts will bring together specialised law enforce-ment professionals and security experts from all regions of the world to offer assistance and consultation to the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee on security strategy, framework and practices

throughout Qatar to help ensure that the safety and security of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar™.

The former Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police Service, Janet Williams, who led and oversaw policing protective security plan-ning for the 2012 London Olympic Games, will chair the new Group.

H E Sheikh Abdulla bin Nasser Al Thani said: “We recognise that hosting the Fifa World Cup, one of the world’s largest international sporting events, will entail a wide variety of challenges. By working with Interpol and its network of 190 member countries, the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee will be able to draw on a pool of expertise from around the world on how best to host a successful and safe tournament while adhering to the highest international standards.

He added: “Together we are committed to identifying further areas of cooperation in which Interpol’s global tools and interna-tional law enforcement networks can further support our national and regional security. The Qatar

2022 Supreme Committee looks forward to close collaboration on other strategic initiatives.”

The Group’s scope of work will also extend to providing advice, guidance and robust training to Qatar’s Ministry of Interior in preparing for the security for the 2022 Fifa World Cup Qatar, in addition to developing strategic partnerships with international and national partners to help pro-mote security and ensure com-pliance with major event security standards and best practices.

Interpol Secretary General Ronald K Noble said that Qatar’s support for the initiative demon-strated its commitment to ensur-ing the highest standards in event security.

“The Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee has shown great lead-ership in the area of security for its country, its people and the mil-lions of football fans who will visit the region during the 2022 Fifa World Cup and we are delighted that they share Interpol’s vision for a safer world,” said Noble.

THE PENINSULA

BY FAZEENA SALEEM

DOHA: The fourth World Innovation Summit for Education is likely to make sev-eral announcements about new projects, besides launch of a sig-nificant new education initia-tive, during the three-day event to be held next week.

“There will be more new announcements during the first and second days of the summit,” said Dr Abdulla bin Ali Al Thani, Chairman of WISE, at a press conference held at the Hamad bin Khalifa University yesterday.

However, he did not reveal details about the new initiatives.

H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, while speaking at the United Nations at the launch of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s Education First Initiative on September 26, had said she will launch a significant new edu-cation initiative that will be a practical and powerful step towards getting 61 million chil-dren into school at the 2012 WISE Summit.

This year more than 1,000 prominent education, corporate, political and social leaders from over 100 countries will gather for the Summit at the Qatar National Convention Centre.

They will explore how col-laboration in many forms and at many levels can become the driving force of efforts to inspire innovation in education and to design long-term strategies for its renewal.

Besides its regular features, the WISE together with the Northwestern University-Qatar and the Virginia Commonwealth University-Qatar will commence a photography exhibition tomor-row on education at the Sheraton

Park, where the public will be able to communicate with the pho-tographers. This year too Qatar Petroleum (QP) and ExxonMobil will continue as the cooperate partners of the WISE summit.

“WISE is based on a conviction that education is both a collective need and an individual right. If we are to overcome the global issues of our times we must mobilise all the talents at our disposal,” said Dr Al Thani.

“At the same time, those indi-viduals who have not benefited from education risk becoming increasingly marginalised in our societies. I am very pleased that two of the main players in our country’s current hydro-carbons-based economy– Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil, share our understanding of the urgency of this task and have reaffirmed their association with WISE as corporate part-ners. I am grateful to them for their continuing support,” he added.

Speaking about the cooperate responsibility in education, Bart Cahir, President and General Manager of ExxonMobil Qatar, explained that private organisa-tions and foundations can only support the governments in implementing policies.

“We believe that companies, organisations and non-govern-mental organisations can help and compliment the work of gov-ernments and schools in prepar-ing the next generation of people to work in a highly competitive work place,” Cahir said.

“When it comes to education governments should be the corner stones, they should provide the basic services and the outreach services,” he added.

THE PENINSULA

Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee signs agreement with Interpol

The Minister of State for Interior Affairs and the Chairman of Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee’s Security Committee H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani with the Italian Interior Minister Anna Maria Cancellieri in Rome, yesterday.

WISE to announce several new projects

3.5pc increase in country’s sports facilitiesDOHA: The number of sport facilities in Qatar increased by 3.5 percent over one year, according to latest data released by the Qatar Statistics Authority (QSA).

The number of sport facilities in 2011 reached 320, an increase of 3.5 percent compared to 2010. The number of administrators in national sport federations totalled 727, of which Qatari represented 85 percent.

The Annual Statistical Abstract’s Chapter on Sport includes data on sport activities, organisations, establishments and facilities.

This chapter also includes data on coaches, referees and ath-letes by age group for all sports, national and international tour-naments as well as training camps organised for them

The number of coaches and assistants made up 1,213, of which Qatari totalled 23 per-cent. The number of referees of various grades in national sport federations was 1,134, of which Qatari constituted 43 percent in 2011.

The number of athletes of dif-ferent age groups enrolled in dif-ferent games at national sport federations stood at 17,337, of which males formed 93 percent, while the number of disabled athletes registered in the Sport Federation was 252, of which females made up 24 percent.

The number of club national tournaments conducted during 2011 for several age groups and games stood at 784, whereas the number of club international tournaments amounted to 20.

Data indicates that daily exer-cise average in Furjan stadiums was 2,131 during 2011.

THE PENINSULA

Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker (centre), with former Saudi Ambassador to the US Prince Turki Al Faisal (right), during the 21st Annual Arab-US Policy Makers Conference in Washington, yesterday.

Public panels to debate regional, global cinematic landscape

DOHA: The President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, is arriving here on a two-day offi-cial visit today and top of his agenda is to woo investments.

The visit is taking place at the invitation of H H the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, a Pakistan embassy release said yesterday. This is the first bilateral visit of a Pakistani head of state after a gap of seven years.

“After the official talks with the Emir, President Asif Ali Zardari will meet with busi-nessmen and delegates from the Chamber of Commerce,” Muhammad Sarfaraz Khanzada, the Ambassador of Pakistan to Qatar, told The Peninsula.

“Because this is a purely offi-cial visit, there are no plans for a community get-together with the President so far,” he said.

Ministers and officials from

both sides will review various aspects of bilateral cooperation, focusing on sectors including energy, agriculture, livestock, banking, security, joint invest-ment as well as other regional and international issues of common interest. The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani is also expected to join the summit level talks.

THE PENINSULA

Pakistan president to woo investments

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The other side

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Editorial

Need for unity

THE situation in Syria is so complex and expectations so low that any small step towards finding a solution to the conflict and overthrowing the regime of President Bashar Al Assad

should be welcomed and pursued rigorously. It’s for this reason that the meeting currently being held in Doha of the Syrian opposition leaders is watched closely and with great expectation both by ordinary Syrians and the international community. The meeting has great objectives: to unify the opposition groups so that they can maximise results in the fight against Assad; to try to form a government-in-exile to increase pressure on Assad; and negotiate with the international community as a single front, so that it’s easy for foreign backers to provide support.

The Doha meeting is the best thing to happen to the uprising in the recent past. No revolution can succeed without the unity of the opposi-tion, and lack of unity has been one of the biggest problems plaguing the revolution. For several months, the fighting has been going on without proper coordination, raising doubts about the ability of the opposition to close ranks and succeed in their mission.

The meeting in Doha is the result of intense pressure from the US and Arab countries on opposition to come together or be defeated by Assad’s forces. As the meeting enters the third day today, there has been some progress on key issues. Yesterday, the main opposition

bloc, the Syrian National Council, decided to expand their member-ship, which will include broadening its structure to accommodate 13 other groups. Participants “have agreed a restructuring plan and to reduce the number of (current) members of the general secretariat to accommodate 200 new members representing 13 political groups and independents,” said SNC spokesman Ahmad Kamel. According to him, the existing membership would be reduced from 313 to 220 to pave the way for the additional 200 members.

Qatar too has been urging the opposition to unite under a single leadership. “I think the meeting in Doha is very important. I think everybody is waiting to see an agreement between all the Syrian oppo-sition,” the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani said. A single opposition will be the first step towards forming a government-in-exile, which can coordinate with the rebels in Syria and with the international community.

Despite the success we are seeing at the meeting, the challenges ahead are stupendous. It will require plenty of determination and patience for the opposition groups to stay united, as they are likely to be pulled in opposite directions due to their competing interests. Also, the prospect of power can be a divisive influence.

The opposition groups need to realise that if they miss the current chance for unity, none will be able to predict the future of this revolution.

Many people are still caught in euphoria of Arab Spring,

but what we’re seeing in the Arab Spring is basically an

entrenchment of conservative religious parties. Quote of

the day

Syrian opposition groups are taking bold steps towards unity, but they must

realise that there is no alternative.

Partners for prosperity Anwar GargashUAE Minister of State for Foreign

Affairs

BY GARY YOUNGE

AS Sandy inched closer, coverage of the campaign – like the campaigning

itself – was suspended. All talk of gridlock was eclipsed by scenes of mayhem. One day reporters were standing in front of elec-toral maps analysing every poll, demographic and gaffe while speculating about the outcome. The next they were stand-ing in sou’westers in wind and rain speculating about where it would make landfall. For a few days Ohio got a reprieve while New Jersey got a battering, and pollsters took a back seat while meteorologists drove the story.

But when the winds subsided and the campaigns resumed, the dynamics of the race had changed and the validity of those arguments had been challenged. The hurricane and its aftermath helped illustrate the vacuity of this election campaign, what’s at stake in its outcome, and who’s

responsible for the gridlock. With the frenetic polling and endless punditry, there may have been precious little calm before the storm but there was a greater degree of clarity after it.

Beyond a punchline for Romney at the Republican con-vention, climate change simply has not come up during this election. Moderators didn’t ask about it during the presidential debates, and both Obama and Romney were too busy posing as friends of oil and coal to men-tion it. While no single storm can be attributed to climate change, warming oceans make them more likely – and a clear pattern is emerging that would help to explain an occurrence such as Sandy. As the New York Times’s Nicolas Kristof pointed out, three of the 10 biggest floods in lower Manhattan since 1900 have occurred in the past three years, while seven of the 10 warmest summers on record have taken place in the past 12.

But to raise an issue like this during an election takes the kind of political courage that has long been in short supply. Given the hours of coverage and the bil-lions of dollars devoted to the election, it’s stunning how few of the nation’s most glaring prob-lems are being discussed. The US now has more people in its penal system than the Soviet gulag at its height; its capital city has a male life expectancy lower than that of the Gaza Strip; and the country openly operates a system of torture and a policy of targeted assassination. The fact that nobody even expects these issues to come up tells you something about the low expec-tations Americans have of their politicians.

But Sandy concentrated minds. Disasters have a way of doing that. Its arrival prised a much coveted endorsement for Obama from the New York city mayor, Michael Bloomberg, an independent who formerly ran as

a Republican. “The devastation that Hurricane Sandy brought to New York City and much of the north-east … brought the stakes of next Tuesday’s presi-dential election into sharp relief,” he said. True, Obama had not campaigned on it – but at the very least he acknowledges its existence, made some efforts to address it, and is not beholden to a party that refuses to accept the science.

As Bloomberg was penning his endorsement, Obama was touring storm-hit areas with the Republican governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie. Christie, Romney’s first pick for vice-president, delivered a keynote speech at the Republican con-vention. The week before, he had described the president as “a man wandering around a dark room, hands up against the wall, clutching for the light switch of leadership, and he just can’t find it”. Last week, when the lights went out, he praised Obama for

his handling of the storm, say-ing: “The president has been all over this and he deserves great credit.”

While Sandy prompted both Bloomberg’s and Christie’s con-versions, elsewhere in the coun-try came evidence of a deeper split in Republican ranks. In the Nebraska Senate race, several Republicans came out against the Tea Party-supported candi-date and for the Democrat, Bob Kerrey.

A week earlier, George Bush’s former secretary of state Colin Powell – a Republican – broke ranks again to back Obama. “I think I’m a Republican of more moderate mould and that’s some-thing of a dying breed, I’m sorry to say,” he said. “But, you know, the Republicans I worked for are President Reagan, President Bush, the Howard Bakers of the world, people who were conserva-tive … but people who recognise that, at the end of the day, you got to find a basis for compromise.

Compromise is how this country runs.”

Powell’s breed may be further from extinction than has been apparent. For the past four years, Tea Party activists have been claiming they want to take their country back. Now a growing number of Republicans appear to want to take their party back.

And so it was that by the end of last week you got a sense of what an Obama presidency might have been, and might be again, were it not for the wilful obstruction of an opposition whose primary stated aim was to deny him a second term: too timid for what is necessary but nonetheless the best that is possible within the narrow confines of American electoralism. Of course, he still has to win on Tuesday, which is by no means certain. But the dying days of the campaign put to rest one of the cases against him that has gained most trac-tion among waverers.

THE GUARDIAN

AT A time when the global financial recovery is still facing many uncertainties, the need for countries to build consensus and forge cooperation has become ever stronger. The ninth Asia-

Europe Meeting, scheduled to commence Monday in Vientiane, Laos, presents an opportunity for leaders from the two continents to deepen understanding and launch more initiatives for meaningful collaboration.

As a high-level and broad-ranging platform for the governments of Asian and European countries, the ASEM can play a bigger role in facilitating better communication between countries with different economic and cultural backgrounds.

With the theme, “Friends for Peace, Partners for Prosperity”, the leaders from 51 members are expected to focus on the problems facing the global economy.

Since the debt crisis in the eurozone shows no significant signs of abating and Asian economies are starting to slow, ASEM leaders should build on the current momentum of cooperation between the two con-tinents and explore new ways to forge cooperation in trade and other regional and global issues, such as new energy and climate change.

Premier Wen Jiabao’s attendance shows China’s support of this multilateral mechanism. He is expected to elaborate China’s views on the global economic and financial situation and put forward sugges-tions on strengthening cooperation, in a bid to boost the stability of the world economy.

Despite the economic crisis, the European Union remains the main export market for most Asian countries. In 2011, goods worth almost $1 trillion traveled from Asia to European destinations, while European goods worth more than $600 billion arrived at Asian ports.

To tap the potential of trade and economic cooperation, countries in Asia and the Europe should voice their support for free trade and oppose trade protectionism. They should not allow their differences on regional and global issues to divert their attention from focusing on far more important agendas.

Since ASEM was founded in 1996, China has committed itself to dialogue and cooperation, and its robust relationship with the EU has played an important role in Asia’s interaction with Europe.

It is hoped this week’s conversation in Vientiane will help build mutual trust, enhance cooperation and boost regional and global con-fidence in growth and development.

CHINA DAILY

A Mitt Romney win would reward bad behaviour

Cartoon Arts International / The New York Times Syndicate

VIEWS 09TUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2012

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If Pakistan really wants to combat the fundamentalists, it

should be protecting its children and

their teachers.BY MOHAMMED HANIF

Apparently, Pakistanis don’t need the Taliban to destroy their schools any more – they can do it themselves. Last week, a girls’ high school was

set ablaze in Pakistan’s second largest city, Lahore. And no, the Taliban were not the culprits. A mob, enraged after allegations of blasphemy against a teacher, carried out the attack. Instead of taking action against them, the police arrested the school’s 77-year-old owner.

The accused teacher, who allegedly commit-ted blasphemy by photocopying the wrong page of a book for homework, is in hiding. Pakistan may have declared an “education emergency” earlier this year, but it still fails to protect the schools it already has. How did we get here?

“They have shut down girls’ schools,” I told a childhood friend who was effusively prais-ing the Pakistani Taliban after its temporary takeover of the Swat valley three years ago. Malala Yousafzai, the 14-year-old Pakistani peace activist shot last month by the Taliban, was a bored 11-year-old schoolgirl then. My friend lived about 350 miles away from Swat, and had three daughters. His reasons for liking the Taliban were simple: they were local heroes who had decided to take things into their own hands. “If only people in our area had the same courage,” he said. “Would you like a Taliban-type system here in your city?” I asked him. Yes, of course, he would.

Every morning, my friend drove two of his daughters to school and was pretty certain that one of them would go to medical school. “But the Taliban don’t allow girls’ education. What will happen when they shut down your daughters’ school?” I asked. My friend was puz-zled, but only for a moment. “They wouldn’t do that here. What they did in Swat is their culture, Pashtun culture.”

Not educating girls is not the only myth about Pashtuns: Pashtun mothers produce sons so that they can send them to war; fathers will shoot their daughters if a stranger sees their faces. Of course, as the myth goes, they also don’t want to send their daughters to schools. And why do they need to send their sons to school anyway, if they are born soldiers in an eternal jihad?

But there was no evidence of any such Pashtun culture in the Swat valley I had vis-ited the day before our conversation. When the Taliban made their bid to rule the region, Swat could have easily passed as the education capi-tal of Pakistan. There were law schools, medi-cal schools, nursing schools and more computer schools than any other valley of this size could accommodate. And that’s without counting the hundreds of informal beauty schools that provide on-the-job training for girls so poor they can’t afford any other type of education.

A lot of Pakistanis, as well as people the world over, have expressed their solidarity with Malala by doing the obligatory status update or tweet: “We are all Malala”. But for most people, she is someone else’s child and will remain so. She is a child whose name can be invoked to start another military operation, a child whose name can be used to prove the blindingly obvi-ous – that parents, whatever their religion or culture, would like their children to be at school – if they can afford it.

What is conveniently ignored in the debate over Malala is the fact that every 10th child in the world who doesn’t go to school is Pakistani. The Taliban are not the only ones keeping kids out of school. Some fairly secularly minded people think of Pakistan’s children as someone else’s children – not deserving the education that their money buys for their own kids. As such, Pakistan is a booming marketplace for

private education. Ask anyone on the street, and they’ll tell you it’s the biggest business in Pakistan.

You can see people on donkey carts driv-ing their children to private schools that offer English-medium education in air-conditioned rooms for 400 rupees a month. Every morn-ing, in every small town and city, you can see kids – three on a bicycle, five on a motorbike, 10 squeezed into a rickshaw – all heading for a school somewhere. Girls top almost all uni-versity exam tables in Pakistan.

Whatever sad destiny the country may be hurtling towards, there is one thing standing between Pakistan and the Taliban’s dream of heaven on earth: the number of women who have been to school, and the number of women who couldn’t go to school but are determined to send their daughters to school, no matter the economic imperative. Whatever your ideas about a good Muslim girl, you can’t really lock up 90 million of them behind closed doors.

Listen to the Taliban, not to their cuddly intellectual friends, and you begin to get a clearer picture. Their apologists in political parties may try to prove that girls’ education is an invention of the infidels, but the Taliban seem to know what they are talking about. An educated female population is more threaten-ing to them than armies equipped with all-seeing drones.

THE GUARDIAN

BY BY BENJAMIN KANG LIM

Outgoing Chinese presi-dent Hu Jintao is keeping the nation and the rest of the world guessing over whether he will seek to

hang on as armed forces chief, sources said, highlighting a potentially seri-ous weakness in Beijing’s succession planning.

The question of when Hu will hand over the reins as chairman of the Central Military Commission, the supreme deci-sion-making body for the armed forces, is one of the biggest uncertainties sur-rounding China’s current transition to a new administration.

Hu currently heads the Communist Party, the government and the military and is due to hand over all three positions to Xi, his current vice president, though not at the same time. He hands over the party job this month, the presidency next March and there is no clear timing for when the military post changes hands.

With the new political leadership just days away from being officially unveiled at a party congress, this underlines how the process of handing over all the instruments of power is still evolving in China, which has nuclear arms and boasts a 2.3 million-strong military.

Currently the world’s second-biggest economy, it has managed a bloodless leadership transition only once before -- when Jiang Zemin handed power to Hu in the early 2000’s.

Even sources with ties to the lead-ership and military are divided over whether, or for how long, Hu will linger as their boss, though they said that top generals had asked him recently to stay on at least until early 2013.

“The PLA wants Hu to stay on to ensure continuity during this difficult period,” one source said, requesting

anonymity to avoid repercussions for discussing sensitive leadership issues.

The top brass made the request to Hu a few months ago, hopeful perhaps that his continued leadership of the armed forces would help preserve their own influence during a tricky transition period, the sources said.

“Hu’s final decision is unknown...,” a second source said.

Hu has three options for handing over the military job: pass it to Xi this month along with the party post, relinquish it early next year along with the presi-dency, or follow the example of Jiang, who kept the military post for two years after stepping down as president.

Jiang’s move caused internal rancour at the time, and China experts say the prospect of Hu doing something simi-lar would have the potential to raise tensions again, pointing out that Xi, the new leader, would end up serving beneath Hu on the Central Military Commission for a prolonged period.

In addition, Hu would preside over the military commission without being part of the party’s Politburo Standing Committee, the apex of power in China.

Cheng Li, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, believes Hu and Xi would rub along in this scenario, given they have worked together closely for five years already, and that Beijing’s consensus-style poli-tics is designed to avoid destabilising personal conflicts or power plays.

But uncertainty over this aspect of leadership succession reveals a govern-ance problem which has potential to cause friction, depending on the per-sonalities involved, he said.

“Potentially it could be a very seri-ous problem,” Cheng said, adding that Beijing should make its decision-mak-ing more transparent, and drawing a contrast with Western democracies

where “we know who is the boss and decision-maker”.

“Now of course China should improve its decision-making mechanism, and at least define who should do what, and who has autonomy, the power, the authority to make the decision, but at the same time to define the limitations (of power).”

HU’S BIG DECISION

With no clearly established pat-tern for when to hand over the role of armed forces chief in China, a debate has sprung up within the party and the military over whether Hu should stay on for a while in the interests of continuity or should go in the interests of a clean transition to the new leader, Xi.

As for Hu himself, sources have said he wants to avoid repeating Jiang’s unpopular move, but a problem arises if he gives up the military post at the same time as he steps down as party chief. He is due to relinquish the latter post at the party’s 18th congress, which convenes on Thursday.

The problem springs from the fact that there are in theory two identical and parallel versions of the Central Military Commission - one to be chosen by the party this month and the other by parliament next March. In effect, the party’s choice is simply rubber-stamped by parliament, but with a lag.

That means that even if Hu surren-ders the military post at the congress, he would technically remain head of the commission in the eyes of parliament and the executive branch of government for another four months - and the mili-tary would briefly have two chiefs: Xi as chosen by the party, and Hu as the government’s lame-duck version.

The sources said Hu could instead choose to remain as commission chairman until February, when the

party’s elite 200-odd-member Central Committee is due to meet just days before parliament assembles for its full annual session in March.

Under that scenario, the Central Committee could install Xi as the new chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), with parliament then quickly rubber-stamping it.

“If this happens, Hu’s legacy will be institutionalising the term of office of party and state CMC and harmonizing this and future transitions,” the second source said.

This scenario would also suit other incumbent members of the military commission who - with the exception of Hu and Xi - are mostly senior mili-tary leaders and are due to be replaced at this month’s congress, the sources said.

With Hu staying on - even if only for another four months - these outgoing members, who have served with Hu for years on the commission, could continue to have the ear of their armed forces chief for a crucial period in which the new administration would be expected to review its priorities.

“The incumbent CMC will step down at the 18th congress but they (outgoing members) hope to retain influence if Hu stays on,” a third source said.

With Hu’s intentions unknown, it is still possible he could decide to stay on for a few more years, as Jiang did.

Former Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa told CNN in September that based on past practice Hu would most likely remain as military chief “for some time”. He did not elaborate and stressed that he was not privy to such information.

Those among the top brass who would lose influence with Hu’s departure can see plenty of reasons for him to continue.

Hu has generally toed a moderate

military line on issues such as Taiwan and territorial disputes in the South China Sea and East China Sea, but he has also overseen an ambitious military build-up, including the launch of China’s first aircraft carrier and the develop-ment of stealth fighters.

America’s renewed security focus on the Asia Pacific has also unnerved the People’s Liberation Army.

The jockeying among senior mili-tary ranks is well underway, with Xu Qiliang, who stepped down last month as air force commander, and Fan Changlong, currently commander of Nanjing Military Region, announced at the weekend as the two non-civilian vice chairmen of the military commission.

General Chang Wanquan is tipped to become defense minister, the sources said.

In August, three sources with ties to the top leadership said Hu hoped to leave all three major posts by early 2013, on the understanding that his pro-tege, Vice Premier Li Keqiang, was also made a vice chairman of the military commission.

Xi’s own position, according to the sources, is that he is content for Hu to stay on - though experts say this would only extend until March, the end of the formal transition period.

Some China experts believe this could free up Xi for a few critical months to focus on shaping his political agenda.

“The advantage of that is that it would give Xi Jinping greater time to focus on domestic changes,” said David Zweig, a of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

“Clearly, China feels pressed from the outside. It would not be a bad strategy,” he added. “But if I were Xi, I wouldn’t want him around more than a year. He wants to run China.”

REUTERS

Taliban’s main fear is not drones but educated girls

China’s mission impossible: A date for Hu’s military handover

Pakistani students of Farooqi Girls’ High School wave placards as they stage a protest in Lahore, demanding the re-opening of their school that was set on fire by an angry mob.

BY NICK COHEN

When those madcap Scandinavian sati-rists awarded the Nobel peace prize

to the European Union, they let everyone in on the joke by praising its commitment to “reconciliation, democracy and human rights”. If the committee’s 2012 citation were anything other than a spoof, you would have read denunciations of the rise of oppressive state power and neo-Nazism in Greece from concerned Euro commissioners long before now.

The EU denounces threats to freedom of speech in Viktor Orbán’s Hungary with vigour. European politicians worry with good reason about the fate of inde-pendent institutions that stand in the way of the rabble-rousing regime. They notice the fascistic element in the new Hungarian right’s flirtations with antisemitic and anti-Roma hatreds and its willingness to indulge the revan-chist fantasy that Hungary can regain the lands it lost after the First World War. On the fate of Greek democracy there is silence.

You spot the pressure points of a failing state by looking at what it censors. In the case of Greece, the authorities’ prosecution last week of Kostas Vaxevanis showed that he had hit a pressure point with the accuracy of a doctor sticking a needle into a nerve. While Greeks live with austerity without end, while Greek GDP has shrunk by 4.5 percent in 2010 and 6.9 percent in 2011, and will shrink by a predicted 6.5 percent this year and 4.5 percent in 2013, the list of the names of 2,000 Greeks with bank accounts in Switzerland Vaxevanis published, suggested that the well-connected were escaping the burdens that fall on the masses.

“Instead of arresting the tax evaders and the ministers who had the list in their hands,” “they’re trying to arrest the truth and freedom of the press.”

His acquittal on privacy law charges, though welcome, was less important than it appeared. It did not mean that freedom of the press was secure in Greece. Even in good times, independent journalism has rarely been a force in the land. Most Greek TV sta-tions and newspapers are owned by either the state or plutocratic corporations, neither of which likes seeing corruption exposed. The leftwing daily, Eleftherotypia,

which for all its faults and flir-tations with terrorism at least challenged the oligarchs, filed for bankruptcy last year.

Few of the employees of the remaining Greek news organisa-tions reject the notion that they should keep quiet in the interests of holding on to their pay cheques. The state is hounding too many of those who do. “We still have free-dom of expression recognised by the law at a theoretical level,” said Asteris Masouras, one of the free speech monitors at Global Voices. “On a practical level, well...” And he proceeded to give me a list of instances of menacing forces intimidating reporters that would go on into the New Review section if I ran it in full.

Where to begin? How about the self-defeating austerity policies the troika of the European Central Bank, European Commission and International Monetary Fund have forced on Greece? The authori-ties used an old warrant to arrest Spiros Karatzaferis, after the jour-nalist threatened to reveal con-fidential emails, that might have explained how the troika’s alleged “rescue package” had pushed the country into depression.

Police brutality is another pressure point, undoubtedly. The Greek left makes persistent alle-gations of collaboration between the supposed forces of law and order and the thugs in the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn movement. The Guardian ran reports that the police had beaten up anti-fascist demonstrators after they had confronted Golden Dawn. Yes, I know leftists call every-one “fascists” from headteachers to their mums and dads, but as Golden Dawn is building a mass movement while marching under a swastika, the term is correct on this occasion. The following day, Greek state TV replaced Kostas Arvanitis and Marilena Katsimi, the presenters of its morning news show, after they told manag-ers they planned to follow up the Guardian’s claims. Another state TV reporter, Christos Dantis, has joined the ranks of the vanishing journalists. His editors assigned him to cover the celebrations of the centenary of the liberation of Thessaloniki from Ottoman rule. He was about to report on popu-lar protests against the presence of the Greek prime minister and president in Greece’s second city when his masters turned off the camera and cut to a more amena-ble hack. THE GUARDIAN

Greece flirts with tyranny and Europe looks away

10 MIDDLE EASTTUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2012

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Lavrov with Mursi

Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi and Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, yesterday.

BEIRUT: An Islamist suicide car bomber killed at least 50 Syrian security men in Hama province yesterday, an opposi-tion group said, in what would be one of the bloodiest single attacks on President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in the 20-month-old uprising.

Another day of relentless vio-lence in Syria coincided with more unity talks in Qatar among opposition factions. Syrian state media reported that a “terror-ist” suicide bomber had targeted a rural development centre in Sahl Al Ghab in Hama province, putting the death toll at two.

Rami Abdelrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the centre was used by security forces and pro-Assad militia as one of their biggest bases in the area.

“A fighter from the Nusra Front drove his car to the cen-tre and then blew himself up,” he said. “A series of explosions fol-lowed. At least 50 were killed.”

The Nusra Front, an Al Qaeda-inspired group of ultra-orthodox Salafi Muslims, has claimed responsibility for several suicide bombings in Damascus and else-where in the past. It operates mostly independently of other rebel factions, some of which have criticised it for indiscrimi-nate tactics.

Syrian officials often blame foreign-backed Islamist militants for the anti-Assad revolt, in which about 32,000 people have been killed since it began in March 2011.

In Damascus, a car bomb exploded in the mostly Alawite western district of Mezzeh 86, killing 11 people and wound-ing dozens more, including chil-dren, state media and the Syrian Observatory reported.

An Islamist group calling itself Seif Al Sham claimed responsi-bility for the attack, which it said targeted a meeting point for the army, police and pro-Assad militia. Warplanes, tanks and

artillery battered rebel-held parts of southern Damascus in what one Western diplomat said was an escalation in the government campaign to crush the insurgency. Opposition activists said at least 10 people were killed there.

OPPOSITION TALKS

An air strike on Haram, a town in the northwestern province of Idlib near the Turkish border, killed at least 20 rebels of the Idlib Martyrs’ Brigade, probably including their commander, Basil Eissa, the Syrian Observatory said. Much of Idlib province is in the hands of insurgents, but remains vulnerable to air power, used increasingly by Assad’s forces to contain his mostly Sunni Muslim opponents.

In Qatar, divided Syrian opposi-tion groups were meeting to try to forge a cohesive leadership that would then make common cause with rebel factions fighting on the ground, in an effort to gain wider international recognition

and arms supplies. The Syrian National Council (SNC), the largest overseas-based opposition group, was expected to expand its membership to 400 from 300 and to elect a new leader and execu-tive committee before talks with other anti-Assad factions in Doha this week.

Discussions focused on a pro-posal by influential opposition fig-ure Riad Seif for a new structure combining the rebel Free Syrian Army, regional military councils and other insurgent units with local civilian bodies and promi-nent individuals.

The Syria conflict has also divided big powers, with Russia and China opposing Western calls for Assad’s removal and critical of patchy outside efforts to arm his opponents.

Rebels have few weapons to counter warplanes and artillery, but Western nations have been wary of supplying anti-tank or anti-aircraft missiles without a credible opposition leadership.

That has given the Syrian mil-itary a free hand, with densely populated Damascus suburbs hit by air and ground bombardments that have killed hundreds of peo-ple in the last three weeks.

Witnesses said artillery deployed on Qasioun, a mountain that overlooks Damascus, was pounding southern neighbour-hoods and warplanes were firing rockets. Tanks were also in action. Activist Rami Al Sayyed, speak-ing from southern Damascus, said rebels had made hit-and-run attacks on pro-Assad militia-men in the city overnight before retreating to nearby farmland.

In one attack, rebels fought pro-Assad militiamen in Nisreen, a southern district mainly pop-ulated by members of Assad’s minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia sect.

They also hit positions of the Popular Front For the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), a Syrian-sponsored faction, in the nearby Yarmouk

refugee camp, where 20 people were reported killed by army shelling on Sunday. At least seven PFLP-GC members were killed in the latest fighting.

The Syrian conflict has aggra-vated divisions in the Islamic world, with Shia Iran support-ing Assad and US-allied Sunni nations such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar backing his foes. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Egypt’s al-Ahram daily that Moscow, Syria’s main arms supplier, was sending weapons under Soviet-era commitments for defence against external threats, not to support Assad.

“We do not side with any fac-tion in Syria’s internal battle,” Lavrov was quoted as saying.

Russia and China, both perma-nent Security Council members, have vetoed three Western-backed UN draft resolutions con-demning Assad’s government for its handling of an uprising that turned from peaceful protests into a civil war. REUTERS

Bomber kills 50 Syrian security menAl Qaeda-inspired bomber strikes in Hama province; air strike kills 20 rebels in Idlib

Mohammed bin Nayef is new Saudi interior minister RIYADH: Saudi Arabia appointed Prince Mohammed bin Nayef as Interior Minister yesterday, relieving his uncle Prince Ahmed of the job only four-and-a-half months after his appointment. “Prince Ahmed is relieved of his position as inte-rior minister at his own request and Prince Mohammed bin Nayef is appointed,” said a royal decree carried on Saudi Press Agency. Prince Mohammed, the son of the former veteran interior min-ister Prince Nayef who died in June, has been deputy interior minister responsible for security for many years.

Bashir to get health check in Saudi Arabia KHARTOUM: Sudan’s President Omar Hassan Al Bashir will visit Saudi Arabia where he will receive a medical checkup, state media said yes-terday, after an official said the 68-year-old ruler had under-gone throat surgery in August.Bashir, who has ruled Sudan for 23 years, has held fewer public rallies in the past few months, prompting Sudanese news-papers and blogs to speculate about his health. Last month, a government official said he had undergone surgery on his vocal cords in Qatar in August but was in good health.

Two Bahrainis jailed for ‘defaming’ king DUBAI: A Bahraini criminal court yesterday sentenced to jail two Bahraini activists for posting on Twitter remarks deemed insulting to the king, their lawyers said. The two defendants appeared in court and one was handed a one-month jail sentence while the other was given a four-month sentence for allegedly “defam-ing” H M King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the lawyers said on condition of anonymity.

Militants kill two Saudi border guards RIYADH: Al Qaeda-associated militants who had been released from Saudi prisons killed two Saudi border guards while try-ing to cross into Yemen early yesterday before being cap-tured, the kingdom’s interior ministry said.

AGENCIES

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s govern-ment has made clear it is willing and able to suppress unauthor-ised street protests, saying it must protect public safety, but risks provoking worse popular unrest by taking a hard line.

Police fired tear gas and smoke bombs to disperse thousands of Kuwaitis protesting over new voting rules late on Sunday. Last month a prominent opposition figure was arrested after speak-ing at a protest rally where he appealed to the Emir H H Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, to avoid “autocratic rule”.

Opec member Kuwait allows more dissent than some of its fellow Gulf states. Opposition-led protests usually take place peacefully in a square outside parliament but in recent weeks they have spread to the streets beyond and resulted in clashes, with small groups of people being taken to hospital.

Elsewhere in the Gulf, gov-ernments have cracked down on protests with force. Bahrain turned to foreign troops, mainly from neighbouring Saudi Arabia, to suppress protests last year. It banned all rallies and gather-ings last week, saying this was to ensure public safety, but on Monday five bombs exploded in Manama, killing two people.

Analysts and diplomats say Kuwaiti authorities do not appear to want a full-scale crackdown. However, tensions are rising between the government and a group consisting of opposition

lawmakers, youth groups and their supporters. “We are no strangers to open and frank debate amongst our people,” the Information Ministry said in an emailed statement.

“That said, the primary duty of any state is to maintain the safety and security of its citizens; as such, the police and other secu-rity forces will be used as neces-sary to maintain law and order exactly as they were last night.”

It said 28 people were arrested on Sunday, adding that people were entitled to demonstrate in the square opposite parliament or elsewhere with a permit from a district governor.

Authorities have more readily enforced a ban on unlicensed pro-tests and marches since a dem-onstration last month by tens of thousands ended in clashes between protesters and police. Parliamentary elections are scheduled on December 1.

“They are showing that there are red lines - protests outside designated areas and remarks that are seen as critical of the emir,” a Kuwait-based diplomat said. “I don’t think they want to take it any further than that.”

While Kuwaitis have been pro-testing for months against voting rules, corruption and for demo-cratic change, the harder line was taken after opposition fig-ures made comments that might be seen as criticising the emir.

The constitution says the emir is “immune and inviolable”.

REUTERS

ANKARA: Turkey puts four former Israeli military com-manders, including the head of the army, on trial in absentia this week for the 2010 killing of nine Turks on a Gaza-bound aid ship.

The trial, which begins in Istanbul today, will further test relations between the one-time strategic allies and has been dis-missed by Israel as a “show trial” and “political theatre”.

Relations between the Jewish state and what was once its only Muslim ally, crumbled after Israeli marines stormed the Mavi Marmara aid ship in May 2010 to enforce a naval blockade of the Palestinian-run Gaza Strip

and killed nine Turks in clashes with activists on board. The rift has continued despite US efforts to encourage a rapprochement between the two regional pow-ers whose cooperation it needs to address changes sweeping the Middle East.

Israel and Nato member Turkey, which both border Syria, once shared intelligence informa-tion and conducted joint military exercises, cooperation which has since been cancelled.

A Turkish state prosecutor is seek multiple life sentences for the now retired Israeli officers over their involvement in the nine killings and the wounding of more

than 50 others.The indictment names Israel’s

former Chief of General Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, former Navy Commander Eliezer Marom, former Air Force Commander Amos Yadlin and former head of Air Force intelligence Avishay Levi, seeking prison sentences of more than 18,000 years for each of them. Among the charges listed in the 144-page indictment are “inciting murder through cruelty or torture” and “inciting injury with firearms”. A total of 490 people aboard the ship during the raid, including activists and journalists, are expected to give evidence. REUTERS

DUBAI: British Prime Minister David Cameron sought to bal-ance concern over human rights in Gulf Arab states with win-ning lucrative arms deals for Britain as he started a tour of the region yesterday.

Cameron said supported calls for greater democracy in the Middle East and that the British government was engaging Gulf states - some of which are trying to stifle political unrest - on their human rights record.

But discussions would show “respect and friendship,” he said, recognising that governments have bridled at foreign criticism.

Cameron arrived in the United Arab Emirates yesterday and will visit Saudi Arabia today before travelling to another destination in the Middle East.

High on his agenda will be selling the BAE Systems-built Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet.

BAE officials say the Emirates has shown interest in order-ing up to 60 Typhoons. He will also talk to UAE officials about how to develop a “strategic air defence relationship”, including

collaboration on military aero-space equipment.

Saudi Arabia has also signalled it might place a second substan-tial order of Typhoons on top of

the 72 jets it has already acquired, Cameron’s office said.

However, the British prime minister’s trip is complicated by human rights issues as Gulf

nations struggle to contain pro-tests inspired by the Arab Spring and Western nations weigh up their own strategic and commer-cial interests. Saudi Arabia and

the United Arab Emirates have both bridled at criticism by the British parliament, media and human rights groups over their lack of democracy and stifling of dissent. Cameron himself has also been taken to task at home for muting criticism of pro-Western Gulf nations - and trying to sell them arms - in comparison to his strident support for the opposi-tion in other Arab struggles such as Libya and Syria.

Meeting students in Abu Dhabi yesterday, Cameron said: “I’m a supporter of the Arab Spring, the opportunity of moving towards more open societies, more open democracies, I think is good for the Middle East, for North Africa.” Later in Dubai, he said of his visit to Saudi Arabia: “On human rights, there are no no-go areas in this relationship. We dis-cuss all of these things but we also show respect and friendship to a very old ally and partner.”

He also said it was legitimate to promote British business the purpose of his trip was “to help Britain compete and thrive in the global race”. REUTERS

Cameron seeks arms deals, praises Arab Spring

Kuwait takes hard line on street protests

Turkey tries four Israeli commanders

From left: British Prime Minister David Cameron, Chairman of Emirates Group Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), Mattar Al Tayer and another official travelling on Dubai metro to reach Dubai World Trade Center, yesterday.

11INTERNATIONAL TUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2012

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Austerity of caveman

Former steel factory worker Zarko Hrgic, 57, sits in his home, a cave near Babina river in Babino village, near the central Bosnian town of Zenica. Hrgic has been living there since he was deported five years ago for staying illegally in Germany. His day starts with searching for food discarded in garbage bins in cities, as well as cigar butts, from which he makes improvised cigars.

German govt okays welfare measuresBERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s centre-right coalition reached agreement yesterday on contentious social welfare issues that it hopes will bolster its support in the count-down to federal elections next September.

After nearly eight hours of talks that underlined the degree of discord simmering within her three-party government, Merkel and other leaders agreed to scrap an unpopular health surcharge and to introduce extra child ben-efits, coalition leaders said.

Merkel’s junior coalition part-ners, the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), are particu-larly eager to impress voters after opinion polls have regularly shown them failing to clear the five percent threshold for staying in parliament next year.

The FDP has long had to accept that tax cuts, one of the party’s traditional policy cornerstones, are not possible at a time of fiscal austerity, with Merkel leading the euro zone’s efforts to overcome its three-year-old sovereign debt crisis.

Instead, the FDP has pushed hard for abolition of the 10-euro-per-quarter payments for visits to the doctor, saying they have spawned red tape without reduc-ing waiting times.

Merkel’s FDP health minis-ter, Daniel Bahr, rejected the centre-left opposition’s charges that the deal amounted to an attempt to bribe voters ahead of a state election in Lower Saxony in January and federal elections in September.

“This is about helping our citizens. It’s not about whether

opinion polls are better or worse from week to week but making the right decision for Germany,” Bahr told German radio.

The coalition, plagued by squabbles since taking power in 2009, aims to balance Germany’s budget by 2014, helped by robust economic growth that has bucked the euro zone trend, although strong tax revenues are expected to tail off next year.

In return, the FDP reluctantly backed benefit payments for par-ents who keep their toddlers at home, a policy championed by the Christian Social Union (CSU), the conservative Bavarian sister party of Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU).

Critics, including in the FDP, CDU and the opposition say this will keep women out of the workplace and children of poorer immigrants out of kindergartens where they would learn German and integrate.

The centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), who have taken a more assertive politi-cal stance since choosing former finance minister Per Steinbrueck as their candidate for chancellor next year, have vowed to challenge the child benefit plan in court.

The payments will only start from next August, shortly before the federal election, to coincide with the deadline for the govern-ment to provide kindergarten places for all toddlers.

SPD parliamentary floor leader Thomas Oppermann denounced the coalition deal as political “horse-trading” and told German radio: “Taxpayers will be financ-ing this election gift”.

REUTERS

Health surcharge scrapped

Cameron keen to unmask child abuser LONDON: Prime Minister David Cameron is looking at an allegation by a child abuse vic-tim who told the BBC that an unidentified Conservative Party figure had abused children in social care during the 1970s, the premier’s spokesman said yesterday.

The unmasking of late BBC star presenter Jimmy Savile as one of Britain’s most prolific child abuser has prompted concern that some powerful child abusers from the 1970s and 1980s may have used their influence to shield them from punishment.

The BBC’s flagship current affairs programme aired child abuse allegations on Friday night against what it called a Conservative political figure from the era of Margaret Thatcher,

who served as prime minister from 1979 to 1990. He was not named.

Steven Messham, one of hun-dreds of victims of abuse at chil-dren’s care homes in Wales over two decades, told BBC Newsnight that he was abused by a promi-nent Conservative political figure and others in the late 1970s.

Messham, who asked to meet Prime Minister David Cameron over the scandal, said he went to the police at the time but his claims were ignored.

“It’s an issue we are actively looking at,” Cameron’s official spokesman said when asked about the report at a daily briefing.

“The prime minister himself is taking a close interest in the alle-gations that have been made and clearly we need to be satisfied that

those allegations are being looked into properly and thoroughly and that we get to the bottom of what happened.”

The spokesman said Conservative leader Cameron’s office was working with the Interior Ministry and the depart-ment in charge of Wales on the issue.

It was impossible to immedi-ately verify the abuse claims and the reporter on Newsnight said he could not name the figure because there was “simply not enough evi-dence to name names”.

The state-funded broadcaster is itself grappling with hundreds of abuse allegations against Savile, a cigar-chomping DJ turned tel-evision star who victims now say used his influence to mask a life-time of abuse of young children.

Messham, who gave evidence in 2000 at an inquiry into child abuse, told the BBC that he was abused “more than a dozen times” by the Conservative figure.

“You were just abused, various things would happen. But there wouldn’t be just him, there would be other people involved as well,” Messham said.

The Telegraph newspaper said it had spoken to the politician at the centre of the accusations and he had denied the claims. He said he would sue the BBC for libel if he was named by them.

“I’ve never been to this chil-dren’s home. The fact is that if they publish anything about me they will get a writ in the morn-ing, I wouldn’t wait two minutes,” the Telegraph quoted the politi-cian as saying. REUTERS

UK minister mostseen in nightmares, says study

LONDON: Finance minister George Osborne is the public figure that most often appears in British nightmares, a recent study has found.

Ruling Conservative party member Osborne, whose offi-cial title is Chancellor of the Exchequer, was booed dur-ing a medal ceremony at the Paralympics this summer in London and has been the focus of public criticism for austerity measures which have seen cuts to welfare budgets and a freeze in public sector pay.

Gordon Brown, the former Labour prime minister, came second in the survey conducted by hotel group Travelodge, which asked 2,000 people about their nightmares.

“Suffering from nightmares that involve the Chancellor, money and losing a job are a true reflec-tion of how the credit crunch has affected our well-being as well as our money”, a Travelodge spokes-woman said. REUTERS

Ukraine opposition wants vote recountKIEV: Ukraine’s opposition demanded a recount or a fresh vote in a dozen hotly contested constituencies yesterday, step-ping up their campaign against a parliamentary election last month they say was rigged by President Viktor Yanukovich’s ruling party.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the Central Electoral Commission headquarters in the capital Kiev to protest against fraud in the October 28 vote, defy-ing warnings by police that the protest was illegal and might be broken up by force.

An opposition victory in the disputed electoral districts would still leave the president’s Party of the Regions with a parliamentary majority, but could help galva-nise anti-Yanukovich forces that have lost momentum since the jailing of their leader, ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. “We are demanding that the Central Electoral Commission announce the result of voting in 13 districts where, according to the final tally, the opposition won,” Arseny Yatsenyuk, leader of the united opposition, said.

“In those cases where it is impossible to establish the result

a re-run should be announced,” he told journalists at commission headquarters in Kiev where the rally was staged. The demand for action was signed by Tymoshenko’s Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party, Svoboda (Freedom) nationalists and the UDAR (Punch) party of heavyweight boxing champion Vitaly Klitschko, and follows inter-national criticism of the election in the former Soviet republic. Prime Minister Mykola Azarov on Friday said the Regions had nothing to do with the disputes at the centre of the latest protests, and said the overall results were in line with exit-polls and pre-election surveys.

Anger erupted in several elec-toral districts at the weekend, with election officials conducting the vote-count besieged by oppo-sition supporters and members of the Regions party. Riot police used tear gas to quell trouble in one district.

Observers from Europe’s OSCE rights and security body criticised misuse of state money and resources and biased media coverage in the run-up, saying democracy had taken a “step backwards” since Yanukovich was elected in February 2010.

REUTERS

Norway, China in bid to improve tiesOSLO: Norway and China met yesterday on the sidelines of an Asia-Europe summit, mark-ing their first official contact since a Chinese dissident was given the Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian prime minister said.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg told public broadcaster NRK that he had held a brief meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao while attending the summit in Laos.

Relations cooled between the two countries after the pro-democracy dissident Liu Xiaobo, who Beijing considers a “crimi-nal”, was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.

The Nobel committee, which is independent of the government though its members are chosen by the Norwegian parliament, angered China which broke off all high-level contact with Norway.

In Laos, Stoltenberg said he had thanked the Chinese premier for the inclusion of Norway, along with Switzerland and Bangladesh, in the Asia-Europe Meeting.

“It is the first time that Norway has joined this meeting place, and so it’s natural to say thank you for the support that has made this possible,” he said.

He declined to comment on what effect the meeting could have on future relations between Oslo and Beijing.

“We would like to have normal political relations with China and when that’s possible we will say so,” he said.

“I do not want to speculate on the significance of Norway getting accepted into this forum but in it we see a positive contribution to a closer dialogue with the partici-pating countries, which includes China,” he added.

Despite the freeze in diplomatic relations, trade has continued to prosper between the two coun-tries over the past two years.

AFP

Nigeria floods claim 363 lives since JulyABUJA: Nigeria’s worst flood-ing in at least half a century has killed 363 people since the start of July and displaced 2.1 million people, an emergency agency said yesterday.

Nigeria often suffers seasonal flash floods after heavy tropical rain, but the sheer scale of the devastation this year has shocked people and images of towns and cities under water have filled TV screens.

President Goodluck Jonathan last month called the flooding, which has submerged parts of the south, a “national disaster” but said it would not trigger a food crisis.

The National Emergency Management Agency said in a statement yesterday that 7.7 mil-lion people had been affected by the flooding between July 1 and October 31.

It said 363 people had been killed and 18,282 people injured.

Flooding in the oil rich Niger Delta, where Africa’s third long-est river flows into the Atlantic ocean, has disrupted oil produc-tion to the tune of around 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) — more than a fifth of Nigeria’s output — according to the Department of Petroleum Resources. REUTERS

Eugenia Tymoshenko, daughter of imprisoned former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, holds up a photograph of her mother during a press conference in London yesterday. Eugenia was in London to drum up support for her imprisoned mother, who announced she was going on hunger strike to protest the results of legislative elections won by the ruling party of President Viktor Yanukovich.

Anti-whaling activists set sail to take on Japanese whalersSYDNEY: Anti-whaling activists began their annual campaign against Japanese whalers yesterday with the Sea Shepherd’s flagship, the Steve Irwin, leaving its Melbourne dock to pursue the harpoonists.

The group’s ninth campaign, named Operation Zero Tolerance, is its largest against Japan’s whale hunt and involves four ships, a helicopter, three drones and more

than 100 crew members.“It feels really amazing on

a personal front... to be tak-ing the flagship off,” the Steve Irwin’s Indian captain Siddharth Chakravarty said after the vessel had left dock and was preparing to head out to sea.

The campaign has begun ear-lier than previous years, with Sea Shepherd Conservation Society boats planning to journey to the

North Pacific off Japan to engage the whalers, rather than wait-ing for them to enter Antarctic waters.

“The mission this year is to intercept them as soon as they can... to stop them from killing a single whale this year,” Sea Shepherd Australian director Jeff Hansen said.

Commercial whaling is banned under an international treaty.

But Japan has since 1987 used a loophole authorising whaling for scientific research — a practice condemned by environmentalists and anti-whaling nations.

Militant conservationist and Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson has also vowed to join this year’s efforts despite an Interpol notice for his arrest.

Watson’s whereabouts are unknown and it is not clear

which vessel he plans to captain, given that Chakravarty has the Steve Irwin and Sweden’s Peter Hammarstedt will skipper the Bob Barker.

In addition to the three known vessels, which also include the Brigitte Bardot, Sea Shepherd will reveal its mystery fourth ves-sel once the Japanese fleet departs on its mission, Hansen said.

AFP

12 INTERNATIONALTUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2012

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Romney, Obama pursue last vote in close raceDuelling rallies in Ohio; voting todayLYNCHBURG, Virginia: President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney made their last stands of the 2012 cam-paign yesterday, employing their last vestiges of energy, celebrity boosters and plenty of jet fuel to encourage every supporter and the few remaining undecideds to tip the vote in their favour.

National polls of the eve of Election Day showed a neck-and-neck race. But the winner will be determined by which man gets 270 electoral votes, and Obama had more paths to get there.

The incumbent and the chal-lenger, both fighting weariness and speaking in voices that have turned hoarse, closed by arguing they could do more to lead the country out of the tough economic times that dom-inated Obama’s term. “This nation is going to begin to change for the better tomorrow,” Romney said.

“Our work is not yet done,” Obama told nearly 20,000 people who filled the street in front of the Wisconsin capital building.

Both men campaigned in states they need to win. Romney was in Florida, Virginia, and New Hampshire, while Obama was trying to protect Wisconsin from a late-breaking GOP challenge before heading to Iowa.

And in an indication of just how all-important Ohio was once again to the future occupancy of the White House, both candidates planned to be on the ground in Columbus in the evening for duelling rallies several hours and seven miles apart. The state has gone for the winner in every pres-idential election since 1964.

Republican campaign offi-cials said Romney was consider-ing a possible return to Ohio on Tuesday. Without the state, he has to win nearly every other bat-tleground state to defeat Obama.

Both candidates were also hop-ing to benefit from some star power. Romney planned a final

rally in the day’s final hour in New Hampshire with Kid Rock while country rock performers The Marshall Tucker Band was join-ing him in Columbus. Obama had actors Samuel L Jackson and Chris Rock doing urban radio interviews, “Mad Men” star Jon Hamm mak-ing calls in Colorado, rapper Jay-Z joining him in Columbus and rock legend Bruce Springsteen as his traveling warm-up act.

“He promised me a ride on Air Force One,” Springsteen said, strumming his guitar as he made a political pitch between songs.

The rivals planned to appeal to pro football fans in the elev-enth hour, taping interviews with ESPN’s Chris Berman that will air during halftime of the Monday Night Football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New Orleans Saints.

Both candidates predicted the winner will be determined by which of their operations can get the most supporters to the polls. “This is going to be a turnout election,” the president declared in an interview broadcast early Monday as he pleaded with urban radio listeners to get to the polls.

On the edge of an airport run-way in Lynchburg, Romney called on his supporters to “make sure we get everyone we know out to vote on Election Day.” ‘’Every single vote,” he said, speaking within view of Liberty University and after its chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr rallied the conserva-tive faithful in the crowd.

Obama raised the possibil-ity of defeat as he pleaded with listeners of The Rickey Smiley Morning Show to get to the polls. “If we don’t turn out the vote, we could lose a lot of the gains we’ve already made,” Obama said.

It was one of two of the presi-dent’s radio interviews airing Monday aimed at turning out minority voters, the other with a Spanish-language station in Ohio.

AP

Election volunteers Frank Roth (right) and Dave Trout (left) count voting machines that will be sent out to precincts in Charlotte, North Carolina, yesterday.

Romney likely to tour Ohio todayABOARD THE ROMNEY CAMPAIGN PLANE: Mitt Romney launched a final full day of campaigning yesterday in swing state Florida, but his team did not rule out a last-minute trip to battleground Ohio on election day itself.

US media reported Romney was considering a polling day campaign trip, even as his press releases have described the last Monday event on the schedule — late-night in New Hampshire —as the “final victory rally” of the campaign.

Romney aides did nothing to knock back the reports.

“We’ll advise a schedule and until then we don’t have any-thing,” senior aide Kevin Madden said about a Tuesday dash to Ohio.

Traveling press secretary Rick Gorka told reporters aboard Romney’s plane that the sched-ule would be released Monday morning, “and if there is anything beyond that, we will update.”

Romney and President Barack Obama have embarked yesterday

campaign marathons as they stumped for the last narrowing wedge of undecided voters—and pleaded with their supporters to help get out the vote.

With Ohio such a pivotal part of the election equation, both candidates converged on the Midwestern state yesterday.

Aides said Romney was feel-ing upbeat about the race, which national polls show as a tossup.

But surveys show the presi-dent with a slim but steady lead in Ohio, and Obama may have a broader path to possible vic-tory in the handful of battle-ground states that will decide the election.

That was not dissuading senior Romney strategist Stuart Stevens as he predicted victory for the challenger.

“We’re never over-confident about these things, but we’ll win,” he told reporters, adding that while he expected Romney to prevail in Florida today, “we don’t take Florida for granted.”

As for Romney, a former gover-nor of Massachusetts who lost the

Republican nomination to John McCain in 2008, he is enjoying the campaign’s final hours.

“He’s very eager to lead the country,” Stevens said. “Very gratified at the response he’s get-ting everywhere.”

Gorka acknowledged that Romney and his team gathered on the plane were looking back fondly at an 18-month ride that took Romney to dozens of states and hundreds of campaign events.

“It’s been a light mood up front, a lot of reminiscing,” he told reporters.

“It’s been an incredible journey. We’re very very excited for these last events today, and we’re very very optimistic about our chances tomorrow.”

But he jokingly called out a reporter who asked if the cam-paign could keep the traveling press corps up to date on the details of Romney’s final day, such as his “last meal” before the election.

“He’s going to live beyond Tuesday,” Gorka quipped.

AFP

New Jersey email vote rule raises storm of protestWASHINGTON: New Jersey’s decision to allow voters displaced by superstorm Sandy to cast ballots by email has prompted a flood of warnings over security, secrecy and a potential for legal entanglements.

State officials in New Jersey announced the plan on Saturday, saying it could help victims of the unprecedented storm along with rescuers who may also be unable to get to polling places.

The northeast state is allow-ing voters to request a ballot by e-mail or fax to their county clerk, and returning their ballot by the same means by 8pm today.

Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno said the move was designed “to help alleviate pres-sure on polling places.”

But some experts say email vot-ing, which is being allowed by some states for military and overseas voters, has not been tested on a large scale and opens up a host of technical and legal obstacles.

Email ballots could be vulnerable to hacking or computer viruses, and could put the election at risk, says Matt Blaze, a University of Pennsylvania computer scientist specialising in security.

“The security implications of voting by email are, under normal conditions, more than sufficient to make any computer security specialist recoil in horror,” Blaze said in a blog post.

“Email, of course, is not at all authenticated, reliable, or confi-dential, and that by itself opens the door to new forms of election mischief that would be far more difficult in a traditional in-per-son polling station or with paper absentee ballot.”

But Blaze said that due to the exceptional circumstances, “the question is whether these risks out-weigh the benefits, and whether the technical and procedural safeguards that are in place are adequate.”

“All of this is relatively uncharted territory,” Blaze added. Andrew Appel, a Princeton University com-puter scientist, said that “Internet voting is inherently insecure” and that “email is the most insecure form of Internet voting.”

AFP

Obama on course for election victory: UK pollLONDON: US President Barack Obama will win the popular vote by two percent in today’s election while beat-ing Republican opponent Mitt Romney in most of the battle-ground states, a British YouGov survey of 36,000 American vot-ers forecast.

The election is widely viewed as a very close contest, but President Obama is projected in the poll to take almost two-thirds of the elec-toral college votes in the nine states seen as likely to decide the result.

“We are predicting that Obama is going to hang on to the presi-dency, but by a smaller margin than in 2008,” YouGov President Peter Kellner said in a statement.

YouGov carried out the poll in 27 US states.

Obama holds a clear advantage in the last day of campaigning - 237 guaranteed electoral col-lege votes to Romney’s 191, and YouGov insisted that they and most other pollsters would have to be “systematically wrong” to allow for a Romney victory.

A minimum 270 electoral col-lege votes is needed for victory.

YouGov noted the potential, though, for Obama’s situation to echo that of President George W. Bush in 2000, when he lost the popular vote to Al Gore but still came out on top.

“In such a tight race, no doubt the Democrats are not only con-cerned about losing the White House, but are also worried about the cloud that could hang over Obama’s second term if he does not win the popular vote,” Kellner said.

Obama is said to have strug-gled to live up to the expecta-tions he stirred in 2008. He is certainly on course for a less convincing victory than he won four years ago - 303 electoral college votes now to 365 then, the poll indicated.

REUTERS

Sandy’s winds of uncertainty blow through presidential raceWASHINGTON: The devas-tating storm that slammed into the US East Coast last week could send winds of uncer-tainty through today’s presi-dential election, narrowing an already close contest and cast-ing doubt on the legitimacy of the outcome.

Though superstorm Sandy is unlikely to determine whether President Barack Obama or Republican Mitt Romney wins the White House, experts said it could expose flaws in how the United States conducts elections, leading to protracted legal wran-gling and lingering bitterness in a country already fractured along partisan lines.

In a worst-case scenario, the storm disruption could cause Obama to lose the popular vote and still win re-election, stirring up vitriolic memories of the con-tested 2000 battle that allowed Republican George W Bush to triumph over Democrat Al Gore.

Last-minute changes imposed by election officials also could fur-ther arm campaign lawyers look-ing to challenge the result.

At minimum, low turnout would add another wild card to an elec-tion projected to be among the closest in US history. Voting could be an afterthought for hundreds of thousands of people still struggling with power outages, fuel shortages and plummeting temperatures.

“It’s a possibility that we’ll see significant drops in turnout in some of these densely popu-lated areas,” said George Mason University professor Michael MacDonald, a voter turnout expert. “The effects could be quite dramatic in terms of the popular vote,” he said.

Tuesday’s election presents yet another headache for local officials in New York and New Jersey, which were hardest hit by the storm. Rescue workers are still recovering bodies, 1.9 million homes and businesses have no power, and tens of thousands of people are without heat as tem-peratures dip near freezing.

Sandy, one of the most damaging

storms to hit the United States, hammered the region with 129kph winds, while walls of water over-ran seaside communities. At least 113 people in the United States and Canada died.

Election authorities now face unprecedented challenges. In New York City, 143,000 voters have been assigned new polling stations. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Sunday called the city’s elections board “dysfunctional” and warned that it needs to clearly communi-cate changes to poll workers.

In New Jersey, where 25 percent of homes and businesses have no power, officials are allowing dis-placed voters to cast their ballots by email. In battered Monmouth

County, officials are spreading the word about new polling locations in at least 29 towns and setting aside paper ballots to use if electronic voting machines fail. “Whatever it takes, Asbury Park is voting,” City Manager Terence Reidy said.

Legal experts said the late changes, however well-inten-tioned, may give the losing can-didate a basis to challenge results.

“The devil is in the details and no doubt these news rules will be fertile ground for those who choose to challenge the results in the election.” said Angelo Genova, a New Jersey election law expert who represents Democratic can-didates in this election.

REUTERS

Volunteers with the North Carolina Baptist Men disaster relief (in yellow) and the American Red Cross (in red) load up fresh hot meals of Ribs, Sweet Potatoes, and Hush Puppies, that they will distribute to Hurricane Sandy victims, in Ocean County, New Jersey, yesterday.

New York area slowly coming back to lifeNEW YORK: A week after superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc on New York City and the surrounding area, schools reo-pened yesterday and millions of commuters fought huge crowds to board subways, buses and suburban trains in an exhaust-ing effort to get back to work.

The daunting trip to work or school aside, living condi-tions remained severe for tens of thousands of people unable to return to their homes, and close to 2 million in the region suffered through another night of near-freezing temperatures without the benefit of power or heat.

Yesterday morning, with size-able legs of the region’s pub-lic transportation network still hobbled by storm damage, peo-ple stood for an hour or more on train platforms or street corners in New Jersey, Long Island and Connecticut waiting for trains and buses, only to find many of them already too crowded to board.

Service on many rail and bus lines was reduced and the subway was running at about 80 percent of its normal service. The commute from New Jersey was particularly trying.

As a Northeast Corridor Line train on the NJ Transit network pulled into Newark, passengers wondered aloud how the hundreds of passengers who crowded the platform would squeeze into the already-packed train.

A conductor banged on the win-dow, signalling passengers to squeeze together more than they already were. “Move in! It’s gonna be a tight fit,” another conductor yelled. Still, there was no room for about half of the passengers in Newark.

“I’m taking Amtrak back this afternoon, so I don’t have to deal with this,” said Gabrielle Nader, a 27-year-old human resources pro-fessional who boarded in Trenton. “It’s worse than a subway.” Nader, from northeast Philadelphia, said she had already made Amtrak reservations through tomorrow.

REUTERS

ASIA / PHILIPPINES 13TUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2012

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Manila pushes sea row at Asia-Europe summitVIENTIANE: The Philippines yesterday pushed its call for an international solution to over-lapping claims in the South China Sea at an Asia-Europe summit, saying vital global shipping lanes were at stake.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino raised the issue in bilat-eral meetings with leaders of the European Union as well as with Swiss President Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf and Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in Laos.

“We noted the increasing importance of maritime security” in what Manila calls the West Philippine Sea, said Aquino’s chief spokesman Herminio Coloma.

“There was agreement that it was a matter of international interest considering that a sig-nificant amount of world trade

passes through that body of water,” he told reporters in the Laotian capital Vientiane.

“Switzerland and the EU and to some extent Norway indi-cated their firm support to the Philippines in terms of our posi-tion that conflicts and disputes in that area are to be resolved peacefully and following interna-tional law.”

Coloma said President Aquino is also likely to raise the issue at a plenary session of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) later yesterday and in bilateral discus-sions with the leaders of Japan and Italy.

More than 50 Asian and European leaders or their repre-sentatives are attending the sum-mit, held every two years.

Any instability in the South China Sea, home to commercial

shipping lanes, will affect Europe because it would lead to higher insurance premiums for their ships, Coloma added.

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, even waters near the coasts of neighbouring countries. The Philippines and Vietnam have accused Beijing of becoming increasingly aggressive in staking out its claims.

The Philippines has since April been engaged in a standoff with China over a disputed shoal. Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei also have claims to parts of the sea.

Aquino has insisted in the past that solving the dispute needed a multilateral approach, but China has insisted on solving the prob-lem bilaterally with individual countries involved.

AFP

Switzerland, Norway and EU express firm support

China probes Wen family wealthHONG KONG: China’s ruling Communist Party has launched an inquiry into the alleged wealth of Premier Wen Jiabao’s family at his own request, a report said yesterday.

Citing sources, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post (SCMP) said Wen had writ-ten to the Politburo Standing Committee -- the country’s high-est policy-making body, of which he is a member -- formally asking for the probe.

It comes after the New York Times reported that Wen’s fam-ily had accumulated at least $2.7bn in assets in various sec-tors, according to an analysis of company and regulatory filings from 1992-2012.

The report on Wen’s letter and the inquiry is unusual. The com-munist party normally ensures that its internal affairs are cov-ered by a strict veil of secrecy.

The financial allegations are particularly embarrassing for

Wen, who is expected to step down as premier next March, as he is the standard-bearer of reformers in the party and has campaigned against rampant corruption.

The New York Times report came days before the start of a party congress where a once-in-a-decade leadership transition will begin, and the run-up to the meeting has seen months of fac-tional manoeuvring.

The SCMP quoted its sources as saying conservative party elders “known to dislike the pre-mier’s more liberal stance” had “urged him to provide detailed explanations on all the major alle-gations” in the US newspaper’s report.

Among other details, the New York Times said Wen’s 90-year-old mother owned a stake valued at $120m in 2007 in China’s Ping An insurance giant.

Last week the SCMP quoted lawyers for Wen’s relatives

denying the claim.“The so-called ‘hidden riches’

of Wen Jiabao’s family members in The New York Times’ report does not exist,” it quoted a state-ment from them as saying.

The lawyers said they would continue to “make clarifications regarding other untrue reports” by the newspaper and reserved the right to hold it “legally responsible”.

They said Wen “has never played any role in the business activities of his family members” and had not allowed those activi-ties to influence his policies.

The NYT report found no indication Wen had intervened on behalf of family members and said he himself did not appear to have accumulated assets. It did not suggest that any of the family’s business activities were illegal.

The NYT has said on its web-site that it stands by the story.

AFP

S Korea’s first lady to be grilled in land deal caseSEOUL: South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak’s wife is to be questioned as part of a probe into a presidential retirement home deal that has already grilled Lee’s brother and son, officials said yesterday.

The inclusion of First Lady Kim Yoon-Ok in the investiga-tion comes at a sensitive time, with South Korea just weeks away from a presidential election on December 19.

“(We have) decided to inves-tigate first lady Kim,” assistant special counsel Lee Chang-Hoon told reporters yesterday.

“The method and the timing of the questioning are still being discussed with the presidential office,” Lee said.

The probe is focused on alleged irregularities in the purchase of a plot of land on the southern edge of Seoul to build a retirement

home for President Lee when he formally leaves the office in January.

The lot was jointly purchased by the president’s son, Lee Si-Hyung, and the presidential security service which would need to house its agents on the site.

But the cost was allegedly not split evenly, with suggestions that the security service paid too high a price for its share, while Lee’s son got a below-market rate for the residential plot.

The president’s wife and brother have been included in the investigation because of reports that they each loaned Lee Si-Hyung 600m won to buy the lot.

The first lady is scheduled to accompany the president on a five-day official visit to Indonesia and Thailand from Wednesday.

AFP

Manila probing 60 private armiesMANILA: Philippine police have identified about 60 sus-pected “private armies” that could use violence to influence national elections next year, an official said yesterday.

Armed followers of politicians have long been a major problem during elections, carrying out crimes like the 2009 massacre of 58 people to protect the interests of powerful clans.

National police spokesman Chief Superintendent Generoso Cerbo said police intelligence had found about 60 suspected “private armed groups” in different parts of the country.

“Once we have completely val-idated this, all of our units will go after these groups,” he told reporters.

The initiative would be part of national police efforts to safe-guard local and legislative elec-tions in May 2013, Cerbo added.

A previous national police study in 2010 found 112 private armed groups all over the archipelago with numbers ranging from a handful of men to hundreds.

Cerbo said police were conduct-ing a new count because some of these groups had already been broken up while others had vol-untarily disbanded.

The groups consist of gov-ernment-supported militiamen, insurgents, rogue police or sol-diers or armed thugs who do the bidding of politicians to help them stay in power.

This can include intimidating rival candidates or voters or spoil-ing the counting of ballots.

In the worst case of violence involving private armies, follow-ers of a powerful clan in 2009 killed 58 people in the southern Philippines to prevent a rival from running against one of the clan members.

Taiwan orders officers to face lie detectorTAIPEI: Taiwan is ordering dozens of military officers serv-ing abroad to return home for lie detector tests to stem a wave of espionage cases shaking the island, the defence minister said yesterday.

More than 50 military attaches and other senior personnel assigned abroad have been called back one after the other since last year to do the polygraph test, Kao Hua-chu told parliament.

“We haven’t come across any-thing unusual in these tests,” he told legislators. He explained that from now on, the officers will have to do the test once year.

Even officer cadets undergoing training abroad will be required to do the tests, Kao said.

The new measure, which was only made public yesterday, comes after a string of embarrassing cases, where Taiwanese officers were found to spy on behalf of arch enemy China.

Taiwan authorities in January 2011 arrested Major General Lo Hsien-che over claims that he spied for China.

The 52-year-old was head of the army’s telecommunications and electronic information depart-ment, according to the defence ministry.

AFP

Two Japan tourists die in Great Wall storm

BEIJING: Two elderly Japanese tourists died and another was missing after being trapped in sudden heavy snowstorms dur-ing a visit to the Great Wall of China, Beijing said yesterday.

Two women, aged 62 and 68, were confirmed dead, and a 76-year-old Japanese man remained missing on a snow-cov-ered mountain near the wall in China’s northern Hebei province.

Another Japanese tourist and a Chinese man who works for a Japanese tour agency were receiv-ing medical treatment at a local clinic. “Four Japanese tourists were trapped by bad weather,” foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a press briefing in Beijing. “So far, one Japanese tourist was rescued, two died, and one is still missing.”

AFP

Sri Lankan protest

Sri Lankan lawyers and opposition activists demonstrate outside the Supreme Court in Colombo yesterday. Hundreds of lawyers took to the streets of Colombo to protest against a government move to impeach the country’s top judge in an increasingly bitter dispute.

China must change with new leader: Dalai LamaYOKOHAMA: The use of “secrecy, censorship and bully-ing” to silence dissenting voices in China must end under the country’s incoming leader, the Dalai Lama said yesterday.

President-in-waiting Xi Jinping will have “no alternative” but to accept political change over the coming years, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader told reporters in Yokohama, near Tokyo.

“Now Hu Jintao era passed. Now Xi Jinping (is) becoming the president. I think there is no alternative except there is some political change,” the Dalai Lama said on the third day of a 12-day stay in Japan.

“Hu Jintao started to build harmonious society, stable soci-ety. So for stable society, I think gap (between the) rich and (the) poor must be reduced.

“Also you need an independent

judiciary system, free press, rule of law. These are very, very important.

“So the goal, harmony, wonder-ful. Stability, wonderful. But use of secrecy, censorship and bully-ing... there is something wrong in their system,” said the saffron-robed monk.

“I think to create a genuine harmony... you need openness.”

China denounces the Dalai Lama as a “splittist” seeking an independent Tibet, accusations he has repeatedly denied.

At a closed-doors congress beginning Thursday, Beijing’s power players will anoint a new chief for the next 10 years. His regime will have to address grow-ing anger over graft as well as challenges from a vocal band of dissidents and rights activists in the country.

Vice president Xi is widely

expected to be promoted to Communist Party general-sec-retary this week and then state president next year, succeed-ing Hu in a 10-yearly leadership change.

The Dalai Lama has a large following in Japan and he is a frequent visitor to the country, many of whose 127m people prac-tise some elements of Buddhism.

The 77-year-old Nobel Laureate said he believes democracy is the best system that China could adopt to solve the problems it faces, including a debilitating ter-ritorial dispute with Japan.

He said an over-emphasis on nationalism was at the root of difficulties.

Education materials are “extreme, almost like (saying) Chinese culture is (the) best, China (as a) nation is the best”, he said, adding “too much emotion

(is) involved, that (is) not realis-tic,” the Dalai Lama said.

The religious leader said a “lack of information” meant many Chinese people associate Japanese people only with war-time atrocities.

He said this led to the kind of anti-Japan outbursts that rocked China after Tokyo’s nationalisa-tion of a disputed East China Sea island chain in September, when shops were looted and businesses burned.

“Basically I think China needs Japan and Japan needs China,” he said, when asked how Beijing and Tokyo could move past the dispute.

“I think you should think more holistic. Small disagreements should not create (conflict). You should think more broadly,” he said.

AFP

Laos to start construction of controversial mega damVIENTIANE: Laos yesterday said it would start construc-tion of a controversial multibil-lion dollar dam this week, after adapting the design to calm environmental concerns from neighbouring nations.

“After two years of preparation the Laos government will have a ground breaking ceremony on November 7 and will then start working on the dam itself in the Mekong river this week,” dep-uty energy minister Viraphon Viravong told the reporters yesterday.

The $3.8bn hydroelectric project at Xayaburi, led by Thai group CH Karnchang, has sharply divided the four Mekong nations -- Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand -- who rely on the river system for fish and irrigation.

Building work on the main project has been stalled for about 18 months over concerns over its environmental impact.

Viraphon said some aspects of the dam’s design had been changed to “reassure neighbour-ing countries”, but he insisted that objections would not derail plans to finish the project by the end of 2019.

The mooted 1,260 megawatt dam, the first of 11 on the key waterway, has become a symbol of the potential risks of hydropower projects in the region.

Communist Laos, one the most world’s under-developed nations, believes the dam will help it become “the battery of Southeast Asia” by selling electricity to its richer neighbours.

AFP

Czech President Vaclav Klaus (left) shakes hands with Philippine President Benigno Aquino as Mongolia’s President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj stands between them during the ASEM Summit in Vientiane yesterday.

14 PAKISTAN / AFGHANISTANTUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2012

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Entertainment

Feeding the Taliban

A man balances a goat on wooden sticks for his audience by a roadside on the outskirts of Faisalabad, yesterday.

An Afghan border policeman feeds a detained suspected Taliban member near Walli Was in Paktika province, near the border with Pakistan, yesterday.

PESHAWAR: The leader of Pakistan’s largest religious political party has cast doubt on the Taliban shooting of school-girl activist Malala Yousufzai, saying he did not believe she was hit in the head.

The 15-year-old narrowly escaped with her life when Taliban gunmen shot her on her school bus last month for daring to campaign for the right of girls

to go to school -- something the Islamist militants bitterly oppose.

Doctors in Britain, where she is now recovering, say the bullet from the attack grazed her brain and travelled through her head and neck before lodging in her left shoulder.

But the pro-Taliban cleric Fazlur Rehman, the head of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUIF) party, the largest religious

faction in Pakistan’s parliament, dismissed the medical assessment.

“Pictures shown on social media have shown the whole character as suspicious because there was no sign of injury after the dress-ing was removed,” he told a rally in northwest Pakistan on Sunday.

“It shows that the bullet did not hit her in the head.”

Images released by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham

showed Malala, who rose to fame in 2009 with a blog for BBC Urdu charting the brutalities of Taliban rule in Swat, showed the school-girl sitting up with her family, much of her head covered with a blue towel.

The cold-blooded attempt to murder the youngster shocked the world, but many in Pakistan -- where conspiracy theories on all subjects abound -- believe the

incident was part of a plot to defame the Taliban and Islam.

Social media in Pakistan is full of such comments and pictures of Malala, questioning the credibility of the attack.

Malala is said to be recover-ing well in Britain, but needs to fight off an infection before having reconstructive surgery to repair her skull.

AFP

KARACHI: A Pakistani politi-cal party has announced an unofficial nationwide “referen-dum” asking people whether they want their country to fol-low the ideology of the Taliban or the vision of the nation’s founder.

The secular Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), an ally of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), has been openly criti-cal of the Pakistani Taliban, and last week the Islamist militants threatened to attack the party.

The Taliban earned con-demnation across Pakistan last month when they tried to

murder schoolgirl activist Malala Yousufzai in the northwestern area of Sway for promoting girls’ education.

Pakistan has been convulsed by Islamist and sectarian violence in recent years, with more than 5,200 people killed since July 2007 in suicide attacks and bombings across the nuclear-armed nation.

Faisal Sabzwari, an MQM leader and provincial minister for youth affairs in Sindh, said the poll, announced Sunday, was an attempt to harness public opinion against the extremists.

“We are holding the referen-dum to build an opinion among

the fellow countrymen and women whether they want a Pakistan of Taliban or a Pakistan of Mohammad Ali Jinnah,” he said.

Jinnah, commonly often referred to as “Quaid-e-Azam” or Great Leader, led the creation of Pakistan as a homeland for Muslims in 1947 in the partition of British India.

“Quaid-e-Azam founded a country for everyone without the discrimination of faith, caste and creed. We want that Pakistan,” Sabzwari said.

He said the party was arrang-ing for voting at its offices and

other places across the country. Voting online and by SMS would also be possible, he said.

“We are doing all this to save innocent lives, our schools and our tolerant mode of living,” Sabzwari said.

A security official said on con-dition of anonymity that security arrangements at MQM’s offices had been tightened.

MQM’s powerbase lies in the urban centres of southern Sindh province, particularly Karachi, Pakistan’s economic powerhouse which is in the grip of ethnic and political violence.

AFP

Key ANP leader shot dead in North West Charsadda districtISLAMABAD: Unidentified gunmen yesterday shot dead a key local political leader in Pakistan’s restive north-western province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, police officials said.

Assailants killed Sabiullah Khan, senior vice president of the Charsadda chapter of the Awami National Party’s (ANP), the ruling party in the province. The ANP leader was attacked in Darabo village in Battagram area of Shabqadar district.

One other person was also injured in the attack

Shabqadar local police Wahid Gul has confirmed that the ANP leader was dead. He said that the Sabiullah “was going to his home village when he was shot dead.”

No militant group has yet claimed the responsibility of the attack. The body of the deceased has been shifted to the DHQ hospital.

Girl ‘destined’ to die in acid attackISLAMABAD: A Pakistani mother who killed her teenage daughter by dousing her with acid for looking at a boy has told the BBC it was the girl’s destiny to die in this way.

Police in Pakistan-administered Kashmir arrested Mohammad Zafar and his wife Zaheen for the October 29 attack on their daughter Anusha, 15, who died in hospital two days later after suf-fering horrific acid burns.

So-called “honour” attacks are common in deeply conservative Pakistan.

Rights activists say more than 900 women were murdered last year after being accused of bring-ing shame on the family in some way.

Speaking from their police cells, the father told the BBC they had warned Anusha before about looking at boys, while the mother described how her daughter had begged for forgiveness.

AGENCIES

NAJEEBAN: Najeeban in southern Afghanistan is a ghost village, deserted by the surviv-ing inhabitants after a murder-ous rampage allegedly carried out by a rogue American soldier earlier this year.

The accused, Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, is due in court Monday for a military hear-ing at Fort Lewis-McChord in the United States yesterday on charges of killing 16 villagers, mostly women and children.

Bales allegedly walked off his base in southern Kandahar prov-ince under cover of darkness on March 11 and killed the villagers in three homes before returning to his base and surrendering.

Before that horrific night at least seven large families lived in Najeeban, a small rural village in Panjwayi district of Kandahar, a hotbed of the Taliban insurgency.

Now a deep silence hangs over the area, disturbed only by the sound of buzzing flies -- and the occasional roar of American heli-copters flying over from a nearby base. Asleep in one of the homes that night was nine-year-old Hikmatullah, who awoke to a liv-ing nightmare.

“We were asleep when a person

stepped on me,” Hikmatullah, who uses just one name, said. “I opened my eyes and I saw he was a soldier who had a gun.

“First he woke my father and pulled him out from bed. I was really scared and I hid myself under the blanket.

“I heard only one thing from my father -- ‘Ya Allah have mercy!’ -- after that I heard a gunshot.”

Nearby was a compound hous-ing Mohammed Wazir’s family, where 11 people died as the sol-dier allegedly walked through the house and killed them one after another.

Wazir was away in Kandahar city that night, but returned to find among the dead his mother Shatarina, his wife Zahra, and six children: daughters Masooma 9, Fareeda, 7, Nabiyah, 5, Palwasha, an infant; and sons Ismatullah, 15, and Faisalullah, 11.

Also killed were Wazir’s younger brother, Akhtar Mohammad, his wife Nazia and their son Essa Mohammad, 14. All the dead were dragged into one room and set on fire, Wazir said. In the deserted house trails of blood and bullet holes in flame-blackened walls are still visible.

The 11 members of Wazir’s

family have been buried next to each other in a row in a small cemetery nearby. Local people call it the “Shrine of Martyrs”, believ-ing it to be a special place where their prayers will be answered.

“I pray God to give me the same position as these martyrs,” an old woman sitting nearby said. “The Americans are here to kill us, they killed my sons.” She lost two of her sons in a US airstrike about two months ago, she said.

Her sentiments are echoed by Samiullah, a 29-year-old who said her mother was killed by the soldier in the nearby village of Alkozai, along with three others.

“In the beginning ISAF (NATO’S International Security Assistance Force) claimed they started fighting against terror-ism in Afghanistan, but now it seems they are fighting against Afghans,” he said.

“That village, that house, always reminds me of how the American soldier attacked my family and murdered my mother.”

Samiullah has left his village to live in rented accommodation in Kandahar city, where he said he doesn’t have to worry about either soldiers or the Taliban raiding his home at night. AFP

PESHAWAR: Pakistan’s north-western tribal area of Khyber Agency has recorded the highest number of subver-sive acts during the current year as compared to other parts of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).

The data complied by offices of political administration in Fata shows that total 96 bomb blasts, suicide and rocket attacks have occurred in Khyber Agency between January and October this year.

These incidences have left at least 100 civilians and 20 security personnel dead besides injuring 60 others, the record shows.

Army and paramilitary forces have been conducting operations in Khyber Agency since 2009, but they have yet to evict mili-tants from the area, situated at a stone’s throw from Peshawar.

The volatile agency has also topped the list of kidnapping for ransom incidents among all tribal units as it recorded 40 cases in which people were picked up and taken there before making demands for money from the rela-tives of the kidnapped persons.

Main militant groups like Lashkar-i-Islam, Tawheedul Islam, Ansaarul Islam, Haji Namdar group and Abdullah Ezzam Brigade have been oper-ating in the area, according to sources.

The infighting among these militant outfits and subsequent military operations caused mass exoduses from the militancy-stricken area.

According to Fata Disaster Management Authority’s report, around 71,000 displaced families,

who left their native homes in the wake of lawlessness, had been reg-istered with it.

Officials blamed deaths and civilian casualties in Khyber Agency on artillery shelling and rocket attacks.

The trouble started in Khyber Agency in 2003 when supporters of two rival sectarian groups led by Mufti Shakir and Pir Saifur Rehman respectively clashed in Bara. Mufti and Pir were expelled from the area in 2004. However, the sectarian clashes resulted in emergence of Mangal Bagh group.

Interestingly, official reports portray situation in South Waziristan Agency, the birthplace of Taliban in Fata, as relatively quite and calm.

No loss of life of civilians and security forces has been reported from South Waziristan where total 20 attacks, includ-ing improvised explosive devices and roadside blasts, took place though media had reported that 30 security personnel and five civilians were killed in these acts of violence.

Also, decline has been wit-nessed in suicide attacks in Fata in the current year. Sources said that political authorities had confirmed four suicide attacks in tribal areas one each in Bajaur, Khyber and Kurram agencies and Frontier Region of Kohat.

Militants had reportedly car-ried out nine suicide attacks in Fata in 2011.

Officials said that situation in Bajaur Agency was pretty nor-mal though acts of violence had occurred in the area.

INTERNEWS

Pakistan party announces referendum on Taliban

Khyber Agency tops violence in tribal regionAttacks left at least 100 dead

KABUL: Afghanistan is con-sidering action against the International Crisis Group, with officials yesterday accus-ing the respected think-tank of bias in its reporting on the trou-bled nation.

An analysis by the Brussels-based ICG last month said the Kabul government could collapse after the withdrawal of Nato troops in 2014, particularly if presidential elections that year are fraudulent.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s senior spokesman Aimal Faizi hit back yesterday, “The ICG reports and activities have been politically motivated.”

“The government is now in the process of assessing the ICG’s operations in the country,” he added.

“It is detrimental to Afghanistan’s national inter-ests and no country will allow such activities by a foreign organisation,” he said, without elaborating.

The ICG analysis character-ised Karzai as apparently being motivated by his desire to cling to power rather than to work for his country’s interests.

Foreign ministry spokesman Janan Mosazai also said Kabul was investigating the group.

AFP

Pro-Taliban religious party leader doubts Malala attack

US soldier’s rampage haunts Afghan ‘ghost’ village

Kabul considers action against ICG

15INDIA TUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2012

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Naval chiefs meet

Indian Navy Chief Admiral Devendra Kumar Joshi (left), with Commander of the Turkish Naval Forces Admiral E Murat Bilgel in New Delhi, yesterday.

NEW DELHI: After a delay of over eight months, Saudi Arabia and India yesterday agreed to discuss issues relating to the over two million Indian labour-ers working in the Gulf nation and also to sign agreements in this regard at a later date.

This is viewed by India as a major breakthrough in secur-ing the interests of its migrant labourers, who go to Saudi Arabia for employment, and also to put in place a system to match the skills of eligible workers and the needs of the Saudi employers.

Saudi Arabian Labour Minister Engineer Adel bin Muhammad Fakieh and Indian Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi agreed to continue the dis-cussions on the memorandum of understandings on labourers and to sign the deals soon.

The Saudi minister had called on Ravi at his office here to hold talks that went on for about half-an-hour.

“We agreed to continue the discussions on the workers and their problems,” Ravi told report-ers after the talks.

The officials on both sides will discuss and draft the agreements before they are signed, Ravi said.

“The issues have been pending for the last eight to nine months. This is a great opportunity to discuss this issue. This is a great beginning,” the Indian minister said in the presence of the Saudi

minister. However, Ravi said there were not too many prob-lems that India labourers were facing Indians in Saudi Arabia, as of today. “But occasionally, recruiting agents hire people generally and when they land in Saudi Arabia the situation is different. To avoid such eventu-alities, we want everything from recruitment to work conditions to be perfect,” he added.

The Saudi Arabian minister, noting that the Indian work force was the largest from abroad, said there generally were “good condi-tions and relations” between them and the Saudi employers.

“The disputes between Saudi employers and Indian employees are the lowest,” he noted.

But Saudi Arabia would “like to have an understanding” so that problems of the workers and the employers on both sides can be solved in a systematic manner, he said. “We will put through this framework so we can continue the dialogue,” he added.

On problems faced by Saudi employers, Adel Fakieh said there had been complaints of a mis-match between the skill sets that the recruited employees claimed and had when they landed for work. “We would like to prevent this from happening by having a system of certification of skill lev-els before they leave for employ-ment in Saudi Arabia,” he added.

IANS

5 sailors killed in gas leak aboard shipMUMBAI: At least five sail-ors were asphyxiated by leak-ing gas aboard the LPG vessel Maharshi Krishnatreya in the Arabian Sea seas, a maritime official said here yesterday. The ship was en route to the UAE when the incident occurred in the compressor room of the ves-sel, according to the Directorate-General of Shipping (DGS).

The ship’s chief officer, a gas engineer and four other seamen were attempting to repair a dam-aged gas pipe in the compressor when they were overcome by the gas. Five persons have suc-cumbed, but their identities and other details were not immedi-ately disclosed, the official said.

The sixth victim was in seri-ous condition and airlifted to Porbandar by helicopter for medi-cal treatment. On learning of the accident around 11am, the ves-sel’s owners, Varun Shipping here alerted the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard for relief and rescue operations. The distressed ship has been diverted to Porbandar port in Gujarat and two vessels with a medical team and a Sea King MK-42C helicopter have been deployed for evacuation of the crew. Another naval ship cruising in the vicinity, INS Tabar was diverted to render assistance to Maharshi Krishnatreya.

Rupee drops to one-and-half month low against dollar

MUMBAI: Indian rupee dropped to one-and-half month low of 54.25 against US dollar before regaining some ground yesterday amid persistent demand for the American cur-rency from banks and importers as it made gains in the over-seas forex markets, The Times of India reported. The rupee opened lower at 54.10 per dol-lar as against the last weekend’s level of 53.81 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market and dropped further to about 6-week low of 54.25.

Later, it was quoted at 54.13 a dollar. The rupee moved between 53.90 and 54.25 against the US currency in the morning deals. Sustained dollar demand from banks and importers in view of its higher value in New York market affected the rupee, a forex dealer said. AGENCIES

HYDERABAD: Torrential rains in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh have killed at least 22 people and displaced tens of thousands of villagers over the past week, an official said yesterday.

Downpours triggered by a cyclone that hit the coast last Wednesday near Chennai left hundreds of villages inundated and 60,000 people in relief camps, Karikal Valaven, a government officer overseeing emergency operations, said.

“At least 22 people have died and thousands have lost their houses. The rains have dam-aged all the standing crops in the coastal region,” he said.

Disaster response teams helped

move people to higher ground in rubber boats and nearly 100 shel-ters were opened across the state to accommodate people fleeing the flood zone.

“The unseasonal rainfall has destroyed our crops and our entire field is submerged in water,” Arku Rajaipa, a farmer in Guntur district, one of the worst-affected regions, told a local TV news channel. “We will have to depend on the government for food the whole year.”

Cyclone Nilam struck 50km south of Chennai last week in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu before moving inland, kill-ing at least 10 people. The Andhra Pradesh state government said in a statement that it had

handed out 100,000 food packets. Authorities yesterday said many villages had been cut off for days.

“The biggest task is to estab-lish contact with 130 villages. They are safe but have suffered big losses as all their rice crop has been destroyed,” Valaven said.

All trains were suspended from the coastal cities of Visakhapatnam and Vijaywada, a major transit route in the region.

The meteorological office has forecast more rain, and people from low-lying areas have been advised to head to shelters.

In September two million people were forced to flee their homes in the north-eastern state of Assam after floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains. AFP

NEW DELHI: BJP chief Nitin Gadkari yesterday was in the thick of another controversy for comparing the IQ level of Swami Vivekananda to that of fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim. Gadkari said he had been misquoted, but his comment sparked a flurry of reactions in the virtual world while the Congress demanded an apology from the party.

In a speech at an award func-tion in Bhopal on Sunday, Gadkari said: “In psychology, we measure the IQ level of people... But it depends from person to person, in what area they choose to use their intelligence.”

“If we could compare the IQ level of Swami Vivekananda and that of Dawood Ibrahim, then it could have been almost similar. But their direction in life is so dif-ferent. While Vivekananda used it for nation building, brother-hood and spiritualism, Dawood used it for destructive purpose, to excel in the crime world,” Gadkari said at the Ojaswini felicitation programme to hon-our leading women in various fields.

Cornered by reporters, Gadkari denied having made such a comparison. “I did not make any comparison between

Swami Vivekananda and Dawood Ibrahim... I said if one used one’s intelligence properly then one could become like Vivekananda, and vice versa.”

“I am being misquoted,” the BJP president said. The Congress said his remark demonstrated the party’s “level of thinking and men-tality” and demanded an apology. Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari, who was till recently the Congress spokes-person, said Gadkari’s remarks were “yet another manifestation of their (the BJP’s) culture and mentality”.

Tewari said that a “mere

clarification” would not suffice and the BJP should “apologise to the people of this country, and specifically to the thinking people and the leaders of India”.

The BJP leaders were hard put trying to explain the comment.

BJP leader Balbir Punj, while denying that Gadkari had likened the spiritual leader with Dawood, explained that the party chief “was only stating a fact” that any kind of power, money or intellect, can be used to purse good or evil things. Twitter had a flurry of comments, including some unsa-voury ones.

IANS

SRINAGAR: Separatist lead-ers from Indian Kashmir said yesterday they would travel to Pakistan for their first talks with officials in nearly four years, a move that could revive cross-border tensions.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a leader of the moderate Hurriyat Conference, said that Pakistan

had invited him and other sepa-ratists who oppose India’s rule of Kashmir to several days of meet-ings in Islamabad next month.

“We will be meeting members of the ruling party, opposition leaders and government officials,” Farooq said, adding he wanted to convince all sides that “peace is impossible without resolution of

Kashmir”. India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence in 1947, two of them over the Himalayan region, which remains divided by the heavily militarised Line of Control.

Muslim-majority Kashmir, which India and Pakistan both claim but rule in parts, has been racked by militancy since 1989

when an insurgency against Indian rule erupted.

Around 47,000 people have died, though militant violence has fallen in recent years.

India suspended its peace proc-ess with Pakistan after the 2008 Mumbai attacks and talks only resumed in February last year.

AFP

Four pacts to be signed during Karzai’s visitNEW DELHI: India and Afghanistan will discuss pros-pects of enhancing Delhi’s role in training Afghan security forces and sign four pacts in diverse areas, including mines and fertilisers, during Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s visit to the country later this week.

India-educated Karzai begins his four-day visit from Mumbai on November 9 where he will interact with top Indian business-men and pitch for greater invest-ment in Afghanistan.

In Mumbai, he will speak to investors and focus on how regional economies can be inte-grated, Afghan Ambassador Shaida Mohammad Abdali told reporters here yesterday.

The envoy underlined that Karzai will be visiting India at “a critical time” as international combat troops prepare to with-draw from Afghanistan by 2014.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Karzai will hold wide-ranging talks in New Delhi on November 12. Four MoUs will be signed between the two countries in areas of mines, youth affairs, small development projects and fertilisers, he said.

The envoy stressed that the visit will seek to intensify stra-tegic dialogue between India and Afghanistan on bilateral and regional issues. He indicated that the two sides will be look-ing to step up Indian training for Afghan national security forces.

“India has committed itself to strengthening the security of Afghanistan,” he said, allud-ing to the strategic partnership agreement India and Afghanistan signed last year.

With the fragile security situa-tion in his country as a backdrop, the envoy called for intensifying international and regional coop-eration in combating terrorism in Afghanistan. “We need to cooper-ate against combating terrorism. We don’t have a satisfactory situ-ation so far. We still have pockets of insurgent groups and sanctu-aries of terror,” he said. Karzai’s visit comes at a time when a resurgent Taliban has escalated violence across the country, including in Bamiyan. AFP

Gadkari in trouble over Vivekananda, Dawood comparison

India, Saudi to discusslabour issuesDelhi sees a major breakthrough

22 dead, 60,000 displaced in floodsResidents wade through flood waters in Visakhapatnam in the coastal district of Andhra Pradesh, yesterday.

Campaign to halt public peeingNEW DELHI: Volunteers in India armed with drums and whis-tles are to lead a crackdown on going to the toilet in public under a new scheme in Rajasthan, a report said yesterday.

“We are constructing public toilets... and people will be encouraged to use them,” Ramniwas Jat, head of the state’s Jhunjhunu district council, told the Times of India.

“We want to raise awareness against the practice of urinating in public, which gave birth to the idea of beating drums and blowing whistles.”

The Times said that volunteers, who will be paid a small wage, would embarrass people caught urinating or defecating by standing behind them and letting loose a barrage of noise.

Guilty parties would also have their names read out on public address systems.

Defecating in the open is a serious social issue in India, touching on health, hygiene, women’s rights and the clash between traditional and modern lifestyles.

Women often refuse to go to the toilet outdoors during daylight hours to preserve their modesty, so they must go before dawn or wait many hours before it is dark again.

Walking barefoot where villagers defecate every day also spreads diseases such as tapeworm, and many children play close to outdoor latrine areas. Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh recently encouraged future brides to check their new family’s home to ensure it had an indoor toilet before accepting any marriage proposal.

AFP

Kashmiri separatists to hold talks in Pakistan

Mahesh Jethmalani resigns from BJP national executiveMUMBAI: Noted law-yer and BJP leader Mahesh Jethmalani has resigned from the BJP’s national executive. He said it would be “morally and intellectually” wrong for him to continue in the party forum as long as Gadkari is in office. Jethmalani is the son of leading lawyer and BJP Rajya Sabha MP, Ram Jethmalani.

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Europe seeks Asian support on debt crisisAsia-Europe meet begins in LaosVIENTIANE: European lead-ers said yesterday they were finally getting a grip on the eurozone debt crisis and urged Asia to do more to boost global economic growth.

Top European officials at a major summit in impoverished Laos, including French President Francois Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, led efforts to encourage much-needed trade with Asia’s fast-growing economies.

Europe has made a “huge effort” to tackle the euro crisis “by more coordination, by flesh-ing out the future of a genuine economic and monetary union”, Monti said, noting that Asia also faced slowing economic growth.

“Past events showed us that the current crisis does not stop on the edge of town but it is really knocking at all doors,” he warned.

Dozens of leaders jetted into the small landlocked nation for the Asia-Europe Meeting, which provides an opportunity to strengthen trade links between two regions that together account for about half of global economic output.

There were calls for Asia to play a greater role in efforts to revive the world economy and to renounce trade barriers,

after years of rapid growth in the region on the back of ris-ing exports to Europe and other Western markets.

“Promoting trade is not only fostering domestic demand but also avoiding protectionism,” said European Union president Herman Van Rompuy, who sought to allay fears that the eurozone might break up.

“The financial stability of the eurozone is much stronger than a few months ago. The euro is an irreversible project and on this basis growth can pickup in the course of 2013,” he said.

For years Western outrage over Myanmar’s human rights abuses—including the longtime detention of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners — was a major cause of friction between the two regions.

Unlike other participating nations, Myanmar was only allowed to send its foreign min-ister to previous Asia-Europe summits.

But after reforms including the release of political detainees and Suu Kyi’s election to parlia-ment, the West has begun easing sanctions to reward President Thein Sein, who was among those attending the two days of talks.

Optimism over the sweeping

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, Lao President Choummaly Sayasone, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen with other ministers prior to the opening ceremony of the ninth Asia-Europe (ASEM 9) summit in Vientiane yesterday.

changes, however, has been damp-ened by deadly clashes between Buddhists and stateless Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague called on Myanmar to address “the unre-solved problems of the status of the Rohingya people”.

“That’s an issue of major con-cern for us. I’ll certainly raise that with the Burma leaders here when I have the opportunity to do so,” he told reporters.

Dozens of people have been killed and more than 100,000 dis-placed by the unrest since June.

The violence is also “an issue of concern” for Southeast Asia,

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa told AFP.

Europe’s diplomatic offensive is seen as a sign of the grow-ing importance that it places on Asia’s vibrant economies.

“With the EU in the middle of a lost decade and facing protracted recession and fiscal austerity, European political and business leaders are turning to Asia’s fast-growing economies for economic salvation,” said Rajiv Biswas, Asia-Pacific chief economist at consul-tancy firm IHS Global Insight.

Europe’s leaders may lobby Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to deploy some of Beijing’s trove of about $3 trillion in foreign exchange reserves — the largest

in the world — to invest in EU bailout funds. At the same time Hollande criticised the inflex-ibility of the Chinese yuan and certain other Asian currencies, calling for “fair exchange rates”.

“Asians have gained a lot from our growth. Now it’s time for them to boost our growth with their demand,” he added.

Wen told the summit that his country had “promoted a bal-anced growth between imports and exports”.

“This shows that China is an important engine for world eco-nomic growth and has played a crucial role in driving the global economic recovery,” he said.

AFP

Qapco to open third low-density polyethylene plant on November 20DOHA: Qatar Petrochemical Company (Qapco) announced yesterday that it will inaugu-rate its third low-density poly-ethylene plant on November 20 at Mesaieed Industrial City.

Qapco’s preparations are almost complete for what promises to be a memorable inauguration for its new state-of-the-art petrochemi-cal facility, the QR2.3bn LDPE 3, the company said in a press brief-ing yesterday.

The statement added: “Qapco considers the LDPE 3 facility as another step in the company’s role towards fulfilling the economic diversification goals of the Qatar National Vision 2030. While the country is blessed with ample hydrocarbon resources, the added value lays in the refined product.

“Low Density Polyethylene, or LDPE, is the raw material required to manufacture most thermoplas-tic-based products. This includes items such as packaging films, agri-cultural film, extrusion and coating lamination film, high clarity film, injection molding, pipes, cables, wires, and other related prod-ucts. The new facility will produce prime high pressure grade LDPE than existing Qapco facilities, thus positioning the company as a global leader in LDPE production.”

Currently, Qapco’s manufactur-ing facilities consist of an 800KTPA (kilo-tonne per annum) ethylene plant, a 70KTPA sulphur process-ing facility, and two pre-existing LDPE plants, with a capacity of 400,000mtpa. While the LDPE 3 facility came fully online, it is designed to take advantage of the company’s excess ethylene feed-stock, it will be producing 300,000 metric tonnes of LDPE per annum; thus increasing Qapco’s annual production of LDPE to 700,000 metric tonnes per annum.

LDPE 3 was conceptualised in 2002, when the company laid out its growth strategy and identified a high potential for the feasibility of launching this project to satisfy the growing global demand of the LDPE product. Construction began in 2009 when the foundation stone was laid by the Heir Apparent H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, with construction taking three years. Testing and commissioning has already been completed, and with operating parameter normalised, the facility has been producing com-mercial prime grade LDPE since the mid-August, 2012.

QNA

Iraq signs final gas contract with Pakistan PetroleumBAGHDAD: Iraq signed a final gas exploration contract with Pakistan Petroleum yesterday as part of its drive to attract investment in its energy sector following years of neglect.

The contract gives the Pakistani company the right to explore gas block 8, covering an area of 6,000skm in Diyala and Wasit provinces in eastern Iraq.

Iraq has the world’s 10th-larg-est gas reserves and has said its priority will be to use it on the domestic market, mainly for power generation. But it has left open the possibility of allowing gas exports once domestic needs are met.

“Developing exploration block 8 could be very promising as a source of gas to feed the country’s power plants in future and open the way for Iraq to be a major exporter,” said Ahmed Al Shamma, Iraq’s Deputy Oil Minister, during a sign-ing ceremony.

Iraq has already signed scores of contracts with foreign compa-nies to develop its oil industry as it seeks to rebuild after years of war and economic sanctions.

REUTERS

Sri Lanka to restart refinery with Dubai crudeCOLOMBO: Ceylon Petroleum Corp (Ceypetco) will resume operation of Sri Lanka’s sole refinery, a 50,000 barrels-per-day facility, after a 10-day clo-sure, because it has received a cargo of 75,000 tonnes of crude from Dubai, officials said.

Sri Lanka’s decades-old refin-ery is configured to run on Iranian crude and has been scrambling to fill a shortfall after Western sanc-tions prevented it from bringing

in the crude from Iran. The sanc-tions have hurt its economy by forcing it to spend more to import oil and oil products.

The refinery was shut on October 26 after exhausting its supply of mainly Iranian crude oil, and its gen-eral manager, Susantha Silva, said it would be shut until the island nation received the Dubai cargo.

“We have received a 75,000-metric-tonne crude cargo and everything is arranged to

unload,” Silva said in an interview yesterday. “If all goes well, we’ll be able to resume operations from tomorrow.”

Silva declined to comment on the origin of the cargo, but an oil ministry official said it came from Dubai. “The cargo came from Dubai the day before yesterday and everything is now ready to unload,” the official said, on condi-tion of anonymity.

He said the island nation would

receive an 80,000 tonne crude cargo from Oman on Thursday, a 135,000 tonne cargo from Saudi Aramco November 13-15 and another 135,000 tonne shipment in December. Silva last week said the December shipment was from Abu Dhabi.

Exports from Iran, have fallen sharply as buyers struggle to pay for the oil and secure insurance cover for tankers to ship it.

AFP

HSBC reveals US money-laundering bill hits $1.5bnLONDON: HSBC has increased the amount set aside for fines linked to money-laundering in the United States to $1.5bn, the British banking giant said yesterday, adding it could face criminal charges over the matter.

The Asia-focused lender also announced in a results state-ment that net profits tumbled by more than half to $2.498bn in the third quarter, or three months to September, compared with a year earlier.

HSBC’s earnings were hurt by

an extra $800m provision over the money-laundering affair. It had already allocated $700m earlier this year and admitted yesterday that the overall total could be “significantly higher”.

The London-listed bank also took another charge of $353m to compensate clients in Britain who were mis-sold payment protection insurance, in a separate scandal which has blighted the country’s banking sector.

HSBC has so far booked a total provision of $2.1bn for the mis-selling scandal.

The bank was thrown into a separate crisis earlier this year when a US Senate report found it had allowed affiliates in Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh to move billions of dollars in sus-pect funds into the US without adequate controls.

“These results include an addi-tional provision of $800m in rela-tion to US anti-money laundering, Bank Secrecy Act and Office of Foreign Asset Control investiga-tions,” the bank said in yesterday’s statement.

“We are actively engaged in

ongoing discussions with the rel-evant authorities regarding steps to achieve a resolution, including potential fines, penalties and for-feitures, although no agreement has yet been reached.

“The resolution of at least some of these matters is likely to involve the filing of corporate criminal as well as civil charges and the imposition of significant fines, penalties and/or monetary forfeitures,” HSBC added.

The bank in July apologised for failing to apply anti-laundering rules and one senior executive

resigned. US lawmakers have accused the global bank of giving Iran, terrorists and drug dealers access to the US financial system.

David Bagley, the head of group compliance for London-based HSBC, was forced to step down from his post in the wake of a US Senate subcommittee’s damning report on the bank’s operations.

“The US authorities have sub-stantial discretion in deciding exactly how to resolve this mat-ter,” HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver said yesterday.

AFP

18 BUSINESSTUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2012

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

• Bullion - Mumbai Gold (10 gm) Standard Rs. 30940.00

Silver (1 kg) Rs. 60850.00

• Indian Rupees QR1 = 14.79• Sensex BSE 18762.87

NSE 5704.20

• LIC (International) launches New Gold Investment Plan ‘GOLD PLUS’ –

which provides an opportunity to invest in GOLD ETF & GOLD SPOT, PAN

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• Short-term investment plan from LIC International upto 6.4 percent return

p.a. (in dollar)

• Housing loan from HDFC LTD• Mutual Fund: Buy & Sell: SBI MF, HDFC MF, UTI MF, Birla Sun Life MF,

Tata MF, Reliance MF etc.Contact: Investec, Tel: 44325060/44365060 email: investec@qatar.net.qa

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% 09/04/2014 USD 106.19 0.78 % Aa2 AA

Qatar Govt 3.125% 20/01/2017 USD 105.94 1.66 % Aa2 AA

Qatar Govt 6.55% 09/04/2019 USD 126.25 2.15 % Aa2 AA

Qatar Govt 5.25% 20/01/2020 USD 119.63 2.28 % Aa2 AA

Qatar Govt 4.5% 20/01/2022 USD 114.75 2.68 % Aa2 AA

Qatar Govt 9.75% 15/06/2030 USD 181.50 3.51 % Aa2 AA

Qatar Govt 6.4% 20/01/2040 USD 140.00 3.98 % Aa2 AA

Qatar Govt 5.75% 20/01/2042 USD 129.75 4.01 % Aa2 AA

Qatari Diar 3.5% 21/07/2015 USD 105.75 1.33 % Aa2 AA

Qatari Diar 5% 21/07/2020 USD 117.00 2.56 % Aa2 AA

Comqat 5% 18/11/2014 USD 106.75 1.62 % A1 A-

Comqat 3.375% 11/04/2017 USD 104.50 2.30 % A1 A-

QIB 3.856% 07/10/2015 USD 105.00 2.08 % NR NR

QNB 3.125% 16/11/2015 USD 104.25 1.68 % Aa3 A+

QNB 3.375% 22/02/2017 USD 105.63 2.00 % Aa3 A+

Doha Bank 3.5% 14/03/2017 USD 103.75 2.58 % A2 A-

Qtel 3.375% 14/10/2016 USD 105.50 1.92 % A2 A

Qtel 7.875% 10/06/2019 USD 129.88 2.87 % A2 A

Qtel 4.75% 16/02/2021 USD 112.75 3.00 % A2 A

Qtel 5% 19/10/2025 USD 113.50 3.68 % A2 A

Rasgas 5.5% 30/09/2014 USD 108.50 0.98 % Aa3 A

Rasgas 5.832% 30/09/2016 USD 110.25 3.03 % Aa3 A

Rasgas 5.298% 30/09/2020 USD 112.75 3.44 % Aa3 A

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

Abu Dhabi Govt 5.5% 08/04/2014 USD 107.19 0.43 % Aa2 AA

Abu Dhabi Govt 6.75% 08/04/2019 USD 127.75 2.11 % Aa2 AA

Dubai Govt 6.7% 05/10/2015 USD 110.63 2.87 % NR NR

Dubai Govt 4.9% 02/05/2017 USD 106.13 3.42 % NR NR

Dubai Govt 7.75% 05/10/2020 USD 121.00 4.56 % NR NR

Dubai Govt 6.45% 02/05/2022 USD 112.13 4.84 % NR NR

Qatar Govt 4% 20/01/2015 USD 106.06 1.21 % Aa2 AA

Bahrain Govt 6.273% 22/11/2018 USD 113.63 3.73 % NR BBB

Bahrain Govt 5.5% 31/03/2020 USD 107.63 4.29 % NR BBB

Egypt Govt 5.75% 29/04/2020 USD 103.25 5.22 % B2 B

Morocco Govt 4.5% 05/10/2020 EUR 99.75 4.54 % NR BBB-

Qatari bourse adds 0.50 pointsKuwait market makes largest one-day gain in eight monthsDOHA: Qatar Exchange was slightly up yesterday adding 0.50 points or 0.01 percent to advance to 8,565.34 points from 8,564.84 on Sunday.

The volume of the shares traded up to 3,113,526 from 2,889,555 on Sunday and the value of shares increased to QR159,442,072.27 from QR149,219,307.68 on Sunday.

Among the top gainers were Qatar National Bank which was up 0.37 percent to QR134.00, Commercial Bank of Qatar rose 0.69 percent to QR72.90, International Islamic Bank gained 0.57 percent to QR52.80 and Gulf warehousing Company up by 0.50 percent to QR40.35.

The banking and financial sec-tor index lost 2.79 points while consumer goods and services sec-tor index dropped 43.27 points. The industrial sector down 3.46 points while insurance sector fell 13.01 points.

Meanwhile, Kuwait’s mar-ket made its largest one-day gain in eight months yesterday,

rebounding from an eight-year low as investor confidence improved after a political pro-test was less violent than inves-tors had feared, while other Gulf bourses ended mixed.

Kuwaiti security forces fired tear gas to disperse an unauthor-ised demonstration on Sunday by thousands of opposition support-ers. The country will hold parlia-mentary elections on December 1.

“I doubt there will be dem-onstrations until the elections — that’s giving relief to small investors to put money back into the market,” said Fouad Darwish, head of brokerage at Global Investment House.

The index finished 1.6 percent higher, gaining the most in a sin-gle session since February 19.

Market participants say the government has been buying local shares through a state-linked fund, which was set up to support the bourse during slumps.

“If the government maintains buying through the national

portfolio fund, it will help cata-pult the market,” Darwish added.

Large-caps rallied, with National Bank of Kuwait up one percent, telecoms operator Zain gaining 1.4 percent and logistics firm Agility rising 2.1 percent.

In Saudi Arabia, the index climbed for a fourth-straight session, up 0.4 percent. Small-cap stocks led gains as investors skirt risk ahead of tomorrow’s US elections.

Retail investors targeted stocks driven by domestic demand, rather than those more affected by global sentiment.

Insurance stocks dominated trade, accounting for nearly half the market turnover of SR5.4m. The sector’s index slipped 0.5 percent.

Almarai Co climbed 1.1 percent after announcing plans to issue the second tranche of a riyal-denominated Islamic bond pro-gramme in the coming months to private investors.

The banking sector index and

petrochemical benchmark added 0.7 and 0.2 percent respectively.

Elsewhere, Abu Dhabi’s bench-mark slipped 0.3 percent, its second-straight decline since Thursday’s 15-month high.

Dana Gas ended 2.4 percent lower at Dh0.41, having slumped as much as 7.3 percent intraday. The stock accounted for nearly half of all shares traded on the bourse.

The natural gas producer failed to repay a $920m sukuk on matu-rity last week, prompting a source close to holders of the bond to say they will stake claim Dana’s extensive Egyptian assets.

Dana said in a statement after trading it was unaware of any action by bondholders against the firm.

“It’s no surprise that credi-tors will enforce the security on the sukuk. Egypt assets were the recourse on the sukuk in case of default,” said Anastasios Dalgiannakis, institutional trad-ing manager at Mubasher.

AGENCIES

Qatar Steel inducted into Palladium HoF DOHA: Palladium Group announced Qatar Steel as one of the winners of the 2012 Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame during their Annual Global Summit in Boston, the US recently. The induction ceremony recognising leading organisations from North America, the Middle East, and Asia featured 12 organisations including Qatar Steel that have achieved dramatic performance outcomes through their strategy execution expertise. Palladium Group Inc is the global leader in strategy execution consulting and serves a broad range of private and public sector clients in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia.

Qatar Steel is one of the leading companies in manufacturing and supplying steel predominantly in the Arabian Gulf, and it is wholly owned by Industries Qatar (IQ).

The Hall of Fame award honours organisations that have achieved excellence in execution through the use of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), the world’s preeminent strategy execution management system. The BSC framework was first publicised 20 years ago by co-creators Dr Robert Kaplan and Dr

David Norton, also the co-founders of Palladium Group. Past honorees constitute a roster of 167 organisations from over 20 countries around the world. The winners are selected from an appli-cant pool based on the quality of their BSC implementation and the results they achieve over

a period of at least two years. Each year the inductees are

profiled in a report published by Harvard Business Publishing.

Ali Bin Hassan Al Muraikhi (pictured), Director and General Manager of Qatar Steel said: “It is a long journey since we first intro-duced Balanced Scorecard in 2003; hard work and commitment of all our employees have culminated in receiving this prestigious award as strategy execution is every-body’s job. We are happy to be the first company in Qatar and also to be the first company in the steel industry in the region to be inducted into Palladium HoF. Our sound management practices stand testimony to our ability to adapt to dynamic market conditions and in running the business efficiently; BSC methodology is one such powerful management tool that is working well for us in Qatar Steel.

THE PENINSULA

Brookfield Medgulf bags QR1.5bn Msheireb contractDOHA: Msheireb Properties, Qatar’s leading sustain-able developer, has appointed Brookfield Multiplex Medgulf WLL, consortium of Brookfield Multiplex and Medgulf, as the main building contractors responsible for a key section of the master plan of the QR20bn Msheireb Downtown Doha.

Under the terms of the agreement, valued at QR1.5bn, Brookfield Multiplex Medgulf will be responsible for the construc-tion of all the substructure and superstructure works involved in Phase 1C of the project, the world’s first sustainable down-town regeneration project.

Phase 1C incorporates a total constructed area of 225,000sqm, of which 122,000sqm are in three levels of basement housing 1,200 parking spaces, logistic and plant areas, including district cooling and a 66KVA electrical substation. Above grade, Phase 1C will have 10 buildings comprising four office blocks with 30 ground-level retail outlets, five residential buildings, 51 apartments and a primary school with a day-care centre.

Eng Mohammad Al Marri, Chief Officer for Design and Delivery at Msheireb Properties, said: “With the award of this con-tract, we move closer to realising our vision of creating the world’s largest sustainable regeneration project. Enabling work on both Phase 1B and 1C is now com-pleted, and building of foundations of Phase 1C is now progressing.

“A joint venture between Canadian-owned Brookfield Multiplex and the local firm Medgulf has been engaged to deliver the project to the highest environmental standards. Such collaborations between interna-tional and local contractors have been part of our strategy to help

develop and grow local capabili-ties and expertise.”

Al Marri added: “A unique mixed-use development, Msheireb Downtown Doha will consume fewer resources, generate less waste and operate more cost efficiently than a conventional development of a simi-lar size thanks to its comprehensive sustainable design.”

Major infrastructure within Phase 1C will include a district cooling plant, a 66-kilovolt substa-tion, a mobile telecommunication node, and a hub for automated waste collection.

Renier Breitenbach, General Manager of Brookfield Multiplex

Medgulf, said: “We are privileged to have been selected to join the team developing Msheireb Downtown Doha. We hope to leave our mark on the project by delivering work to the highest standards. With so many ground-breaking achievements in the field of sustainable design and con-struction to its name, Msheireb Downtown Doha will be a great legacy for Qatar.”

Construction of Msheireb Downtown Doha started in 2010 and the development will be com-pleted in five phases from 2012. The QR1.55 billion construc-tion contract for the first phase

of the project was awarded to a consortium between Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co and HBK Contracting Co.

Drake & Scull Water & Power, part of Drake & Scull International, has been commissioned to build the project’s energy-efficient district cooling plants.

The agreement with Brookfield Multiplex Medgulf WLL follows the appointment of Carillion in March to complete building works on Phase 1B. The next procure-ment award to be announced will be for the sub- and superstruc-ture works for Phase 2.

THE PENINSULA

Officials of Msheireb Properties and Brookfield Multiplex Medgulf during the signing ceremony.

Three years without LTI on Harvey Duhaney platformDOHA: Total E&P Qatar com-pleted three years without lost time incident (LTI) on the Noble Harvey Duhaney plat-form. On this occasion Stephane Michel, Managing Director of Total E&P Qatar, and Total Group representative in Qatar, Pierre Leschi, Al Khalij Asset Manager, Franjo Stricko, Rig Superintendent at Noble and Noble management visited the rig.

Stephane Michel congratulated the 90 workers present on the rig and reminded that this result had been reached thanks to the close collaboration of all the staff on the rig. “HSE issues are of utmost importance for Total worldwide. Permanent awareness of the HSE 12 Total golden rules is essential for all the personnel on the rig” Michel said.

Pierre Leschi thanked every-body for this safety achievement and the good job done.

THE PENINSULA

Rig workers with Stephane Michel (second right, standing), Pierre Leschi, (sitting right) and Franjo Stricko, during their visit to the rig.

20 BUSINESS VIEWSTUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2012

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Barclays set to fight FERC over bragging, not riggingBY CEZARY PODKUL AND JONATHAN LEFF

British bank Barclays is set to fight a potentially record $470m penalty from US energy regula-

tors by arguing its traders were guilty of braggadocio, not of rig-ging California electricity prices.

The four traders in question, who boasted in emails and instant messages about how “fun” it was to “crap on” certain physical power prices, did not actually carry out the complex scheme they are accused of by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, a source familiar with the bank’s thinking said.

Last week, the country’s top cop overseeing electricity markets ordered Barclays to demonstrate why it should not pay a $435m civil penalty, plus $34.9m in the repayment of ill-gotten gains, for manipulation of California power markets between 2006 and 2008.

The British banking giant, still reeling from an nearly equiva-lent fine over its role in rigging the Libor interest rate bench-mark, has already said it will

“vigorously” fight the FERC charges, likely setting up a land-mark court battle.

It believes electricity trades on the days of the traders’ mes-sages show their West Coast trad-ing team was not intentionally manipulating prices for profit, despite the “unfortunate” emails released in FERC’s 73-page regu-latory filing, the source said.

Any losses incurred on the bank’s mammoth trades -- which on some days accounted for more than half of all the deals in spe-cific markets -- was an effort to “build credibility” with potential clients in a new market.

In fact, on more than half of the days in question, the bank actually made money or lost very little, the source said, an outcome seemingly at odds with FERC’s accusation that it was engaged in so-called “uneconomic trading”, where losses in one market would yield larger profits in another.

To prevail in its case, which stems from an investigation that began in July 2007 after an anonymous tip-off from other market participants, FERC will have to demonstrate the traders’

messages demonstrate “intent” to manipulate markets - a tough, though not impossible hurdle to meet, legal experts said.

FERC spokesperson Mary O’Driscoll declined comment, citing the agency’s policy of not commenting on open cases.

INTENT AND DISREGARD

Typically, in a manipula-tion case FERC must show the accused individuals or companies knew or acted with “reckless disregard” toward good business practices in their industry, said Susan J Court, former chief of enforcement at FERC.

“To prove that that’s the answer is difficult,” she said, “because it goes to the intent” of the traders’ actions. “So sometimes it comes down to interpreting those elec-tronic messages and what they mean in context.”

Barclays will argue that even taking into account the emails the traders did not act on the messages.

Examining emails alone, “you could argue that it’s a manifes-tation of intent. But if you look at the real trading, it just doesn’t

line up,” the source said.Across 35 alleged months of

alleged manipulation, the trad-ers were either making money or “losing hardly anything” during more than half the days, accord-ing to the source.

All four of the traders accused in the case - Daniel Brin, Scott Connelly, Karen Levine, and Ryan Smith, who also have 30 days to “show cause” on penal-ties amounting to $18m - have left Barclays since the alleged manipulation.

Their legal status is unclear; Brin declined comment when reached on his mobile phone by Reuters last week. Efforts to reach the other traders were unsuccessful.

Since Congress enhanced FERC’s enforcement powers in 2005, the commission has only concluded a finding of manipu-lative intent in one case: Brian Hunter, the former natural gas futures trader whose massive bets sank hedge fund Amaranth in 2006. Key to the finding were Hunter’s instant message com-munications, in which he asked fellow traders to take actions that

would benefit his bets that natural gas futures would tumble.

The commission fined Hunter $30m in April 2011, an amount “appropriate and sufficient” to discourage others from engaging in market manipulation, FERC said at the time.

The case is now on appeal.

HIGH STAKES

The stakes in the Barclays case are significantly higher than the sums involved, for both sides of the docket.

Though Barclays quit the energy trading business in the Western United States almost a year ago, it is still reeling from $450m in penalties over the Libor interest rate rigging that cost former CEO Robert Diamond his job. FERC’s enforcement action could potentially double those fines and the negative public-ity the bank has experienced in recent months.

For FERC, the case could underscore the agency’s determi-nation to go after manipulation - a cause championed by enforce-ment chief Norman C. Bay.

Of 12 investigations opened by

FERC’s enforcement staff dur-ing the year ended September 30, 2011, eight involved market manipulation or false statements to the agency, according to the most recent data, including against banking giant Deutsche Bank’s energy trading arm and BP.

Bay may be emboldened by the record $135m fine, plus $110m in return of ill-gotten profits he won in a settlement with Constellation Energy Group Inc earlier this year. However, some in the industry argue that the FERC had leverage in that case -- power provider Exelon Corporation’s pending takeover of Constellation -- that doesn’t exist with Barclays.

Marc L Spitzer, a former FERC commissioner who worked with Bay on enforcement actions, declined to comment on the Barclays case. However, he praised Bay for his ability to judge when to pursue enforcement actions. “Norman Bay has a good sense for which cases he should move and which cases he should settle on,” Spitzer said.

REUTERS

BY ANDREA HOPKINS

Long convinced the country’s housing boom would never end in a crash, Canadians have watched this autumn as a sharp slowdown in real estate spreads across the country, leaving would-be home buyers hopeful and sellers scared.

“The power is in the hands of the buyer - that’s what I’m feeling,” said Andria Petrillo, 32, as she and her husband toured a quiet open house in the heart of Toronto, where crowds and chaos once reigned over weekend home showings.

But like most people shopping for a new home, Petrillo has to sell her old one first. And that’s where she worries.

“With the economy, I’d like to sell now. I worry about selling because it’s a condo, and that market is cooling even faster than houses,” said the newly married sportscaster. “We can’t sell it for a ridiculous amount of money any more.”

Signs are everywhere that Canada’s long run-up in house prices is over, hit by a combination of tighter mortgage lending rules and growing consumer reluctance to take on more debt. Sales of existing homes are down steeply, with condo sales hit especially hard, and some long-booming prices have started to fall.

Sales always slump as the real estate market heads into win-ter. The big question will be whether spring brings renewal, or confirmation that the party is over.

Canadian households hold more debt than American families did before the US housing bubble burst, which has led the govern-ment to tighten mortgage lending rules four times in four years.

And data released on Wednesday showed the Canadian economy shrank in August, an unexpected downturn that bodes ill for hous-ing even as the US economy shows signs of recovering.

The debate in Canada is whether the market will come down with a thud or make a relatively soft landing, as most mainstream economists predict. They see a 10 to 15 percent correction in prices and a slowing in housing starts to 180,000 a year by 2014, down sharply from the 220,000 range today. In that scenario, GDP growth would be cut by 1 to 1.5 percentage points, according to CIBC World Markets.

The Bank of Canada has forecast economic growth of just 2.3 percent in 2013 and 2.4 percent in 2014.

“In a final analysis, not all is well in the Canadian housing mar-ket,” CIBC economist Benjamin Tal wrote in a report this week, pointing to prices that have overshot fundamentals in large cities like Toronto and Vancouver.

Tal believes slower sales activity will be followed by falling prices in many cities. But he says Canadian lending standards have been higher, and borrowers more cautious, than in the United States before its crash, which will prevent large-scale mortgage defaults and plunging prices.

Mindful of what happened in the United States, the Canadian government has tightened mortgage rules to prevent home buy-ers from taking on too much debt. While interest rates are low and expected to stay low into 2013, the fear is that eventual rate hikes will drive borrowers out of their homes or into bankruptcy.

Canada’s big five banks, which sell and hold the bulk of the nation’s mortgages, are adjusting to the slowing mortgage market with a stress on other financial assets, such as credit cards and auto financing, to bolster their lending businesses as the profitable mortgage market shrinks.

The last round of mortgage rule changes took effect in July, forcing home buyers to cut back on their budget and pushing many prospective first-time buyers out of the market entirely.

Economists and real estate agents alike applauded the move.“It’s had a definite impact on first-time buyers. Money is almost

free, but you shouldn’t give them too much rope,” said Ron Carroll, a real estate agent in Toronto.

Home sales have slowed dramatically in the months since the rule change took effect, and prices are expected to follow.

Sales of existing homes were down 15.1 percent in September from a year earlier, and were 6.5 percent lower in the third quar-ter from the previous three months, according to data from the Canadian Real Estate Association.

Prices, which typically lag sales, have started to come down as well. Overall prices dipped 0.4 percent in September from August, according the Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index released last week. While prices are still up 3.6 percent from a year earlier, it was the 10th straight month of decelerat-ing price gains.

As the Canadian real estate market heads into winter, sales are expected to slump, as usual, with hibernation beginning in late November.

While the national housing market appears to be retreating in an orderly way, the data show pockets of sharper slowdown, par-ticularly in the western Canadian cities of Vancouver and Victoria.

REUTERS

Canada braces as housing slowdown takes hold

Bond investors on edge no matter who wins US electionBY JENNIFER ABLAN AND RICHARD LEONG

Bond investors are, by nature, a cautious lot.

As they head into the US presi-dential election today uneasy, they say no matter who wins,

the government will still have to deal with the “fiscal cliff” and its profound economic consequences. But one outcome in particu-lar - a Mitt Romney victory - adds to their apprehension because it throws into doubt the status of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, with whom bond investors seem to have, well, bonded.

Investors fear that both Democratic President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Romney would struggle to reach a compromise with the leaders of the oppos-ing party in Congress to halt $600bn in expiring federal tax cuts and automatic spending cuts at year-end.

The lack of a resolution could push the world’s biggest economy into a deep reces-sion, a consensus view supported by analysts at the Congressional Budget Office.

“I think the current situation politically hurts us very badly in trying to deal with our problems economically,” veteran bond investor Dan Fuss at Loomis Sayles in Boston said of the so-called fiscal cliff, his No. 1 worry.

Neither an Obama nor a Romney win will change Fuss’ market outlook. “One of these days, interest rates are going to start up higher,” said Fuss, whose firm oversees roughly $182bn.

Interest rates recently fell to levels not

seen since World War II as a result of the Federal Reserve’s aggressive bond-buying actions. Many warn the Fed is only postpon-ing a destabilising rise in rates that would hurt economic growth.

The other major issue for bond inves-tors is who runs the Federal Reserve. It is unclear whether Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will go for a third term when his tenure ends in January 2014, but Romney has said he would not reappoint him if he wins.

A leadership vacuum at the Fed could unnerve investors.

“I would think that who is in charge of the Fed, as opposed to who wins the elec-tion, would be a more material driver for the bond market as well as the stock market,” said Bonnie Baha, head of Global Developed Credit at DoubleLine Capital LP, which manages more than $45bn in Los Angeles.

The yield on benchmark US Treasury notes was 1.74 percent on Friday in the wake of a surprisingly strong set of domes-tic jobs figures. That puts the 10-year yield, a benchmark for investment returns, mort-gage rates and other borrowing costs, in the middle of this year’s trading range of 2.38 percent and a record low of 1.38 percent.

Citigroup analysts recommended in a report published Thursday that investors buy longer-dated Treasuries in case of an Obama win, assuming the market will rally. They also suggest a strategy of using interest rates derivatives to hedge against a Romney victory.

An Obama victory would send yields on US 10-year Treasuries to 1.5 percent or lower from about 1.74 percent now, Barclays

analysts wrote, as worries related to the “fiscal cliff” pick up. If Romney wins, some observers believe it’s more likely that the fiscal cliff would be temporarily extended.

If a lame-duck Congress and the White House are not able to resolve their differ-ences on taxes and spending, Bush-era tax cuts will expire January 1, and automatic federal spending cuts will be phased in.

Some analysts believe Romney will have an easier time achieving a deal with Congress to avert the fiscal cliff, but that the compromise might not be to the bond market’s liking.

Positioning for higher interest rates in the options market has grown in recent days, a move which some analysts inter-preted as traders anticipating a Romney victory. The expectation would be that increased spending and large tax cuts could worsen the deficit, but this also could spur policies that would help stocks rather than bonds.

Republicans are seen as almost certain to retain their control of the House of Representatives, according to recent polls. The party favours an extension of tax cuts for top wage-earners, while Obama and the Democrats back their expiry, along with higher taxes on top-income groups.

If Obama wins, sparring over taxes for the top two income brackets could lead to no deal and the chaotic response could drive investors to the safety of Treasuries, said John Bellows, investment manage-ment strategy analyst at Western Asset Management Co in Pasadena, California, which manages $460bn in assets.

REUTERS

Cartoon Arts International / The New York Times Syndicate

BRENT

$ 108.26

DUBAI

$ 107.35

QATAR EXCHANGE | DAILY TRADING REPORT | 05-11-2012

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

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED

COMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME NAME CHG TRADED

A C C-A/D 1392.1 12.8 17152

Aarti Drugs-B/D 192.65 19.35 210236

Aban Offs-B/D 444.05 3.3 87691

Aegis Logis-B/D 172.05 4.6 30248

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Goodyear I -B/D 325.2 4.15 7674

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I F C I-A/D 28.25 0.45 1223170

Idbi-A/D 94.25 1.4 234600

Ifb Agro-B/D 162.4 0.15 12151

Ifb Ind.Ltd.-B/D 107.7 -1.05 52042

India Cement-B/D 96.3 0.9 113144

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QE Market Summary Comparison Today Previous day

05-11-2012 04-11-2012

Index 8,565.34 8,564.84

Change 0.50 38.78

% 0.01 0.45

YTD% 2.43 2.44

Volume 3,113,526 2,889,555

Value (QAR) 159,442,072.27 149,219,307.68

Trades 2,381 1,871

Up 12 | Down 19 | Unchanged 10

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

21MARKET TUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2012

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

GOLDQR202.2523

SILVERQR 3.8178

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

UK ...........................QR 5.8510 QR 5.9337

Euro .........................QR 4.6279 QR 4.7145

CA$ ..........................QR 3.6251 QR 3.6949

Swiss Fr ..................QR 3.8312 QR 3.9049

Yen ..........................QR 0.0447 QR 0.0458

Aus$ ........................QR 3.7290 QR 3.8237

Ind Re ......................QR 0.0661 QR 0.0676

Pak Re .....................QR 0.0377 QR 0.0385

Peso ........................QR 0.0867 QR 0.0894

SL Re .......................QR 0.0277 QR 0.0283

Taka .........................QR 0.0442 QR 0.0453

Nep Re ....................QR 0.0423 QR 0.0431

SA Rand ..................QR 0.4169 QR 0.4252

All Ordinaries 4479.904 -55.46 -1.22 4602.5 4033.4

Cac 40 Index/D 3448.38 19.11 0.56 3600.48 2922.26

Dj Indu Average 0 0 0 13661.87 11231.56

Egypt Cma Gn Idx 1026.29 32.57 3.28 999.95 312.38

Hang Seng Inde/D 21821.87 180.05 0.83 21847.7 18056.4

Iseq Overall/D 3255.92 7.43 0.23 3369.33 2882.71

Karachi 100 In/D 15969.03 58.92 0.37 15981.35 10771.13

Nikkei 225 Index 8946.87 18.58 0.21 10255.15 8238.96

S&P 500 Index/D 1412.16 0.22 0.02 1474.51 1158.66

Straits Times/D 3026.61 -11.76 -0.39 3110.86 2657.77

Straits Times/D 2989.31 24.69 0.83 3035.78 2657.77

QE Indices SummaryQE Index 8,565.34 0.50

QE Total Return Index 11,592 0.68

QE All Share Index 2,063.94 3.01

QE All Share Banks & Financial Services 2,020.22 2.79

QE All Share Industrials 2,621.78 3.46

QE All Share Transportation 1,390.89 2.69

QE All Share Real Estate 1,684.41 2.94

QE All Share Insurance 1,968.58 13.01

QE All Share Telecoms 1,093.9 0.19

QE All Share Consumer Goods & Services

4,833.09 43.27

SPORT24TUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2012

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Tired Djokovic ready for one final test in LondonI want to give my best. This is a very important tournament, says the Serb

LONDON: A tired sounding Novak Djokovic says he will need to draw on all his mental and physical strength if he is to crown another stellar sea-son with the ATP World Tour Finals title.

Whether he can add a sixth title to his 2012 resume, which includes the Australian Open, will depend on how his body has recov-ered since he was knocked out of the Paris Masters by American Sam Querrey on Wednesday.

He admitted after the match he began to struggle physically dur-ing the second set, having won the first.

“I want to give my best and at this moment I’m trying to be as optimistic as possible,” Djokovic, winner of the season-ending showpiece when it was staged in Shanghai in 2008, told a news conference at London’s 02 Arena which is hosting the event for the fourth year running.

“It’s expected to not always on your top form and especially at this time of year the effects of the long season can influence you physically and mentally also, but as I said, this is a very important tournament.

“I definitely want to do well, find the mental and physical strength to perform my best and we’ll see if that best will be good enough.”

As well as a weary body, reports from Serbia have said the 25-year-old’s father was ill, an issue Djokovic was not keen to elaborate on.

“It’s not the right moment for me to be talking about these things right, I just want to talk about the tennis tournament.”

Regardless of his result in London’s docklands, where he has also been drawn to face great rival Andy Murray and Czech Tomas Berdych, he will finish the season as top dog in men’s tennis.

He lost the tag to Swiss Roger Federer in July, but will take it

back this week in a season that has seen him pocket more than $8m in prize money.

“It means a lot, for all of us from our team, we are very proud of what we’ve achieved in 2012,” he said of reclaiming top spot. “It’s definitely not easy ending the year as number one considering the competition that we had this year, and I’m very happy and very proud and this can only serve as a great confidence boost for me for upcoming years.”

While much has been made of his fierce battles with London-based Scot Murray, which has seen Djokovic prevail in the Australian Open semi-finals in a match lasting close to five hours before Murray took revenge at the same stage of the London Olympics and then in the remarkable five-set U.S Open final, he preferred to dwell on season where four dif-ferent players - himself, Murray, Federer and injured Rafael Nadal - won a major.

“For me, it’s great to be part of that rivalry, to be part of this era between four of us really good players, and we are trying to bring the sport to another level, and it’s really nice to see these rivalries are evolving, these rivalries are getting stronger, and more com-petitive,” he said.

Djokovic said the round-robin format of the tournament was a nice change from the usual knockout tennis players encoun-tered, as you could still make the semi-finals having lost a match.

He hopes to get off to a good start against world number seven Tsonga however, who he beat in the final of the China Open last month.

“We always have good battles, tough battles, he is a big server and he is the kind of player that feeds off the energy of the crowd,” he said.

“He played finals here last year, it’s going to be very difficult for both of us.” REUTERS

Novak Djokovic of Serbia speaks at a news conference ahead of the ATP tennis finals at the O2 Arena in London on Sunday.

Federer wants more drug tests LONDON: Roger Federer wants more blood testing done in tennis to help keep the sport clear of doping, the 17-times grand slam champion said on the eve of the ATP World Tour Finals.

Britain’s Andy Murray raised the subject this week at the Paris Masters, suggesting there needed to be more out-of-competition checks.

World Tour Finals title holder Federer said his Scottish rival had a point.

“I feel I’m being less tested this time now than six, seven, eight years ago,” the Swiss told a news conference at London’s O2 Arena.

“I don’t know the exact reasons why we are being

tested less and at this moment I agree with Andy, we don’t do a lot of blood testing during the year.

“I think it’s important to have enough tests. I don’t like it when I’m only getting tested whatever number it is, which I don’t think is enough or suf-ficient during the year so I think we should up it a little bit or a lot,” Federer added.

“It’s key and vital the sport stays clean. It’s got to. We have a good history in terms of that and we want to make sure it stays that way.”

According to the International Tennis Federation website, the sport’s governing body, carried out only 21 out-of-competition blood tests in 2011. REUTERS

Ferrer to lead Spain in Davis final MADRID: World number five David Ferrer will lead Spain’s bid to claim their fourth Davis Cup title in five years when the holders take on the Czech Republic in this month’s final in Prague. Fourth-ranked Rafa Nadal is still sidelined with a knee injury so Ferrer, winner of Sunday’s Paris Masters, will spearhead a team that includes Nicolas Almagro, Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez.

“Ferrer’s leadership has been important in Nadal’s absence despite him saying at the start of the year he was not planning to play,” captain Alex Corretja told a news conference yesterday.

“He has accepted the challenge and now we are in the final.”

Ferrer, 30, won his first Masters tournament on Sunday as he took his haul of titles this season to a personal best of seven. The Czechs, who overcame Italy, Serbia and Argentina, have a poor record against Spain and were demolished 5-0 by them in the 2009 final. REUTERS

Tomic guilty of failing to stop for police SYDNEY: Australian ten-nis star Bernard Tomic was found guilty yesterday of failing to stop for police in his high-powered, bright orange sportscar and placed on a 12-month good behav-iour bond. The 20-year-old admitted three other charges after a series of run-ins with authorities on the same day last January.

They included two counts of breaching his licence condi-tions and one of failing to keep left of double dividing lines, for which he was fined a total of Aus$1,000 (US$1,036).

Tomic contested the failure to stop charge but was found guilty. Court magistrate Ron Kilner rejected the argument that Tomic was confused about what police had wanted him to do and imposed the bond. AFP

Janowicz dreaming of place among elite

Polish tennis player Jerzy Janowicz (centre) poses for photographers with his parents Jerzy (left) and Anna upon his arrival at the Chopin Airport in Warsaw, Poland, yesterday. Jerzy Janowicz returned home after reaching the final of the Paris Masters. He lost 4-6, 3-6 against Spain’s David Ferrer.

PARIS: Little-known Pole Jerzy Janowicz set his sights on a place among the tennis elite after being beaten 6-4, 6-3 by fourth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer in the final of the Paris Masters on Sunday.

The 21-year-old’s barnstorming run to the final secured a place in the world’s top 30 and a seeded place in the Australian Open, the grand slam tournament he skipped in January because of a lack of cash.

Another consolation for the unseeded Janowicz’s runner-up finish was a cheque for 234,865 euros ($301,700).

“I have just become a top-30 player so I think I will not have to worry any more about money and I will have good opportunities to fight for an even better ranking,” he told a news conference.

“I’m going to be seeded in Australia, that is a huge help. In the small ATP tournaments sometimes I will have a bye in the first round.

“This is a good opportunity to work even harder and to fight for everything. Maybe one day I will become a top-10 player in the world.”

Janowicz beat five top-20 players this week including US Open and Olympic champion Andy Murray.

“At the beginning of this year my goal was to be in the top 100 and suddenly I am in the top 30,” he said.

Tournament director Guy Forget, the former world number four, said he had seen it all before.

“The first time Gustavo Kuerten reached the final of the French Open he came here with his blue and yellow shirt and his dishev-elled hair and his very special technique,” said Forget.

“People were saying, ‘who is that Brazilian player?’ So very strange things have happened in tennis.

“Just before the second round, someone

asked me a question about Janowicz and I hadn’t seen him play at all. I didn’t even know what he looked like so I thought I had to watch him a little bit.

“I watched him play and this lad is amaz-ing,” Forget added.

Murray, dwarfed in his third-round match with the 2.03-metre Pole on Thursday, was similarly impressed earlier in the week.

“He tried a lot of drop shots and went for winners when he was out of position that maybe some of the others don’t,” the Scot said.

Janowicz, who saw his parents sell their shops and apartments so that he could become a professional, said he would keep his feet on the ground.

“Right now I cannot relax. I just have to keep my focus all the time because there is a good opportunity to become even stronger,” the Polish player added after his defeat against Ferrer. REUTERS

NBA: LA Lakers snap losing streak LOS ANGELES: The Los Angeles Lakers finally resem-bled the team many expected they would be as they blasted the Detroit Pistons 108-79 yesterday to end their early-season slide.

The Lakers had begun the new season 0-3 for the first time since 1978, a shocking development for a team who acquired All Stars Dwight Howard and Steve Nash in the off-season.

Yesterday, however, they shook off the rust against the Pistons as Howard scored a game-high 28 points, Metta World Peace added 18 and Los Angeles quickly domi-nated by grabbing a 21-point lead after the first quarter.

“We weren’t perfect, but I think everybody got a little taste

in terms of what (we) can be like,” Lakers coach Mike Brown told reporters. “I’m really excited about the direc-tion of where we

can go. “We’re just barely scratch-ing the surface.”

The chemistry problems that had plagued the Lakers, who include Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant, in previous games was not an issue as they tallied 27 assists.

Bryant had eight assists to go along with 15 points and seven rebounds.

After scoring 40 in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers Bryant played the role of facilitator.

“They obviously saw how I played last game and they tried to cut down my lanes a little bit,” Bryant said.

REUTERS

Minnesota Timberwolves’ guard Will Conroy drives to the basket against Toronto Raptors’ guard Jose Calderon (right) during the second half of their NBA basketball game in Toronto, yesterday.

Falcons maintain perfect record NBA results

New York 100 Philadelphia 84

Orlando 115 Phoenix 94

Toronto 105 Minnesota 86

Atlanta 104 Oklahoma City 95

LA Lakers 108 Detroit 79

NFL resultsBaltimore 25 Cleveland 15

Denver 31 Cincinnati 23

Green Bay 31 Arizona 17

Houston 21 Buffalo 9

Chicago 51 Tennessee 20

Carolina 21 Washington 13

Detroit 31 Jacksonville 14

Indianapolis 23 Miami 20

Seattle 30 Minnesota 20

Pittsburgh 24 New York Giants 20

Tampa Bay 42 Oakland 32

Atlanta 19 Dallas 13

ATLANTA: The Atlanta Falcons continued their fran-chise-best start to a season and marched to an 8-0 record with a gritty 19-13 victory over the Dallas Cowboys yesterday.

Matt Ryan threw for 342 yards and no scores but was mistake-free as his running game and defense backed him up to hold off the visiting Cowboys (3-5).

“It sounds great,” wide receiver Roddy White said after becoming the Atlanta’s all-time reception leader.

“It just speaks to consistency over the years.”

White passed Terance Mathis with his fourth catch of the evening with 574 receptions as a Falcon.

“We’re starting to beat good football teams,” added White.

“You need these kinds of wins so when you get in the play-offs in those tight games you can win.”

With a seven-yard catch in the fourth quarter, Jason Witten became the Dallas’s all-time lead-ing receiver. REUTERS

25SPORT TUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2012

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Red Bull boss hails Vettel’s performance in Abu Dhabi I think it was one of the best races of his career, says Christian Horner

Asian Handball Club Championship in Doha

Abdulla Al Blooshi (left) of Al Jazera (UAE) tries to score while being challenged by Alhassaani Hussain of Muscat (Oman) during their 15th Asian Handbcall Club Championship match at Al Gharafa Stadium yesterday. CENTRE: Boukhmis Tarek (centre) of Al Jazera tries to pass the ball despite being challenged from Asaad Al Hassani Said (right) and Aldughaishi Maher (left). RIGHT: Al Rayyan’s (Qatar) Bazkairi Hussain (in black) takes a shot despite attempts by Hammad Abdulla of Al Noor (Saudia Arabia). Today, Al Arabi (Kuwait) will face defending champions Mudhar (Saudi Arabia) at 1.00pm, Jiangsu (China) face Al Ahly (Bahrain) at 3.00pm, Al Ahly (UAE) play Al Kuwait (Kuwait) at 5.00pm and Eljaish (Qatar) will play Al Sadd (Libya) at 7.00pm. Thirteen Asian teams are competing in this competition which ends on November 15. PICTURES BY: ABDUL BASIT

ABU DHABI: Red Bull team chief Christian Horner heaped praise on defending world champion Sebastian Vettel yesterday in the wake of the German’s dazzling drive from the back of the field to finish third in Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

As his rivals pointed to the luck that helped him race from start-ing in the pit lane to a remarkable podium finish that enabled him to keep hold of a 10-points lead in this year’s title race, Horner described his 25-year-old driver’s effort as ‘phenomenal’.

Vettel battled back from a pit-lane start and two collisions that damaged his front wing to finish third and lose just three points to main title rival Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Ferrari.

Finn Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus won the race with a characteris-tically determined drive to take full advantage of the retirement of dominant leader Briton Lewis Hamilton of McLaren and Alonso finished second.

Horner admitted he did not expect to see such a recovery from Vettel, who had been made to start in the pit lane after being disqualified from qualifying on Saturday for lack of fuel to give a one litre sample for analysis.

He said: “I think it was one of the best [races] of his career. I think he really went for it and to go from the pitlane to the podium, it was phenomenal.

“Leaving the track on Saturday, when we were faced with starting

from the pitlane, because we knew we wanted to change some things, then I really thought if we could sneak into the top 10 and score a point... That would be a great result.

“It is not that easy to overtake around here so maybe we could get an eighth or a ninth... that was the most we hoped for.

“But I went to see Seb before the race and he said, ‘I will see you on the podium’. He was absolutely convinced going into the race that he could get great result. He is just amazing!”

More extraordinary about Vettel’s achievement was that in the early part of the race, it did not look possible and later he seemed to be consigned to finish-ing the contest on one set of soft tyres.

“We were debating it, and he was challenging us, but those tyres would have had to do 40-something laps,” he said. “We could see from the first set that wear was an issue and we did not want to get to a point that he ran out of tyres.

“So as soon as he was clear of [Romain] Grosjean it made sense to pit him -- and then we felt we could chase down Alonso and Jenson Button, which he went off and tried to do.”

McLaren team chief Martin Whitmarsh was less effusive and said that to have two Safety Cars in a race at the Yas Marina Circuit was unusual and that Vettel’s per-formance was therefore not just down to car and driver.

“I think he was pretty fortunate with Safety Cars and the general ‘demolition derby’ that was going on in that race... He didn’t have to overtake as many of the quicker cars as he should have -- as they were already taken out.

“I don’t think anyone would have expected that many Safety Cars here, but they were pretty helpful to him and he did a great

job to get through. I think he was fairly lucky this weekend one way or another.”

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali said: “He did a great race and he was pushing like as normal.

“He had moments where he was lucky or unlucky -- it depends on how you see things. It is part of the game. He had moments when

you see the safety car coming at the right moment. This is some-thing you cannot control.”

Domenicali added that Vettel’s eventful weekend was proof that anything can still happen in the 2012 title race in which the champion now leads Alonso by 10 points.

Two races remain - the United States and Brazil. AFP

German Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing after taking the third place of the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Sunday. His podium finish was lauded by Red Bull’s boss Christian Horner.

Raikkonen still has winning formula ABU DHABI: Kimi Raikkonen returned to the top of the Formula One podium for the first time since 2009 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday, leaving his Lotus team in no doubt that he knew what he was doing.

The Finn, 2007 world champion with Ferrari, was typically blunt when his race engineer spoke to him on the radio shortly after he was gifted the lead by Lewis Hamilton’s sudden retirement.

“Leave me alone. I know what to do,” he replied drily.

Raikkonen can be a man of few words, sometimes unintelligible or inaudible to all but the most attentive of listeners, who would rather let his driving do the talk-ing than engage in chit-chat.

“I’m not so stupid that I can-not remember what I’m doing,” he explained later. “It’s a normal thing.

“They are just trying to help...I

will also ask for help if I need it...different people like different things.”

He said when he announced his comeback, after two years in ral-lying and some NASCAR truck racing in the United States, that he was the same as ever and he has shown that on and off the track this season.

Sunday’s win was his seventh podium in 18 races back and his 19th career triumph. He also became the eighth different driver to win this season.

Seven-times champion Michael Schumacher, 43, has gone almost three years with nothing more than one third place to celebrate with Mercedes but Raikkonen has been on the money right from the start.

He said he could win if Lotus, the former Renault team, deliv-ered the goods and he was as good as his word at the Yas Marina circuit.

Asked on the podium by his now-retired former McLaren team mate David Coulthard to talk about his emotions and explain how amazing it was to win again, Raikkonen simply shrugged.

“Not much really,” he said, recalling how the last time he had been in such a position he was criticised for not smiling enough.

“I’m happy but there’s nothing to jump around about. For sure we’re going to have a good party today and hopefully tomorrow when we are feeling bad after a long night.”

The victory was the first for the Lotus marque since 1987 when Brazilian Ayrton Senna won for a very different team at the USA East Grand Prix in Detroit.

Lotus are descended from the Benetton and Renault teams that won two titles in 2005 and 2006 and whose last race win was in Japan in 2008. REUTERS

Lotus F1 Team’s Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen celebrates on the podium at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi after the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix, on Sunday.

ABU DHABI: Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso emphasised the positives on Sunday after Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel dashed the Spaniard’s hopes of seizing back the lead in the Formula One championship at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Vettel had started in last place but still managed to finish third, just behind Alonso who is now 10 points adrift of the German.

“Tonight I will go to sleep thinking the glass is half full rather than half empty,” said Alonso.

Vettel had been sent to the back of the grid on Saturday when it was discovered that his car had too little fuel in it to satisfy post-qualifying tests.

“But it’s equally true that our performance and our grid posi-tion could have seen us lose points in this grand prix. I repeat, they have the quicker car, we have the better team.” REUTERS

Ferrari’s Alonso remains satisfied

DOHA: Former champions Manila Express Cargo-One Family snapped Power Horse Energy Drink’s winning streak to win, 88-72.

The result allowed the team to share the lead in the team rank-ings in the continuing elimina-tion rounds in the Division 1 of the Subaru Cup 2012 of Pinoy Basketball of Qatar (PIBAQ).

In Division 2, thrill and excite-ment filled the air in the clash between equally strong teams, KIA Motors and Juan Pinoy that ended in the deadlock in regula-tion time.

Pinoy however lost its steam in the extra five-minute extension and bowed out to KIA, 93-82.

In the other games, Eric Tamayo shone again in his 33-point rally to lift Smart Gilas 3 victory over Gulf Warehousing Co., winning 73-70.

The Dukhan Ballers led by CJ Casas gave QDVC LRT it’s first loss 76-69.

Ali Café recorded a narrow victory over Mowasalat Karwa winning 65-53 while PDB Natsco-Adastra beat Team Creations, 81-64. THE PENINSULA

World rankingsWorld rankings yesterday (US unless

stated, last week’s positions in brackets):

1. (1) Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) 12.78

2. (2) Tiger Woods 9.24

3. (3) Luke Donald (England) 8.77

4. (4) Lee Westwood (England) 6.71

5. (5) Justin Rose (England) 6.26

6. (6) Adam Scott (Australia) 6.10

7. (10) Jason Dufner 5.99

8. (7) Webb Simpson 5.80

9. (9) Brandt Snedeker 5.77

10. (11) Louis Oosthuizen (S Africa) 5.72

PIBAQ: Manila Express team win to go top

Golf: Mission Hills chief backs Woods, McIlroy duel DONGGUAN, China: The head of China’s Mission Hills has backed glamorous exhibi-tions and pro-celebrity events as a great way to promote golf as he seeks to popularise the sport and expand his chain of resorts.

Despite outlandish scenes at last week’s “Duel at Jinsha Lake” between Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, group chairman and CEO Ken Chu said that such events were “fine” as they helped raise the profile of golf in China.

“I think exhibition matches go well with the international pro-gramme because the international calendar’s too tight already,” said Chu.

“Players don’t necessarily play in all the tournaments on a weekly basis, they do want some time off and they do want to make some side money,” he said in an interview. AF

SPORT26TUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2012

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English giants look to reboundManchester City and Arsenal need wins to keep Champions League hopes alivePARIS: English champions Manchester City and Premier League rivals Arsenal will be looking to rebound in today’s latest round of Champions League group matches following defeats last time out.

Defeat for City at home to a young and vibrant Ajax side, who beat them in Amsterdam a fort-night ago, would signal a second successive group stage exit of Europe’s premier club competi-tion and heap pressure on man-ager Roberto Mancini.

Mancini, who must deliver something of note on the European front for owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan after his huge investment in players, will also be hoping no-one emerges victorious from the other game where Real Madrid host German champions Borussia Dortmund.

Dortmund top the group on seven points with Real a point behind and City are bottom six points adrift of the table toppers after three games.

Arsenal have more room for manoeuvre as they too seek to avenge defeat when they travel to play Schalke 04 as the Gunners lie second three points ahead of Greek outfit Olympiakos.

However, Olympiakos have an enticing home clash with ailing French champions Montpellier and will be expecting at the very least to maintain the pressure on Arsene Wenger’s team.

Elsewhere the two teams with 100% records, Porto and the sur-prise packages of Malaga are both away with the former play-ing Dynamo Kiev and the Spanish side away at Italian giants AC

Milan. Mancini realises that vic-tory today is imperative.

Whilst the Italian is satisfied with the improvement in his defence of late he is less happy with his much-vaunted strike-force, who have been misfiring and scored just once in their last two league games against min-nows Swansea and West Ham.

“We have more chances to go through (in the Champions League),” said the 47-year-old.

“It’s important we finish in the group stage well.

“What the Ajax scouts think of us I don’t know, it’s not impor-tant; what the players think is.”

While City are unbeaten in 18

home matches in European com-petition Ajax can travel in some hope as they beat City’s neigbours Manchester United 2-1 at Old Trafford in their Europa League Last 32 clash there last season.

Real go into their game with Dortmund on the back of hav-ing given coach Jose Mourinho his 100th victory of his reign there with a 4-0 win over Real Zaragoza.

Mourinho, who is bidding to become the first coach to win the trophy with three different clubs, said Real just needed maximum points from their remaining two home games to seal their place in the knockout round.

“We are second. Everyone knows that there are groups that are jokes and that this is ‘the group’.

“We are in a good position to progress. If we win the two home matches that we have left they are six points that are well within reach and could be enough to get through to the second round.”

Schalke may have lost on Saturday but their players were not in the least dismayed as they prepared to welcome an Arsenal side that has made their worst start to a Premier League sea-son since Wenger took charge in 1996.

“I think we have every chance. We won in London, why shouldn’t we succeed in front of our own fans?” said their 24-year-old cap-tain Benedikt Hoewedes.

“We will not be thrown off by a defeat.”

Milan may look back and see this as the week that turned their season round if they can follow up the Chievo thrashing

Champioms League fixturesEuropean Champions League group fixtures

on Tuesday (all kick-offs 1745GMT):

Group A

At Kiev

Dynamo Kiev (UKR) vs FC Porto (POR)

At Paris

Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) vs Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)

Group B

At Gelsenkirchen, Germany

Schalke 04 (GER) vs Arsenal (ENG)

At Athens

Olympiakos (GRE) vs Montpellier (FRA)

Group C

At Brussels

Anderlecht (BEL) vs Zenit St-Petersburg (RUS)

At Milan

AC Milan (ITA) vs Malaga (ESP)

Group D

At Manchester, England

Manchester City (ENG) vs Ajax (NED)

At Madrid

Real Madrid (ESP) vs Borussia Dortmund (GER)

by inflicting Malaga’s first defeat of the Champions League group stage.

They will be looking to their ‘little Pharaoh’ Stephan El Shaarawy to continue his superb scoring spree which has more than made up for Swedish striker

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s departure in the summer.

The 20-year-old - son of an Egytian father and an Italian mother - is well on course for a new target set for him by club captain Massimo Ambrosini with the latter having already

promised to pay for his winter holiday for scoring seven goals by December in all competitions.

“He has earned his winter vacation, but if he scores ten goals I’ll pay for him to take a tour of the Caribbean,” Ambrosini told uefa.com. AFP

Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere (second right) and team-mate Thomas Vermaelen take part in a team training session on the eve of their Champions League match against Schalke 04 today.

Absent Kagawa ‘no problem’ for JapanTOKYO: Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni yesterday shrugged off the absence of injured Manchester United attacking midfielder Shinji Kagawa from a World Cup qualifier against Oman away next week.

The four-time Asian cham-pions, leading Asia’s final round Group B five points clear of Oman and Australia, have the depth to make up for missing stand outs, the coach insisted.

Zaccheroni, announcing his 23-man squad against Oman, recalled how Kagawa had stayed idle for months after breaking his right foot in the January 2011 Asian Cup and CSKA Moscow playmaker Keisuke Honda had missed the next-to-last World Cup qualifying round with a knee injury.

“But don’t forget that the play-ers that have come in to deputise for them have done a great job,” said the Italian tactician, who took over the Blue Samurai after their march to the last 16 at the 2010 World Cup.

“Kagawa is not here this time, but I’m sure that whoever fills in for him will do well,” he said, according to Kyodo news agency.

Kagawa, 23, who moved from Borussia Dortmund in the summer, injured his left knee in Manchester United’s 3-2 Champions League win over Braga on October 23. His

Premiership club want him to be out for four weeks.

He has scored 12 goals in 37 internationals, most recently in the 1-0 friendly win over France in Paris last month.

Zaccheroni called up 13 Europe-based stars including such regulars as Honda, Inter Milan defender Yuto Nagatomo and Stuttgart striker Shinji Okazaki for the November 14 match.

Okazaki is coming back to international duty after a foot injury forced him out of Japan’s European tour last month, in which they upset 1998 World Cup winners France but bowed 4-0 to five-time champions Brazil in Wroclaw, Poland.

Zaccheroni also called up Takashi Usami, on loan to Hoffenheim from Bayern Munich, for the first time since June last year.

But Wigan Athletic striker Ryo Miyaichi, who played the final few minutes against Brazil and is recovering from a groin injury, failed to make the squad.

In World Cup qualifying, Japan are leading Asian Group B with 10 points from three wins over Oman, Jordan and Iraq and a draw with Australia.

Japan beat Oman 3-0 at home in June.

Oman and Australia are level on five points with Jordan trailing them on four points and Iraq on two. AFP

Man City not ready to win Champions League, says ManciniLONDON: Manchester City’s expensive squad are not ready to win the Champions League, manager Roberto Mancini said ahead of his side’s must-win encounter with Ajax Amsterdam today.

Despite having several of the world’s costliest footballers in their ranks, the Premier League champions have struggled to make an impact in Europe’s flag-ship competition and are bottom of Group D.

Defeat at home to the Dutch league champions would torpedo any lingering hopes City have of qualifying for the knockout stages and represent a second consecu-tive early exit.

“I don’t think we’re ready to win the Champions League,” Mancini told reporters after his team stuttered to a 0-0 draw at West Ham United on Saturday.

“If we say we’re ready to win it, we’re not honest. In the Champions League it’s clear that incredible situations can happen in February and March but we’ve been drawn in a tough group this year, like last year.”

City’s last outing in Europe ended in a 3-1 defeat in Amsterdam two weeks ago and that result, together with a 3-2 defeat at Real Madrid and a 1-1 home draw with Borussia Dortmund, has left their future in the competition dangling by a thread.Mancini’s team have also looked unimpressive in their last three Premier League games.

“We’re a good team but we’re not ready in the Champions League, like the other teams. Chelsea tried for 10 years to win the Champions League,” Mancini said.

“They were probably the best team in Europe for 10 years and they won it (this year) after 10 years, probably when they didn’t deserve to. They deserved to win it three or four years before.

“The Champions League is like this. If we win our next three games, then fantastic ... anything can happen. But the road is very long.” REUTERS

AC Milan’s Brazilian forward Pato plays with a ball during a training session on the eve of his team’s Champions League match against Malaga in Milanello training center in Carnago, yesterday. RIGHT: Schalke’s midfielder Lewis Holtby attends a training session at the training ground, in Gelsenkirchen, Western Germany, on the eve of the UEFA Champions League football match against Arsenal, yesterday.

Lennon faces anxious wait on key players DUNDEE: Celtic manager Neil Lennon admitted that several key players were in a race to be fit for the vital Champions League home match with Barcelona tomorrow follow-ing the 2-2 draw with Dundee United.

Celtic more than held their own against the Spanish giants in the previous meeting a fortnight ago going ahead before losing 2-1 to a goal in the last minute of time added on.

However, Lennon said he had no idea how many of his first choice players would be available for the mouth watering clash in Glasgow.

Celtic sit second in Group G behind Barcelona but are just a point ahead of Spartak Moscow - who are away at Benfica - in third.

Thomas Rogne lasted only 18 minutes of the match against Dundee United before limping off while Honduran international Emilio Izaguirre had to be taken off following a second half fall.

“We are just hoping we can get some players fit,” the Celtic man-ager admitted.

“Emilio Izaguirre has a ham-string strain and Thomas Rogne went off with a calf injury.

“Gary Hooper, James Forrest and Georgios Samaras are all

doubts and we will have to see how Scott Brown is.

“We are starting to pick up some niggles and injuries which is disrupting the flow of the squad at the minute.”

Lennon also refused to blame his players for allowing Dundee United to come back from 2-0 down to take a point.

Despite the draw Celtic, who also lost their previous game to Kilmarnock at Parkhead, returned to the top of the table on goal difference from Hibernian.

“We were brilliant today I thought. We didn’t get what we deserved, which was the three

points,” Lennon said. “We should have been a couple up at half-time but when you miss those chances then you always give teams encouragement.

“When we got the two goals, which were two great goals, we just needed to see the game it out and the disappointing thing is we didn’t manage to do that.

“United got the breaks with the goals but that’s football. To come away with a point is very frus-trating but I’m pleased with the performance.

“We are maybe not getting the consistency in results but the performance was good as for 85 minutes we were superb.

“But we need to start amassing some points as one out of six is not good enough for us.”

Lennon added: “I’ve got a good team here and there will be a lot of cynical people who will be over critical.

“I’m not going to criticise the team. It was just a lack of concen-tration at the end and we should have come away with the points.

“We are top of the league with a game in hand and we are looking forward to the game on Wednesday.

“I think once we find a level of consistency it’s going to be dif-ficult for any team in the SPL to keep up with us.” AFP

27SPORT TUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2012

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Qatar train for FIFA 2014 World Cup qualifer against Lebanon

Qatar coach, Paulo Autuori talks to the national team football players during a training session at Aspire Academy yesterday. CENTRE: Qatar’s midfielder Abdulaziz Hatem, during a practice session. RIGHT: Qatar Football Association President, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani watching the training session. Qatar are preparing for their FIFA 2014 World Cup, Asian Zone, qualification match against Lebanon. The Group A clash will take place at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, kicking off at 5.45pm Doha time on November 14. Qatar picked up their first points of the campaign beating Lebanon in their away game in June this year. Striker Sebastian Soria scored in the 1-0 win. A few days later, Qatar stunned hosts Iran with a brave show to walk off Azadi Stadium with a goalless draw. The goalless draw came after a 4-1 thrashing by Korea Republic in Doha on June 8. Qatar sit in fourth spot in Group A, three points behind leaders Korea and Iran.

Watson ruled out of first Test Quiney to make debut; coach Arthur confident Ponting will play against South AfricaMELBOURNE: Allrounder Shane Watson has been ruled out of the first Test against South Africa with a calf strain in a huge blow for Australia’s hopes of upsetting the top-ranked visitors.

Vice captain Watson injured his left calf playing for New South Wales against Queensland on Saturday and had been a doubt for the Test which begins on Friday at the Gabba in Brisbane.

“We’re ruling him out now because we think he won’t be fit enough come Friday,” Australia coach Mickey Arthur told report-ers in Brisbane, where he con-firmed Rob Quiney would make his Test debut in the 31-year-old’s absence.

“We wanted to make a decisive decision pretty early so we could give some real clarity to the team, so unfortunately Shane misses out and Quiney plays.”

Governing body Cricket Australia earlier reported Watson’s omission as being due to a hamstring injury, but later changed the diagnosis in an updated statement.

Watson’s injury is certain to re-ignite fierce debate Down Under about the player’s long-term management.

Watson has been blighted by back and leg injuries through-out his career and missed all of Australia’s victorious home Test series against India last year.

Some pundits and former play-ers have called on him to shelve either his batting or his bowling,

or scale down his participation in one-day and Twenty20 cricket.

Arthur poured cold water on Watson varying his playing regime.

“That hasn’t been a topic of conversation at all just yet,” the South African said.

“In an ideal world you want Shane Watson batting at three and bowling for you.

“The fact is we won 4-0 against India last year without Shane, so we’re comfortable that we have the players, we have the cover.”

Left-handed batsman Quiney, named as cover for Watson on Sunday, would slot into the side at number three, Arthur said.

Quiney makes his debut as a 30-year-old with a batting average of 37 from 53 first-class matches, coming into the three-Test series in good form after scoring 85 for Australia A against South Africa last week.

“I think he deserves his oppor-tunity. Over the last couple of seasons he’s been prolific, he’s probably been the stand-out domestic player,” Arthur said.

“I certainly think that players performing need to get picked, guys that have done the hard yards. Rob has certainly done that.”

Former captain Ricky Ponting has also been under a cloud in the leadup to the first Test after he withdrew from Tasmania’s Sheffield Shield match with ham-string soreness, but Arthur said he was “very confident” he would be fit to play in Brisbane.

REUTERS

South Africa to play Tahir at the GabbaSYDNEY: South Africa will be looking to play leg-spinner Imran Tahir and opt against playing four specialist pace bowlers in Friday’s opening Test against Australia, a team coach said yesterday.

Tahir proved expensive in the Proteas’ drawn three-day tour match with Australia A, finish-ing with two for 157 off 40 overs and going at close to four runs per over on a placid Sydney Cricket Ground pitch last weekend.

Despite Tahir’s modest return and the impressive showing from Rory Kleinveldt, the paceman is likely to miss out on selection for his first Test, assistant coach Russell Domingo said.

The bouncy Gabba wicket gen-erally favours pace bowling, but Domingo said South Africa would resist the temptation to unleash a full pace battery against the Australians in Brisbane.

Morne Morkel, rested from the Australia A match, is expected to return to the Proteas’ line-up, joining the world’s top two ranked bowlers Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander, while star allrounder Jacques Kallis (flu) will also be back.

Tahir made his Test debut against Australia in November last year, and has now played 10 Tests, taking 26 wickets at an average of 40.19.

“To be honest with you, the balance of the side with Kallis being there as the fourth seamer, whether you play four or five (fast bowlers) isn’t really going to be that important,” Domingo told reporters.

“I think we’ll always look to have a spinner in the side.

“Gone are the days when a South African team goes without a spinner.”

That means Kleinveldt, who was only shaded by Steyn as the best bowler of the Australia A match and had figures of two for 60 on the lifeless pitch, could be the odd bowler out in the Test series.

“(Kleinveldt) bowled really well,” Domingo said.

“He’s been very impressive in domestic cricket for a while and he’s been superb in our prepara-tion this week.”

The Proteas said there were pleased with Tahir’s preparation, despite his limited success against Australia’s second-string batting lineup.

“Imran got a long bowl which is exactly what we wanted,” said batsman Hashim Amla. AFP

Australia ‘A’ batsman Rob Quiney playing the ball during the three-day cricket tour match against South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground on November 2. RIGHT: Shane Watson of Australia celebrates after taking the wicket of Pakistan’s Salman Butt, during the second day of their first Test at Lord’s cricket ground in this file picture of July 15, 2010.

Broad adds to England’s injury worries MUMBAI: Stuart Broad joined fast bowler Steven Finn on England’s injured list ahead of the Test series in India as the three-day tour match against Mumbai ‘A’ ended in a draw yesterday.

Vice-captain Broad bruised his left heel and team doctors were monitoring his progress just 10 days before the first Test of the four-match series starts in Ahmedabad on November 15.

“Scans show Broad has a bruised left heel. Progress will be monitored over next couple of days,” team spokeswoman Rhian Evans said during the final day’s play at the DY Patil stadium.

With fellow fast bowler Finn being treated for a thigh strain, England’s team management remained undecided over the composition of the bowling attack for the series opener.

Surrey paceman Stuart Meaker, who has been called up as a precautionary cover, is expected to join the tourists ahead of their last practice match in Ahmedabad

from Thursday. England grabbed eight wickets for 76 to dismiss Mumbai ‘A’ for 286 after the home team were cruising at 210-2 on Sunday afternoon in reply to England’s 345-9 declared.

Hiken Shah, who was on 84 overnight, missed a century when he was caught behind off seamer Graham Onions for 92.

Samit Patel picked up three wickets with his left-arm spin to further enhance his Test claims after knocks of 104 and 60 in the two practice games so far.

Another left-arm spinner Monty Panesar also finished with three wickets, while Onions took two.

England, who led by 59 runs on the first innings, were 149-2 in their second knock when the match was called off.

Nick Compton, grandson of former England batsman Denis Compton, scored a dour 64 not out off 162 balls to become the frontrunner for the opener’s slot in the first Test alongside skipper Alastair Cook.

Meanwhile, West Indies man-ager Richie Richardson said they-have a long way to go if they are to return to the top of world cricket, despite their recent success in the World Twenty20.

Richardson insisted the West Indies were still a work in progress on arriving in Dhaka to play two Tests and five one-day interna-tionals against Bangladesh.

“We’ve been seeing improve-ment in all areas of our game in last 12 months or so,” he told reporters ahead of their first series since beating Sri Lanka in last month’s Twenty20 final.

“We are continuing to work hard, not going to take anything for granted,” added the former West Indies captain.

“We see a long way to go in order to bring West Indies cricket back to the top.

“We all know, the world knows, we are capable of being the World Champions again. We are pre-pared to do whatever it takes to get back to the top.”

The West Indies will be

virtually full-strength for their tour.

“We have now Chris Gayle back,” said Richardson.

“Gayle, as we know, is probably the world’s most destructive bat-man in any format.

“We are feeling very confi-dent, very positive that we will have a successful trip here in Bangladesh.”

The first Test begins on November 13 in Dhaka before the second Test in Khulna a week later.

Brief scores: England 1st innings: 345-9 declared (Jonny Bairstow 118, Eoin Morgan 76, Samit Patel 60, Kshemal Waingankar 3-72, Shardul Thakur 3-53).

Mumbai ‘A’ 1st innings: 286 (Cheteshwar Pujara 87, Hiken Shah 92, Monty Panesar 3-64, Samit Patel 3-44, Graham Onions 2-57) England 2nd innings: 149-2 (Nick Compton 64 not out, Jonathan Trott 30, Ian Bell 28 not out). Result: Match drawn.

AGENCIES

England batsman Jonathan Trott plays a shot during a practice match against Mumbai ‘A’ at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, yesterday

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Murray off to winning start at Tour Finals

Indian cricketer and cancer survivor Yuvraj Singh (centre), his mother Shabnam Singh (right), and Indian Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajeev Shukla pose during a YouWeCan event for the Yuvraj Singh Cancer Foundation in New Delhi in this file picture of July 8, 2012.

Yuvraj, Harbhajan back in Test squadNEW DELHI: Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh was yes-terday selected for the first two Tests against England, capping a fairytale comeback from can-cer at the start of the year.

The 30-year-old was included in a 15-man squad for the first two Tests of the four-match series against Alastair Cook’s tourists which opens in Ahmedabad on November 15.

The selectors, who met in Mumbai, also brought back sea-soned off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, 32, into the Test squad for the first time since August last year.

Harbhajan, whose 406 scalps in 98 Tests make him the world’s leading wicket-taker among the current crop of bowlers, is the third specialist spinner in the squad alongside Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha.

Yuvraj, who has not played Test cricket since last November, was treated for a rare germ-cell cancer between his lungs in the United States earlier this year.

He returned after chemo-therapy treatment in April, was picked for the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in September and cracked a double-century on his return to domestic first-class cricket last month.

The left-hander forced his way into the Test squad after scoring a half-century and taking five wick-ets for India ‘A’ in England’s tour opener in Mumbai last week.

Yuvraj is almost certain to take the number six spot when the

playing XI is finalised on the eve of the first Test, while his left-arm spin gives the hosts another slow bowling option.

Yuvraj has played 37 Tests since his international debut in 2000, scoring 1,775 runs at 34.80 with three centuries. He was adjudged the man of the tournament after India’s victory in the 50-over World Cup last year.

Middle-order batsman Suresh Raina, who played in the two home Tests against New Zealand in August, was dropped.

Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane are the reserve batsmen in the squad to be led by wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Left-armer Zaheer Khan spearheads the new-ball attack that includes Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav, but only two of them are expected to make the playing XI.

India are looking to avenge the 4-0 rout in England last year which dethroned them from the number one Test ranking.

The remaining back-to-back Tests will be played in Mumbai, Kolkata and Nagpur.

India’s Test squad:Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt),

Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Murali Vijay.

Coach: Duncan Fletcher (ZIM)AFP

US Open champion rallies to beat Tomas BerdychLONDON: Andy Murray marked his first match on home turf since winning the US Open with a gritty 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 vic-tory over Tomas Berdych in the ATP Tour Finals at London’s O2 Arena yesterday.

Murray was playing in front of a British audience for the first time since his dramatic final win against Novak Djokovic in New York in September and he rewarded the partisan crowd with a come from behind Group A suc-cess to kick off his latest bid to win the season-ending event.

The 25-year-old, who has never been past the semi-finals of the Tour Finals in four previ-ous attempts, made a slow start against Czech fifth seed Berdych in the tournament’s opening match.

But, after failing to convert any of his first 10 break-point chances, Murray finally found his rhythm in the second set and was able to ease to the finish line in just over two hours.

“It was very tough from the start. Berdych has had a great year. I have played him a few times and every time it has been tough,” Murray said.

“It’s one last push for the end of the year and having so many people watching helps with the adrenaline.

Murray is the first British man for 76 years to win a Grand Slam and a maiden triumph at

the Tour Finals would be a fitting finale to a remarkable campaign which also including winning the singles gold medal at the London Olympics and reaching a first Wimbledon final.

He entered the O2 Arena to a rapturous reception that reflected the British sporting public’s new-found admiration for a player who had previously struggled to win them over.

Even the crowd’s energy couldn’t lift Murray at the start. Since his breakthrough in Manhattan, Murray has suffered something of a let-down, losing the Shanghai final to Djokovic despite holding five match-points and then crashing out of the Paris Masters against Polish qualifier Jerzy Janowicz.

He wasted two break points in the first game here before squan-dering another three in the fifth game.

Berdych made the Scot pay for those lapses as he landed the first break for a 4-2 lead after Murray netted a forehand on the run.

The Czech had to save two break points as he served for the set before finally taking it on his second set point.

Murray was under pressure again at the start of the second set when Berdych earned three break points, but the 2010 Wimbledon runner-up couldn’t deliver the knockout blow. Boosted by that escape, Murray finally converted his first break point at the 11th attempt when Berdych blazed`a forehand long in the fourth game and that proved the turning point.

The Scot went on to take the set with ease and made the deci-sive break in the third game of the final set when Berdych lashed a wild groundstroke way off target.

AFP

Andy Murray of Britain celebrates beating Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic in their men’s singles match at the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in London, yesterday. Murray won 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Federer hails Djokovic as ‘real’ No. 1LONDON: Tennis great Roger Federer is in no doubt that Novak Djokovic deserves to finish 2012 as the world’s top-ranked player.

Federer replaced Djokovic at the top of the standings after winning Wimbledon in July but ceded the number one position to the Serb yesterday. And with the Swiss star unable to improve on last year’s perfect perform-ance in winning the 2011 season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London, not even an unblemished victory in this year’s edition at the O2 Arena will see him regain top spot before 2012 is out.

“We know who the real number one is,” said Federer. It is going to be Novak. I do not think there should be any debate around about that.

“You do not get to number one by chance. The rankings are something that shows how you have played over a 365-day period. It might all change again in two months at the Australian Open but right now it is clear.”

Federer all but conceded the number one ranking this year when opting out of defending his Paris Masters title last week on the grounds he could not do him-self justice by playing successive tournaments in Basle, Paris and

London. “I obviously gave it eve-rything I had,” said Federer. “I’ve played so much tennis the last one and a half, two years and I’m happy I got back to world number one.

“It’s obviously a time where you need to win at least a slam, if not more slams, or at least five to 10 titles, so we’re not talking about just a quick jump to number one and then you lose it again.

“This is a full-on process. That obviously takes a lot of sacrifice. For the time being I’m willing to

do all of that. So I’m putting my schedule into place for next year and there are no extraordinary changes.”

Although Djokovic has, unsur-prisingly, failed to hit the same heights as in 2011, when he won three out of the four Grand Slam singles titles, this year has seen him retain his Australia Open crown and reach the finals of both the French and US Opens, losing the latter to Britain’s Andy Murray.

Fatigue caught up with

Djokovic in London last year and he suffered a shock loss to Sam Querrey of the United States in Paris. And the 25-year-old Djokovic, who begins his London campaign against France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga said it was tough to be in peak shape at this stage of a long season.

“It is expected not to be always in your top form at this time of year,” he said. “The effects of the long season can influence you physically and mentally but this is an important tournament and I definitely want to do well.

“I am sure I will find the strength to perform my best and we will see if that best is good enough.”

Meanwhile, Federer backed Murray’s calls for more drug testing in tennis, particularly blood tests.

“I feel I am being less tested than I was six or seven years ago so I do not know the exact reasons why we are being tested less,” said Federer.

“At this moment, I agree with Andy, we do not do a lot of blood-testing during the year.

“It is vital that the sport stays clean, it has got to. We have had a good history in terms of that and we want to ensure it stays that way.” AFP

Roger Federer (left) and Novak Djokovic

Bazkairi Hussain of Qatar’s Al

Rayyan (centre) tries to score while being

challenged by Labane Tahar of Saudi Arabia’s Al Noor during their 15th Asian Handball Club Championship at Al Gharafa

Stadium yesterday.

PICTURE BY: ABDUL BASIT

ATP World Tour Finals

LONDON: Results from the first day of the ATP World Tour Finals at London’s O2 Arena

yesterday (x denotes seeding):

Singles

Group A

Andy Murray (GBR x3) bt Tomas Berdych (CZE x5) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

Asian Handball Club Championship