II be taking part, includingreport on the Israeli stand~'Il~.Iii ""' ""11"",,,"II~"demolition of houses, con-cation of la~d and Judaisa-n of Jerusalem.It also debated a host of

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Max Min\1uscat ~6 18Seeb' 26 18Schar .25 16Salalah 2il' 20

(Details ?n page 18)

Prayer lfimings IMUSCAT I...----- ..~..-...__ .---.

Dhuhr i 12.21 pm '--..__ ._--- _ ---.Asr j 03.27 pm :-_.._----------.jMaghrib I 05.49 pm :- .

Isha 07.02 pm !~_.....•.- _ •..._ ...•.. '-" -.,._--Fajr 05.30 amJ.. - '. -- -. .....•.--=---:.:.: .

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TUNE IN lop Ihe laro~st.renlallnvenlory 01Sound,leering yesterday. hemed bin Mohammed" debated a host11 issues thatght of the growingiultanate. - ONA

s semmarMondayn funds forum on inter-idards will organised byrsurance in collaborationsgin on Monday. January

pension system and theI pension fund. The firstof the pension systems,late and the challenges of

a sample study under they and what it includes, as:menting the results.the international account-.ial data for pension fund.0 cover the international.he financial data relatedwork, the difference be-ccounting criteria No 19,.tween them and the pen-

the Majlis and government de-partments, the Majlis received" number of relJl)OnSlli fromthe government on various is-sues.

It also reviewed the Min-istry Education's annual

lutions with regard to resolu-tions on the parliamentarymembers' human rights andreviewed the Arab Free MediaNet report on the occasion ofthe World Human Rights Day.- ONA • Picture on page 2

ornmendauons.The Omani Association

for Consumer Protectionwas established in 2003 withthe. aim of studying the con-sumer problems.• Details on a

Driving licence proceduresfor expatriates simplified

MUSCAT - From now on,expatriates who have a validdriving licence back home canget Omani driving licence irre-spective of the nature of theirjobs or level of their academicquali fications.

The recent announcementby the Directorate-General ofTraffic Services to simplifyexpatriate driving licence pro-cedures is a reason to heave asigh of relief as neither drumtest nor slope test is applicableto those who have a valid driv-ing licence from their country.

"This is applicable to thosewho have light motor vehicle

driving licence from their na-tive countries", Ali Khamisal Jahdami, Supervisor, Li-cence Issuance Section at theQurum Traffic office, told theObserver.

"What all they have to dois to get their licence attestedfrom their embassies and togel it counter-attested from theMinistry of Foreign Affairs inQurum", he clarified.

The applicants can thenapproach the licence sectionwith the attested licence, twopassport-size photos and get afile opened in their name af-ter paying the stipulated fee.Later, they can proceed withthe vision test and signal testwhich usually take less than a

day and fmalJy to the drivingtest (road test).

Until recently, the conven-tional procedures for an expa-triate employee to apply for anOmani driving licence were tosubmit a consent letter fromthe sponsor and to undergo allthe procedures including drumand slope tests .

But recently, the depart-ment has eliminated the re-quirement of a letter from thesponsor as it was found theapplicants were swindled forwant of letter by their spon-sors. Instead, just a copy ofhis/her valid resident cardalong with a couple of pass-port size photographs wouldsuffice the need. _ To page 2

It

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From page 1

"What the person has todo is to submit these docu-ments (copy of valid residentcard and two passport-sizephotos) and pay the normalfee prescribed for opening afile with the licence issuingauthority", Ali Khamis said.

"If we are convinced ofthe validity of these docu-ments and hislher eligibilityto drive in this country, we'llbe in a position to open a fileon the applicant's name andproceed with other formali-ties", he explained.

Those who are on a visitto the Sultanate can alsodrive if he holds a valid li-cence from home country,provided they keep theirpassports in the vehicle incase it is warranted by a traf-fic officer on the road.

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Driving licence proceduresfor expatriates simplified

Oman to participate in- Arab Media meeting

MUSCAT - Sultanate, represented by the Ministry of Infor-~-~_ •••.••..•, __ ..L''-.. _1: .•...L _ A __ L _ ~

.. :

Women's Guild's Croquet Morning fofafMUSCAT - The Women'sGuild in Oman (WGO) is

British ambassador's resi-dence located near Marina at9 am:

"It is part of a series ofpo"pntc hpincr r"nr111rtp.n tn

venue provides our memberswith an opportunity to ex-change cultural understand-ing as well".

This will also fOCI!" on