Volume 24 | Number 7855 | 2 RiyalsMonday 8 April 2019 | 3 Sha'baan 1440 www.thepeninsula.qa

BUSINESS | 01 SPORT | 12

Upbeat Al Duhail eye full points against UAE’s Al Ain

World Bank board elects US Treasury’s

Malpass as next president

Amir, President of Oman Consultative Council discuss bilateral relations

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met at the Amiri Diwan yesterday with the President of the Consultative Council of the Sultanate of Oman, Sheikh Khalid bin Hilal Al Maawali, and his accompanying delegation, on the sidelines of the 140th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) held in Doha. The Omani Consultative Council President conveyed the greetings of H M Sultan Qaboos bin Said of the Sultanate of Oman, wishing H H the Amir health and happiness and to the Qatari people further progress and prosperity. H H the Amir entrusted the Omani Consultative Council President to convey his greetings to H M Sultan Qaboos bin Said, wishing him health and to the Omani people further progress and prosperity. They reviewed the close relations between Qatar and Oman, especially in the legislative and parliamentary fields. RIGHT: H H the Amir met yesterday with the Speaker of the Consultative Assembly of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ali Larijani, and his accompanying delegation. They reviewed the bilateral relations, especially in the legislative and parliamentary fields. �P3

Qatar’s strongsupport for UNefforts in fightingterror hailedTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Vladimir Ivanovich Voronkov, Undersecretary for United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office, has stressed that Qatar is a major financial contributor to the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism.

He pointed out that Qatar pro-vides a strong support to the Office and there is close and active coop-eration with Qatar in enhancing the efforts of combating violent extremism and Qatar will also host 2022 FIFA World Cup, which would in turn participate towards pushing forward the counter-ter-rorism activities.

Vornokov was speaking during his presentation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy at the Permanent Com-mittee on Peace and International Security held yesterday within the 140th Assembly of IPU, which is taking place in Doha.

The Committee discussed a draft resolution entitled ‘the inad-missibility of the use of merce-naries as a tool for undermining peace and violating human rights’.

Voronkov stressed that coop-eration of parliamentarians is inevitable for strengthening counter-terrorism efforts, which need support and assistance from parliaments by enacting national legislation that enhances the effectiveness of combating ter-rorism and violent extremism.

He said that the phenomenon of terrorism has become politi-cised and many of the victims of

terrorism are women

and children. “Many coun-

tries refuse to accept returnees from terrorist organisations to their hometown. We must look for the best ways to address this, because it is a complicated matter,” said Voronkov.

He noted that the United Nations will host the first world conference on victims of ter-rorism in June 2019. He stressed on the importance of listening to them to achieve success and focus on prevention as a key step in the fight against terrorism.

Rapporteurs of the committee Khalid Bakkar of Jordan and B Tarasyuk of Ukraine stressed that one of the biggest threats were terrorism and conflicts as they undermine peace, security, sov-ereignty and territorial integrity of states. �P4

Al Mahmoud elected President of 140th Assembly of IPUMOHAMMED OSMAN THE PENINSULA

The Governing Council elected H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud, Speaker of the Qatar’s Shura Council as Pres-ident of the 140th General Assembly of the Inter-Parlia-mentary Union (IPU) and related meetings which began on Saturday and will conclude on April 10.

The meeting which began with a minute of silence for the Tutsi victims of violence in the Republic of Rwanda, on the occasion of the International Day of Reflection on the Genocide in the African country, also agreed to grant the parliament of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines membership of the IPU with which its membership has reached 179 parliaments, said Martin Chungong, Secretary-General of the IPU.

This came during meeting of the Governing Council yes-terday, in the presence of Gabriella Cuebas Barron, Pres-ident of the IPU; Martin Chungong, Secretary-General of

the IPU; and a number of speakers of international parlia-ments and parliamentarians.

H E the Shura Council Speaker said in his remarks to reporters: “We in Qatar have adopted a theme for the general debate for this session, entitled “Parliaments as platforms for promoting education for peace, security and the rule of law”.

“Indeed ignorance is the root cause for many problems,” said Al Mahmoud, stressing that science is the light and education

is the basis for progress of countries.

“Therefore, development without education is useless, and development without security, stability and law is also useless,” he said stressing that all partici-pants are happy with this choice theme.

Al Mahmoud noted that the great participation of the 140th session of the General Assembly of the IPU shows the confidence of the international community on Qatar, under the leadership

of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

“Some of the Speakers of the parliaments of some major countries who were not partic-ipating in the previous meetings of the General Assembly of the IPU, have participated this time in Qatar,” said Al Mahmoud.

“This is something we are proud of and that we are pleased with. The participants in this session will have the opportunity to learn about Qatar’s heritage and generosity of its people.” �P4

Amir receives Speaker of Iran's Consultative Assembly

Qatar-Turkey ties exceptional in worldIRFAN BUKHARI THE PENINSULA

Mustafa Sentop (pictured), Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, has said that Qatar-Turkey ties are excep-tional in the world and the rela-tions between the two countries will further strengthen with time.

“Qatar-Turkey relations are very exceptional in the world. There are many examples, from good days and bad days, which testify the strength of our relations,” Mustafa Sentop told The Peninsula in an interview on the sidelines of the 140th Assembly of Inter-Par-liamentary Union (IPU) in Doha.

The Speaker of the Grand

National Assembly of Turkey said that the two countries had always been together.

“Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani always stood by Turkey and when Qatar had dif-ficulties, Turkey stood with Qatar,” he added.

Terming Qatar-Turkey rela-tions as “amazing”, Mustafa Sentop said: “We believe that these ties will strengthen with the passage of time. We love Qatar, Qatar loves us and we see this place as our second home.”

Talking on Qatar’s hosting of 140th Assembly of the IPU, he said that the IPU was the oldest organ-isation in the world, older than the UN.

“Almost every country in the world with a parliament is member of the IPU and for par-liamentary diplomacy, it is very important. It is a place where countries with different political regimes meet to discuss issues and find solutions.”

He said that during the IPU Assembly and related meetings, Turkey would demonstrate its stance on important issues and challenges being faced by the world.

“The IPU’s structure has also many unions like a parlia-mentary union of Turkish speaking countries for which I am term president. Also, there is Asian Parliamentary Assembly for which I am term president

too. These are some specific plat-forms where we get a chance to raise some important issues.”

Mustafa Sentop said that the world was going through important times and in such times, it was very important to say right things and take corrective measures. �P4

Speaker of the Shura Council, H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud (second left); IPU Secretary-General Martin Chungong (left), and IPU President Gabriella Cuebas Barron (third left), during a session yesterday.

B

Woelect

Qatar provides a strong support to

the Office and there is close and active cooperation with

Qatar in enhancing the efforts of

combating violent extremism.

Vladimir Ivanovich Voronkov

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03MONDAY 8 APRIL 2019 HOME

Amir meets Speaker of Kuwaiti National Assembly

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met yesterday with the Speaker of the Kuwaiti National Assembly, Marzouq Ali Al Ghanim, and his accompanying delegation, at the Amiri Diwan. During the meeting, the Speaker conveyed the greetings of the Amir of the State of Kuwait, H H Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, to H H the Amir and his wishes for health and happiness and the Qatari people for progress and prosperity. For his part, H H the Amir conveyed his greetings to H H the Kuwaiti Amir, wishing him health and wellness and the Kuwaiti people further progress and prosperity. During the meeting, they reviewed the relations between Qatar and Kuwait, especially in the legislative and parliamentary fields.

Amir issues two laws on road transportQNA DOHA

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani issued yesterday Law No. (8) of 2019 on the regu-lation of road transport and Law No. (9) for the year 2019 on road transport of hazardous substances.

The two laws will be imple-mented from the date of issue and published in the Official Gazette.

H H the Amir also issued Decree No. 17 of 2019 on ratifying a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in the health field between the governments of the State of Qatar and the Federal Republic of Somalia signed in Doha on May 14, 2018, annexed to this decree and shall have the powers of a law in line with Article 68 of the constitution.

H H the Amir also issued Decree No. 18 of 2019 ratifying an air services agreement between the governments of the State of Qatar and the Federal Republic of Somalia signed in Doha on March 18, 2015 and shall have the powers of a law in line with Article 68 of the constitution.

H H the Amir issued Decree No. 19 of 2019 ratifying the accession of the State of Qatar to the 1988 Protocol to the Interna-tional Convention on Load Lines, 1966 and shall have the powers of a law in line with Article 68 of the constitution. The decrees are effective starting from their date of issue and are to be published in the official gazette.

H H the Amir also issued an instrument of ratification approving the ratification of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to cooperate in the sports

field between the governments of the State of Qatar and the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire signed in Abidjan on December 23, 2017.

H H the Amir also issued an instrument of ratification approving the ratification of an MoU to cooperate in the culture field between the governments of the State of Qatar and the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire signed in Abidjan on December 23, 2017.

H H the Amir issued an instrument of ratification approving the ratification of an MoU to cooperate in the youth field between the governments of the State of Qatar and the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire signed in Abidjan on December 23, 2017.

H H the Amir issued an instrument of ratification approving a draft agreement on encouraging and protecting mutual investments between the governments of the State of Qatar and the Federal Republic of Somalia signed in Doha on December 13, 2018.

H H the Amir also issued an instrument of ratification approving a draft agreement on economic, trade and technical cooperation between the govern-ments of the State of Qatar and the Federal Republic of Somalia signed in Doha on December 13, 2018.

H H the Amir also issued various decrees on ratifying the cooperation between the governments of the State of Qatar and the Federal Republic of Somalia.

Al Mahmoud stresses effective role of IPU in promoting educationSIDI MOHAMED THE PENINSULA

The Shura Council Speaker, H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud, stressed the decisive and effective role of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in disseminating science and knowledge and correcting the corrupt concepts that threaten the principles of peace, security and the rule of law.

“That most of the countries where conflicts, wars and insta-bility are rampant, poverty and famine are widespread, and the absence of development we as parliamentarians have a great responsibility to promote edu-cation and make it a means to achieve and maintain security and peace and the rule of law in these countries,” Al Mahmoud said.

He chaired 140th General Assembly of the Inter-Parlia-mentary Union (IPU) that is taking place in Doha and discussing par-liaments as platforms to enhance education for peace, security and the rule of law, and the session was attended President of the IPU, Gabriela Cuevas Barron; Sec-retary-General of the IPU, Martin Chungong; and their excellencies parliament speakers and heads of participating delegations.

“We have to fight extremist ideas and spread education which respects ethnic and religious diversity. Education recognises others,” he said.

Al Mahmoud was unani-mously elected as the President of the 140th Assembly of the IPU.

“In Qatar, we have given great attention to education and unlimited support has been pro-vided for the development of edu-cational programmes. This has

given good results and made our country in advanced positions in this field,” he added.

Al Mahmoud also pointed out that Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in his speech addressing the opening of the 140th Assembly of the IPU referred to the subject of edu-cation and what Qatar had done not only at national level but also around the world in cooperation with United Nations organisations for promotion of education.

“We hope that the discussions in our meetings will lead to the development of a plan of action that will be coordinated by all member parliaments to assess progress in achieving the agreed objectives and develop periodic measures to address the problems.”

For her part, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador and

President of the 73rd Ordinary Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, hailed the work of the General Assembly of the IPU and the presence of hundreds of parliamentarians rep-resenting parliaments from around the world at an interna-tional forum that underlines the importance of concerted efforts to achieve the principles of peace and security through education.

In a televised message addressed to the plenary session, the Minister said that the issues dealt with at the current session of the General Assembly are of great importance and require cooperation at all levels and in order to confront the threats, we must overcome the policies based on force and the need to cooperate on common issues and strengthen international

institutions to be more transparent.

For its part, IPU President and Head of the Executive Com-mittee, Gabriela Cuevas Barron, said the subject of education is important because the develop-ments are rapid and many threats make the necessity of education a duty for everyone.

“Everyone must learn regardless of color, gender, race and religion, as well as the poor, the rich,” she added.

The Shura Council Speaker, H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud, addressing at the ‘Start of the General Debate on the theme Parliaments as Platforms to Enhance Education for Peace, Security and the Rule of Law’ on the second day of 140th Assembly of IPU, yesterday. PIC: SALIM MATRAMKOT/THE PENINSULA

Siege countries missed a great opportunity by not attending IPUSACHIN KUMAR THE PENINSULA

Siege countries have lost a great opportunity by not attending the 140th Assembly of IPU and related meetings in Doha, said a senior British politician yesterday. Nigel Evans (pictured), who has been a Member of Parliament for 27 years, praised Qatar for holding this event successfully.

“It is far better to have dia-logues amongst countries. They (siege countries) have denied themselves an opportunity to par-ticipate in this brilliant conference and to have dialogue,” Evans told The Peninsula. “They (siege

countries) not only have denied themselves an opportunity to talk to their Qatari cousins but they have denied themselves the oppor-tunity to talk to the rest of the world too,” added Evans who has been involved with IPU for a long time.

Participation of record

number of participants in this edition of meetings has proved the success of this high profile event. He praised IPU saying that there was no organisation in the world that brings MPs together from every part of the world.

“There is no other organi-sation that brings so many parlia-mentarians together from such a diverse number of countries, with different background, different ideologies, different religion, dif-ferent thoughts, different customs and histories and allows them the opportunity to say freely what they want to say about most of important issues of the day,” he added.

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Prime Minister meets number of dignitaries attending IPU

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani met yesterday with a number of Parliament Speakers participating in the 140th Assembly of the IPU, in Doha.

QNA DOHA

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani met yesterday with a number of Their Excellencies parliament speakers participating in the 140th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) hosted by Doha.

The Prime Minister met with the Speaker of the Shura Council

of the Sultanate of Oman, Sheikh Khalid bin Hilal Al Maawali, the Speaker of the House of Repre-sentatives of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Eng. Atef Youssef Tarawneh, National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.

The Prime Minister also met with the President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Bukola Saraki, the Speaker of the Parliament of the

Islamic Republic of Iran, Ali Lar-ijani, the Speaker of the Council of Representatives the Republic of Iraq, Mohammed Rikan Hadeed Al Halbousi, the Chairman of the Assembly of Representatives in the Republic of Tajikistan, Shukurjon Zuhurov.

The meetings focused on reviewing cooperation ties between the State of Qatar and the aforementioned countries, and ways to enhance them.

Al Mahmoud elected President of 140th Assembly of IPU

FROM PAGE 1

Chungong reviewed during the session the situation of international parliaments pointing out that there are positive develop-ments in the situation of parliaments in general but situation in some other countries are still not encouraging, as countries like State of Eritrea, which is not a member of the IPU, is experiencing violations, noting that the members of parliaments suffers from human rights violations.

The Secretary-General of IPU called for an investigation into the situation of 11 of the parliamentarians disappeared, and the Gov-erning Council in its meeting decided to follow up the situation in Eritrea closely. The meeting reviewed the conditions of parlia-ments in a number of countries experiencing unrest and discussed mechanisms to deal with these abuses to ensure the provision of technical support and cooperation.

They also discussed placing a roadmap to hold free and fair elections, and resolve outstanding issues that will help put an end to violations against parliamentarians in these countries. Some of the countries mentioned were Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Libya, Thailand, Yemen, Burundi, Cambodia, Maldives, Nic-aragua, Palestine, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Syria, and Venezuela. The meeting also dis-cussed developments in Algeria and its impact on parliamentary conditions there, highlighting that the Algerian parliament Speaker could not attend the assembly due to those developments.

Speaker of the House of Assembly of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Jomo Sanga Thomas on the importance joining the IPU in enhancing justice, democracy, and human rights; noted that the Union represents an important platform for the world’s parlia-ments, were they can discuss enhancing cooperation with each other.

Qatar-Turkey ties exceptional in world

FROM PAGE 1 “In preparatory meetings of Asian

Parliamentary Assembly (APA) and Par-liamentary Union of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Member States (PUIC), Turkey suggested emergency items on Islamophobia, xenophobia,” he said, adding that the situation of Muslim minorities in different countries was an important issue. “These are all serious problems therefore they should be dis-cussed in the IPU Assembly and related meetings.” Sentop said that Palestinian people were facing religious racism. “Current human rights violation in Pal-estine should also be discussed in the Assembly,” he added.

The Speaker said that the Christchurch incident where 50 Muslims were massacred in a mosque was the reflection of a mindset. “The mentality behind racism, Islamophobia, xenophobia should be addressed. We should not only focus on an individual incident but should fight the mindset behind such incidents,” he observed.

In a separate statement to QNA, Mustafa Sentop said that the speech of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at the opening of the 140th Assembly of IPU was very important and extraordinary in terms of topics and issues touched by H H the Amir.

Qatar’s strong support for UN efforts in fighting terror hailed

FROM PAGE 1

The past 20 years have witnessed an increase in casualties as a result of both armed conflicts and terrorist attacks. From 2011 to 2014, the number of deaths from armed conflict rose by 356 percent, while the number of deaths from terrorism rose by 353 percent.

They highlighted that children and young people have become the main recruiting target for terrorists. In fact, with the development of technology, recruiting methods are becoming increasingly complex, and so the fight against recruitment and its methods must be strengthened at the national and interna-tional levels. They said that since 2013, some 50 countries around the world have enacted laws and regulations to prevent their citizens from joining extremist armed groups such as ISIS. Most of these measures have been taken in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2178 of 2014.

For his part, Al Bakar said that limited studies confirmed that 30,000 people joined extremist terrorist organisations, mostly women and children. “It is a very dangerous signal which requires the par-liamentarians to play an important role to take measures to prevent the aggravation of this phenomenon.”

140th IPU Assembly approvesNetherlands’ proposalQNA DOHA

The 140th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), currently held in Doha, has approved a proposal, submitted by the Netherlands on behalf of the European Parliamentary Group, on the urgent item to be discussed in the General Assembly meetings.

The proposal was approved after receiving 1,011 votes against 491 votes for the proposal of the Arab and Islamic groups.

The Arab Parliamentary Group agreed on Saturday to consolidate several proposals in a unified urgent item regarding the rights of the Palestinian people and the Arabism of the Golan Heights.

In turn, the Netherlands, on behalf of the European Parlia-mentary Group, submitted a pro-posal for the urgent item at the 1 4 0 t h A s s e m b l y o f

the Inter-Parliamentary Union, on providing humanitarian assistance to the African countries which were recently affected by the hurricane (Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi).

The Shura Council Speaker and Chair of the 140th Inter-Parlia-mentary Union Assembly, H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud, announced, in the session held yesterday that for the voting on the urgent item, the adoption of the Netherlands’ pro-posal as an item on the Assembly agenda.

The emergency item is pre-sented as a proposal by parlia-mentary groups or States in the IPU General Assembly and usually relates to an event of interest to the international community and requires rapid action.

The proposal must obtain two-thirds majority of members for adoption.

Deputy PM meets Undersecretary-General of UN Counter-Terrorism Office

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met with Undersecretary-General of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office, Vladimir Voronkov, on the sidelines of the 140th General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union held in Doha. RIGHT: H E the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs also met with Council of Representatives’ Speaker of the Republic of Iraq, Mohamed Al Halbousi, on the sidelines of the 140th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union held in Doha. During the meeting they discussed bilateral relations and means to boost and develop them. They also discussed issues of common interest.

05MONDAY 8 APRIL 2019 HOME

Minister of State, H E Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kawari, with the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame.

Seven Qatar Visa Centers opened in IndiaTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Ministry of Interior of the State of Qatar opened seven Qatar Visa Centers (QVC) in India recently covering various cities including New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kochi.

The opening of the QVCs in India will facilitate and simplify the recruitment and work visa procedures for Indian expatriates travelling to Qatar for work before their arrival in Qatar.

Major General Abdullah Salim Al Ali, advisor at the office of the Minister of Interior of Qatar, Maj. Abdullah Khalifa Al Mohannadi, Director of Visa Supports Services

(VSS) Department at the General Directorate of Passports of Qatar, Capt. Nasser Al Khalaf, Head of Visa Section, Captain Khalid Al Nomani, Head of Technical Studies Section and a number of government officials from India attended the opening ceremonies in various locations.

The centers provide a wide range of services such as finger-printing, biometric data recording, medical examinations and signing of employment contract before their departure to Qatar.

It will ensure protection of the rights of both expatriates and employers, and documenting the work contract before travelling to Qatar.

This facility will avoid cases

of return of the employee in case of ineligibility and enable to start work immediately upon arrival

to Qatar if he is eligible. This step is an evidence of

the keenness of the government

of Qatar for ensuring the pro-tection and safety for expatriates coming to Qatar for work.

Officials from Qatar and India open one of the Qatar Visa Center in India.

QNA KIGALI

The State of Qatar participated yesterday in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the genocide of the Tutsi tribes in the Republic of Rwanda, in which about one million people were shot dead. The State of Qatar was represented by Minister of State H E Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kawari.

H E the Minister of State met with the President of the Republic of Rwanda Paul Kagame and conveyed to him the greetings of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and his wishes for the development of relations between the two friendly countries.

For his part, the President of the Republic of Rwanda, conveyed to Dr Al Kawari his greetings to H H the Amir and wished the relations between the two friendly countries to flourish.

Qatar takes part in 25th anniversary of Rwanda genocide commemoration

Al Muraikhi meets Vietnam’s Deputy FMQNA DOHA

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi met yesterday with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam, Pham Binh Minh, during his visit as part of the delegation participating in the meetings of the Inter-Parlia-mentary Union hosted by Doha.

During the meeting they discussed bilateral relations between both countries and ways to boost and develop them.

In addition, they discussed topics of common interest.

The meeting was attended by Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to Qatar, Nguyen Dinh and a number of officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Attorney-General meets Speaker of Parliment of GambiaQNA DOHA

Attorney-General, H E Dr Ali bin Fetais Al Marri met yesterday with Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Gambia Mariam Jack-Denton. During the meeting, which was attended by Gambian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mamadou Tangara, the two sides exchanged views on a number of issues of common concern and ways to strengthen future cooperation between the two countries in many fields.

Qatar and Morocco discuss parliamentaryrelationsQNA DOHA

Deputy Speaker of the Shura Council H E Mohamed bin Abdullah Al Sulaiti, met yesterday with First Deputy Speaker of the House of Repre-sentatives at the Kingdom of Morocco Abdulaziz Ammari, on the sidelines of the meetings of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Doha.

During the meeting, the par-liamentary relations between the Shura Council and the House of Representatives at the Kingdom of Morocco were discussed and ways of supporting them, and the issues on the agenda of the 140th General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the accompanying meetings were also reviewed.

Deputy Speaker of the Shura Council, H E Mohamed bin Abdullah Al Sulaiti, met yesterday with First Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives at the Kingdom of Morocco, Abdulaziz Ammari.

CRA to attend Geneva World Summit on Information Society ForumTHE PENINSULA DOHA

A high-level Qatari delegation headed by Mohammed Ali Al Mannai, President of the Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA), is attending the World Summit on the Infor-mation Society (WSIS) Forum 2019. The forum will be held in Geneva, Switzerland from April 8 to 12, under the theme “Infor-mation and Communication Technologies for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals”. The core aim of the forum is to align the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that covers a wide range of social and economic devel-opment issues worldwide with WSIS Action Lines, to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs.

The forum will include

high-level policy sessions, min-isterial round tables and more than 100 workshops on various topics including artificial intel-ligence and data privacy, block-chain and data protection, the role of Information and Com-munications Technology (ICT) in academia, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, smart cities, and fifth generation (5G)

technologies. An exhibition will also be held on the sidelines of the forum alongside a WSIS Prizes ceremony, which aims to provide recognition to the projects that succeeded in implementing development-oriented strategies that lev-erage the power of ICTs as an enabler of the development.

CRA ensures to attend and

participate in international seminars, conferences and forums, at the aim of enhancing partnerships and staying up to date with the latest develop-ments and international best practices in the field of ICTs.

That provides additional valuable inputs during CRA’s development of innovative reg-ulatory frameworks, which ensures ICT sector progress for the benefit of consumers and stakeholders in the State of Qatar, and ensure contributing to the achievement of sus-tainable development goals 2030, on both local and global levels.

This year WSIS Forum is celebrating the 10th anni-versary of its establishment, an event that represents the world’s largest annual gath-ering of the ‘ICT for devel-opment’ community. More than

30 international organisations and unions are co-organising WSIS 2019, including the Inter-national Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Universal Postal Union (UPU), The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), The United Nations International Children’s Emer-gency Fund (UNICEF), and others.

More than 3,000 partici-pants will attend the forum from over 150 countries around the world, representing multi-stakeholders including government, civil society, private sector, academia and international organisations. WSIS provides the multi-stakeholders with an oppor-tunity to foster partnerships, as well as exchanging infor-mation, experiences and best practices.

The forum will include high-level policy sessions, ministerial round tables and more than 100 workshops on various topics including artificial intelligence and data privacy, blockchain and data protection, the role of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in academia, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, smart cities, and fifth generation technologies. An exhibition will also be held on the sidelines of the forum alongside a WSIS Prizes ceremony.

Deputy PM and Iraq’s Speaker discuss bilateral and parliamentary relations

Commander of the Amiri Air Defence Forces meets French Commander

The Commander of the Amiri Air Defence Forces, Major General (Pilot) Hamad Mubarak Al Dawai Al Nabit, met yesterday with the French Commander of Defence and Air Operations, Lieutenant General Jean-Christophe, and his accompanying delegation during their official visit to the country. During the meeting, many issues of common concern were discussed to serve the two friendly countries.

06 MONDAY 8 APRIL 2019HOME

BPS organises ‘Leadership Retreat’ for new academic year

THE PENINSULA DOHA

Birla Public School organised a ‘Lead-ership Retreat’ for the new academic year 2019-20, on April 6 at the B K Birla Auditorium.

The objective of the retreat was to invigorate the team towards the holistic development of each learner in the school, to reorient them with the paradigm shift in the role of teacher, learning pedagogies and the role of a leader.

The retreat began with the moti-vational address of Principal A P Sharma who congratulated the team for their exceptional performance, latest CBSE reforms and action plan

for the new academic session.The Leadership Retreat was facil-

itated by the three Vice-Principals of the Birla Public School, Radhika Rele, Rajesh Pillai and Bhavna Sonkamble.

Radhika Rele, Vice-Principal Aca-demics, introduced the situational leadership styles and their effects.

Rajesh Pillai, Vice-Principal Co-Scholastic, continued the session by explaining the various leadership styles and its effects on one’s team. He also led the team in brainstorming the best application of each leadership style discussed.

Further, Bhavna Sonkamble, Vice-Principal Capacity Building and Quality Enhancement Division, took the team into deeper realms of

situational leadership with various case studies of different situations that a leader may encounter in the school. A discussion ensued on certain best practices of the school.

It is noteworthy that recently the school has launched an innovative program of implementing Sustainable Development Goal 2030 of United Nations and has become the pioneer in Gulf for partnership of SDGs with UN through its project – ‘Think Glo-bally, Work Locally’.

During the retreat, the entire team was commended for the meticulous planning of scholastic and co-scho-lastic activities incorporating the Sus-tainable Development Goal’s in the new academic year.

Birla Public School Principal A P Sharma along with vice-principals and other leadership members attending the Leadership Retreat event.

VCUarts Qatar’s two-person exhibition starts on April 10THE PENINSULA DOHA

Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar’s) Artists-in-Residence Azim Al Ghussein and Asmaa Al Issa will present their research and practice in dialogue with one another in their two-person exhibition, titled “intima’ – tanmiyah” at the Fire Station’s Workshop 4. The exhibition will take place from April 10 to 20.

Like the freshly planted trees on the side of Dukhan Road, Azim and Asmaa’s recent relocation to Qatar has allowed them to acclimate and grow alongside one another. The work presented is in response to their experiences of living, teaching, and eating over the past eight months.

The exhibition marks the conclusion of their post-MFA residency program at VCUarts Qatar’s Painting + Printmaking department.

The opening reception will take place on Wednesday, April 10, from 6 to 9pm.

There will also be an Artist Talk on Tuesday, April 16 at 7pm.

Both events will be free and open to the public. For more information about VCUarts Qatar, please visit http://www.qatar.vcu.edu

Media team of Sheikh Hamad Award concludes tour of KeralaTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The media team of the Sheikh Hamad International Award for Translation and Understanding concluded the cultural and informative tour of the Award in southern Indian state of Kerala on April 5.

The three-day tour included several events and meetings with translators and media profes-sionals. Malayalam language is one of the languages of the Achievement Award for this year after the Urdu language was selected in a previous edition of the Indian language .

The award team, led by Dr Hanan Al Fayadh, media con-sultant of Sheikh Hamad Award, met with Dr Abdul Salam Ahmed, President of the Islamic Uni-versity, and a number of uni-versity officials and academics who graduated from Qatar Uni-versity — notably former uni-versity president Dr Ali Bouti.

They extended warm welcome to Qatari delegation lauding the role of Qatar Uni-versity in supporting them in obtaining scientific and aca-demic qualification.

They are considered elite officials in their Islamic Uni-versity in Kerala, affirming their pride in studying Islamic studies and Arabic language by Qatari professors since the estab-lishment of Qatar University in the early seventies of the last century.

The President of the Islamic University appreciated Sheikh

Hamad’s efforts in supporting the university’s education, including the building of the Faculty of Theology, which was established at the expense of Father Amir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. They discussed in the meeting on how to spread the Arabic language and Islamic culture and the importance of supporting those interested in studying them.

The President of the Islamic University explained that the number of students on schol-arship at Qatar University is increasing annually. In the same context, the team of the Sheikh Hamad Award met a number of professors of the Faculty of Lan-guages and Translation and post-graduate students at the Uni-versity in a seminar on trans-lation and its role in the service of human civilisations and spreading Islamic sciences.

Dr Emtinan Al Samadi, Pro-fessor at Qatar University, and a member of the media team of the award, explained the importance of the message of the Sheikh Hamad Award in conveying the idea of humanity thought to and from Arabic, the language of Holy Quran, especially in the lan-guage of Malayalam, mother tongue in Kerala.

In her speech, Dr Al Fayadh reviewed the objectives of the Award, its importance, the con-ditions for nomination and the details of the new languages in the fifth edition of the Award- 2019, pointing out the impor-tance of the visit of Kerala under new added language of Malayalam.

Riyad Al Musibli, member of the Steering Committee of the Award, reviewed the efforts of the Committee in sorting out the entries and procedures of jury

bench. After the interaction of the participants, the media team made presentation on the culture.

Dr Hanan Al Fayadh gave a special lecture to the students of the College of Languages and Translation in which she dis-cussed the role of Qatari women in serving their society, religion and languages.

Dr Emtinan Al Samadi also addressed on the role of Arab lit-erature and its long history since the Islamic era. She explained the art of Arabic literature, which is taught at Qatar University in poetry, novel and story.

The team also visited the University of Calicut, one of the national universities, where the team met with Prof. K Mohamed Bashir, professor of Arabic lan-guage and the university president.

They discussed in the

meeting about the Award, as well as the international translation conference held annually by the Arab and International Relations Forum to name the winners of the Award.

The academics of the uni-versity were invited to partic-ipate in the Award and the con-ference, calling on the media team to broadcast a special recording to the educational channel, which is broadcast in all Indian universities.

The team also met with the Arabic Language Department to introduce all the details of the Award and the reasons for choosing Malayalam language.

The media team of Sheikh Hamad Award gave a number of interviews to media, notably the meeting with Kamal Wrador, President of the Federation of Journalists of India, as well as tel-evision interviews to explain the Award in terms of vision, objec-tives, conditions, nomination procedures and languages added for the forthcoming edition.

The media team also high-lighted the importance of India’s participation in the nomination for the Award as the Malayalam language is added within the lan-guages in the category of achievement.

On the first day of the tour, the award team met with a number of translators in similar meetings including Sheikh Mohammed Karakon; Abdul Kabeer, Editor-in-Chief of the Islamic Publishing House, rep-resenting the Board of Directors of the Islamic Publishing House.

Dr Hanan Al Fayadh, media consultant of Sheikh Hamad Award, and Dr Emtinan Al Samadi, a member of the media team with translators and academics during their visit to Kerala to promote the award.

Sidra Medicine to host free epilepsy workshop for school nursesTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Sidra Medicine will host free workshops as part of an Epilepsy Awareness Day for school nurses and care givers on Wednesday.

Organised by the Pediatric Neurology Division at Sidra Medicine, the workshops in English and Arabic, are aimed at educating school nurses and care givers about caring for students with epilepsy.

The workshop is also open to health care providers inter-ested in epilepsy among school age children as well as primary

care nurses. Epilepsy is a condition that

affects the brain and causes repeated seizures. As a result, cells in the brain get disrupted during a seizure causing the body to behave in an unusual way.

Workshop organiser and attending Physician in Neu-rology, Dr Rana Al Shami, said, “Children with epilepsy should be able to enjoy the same oppor-tunities at school as any other student.

We encourage schools in Qatar to send their nurses and care givers to the three hour

workshops. They have been designed to ensure that school nurses are given the right infor-mation about students with epi-lepsy who are under their care and supervision.

Each child will have different needs and we have a segment related to instructions on giving appropriate first aid or emer-gency medicine if they have a seizure at school.”

Workshop in Arabic will be held on Wednesday between 8am and 11 and the English session from 12 noon to 3pm at the Sidra Auditorium in the main hospital.

07MONDAY 8 APRIL 2019 HOME

Pakistan National Assembly Speaker lauds Amir’s speechIRFAN BUKHARI THE PENINSULA

Asad Qaiser, the Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan, has praised the speech by Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at the opening of the 140th Assembly of IPU.

Asad Qaiser, who is leading the Paki-stan’s parliamentary delegation to the first-ever IPU Assembly session in any Arab country, termed it a historic occasion, when an Arab country has taken a lead in international parlia-mentary diplomacy.

“H H the Amir talked of promoting dialogue, peace and cooperation among nations, which is vital for global harmony and prosperity,” he noted.

In an interview with The Peninsula, he expressed his pride over the fact that Pakistan, for the first time, had been elected as the President of Asia Pacific Group of the IPU.

“Today I presided over a meeting of Asia Pacific Group which is an honour for Pakistan and I will be using this platform to promote peace, stability and more parliamentary coordination between the world nations,” he added.

He said that the theme of the general debate ‘Parliaments as platforms to enhance education for peace, security and the rule of law’, was great which reflected the importance of education

and its effective role in achieving these goals.

“The 140th Assembly of IPU is also important on the grounds that during this session elections of various com-mittees have to be held,” he said, adding that almost all regional, international

issues of importance will be discussed in IPU Assembly and related meetings.

Expressing his satisfaction over likely inclusion of emergency items like Palestine issue and Islamophobia on the agenda, Asad Qaiser said that the Assembly’s proceedings would help establish peace through parliamentary diplomacy.

To a question about Qatar’s role in the Taliban-US talks, Qaiser said that Qatar’s initiative of facilitating talks was a great step to establish peace in restive Afghanistan.

“We highly appreciate Qatar’s role and through Qatar’s support, Afghan-istan dispute will soon be settled.”

On Qatar-Pakistan relations, the Speaker said that the ties between both countries are excellent and are growing stronger with the passage of time par-ticularly after Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Qatar in January this year.

“Both countries are in

close coordination to find new ways of cooperation to bolster bilateral ties. We love Qatari brothers and a large Paki-stani community is serving Qatar for the last four decades.”

Asad Qaiser also thanked the Qatari government for providing safe envi-ronment, equal opportunities and job securities to Pakistani expatriates living and working in Qatar. To another question, Qaiser said that Pakistan would welcome Qatari investors in Pakistan where they could invest in mul-tiple sectors.

“Pakistan under its new visa policy has eased visa process for passport holders of 175 countries including Qatar and this step will bolster tourism and investment in Pakistan.”

He also urged Qatari investors to take benefit from multi-billion dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and become part of this ambi-tious project.

Asad Qaiser, the Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan

On Qatar-Pakistan relations, the Speaker said that the ties between both countries are excellent and are growing stronger with the passage of time particularly after Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Qatar in January this year.

50% of parliamentarians in theworld are aged under 45THE PENINSULA DOHA

The participating young parlia-mentarians in 140th Assembly of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) have discussed the progress achieved by young people in taking part in parliaments and the challenges for the partici-pation.

They also made some sug-gestions that could help young people to join parliaments and represent their people. Zaina Hilal, Chairperson of the Youth Participation Programme at the IPU, pointed out that studies have shown that there are major financial challenges that encounter young people when trying to join parliaments around the world.

There are also cultural chal-lenges, which they face when they try to represent their people

at the parliaments.She said that 2.2% of the par-

ticipants at different world par-liaments are under 30-years-old, while 50% of the world parlia-mentarians are under 45, and there is an equal number of males and females within the same young age category.

She called on the political parties around the world to support the nomination of young people to be elected for parliaments.

Accordingly, the IPU has modified its regulations to allow more young people to take part at its General Assembly, as each parliamentarian delegation would include a young person.

On Wednesday, the chair-person of the next Parliamen-tarian Youth Forum will be elected. Youth parliamentarians from a number of countries reviewed the efforts of their

countries to encourage young people to enter parliaments and participate in decision-making.

Representatives of Kuwait, Iran, Pakistan, Gambia, Oman, Senegal, Iraq, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Mongolia, and Tunisia reviewed the developments in y o u t h p a r l i a m e n t a r y participation.

It is necessary for States to draw up plans to enable young people to work in parliament.

The Forum listened to some national experiences and prac-tices in enhancing youth partic-ipation in parliamentary life, while others put forward pro-posals to raise participation rates by raising awareness and devel-oping political culture among young people, and revising laws that do not allow people under the age of 30 to run for parliament.

The Forum of Young

Parliamentarians also discussed its work plan and activities for 2018-2019 aimed at supporting youth participation in parlia-mentary life.

The most prominent

activities of the past year and activities planned for the year were presented.

The Youth Forum discussed yesterday the activities of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)

to support the participation of young people and discussed future activities planned for 2019. Good practices were also discussed to promote youth par-ticipation in politics.

The participants of the Forum of Young Parliamentarians at the 140th Assembly of Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Renewable energies can help in ending energy povertySACHIN KUMAR THE PENINSULA

Renewable energies can play crucial role in ending energy poverty from different parts of the world. Making renewable energies affordable will connect more people with electricity, said participants in the panel discussion on how parliaments can help to end energy poverty through access to renewable energies, on the second day of the 140th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly.

A Motter, Mario Socorro Manguiat, F N Gonzalez Diaz, E Thiombiano and A Gryffroy par-ticipated in the discussion titled ‘Ending energy poverty through access to renewable energies and inclusive policies: How can parliaments help?’.

Speakers said that around 1.1 billion people did not have access to power grid at the end 2017 and if it remains business as usual than around 600 million people will not have access to electricity by 2040. High energy

cost and low income are the main factors behind energy poverty.

They added that parliaments can play an important role on the matter through legislations that ensure energy accessibility. They can also confirm the implemen-tation of these legislations which will enable these countries to achieve incomes that will improve their economic situation.

The participants highlighted the role that renewable energies, such as solar panels and wind power, can play especially in those remote areas.

Affordable access to energy services enables people to fulfil their potential while enhancing social inclusion.

It promotes employment opportunities, supports the pro-vision of social services, and helps realise the transition to the green economy.

Corresponding to one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - Goal 7, energy promotes sustainable and inclusive human

development. The current energy system,

heavily reliant on fossil fuels, is both unsustainable and highly inequitable.

Solutions to end energy poverty exist. Renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and biomass are becoming more affordable relative to fossil fuels. Off-grid, portable energy solu-tions that can be scaled up, and new technologies to improve the energy efficiency in manufac-turing, agriculture and service industries, as well as in transport and construction, are generally more accessible. The problem, particularly in developing coun-tries, most often comes down to one of financing and technology transfers.

During the session they reviewed the experiences of various countries which used many technological solutions to deliver energy to many of the poor areas. They also used the energy in many fields such as lighting and desalination for irri-gation and other uses.

The participants at a panel discussion on the second day of the 140th Assembly of International Parliamentary Union, yesterday. PIC: SALIM MATRAMKOT/THE PENINSULA

H E Speaker of the Kuwaiti National Assembly Marzouq Al Ghanim stressed the need for parliaments to promote an educational model that fights violence, extremism, and hatred. He referred to the recent terrorist act in the name of Christianity in New Zealand, which confirms that terrorism is not limited to a specific religion, race or sect.

08 MONDAY 8 APRIL 2019VIEWS

Speakers of Parliaments emphasise role of education in promoting peace

QNA

A number of parliaments partici-pating in the Inter-Parlia-mentary Union (IPU) General Assembly and the related

meetings highlighted the importance of education in promoting nations, dissemi-nating knowledge and fighting ignorance as the cornerstone of all aspects of life, development and sustainable growth, which requires the development of the

educational system for more just and equi-table societies.

In their speeches to the session, “Parlia-ments as plat-forms to enhance education for peace, security and the rule of law”, they criti-cized the policies of some coun-tries in terms of violating inter-national law, creating chaos and not respecting human rights and the rule of law, stressing that parliamen-tarians should not be silent about such violations.

H E Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Fed-eration Vyacheslav

Volodin said that many countries in today’s world are being ignored, violated and besieged, which requires parliamen-tarians to discuss these issues and not to stand silent.

He reviewed many examples to violate the resolutions of international legitimacy, including the recognition by the US President of Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan, which requires the inter-national community to criticize this policy. He pointed to a number of viola-tions that affect some countries and attempts to impoverish their people and push them to take to the streets, as in the Middle East and Latin America, “Venezuela”.

Volodin further added that we know who was behind the establishment of the so-called terrorist state in Syria “ISIS”, which sought to overthrow the regime, so the policy of non-intervention must be the norm in international relations.

H E Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation stressed the great importance of the 140th IPU General Assembly and the related meetings cur-rently held in Doha, praising in this regard the arrangements and organi-zation of the meetings and the hospitality and goodwill received by the partici-pating delegations.

Furthermore, he said that the cri-terion that distinguishes such organiza-tions is the freedom to express an opinion on any subject that is discussed in the name of the people. He called on

the parliamentarians to exert maximum efforts, exchange views and experience and work to solve the problems in order to ensure the effectiveness of their par-liamentary bodies and adhere to the basic principles of international law to ensure the sovereignty and rights of states in the development of their peoples.

Volodin noted the importance of parliamentarians in their role to achieve the goals of the international community in security, peace, the rule of law, peaceful coexistence and non-interference in the affairs of others. He pointed out that dialogue, cooperation and lack of feeling of superiority are the criteria that distinguish the educated people. He pointed out that all these represent international challenges to international law, and can not be met through unilateral decisions taken here and there.

Also, he called for regional cooperation in legislation and combating terrorism to meet the challenges and for the IPU to make its real contributions to achieving the goals of security and peace, combating terrorism, achieving economic development and improving people’s lives.

H E Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation noted the importance of enacting education legislation and adopting best practices to promote it. He added that the future requires knowledge, technology, expertise, vocational training and the development and enhancement of skills, especially for children from childhood.

He stressed the need to protect the rights and personal data, stressing that no country has the right to violate the privacy of information of any other country. He added that states must also protect the privacy and data of their people, to ensure the protection of their citizens in this digital age. In today’s world, countries no longer need to cross borders to infringe on others, but can do so by attacking websites, which could cause the country to collapse, he said.

He called for ensuring the electronic and digital sovereignty of any country and the protection of its cybersecurity, adding that parliaments must fulfill their responsibilities in securing states and protecting their digital sovereignty.

H E Speaker of Iran’s Islamic Consultative Assembly Ali Larijani said that the meetings of the IPU General Assembly currently held in Qatar represent an important and effective step to enhance cooperation between states and their parliaments and to establish security and international law.

Speaking at the General Assembly’s general debate on the theme of “Parliaments as platforms to enhance education for peace, security and the rule of law,” H E Larijani pointed out that security and peace could not be established without the rule of law as the cornerstone of an international community sharing common benefits.

He reviewed the great challenges in the area of the rule of law, peace and security, violations of human rights and ethnic cleansing, as in Al Quds and occupied Palestine, as well as the challenge of terrorism and hate speech, leading to the adoption of aggressive, expansionist and unfair policies and the imposition of double and unilateral

standards by many states, which threaten international peace and security.

Larijani criticized what he called the economic terrorism practiced by the US administration against his country, indi-cating that this constitutes a component of despair and loss of hope and isolation at the same time for this administration.

He said that the Zionist attacks against Al Aqsa and Al Quds Al Sharif, ethnic cleansing, inhuman and illegal expansionist measures, double standards, and the malignant approach to combating terrorism reflect a flagrant violation of international law and the extraction of the US-Israeli policy.

He said that all Muslim countries reject these terrorist and discriminatory policies, adding that in this situation the Palestinians have no choice but to con-tinue the struggle and resistance to achieve their legitimate rights.

H E Speaker of the Kuwaiti National Assembly Marzouq Al Ghanim stressed the need for parliaments to promote an educational model that fights violence, extremism, and hatred. He referred to the recent terrorist act in the name of Christianity in New Zealand, which con-firms that terrorism is not limited to a specific religion, race or sect.

Al Ghanim stressed that what hap-pened in New Zealand denied the exclu-sivity of the geographical area of extremism. He wondered whether we need a tragedy like the Christchurch tragedy to reach an agreement on the broad address that we have always tried to confirm and emphasize: terrorism, extremism, fanaticism, and religion have no religion.

He stressed that Islam is the religion of mercy and peace, warning of those who liquidate the Palestinian in the name of Moses, those who target the Rohingya in the name of the Buddha, and those who attack innocent people in the name of Jesus. He pointed out that eve-ryone should activate community soli-darity, transparency, democracy, and good governance.

H E President of the Consultative Council of the Sultanate of Oman Khalid bin Hilal Al Maawali pointed out that the continuing Israeli practices aimed at obliterating and Judaizing the identity of Al Quds is unacceptable and can not be tolerated. He called for supporting the brotherly Palestinian people in establishing their independent state, with Al Quds as its capital, stressing that the Palestinian people should enjoy all their dispossessed rights and live a safe and dignified life.

He said that all parliamentarians and supporters of security and safety have great responsibilities that require them to help the Palestinian people and push the peace process, using all possible means.

The session of the general debate also witnessed interventions by HE Speaker of Iraq’s Council of Representatives Mohamed Al Halbousi, who stressed the need to prepare a generation with knowledge and learning. The Chairman of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan stressed that education is the cornerstone of all aspects of life. Also, the speakers of parliaments in northern Macedonia, Mozambique, Serbia, and Ukraine also spoke of the need to promote peace for peace and security.

QUOTE OF THE DAYWe Rwandans have

granted ourselves a new beginning.

We exist in a state of permanent

commemoration, every day, in all that we do

... Today, light radiates from this place.

Paul KagameRwandan President

Over the first quarter of 2019 Qatar’s PMI has trended higher compared with the final quarter of 2018, a period during which the global economy saw the softest expansion in two years.

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDR. KHALID BIN MUBARAK AL-SHAFIeditorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMEDm.salim@pen.com.qa

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED OSMAN ALI osman@pen.com.qa

ESTABLISHED IN 1996

EDITORIAL

Expanding economy

Qatar’s economy is progressing ahead swiftly, helped by strong momentum in economic activ-ities. Qatar Financial Centre’s (QFC) latest Pur-

chasing Managers’ Index (PMI) survey of Qatari non-hydrocarbon private sector businesses, released last week, has highlighted a marked increase in the volume of new business.

The rate of expansion was the fastest since August 2018, and sharper than the trend pace indicated since the survey began in April 2017. The latest findings also show output expectations were the second-strongest on record; with the fastest input price inflation in a year.

The PMI survey is compiled for the Qatar Financial Centre by IHS Markit, and has been conducted since April 2017. The report provides an early indication of operating conditions in Qatar. The headline figure derived from the survey is the Purchasing Managers’ Index, readings of which above 50 signals an improvement in business conditions on the previous month, while readings below 50 show a tightening.

Over the first quarter of 2019 Qatar’s PMI has trended higher compared with the final quarter of 2018; a period during which the global economy saw the softest expansion in two years.

The uptick in business activity helped lift the headline PMI figure for Qatar from February’s 48.5 to 50.1 in March. This improvement was reflected in new orders, higher output, lower stocks of purchases and suppliers’ tighter delivery times.

Earlier, strong increase in employment had driven Qatar PMI higher in January. At 50.5 in January, up from 50.1 in December, the latest Qatar Financial Centre PMI indi-cated a solid improvement in overall business conditions across the non-oil & gas private sector. Driving the

latest improvement was a series-record increase in employment, while both short-term output and new business measures ebbed slightly. Businesses remained strongly confident regarding expected activity at the start of 2019.

The stand-out figure from the latest survey was a sharp rise in employment. Companies in the non-hydro-carbon private sector increased headcounts at the strongest rate since the survey began in April 2017. Com-panies have increased staff levels substantially in prep-aration of launching new manufacturing, retail, and other broad non-oil activities.

Qatar Government has budgeted 1.7 percent year-on-year higher expenditure in 2019. Of its QR207bn planned expenditure, QR48bn is related to project roll-out or 23 percent of total spending. Qatar has been spending heavily over the past few years on infrastructure and some projects are nearing completion leading to tapering of the spending plan. Increased spending for infrastructure will boost economic activity in the country.

The Speaker of Shura Council, H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud, and other dignitaries posing for a group picture.

Twenty-five years ago, today marks the start of the Rwandan genocide. Over a few short months in 1994, up to a million people were killed primarily on the basis of their ethnicity. Soldiers and militia abused thousands of women.

09MONDAY 8 APRIL 2019 OPINION

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Manipulation suspicions mount in Thailand’spost-coup election

How the courage of a few Rwandan women changed the world

PATPICHA TANAKASEMPIPAT & PANARAT THEPGUMPANAT

REUTERS

SARA DAREHSHORI AL JAZEERA

Thailand’s first general election since a 2014 army coup has been touted by the ruling mil-itary junta as a return to dem-

ocratic rule, but two weeks after the vote, results are still unclear and alle-gations of manipulation are mounting.

Since the March 24 vote, figures linked to a “democratic front” of oppo-

sition parties say they have come under increasing pressure from police and the military.

The Election Commission has also indicated it would use a complex allo-cation formula for 150 “party seats” in the House of Representatives in a way that would likely dilute the opposition alliance’s seats in the 500-seat lower house. The Election Commission has said it won’t announce even provi-sional winners of the 150 party seats until May 9, saying it needs time to order by-elections and vote recounts as well as to disqualify candidates who broke election laws.

But critics say the time gap allows the military-royalist establishment to manipulate results and disqualify opponents of the pro-army Palang Pracharat party that seeks to keep junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha in power as an elected prime minister.

The leading opposition Pheu Thai party, made up of loyalists to army-ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shina-watra, sees the delays and legal actions as an attempt to deny the “democratic front” enough seats in the House needed to block the main junta-linked party from unrestrained lawmaking power.

“After the election ... the majority of the people feels a sense of hope-lessness and distrust for the election process,” said Pheu Thai’s secretary-general, Phumtham Wechayachai.

“People are talking about the Election Commission’s part in sup-porting the extension of power by the National Council for Peace and Order,”

he said, using the junta’s formal name.The Election Commission’s sec-

retary-general, Jaroongwit Phumma, told Reuters the body is not helping the pro-military party.

“The election commission is neutral and adheres to the law. We don’t take sides or help one particular party,” Jaroongwit said. Palang Pra-charat said it does not gain any advan-tages over opposition parties.

“It’s completely false to say that the election commission is helping Palang Pracharat. This is an attempt to dis-credit us,” the party’s deputy spokesman Thanakorn Wang-boonkongchana told Reuters.

However, opposition figures say they are being targeted.

Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the leader of the youth-oriented Future Forward Party which did sur-prisingly well in the vote, was charged on Saturday with sedition on a junta complaint dating back to 2015 - a case that could see his party disbanded.

Online campaigns have also cast Thanathorn as anti-monarchy, a serious crime in Thailand, where the monarchy is revered without question. Thanathorn denies being against the monarchy and all charges against him.

“It’s the establishment’s desire to stir hatred, fear, and mistrust among the people, creating legitimacy for the military to take over and stay on,” Thanathorn said last week.

Winthai Suvaree, a spokesman for the junta, said the charges against Thanathorn were not aimed at weak-ening the opposition and were “entirely unrelated to current political events”.

The rules of the election were written in the 2017 junta-backed con-stitution, which critics said were aimed at ensuring military influence in Thai politics. Among the new provisions is that the Senate, the 250-seat upper house of parliament appointed by the junta, must approve the prime minister in a combined vote with the House, which previously solely voted on the premier. That means the junta-backed party and its allies have to gain only 126 seats in the House to install Prayuth as prime minister, while the opposition would need 376 votes for their potential candidate.

Still, days after the March 24 vote, the “democratic front” claimed through its own calculations that it would gain at least 255 House seats - not be enough to form a government

but potentially allowing it to block the military-backed party from having free rein.

Last week, however, the election commission indicated the complex formula to calculate allocation of the 150 “party list” seats will round up dec-imals to give seats to 11 small parties although their popular votes did not meet a previously described threshhold required to earn even one seat.

“This is an irregularity that reflects an effort to block the democratic front from forming the next government,” said Pheu Thai’s spokeswoman Ladawan Wongsriwong.

Widening the list would cut seats from top popular vote getters and could reduce seats for Future Forward from around 87 to 80, potentially hurting the democratic front’s claim of House majority.

“It’s an abnormal election from the outset. It’s a game where the junta wrote the rules and appointed the referee, who is also acting abnor-mally,” said Yingcheep Atchanont, project manager at legal-monitoring group iLaw. Palang Pracharat has repeatedly said it reaps no benefits from the constitution.

Sonthirat Sontijirawong, the Palang Pracharat secretary-general, has said the party would begin talks to form the next government only after the king’s official coronation on May 4-6. The election comes after nearly 15 years of turmoil, during which conflicts between supporters of ousted former premier Thaksin and his establishment opponents manifested in street pro-tests, violent clashes, and two military coups.

On the eve of the vote, King Maha Vajiralongkorn made an unexpected statement, recalling a comment made by his late father on the need to put “good people” in power and to prevent “bad people from ... creating chaos.”

Six days later, the king revoked royal decorations that had been awarded to Thaksin, citing his 2008 corruption conviction and for fleeing the country to escape prison.

The military also stripped Thaksin of a pre-cadet school’s achievement award as well as deleting his name from the school’s hall of fame. “Thaksin continues to be a threat to the position of power of the estab-lishment,” Pavin Chachavalpongpun, associate professor at Kyoto Univer-sity’s Center for Southeast Asian Studies, said.

Long before Twitter, Harvey Weinstein, and #MeToo, African women in a Rwandan village decided to speak up

about abuse. Their courage changed the world.

Twenty-five years ago, today marks the start of the Rwandan gen-ocide. Over a few short months in 1994, up to a million people were killed primarily on the basis of their ethnicity. Soldiers and militia assaulted thousands of women. Though abuse had been defined as a war crime, it had never been prose-cuted. Like looting, abuse was con-sidered a spoil of war. It was accepted as inevitable and not recognised as the weapon of war it was. That was about to change.

In 1995, when I arrived in Kigali as an investigator for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (the United Nations institution created to address the atrocities in Rwanda), it did not appear to be a promising venue for landmark court decisions.

The prosecutor’s office was

virtually deserted. The few people on staff were away looking for witnesses abroad because of security concerns in Rwanda.

When police officers lent by the Dutch government arrived a few weeks later, they removed doors from hinges to use as desks and sat on upturned rubbish cans.

The court in Arusha, Tanzania was still under construction and investiga-tions were barely under way when we got a rare call on the one unreliable phone extension in the office: it was the Zambian government letting us know they had arrested several people from our “most wanted” list. Since we did not have such a list, the call was quite a surprise.

One of those arrested, Jean-Paul Akayesu, was the mayor of a commune called Taba. In the com-munes, the mayor plays a crucial role in many aspects of the residents’ lives: he or she resolves disputes, decides who goes to school and gets civil service jobs, and is responsible for assigning required weekly community

service. Our investigation revealed that during the genocide, Akayesu had initially prevented killings but then had a change of heart and ordered all Tutsis to be killed. Within days, over 2,000 Tutsis in the area were mas-sacred by their neighbours. Women and children sought safety in front of the bureau communal where Akayesu had his office.

Our indictment initially focused on the killings and establishing gen-ocide. When Human Rights Watch brought widespread assaults in the commune to our attention, we sent female investigators and interpreters to see what we could find, but we still could not link the abuses to Akayesu. It was not until a witness testified during the trial that Akayesu was present during the abuses that we realised we might be able to hold him accountable for the assaults.

Several women in Taba had been following the trial closely on the radio. When they heard the testimony about the abuse, they decided to tell their stories too. One of them, Victoire Mukambanda, sought shelter with her sister and young babies in front of the bureau communal where they were systematically abused.

While she was being abused, Akayesu told her assailant, “Never again ask me what a Tutsi woman tastes like.” Despite having just given birth, and being feverish with malaria, she was determined to give evidence.

Mukambanda, her surviving sister, and several other women overcame their fear of flying and the daunting prospect of appearing in a foreign court before berobed foreign judges who did not speak the same language.

She said of her decision “In speaking out, I hoped to restore my dignity and that of other women in my community who had suffered as I had.”

At the time, she did not realise that abuses had happened throughout Rwanda and that it is used as a weapon of war in many conflicts. She did not know her testimony would

The leading opposition Pheu Thai party, made up of loyalists to army-ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, sees the delays and legal actions as an attempt to deny the “democratic front” enough seats in the House needed to block the main junta-linked party from unrestrained lawmaking power.

help set a precedent that would be used to prosecute abuse in conflicts around the world and that her courage would encourage others to speak about their experiences.

She only knew that not speaking out was killing her slowly and by speaking out, she was able to move forward.

Since the 1998 decision, inter-national criminal justice has developed rapidly. A permanent International Criminal Court was established in The Hague in 2002. Hybrid national and international courts were set up to address hor-rific crimes in Cambodia, Sierra Leone, and Bosnia. Fifty convic-tions for abuse have been handed down in international courts.

Yet as we have seen in Myanmar, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria and elsewhere, abuse is still all too often used as a weapon of war. Accountability will only meaning-fully deter sexual violence when the threat of arrest is real.

The International Criminal Court has no ability to execute its arrest warrants and has limited jurisdiction. To make real progress, the international com-munity must ensure accountability in places beyond the reach of international courts and require the arrest of indicted suspects. Governments must vigorously condemn and prosecute gender-based violence domestically, even in times of peace, to demonstrate that this behaviour will not be tol-erated. Only then will the promise of the Akayesu judgment be realised.

The writer is a principal at Vestry Laight, LLC and former prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

Victoire Mukambanda and Cecile Mukarugwiza attend screening of a film about the Rwanda trial in which they gave evidence at the UN headquarters in New York on October 19, 2016.

10 MONDAY 8 APRIL 2019MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

21 dead since offensive: TripoliTRIPOLI: At least 21 people have been killed since the start of a four-day-old offensive by Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar to take Tripoli, the country’s UN-backed government said yesterday. Another 27 people have been wounded since the assault began on Thursday, the health ministry in Tripoli said, without speci-fying whether civilians were among the dead. On Saturday, Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) reported 14 deaths among its fighters.

Haftar forces conduct air strike on TripoliREUTERS TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI

Eastern Libyan forces carried out an air strike on the southern part of Tripoli yesterday, escalating an operation to take the capital despite calls for a truce from the United Nations.

The Libyan National Army (LNA) force of Khalifa Haftar, which backs a parallel adminis-tration in the east, last week launched an advance on Tripoli in the west, the home to the internationally recognised gov-ernment. The offensive inten-sifies a power struggle that has fractured the oil and gas pro-ducer since the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. The LNA

claims to have reached the southern outskirts and taken its former international airport though the Tripoli military offi-cials deny this.

A war plane carried out an air strike in the same area, a res-ident and eastern military source said. No more details were

immediately available. The UN mission to Libya (UNSMIL) called yesterday for a truce for two hours in southern Tripoli to evacuate civilians and wounded, it said in a statement without giving details.

Forces allied to the Tripoli government meanwhile announced its own operation called “Volcano of Anger” to defend the capital, a spokesman said, without giving details.

The offensive has taken the UN by surprise, undermining plan to find agreement on a road map for elections to resolve the protracted instability in Libya, transit point for refugees and migrants trekking across the Sahara with the objective of reaching Europe across the Med-iterranean Sea to the north.

Haftar, 75, who casts himself as a foe of Islamist extremism but is viewed by opponents as a new dictator in the mould of Gaddafi, enjoys the backing of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, which see him as a bulwark against Islamists and have supported him militarily, according to UN reports.

Libyan National Army (LNA) members, commanded by Khalifa Haftar, pose for a picture as they head out of Benghazi to reinforce the troops advancing to Tripoli in Benghazi, Libya, yesterday.

US pulls forces from LibyaAP BENGHAZI

The United States said yesterday it has temporarily withdrawn some of its forces from Libya due to “security conditions on the ground,” as a Libyan military commander’s forces advanced toward the capital, Tripoli, clashing with rival militias.

A small contingent of American troops has been in

Libya in recent years helping local forces combat Islamic State and Al Qaeda militants, as well as protecting diplomatic facilities. “The security realities on the ground in Libya are growing increasingly complex and unpredictable,” said Marine Corps Gen. Thomas Wald-hauser, the head of US Africa Command.

“Even with an adjustment of the force, we will continue to remain agile in support of

existing US strategy.” He did not provide details on the number of US troops that have been withdrawn or on how many remain inside the country.

Libya has been gripped by unrest since the 2011 uprising that overthrew and killed long-ruling dictator Moammar Gadhafi, and in recent years has been governed by rival author-ities in the east and in Tripoli, in the west, each backed by various armed groups.

The UN mission to Libya called for a truce for two hours in southern Tripoli to evacuate civilians and wounded, it said in a statement without giving details.

Palestinians denounce Netanyahu’s annexation pledgeAP DEAD SEA, JORDAN

Israel’s leader will face a “real problem” if he follows through with his election campaign promise to annex Jewish settle-ments in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Palestinian foreign minister said yesterday.

Riad Malki said on the side-lines of the World Economic Forum in Jordan that Prime Min-ister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge was likely aimed at

rallying his nationalist base in the final stretch of a tight race.

He added that Palestinians would “resist” such a policy if carried out. “If Netanyahu wants to declare Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, then you know he has to face a real problem, the presence of 4.5 million Palestinians, what to do with them,” Malki said, appar-ently referring to the combined Palestinian population of the occupied West Bank, east Jeru-salem and the Gaza Strip. He said

Israel cannot expel the Pales-tinians. “We will stay there,” he said. “The international com-munity has to deal with us.”

Malki accused the US of encouraging Netanyahu by rec-ognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and, more recently, rec-ognising Israel’s 1981 annexation of the Golan Heights. In a prime-time interview on Saturday, Netanyahu was asked why he hadn’t annexed some of the larger Jewish settlements in the West Bank during his current

term. “The question you are asking is an interesting question, whether we will move to the next stage and the answer is yes,” he said. “We will move to the next stage, the imposing of Israeli sov-ereignty.” Netanyahu has pro-moted Jewish settlement expansion in his four terms as prime minister, but until now refrained from presenting a detailed vision for the West Bank, viewed by Palestinians as the heartland of a future state.

It would mark a dramatic

shift for Netanyahu, ahead of tomorrow’s balloting. Annexing settlements would all but end any chance of a two-state solution with the Palestinians and potentially push the sides toward a single, binational state.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has also expressed concerns about America’s “ille-gitimate decisions” in the region. “We see the solution in dialogue between countries, because uni-lateral actions will never lead to anything good,” he said.

Flood-hit Iran getting no aid from abroadREUTERS GENEVA

US sanctions have prevented the Iranian Red Crescent from obtaining any foreign financial aid to assist victims of flooding that has killed at least 70 people and inundated some 1,900 communities, the group said yesterday.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last week that Washington was ready to help via the Red Cross and Red Crescent, but accused Iran’s clerical establishment of “mis-management in urban planning and in emergency prepar-edness”. “No foreign cash help has been given to the Iranian Red Crescent society. With attention to the inhuman US sanctions, there is no way to send this cash assistance,” the Red Crescent said. It said the group had received some non-financial help from abroad which had been distributed to flood victims. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said last week that US sanctions — reimposed after Washington quit a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers — were impeding aid efforts to flood-stricken towns and villages. “Blocked equipment includes relief choppers: This isn’t just eco-nomic warfare; it’s economic TERRORISM,” he said on Twitter.

Rwanda commemorates 25 years of genocide AP KIGALI, RWANDA

Rwanda yesterday commemo-rated the start, 25 years ago, of its genocide in which some 800,000 people were killed, as the country continues to grapple with the lasting consequences of the mass killings.

President Paul Kagame and first lady Jeannette Kagame laid wreaths and lit a flame at the mass burial ground of 250,000 victims at the Kigali Genocide Memorial Center in the capital, Kigali. Those attending the cer-emonies included the leaders of Chad, Republic of the Congo, Dji-bouti, Niger, Belgium, Canada, Ethiopia, as well as the African Union and the European Union.

“I am moved beyond words

at this memorial to tragedy,” said Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission.

There will be a procession through the capital to Kigali’s National Stadium where as many as 30,000 are expected to par-ticipate in an evening candlelight ceremony. “Twenty-five years ago, Rwanda fell into a deep ditch due to bad leadership, today, we are a country of hope and a nation elevated,” Agnes Mutamba, 25, a teacher who was born during the genocide told The Associated Press in Kigali.

“Today, the government has united all Rwandans as one people with the same culture and history and is speeding up eco-nomic transformation,” said Oliver Nduhungihere, Rwanda’s state foreign affairs minister.

FROM LEFT: African Union chief Moussa Faki, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, his wife Jeannette, and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker light a remembrance flame for the 25th Commemoration of the 1994 Genocide at the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Kigali, Rwanda, yesterday,

‘Iran will retaliate if US designates Guards as terrorists’REUTERS GENEVA

Iran will take reciprocal action against the United States if Washington designates the elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as terrorists, a majority of Iranian parliamentarians said yesterday, according to state news agency IRNA.

The United States is expected to designate the Revolutionary Guards a foreign terrorist organ-isation, three US officials said, marking the first time Wash-ington has formally labelled another country’s military a ter-rorist group.

“We will answer any action taken against this force with a reciprocal action,” a statement

issued by 255 out of the 290 Iranian lawmakers said, according to IRNA.

“So the leaders of America, who themselves are the creators and supporters of terrorists in the (Middle East) region, will regret this inappropriate and idiotic action.” The US decision, which critics warn could open US mil-itary and intelligence officials to

similar actions by unfriendly governments abroad, is expected to be announced by the State Department perhaps as early as Monday, the US officials said last week. The move has been rumoured for years.

Iran’s foreign minister said yesterday US officials aiming to designate the IRGC as terrorist wanted to “drag the US into a

quagmire” on behalf of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“#NetanyahuFirsters who have long agitated for FTO (Foreign Terrorist Organisation) of the IRGC fully understand its consequences for US forces in the region. In fact, they seek to drag US into a quagmire on his behalf,” Mohammed Javad Zarif

said on his Twitter account. “@realDonaldTrump should know better than to be conned into another US disaster.” Israel and Iran are arch-enemies in the Middle East.

Zarif appeared to be implying that classifying the Guards as ter-rorists would draw them into conflict with US forces in the region.

Erdogan’s AK Party to seek recount of all Istanbul votesREUTERS ANKARA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party is seeking a full recount of all votes cast in local elections in Istanbul, a senior party official said yesterday, a week after initial results showed a narrow victory

for Turkey’s main opposition party.

The AKP party has already appealed the initial results in all 39 districts of the city of 15 million people, leading to partial or full recounts across Turkey’s largest city.

So far the initial lead held by Ekrem Imamoglu, mayoral

candidate for the secularist Republican People’s Party (CHP), has narrowed from 25,000 immediately after the vote to a little over 16,000 after 70 percent of the recounts were completed.

With both Imamoglu and his rival, former prime minister Binali Yildirim, securing more

than 4.1 million votes, the margin of victory is likely to be extremely slim, but Imamoglu has said the appeals and recounts will not change the outcome.

AKP deputy party chairman Ali Ihsan Yavuz said there was “organised misconduct” in the original count, and the party will appeal to the High Election Body

(YSK), the final arbiter on elec-toral disputes, for all Istanbul votes to be recounted.

“We chose the path to elim-inate numerical mistakes. But it’s not over,” he told reporters in tel-evised comments yesterday.

Erdogan’s party, which together with its nationalist MHP ally won more than 51 percent

of the countrywide vote for local offices on March 31, says its overall performance was a victory. Spokesman Omer Celik said on Saturday the party would accept the final verdict of the YSK. “Whoever is declared winner by High Election Board, we will accept that,” he told reporters.

11MONDAY 8 APRIL 2019 ASIA

Congress launches ‘Ab Hoga Nyay’ campaign sloganIANS NEW DELHI

The Congress yesterday unveiled its campaign slogan for the Lok Sabha elections - “Ab Hoga Nyay” (Now, there will be justice). The slogan will feature in all its advertisements, posters, radio jingles, billboards and songs.

Nyay is the acronym for the Congress’ minimum income guar-antee scheme - Nyuntam Aay Yojana - under which the party has promised to give Rs72,000 per year to 20 percent of the poorest families in the country if the party is voted to power.

The slogan is based on the positive feedback the party received around the concept of ‘Nyay’, sources said.

“We are seeking justice or ‘Nyay’ against the injustices com-mitted in the past four years. Those who promised ‘Acche Din’ only delivered ‘Anyay’ (injustice),” said Anand Sharma, Chairman of the Congress Publicity Committee.

Keeping Congress President Rahul Gandhi at the heart of its campaign, the visual elements include his interactions with people from all walks of life over the past few years.

The party also credited Pri-yanka Gandhi Vadra’s contribu-tions in developing the campaign. Sharma said Priyanka took an active part in the deliberations and the party appreciated her inputs.

“Simplicity, genuineness and honesty as opposed to hollow, empty slogans and fake promises

is the approach the Congress pub-licity campaign takes,” Sharma said.

Advertising agency Percept will work on the creative aspects of the Congress campaign, including a video jingle penned by Javed Akhtar and directed by filmmaker Nikhil Advani. The campaign will focus on justice for the poor, unemployed youth, farmers, women, dalits, tribals and businessmen hit by the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the party said.

The party will also deploy large container trucks painted with the slogan “Ab Hoga Nyay” which will travel across the country. The trucks will carry panels on both sides, which will be 40 feet in length and 8 feet in height. Besides in Hindi, the Con-gress’ campaign will also have regional adaptations. The Con-gress is aiming to cover all the vernacular languages.

Sharma said the BJP was the biggest advertiser in the country, and the Congress cannot match it in terms of resources and money power. “But when it comes to truth and connecting with the people, we will beat them because there is a ring of sincerity when the Congress President makes a commitment,” he said.

Supporters of Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal gather as army personnel stand guard at the alliance’s first joint rally in Deoband, Uttar Pradesh, yesterday.

Congress will raise tax burden on middle class: ModiIANS UDAIPUR

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday said the Congress wanted to punish people belonging to the middle class and had not mentioned them in their manifesto.

“The Congress is keen to punish the middle class people as they are supporting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). That’s why the Congress did not mention them in its manifesto,” Modi said at an election rally here.

He accused the Congress of planning to burden the middle

class with more taxes and said the manifesto had nothing for them. “With more tax burden, the Congress wants to bring back the ‘licence raj’. When the BJP gov-ernment is trying to reduce the tax burden of the people, the Congress is eager to raise it.”

In his 27-minute speech in Hindi, the Prime Minister said the Congress and the Left parties were fighting against each other in Kerala and Tripura, but main-taining friendship in Delhi.

Terming their electoral battle against each other just a show, Modi said they were fighting against the country’s chowkidar Narendra Modi. All the parties,

he said, were against the chowkidar “who is killing terrorists”.

He also demanded to know why Congress President Rahul Gandhi was contesting from a Kerala seat and not from any other states. “He (Gandhi) would not contest from Punjab as the Congress has committed many offences in the state,” he said.

Addressing the gathering, he said, “I sincerely thank you for ending the 25-year-rule of the Left in the Assembly elections in 2018. This time if you cast your vote for ‘lotus’ it would go to the account of Narendra Modi.”

Modi addressed rallies in

West Bengal, Tripura and Manipur yesterday to make a strong pitch for the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections. Tripura and Manipur, ruled by the BJP, account for two Lok Sabha seats each. Polling in these four con-stituencies will be held on April 11 and April 18.

Highlighting the BJP’s per-formance and initiatives for the all round development of tribals, remote and rural areas and workers of the unorganised sector, Modi said wherever the Left parties ruled they prompted political violence. “The Left parties and the Congress are only creating miseries for the people. Poor

people now (under the NDA rule) get concrete houses, free cooking gas connections, adequate treatment support through the ‘Ayushman Bharat’ scheme and electricity connections.” He praised the one-year-old BJP gov-ernment, led by Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, for developing and improving the law and order in the state.

“Tripura is connected with the rest of the country through broad gauge rail. The double engine of the ‘lotus’ would develop Tripura more. The BJP government at the Centre has given more powers to the Tribal Autonomous District Council in the state,” he said.

BJP’s campaign theme: ‘Phir Ek Baar Modi Sarkar’IANS NEW DELHI

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) yesterday unveiled its campaign logo, tagline and theme song for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls with the slogan “Phir Ek Baar Modi Sarkar” (Modi once more) to seek a second consecutive term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“The first theme of our campaign will be ‘Kaam Karne Waali Sarkaar’ (A government that works). Our second theme will be ‘Imaandar Sarkaar’ (Honest government). Our third theme will be ‘Bade

Faisle Lene Waali Sarkaar’ (A decisive government that takes big decisions),” Finance Min-ister Arun Jaitley said adding that these sub-themes would combine with the larger theme of “Modi once more”.

Unveiling the campaign materials, he said the party’s campaign themes will talk about honest governance, ability to take major decisions, women empowerment and other welfare measures under-taken by the NDA government in the past five years.

Jaitley said the campaign materials will also highlight the BJP’s commitment to the poor, middle class and new

middle class and alleged that the Congress’s manifesto does not refer to these groups.

He also said that the cam-paign would also dwell on the need for a decisive, full majority government.

“The country wants a strong leader. We want a gov-ernment with one captain and not a team of 11 members with 40 captains,” he said in an apparent dig at the opposition alliance against the BJP in the many states including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,

Tamil Nadu and others. The party also released some of the videos as part of its campaign.

India rejects Pakistan’s allegation of attack planIANS NEW DELHI

India has rejected as “irrespon-sible and preposterous” Paki-stan’s statement that New Delhi will attack it again and accused Islamabad of trying to whip up war hysteria in the region.

“India rejects the irrespon-sible and preposterous statement by the Foreign Min-ister of Pakistan with a clear objective of whipping up war hysteria in the region,” Raveesh Kumar, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said in a statement yesterday.

“This public gimmick appears to be a call to Pakistan-based terrorists to undertake terror attack in India,” he said.

Pakistan has been advised to use the established diplo-matic channels to “share actionable and credible intelli-gence” it has about terror attacks, he added. “India reserves the right to respond firmly and decisively to cross-border terrorist attack,” the spokesman said, adding that it had been made clear to Pakistan that it cannot absolve itself of responsibility of a cross border terrorist attack in India.

“No attempt at creating an alibi for its complicity in such attacks will succeed. Pakistan needs to take credible and irre-versible steps against terrorism operating from all territories under its control rather than making hysterical statements to obfuscate the core issue that bedevils our region: cross-border terrorism.”

Maldives President’s party declares victory in electionAP MALE

Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s party declared a sweeping parliamentary election victory yesterday that could give him a free hand in efforts to restore political freedoms and tackle corruption.

Local media reports said Solih’s Maldivian Democratic Party was leading in 60 of the 87 seats in parliament following Saturday’s vote. Official results were expected late yesterday, but there was no announcement yet.

It could be the first time a single party wins a majority in parliament since the Indian Ocean archipelago nation became a multiparty democracy in 2008 after decades of auto-cratic rule.

Afshan Latheef, the cam-paign spokeswoman for Solih’s party, said it was a “resounding victory” that “undoubtedly reflected the people’s desire for reform and implementation of policies outlined in the president and government’s manifesto.” As his party began celebrating after the vote counting started on Saturday night, Solih said the people should not forget “the

immense challenges that lie ahead of us.”

“The work to strengthen our democratic institutions, to deliver basic services for cit-izens, to our promise of bringing corruption, past and present, to book and ending impunity starts now,” he said in a statement yes-terday. “I look forward to working with all of you to realise our promises to the people.” Solih’s party is seeking at least 44 seats for a majority to pass legislation needed to implement pledges from last year’s presi-dential campaign. His coalition currently has 52 seats, but one partner with 22 seats is aligned with former strongman Yameen Abdul Gayoom.

Solih defeated Yameen last year, giving new hope to the young democracy, which has gone through a tumultuous tran-sition that threatened to drag the Maldives back to its autocratic past. Yameen had curtailed freedom of speech and jailed his political rivals.

Solih was only a fallback choice as President for his party because charismatic former President Mohamed Nasheed was sentenced to prison under Yameen and was ineligible to run.

In rare move, Bangladesh deploys troops to island near MyanmarAFP DHAKA

Bangladesh yesterday deployed heavily-armed border guards to an island near its southern border with Myanmar for the first time in 20 years, officials said.

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) distributed images showing dozens of troops car-rying assault rifles disembarking at Saint Martin’s island, a small island in the Bay of Bengal that has caused diplomatic tensions between the neighbours.

The BGB said the troop deployment was part of “regular activities” to ensure border pro-tection and curb drug trafficking.

But the force’s Lieutenant Colonel, Sarker Mohammad Mustafizur Rahman, said it was the first time since 1997 their men had landed there.

“After more than 20 years we felt we should deploy,” he said.

The deployment comes just two months after Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry summoned Myanmar’s ambassador in Dhaka to protest the inclusion of Saint Martin inside their

territory in some maps printed in the Southeast Asian country.

He was also summoned in October last year, after a Myanmar government website depicted the island as within Myanmar’s territory.

Ties between the two neigh-bours have soured since the Myanmar military launched a crackdown on the Rohingya minority in Rakhine, a troubled western state bordering

Bangladesh.The brutal operation has

forced some 740,000 Rohingya Muslims into Bangladesh since August 2017, transforming parts near the border into the world’s largest refugee camp.

Bangladesh has accused Myanmar of perpetrating gen-ocide against the Rohingya, who share some cultural and lin-guistic similarities with Bangla-deshis in the country’s southeast.

Bangladesh’s paramilitary personnel disembark after they were deployed on Saint Martin’s island, yesterday.

Besides Hindi, the Congress’ campaign will also have regional adaptations. The party is aiming to cover all the vernacular languages.

Three-party rally in UP

Enforcement actions must be neutral: ECIANS NEW DELHI

The Election Commission yesterday told the Central government that al l enforcement actions to curb electoral malpractices should be neutral, impartial and non-discriminatory and demanded that Chief Electoral Officers (CEO) should be informed about use of illicit money for electoral purposes.

The development comes against the backdrop of Income Tax Department teams yes-terday carrying out raids at over 50 places in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore and Bhopal, including the residence of Chief Minister Kamal Nath’s Officer on special duty Praveen Kakkar, and in New Delhi.

In a letter to the Revenue Secretary, the Commission said use of money power with intention of influencing voter behaviour was biggest chal-lenge for conducting free, fair, ethical and credible elections, thus undermining the very fabric of the democracy.

The commission said it would “strongly advise” that all enforcement actions during the election period should be “absolutely neutral, impartial and non-discriminatory”.

Mirwaiz to appear before NIA in DelhiIANS SRINAGAR

Senior Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq yesterday decided to appear before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Delhi for questioning in the terror funding case, a Hurriyat spokesman said. The NIA had recently served a third notice to the Mirwaiz asking him to appear before the agency in Delhi on April 18 after he had expressed security concerns regarding his visit to Delhi.

12 MONDAY 8 APRIL 2019ASIA

Interpol rejects request for Hussain Nawaz’s extraditionINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

The Interpol has refused to issue Red Warrant for the arrest and extradition of Hussain Nawaz Sharif on the application of Paki-stani government, dealing a big blow to the international efforts made by the current government against the family of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Official papers confirmed that the decision to reject the application against Hussain Nawaz was made by the Inter-pol’s commission during its 10th session.

The papers show that the Pakistani authorities made robust representations to the international body, relying on the recent court decision against Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Captain (retired) Safdar, but it failed to convince the Interpol for issuing a Red Warrant against the eldest son of former Prime Minister.

Pakistan made representa-tions through the Interpol’s National Central Bureau (NCB) in Islamabad.

While hundreds of docu-ments were produced by both sides in favour of their cases, the Interpol’s Commission’s decision was made on 11 pages summing up case of both sides and then declaring that the NCB had failed

to produce “sufficient evidence” linking Hussain Nawaz with the charges made against him in the application seeking Red Warrant. The decision reads: “The Commission finds that the NCB of Pakistan has not pro-vided sufficient facts that spe-cifically link the wanted indi-vidual to the charges against him and it is not able to confirm that the data registered would be in compliance with Interpol’s rule and in view of the Article 83 of the PRD.” It added: “For the reasons, the Commission decides that the data concerning the applicant are not compliant with Interpol’s rules applicable to the proceeding of personal data and that they shall be deleted from Interpol’s files.”

It noted: “However, the applicant’s personal and specific role in the offence forming the base of the Red Notice request

remains unclear even after further elements were provided by the NCB of Pakistan.”

It shows that on 22 January 2018, Hussain Nawaz initially requested access to Interpol’s files, and then subsequently made a complaint addressed to the Commission for the control of Interpol files on 11 July 2018.

His request was made admissible in accordance with Rule 20 of the operating rules of the Commission on 13 August 2018.

It informed Hussain Nawaz on 2 August 2018 that the NCB of Pakistan had requested a Red Notice and the Commission informed the Applicant on 2nd October 2018 that he is wanted through Interpol’s channels by Pakistan.

Imran Khan’s government stated in its application that Hussain Nawaz “is the subject of a Red Notice request from Pakistan for ‘accumulation of assets beyond known source of income’ on the basis of an arrest warrant issued on 10 July 2018 by the judge accountability court No 1, Islamabad”. The Pakistani government told Interpol that Hussain Nawaz didn’t appear before the accountability court and was declared a proclaimed offender by the accountability court in November 2017.

Indian fishermen sit at a railway station after they were released from a jail in Karachi, yesterday.

Pakistan releases 100 Indian fishermenANATOLIA KARACHI

Pakistan yesterday released 100 Indian fishermen languishing in jail for trespassing into its terri-torial waters as a goodwill gesture.

The fishermen released from Malir jail in the port city of Karachi were transported to Lahore and are likely to be handed over to Indian author-ities at the Wagha border

crossing today, local broadcaster Dunya News reported, quoting unnamed Foreign Ministry offi-cials. Islamabad on Thursday announced it was going to release 355 Indian fishermen and five other prisoners lan-guishing in its jails in four phases.

The move hailed by peace activists comes amid ongoing diplomatic tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

The two countries often arrest fishermen for violating each other’s sea waters due to poorly marked water boundaries and ill-equipped boats that lack the technology to specify exact locations.

Long-standing strained rela-tions between the two neigh-bours keep prisoners in jail for long periods, and in some cases, even after their sentences have been served.

Afghanistan to ‘exchange views’ with TalibanAGENCIES KABUL

Afghanistan is sending a dele-gation to “exchange views” with the Taliban in Qatar, an official said yesterday, in an ongoing push to find a way out of the country’s 17-year-old war.

Fresh talks are expected to take place in Doha later this month, where Taliban members are due to meet with Afghan o f f i c i a l s a n d o t h e r stakeholders.

“For now, an inclusive del-egation will go on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and exchange views with the Taliban,” said Mohammad Omar Daudzai, President Ashraf Ghani’s envoy for peace.

Daudzai stressed that the delegation will only serve to swap views with the Taliban, and its members would not nec-essarily be the same as a formal negotiating team.

Afghan officials will meet on Wednesday to finalise delegates, and to decide who will comprise the official negotiating team.

US and Taliban officials have held several rounds of talks but the militant group has so far refused to talk directly to the Afghan government, which they consider an illegitimate regime.

Discussions also took place between the Taliban and Afghani opposition groups in Moscow in February.

The Taliban had no imme-diate reaction to Daudzai’s announcement, which comes

after US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad spent last week in Afghanistan as part of an ongoing push for a peace deal.

Khalilzad has repeatedly called on Ghani to form a strong negotiating team to reach a deal before the country’s delayed presidential elections, now slated for September.

Meanwhile, the Afghan gov-ernment yesterday summoned a Pakistani diplomat to explain Prime Minister Imran Khan’s latest remarks on ongoing Afghan peace talks.

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the diplomat to object about remarks that it deemed “explicit interference” in Afghan affairs, the Ministry’s spokesman, Sib-ghatullah Ahmadi, said on Twitter.

This marks the fourth time in about a month and a half that Kabul has demanded an expla-nation from Islamabad for com-ments related to Afghan peace talks. Last month, Afghanistan recalled its ambassador from Islamabad after PM Imran was quoted in the local media as sug-gesting formation of an interim Afghan government that would smooth peace talks between the US and Taliban officials since the Taliban refused to speak to the current government.

The premier was quoted as saying to Pakistani journalists that the Afghan Taliban wanted to meet him but the government in Kabul protested so he did not meet them.

North Korean spectators cheer during the annual ‘Mangyongdae Prize International Marathon’, at Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang, yesterday.

Tourist numbers double at N Korea marathonAFP PYONGYANG

Twice as many foreigners as of last year gathered in Pyongyang yesterday for the city’s annual marathon, tour firms said, as reduced tensions see visitor numbers rise in isolated North Korea.

The event - part of the cele-brations for the anniversary of founder Kim Il Sung’s birth in 1912 - is the highlight of the North’s tourism calendar and offers the chance to run or jog through the streets of the tightly controlled city.

Around 950 Westerners

entered the event, according to market leader Koryo Tours, compared to some 450 last year when numbers slumped.

That brought participation almost back to the levels of 2017, before tensions soared as the North carried out a series of missile launches and leader Kim Jong Un traded threats and per-sonal insults with US President Donald Trump.

The same year, Washington also banned its citizens from vis-iting the North following the death of Otto Warmbier, a US student jailed for trying to steal a propaganda poster who died in a mysterious coma days after

his release. Several other coun-tries subsequently raised their travel warnings, a combination of events that dealt a significant blow to the North’s tourism industry. The US ban remains in place but more Western tourists signed up for the marathon this time, tour operators said, fol-lowing a year of high-level diplomacy between Trump and Kim. The vast majority of tourists to the North are Chinese and some 5,000 Westerners a year used to visit the North - with about 20 percent of those from the US - seeking unique adven-tures in one of the most closed countries in the world.

Australia likely to hold election on May 18AP CANBERRA

May 18 appears the most likely date for Australia’s next election at which the conservative government faces an uphill battle to win a third three-year term.

Government sources have told media that Prime Minister Scott Morrison will not call an election on Sunday, which had been widely anticipated.

Sunday was the most likely choice if Morrison were to opt for the first of three dates available to him - May 11, May 18 and May 25. While many com-mentators had previously thought May 11 the most likely election date, May 18 would give

the ruling coalition another week to use government money to advertise its policies and achievements.

Once an election is called, the coalition becomes a care-taker government and would need the approval of the centre-left Labour Party opposition if taxpayers were to continue funding what are described as government public information campaigns.

Morrison yesterday defended his government’s spending and accused Labour of using gov-ernment coffers to pay for its own advertising while it was a caretaker administration ahead of its defeat in the 2013 election.

He gave no clue yesterday to

the election date.“The election will be called

in April and the election will be held in May,” Morrison told reporters in his hometown Sydney.

“We’re not doing this with any haste and we’re not doing it with any delay,” he added.

The government has been trailing Labour in opinion polls for most of the last three years since it scraped back into power with a single-seat majority at an election that cost it 14 seats. The ruling coalition has since lost another two seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives and now has only 74 lawmakers in the chamber where parties form government. Labour has 69

lawmakers and the remainder are minor parties or independent legislators.

Prime Ministers traditionally call elections on a Sunday. The campaigns last at least 33 days and officially start a few days after the date is announced.

Monday is the last day that Morrison can call a May 11 election. But doing that would mean senators who had flown to the Australian capital Can-berra for committee hearings starting Monday would be sent home that day.

The Australian Electoral Commission website says May 18 is the last possible date for the election because counting votes can take six weeks and must be

finalised by June 30. The gov-ernment would have to invest in more commission resources to cope with a tighter deadline created by a May 25 election.

But Morrison said yesterday that May 25 remained an option.

Prime Ministers usually keep their choices of election dates a tightly guarded secret in an effort to put the opposition at a tactical disadvantage.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten told reporters Morrison was delaying the election because “this government wants to spend tens of millions of dollars on TV advertising to pump up their own tires”.

The Pakistani government told Interpol that Hussain Nawaz did not appear before the accountability court and was, thus, declared a proclaimed offender in November 2017.

Ten millionth Azerbaijani citizen bornTHE PENINSULA DOHA

On April 6, 2019, ten millionth citizen of Azerbaijan was born to a family of internally displaced people in the village of Bash Guneytapa in Aghdam district.

The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva congratulated the people of Azerbaijan and the parents of the child on this occasion, the Azerbaijani Embassy said.

Pakistan, IMF to hold crucial talks this weekINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

Pakistan is likely to hold crucial discussions on an IMF bailout package this week when Finance Minister Asad Umar arrives in Washington to attend the spring meetings of the World Bank group, which includes the International Monetary Fund.

Umar said at a news briefing in Islamabad on Friday that he hoped his discussions in Washington would be fruitful and Pakistan would be able to sign the bailout package by the end of this month.

He is expected in Wash-ington on Tuesday, a day after the spring meetings (April 8-14) formally begin. An IMF mission will visit Islamabad later this month to formally conclude the package.

In October, Pakistan for-mally requested the IMF for an economic assistance package and backed it up with a series of meetings with senior IMF officials. Pakistan’s persistent economic woes, mammoth def-icits, shrinking foreign currency reserves, low exports, dimin-ishing tax revenues, a weak currency, external debt pay-ments, and soaring sovereign debt have forced the country to seek its umpteenth IMF bailout package in three decades.

So far, measures to ease the impact of this economic crisis have failed to achieve the required result of not seeking an IMF bailout package.

May conceded that concluding a Brexit deal with the main opposition will need “compromise on both sides”.

13MONDAY 8 APRIL 2019 EUROPE

Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip leave a church, as Brexit turmoil continues, near High Wycombe, yesterday.

UK holds out hope for Brexit compromiseAP / AFP LONDON

Cross-party talks to jumpstart plans for Brexit are expected to resume before the UK’s Friday deadline for leaving the European Union, and the oppo-sition Labour Party is hopeful the country’s political impasse can be resolved, a party negotiator said yesterday.

British Prime Minister Theresa May reluctantly reached out to Labour lawmakers on Tuesday after Parliament voted down her divorce deal with the EU for the third time. The move infuriated pro-Brexit lawmakers in her Conservative Party, and three days of bargaining with the opposition didn’t yield a com-promise agreement.

While Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn faulted the government, saying it showed no willingness to budge from its previous Brexit positions, Labour business min-ister Rebecca Long-Bailey held out hope and said further talks are expected.

The discussions’ “overall mood is quite a positive and hopeful one” despite the govern-ment’s “disappointing” failure to

shift its stance on several issues, she said.

“The sad thing is at the moment, we haven’t seen overall any real changes to the deal, but we are hopeful that will change in coming days, and we are willing to continue the talks as we know the government are,” Long-Bailey told the BBC.

May conceded yesterday that concluding a Brexit deal with the main opposition will need “com-promise on both sides”. “We need to get a deal over the line and that’s why we’ve been looking for new ways to find an agreement in parliament — and that means cross-party talks,” May said in a video recorded at her country retreat Chequers.

“There’s a lot of things on which I disagree with the Labour Party on policy issues but on Brexit I think there are some things we agree on... so we’re talking.” On

the prospects of reaching a deal, the prime minister added: “It’ll mean compromise on both sides.”

May acknowledged that the government had failed to get the withdrawal deal she struck with the EU through Parliament despite her best efforts and “there is no sign it can be passed in the near future”.

That left her with no choice but to reach out to the opposition, the prime minister said. May warned that any Brexit could “slip through our fingers” unless a cross-party compromise was found.

Labour’s key demand is for a customs union with the EU post-Brexit to protect the flow of goods. Hard-line Brexiteers oppose any proposal that would continue to bind the U.K. to EU tariff rules and restrict Britain’s ability to strike its own free trade deals around the world.

Long-Bailey insisted that Labour wants to avoid a no-deal Brexit “in any situation” and was prepared to cancel Brexit rather than see Britain crash out of the EU with no agreement in place, an outcome expected to wreak havoc on businesses and disrupt travel throughout Europe.

EU on fake news alert as continent prepares to voteAFP BRUSSELS

Will Russian trolls, American social media giants and oppor-tunistic fake news merchants combine to poison Europe’s political landscape ahead of May’s continent-wide election? Brussels fears that online disin-formation will fuel the populist wave officials believe skewed the Brexit referendum and carried Donald Trump all the way to the White House.

“There are external anti-European forces, which are seeking — openly or secretly — to influence the democratic choices of Europeans,” EU leader Donald Tusk warned recently.

This was, he claimed, also

“the case with Brexit and a number of election campaigns across Europe.” Between May 23 and 26, European voters will go to the polls to choose around 700 MEPs to sit in the Strasbourg EU parliament and oversee con-tinent-wide legislation.

In the final weeks of the campaign, officials are on alert fearing that opponents — including Moscow — will attempt to spread fake news, amplified by viral social media.

This could in turn boost support for various populist insurgent parties, deepen existing divisions in the elec-torate and undermine faith in democracy or EU institutions.

Some go as far as to call the phenomenon a state-led attack.

“There is strong evidence pointing to Russia as a primary source of disinformation in Europe,” said EU Commission vice-president and former Estonian premier Andrus Ansip.

“Disinformation is part of Russia’s military doctrine and its strategy to divide and weaken the West,” he warned, in December. Public trust in national and EU institutions and in the so-called mainstream media is already low, and web-users seeking cash from adver-tising clicks have found a market for fake news.

Add to this state-led covert propaganda and the viral effect of US-based media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Google’s YouTube and you have a recipe

for disruption. Mariya Gabriel, EU commissioner for the digital economy, brands this a an “invisible scourge” that “intrudes into the lives of our citizens and influences our opinions and decision-making”.

In response to the perceived threat, the EU Commission has drawn up guidelines for member states, calling on them to support quality journalism or to work with independent fact-checkers.

In March, it also set up an “early warning system”, so cap-itals can share information on “coordinated attempts by foreign actors to manipulate” the dem-ocratic debate in real time.

The European External Action Service (EEAS), the Com-mission’s foreign affairs arm, has

a team of around 15, to detect and analyse misinformation campaigns targeting the EU.

Their website, “EU vs disin-formation” (https://euvsdisinfo.eu/), claims credit for refuting more than 5,000 items of fake news, mainly related to Russia.

But the unit’s resources remain modest.

And, as Paul Butcher of think tank European Policy Center observes, involving state intelli-gence services or ministries like the EEAS in the campaign can be counterproductive.

This fuels suspicions of cen-sorship and plays “into narra-tives of censorship and a culture war between ‘the establishment’ and ‘the people’,” he said, in a recent report.

UK nerve agent victim ‘meets’ Russia’s envoy in LondonAFP LONDON

A British man poisoned along with his partner with a nerve agent, amid an assassination attempt on a Russian ex-spy in England blamed on Moscow, met its top UK envoy on Sat-urday, according to reports.

Charlie Rowley, 45, whose partner Dawn Sturgess died after exposure to the toxin, held a 90-minute meeting with Ambas-sador Alexander Yakovenko at Russia’s embassy in London, Britain’s Sunday Mirror said. “I went along to ask them ‘why did your country kill my girlfriend?’” he told the newspaper.

“But I didn’t really get any answers. I just got Russian propaganda,” Rowley added, saying Yakovenko’s explana-tions of Russian innocence in the plot were “ridiculous”.

Rowley and Sturgess, a 44-year-old mother of three children, who lived near the southwestern English city of Salisbury, fell ill on June 30 last year. Authorities determined they had been exposed to Nov-ichok, a military-grade nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union during the latter days of the Cold War.

The poison was contained in a perfume bottle that Rowley had found in Salisbury and given to Sturgess. She died eight days later but after two weeks in an induced coma, he was dis-charged from hospital.

It followed former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia being left in critical condition after they were targeted with Novichok in Salisbury three months earlier. The pair survived and have made full recoveries, according to British authorities.

“The ambassador kept saying the substance definitely wasn’t the novichok they had made because if it was it would have killed everyone,” Rowley told the Mirror. A Russian TV station also reported Saturday’s meeting, saying Rowley was eager for answers that Britain had failed to provide.

People take part in a silent walk to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, in Paris yesterday.

French President proposes April 7 to be memorial day of Rwanda genocideAFP PARIS

French President Emmanuel Macron proposed an annual day of commemoration for the Rwandan genocide as the African nation marked 25 years since the massacres of the minority Tutsi community.

Macron expressed his “soli-darity with the Rwandan people and his compassion for the victims and their families” in a statement that proposed April 7 as an annual remembrance day in France.

Macron drew criticism from some activists for failing to attend the start of commemoration

events in Rwanda yesterday, instead sending a personal envoy, a Rwandan-born MP Herve Ber-ville who was orphaned in the 1993 violence.

A Rwandan victims’ group, Ibuka France, hailed Macron’s announcement of a national Rwanda genocide day and said it had suggested the idea during a meeting with the 41-year-old leader last week.

“My reaction is one of satis-faction,” the head of the group, Marcel Kabanda, said before adding that he hoped France would now introspect more about its role in the massacres. “It’s not the French population

fundamentally, but the political elite that needs to talk about it more. It will take time but it’s a new phase,” he said.

The genocide has cast a long shadow over Franco-Rwandan relations. Rwanda’s current President Paul Kagame, a Tutsi, accuses France of having sup-ported the ethnic Hutu forces behind most of the slaughter and of helping some of the perpe-trators to escape. On Friday, Macron announced the creation of a commission of historians and researchers that will delve into the French state’s archives in a move intended to set the historical record straight.

Austria extends border checks for Hungary and SloveniaREUTERS ZURICH

Austria will extend its border controls for fellow EU members Hungary and Slovenia until at least November, Austrian news agency APA said yesterday.

In the letter to the EU Com-mission, Austrian Interior Min-ister Herbert Kickl cited a per-sistently high number of illegal migrants and a “latent threat of terrorism” related to the prospect of fighters returning from former Islamic State strongholds in Syria and Iraq, APA reported.

Kickl, of the far-right Freedom Party, said he expected an increase in the number of migrants apprehended along the so-called Balkan route into the European Union, APA reported. The controls had been due to expire on May 11.

Austria, Germany and other countries in Europe’s normally control-free Schengen zone introduced what were meant to be emergency border checks in 2015 after more than 1 million refugees and migrants entered Europe.

While the EU Commission has called for solutions to remedy weaknesses at the zone’s external borders and restore freedom of travel, six countries within the zone, including France and Sweden as well as Austria and Germany, have continued extending con-trols citing security and immi-gration threats.

An undated photo released by Kensington Palace shows Britain’s Prince William participating in a three-week attachment with the country’s security and intelligence agencies.

Prince William delves into UK’s secretive spy worldAFP LONDON

The name’s Windsor. William Windsor. As one of the most rec-ognisable public figures in the world, Britain’s Prince William would not make as effective a 007 as legendary fictional spy James Bond.

But that did not stop the heir to the British throne spending the last three weeks working with the security services, including in Bond’s own foreign intelligence unit MI6.

The Duke of Cambridge ended the top-secret attachment — which also included a week with domestic intelligence service MI5 and cybersecurity agency GCHQ — on Saturday, according to Kensington Palace.

“Spending time inside our security and intelligence agencies, understanding more about the vital contribution they make to our national security,

was a truly humbling expe-rience,” William said.

“These agencies are full of people from everyday back-grounds doing the most extraor-dinary work to keep us safe.” The prince, who has a military back-ground, began the secondment at the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) — better known as MI6 — whose spies work around the world gathering information and furthering British interests.

William, 36, “got to see first-hand how SIS helps the UK identify and exploit opportu-nities as well as navigate risks to its national security, military effectiveness and economy,” Kensington Palace said.

The prince is no stranger to the world of security. After grad-uating in 2005 from university in St Andrews in Scotland, he spent seven and a half years in the military, before completing active service as a search and rescue helicopter pilot.

14 MONDAY 8 APRIL 2019AMERICAS

Democrats will ‘never’ see Trump tax returnsAP WASHINGTON

Democrats will “never” see Pres-ident Donald Trump’s tax returns, said White House Chief of Staff, Mick Mulvaney, yesterday, as a new front opened in the confrontation between the administration and Congress.

Mulvaeny accused Demo-crats of engaging in a “political stunt” and wanting “attention” after the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Representative Richard Neal, asked the IRS to provide six years of Trump’s personal tax returns and the returns for some of his businesses.

“That is not going to happen and they know it,” Mulvaney said in an interview with “Fox News Sunday”.

Last week, Massachusetts Democrat Neal, one of only three congress ional of f ic ia ls authorised to request tax returns,

requested Trump’s personal and business returns in a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig. He asked for returns covering 2013 through 2018. He also asked for the documents in seven days, setting an April 10 deadline.

Mulvaney said the law pro-vides narrow exceptions for law-makers to review individual tax returns but “political hit job is not one of those reasons”.

Trump broke with precedent when he chose not to release any tax returns as a presidential can-didate. Mulvaney tried to cast the issue of the president’s taxes as old news, saying it was “already litigated during the election” and

the American people “elected him anyway”.

Trump has said he won’t release the information because he is under audit, something he reiterated again on Friday while visiting the US-Mexico border.

“I’m under audit. When you’re under audit you don’t do it,” Trump said.

IRS officials have said tax-payers under audit are free to release their returns. Trump claimed at a news conference following his election in November 2018 that the filings are too complex for people to understand.

On Friday, an attorney rep-resenting President Donald Trump said a congressional request for Trump’s tax returns “would set a dangerous prec-edent” if granted and that the IRS cannot legally divulge the information.

William Consovoy, whose firm was retained by Trump to

represent him on the matter, said in a letter on Friday to the Department of Treasury’s general counsel that the tax code zealously guards taxpayer’s privacy. He said requests for tax returns “must have a legitimate

legislative purpose”. Neal said the IRS has a policy

of auditing the tax returns of all sitting Presidents and Vice-Pres-idents, “yet little is known about the effectiveness of this program.

“On behalf of the American

people, the Ways and Means Committee must determine if that policy is being followed, and if so, whether these audits are conducted fully and appropri-ately,” Neal said when unveiling his request for Trump’s returns.

US President Donald Trump speaks during the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership meeting in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Venezuelans protest as Guaido declares ‘definitive’ escalationAFP CARACAS

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido has launched what he promised will be a “definitive” escalation of pressure to force the country’s embattled leftist leader from office.

Addressing a giant anti-gov-ernment rally in Caracas, Guaido - whose claim to be Interim President is supported by around 50 nations - kicked off what he called “Operation Liberty,” his plan to oust President Nicolas Maduro.

“Everyone to the streets, let’s start the final phase of the end of the usurpation!” he told sup-porters on Saturday, speaking

from the back of a pickup truck.He called for a huge

nationwide turnout on Wednesday, and urged his fol-lowers to redouble their efforts to maintain pressure in the streets.

“The greatest escalation of pressure we have seen in our history” has begun, Guaido said.

The call comes amid massive blackouts and the collapse of water supplies affecting the nation, further exacerbating a growing political crisis.

The United States meanwhile has stiffened its economic sanc-tions against Maduro, and one top US official warned Vene-zuela’s military that it must protect the rights of peaceful

protesters.At the rally, Guaido also

warned Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel that the supply of subsidised Venezuelan oil to the Caribbean communist island nation was over.

Venezuela has been sending cheap oil to Cuba in exchange for labour from Cuban doctors and teachers, but Guaido said the oil was actually financing a Cuban intelligence group known as G2 that was cracking down on Maduro opponents in the Vene-zuelan military.

“The exploitation of Vene-zuelan oil is over, so Mr Diaz-Canel... Venezuelan oil will not be used to submit and investigate our military officials” through the

G2, he told the crowd.Pro-Guaido protests drew

thousands in rallies across the country on Saturday.

A pro-Maduro counter-dem-onstration in Caracas, with sup-porters dressed in red, drew a large crowd that gathered at the Miraflores presidential palace.

“Together, permanently mobilised, let’s keep defending national peace and inde-pendence; no more inter-ference!” Maduro tweeted.

Later, he called upon Mexico and Uruguay to relaunch their proposal for dialogue to resolve the crisis without foreign inter-vention. The two countries had first introduced that idea in January.

Two opposition deputies were detained at an anti-gov-ernment demo in the western city of Maracaibo, but a few hours later Guaido announced that the two had been released.

Elimar Diaz, a lawmaker who marched in Maracaibo, said the protest there had encoun-tered “brutal repression”, including tear gas canisters dropped from helicopters, the use of National Guard armoured vehicles and attacks by members of the pro-government militia, known as “colectivos”.

Diaz said people in Maracaibo had gone “days without electricity” amid “inhumane rationing” by the government.

Brazil’s former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s supporters gather outside the jail, where he is serving a prison sentence, to demand Lula’s freedom, in Curitiba, yesterday.

Protest in Brazil on Lula’s prison anniversaryAP RIO DE JANEIRO

Thousands of supporters are protesting outside the jail where former Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva is being held on the anniversary of his incar-ceration.

Some are waving cutouts of

the former leader’s face and chanting, “Free Lula!” But many other Brazilians have chosen the day to celebrate the country’s crackdown on corruption, with demonstrations across the country. Da Silva is serving a 12-year sentence for corruption and money laundering. He and his Worker’s Party maintain he

is innocent and say he was per-secuted by the judiciary and political enemies in order to prevent him from running for president again.

He is the most prominent figure jailed in an anti-cor-ruption drive that has snared dozens of prominent politicians and business figures.

US Attorney-General pressed for evidence clearing TrumpAFP WASHINGTON

Two weeks after he exonerated President Donald Trump in the Russia meddling investigation, Attorney General Bill Barr faces mounting pressure to show the full evidence behind his decision.

Allegations this week that the US Justice chief downplayed serious evidence of illegal obstruction by Trump in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s final

report are fuelling demands that he release the entire, unexpur-gated document to Congress.

News reports, citing unnamed members of Mueller’s staff, said Barr ignored the summaries Mueller’s team prepared for public release, and instead issued his own on March 24, in which he peremptorily cleared the Pres-ident of any wrongdoing.

Barr now says he will not release key evidence given to Mueller’s grand jury, a special

panel used by prosecutors in politically-sensitive cases. Dem-ocrats suspect the evidence could be damning to the President - setting up a legal and political showdown.

The Democrat-led House Judiciary Committee this week prepared to subpoena the full report, a move Barr and the White House will almost certainly contest.

On Thursday Jerry Nadler, the Committee Chairman, demanded

Barr turn over all communica-tions between his office and Mueller’s, following the reports Mueller’s staff were unhappy with the way Barr presented their conclusions.

Barr’s distillation “appears to minimise the implications of the report as to the President,” said Nadler. “Releasing the summaries - without delay - would begin to allow the American people to judge the facts for themselves,” Nadler wrote.

Bolsonaro struggles in first 100 days as Brazilian leaderAFP RIO DE JANEIRO

Since taking power on a pledge to trash corrupt “old politics,” Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s first months have been marred by chaos and blunders that have eroded support for the far-right leader and put the brakes on his reforms.

The brash ex-army captain - nicknamed the “Trump of the tropics” for his admiration of the US President - is struggling to make good on his key election promises to kick-start Latin America’s biggest economy and stamp out corruption.

As Bolsonaro prepares to mark the symbolic milestone of 100 days in office on Wednesday, analysts say the euphoria of his October victory that ended decades of centre-left rule is evaporating.

“It wouldn’t be an under-statement to say that the Presi-dent’s performance to date has been disappointing,” said Thomaz Favaro of the political risk consultancy Control Risks.

“There was a misperception that he was coming in with a very strong support base and I think we’re now beginning to see that maybe that support

wasn’t strong.”Bolsonaro’s message of

toughness and an end to business-as-usual politics res-onated with voters fed up with violence and industrial-scale graft.

But Bolsonaro, who was better known for making insults rather than policy during his decades as a congressman, is finding that his uncompromising style and penchant for Twitter are not working in Congress where he lacks a ruling-party majority to push through legislation.

His signature policy to overhaul Brazil’s unsustainable pension system, which he has warned would bankrupt the country if changes are not adopted, has stalled following a spat with key political allies and raised doubts about his ability to do the job.

“Over the last few weeks we’ve really seen the side people feared about Bolsonaro,” said William Jackson, an economist at London-based Capital Eco-nomics. “His lack of governing experience, showing up in dete-riorating relations with Con-gress, and his struggles to keep his coalition together seem to have led to a paralysis in policymaking.”

Prosecutor defends dropping charges against Jussie SmollettAP CHICAGO

The Chicago prosecutor whose office dismissed charges against Jussie Smollett defended the decision on Saturday, saying the “Empire” actor was treated no differently than thousands of other defendants whose charges were similarly dropped since she took office.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx made the comments during a defiant and emotional address at the Rev Jesse Jackson Sr’s Rainbow Push Coalition. Foxx openly wondered if her race had something to do with the harsh criticism she’s faced since her office announced that charges against Smollett had been dropped. The actor was accused of staging what he claimed to be a racist and homophobic attack in January.

She said that under the law, Jussie Smollett could be fined a maximum of $10,000 and that the actor did pay that amount because his $10,000 bond was forfeited.

Cuban newsprint shortage alarm for economyAFP HAVANA

The newsprint shortages which forced Cuba’s Communist daily to run a trimmed-down edition on Friday would pass off as a simple supply glitch in most other countries, but in Havana they carry chilling memories of the not-so-distant past.

The last time the gov-ernment cut back on news-papers because of a lack of newsprint was in the early 1990s, when Fidel Castro ushered in a “Special Period” of drastic belt-tightening in the wake of the collapse of his main sponsor, the Soviet Union.

Today, the Caribbean state is facing difficulties once again, with US President Donald Trump - who has lashed out at Cuba for its support of Vene-zuela’s socialist regime - deter-mined to tighten Washington’s six-decade trade embargo.

Meager growth of 1.2 percent is not enough to cover the needs of an island nation that imports 80 percent of what it eats.

Amid shortages, the gov-ernment is being forced to ration basics like flour, cooking oil and chicken, leading to long lines outside stores.

The cuts, announced on Thursday, saw Friday’s edition of the mouthpiece Granma daily slashed from 16 pages to a pamphlet-thin eight.

The measure will mean drastically shortened editions twice a week and also affect other publications.

So far, the crisis has spared the sacrosanct “libreta” - the ration book which entitles Cubans to buy basics like rice, beans and bread at subsidised prices, though in insufficient quantities to last a month.

Trump broke with precedent when he chose not to release any tax returns as a presidential candidate.

15MONDAY 8 APRIL 2019 HOME

Dedicated Swiss professionals contribute to make Qatar thriveFAZEENA SALEEM THE PENINSULA

They come from a sports-loving and multilingual country - the land of Alps and their national

languages are German, French, Italian and Rumansh, each one spoken in its distinctive area.

There are currently 272 Swiss nationals residing here and made Qatar their second home. As highly dedicated pro-fessionals they contribute to make Qatar thrive in the hospi-tality, air-transportation, edu-cation, culture, infrastructure and other industries.

Several Swiss nationals residing in Qatar, together with diplomats and invitees recently gathered at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Doha for an early cele-bration of Swiss National Day, marking the country’s 728th birthday.

“The city of Doha is barely recognizable after all those years when an iconic pyramid building (Sheraton Doha) was a stan-dalone feature on West Bay, inaugurated in 1982. Infra-structure development and con-struction have unfolded at a breathtaking pace as the country is getting ready for 2022,” said Edgar Dörig, Ambassador of Switzerland to Qatar while addressing the reception.

“I am the third resident ambassador to your country and very happy to be here with my

family and to work with you to develop new joint projects,” he said.

The relations between

Switzerland and Qatar are unique and special, as they go back to 1973, only two years after Qatar’s independence. Huge changes have taken place in the social and cultural fields. The cultural scene of Qatar has proven to be a fertile ground for some of today’s best architects and artists.

“It is in this context that our two countries have cooperated in numerous cultural events. This year’s sixth European Jazz music festival, which is a largely Swiss-driven initiative will once again see our participation, a

Traditional Swiss songs being played by musicians who had travelled from central Switzerland.

Michael Buhler

Traditional Swiss cheese being

made as part of the celebrations.

Dr Andreas Peter Briner with his children

SWITZERLAND

further enrichment to the more and more vibrant Qatar music scene,” said Dörig.

“We have already confirmed our participation at this year’s European Film Festival, a largely Austria and therefore EU-driven initiative, which is set to showcase award-winning productions, mainly from our extremely diverse continent,” he added.

The Swiss National Day cel-ebration showcased many cul-tural and social aspects of the country. A beautiful ‘Ikebana’ flower arrangement made by the Swiss Ambassador’s spouse, Junko Dörig, was on display. The attractive arrangement was made of red and white orchids.

Traditional Swiss cheese was made as part of the celebration. ‘Raclette’, a native cheese from the mountainous Alpine region of Valais in Switzerland. Today ‘raclette’ is made in various regions and countries of the world. Traditional Swiss songs were also played by musicians

who had traveled from central Switzerland.

Swiss nationals residing here for short and long term and working in different sectors attended the National Day

celebrations. “We are in Doha for the past two years. Things are improving here every day and we like the multicultural society,” said Dr Andreas Peter Briner, who is working in the energy

sector and living here with his two chi ldren and spouse.

Michael Buhler, who is the only Swiss banker working for Credit Suisse in Doha said, “I came here in January this year. I find everything very fine here; the country is booming and I am looking forward in sharing my expertise.”

Within his short stay here, Michael has already taken part in mar-athons and bicycle races during his leisure time.

The relations between Switzerland and Qatar are unique and special, as they go

back to 1973, only two years after Qatar’s independence. The cultural scene of Qatar

has proven to be a fertile ground for some of today’s best architects and artists.

Swiss watches popular in QatarFAZEENA SALEEM THE PENINSULA

Switzerland is responsible for half of the world pro-duction of watches. The

Swiss watch industry is present on the five continents.

Last year the first markets of Switzerland were Hong Kong, USA, China, Japan, and Qatar was at the 18th place. All major brands of Swiss watches in all price categories are available in Qatar through a network of authorized dealers.

“Switzerland and Qatar are enjoying long-standing and friendly relations. Like Qatar, Switzerland is a small country in terms of area and popu-lation. And like Qatar again, in terms of trading, Switzerland is among the medium-sized economies and important exporter in the world. Swiss products and specially Swiss watches are renowned worldwide for high quality, innovation and precision,” said Jean-Daniel Pasche, President of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH in a message sent during the Swit-

zerland National Day celebra-tions held recently.

Watchmaking has a long tradition in Switzerland. This industry first appeared in Geneva in the middle of the 16th century. Today, the cre-ation of watches represents a key sector of the Swiss economy and largely con-tributes to the country’s exports. Watches are Switzer-land’s main export item after machinery, pharmaceuticals and chemicals. The watch industry was employing more than 55,000 persons in 2018.

“A side effect of the worldwide success and prestige of Swiss watches is the unwanted phenomenon of counterfeiting. The protection of the label Swiss made is a constant effort of the Swiss Government and the Feder-ation of the Swiss Watch Industry. The fight against counterfeiting is one of the major activity of the Feder-ation. Its actions in this field have allowed to seize about 1.9 million false watches across the world in 2017 with the help of the countries concerned,” said

Pasche“The ultimate objective is

to increase public awareness to the problem and to encourage consumers to pur-chase original products which provide genuine technology and quality standards in accordance with the desig-nation Swiss made,” Pasche added.

A selection of luxury Swiss watches and jewellery were on showcase during the National Day celebrations in Doha.

“The watch which is a product often given as a gift can be a jewel of high value as well as a fashion accessory. The watch industry is made up of many companies detaining a multitude of brands active in all categories of prices, tech-nologies and designs. Its excep-tional dynamism and creative power makes it a leader in the world as well as in the mechanical technology which requires production and assembling of more than 300 components per watch as in the quartz technology known for its extreme precision,” said Pasche.

Edgar Dörig, Ambassador of Switzerland to Qatar

Swiss National Day was celebrated recently at the Grand Hyatt Hotel recently. PICS: BAHER AMIN / THE PENINSULA

SwissBCQ working to supportcompanies and professionalsSACHIN KUMAR THE PENINSULA

Swiss Business Council Qatar (SwissBCQ) is working to support Swiss companies and

Swiss professionals in Qatar with a platform and a network of mutual interest among each other. The council provides opportunities of inter-membership business.

“Our events are mostly concen-trated to help our members to get the first hand information about the new achievements and developments in Qatari market as well as awarding the members for their great work to help a perfect bilateral relation between the two countries,” Dr. Fariborz Samadian, President of the Swiss Business Council, told The Peninsula.

Founded in 2015, the council provides cultural and social interactions between the two countries. It also provides the opportunity to promote a member-company based in Qatar or Switzerland and assists members with any issues relating to establishing or operating business in Qatar through sharing experiences, knowledge and network.

It works with individuals and organizations in Qatar or matter of mutual interests and organises meetings, seminars, business and social events.

Qatar and Switzerland can further increase cooperation in the field of Small and Medium Enter-prises (SMEs). Both countries can also work together

field of investment in startup companies“The trade can be expanded specially in Small

and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector where Swit-zerland is very powerful as well as in the educa-tional sector,” he said. “Investment in Startup com-panies is another great sector where we can work together,” he added.

He said that Qatar has made great progress in developing infrastructure. “In the past 10 years that I am travelling and living in Qatar, the country has improved a lot in education changing from carbon economy to investing in human potential which makes the life greater to live in Qatar. Qatar has developed also very nicely specially in infra-structure sector, but pedestrian bridges in many locations are still missing,” he added.

‘Ikebana’ flower arrangement

16 MONDAY 8 APRIL 2019MORNING BREAK

FAJRSHOROOK

04. 01 AM05. 19 AM

11. 36 AM03. 05 PM

05. 55 PM07. 25 PM

ZUHRASR

MAGHRIBISHA

PRAYER TIMINGS

WEATHER TODAY

Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department

Minimum Maximum24oC 32oC

HIGH TIDE 05:29 –18:52 LOW TIDE 01:15 – 13:26

Cloudy with chance of light rain at first at some

places becomes partly cloudy later and slight

dust at times.

Diverse artworks on show at Art 29

RAYNALD C RIVERA THE PENINSULA

How science and technology impacts human life is explored by 25 Doha-based artists from diverse back-grounds. Their artworks are on display at an exhibition which opened on Saturday at W Doha Hotel & Resi-dences’ Art 29 gallery.

The exuberance of the country’s growing art land-scape is very much evident in the collection which is varied ranging from painting to installation to mixed media and which captivated guests and art enthusiasts who attended the opening night.

“The energy of these young men and women expressed through their art shows their passion to com-municate with people through their artistic pieces is truly inspiring. Their ideas represent the next gener-ation of talent in the region and I hope everyone will take the time to walk through this journey with us,” said Wassim Daaje, General Manager of W Doha, while underlining the support W Doha and ART29 provides to aspiring artists to showcase their work to the local community by giving them creative space.

The rustic feel of the art space complemented the unique artworks on display which were a product of the creative minds of members of International Artists of Doha (IAD) hailing from different cultural back-grounds and professions.

The artists whose works are included in the exhi-bition are Archana Bardwaj, Reem Qaddorah, Leila Elhaj, Faisal Alhajri, Havam Medhat, Ekaterina Poel-labauer, Melina Gama de Moura, Juan Miguel Ramirez, Mariam Al Mulla, Willy Kempel, Shazia Bhanji, Lina Abdulla Yousef Alali,Surabhi Gaikwad Uzgare, Shatha Al Numan, Tamara Nouri, Rafif Termanini, Shihar Hamza, Maria Al Bader, Patricia Kohle Dabat, Evgeniya Goncharova, Sami Krimly, Mahesh Kumar and Nir-malla Shanmugapandian.

Established in 2011, IAD is a non-profit organization which provides the opportunity for local and interna-tional artists based in Doha to showcase and expand on their creative narrative. Once a year, IAD show-cases its members’ artworks to the public by organ-izing exhibitions accompanied by workshops and live paintings giving the community a chance to enjoy the work of talented artists passionate about the work they do.

A visitor enjoys an artwork at the science and technology exhibition in W Doha Hotel & Residences’ Art 29 on Saturday.

Young nationals explore career paths at QA

SACHIN KUMAR THE PENINSULA

Qatar Airways’ Al Darb programme, a Qatarisation initiative by the airline, held its recruitment event for nationals at Al Hazm, Doha on April 3.

The one-day event invited young nationals to meet with Qatar Airways’ recruitment staff and learn more about the a i r l i n e ’ s A l D a r b programme.

Meaning ‘The Pathway’ in Arabic, the programme invites young nationals to explore the many different employment opportunities available at Qatar Airways Group, including the National Schol-arships programme, the Cadet Pilot programme and the Air-craft Maintenance Engi-

neering programme. Programmes are tailored

so that young Nationals can choose their own career paths and identify development opportunities, gaining expe-rience in a culturally diverse organisation. The Al Darb pro-gramme enables students and graduates to work on real projects, preparing them for a successful career at Qatar Airways Group. The diversity of the initiative allows nationals to explore different

career paths that meet their interests.

Nabeela Fakhri, Senior Vice-President Human Resources at Qatar Airways, said: “At Qatar Airways, we believe that you make the most of yourself when you work somewhere that makes the most of you. Our Al Darb programme continues to be tremendously successful in providing nationals with the opportunity to work for one of the world’s leading airlines,

choosing their own career path along the way. As the National Carrier of the State of Qatar, we are very pleased to have taken part in the ini-tiative at Al Hazm, as we seek to be the employer of choice for Nationals.”

The Al Darb Qatarisation programme, a government initiative that aligns with Qatar’s 2030 National Vision, includes a variety of modules, from integrating new joiners into the world of aviation to

developing high-calibre stu-dents into future professional airline pilots. It provides financial and academic support to nationals studying at home and overseas. Stu-dents are provided with assistance during their studies and upon completion, join Qatar Airways as Graduate Developees. Qatar Airways won two awards at the Linkedin Talent Awards 2018: ‘Best Employer Brand’ and ‘Best Recruiter.’

The officials and staff of Qatar Airways with guests and young nationals during the recruitment event organised for nationals by Qatar Airways’ Al Darb programme at Al Hazm, Doha on April 3.

Qatar Airways’ Al Darb programme, a Qatarisation initiative by the airline, invited young nationals to meet with Qatar Airways’ recruitment staff and learn more about the programme.

Art 29 is an exciting platform that presents the works of up and coming local, regional and international artists. The expansive gallery has previously featured prominent Qatari names including Ahmed bin Majed Al Maadheed, the artist behind the iconic “Tamim-al-Majid” por-trait, Abdulwahed Al Mawlawi who is known for documenting local artistic expression from the late 1990s to 2002, Lulu M – a self-taught artist recognised for her minimalist abstract compositions and Fahad Al Obaidly, who is a fashion designer, filmmaker, stylist and curator.

The exhibition is open to the public from 10am to 10pm until May 6. Visitors enjoying one of the artwork.

Dutchman ends ‘world’s longest electric car trip’ in AustraliaAFP SYDNEY

A Dutchman completed an epic 95,000km journey by electric car in Sydney yesterday in a bid to prove the viability of such vehicles in tackling climate change.

Wiebe Wakker drove his retrofitted station wagon nicknamed “The Blue Bandit” across 33 countries in what he said was the world’s longest-ever journey by electric car.

The trip from the Netherlands to Aus-tralia took just over three years and was funded by public donations from around the world, including electricity to charge the Bandit, food and a place to sleep.

Wakker drove across a variety of countries and environments including Turkey, Iran, India, Myanmar, Malaysia and Indonesia, with the route determined by the offers he received on his website.

“I wanted to change people’s opinions and inspire people to start driving electric by showing the advantages of sustainable mobility,” Wakker said.

“If one man can drive to the other side of the world in an electric car, then EVs (electric vehicles) should definitely be viable for daily use.” Wakker said before the car was modified, it would have used 6,785 litres of petrol to complete the journey. The modified vehicle can travel 200km on a single charge.

The exuberance of the country’s growing art landscape is very much evident in the collection which is varied ranging from painting to installation to mixed media and which captivated guests and art enthusiasts who attended the opening night.