ON SATURDAY

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

C E R T I F I E D N E W S P A P E R

ISO 9001:2008

PAGE 6

MERS kills one in Qatar, two in SaudiDOHA: Coronavirus MERS claimed yet another victim here yesterday — a 29-year-old Qatari under treatment at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) since August 17.

Citing a statement from the Supreme Council of Health (SCH), Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported that the deceased was in a critical condition and was admitted to the intensive care unit of HMC.

The deceased, according to the SCH, had another health complication.

Another patient infected with the virus, a 59-year-old man, had recovered, QNA said. He was infected when abroad and was admitted to HMC on August 15.

Saudi Arabia reported two deaths from MERS yesterday, with two women succumb-ing to the disease.

Egypt to dissolve Brotherhood NGO CAIRO: Egypt’s army-backed authori-ties have decided to annul the Muslim Brotherhood’s non-governmental organi-sation, an official said yesterday. The move applies to the NGO registered by the Brotherhood in March, and stems from accusations that it used its premises to store weapons and explosives. The deci-sion has yet to be formally announced, the official said. Although short of a ban, dissolving the NGO will strip the Brotherhood of a defence against chal-lenges to its legality.

See also page 8

EU court strikes down Iran nuclear sanctions LUXEMBOURG: One of the European Union’s top courts annulled yesterday an EU asset freeze imposed on seven Iranian banks and other companies for their alleged involvement in the coun-try’s nuclear programme. The European Tribunal, second only to the European Court of Justice, said the EU had failed to prove or properly consider the evidence when imposing sanctions. But it said its action would not have immediate effect and the sanctions will remain in place for two months and 10 days pending an EU appeal against its findings. During this period, the EU can adjust its case and for-mulate new sanctions, a statement added.

Eleven G20 nations urge strong response in Syria ST. PETERSBURG: Eleven G20 nations condemned the August 21 chemical weap-ons attack in Syria yesterday and called for a strong international response, according to a statement issued by the White House.

“The evidence clearly points to the Syrian government being responsible for the attack, which is part of a pattern of chemical weap-ons use by the regime,” said the statement.

It was signed by the leaders and repre-sentatives of Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey, Britain and the United States. The statement stopped short of call-ing for a military response.

See also page 4

THE PENINSULA & AGENCIES

7 September 2013

1 Dhul-qa’da 1434 - Volume 18

Number 5815 Price: QR2

But as a rapidly growing population of locals, who now have easy access to Western education, fights to grab shrinking opportunities, social ten-

sions are becoming palpable.Thankfully, though, according to sociolo-

gists in the region, the strains aren’t alarm-ing enough to put locals in direct strife with expatriates.

The issue came to the fore in the region after a Qatari columnist recently made

accusations against the Western top brass of Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) that they were abusing power.

The writing led to an intense debate in the social media in Qatar and in the region about the role of Western expatriates.

“These are just voices of resentment heard occasionally and they are mostly against Western expatriates, some of whom are per-ceived by us as having manipulated their way, mainly into state-backed institutions and organisations, and enjoying enviable pay and perks,” said a GCC community elder who didn’t want to be identified either by name or nationality due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Well, claims that many Westerners do not deserve to be in plush jobs they are in might be an exaggeration, but the fact is that resent-ment is building up in some GCC countries against them, as most of them are in good jobs in state institutions and organisations that locals feel they can fill up.

This is especially true of NGOs (in some GCC countries) that are said to have immense cash at their disposal.

Asian expatriates are viewed by locals dif-ferently. Since they are mostly in private jobs that locals abhor due to lower pay and perks, there is hardly any clash of interest.

“Moreover, Asians, particularly Indians, have been closer to our culture for centuries. They were early migrants, with inter-mar-riages with them,” said a senior local journalist requesting anonymity.

And although many Indians (read Keralites) literally came here as janitors and labourers, they became general managers and business-men — something locals feel proud of. “They worked hard. They are loyal. They have been here for decades,” said the scribe.

Westerners, on the other hand, are seen by locals as coming from an “alien culture” and with a “mercenary outlook”.

Continued on page 3

Citizens and expatriates have been living in peaceful coexistence in the GCC countries for decades since the early days of oil discovery, and if there were social strains and segregation, they were buried deep under the social crust.

THE ISSUE

BALANCESTRIKING A

De

sig

n: A

bra

ha

m A

ug

usth

y

0202 SEPTEMBER 7, 2013www.thepeninsulaqatar.comON SATURDAY Home

Bridging the citizen-expat gapBY AZMAT HAROON

DOHA: As the job market in the GCC countries continues to expand, a paradox of this region is that skills required for a majority of jobs here can-not be found among the local population.

Sections of the GCC communi-ties say their governments seem to favour Westerners against their own people by offering them influential positions in the private and government sectors.

An increasing number of young Qataris — men and women — are returning to Doha after being educated in the US and the UK and many members of the local community wondered why the government is still not keen to employ them in managerial posi-tions while also simultaneously promoting them.

A number of Western expats this newspaper spoke to lashed out at locals for their comments in social media campaigns, say-ing they even don’t know what professional qualifications mean.

One Western expatriate said he wondered why such accusa-tions were not being made against ‘Asian expatriates’, some of whom have been working in “enviable” positions here for many years.

“I hate to say this but some Arabs think Asians are less than them. They have an in-built inferiority complex against Westerners,” a British expatri-ate, who did not want his name in print, said.

The expatriate, who is a long-time resident of Doha, said he had seen the Qatari community

go through major transforma-tions over the years and rued that many from the younger genera-tion no longer had any ‘respect for anyone’.

“Back then, they had respect. Now, they don’t seem to have any respect for expatriates, especially the younger generation.”

Another expatriate from the UK, who works in the government sector, lamented recent remarks in social media campaigns criti-cising Westerners.

“Many locals don’t realise just how challenging it is for expatri-ates to live here. From the way people drive on roads, to the spon-sorship system, many of us feel certain insecurities living here. Perhaps they have to pay us more to compensate for that.”

In a tongue-and-cheek remark, he said had he not been based in the GCC region, he would not have feared to give his name while

commenting on the issue.“Qataris are culturally and

socially different from us. Westerners don’t feel comfortable talking about their issues because they fear they might offend peo-ple, and then they will be pun-ished for it.”

Still a majority felt that the locals don’t understand what pro-fessional qualification means, and went as far as to say that they probably did not even know what they were talking about.

Professional qualification was not just about earning a Master’s degree. People needed to ‘work hard’ for five to seven years after graduating from university, which meant working mornings and evenings shifts, something a majority of locals were just not used to.

Because of cultural reasons, many were also not used to read-ing when they go back home from

workplaces. Paul Easy, a British expatriate

who runs a recruitment agency, said that a majority of people with false qualifications were actually Arabs, adding that Westerners that came to the Gulf had strong professional experience of work-ing in large organisations.

“Why did Qatari organisations hire Westerners — supposedly with no qualification, in the first place? It’s because organisations need people with experience.”

He said locals are the ones drawing the largest sums of sala-ries here. “How many Westerners have latest Land Cruisers? Their number is still far less compared with the local population.”

Easy pointed out there was also pressure on Qataris from their peers and family members who told them that just after six months of experience, they had to become managers.

The social demographics of Qatar are changing at a very fast pace, and an increasing number of Westerners are now heading to the Gulf due to the shortage of jobs in Europe.

In a UK-based group of civil engineers in Qatar, for instance, the number of professionals has gone up to 500 over the last 15 months.

One expatriate from the US, who said she worked in Jordan prior to coming here, said she felt ‘out of place’ here.

“I have been in Qatar for two years but I have not been to the home of any local yet. They don’t seem to want to mix with us to that extent,” said Jane, who did not want to give her second name.

Speaking about challenges of adjusting in the Gulf, she said that on most days she did not feel comfortable going out.

“I am always confused about what to wear and what not to wear. I actually had an Arab lady lecture me once on how to dress in public,” she said.

Asked about criticism against Westerners drawing large salaries, one expatriate from Australia said corporations based in the Gulf tend to pay as little as possible.

BY FAZEENA SALEEM

DOHA: A column recently written by Qatari journalist Faisal Al Marzuqi making accusations of abuse of power against the Western top-brass of a key government-backed organisation, has led to a debate in the Qatari community and the rest of the GCC communities about how relevant “fat-salaried” Western expatriates are to the region.

Many claim it is not fair to give Westerners salaries “of over QR60,000” when they do not even hold professional qualifications and said the only reason many of them came to countries in the Gulf was because they could not get jobs back home.

Some locals felt that com-panies in Gulf paid more to Westerners compared to them.

They said some corporations have a ‘false impression’ of all Westerners as being ‘smart’, even though they may not have strong academic backgrounds, and hire them in top positions unfairly.

“Westerners know how to market them better than oth-ers, as they come from a more competitive background,” said a young Qatari professional working in a semi-government organisation.

“There is a misconcep-tion that all Westerners are smart compared to other nationalities.

“But it’s only their skills, experience and qualifications that should matter,” he said.

Esraa Al Sheeb, a young Qatari, said that many Qataris feel Westerners were like ‘strangers’ and that he found it difficult to adjust with them.

“My mother works at an independent school and she’s now the only Qatari in her department. She’s surrounded by Westerners, which makes her uncomfortable at times.

“She has a Turkish colleague and even though she is not Muslim, my mother gets along just fine with her.”

She said many locals felt that the government only

wantsto hire Westerners in key positions in Qatar, especially in the education sector.

“The government wants to bring all Westerners in all the sectors and make them head important projects as well the education system.

“Some of us are now feeling as if the government is treat-ing them better than they treat Qataris,” she said.

Some Qatari professionals also claimed that only half of the Western expatriates in Qatar have a strong profes-sional background.

“We don’t have people with necessary expertise in several fields, which should be the only reason for employing them.

“It’s that group of Westerners who can’t earn enough in their countries who come here,” said another Qatari working in a government organisation.

“Westerners come here for two or three years, make money and leave. But Asians stay for long periods and tend to be loyal. These people should be given better positions and salaries,” he suggested.

However, he admitted that an increasing number of corpo-rations in Qatar were headed by Qataris or Arabs.

There is also a group of peo-ple in the local community that feels that they can work just as well in some positions given to Western expatriates.

“I agree there is a short-age of experienced Qatari professionals.

“But we have many in our community who are young and just as good for manager level positions,” said a young Qatari woman who works as a com-munication specialist.

“Now you don’t need to pay more to a Westerner to con-vince him to work in Qatar as long as you pay him an average salary, it’s fine.

“Instead some years ago you had to pay him a lot to con-vince him to come and work here since he had better jobs in Europe,” she said.

Some Western professionals also said that the cost of living in the West is very high.

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: A majority of people The Peninsula spoke to about this weekend’s issue said they did not want their names in print because of fear that they might offend people, including their colleagues, at work places.

Some said that the organisations they worked for took a dim view of employees speaking to the local media and any comment that may offend even one official would directly affect them.

One expatriate said it was fine to use his name only after he had left the country.

He said that even though a majority of expatri-ates here come from societies that are more ‘open’ and ‘democratic’, they rarely expressed views on issues that mattered to them here because of the fear that they may lose their jobs.

What’s also interesting is that many locals also did not want to be quoted because they did not want to offend their Western colleagues.

Some youngsters said that they had teachers from the UK and the US who looked down on them and even underestimated their talent.

DOHA: A prominent Qatari psychologist, who earned her PhD from the UK, has lashed out at Western expatriates and said there was no justi-fication in treating them as superior in workplace to all others, including Qataris.

“Many Qataris have the same degrees from the same uni-versities which some Western expatriates have attended, but they (the former) are treated as inferior,” Dr Moza Al Malki (pictured) said.

“That beats any logic.” Formerly from Qatar

University, she said in remarks to this newspaper yesterday that she agreed with people in her community that Western expatriates draw higher pay and perks than even locals.

“To be fair, I deeply sympa-thise with Asian expatriates who slog and do the hard work and are paid a pittance.”

She said the differences in pay scales of locals and Asian expa-triates and those of Western expatriates were shockingly huge.

“It is there for everyone to see. It is so obvious,” said Al Malki. “And for this our govern-ments are to blame.”

They might have struck deals with their governments that their citizens would be paid more, she said. “I know of a Western expatriate whose monthly salary is QR1m ($274,600). Could you believe

it?” There are many who are paid QR500,000 a month. And this is in addition to the hefty annual bonuses they get and other privileges.

“Our governments rely so much on them. They hire Western experts at the drop of a hat — for anything and every-thing that is to be done.”

Citing Qatar University where she once taught, Al Malki said when the university was changing its medium of instruction for certain streams, its management got a visiting professor from the West to help implement the change.

“The university did eve-rything that would benefit Western expatriates.

“Would you believe that this

‘visiting’ professor stayed here for eight long years?”.

Al Malki said many Qatari teachers were removed from Qatar University although they had the same degrees from the same universities Western expa-triates attended who replaced them.

“They wouldn’t let us be in the same job for which they would hire a Westerner although our qualifications would be the same and from the same universities.”

People should not be differ-entiated on the basis of such considerations, she said.

The comments that appear on the local social media on the issue should be taken seriously, said the psychologist.

THE PENINSULA

‘Citizens discriminated against’

Why many didn’t want to be quoted for this story

“They pay people at the market rate,” said Mark Stephen, adding that professional Westerners did not face a shortage of job offers from many countries in the world.

“Countries like Qatar have to give us incentives to work here because they have major develop-ment projects coming up but they don’t have the manpower.”

Some also said that Westerners enjoyed ‘fat-salaries’ in the Gulf only until 2007-08, and that trend

had gone down significantly after the European economic crisis.

“With the economic crisis and lack of jobs in Europe, a lot of people started to look for jobs elsewhere and many saw bet-ter opportunities in the Middle East.

“Many of us are still waiting for the crisis to end so that we can go back home,” said a Spanish expatriate who has been working here for two years.

One British IT professional believes that Arabs tend to favour Westerners.

“I think the key to this is partly in the Arab desire to build things which they think are accepted by the developed world.

“They are obsessed with out-ward appearances and pay scant regard to real process and value,” he said.

“Having a few Westerners on your team gives you that air of acceptance and respectability,” he said.

He said that even China hires Westerners to sit on board of directors’ positions, but in real-ity they do nothing.

THE PENINSULA

Many locals don’t realise

just how challenging it is

for expatriates to live here. Many

of us feel certain insecurities.

There is a misconception that all Westerners are smart compared to other nationalities. But it’s only their skills, experience and qualifications

that should matter.

As debate rages in the social media about the role of expatriates in Gulf countries,The Peninsula takes a look at the arguments of both sides.

0303SEPTEMBER 7, 2013www.thepeninsulaqatar.com ON SATURDAY

Home

DOHA: Law-enforcement offi-cials yesterday intercepted two illegal private taxis near Al Ghanem bus terminus and took their drivers in custody.

It was late in the afternoon, around 4pm, and the bus termi-nus was quite busy, bustling with passengers.

Outside the terminus, two ille-gal taxi operators could be seen soliciting passengers, offering them a ride for QR3 each.

And just as they succeeded in getting some passengers a couple of Land Cruisers came zooming past the illegal cabs, and blocked their way.

Two men wearing track suits, apparently from law-enforce-ment, rushed out from each Land Cruiser, and headed to the illegal cabs.

They opened the front side door of the cabs in a flash and took the keys out of ignition so the drivers couldn’t move the vehicles.

Just as this was happening a Lekhwiya (Internal Security Force) patrol arrived on the scene, providing back-up to the two law-enforcement officials.

One official asked the passen-gers seated in one of the cabs in Hindi how much they had paid. Pat came the reply, also in Hindi, “three riyals”!

The officials instantly took front seats in each of the illegal cabs and asked the drivers to move, and take their cars, appar-ently to the police station. The Lekhwiya patrol followed them.

Private taxis are outlawed in Qatar.

They began thriving after the blue-and-orange cabs were taken off the road a decade ago and Mowasalat introduced its mod-ern fleet.

Law-enforcement agencies have been cracking down on them and have in the past caught many of them. THE PENINSULA

Pvt taxis seized near bus terminus Law-enforcement officers nab two illegal taxi operators for soliciting passengers

A law-enforcement officer taking the ignition key out of an illegal cab. SALIM MATRAMKOT

Continued from page 1

“They stay here for a few years with the intention of making money and then they leave,” said the scribe.

As GCC nationals, including Qataris, are getting educated, many of them in the west itself, they are aiming for plus jobs back in their home countries.

“Invariably all such jobs are in the state or mixed sectors and filled up largely by Westerners, and that explains the clash,” a community elder said.

The problem with Qataris, espe-cially, according to their own com-munity sources, is that when they take up a job as a fresh graduate in an organisation, they are happy.

“This happiness lasts for a few years, and they gradually become resentful after that, and then turn jealous of their expatriate bosses and colleagues,” said the elder. “In the last stage the jealousy boils so much that it bursts into a social media campaign.”

However, western expatriates are not viewed the same all over the GCC. The attitude of locals towards them differs from country to country, say sources.

Take the UAE, for example. Westerners dominated top jobs until some 15 years ago, but not now, after the government began provid-ing extensive training to locals.

According to human resource professionals in the private sec-tor and some regional surveys, Westerners do get higher pay and perks but they are, in most cases, overqualified for the jobs they han-dle, though their income is much more than what they would get back in their home countries.

“The biggest attraction for them in the GCC countries is that their income is tax free, whereas in

their home countries they must pay over 40 percent in tax,” an HR professional said requesting anonymity.

He said there is no doubt that Westerners are more professional, efficient and creative and known for treating their subordinates with a sense of fairness and justice.

An Indian said he preferred a Briton as manager of the trad-ing company he works for, than a fellow Indian. “Indian managers are more exploitative, selfish and parochial.”

Some critics of locals say those thrashing out at western expatri-ates forget that it were they who discovered the oil and gas that are today the backbone of the econo-mies of their countries and the lone source of their prosperity.

“How can you simply forget the role of Shell, Aramco and ExxonMobil, and so many other Western energy giants that have contributed to making the GCC states what they are today?” asked a critic.

The healthcare facilities, the monetary systems, the hotels and all the basic infrastructure facilities you have in the region are basically contributions of the Westerners. “They provided the brain, while Asian expatriates were the brawn.”

“You don’t pay more to a Westerner because he has white skin. You pay him more because the white skin is respected since it has given the world everything from the pin to the plane, and all the medicines, medical equipment and vaccinations. The skin is a symbol of professionalism.”

Locals just want to become managers. Their only claim to plush posts is that they are locals. “That’s no logic. These countries

would suffer if you entrust crucial jobs with them. Most locals only crave for top designations, fat sala-ries and Land Cruisers.”

There indeed are locals who are highly qualified, efficient and capable, but their number is small. And more locals should enter the private sector to prove their worth and replace skilled foreign work-ers, including the Westerners. Sticking to government jobs wouldn’t help, say critics.

The locals are critical of Western expatriates. “But the same local, if he owns a business, would employ a Westerner and boast around with pride that he is his boss. Why? Not because the Westerner is from a superior race. It is because all the advancements the world has seen to date are a contribution of the West,” said the critic. Westerners don’t seek jobs using personal connections ‘wasta’, while many Arab expatriates are known for that. Many of them are here due to connections and not because they are qualified to do a job, he said. “Why is there no campaign against them?”

The Westerners have respect for local traditions and culture. They dress properly. “But you can’t say the same thing about some Asians and Arabs,” said the critic.

According to a recent Qatar News Agency (QNA) report that cited World Bank data, in 2010, there were 47.7 million people in the GCC, and more than a third (15.1 million or 36.3 percent) were expatriates. Exact estimates of Western expatriates in the region are hard to have, but after the European economic crisis, their population might have surged — in any case not beyond a million.

THE PENINSULA/

MOBIN PANDIT

Citizens urged to enter private sector to prove their worth

Passengers waiting for buses braving sweltering temperatures at Al Ghanem bus terminus yesterday afternoon. SALIM MATRAMKOT

DOHA: Concerned over a reported hike in rents from October this year, a number of tenants of Barwa “affordable” housing complex in Assailiya yesterday held a meeting to dis-cuss the issue.

It was decided that a commit-tee will be formed that will launch a signature campaign against the company’s move.

The signatures of the tenants are to be collected and a joint plea is planned to be made to the Barwa management to reconsider their decision.

This is the second time in two years that the company plans to raise the rent of its housing units in Assailya and Mesaimeer complexes.

Both the complexes were built by Barwa when house rents were peaking in the country at historic highs some years ago, making it difficult for limited-income fami-lies to afford respectable rented homes. The company dedicated the complexes exclusively to lim-ited income families, both expa-triates and Qataris.

The tenants were, however, shocked when in 2011 the com-pany suddenly announced a 10 percent rent hike citing soaring maintenance costs.

Media reports said citing com-pany sources that the manage-ment planned to raise the rent of Assailiya and Mesaimeer units by 10 percent from October as maintenance costs were escalat-ing due to misuse of the property by tenants.

There are about 2,000 hous-ing units in both Assailiya and Mesaimeer complexed and they are both two and three-bedroom apartments. Tenants in the Mesaimmer complex said they had not held any meeting so far and that they had not been offi-cially notified about the rent hike.

“We have checked the notice board. There is no intimation put out there. We haven’t also received any direct communica-tion from the company about the rent raise,” a tenant said.

He said when the company raised the rent the last time, notices were sent to individual tenants. THE PENINSULA

Campaign against Barwa rent hike

DOHA: Passengers in the wait-ing area of Al Ghanem bus ter-minus have been complaining of having to brave the heat and humidity as only one double-decker bus was stationed yes-terday as a waiting enclosure while there were crowds of peo-ple at the terminus, it being a Friday.

After the permanent waiting area was run over and destroyed by a rampaging bus in a freaky

accident recently, the terminus authorities began parking empty air-conditioned buses to double as a waiting enclosure.

“The double-decker that was parked yesterday doubling as a waiting enclosure wasn’t enough to accommodate so many people, so I had to stand out and wait in sweltering temperatures,” a pas-senger said.

He said he was waiting to take a bus to the Old Airport area of

the city. “I had to wait for almost 10 minutes and there was so much heat and humidity that I was drenched in sweat,” he said.

According to him, there were many women in the crowds as well that were waiting for the buses.

Another passenger said that on Thursday there was just one normal bus parked in the waiting area. THE PENINSULA

Al Ghanem bus terminus lacks air-conditioned waiting areas

0404 SEPTEMBER 7, 2013www.thepeninsulaqatar.comON SATURDAY Mideast

www.renaissancedoha.com+974 44195000

+974 44195100

www.swiss-belhotel.com

www.doha.hilton.com+974 44233333

+974 44233000

TelFax

TelFax

TelFax

TelFax

TelFax

TelFax

Tel

Fax

TelFax

TelFax

TelFax

TelFax

TelFax

TelFax

TelFax

Tel

Fax

TelFax

FaxTollfree

WASHINGTON: The US evacuated non-essential staff from its Beirut embassy yes-terday and urged Americans not to travel to Lebanon or southern Turkey, as Washington considers strikes against neighbouring Syria.

“The Department of State has ordered a drawdown of non-emergency US government per-sonnel and family members in Beirut, Lebanon and approved the drawdown of non-emer-gency personnel and family members who wish to leave Adana, Turkey,” deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said.

The evacuations came as the US has been trying to build sup-port for US military strikes on the Syrian regime in retaliation for its alleged use of chemical weapons in an August 21 attack on Damascus suburbs.

The decision had been made due to “current tensions in the region, as well as potential threats to US government facili-ties and personnel,” Harf said in a statement. But she stressed the State Department was act-ing out of “an abundance of caution.”

US President Barack Obama and his administration are pressuring US lawmakers to approve limited military strikes on Syria, while at the same time seeking to build an international coalition in support of action.

It remains unclear when or if any strikes would come, but the threat has sent tensions soaring in an already volatile region.

Lebanese authorities said they were already boosting security measures at foreign diplomatic missions ahead of any international military action. Lebanon’s security coun-cil met “in light of the tensions resulting from preparations for

potential military action and the regional and international responses that could follow,” the presidency said in a statement.

Harf warned any US citizens who chose to remain in Lebanon or southern Turkey that they “should limit non-essential travel within the country, be aware of their surroundings whether in their residences or moving about, make their own contingency emergency plans.”

Separately, the State Department said the consulate general in Adana, a major com-mercial and agricultural hub, “has been authorised to draw down its non-emergency staff and family members because of threats against US government facilities and personnel.”

The conflict in Syria has

threatened to spill over into Lebanon and Turkey, both of which are hosting some of the two million refugees who have fled the civil war that erupted in March 2011.

The US warning would be reviewed, Harf said, adding that the US would “adjust our secu-rity posture accordingly.”

The Beirut evacuation comes a month after a number of US embassies in the Middle East and Africa were closed for about a week due to an Al Qaeda secu-rity alert. Memories are also still fresh of the deadly attack by Al Qaeda linked militants on a US mission in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11 last year when the ambassador, Chris Stevens, and three other US staff were killed.

And the moves for strikes on Syria have raised the prospect of more anti-US regional reper-cussions, including by Lebanon’s Shia Hezbollah movement, which is allied with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.

“The potential in Lebanon for a spontaneous upsurge in violence remains. Lebanese government authorities are not able to guarantee protec-tion for citizens or visitors to the country should violence erupt suddenly,” the State Department said. Washington’s Beirut embassy was the scene of a deadly suicide bombing in 1983 that killed 63 people mostly embassy staff, CIA agents, sol-diers and Marines, in what was then the worst attack ever on a US mission. AFP

US evacuates non-essential staff from Beirut mission Lebanon says has already boosted security at foreign missions

Lebanese police stand guard as supporters of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad gather for a demonstration against a possible US military strike on Syria, near the US embassy, east of Beirut, yesterday.

BEIRUT: A Syrian doctor working for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) who was found dead this week was killed by the Al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), an NGO said yesterday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was told that Mohamed Abyad was killed by the group after his abduction in northern Syria.

“According to doctors... ISIS killed the young doc-tor Mohamed Abyad after his abduction on Monday at dawn in Sejou village, where he was working,” the Observatory said in a statement.

Doctors Without Borders, which is known by its French acronym MSF, announced Abyad’s death on Thursday.

It said the 28-year-old was found on Tuesday in Aleppo province, where he was working at an MSF-run hospital treat-ing victims of Syria’s civil war.

MSF did not say how he had been killed or who may have been responsible.

“While the exact circum-stances of Dr. Abyad’s death remain unclear, MSF condemns the attack against a surgeon who was relentlessly working to alleviate a desperate humani-tarian situation,” MSF said.

“His death is a terrible loss to his family, to the patients that he was treating, and to MSF,” said the group’s general direc-tor, Joan Tubau.

The group operates six hos-pitals and four health centres in northern Syria and says it carried out 66,000 consultations and 3,400 surgeries in the coun-try between June 2012 and July this year. AFP

NGO says Al Qaeda group killed MSF doctor in Syria GENEVA: Nearly two mil-

lion Syrian children are no longer receiving an education, the United Nations’ agency for children said yesterday, repre-senting around 40 percent of those at school age.

“For a country that was on the verge of achieving universal primary education before the conflict started, the numbers are staggering,” Marixie Mercado, spokeswoman for children’s agency Unicef, told reporters in Geneva. Inside war-ravaged Syria more than 3,000 schools in the country have been dam-aged or destroyed, while nearly 900 were being used to house displaced families, she said.

“The education system has taken a beating,” Mercado said, stressing that even “for the schools that are operating, there are not enough teachers, not enough classrooms, not enough resources.”

Syrian children forced to flee

to neighbouring countries have especially seen their access to education curtailed, she said, pointing out that few of the around one million Syrian children living as refugees in the region are receiving any schooling.

In Lebanon, for instance, the public education system has the capacity to teach 300,000 Lebanese students, but the gov-ernment now estimates there will be almost 550,000 school-aged Syrians in the country by the end of the year.

During the first half of 2013, only 15 percent of Syrian refugee children were studying in for-mal or non-formal systems in Lebanon.

And only one third of the some 150,000 Syrian school-aged children in Jordan are getting an education, she said, using the example of the mas-sive Zaatari refugee camp where there was space for fewer than

half of the 30,000 children in need of schooling. “Attendance is low, even among registered students, especially among girls,” Mercado said, explaining that many stayed away due to a lack of security in the camp.

In Iraq, another destina-tion for refugees, nine out of 10 refugee children living in host communities are not attend-ing school. Unicef is working to bring Syrian children back to school across the region, pro-viding for instance self-taught programmes to be used at home in conflict zones and setting up schools on buses in Lebanon.

The UN agency’s education aid for Syrians remains des-perately underfunded, having received just $51m of the $161m it requested for 2013, Mercado said. “The risk of a lost genera-tion becomes more acute with each day that (Syrian children) are out of school,” she warned.

AFP

Nearly 2m Syrian children no longer in school: UN

BEIRUT: Syrian armed forces launched a massive operation yesterday to secure a strategic military airport near Damascus ahead of pos-sible US-led military strikes, a monitoring group said.

Troops bombarded rebel positions in Moadamiyet Al Sham, a town southwest of Damascus near Mazzeh air-port, one of the country’s key air bases, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said: “The regime is trying to seize control of Moadamiyet al-Sham before a probable Western strike, because the town commands access to Mazzeh airport”.

The base is guarded by the army’s elite Fourth Armoured Division — a unit led by President Bashar Al Assad’s brother Maher — which is responsible for security in and around Damascus.

The army has been unsuc-cessfully trying for months to take Moadamiyet Al Sham back from the rebels.

Western leaders accuse the Assad regime of unleash-ing chemical attacks on August 21 east and south-west of Damascus, including in Moadamiyet al-Sham, that killed hundreds.

US President Barack Obama has been trying to secure international support for a

punitive strike on regime tar-gets and will seek congressional approval for such action next week.

The Syrian government denies using chemical weapons, blaming instead rebels trying to topple the regime of using the poisonous agents.

The Br i ta in-based Observatory, which relies on a network of activists and medics on the ground for its reports, said at least four surface-to-surface missiles fired by regime forces struck Moadamiyet Al Sham yesterday.

Rebels and troops also clashed in the area as Assad’s forces tried to rout the insur-gents, it added. AFP

Army launches assault to secure Damascus airport

0505 ON SATURDAY

SEPTEMBER 7, 2013www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Shaival Dalal

With Independent, private and community schools reopening after the summer break this week, schoolgoing children along with their parents are flocking to malls and shops to buy back-to-school items. Several commercial outlets are holding promotions for such items.The majority of schools in the country will reopen on Tuesday. Some expatriate schools will reopen on Sunday or Monday. A total of 12,863 students have been enrolled in Independent schools for the new academic year through online registration.

Back to schoolBack to school

0606 SEPTEMBER 7, 2013www.thepeninsulaqatar.comON SATURDAY Views

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

CHAIRMAN

SHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

KHALID AL SAYED

khalid@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITOR

HUSSAIN AHMAD

hussain@pen.com.qa

EDITORIAL

TEL: 44557741 / 44557743

FAX: 44557746 / 44557758

P. O. BOX: 3488, DOHA, QATAR

E-MAIL: editor@pen.com.qa

ADVERTISING: TEL: 44557837 / 780 FAX: 44557870

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

SUBSCRIPTION / HOME DELIVERY

TEL: 44557809 /839 FAX: 44557819

E-MAIL: distribution@al-sharq.com

SUBSCRIPTION RATES: ANNUAL QR 675

6 MONTHS QR 340

Cartoon Arts International / The New York Times Syndicate

BY JIM O’NEILL

IS THE Group of 20 leading econo-mies any longer fit for purpose? That depends on what you think its pur-

pose should be.The meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia,

has a lot to discuss. Officially, economic and financial coordination topped the agenda — remember, this is supposed to be an economic summit — but the crisis in Syria forced a different set of issues onto the participants.

President George W Bush brought this grouping into the spotlight five years ago, when it played a crucial role in stabilizing a crashing world economy. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown then hosted a highly effective meeting

in London in the spring of 2009. Since then, how-ever, the G-20 has limped along. Huge numbers of subgroups are beavering away on special projects, but each subsequent meet-ing has failed to deliver anything of note.

Maybe the St. Petersburg gath-ering can usher in a more coopera-tive global stance on Syria and per-haps even the

broader Middle Eastern crisis. If that happens, it will be quite an achievement and would no doubt be greeted favorably by worried world markets. Beyond this, so far as global economics is concerned, what can the G-20 actually do?

Like its predecessors the G-5 and the G-7, the G-20 needs a clear and pressing shared purpose to work to maximum effect. In 2008 and 2009 it had one — avoiding a repeat of the 1930s — and the grouping helped to avert that disaster.

Almost five years on, as shown by the latest JPMorgan Global Purchasing Managers’ Index, the world is mostly drifting along, without signs of a major acceleration or of falling back into the abyss.

Most developed countries are showing their first substantive signs of manufac-turing recovery since 2008. This is true of the United States, Japan and even the European Union. As impressive and welcome as this is, it’s being matched by significant slowing in most of the larger emerging economies including each of the BRIC countries. That’s why the glo-bal PMI is generally flat-lining.

The world’s economies seem to have difficulty in prospering all at the same time. Perhaps that’s not so surpris-ing, given the connections — especially through commodity prices — among them. Indeed, in recent months I’ve given a lot of thought to the links between recovery in the advanced economies, slower growth in China, weaker commodity prices and the dif-ficulties faced by many other emerging economies.

Of course, it’s complicated, and there are exceptions. India, for exam-ple, should have benefited as much as European and U.S. consumers from softer commodities: Its economy is struggling nonetheless. Broadly speak-ing, however, cheap commodities help the advanced economies and put many emerging economies at a disadvantage. The developed members of the G-20 have an economic interest in seeking an early solution to the Syrian crisis, because higher oil prices could set them back. As oil producers, many emerging economies — including the host country — might see short-term benefits.

Most of the time, finding a sense of common purpose across such a wide span of nations is hard. I often hear officials from the more advanced mem-bers complaining that the whole idea is a waste of time. Their regard for the G-7 has risen in recent years: It’s a more compact and therefore more

manageable group, and its members have far more in common. Now that the BRICS group is up and running, and building the foundations of its own development bank, those countries too may see the G-20 as less and less useful.

Despite all the challenges, the major global imbalances that existed on the eve of the 2008 crisis are gradually unwinding. The Chinese and U.S. cur-rent-account imbalances have declined to levels that no longer give cause for concern. This has happened even though the 2010 G-20 meeting in Seoul failed to establish targets for current-account imbalances, as some had pro-posed. Ironically, China’s surplus has been lower for most of the period since that meeting than the specific target it wouldn’t sign up for.

Is this good enough? I don’t think so. The world still needs more effec-tive economic leadership. The G-20 is representative — its members account for roughly 90 percent of global output — but it’s far too unwieldy. The G-7 is compact but unrepresentative. What’s required is a group of advanced and emerging economies that’s slim enough to work well. As I first argued in 2001, better economic governance demands that China and some of the other major emerging economies be given more voice at summit gatherings, and that some advanced economies — notably, mem-bers of the euro area — be given less.

Growth in the BRIC counties has slowed since 2010, but the increase in their aggregate output has been about $3 trillion nonetheless — more than the output of either France or Britain. Collectively, by the end of 2015, they are likely to be the same size as the U.S. In other words, the case for a realignment of global economic governance is even stronger now than when I first suggested it. Moving that way would improve our chances of building a more balanced and stable global economic system.

WP-BLOOMBERG

With leaders of the Group of 20 meeting in the Russian city of St. Petersburg, hopes are high that they

will be able to reach a consensus on ways to deepen international cooperation, promote global economic growth and improve the international system of economic governance.

Achieving strong, sustainable and balanced growth is a common impera-tive worldwide, and the G20, which groups the world’s major developed and emerging economies, has estab-lished itself as an important platform for prescribing remedies for the world’s economic ills.

And there are plenty of ills that need to be taken care of. The global eco-nomic recovery is still volatile and lack-luster, trade protectionism has raised its ugly head again and some developed countries are shying away from shoul-dering their international responsibilities, adding new uncertainties.

Developed countries should be aware that no country can make itself immune to the world’s economic ills and that economic policies in one country will have an effect on others. Hence, as the US Fed tapers off its quantitative easing, it should pay attention to the effects it will have on others. The G20 nations should set an example for the

world and truly commit themselves to the road of common development and do more to coordinate their economic and finance policies for the common good.

Over the years, China has played a constructive role in international coop-eration within the framework of the G20, and President Xi Jinping will elaborate China’s views on the global economic situation and reform and push for a greater unity of purpose.

As the G20 summit has emerged as an important vehicle for dialogue between developed and developing countries, all members should strive to reach a consensus on ways to establish

a fairer and more effective international economic order, including reform of such organizations as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Also, the Syria crisis is likely to fea-ture on the summit’s agenda, as the allegations of chemical weapons being used have reached breaking point now that the US Barack Obama administra-tion is rallying support both at home and abroad for military intervention.

However, even before the meeting it was clear there is little support for mili-tary action, and it will come as no sur-prise if the other leaders at the summit are reluctant to line up behind the US.

China Daily

A struggling G-20 needs reinvention more than ever

He (Obama) disagrees with my arguments, I disagree with his arguments, but we do hear, and we try to analyse.

Quote ofthe day

Vladimir PutinRussian President

The other side

The world’s economies seem to have difficulty in prospering all at the same time. Perhaps that’s not so surprising, given the connections — especially through commodity prices — among them.

WHO expected the G20 to close ranks and vote for US President Barack Obama’s planned strikes on Syria? Not even Obama. With differences among global powers running deep on how to

respond to Bashar Al Assad’s alleged use of chemical weapons, there was no way a consensus could be forged. It looked as if it was not a question of gassing innocent people, but reasserting the positions already taken. For example, Russia and Iran are unlikely to budge from their support for Assad, having put all their eggs in the regime’s basket. A continuation of Assad in power is as much in their interests as Assad’s himself.

But the summit of the world’s twenty important countries held in Moscow has helped widen the debate on Syria. It created a platform for world leaders to express their views, argue with each other, make their displeasure felt about their rivals’ views and even issue mild threats, and at last leave the summit a bit confused, and without budging from their pre-stated positions. This is because diplomatic positions are not taken after debates with rivals, but after considering what works best for each country, even if its position is very detrimental to others’ interests.

After the summit, Obama sounded a bit confused about the way ahead, He acknowledged that his attempt to seek

congressional authorisation for strikes against Syria was proving an uphill task and announced he would take the case directly to the American people with a televised address. And interestingly, the president repeatedly refused to be drawn on what he would do if Congress disagreed with him and voted against military authorisation. Even if he finally decides to go ahead with the punitive strikes after intense opposition, it

would not achieve the purpose it’s meant for. A weak and confused president launching an attack against Syria will not achieve the same results as a clear-headed and determined president launching an attack. The outcome will be that the death toll in Syria will go up, and the consequences will be more muddled than they are.

Even as Obama wavered, Russian President Vladimir Putin hardened his position. He claimed that a majority of the G20 opposed any US-led intervention, and even provoked Washington and its supporters by insisting that the chemical weapons attacks were an act of the Syrian rebels designed to win international backing for an attack. David Cameron described Putin’s position as impossible. Putin even threatened unspecified military support for Syria if America attacks.

Obama will do his best in the coming days to win the support of Americans for his plans. There is plenty of uncertainty about what will happen next.

The Syrian crisis is turning out to be a farce. Never before we have suffered from such shortage of ideas.

Dithering on Syria

The G20 summit has only helped cause confusion on Syria.

Editorial

Building a fairer world

It’s impossible to predict the future; in the opaque world of Chinese politics, even the present is hazy. BY ISAAC STONE FISH

The five-day trial of disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai for bribery, embez-zlement, and abuse of power ended on August 26 with a command perform-

ance from the man who, with his extremely public downfall in early 2012, tore a hole in the Communist Party’s façade of unity. Despite Bo’s virtuoso showing, where he managed to portray himself as competent and sympa-thetic, the ink has mostly dried on his fate. The court will announce the verdict any day now, according to the state-run broadcaster China Central Television, and Bo is almost certain to be found guilty.

But he’s not the only one brought low. Many of his supporters in the Communist Party and the military are thought to have been purged. The biggest remaining question of the Bo affair is what will happen to Zhou Yongkang, the feared former security chief who former New York Times Beijing corre-spondent Nicholas Kristof once described as “a man who brightens any room by leaving it.” Now, the net may be closing in on him: On Sunday, the Communist Party announced an investigation into Jiang Jiemin, a senior official in charge of state-owned companies and a protégé of Zhou’s, in a move many see as further encroaching on Zhou himself. Bo’s public downfall was shocking; Zhou’s would be unprecedented.

Zhou oversaw China’s security forces and law enforcement institutions from 2007 to 2012, and was widely reported to have been the only top Chinese official to argue against removing Bo from the elite decision-making body, the Politburo. The organisation Zhou ran, the Central Politics and Law Commission, might have asked Bo to cover up the defec-tion of his former police chief Wang Lijun,

according to The New York Times. Zhou became increasingly influential as ethnic riots broke out in Tibet in 2008, and in the restive region of Xinjiang in 2009. Beijing was convinced of the importance of maintaining social stabil-ity. As the budget on domestic security kept growing — in 2012 it reached $111bn, nearly $5bn higher than the entire official military budget — so did Zhou’s power.

Zhou, who oversaw China’s immense secu-rity state, was like a Chinese Dick Cheney; the power behind the throne, said a Western academic familiar with the matter. He also said that former FBI director J Edgar Hoover, a man known for his extensive surveillance network, “might have had” Zhou’s reach. Officially, Zhou was the least powerful of the nine-member Standing Committee, the elite subgroup within the Politburo. But when I spoke with this academic in 2010, Zhou was probably the third most powerful man in China, behind president Hu Jintao and pre-mier Wen Jiabao, more influential than Bo.

The 73-year-old Zhou reportedly liked to show his power by feats of physical strength. “When he’d go places for investigation, he’d do like 50 or 100 pushups” in front of others, said a Chinese academic who lives overseas and is familiar with elite politics. In August 2007, two months before he ascended to the

Standing Committee, Zhou visited a police station in south China’s Yunnan province. He surprised onlookers by doing “ten sit-ups in one breath,” after which everyone “spontane-ously burst into applause,” according to China News Service, a state-run news agency.

Little is known about Zhou, his relationship with Bo Xilai, and how that may have led to his apparent sidelining after Bo’s very public fall from grace in early 2012. But, clearly, he is not loved in China.

It’s impossible to predict the future; in the opaque world of Chinese politics, even the present is hazy. Thus, it’s instructive to look into the past, at the case of Kang Sheng, Mao Zedong’s urbane and cruel spymaster, and probably the last security chief to accrue as much power as Zhou. While Chinese poli-tics during Mao’s era were far more vicious, and Kang correspondingly far more feared than Zhou, the system of rules Kang played by during the anarchic decade-long Cultural Revolution still influence Chinese political infighting today. And Kang won.

Communism, a social movement known for its tendency to consume its children, has few notable marquee survivors. China’s sur-vivor wasn’t Mao Zedong — when he died in November 1976, after a decade presiding over the Cultural Revolution, he could probably already feel the country slipping away from his grasp. Rather it was Kang, who died in 1975 of cancer, with his hands still gripping the levers of state security. Has Zhou learned these lessons and successfully distanced him-self from Bo? Or is he implicated and caught up by Bo’s downfall? Did Zhou cast his lot in with Bo, and, as some of the more outlandish rumours say, plan a coup? That information may never surface. In 1972, Lin allegedly tried to assassinate Mao; after the plot failed, he fled to the Soviet Union, but his plane crashed on the way, leaving no survivors. There is no record of Kang meeting Zhou, but Kang was instrumental in the downfall of Bo’s father Bo Yibo, then a top party official.

But the excesses of Kang, partially responsi-ble for the torture and murder of high-ranking officials in the 1960s and 1970s, like president Liu Shaoqi, may help Zhou. There is an unof-ficial ban on the trial or arrest of current or former Standing Committee members. If he is investigated, Zhou might be placed under house arrest, like former premier Zhao Ziyang, or might fade away. WP-BLOOMBERG

BY ADAM MINTER

As the US prepares for a potential attack on Syria, China is left in the awkward position of reacting to the news and occasionally justi-

fying opposition to any US action.This is not new. In early 2012, China

joined Russia in vetoing a UN Security Council draft resolution condemning Syrian violence and supporting an Arab League peace plan. It was a controversial move at the time, and the criticism was so overwhelming that People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s mouthpiece news-paper, felt compelled to editorialise in favour of China’s veto.

That move was unusual for a govern-ment that rarely feels the need to explain itself retroactively. But on Syria, Chinese leaders appeared unusually sensitive to suggestions that they may have been insensitive to an unfolding humanitarian crisis. Referring to the US as “the mili-tary giant,” the paper wrote in February 2012: “Even if it stays for a while, it will not take protecting lives of local civilians as its primary task. The tragedies that have occurred in Iraq and Afghanistan have proved it. Using violence to prevent humanitarian disasters sounds just and responsible. However, aren’t the attacks and explosions that have occurred after the regime changes in the two countries humanitarian disasters?”

Many Western critics weren’t con-vinced that China and Russia had blocked the UN resolution out of humanitarian motives. Writers tended to highlight that a desire to maintain a limited but critical sphere of influence in the Middle East drove China’s policy of non-intervention in Syria (and other countries). Over the last week, as evidence of chemical-weapon use against Syrian civilians has driven calls for military action, that notion has returned — much to the irritation of China’s most prominent Communist Party-owned newspapers and commentators.

“The past couple of days witnessed a

re-emergence of voices hyping Beijing’s so-called strategic dilemma in the Middle East,” wrote Chen Chenchen, an opin-ion editor with the conservative Global Times newspaper on August 30. These voices, he claims, are engaged in a kind of discussion. “Namely the conflict between China’s demand to protect its interests in this region and its lack of influence there. Beijing should not be bothered by this discussion.”

Rather, Chen reiterated an informal principle established during the Security Council debate, “Beijing is simply pursu-ing the principle of prompting a political solution to the Syrian crisis, which should not be complicated by any external mili-tary intervention.” But his commentary is hardly the last word on why China’s leadership has so far refused to get out of the way of UN resolutions on Syria.

A more authoritative voice is Chen’s Global Times, which is widely acknowl-edged to reflect the opinions of more hawkish elements of the Chinese military. On August 30, it published an editorial on the Syria situation acknowledging that China lacks US military power, and China must guard against the possibility that the US might one day take its small-state bullying to it, even though it has become increasingly difficult to do so.”

The paper has found a proxy to rep-resent China’s interests: Russia. “Russia must not let the US comfortably win this war,” it wrote. “Russia should mobilise its capabilities, maximising the cost of the war for the Americans so that American society has as many negative memories of ‘surgical warfare’ as possible.”

However, as far as China’s news media hierarchy goes, the Global Times isn’t the final word on the country’s position regarding the war. That lofty status is reserved for the People’s Daily, and so far it has been relatively mild in its condem-nations of a US-led intervention, couch-ing its opposition in terms directed at US hegemony, while acknowledging, as it did in a September 2 editorial, that the use of chemicals weapons will result in “sanctions and severe discipline.”

However, the paper neither defined what facts regarding chemical weapons use would be sufficient, nor what might constitute acceptable action if such facts were established. In this, it reflects the broad pronouncements of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which express concern but offer few specifics, while urging all parties to await the UN’s guidance.

What is unusual is that People’s Daily’s editorials have not enjoyed hegemony in the state-owned media. Typically, its editorials on high-profile foreign policy issues are re-published across Chinese state-owned newspapers, serving as the party’s de-facto definitive statement and a substitute for whatever the individual papers might have to say.

In the case of Syria, however, smaller and less influential papers have been free to publish their takes on the crisis. Those editorials don’t diverge dramatically from the ministry’s statements (or People’s

Daily’s voicing of them), but their mere existence suggests that on the hierarchy of Chinese foreign policy priorities, Syria probably does not rank as high as Japan, North Korea or various aspects of China’s relationship with the US, which require definitive, high-ranking editorials.

The Chinese news media’s relative ambivalence towards the issue at least partially reflects the lack of meaningful discussion of a potential US intervention on Sina Weibo, China’s top microblogging platform. Compare that with the recent Egyptian uprising, which did garner some — limited — interest.

In China, where such protests are generally prohibited, there’s an audience for accounts of the causes and courses of these demonstrations.

In contrast, Syria has offered images of what looks like a distant guerilla war and an excess of human suffering — events that don’t command much attention in a China still scarred from a century of

similar troubles. Likewise, the spectre of chemical weapons barely exercises anyone.

Among those microbloggers who bother to tweet about a possible US mili-tary intervention, many wearily, and war-ily, categorise the action as just another instance of the US hegemony in regions that don’t directly impact China.

“Using weapons of mass destruction as an excuse, America invaded Iraq and still hasn’t put forward any evidence,” tweeted an anonymous Sina Weibo microblogger in Beijing on August 31.

That message is at least partially in line with what China’s state news media and the ministry have been saying, in hope of undermining the case for a US intervention. If and when sufficient evi-dence convinces China, and its online masses, that a chemical weapons attack did take place, the onus will be placed on China to explain anew whether no action should be taken. WP-BLOOMBERG

China’s outrage at US over Syria strike

Former CIA intelligence officer Ray McGovern addresses a demonstration on the north side of the White House against any US military action on Syria in Washington, DC.

Former Chinese politician Bo Xilai during his trial for bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power.

BY ROBERT PHILPOT

Labour’s history of special conferences is not an entirely happy one. While the conference which formed the Labour representation committee in 1900 was one such – triggered by Thomas R Steels, a member of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, pro-

posing in his union branch that the Trades Union Congress call a special conference to bring together all left-wing organisations and form them into a single body that would sponsor parliamentary candidates – more recent special conferences have had mixed results.

In January 1981, the Wembley special conference triggered the forma-tion of the Social Democratic party – a schism which helped split the centre-left vote, guarantee Margaret Thatcher re-election in 1983 and inflict such a heavy blow on Labour that it took another 16 years before it was able to form a government. By contrast, the special conference of April 1995 which approved the new clause IV marked a turning point in Labour’s path to power in 1997, helping demonstrate to sceptical voters that the party was truly changing under Tony Blair’s leadership.

Ed Miliband’s decision to call a special conference next spring to debate and approve changes to the party’s relationship with the trade unions is thus a gamble, but one well worth taking. In the wake of the furore over the selection of the party’s candidate in Falkirk, Miliband announced both some very specific changes – principally, his desire that all members of affiliates formally opt in to membership of the party – and a wider aspi-ration to end the kind of “machine politics” which has historically done such damage to Labour’s standing. Over the next few months, through the review the Labour leader announced under former general secretary Ray Collins, and the debate around the country that Harriet Harman and Phil Wilson will lead, the party will have the opportunity to debate both the implications of Miliband’s changes and the realisation of that wider aspiration.

As we argued in March, Labour’s aim should be to “mend, not end” the union link. This is not a fight about whether Labour retains its historic link with the unions; instead it is about how the link can be reformed and strengthened. The party is immeasurably stronger because of its relation-ship with the unions. The unions currently hold 50 percent of the vote on the conference floor, with 50 percent in the hands of CLPs. Instead, the union and CLP share should fall to one-third with parliamentarians and councillors taking the final third. Finally, the electoral college which elects Labour’s leader should be scrapped. In its place, the party should adopt one member one vote, with MPs shortlisting the candidates.

Miliband is right to want a primary to pick Labour’s 2016 mayoral candidate in London and to suggest that primaries open to all Labour supporters might also be appropriate for parliamentary selections where CLP membership is so low as to be unrepresentative of the local com-munity. He should go further and allow any CLP to experiment with a primary if it chooses, with unions and local party branches retaining the right to nominate candidates.

Miliband’s plans and commitment to consign machine politics to the history books will face fierce resistance from some quarters. In order to overcome that, Labour’s leader should call a ballot of all party members on the final package of reforms. It is one we are confident he would win handsomely. THE GUARDIAN

0707SEPTEMBER 7, 2013www.thepeninsulaqatar.com ON SATURDAYViews

China must guard against the possibility that the US might one day take itssmall-state bullying to it.

Union links: Miliband is taking a gamble

Now what after Bo Xilai’s fall?

0808 SEPTEMBER 7, 2013www.thepeninsulaqatar.comON SATURDAY Middle East

ALGIERS: An Algerian judge has put two detainees recently released from the US prison in Guantanamo Bay under “judi-cial control,” a type of super-vised parole.

The men, identified as Nabil Hadjarab and Mutia Sadiq Ahmad Sayyab, were returned to Algeria on August 28 and detained pend-ing interrogation by a prosecutor, which took place Thursday, the state news agency reported, quot-ing the court of Algiers.

Their treatment follows the pattern for other Algerians released from the prison. Most of the other 13 returned from Guantanamo so far have been released.

Both men were cleared for release from Guantanamo years ago and joined hunger strikes to protest their continuing deten-tion. Writer John Grisham

recently called attention to Hadjarab’s case in a New York Times article.

Hadjarab’s French lawyer Joseph Breham, said he is working on getting him resettled in France, where his whole family lives.

“We are overjoyed he has been cleared (for parole) and now we are going to work to return him to France,” he told The Associated Press, adding that his client would have to check in with authorities every month.

There are nearly 90 prisoners cleared for release or transfer out of a population of 164.

Their release, the first from Guantanamo in nearly a year, followed a pledge by President Barack Obama to renew efforts to close the prison on the US base in Cuba, an initiative that has been thwarted by Congress.

AP

ANKARA: Turkish riot police yesterday confronted hun-dreds of university students in Ankara throwing stones and erecting barricades in protest against a project to build a road across part of their campus.

Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at between 200 and 300 protesters who gathered at the entrance of Middle East Technical University, images broadcast on local television showed.

Police detained 14 people earlier in the afternoon during a demon-stration against the city’s plans, which include uprooting a large number of trees both inside and outside the campus.

University students began a sit-in protest to the plans for the campus — one of the largest green spaces in the Turkish capital — in the summer.

Meanwhile, Istanbul authori-ties yesterday closed the central

Gezi Park — the epicentre of anti-government protests in June -- to the public and deployed police units in the area.

Armoured police took up posi-tions around the park as calls for demonstrations were launched on social networking websites to protest against the police repres-sion in Ankara.

A peaceful sit-in to save Gezi Park and its 600 trees from being razed prompted a brutal police

response on May 31, spiralling into nationwide protests against the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, seen as increasingly authoritarian.

Five people were killed and thousands injured during the unrest, which presented the Justice and Development Party government with its biggest chal-lenge since it came to power in 2002.

AFP

ANKARA: An Ankara court has released from jail 10 sus-pects, including high-ranking officers, pending the outcome of their trial for their alleged role in the 1997 bloodless coup that toppled the Islamist government.

The court on Wednesday released former four-star general Teoman Koman from custody due to ill health. Eight other former officers and a civilian suspect were released on Thursday for medical reasons or on the grounds they did not pose a flight risk.

The suspects had been in cus-tody since 2012, and although the court did not set bail the court ordered them not to leave the country.

A further 27 retired officers on trial in the same case remain in jail.

A total of 103 people, includ-ing ex-army chief General Ismail Hakki Karadayi, stand accused of overthrowing the government in the trial that began on Monday.

Prosecutors have spent the last week reading out the charges.

They have called for a life

sentence for Karadayi, 81, who did not attend the hearings due to ill health.

The trial, expected to last sev-eral weeks, concerns the toppling in 1997 of Turkey’s first Islamist prime minister, Necmettin Erbakan, the political mentor of current Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The army brought down Erbakan’s government without violence and did not install a mili-tary administration to replace the civilian cabinet. It became known as the “postmodern coup” as no troops were involved.

Karadayi has denied that the army’s actions were tantamount to a coup.

The army, which sees itself as the guarantor of Turkey’s secu-lar principles, had overthrown three earlier administrations since 1960.

Since coming to power in 2002, Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party govern-ment has reined in the once-pow-erful military through a series of court cases.

AFP

TEHRAN: Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said yesterday Iran wanted to allay concerns over its nuclear pro-gramme, suspected of hiding efforts to build an atomic bomb, and resolve the impasse with world powers.

Perhaps most significantly, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation, Ali Akbar Salehi, said separately Tehran could conceivably agree to allowing the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to conduct snap inspections of its facilities.

Western countries and Israel suspect that Tehran’s nuclear programme is cover for a weap-ons drive, a charge Iran strongly denies.

Yesterday’s remarks came as Iran’s new president, Hassan Rowhani, has expressed keen-ness to move forward quickly with serious, transparent negotiations, while not abandoning the coun-try’s rights.

Zarif, a moderate whose minis-try Rowhani tasked on Thursday to spearhead talks, said “there are two principles in the nuclear domain — first and foremost, respect for our rights in matters of nuclear technology, especially the enrichment of uranium.

“Following that is to allay international concerns” on the programme.

Zarif spoke after receiving a telephone call from EU foreign

policy chief Catherine Ashton, chief negotiator for the P5+1 -- the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany — who have been pressing Iran to stop enriching uranium.

That process, which Iran insists is purely for peaceful purposes, can lead in a more refined form to produce the fissile core of a nuclear weapon.

“Allaying international con-cerns is in our interest because atomic weapons do not form part of the Islamic republic’s policies,” Zarif said.

“Consequently, our inter-est is to remove any ambiguity regarding our country’s nuclear programme.”

“I told Mrs Ashton that if there is a political will to resolve this matter, particularly regard-ing Iran’s nuclear rights, we are equally ready to move forward,” he said.

Earlier, speaking in Vilnius, Ashton said she had told Zarif “I stand ready with my colleagues to get the talks moving,” adding that she hoped to meet him in New York during the UN General Assembly later this month.

Asked whether she expected Zarif to lead the nuclear talks, she said: “I don’t know who my interlocutor will be.”

“I hope we will set dates” for a new round of negotiations during the New York meeting, she added.

AFP

A L E X A N DR I A /CA I R O : Two people were killed in skir-mishes as supporters of deposed president Mohammed Mursi thronged Egypt’s cities and towns yesterday for the third time in eight days, trying to rat-tle an army-backed government bent on crushing his Muslim Brotherhood.

Yesterday’s violence between Mursi supporters and either secu-rity forces or other supporters of the crackdown appeared more widespread than on either of the last two protest days.

A witness saw three men with swords set upon one of thousands of pro-Mursi protesters march-ing through Egypt’s second city, Alexandria. Medical sources said one person involved in that pro-test was killed.

Another Mursi supporter was seen with birdshot wounds to the face, and Brotherhood supporters were seen punching and kicking a man they presumed to be hostile to them, the witness said.

State television showed foot-age of soldiers armed with assault rifles searching buildings in Alexandria, saying they were looking for gunmen who had opened fire on them.

One Mursi supporter was killed in Kafr El Bateekh in Damietta province in clashes with govern-ment supporters where rocks, sticks and birdshot were used, according to witnesses and a medical official.

In both Tanta in the Nile Delta and the southern city of Assiut,

security forces used tear gas.About 2,000 people marched

in the Cairo district of Nasr City and 3,000 people in the port city of Suez.

There were also marches in Fayoum, three other cities in Assiut governorate and in eight cities in Minya governorate.

In the Delta city of Damanhour, hundreds took to the streets in a pro-government march, chant-ing “No to terrorism” and “Army, police and people are one hand”.

As with previous days of pro-test, the marches received scant coverage on tightly-controlled state television channels and

privately-owned Egyptian media hostile to the Brotherhood.

Islamist-run stations were shut down after Mursi was deposed, leaving it to Al Jazeera’s Egyptian channel, banned but still trans-mitting from its base in Qatar, to show live footage of the marches.

REUTERS

Two killed in Egypt clashesMursi supporters take to streets demanding his reinstatement

Members of the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of ousted President Mohammed Mursi march through Cairo’s Moandessen neighbourhood yesterday.

Iran wants to allay concerns on nuclear issue, says FM

Algeria puts ex-Gitmo prisoners on parole

Police fire tear gas at Ankara protesters

Several suspects freed in Turkey coup trial Clashes in Jerusalem

Israeli riot policemen stand near the Dome of the Rock mosque during clashes with Palestinian stone-throwers following Friday prayers. Fifteen Palestinian protesters were arrested.

Saudi police deny young man killed in raidDUBAI: A young Saudi man was killed during a raid by security forces in the restive town of Awamiya in the eastern part of the country, a local news website reported.

Saudi police denied any con-nection to the death of the young man and suggested it may be crime-linked.

The website www.rasid.com quoted witnesses as saying that dozens of security vehicles

blocked the roads into Awamiya on Thursday while forces raided the homes of two wanted activists on a list published by the authori-ties in January 2012.

“Information circulating around indicated that security forces opened fire during the raid, after which the youth Ahmed Ali Al Muslab fell,” rasid said.

It quoted activists as saying that the youth was passing by the area of the raid when he was hit

in the foot and back while try-ing to flee arrest. Activists had emailed what they said were pho-tographs from the scene, showing walls and doors with bullet holes.

A spokesman for Saudi police in the eastern region said the central hospital in Qatif notified police shortly after mid-day on Thursday that a dead man with gunshot wounds had been brought in by his father.

The police said the father told

police afterwards that two masked men on a motorbike had brought the body of his son and dumped it in front of the house and fled.

“Security authorities began investigating and searching for the suspects,” the police said.

At least 21 people have been shot dead in the region since early 2011, when Shias protested against the role of Saudi forces in ending demonstrations in Bahrain.

REUTERS

Al Qaeda suspects gun down Yemen intelligence officerADEN: Suspected Al Qaeda gunmen shot dead a Yemeni intelligence officer yester-day in the southeastern city of Hadramawt, a security source said, in the second shooting in as many days.

“Two men on a motorcycle opened fire at intelligence officer Omar Mahfudh, killing him on the spot as he emerged from Al Qatn mosque,” the source said, adding Al Qaeda was behind the shooting.

On Thursday night, retired army colonel Abdel Magid Abdullah, 70, was killed in simi-lar circumstances by gunmen who fled on a motorcycle in Huta, capital of the southern province of Lahj.

The shootings are the lat-est in a wave of almost daily attacks blamed on Al Qaeda in recent weeks against army and intelligence officers in southern Yemen.

AFP

0909SEPTEMBER 7, 2013www.thepeninsulaqatar.com ON SATURDAYInternational

Wishing good health to Mandela

Two young girls hold messages for former president Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg yesterday outside South Africa's anti-apartheid icon’s home in the Houghton area. South African President Jacob Zuma said that the 95-year-old was responding to treatment at home.

ST PETERSBURG: US President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin yesterday failed to end their bitter dispute over US plans for military action in Syria, as half of the G20 called for a “strong” response to a chemical weapons attack blamed on the regime.

The US signalled that it has given up on securing Moscow’s support at the UN on the crisis, as Putin reiterated a warning that it would be “outside the law” to attack without the UN’s blessing.

“We spoke sitting down... it was a constructive, meaningful, cordial conversation,” Putin said after his previously unscheduled talks with Obama.

“Each of us kept with our own opinion,” he said.

The split among leaders of the world’s top emerging and devel-oped countries over the issue was symbolised in a statement sup-ported by 11 states at the G20 calling for a “strong international response” to the chemical attack.

Without specifying mili-tary action, it said the response would “send a clear message that this kind of atrocity can never be repeated”. The signatories included US allies Britain, France and Saudi Arabia.

Obama argued at the end of the G20 summit in Russia that the world cannot “stand idly by” after the chemical weapons attack out-side Damascus last month which the US claims was launched by President Bashar Al Assad’s regime.

Washington prepared the ground for possible strikes, evac-uating non-essential embassy staff from Beirut and urging Americans to avoid all travel to Lebanon as well as southern Turkey.

The Russian foreign ministry, meanwhile, yesterday strongly warned the US against targeting Syria’s chemical arsenal in any attacks.

Putin has emerged as one of the most implacable critics of military intervention against the regime of Assad over an alleged chemi-cal weapons attack on August 21.

He and Obama spoke for about half an hour on the sidelines of the summit, but neither man-aged to change the other’s mind on Syria.

“He (Obama) disagrees with my arguments, I disagree with his arguments, but we do hear, and we try to analyse,” he said.

Obama also called the discus-sion “candid and constructive”, adding that it “characterises my relationship with him”.

The US yesterday said it has come to terms with the fact that no deal could emerge despite repeated attempts at persuad-ing Syria’s key ally Russia, and signalled that it would take punitive action against Assad’s regime without the UN Security Council’s backing.

Obama expressed appreciation for France, saying that he very much valued President Francois Hollande’s “commitment to a strong international response for these grievous acts”.

He said he would prefer to have an international mandate for the strikes, but that Washington should not be paralysed by a refusal on the part of some coun-tries to act. “If we’re not acting, what does that say?”

Obama, who will address the US nation on Tuesday, is now seeking support from Congress for military action, a process he admitted he always knew was going to be a “heavy lift”.

Earlier, Ben Rhodes, Obama’s

deputy national security advisor for strategic communications said: “We can’t have an endless process at the UN Security Council that doesn’t lead to anything.”

Russia and China — both veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council — have on three occasions voted down reso-lutions that would have put pres-sure on Assad.

During a dinner on Thursday, leaders, including Obama, pre-sented their positions on the Syria crisis which only confirmed the extent of global divisions on the issue, participants said.

Putin said that a majority of countries at the G20 appeared

to be supporting his position. “You said views divided 50-50, that is not quite right,” Putin said in answer to a journalist’s question, listing only the US, Turkey, Canada, Saudi Arabia and France as countries supporting an intervention.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon yes-terday also warned that military strikes could spark further sec-tarian violence in the country which he said is suffering from a humanitarian crisis “unprec-edented” in recent history.

“I must warn that ill-consid-ered military action could cause serious and tragic consequences, and with an increased threat of

further sectarian violence,” Ban said. French President Francois Hollande said Paris would await the UN inspectors’ report on the chemical attack before any Syria strike.

The US president held a bilat-eral meeting yesterday morn-ing with President Xi Jinping of China, who like Russia vehe-mently opposes military action against Syria. AFP

Obama, Putin fail to end dispute over Syria US signals that it has given up on securing Moscow’s support on the crisis

US President Barack Obama speaks during a press conference at the G20 Summit in St Petersburg yesterday.

LONDON: Prime Minister David Cameron took the unusual step of listing what he said were Britain’s historical achievements and current strengths in a prickly response to a disputed Kremlin slur that his country was a “small island” that nobody listened to.

In St Petersburg for a G20 summit where possible US mili-tary action against the Syrian government dominated the agenda, Cameron chose to focus on comments reportedly made by President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman even though the spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, denied making them.

The row underlined deep tensions between Britain and Russia over Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s suspected use of chemical weapons and erupted at a time when Cameron is under pressure to show Britain remains an important global actor despite his failure to convince the British parliament of the need for military action against Assad.

Before travelling to the summit, one of his own senior lawmakers, Liam Fox, a former defence minister, had said Cameron now had “no hand to play” on Syria and many commentators had said Cameron was on the summit’s sidelines because of his defeat in the British parliament. Cameron said he knew the comments had been denied, but spent much of his time responding to them, issuing a lengthy written statement and giving a long answer to a question on the subject at his closing press conference yesterday.

“Britain may be a small island, but I would challenge anyone to find a country with a prouder history, a bigger heart or greater resilience,” he said in a statement. REUTERS

Cameron embroiled in ‘small island’ row with Russia

WASHINGTON: Leaks revealing how American spies have circumvented encryp-tion for online communications are “not news” because code-breaking is part of their job, US intelligence said yesterday.

But revelations to newspa-pers about how the National Security Agency (NSA), along with British spy services, have deciphered data under encryp-tion could help America’s adver-saries, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement.

“While the specifics of how our intelligence agencies carry out this cryptanalytic mission have been kept secret, the fact that NSA’s mission includes decipher-ing enciphered communications is not a secret, and is not news,” the ODNI said in a statement.

“It should hardly be surpris-ing that our intelligence agen-cies seek ways to counteract our adversaries’ use of encryption,” the ODNI said.

“Throughout history, nations have used encryption to protect their secrets, and today terror-ists, cybercriminals, human traf-fickers and others also use code to hide their activities,” it said.

“Our intelligence community would not be doing its job if we did not try to counter that,” the office said. The ODNI noted that the National Security Agency’s website describes its mission to include “cryptology.”

The statement came a day after the latest dramatic dis-closures about the scale of American electronic surveillance, based on leaks from former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

Documents handed over by Snowden to The Guardian, The New York Times and ProPublica suggest US and British intel-ligence agencies are able to penetrate supposedly secure encryption used to protect emails, banking transactions and phone conversations. AFP

Snowden’s leak on code-breaking is not news, says agency

BAMAKO: Mali’s first post-war prime minister began yes-terday the task of forming a government expected to deliver on promises by the president to reunite a deeply divided nation and crack down on corruption.

Career technocrat Oumar Tatam Ly, made head of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita’s govern-ment on Thursday, took over from interim premier Diango Cissoko at a ceremony in the capital Bamako before turning to the job of picking his team of ministers.

“I am ready to meet the chal-lenges and tasks that have been assigned to me by the president,” he said in a brief statement.

Ly has spent most of the last two decades as a central bank functionary and is expected to rely

on advisers with more political know-how while he chooses col-leagues in a cabinet charged with returning stability to a country upended by a military coup and Islamist insurgency last year.

He began consultations with potential ministers immediately after being appointed on Thursday, his aides said, although none would reveal who was in consideration for the big portfolios. One member of Ly’s inner circle who has known the new premier for 20 years described him as a “reserved” and “exacting” man who disliked “ama-teurism”. “I believe that the way the government operates could change. There will be account-ability for results for all members of the government,” the aide said.

“Good governance will be the

basis of every action of the new prime minister.”

Ly’s appointment has been met with cautious approval in the mainstream media, with daily newspaper Le Soir describing the 49-year-old as “a choice in line with the wishes of Malians”. The reaction on social networks was mixed, with some taking to Twitter to express doubts over the appointment of “an apolitical prime minister in a very political period”, as one critic wrote, while others were more generous.

“The nomination of this man who has had a career first will be a model for the youth of Mali and bodes well for a well-governed Mali...” World Bank economist and Malian politician Madani Tall tweeted. AFP

Mali’s new prime minister picks first post-war government

MAIDUGURI: Suspected Islamist militants armed with guns and machetes killed at least 20 people in villages in Nigeria’s turbulent northeast, witnesses said yesterday.

The attacks on Wednesday and Thursday took place close to Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state where Islamist sect Boko Haram launched an uprising in 2009.

Boko Haram, which wants to impose sharia law in northern Nigeria, and other splinter Islamist groups, are the biggest threat to stability in Africa’s top oil exporter.

“Fifteen people were killed in Gajiram on Wednesday night when the Boko Haram sect members attacked the town,” witness Modu Ngubdo told Reuters in Maiduguri, where he fled after the attack. Gajiram is around 40 miles from Maiduguri.

A further five people were killed by gunmen in the early hours of Thursday in the village of Bulabilin Ngaura, around 20 miles from the state capital, resident Aisami Babagana said.

The military did not respond to a request for comment. Information can take a long time to emerge from Borno where the army has cut the telephone network in an effort to disrupt com-munication between Boko Haram cells.

MADRID: Spanish King Juan Carlos’s scandal-hit daughter Cristina and her husband have put their seven-room mansion in Barcelona up for sale for ¤9.8m ($12.9 million), Spanish media reported yesterday.

The three-floor home in the exclusive Pedralbes area of the Catalan capital is listed with real estate firm Barcelonarent.info, which specialises in selling to wealthy Russians, daily newspaper El Mundo and other media reported.

Spanish media published several photos of the inside of the house and gardens taken from the firm’s website, which was inaccessible yesterday due to Internet traffic congestion.

The agency described the property as a “luxury villa in the most prestigious zone of Barcelona” in a “quiet and exclusive” area that allows for “maximum confidentiality”, El Mundo reported. The 1,000 sq m mansion has seven bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, a large living room with a fireplace, and an elevator, along with a 1,300 sq m garden and salt water swimming pool.

JOHANNESBURG: A three-day strike by tens of thousands of South African gold miners wound down yesterday with most strikers agreeing to return to work after accepting the latest wage offer from employers, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said.

Gold producers said they had offered entry-level workers pay increases of 8 percent and a 7.5 percent rise for other employees from July this year, slightly above consumer inflation which was 6.3 percent in July.

For next year, employees would get inflation-linked increases, the companies said. The pay rise offer is far below the 15 to 60 percent NUM had originally been seeking. The unexpectedly quick end to the strike is a relief to Africa’s largest economy, hit by stoppages across a range of sectors including auto making, which have cost tens of millions of dollars a day in lost output. AGENCIES

Nigerian militant attacks kill 20 in northeast

Spain king’s scandal-hit daughter puts €9.8m price tag for mansion

South African gold strike almost over

1010 SEPTEMBER 7, 2013www.thepeninsulaqatar.comON SATURDAY Asia

Council rejects poll complaintsPHNOM PEHN: Cambodia’s Constitutional Council, the final arbiter for resolving election complaints, yester-day rejected all complaints filed by the opposition party against the July 28 election in which Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling party won a majority of vote. “We rejected all the 15 complaints submit-ted by the opposition against the poll results because the opposition had provided little evidence to support its claims of irregularities in voter lists and ballot-rigging,” said Prom Nhean Vichit, a member of the nine-member council.

Textile workers reinstatedPHNOM PENH: Hundreds of Cambodian garment work-ers sacked from a factory sup-plying brands including Gap and H&M were reinstated yesterday, a union leader said, after a protest forced an apparent climbdown by their employer. Around 4,000 work-ers marched through Phnom Penh on Thursday in protest at the dismissal of 720 workers for going on strike over claims of intimidation by the factory owner. They were reinstated while an apparent suspension of 5,000 other staff was lifted by the Singapore-owned SL Garment Processing factory, union leader Ath Thorn said.

Soldiers jailed for murders YOGYAKARTA: An Indonesian military tribunal yesterday handed jail terms to four soldiers for involve-ment in a plot to storm the Cebongan prison in central Java in March and murder four inmates in a revenge kill-ing. One soldier, who drove his comrades to the jail so they could launch the attack, was jailed for 15 months. The oth-ers, who sought to cover up the crime, were sentenced to four months and 20 days each but will be released within days as they have been behind bars since April. It came a day after the court in Yogyakarta, Java, handed 21 months to 11 years to eight members of the elite Kopassus unit.

Taiwan troops to leave isletsTAIPEI: Taiwan is set to withdraw troops from two islets near the Chinese main-land next year and turn the former battleground into a tourist attraction amid warming ties, reports said yesterday. Nearly 200 sol-diers in the Tatan and Ertan islets, which form part of the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen island group off southeast China’s Xiamen city, will be withdrawn from May, said United Evening News, citing defence sources. AGENCIES

SEOUL: North Korea yester-day reconnected a military hot-line to the South that was cut earlier this year at the height of cross-border tensions, Seoul’s government said.

The line -- one of the two remaining inter-Korea military hotlines -- was disabled in late March weeks after the North’s third nuclear test and the follow-ing month a joint industrial zone was shut down.

The North in early March had cut off another line at the bor-der truce village of Panmunjom

before reopening it in July when relations showed signs of thawing.

Cross-border army hotlines in other parts of the country were severed years ago when tensions soared and left unrestored since then. The latest re-establishment of the hotline paves the way for the reopening of the Kaesong industrial zone as it is largely used to provide security guaran-tees when South Korean busi-nessmen and workers visit the complex.

The North made the first call to the South via the hotline since

March yesterday morning, said Seoul’s unification ministry, which handles cross-border affairs.

It followed an agreement on Thursday at a meeting of the inter-Korea committee tasked with reviving the shuttered Kaesong complex.

Separately yesterday, a senior US official said North Korea’s nuclear programme was a “driver of instability” in the region, urging Pyongyang to comply with its earlier commitment to denuclearisation.

AFP

KATHMANDU: Nepal plans to name two Himalayan peaks after pioneering Mount Everest climbers Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, a hiking official said, in a move designed to boost tourism in the beauti-ful but poor country.

New Zealander Hillary and his Nepali guide Tenzing made it to the 8,850-metre summit of the world’s highest mountain on May 29, 1953 as part of a British expedition.

A government panel has recom-mended that two unnamed moun-tains be called Hillary Peak and Tenzing Peak, said Ang Tshering Sherpa, former president of Nepal Mountaineering Association.

“This is to honour their con-tribution to mountaineering in Nepal,” Sherpa said.

The peaks — Hillary’s at 7,681 metres and Tenzing’s at 7,916 metres — have never been climbed and are expected to be opened to

foreigners in the spring season that starts in March.

Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains.

Hillary died in 2008 at age 88 and Tenzing in 1986 at age 72. Climbers in their time lacked specialised equipment taken for granted today and the heavy oxy-gen tanks the two men carried made mountaineering more chal-lenging than it is now.

About 4,000 climbers have made it to the Everest since 1953.

A small airport Hillary built in the 1960s at Lukla, the gate-way to Everest, has already been named after him and Tenzing. Two peaks in west Nepal could be named after famed French climbers Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal, said Sherpa.

In 1950, both became the first to reach the summit of an 8,000 metres peak — Mount Annapurna.

AGENCIES

Thailand reaches breakthrough in rubber crisisBANGKOK: Thailand’s gov-ernment said yesterday it had reached a deal with most rub-ber farmers in the country’s south demanding greater state support for rubber prices, sig-nalling a breakthrough in a two-week long protest.

“Most protest leaders agree to our pledge to help push prices up to 90 baht per kg but there is a small minority who do not see eye-to-eye,” Thawat Boonfueng, deputy secretary-general to the prime minister, said yesterday.

The government has asked for 10 days to come up with meas-ures to help support rubber prices but said it would not intervene directly in market prices. Protest leaders had earlier demanded 100 baht ($3.10) per kg.

Protesters in Cha-uat district

of Nakorn Si Thammarat prov-ince, one of the main protest sites, began to disperse following the deal between their leaders and the government. Others said they would not accept anything less than 100 baht per kg.

“We are giving the government one week to re-think their offer. If they don’t meet our demands, we will march on city hall” said Amnuay Yititham, a protest leader.

The populist government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra faced pressure yes-terday to end the demonstration after violent overnight clashes between riot police and a group of protesters who hurled rocks and bottles filled with an acidic liquid.

Police fired tear gas to dis-perse a group of protesters in

Prachuap Khiri Khan province on a main road from Bangkok to the southern beach resort region of Phuket. At least 21 policemen were injured, authorities said. By mid-morning Friday, protesters had dispersed.

“Acid and rocks were thrown at police, leaving one officer with a serious injury. Orders were issued to use teargas after a group of youths, who were not part of the protest, fired at police,” Deputy Prime Minister Pracha Promnok said yesterday.

“The situation this morning is calm.”

Thailand is the world’s biggest rubber producer and exporter with around 90 percent of its output heading overseas. The protests have disrupted dis-tribution systems and delayed

thousands of metric tons of Thai rubber shipments. Tens of thou-sands of farmers in the country’s main southern rubber-producing region are demanding greater state support after a slowdown in demand from China and concerns over global economic growth sent prices tumbling to multi-year lows in mid-2012.

China accounts for 35 percent of global rubber consumption.

They mainly support the opposition Democrat Party and have accused Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra of sup-porting rice farmers in her key north and northeastern constit-uencies through a rice-buying programme, while neglecting rub-ber farmers in the south of the country.

REUTERS

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s main Muslim political leader, who is also the justice minister, criticised his own government yesterday for blaming reli-gious tensions in the mainly Buddhist nation on Islamic fundamentalism.

Rauf Hakeem said he had been “disturbed” by recent com-ments from the country’s defence minister, Gotabhaya Rajapakse which warned of efforts to “pro-mote Muslim extremism” in Sri Lanka.

“We are extremely disturbed by the specific reference to the Muslim community of Sri Lanka as possible breeding grounds of extremism within the country,” Hakeem said in a statement.

“I would like to publicly con-tradict the assertion of the Secretary of Defence,” Hakeem said in an unusual public outburst against Gotabhaya Rajapakse, who is the younger brother of

President Mahinda Rajapakse.Seventy percent of Sri Lanka’s

20-million-strong population are Buddhists, while Muslims are the second-largest religious group, making up just under 10 percent.

There had been an increase in attacks against mosques and Muslim-owned business and their lifestyle since last year, heightening religious tensions on the island.

Much of the violence had been blamed on new Buddhist hard-line groups allegedly drawing support from the authorities.

Gotabhaya Rajapakse, one of the country’s most power-ful figures who is credited with crushing Tamil Tiger separatists in a military offensive in 2009, has denied supporting hardline Sinhalese-Buddhist groups.

However, at a seminar hosted by the military on Tuesday he said: “One of the consequences

of the increasing insularity amongst minority ethnic groups is the emergence of hardline groups within the majority (Sinhala-Buddhist) community.”

“It is a known fact that Muslim fundamentalism is spreading all over the world and in this region,” Rajapakse said. “The possibility that such extremist elements may try to promote Muslim extremism in Sri Lanka is a cause for concern.”

Hakeem, whose Sri Lanka Muslim Congress is a partner in Rajapakse’s ruling coalition, warned that Sri Lanka may be antagonising Islamic nations by making generalised statements about Muslim fundamentalism.

He said Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan had been strong allies of the Colombo govern-ment when it faced allegations of war crimes at the UN Human Rights Council.

AFP

Radicals burn effigies of Miss World backersJAKARTA: Chanting Islamic radicals in Indonesia burnt effi-gies of Miss World beauty pag-eant organisers and branded them “infidels” yesterday dur-ing an angry protest two days before the show starts.

The past week has seen hun-dreds of demonstrators take to the streets, while hardliners, rights groups and even a gov-ernment minister have united to express outrage at the decision to host the contest in the Muslim-majority country.

Yesterday, hundreds of hardlin-ers in traditional Islamic skull-caps and robes, accompanied by a handful of women in headscarves, marched through the capital Jakarta, and protests erupted in other parts of the sprawling archipelago.

The 700-strong crowd in the capital gathered at the head office of MNC media group, which will broadcast the show and is the local organiser, brandishing ban-ners reading “From infidels, by infidels, to ruin Indonesia”.

Some demonstrators used red spray-paint to write “pimp’s office” on the building, which was surrounded by barbed wire and heavily guarded by police.

Hundreds of protesters also took to the streets yesterday in other major cities across Indonesia, including Bandung on the main island of Java, Medan on Sumatra island, and Banjarmasin on Indonesian Borneo.

More than 120 Miss World con-tests have already arrived for the contest.

AFP

Nepal to name Himalayan peaks after Hillary, Tenzing

S Korea extends Japan fisheries ban as Fukushima concerns grow SEOUL: South Korea yester-day extended a ban on Japanese fishery imports to a larger area around the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant due to grow-ing concerns over radiation contamination.

Further fuelling those con-cerns, the plant’s operator Tokyo Electric Power Co, or Tepco, said it was “very concerned” that radi-oactive water could flow towards a bypass it is digging to divert clean groundwater around the damaged reactors and into the sea.

The bypass is a key element of the company’s attempts to con-tain an escalating problem of irradiated water at the nuclear facility that was knocked out by an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.

The Korean move — widen-ing its ban to cover imports from eight Japanese prefectures, including Fukushima — came as Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe broke away early from a Group of 20 Summit in Russia to pitch Tokyo’s bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games, with assur-ances that the Japanese capital would be safe for all those coming to the Games. A decision by the International Olympic Committee is due on Saturday.

A spokesman for the South Korean Prime Minister’s office said the measures were due to “the sharply increased concern in the public about the flow of hundreds of tonnes of contami-nated water into the ocean” at Fukushima. The indefinite ban, which takes effect on Monday and affects some of Japan’s big-gest fishing areas, adds to inter-national pressure to fix the crisis at the Fukushima plant, 230km north of Tokyo.

China has banned imports of dairy, vegetable and seafood prod-ucts from at least five Japanese prefectures, including Fukushima, since the disaster.

REUTERS

Lanka minister warns of extremism

One of the two inter-Korea military hotlines disabled

North Korea restarts army hotline to South

Malaysian activists hold a poster during a protest against threats of a military strike on Syria outside the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Protest over Syria

A Cambodian youth puts flowers at the feet of policemen in front of the Ministry of Defence in Phnom Penh yesterday. Cambodia is deploying thousands of security personnel to police a mass protest in the capital this weekend against disputed election results.

Election protest

Muslim rebels free kidnapped businesswomanZAMBOANGA CITY: The Abu Sayyaf Group has released a businesswoman, but kept her relative captive in the jungles of Sulu, a secu-rity official said yesterday.

Col Jose Joriel Cenabre, com-mander of the Joint Task Force Sulu and 2nd Marine Brigade, said that kidnap victim Nancy Gonato, 39, was freed by the bandits at around 4:30pm Thursday in downtown of Jolo, the capital town of Sulu.

Cenabre could not imme-diately confirm whether ran-som was paid in exchange for the release of Gonato. He said Gonato’s business partner and relative Ronnie Sandagon, a former municipal council-lor of Naga town, Zamboanga Sibugay, remains in the bandit group’s captivity. The police and the military believe that Sandagon is still alive.

Police zero in on shootersMANILA: The Makati City Police is zeroing in on three suspects in the fatal shoot-ing of a security guard at the Burgundy Corporate Tower in Makati on Thursday.

Makati police chief Senior Superintendent Manuel Lukban said they took into custody 126 security guards hired by the old and new board of directors of the 38-storey condominium. Lukban said they have released 80 of the security guards after they were questioned and their firearms confiscated for ballistic exams.

Jimmy Lagunsad, an employee of the Sidekick secu-rity agency (not Spectrum as earlier reported), was shot dead in the chest with a shot-gun during a confrontation between members of the Swag security agency guarding the building and security guards of the Sidekick and Spectrum security agencies.

Hunt begins for 13 prisonersCAGAYAN DE ORO CITY: Police units across northern Mindanao have been placed on red alert as authori-ties hunt down 13 of the 21 inmates who bolted the Valencia City jail in Bukidnon last Tuesday afternoon.

The regional office of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology is coordinating with the police and Army for the recapture of the 13 escap-ees who are armed with shot-guns and pistols. AGENCIES

Philippines calls home China envoyMANILA: The Philippines has called home its ambassador to China for consultations, the foreign department said amid fresh tensions in a long-running maritime territorial dispute.

Foreign department spokes-man Raul Hernandez announced Ambassador Erlinda Basilio’s trip after the defence depart-ment accused China of laying 75 concrete blocks on the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.

Defence officials have expressed concern this could be a prelude to building structures at the shoal, 220 kilometres (135 miles) off the main Philippine island of Luzon and within the Philippines’ inter-nationally recognised exclusive economic zone.

“She was asked to come home for consultations and will return to Beijing in a few days,”

Hernandez said. Speaking to reporters earlier on Thursday, he would not say if Basilio was called home solely because of the alleged Chinese block-laying.

The Philippine foreign minis-try earlier said President Benigno Aquino had called off a planned trip to China on Tuesday for a trade fair after Chinese authori-ties imposed conditions on his visit.

Hernandez said Manila was still studying whether to lodge a dip-lomatic protest or consider other options regarding the alleged Chinese activity at the shoal.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei rejected the Philippine allegations on Wednesday, while asserting his country’s sovereignty over the shoal.

The outcrop is about 650 kilo-metres from Hainan island, the nearest major Chinese land mass,

but China claims most of the South China Sea including waters near the coasts of its neighbours.

Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have competing claims to parts of the sea, and the rivalries have been a source of tension for decades.

The Philippines engaged China in a tense standoff at Scarborough Shoal in 2012.

Manila has said the Chinese had effectively taken control of it by stationing vessels there and preventing Filipino fishermen from entering the area.

In January the government asked a United Nations tribu-nal to rule on the validity of the Chinese claims to most of the sea.

China has rejected the move, saying it wants to solve the dis-pute through bilateral negotia-tions with concerned parties.

AFP

Palace mulls protest against construction on shoal

Dead whale shark washes ashore in Manila Bay MANILA: A dead young whale shark has washed ashore in Manila Bay near the Philippine capital, far from the endangered giant fish’s traditional feeding grounds, fishermen and a wildlife official said.

The five-metre (17-foot) corpse took locals by surprise in Tanza, a fishing district near the mouth of the bay, fisherman Edgar Biri said.

“It was near the shore, we thought it was some kind of a deadly shark,” he said. “When we approached, we saw it was not moving anymore.”

Local fisheries bureau veterinarian Marco Espiritu said he would examine the 300 kilogram (660 pound) carcass to determine the cause of death. “It is unusual to see whale sharks around these parts,” he said.

“Their migratory patterns are far from here, but it may have been following food that’s why it came into the bay,” he added.

In 2009, he said a dead whale shark about the same size was found at a busy wharf on Manila Bay.

Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus), the largest fish species in the world, are slow-moving creatures that can reach 12 metres in length and weigh more than 20 tonnes, feeding mostly on plankton, small fish and crustaceans.

Found in all tropical and warm seas of the world, they show up in large numbers between April and May in plankton-rich areas far from Manila. Switzerland-based watchdog group the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has placed the species in its list of “vulnerable” species. AFP

Manila arrests Taipei fishermanMANILA: A Taiwanese has been arrested for illegal fishing in the Philippines, police said on Thursday as the two neigh-bours try to mend fences after the shooting death of another Taiwanese fisherman in May.

Tsai Po, 54, was detained on Tuesday while diving for lobsters off the coast in the Philippines’ Batan group of islands near the maritime border with Taiwan, provincial police officer Victor de Sagon said.

“They have been doing this for a long time. This is rampant poaching,” said De Sagon, adding that Tsai was among a group of suspects who were illegally fishing just off Siayan island.

He will be charged with poach-ing, which is punishable by a US$100,000 fine, confiscation of his catch, fishing equipment and fishing vessel, the officer added.

De Sagon rejected reports in the Taiwanese press that the detained suspect had been treated roughly.

“We are not violating his rights. He is being fed well, he underwent a medical check-up, and he is in regular contact with his wife and the (de facto) Taiwanese embassy in Manila,” De Sagon said.

Tsai, contacted by phone from Taipei, said he did not understand why he was detained because he spoke no English.

He claimed that he was in Taiwanese waters when taken into custody by people “who were in plain clothes and acted like pirates”.

“I was handcuffed and asked to kneel on the floor of my boat for many hours and three or four persons pointed guns at me. I was scared and my feet, waist and hands ached. I hope I can go home

soon,” he said from a police station in Batan, where he is being held.

Officials at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Manila, which represents Taiwan’s inter-ests in the Philippines, could not be reached for comment.

The arrest followed a diplo-matic row triggered by the shoot-ing death of a 65-year-old crew member of a Taiwanese fishing boat on May 9 by a Filipino coast-guard patrol.

An angry Taiwan announced sanctions including a ban on the hiring of new Filipino workers.

The neighbours began repairing the rift after Filipino authorities in August recommended homicide charges against the coastguards, and Taiwan lifted its sanctions.

The shooting occurred in waters also claimed by Taiwan near the Batan islands.

AFP

NBI officials resent being suspects in Napoles leakMANILA: Two National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) deputy directors met Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Thursday and said that they resent being suspected of leak-ing information on the arrest warrant against business-woman Janet Lim Napoles.

De Lima bared the news after emerging from the meeting with NBI deputy directors Reynaldo Esmeralda and Ruel Lasala.

De Lima had urged the six

deputy directors to step down fol-lowing Director Nonnatus Rojas’ resignation.

“I don’t think [Esmeralda and Lasala] are willing to submit courtesy resignations,” De Lima said.

“They explained why and therefore I cannot compel them to submit their courtesy resigna-tion,” she added, without disclos-ing the reasons given by the two officials.

She earlier revealed that three

to four of the bureau’s top officials have been engaged in anomalous practices.

However, De Lima said that she trusts Rojas and Deputy Director Virgilio Mendez and the two offi-cials also have President Benigno Aquino III’s confidence.

Aquino said in an interview over the weekend that the two top honchos in the bureau may have tipped off suspected “assist-ance” scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles on the arrest

warrant issued by the Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 150.

De Lima, meanwhile, had said that she was clueless on who the President were pertaining to.

Aquino has ordered the NBI to conduct an internal investigation on the supposed leak.

Napoles went into hiding after the court issued the arrest war-rant against her and her brother, Reynald Lim, based on the seri-ous illegal detention case filed by

their former employer and rela-tive, Benhur Luy.

After President Aquino announced a P10m ($240,000) reward for the capture of Napoles, the businesswoman surrendered to him in Malacanang last August 28.

Napoles, also tagged as the mastermind of the P10bn ($240m) assistance scam, has been detained at Fort Sto Domingo in Sta Rosa, Laguna.

THE PHILIPPINE STAR

Extremists deny use of bacterial arms in attacksBAGUIO CITY: The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said the New People’s Army does not use bacterial weapons in the insurgency war it has been waging for more than four decades now.

Flatly rejecting as “baseless, desperate and faecal-brained” the mili-tary’s allegation that communist rebels smear explosives with human faeces, the CPP said “the purpose of explosives detonated on command is to momentarily stun and immobilise the enemy, thereby enabling the guerrillas to maintain the initiative in battle and maximise the employment of tactical superior firepower, and not to subject anyone to bacterial infection.”

The military said on Thursday that rebels have been using bacte-rial weapons after Tuesday’s NPA attack in Napnapan, Pantukan, Compostela Valley as wounded soldiers were found positive for bacteria commonly found in the human gut.

“Any medical practitioner knows that open wounds, especially if not treated promptly, can be infected with bacteria, especially those that cause tetanus,” said the CPP.

“A medical doctor interviewed on national television also explained that the intestinal bacteria allegedly found by the Armed Forces of the Philippines doctors in shrapnel extracted from the wounded soldiers have limited life spans outside of the gut and are harmless unless ingested.”

The CPP also insists that under International Humanitarian Law and the Ottawa conventions against land mines, the guerrilla forces of the NPA are allowed to employ command-detonated explosives.

THE PHILIPPINE STAR

Quake strikes off Batan IslandMANILA: A strong 6.0 mag-nitude earthquake struck off the northern Philippines late yesterday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, officials said.

The quake was recorded at 7:33pm local time (1133 GMT) with an epicentre about 42 kilometres (26 miles) south of Uyugan town in the Batan Islands, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.

The United States Geological Survey said the quake had a depth of 178 kilometres.

Norma Talosig, the Batan Islands’ civil defence chief, said she contacted a Philippine navy detachment in Basco -- the capi-tal of the sparsely populated island group near the sea border with Taiwan -- to check on the impact.

“I was told it registered as a low-intensity tremor there, with no visible damage,” Talosig said.

AFP

Environmental activists rally in front of the hotel where European Union Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard was having a meeting in Manila yesterday. The protesters demanded the EU increase targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Environment protest

Uniquely crafted Hapi wheelchairs that speak of hope and happiness for the disabled will be auctioned at St Luke’s Medical Centre-Global City, second floor, Piano Lounge, on September 14.

Unique wheelchairs

1111SEPTEMBER 7, 2013www.thepeninsulaqatar.com ON SATURDAYPhilippines

Pakistan Defence Day

Members of Pakistan’s air force take part in a Defence Day (Memorial Day) ceremony at the Mausoleum of Muhammad Ali Jinnah in Karachi, yesterday. Jinnah is regarded as the founder of Pakistan.

PESHAWAR: US missiles yes-terday killed a commander in the Al Qaeda-linked Haqqani net-work involved in the abduction of US soldier Bowe Bergdahl, Pakistanis said.

Mullah Sangeen Zadran, black-listed as a terrorist by the United Nations and United States, was among six fighters killed in a drone strike in Pakistan’s tribal district of North Waziristan.

The United States has blamed the Haqqani network, a faction of the Taliban waging a 12-year insurgency in Afghanistan, for a series of high-profile attacks in recent years.

Two announcements made by mosque loudspeaker in

Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, said Zadran’s funeral would take place at 3pm on Friday, witnesses said.

Two Pakistani intelligence offi-cials, who spoke to AFP on condi-tion of anonymity, confirmed his death and said an Arab fighter was also among the dead.

Pakistani officials said the US drone fired two missiles, destroy-ing a compound overnight in Dargah Mandi, a Haqqani strong-hold about 10 kilometres (six miles) from Miranshah.

In August 2011, the US State Department said Zadran was believed to have orchestrated the kidnappings of Afghans and foreigners in the border region

between Afghanistan and Pakistan.Earlier that year, he was identi-

fied by the SITE monitoring group as the militant who blindfolded and led away US soldier Bowe Bergdahl on a video filmed of his captivity. Bergdahl disappeared on June 30, 2009 from his base in Paktika. He is the only known American sol-dier held by Afghan insurgents, who have released several videos show-ing him to be alive.

A source close to the Afghan Taliban in northwestern Pakistan said on condition of anonymity yesterday that Zadran had been involved in the abduction of the soldier.

The Taliban on June 18 opened an office in the Gulf state of Qatar,

reviving hopes in the United States that contacts might resume on a prisoner exchange that would bring Bergdahl home.

Efforts to negotiate an exchange between Bergdahl and five Taliban prisoners in Guantanamo Bay collapsed last year. The US State Department says his release is a priority. Bergdahl has said in a video that he was captured when he fell behind his unit during a patrol.

The US State Department said Zadran was shadow governor of Paktika, a volatile Afghan prov-ince on the Pakistani border, and a lieutenant of Haqqani leader Sirajuddin Haqqani.

It said Zadran led fighters in attacks across southeastern

Afghanistan, and was believed to have planned and coordinated the movement of hundreds of foreign fighters into Afghanistan.

The Pakistani government for-mally protests against US drone strikes as a violation of sover-eignty, but Washington views them as a vital tool in the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

On a visit to Islamabad last month, US Secretary of State John Kerry suggested that drone strikes in Pakistan could end “very soon” as the threat of militancy recedes. There has been a steady decline in the number of US drone strikes reported in Pakistan in recent years.

AFP

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari steps down tomorrow, having defied expectations by holding onto power for a record five years but facing criticism for leaving the economy and security in a shocking state.

Never popular and always shrouded in controversy, Zardari, once jailed for 11 years for alleged corruption, relinquishes power for a new life likely to be split between Pakistan and Dubai.

Six years after his wife, two-time prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was murdered, he retires hav-ing presided over the only civilian government in Pakistan history to complete a full term and hand over to another at the ballot box.

His successor is Mamnoon Hussain, a businessman and close ally of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif whose low-key persona and lack of personal power base puts him in contrast to Zardari.

“Politicking, keeping diverse groups together, that’s one of his achievements,” political analyst Hasan Askari said of Zardari, 58, who had to deal with a frac-tious ruling coalition and a divided Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

Another achievement was facing down a zealous judiciary. Furious that judges sacked under military rule in 2007 were not

reinstated when Zardari took power, the courts pursued him. The Supreme Court convicted him of contempt and sacked his first prime minister for refus-ing to ask Switzerland to reopen multi-million-dollar corruption cases against Zardari.

“I have not seen any Supreme Court in the world trying to put its sitting president on trial in a foreign country,” said Askari. “He survived. He’s a big survivor.”

Allies praise the outgoing par-liament for passing more legisla-tion than any of its predecessors, including laws empowering women against domestic violence and sexual harassment. In 2010, Zardari relinquished much of his power to the prime minister, roll-ing back on decades of meddling by military rulers to institutional-ise parliamentary democracy.

But critics say he showed no leadership in the face of economic decline and spiralling insecurity, laying accusations of poor govern-ance and rampant corruption at his door.

“Continuity is a positive devel-opment in Pakistan where politi-cal leaders don’t last long. Other than that there is no achievement you could highlight,” said Askari.

Sharif has inherited a surge in terrorist attacks. Shootings and bomb attacks are a daily reality.

Nothing has been done to elimi-nate militant networks blamed for violence in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. Religious violence has reached dizzying levels with the Shia minority bearing the brunt.

Karachi, the largest city and business hub, is suffering from record killings linked to politi-cal and ethnic tensions. Sharif has made his priority resolving a chronic energy crisis and trying to revive the economy.

He was left with no option but to secure a $6.7bn loan from the International Monetary Fund to reduce a fiscal deficit that neared nine percent of GDP last year.

Zardari spoke of the need for reconciliation at a farewell lunch hosted by Sharif, which earnt plaudits from commenta-tors praising the dignity of the handover.

“Today we need reconciliation. Everyone needs it, so we have to work together under your leader-ship. We will strengthen our coun-try. We cannot afford divisions,” Zardari said.

“It is a question of our future generation. History will not for-give us if we do not realise the sit-uation and the threats (Pakistan faces). We have to save Pakistan from future threats.”

Aides deny that Zardari, unpop-ular and divisive within the PPP,

PARIS: Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul said on Thursday he was optimistic that Pakistan’s new government is serious about cooperation and confident the Taliban will not make a comeback.

In an interview with Paris-based international news channel France 24, Rassoul said Kabul was encouraged by recent talks with Islamabad.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai was in Pakistan for two days last week and met with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for the first time since Sharif ’s election in May.

“Stability in Pakistan cannot be achieved without stability in Afghanistan. That is something that is finally, I hope, understood by Pakistan,” Rassoul said.

Elements of the Pakistani state

are widely accused of funding, controlling and sheltering the Taliban. Islamabad says publicly it will do anything to stop the fight-ing in Afghanistan Rassoul said Kabul was “reasonably hopeful” of “much better cooperation” with the new Pakistani government.

“I think there is a recognition in Pakistan today that Pakistan has tremendous economic and security problems, that these difficulties

cannot be solved without coopera-tion with Afghanistan in the fight against terrorism,” he said.

Rassoul also said fears were overblown of the Taliban resurg-ing when the bulk of Western forces withdraw next year.

“The Taliban tried their best this summer to show that at the end of 2014 they are coming back. They did not succeed,” he said.

“They have no attraction at all

for the Afghan people because their job is killing, not giving a vision for the Afghan people.”

Rassoul said government forces were in control of 80 percent of Afghanistan and that the Taliban controlled “only one or two dis-tricts” in Helmand and Kandahar provinces.

“I can assure you there is no way the Taliban can come back in Afghanistan,” he said. AFP

KABUL: The Taliban yester-day denied shooting dead Indian writer Sushmita Banerjee, whose murder Afghan officials blamed on the insurgent militia fighting against the government for 12 years.

The 49-year-old was dragged out of her husband’s house by masked gunmen in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika province late Wednesday and repeatedly shot.

Police suggested her book, an account of her escape from the Taliban two decades ago that was later turned into a hit film, may have been the reason she was killed.

“Our investigation... indicates that the militants had grievances against her for something she had written or said in the past,” pro-vincial police chief Dawlat Khan Zadran said.

But yesterday a Taliban spokes-man denied any involvement.

“We reject claims that muja-hideen were involved in the kill-ing of the Indian woman. It is a propaganda by government offi-cials to defame the mujahideen,” Zabiullah Mujahid said.

The militant group, which has been waging a bloody insurgency against the Western-backed Kabul government since 2001, is often reluctant to claim the kill-ings of women.

Banerjee was married to local businessman Jaanbaz Khan and had recently moved back to live with him in Paktika, reportedly to run a health clinic for women there.

Her book “Kabuliwala’s Bengali Wife” was made into a Bollywood film in 2003.

AFP

Zardari to step down tomorrowMamnoon Hussain to replace him as president

Drone kills Haqqani commander blacklisted as terrorist

Afghan FM sees better cooperation with Pakistan

Taliban deny involvement in Indian author’s killing

Asif Ali Zardari and his successor Mamnoon Hussain

Afghan army proving to be ‘effective force’ LONDON: The top British commander in Afghanistan says the country’s military is proving to be an “effective force” despite rising casual-ties. According to BBC News, Lieutenant General John Lorimer said Afghan troops had demonstrated “resil-ience” in the face of Taliban attacks and were taking on insurgents. Nato troops are handing over security responsibility to local forces before a withdrawal next year. Taliban attacks have left scores of civilians dead in the past week. “When you are fighting a ruthless enemy inevitably you are going to take some casualties,” said Lorimer, Nato’s second-in-command in Afghanistan. He said the Afghan military is “well trained”. “They’re developing leaders. They are going on the front foot, taking the fight to the insurgents.” Meanwhile, Lieutenant General Mark Milley, Deputy Commander of US forces in Afghanistan, said “some-where in the range of 50 to 100 or so Afghan security forces are killed in action per week.” He said Islamist militants remained resilient but were not in a position to score a decisive victory.

Terror forum to review strategyISLAMABAD: An All Parties’ Conference has been called for September 9 to review the country’s counter-terrorism strategy. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali reportedly contacted all party leaders via telephone, including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan, Jamiat-ulema Islami Fazl chief Fazlur Rehman and Jamaat Islami chief Munawar Hasan. “The idea is to get everyone on board for the conference,” said Express News. Aside from developing a counter-terrorism strat-egy, the conference will also decide if the government should pursue dialogue with Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), a decision which the interior minister had claimed won’t be taken without inputs from parties. The forum was sched-uled for July 12 but postponed after Khan said he would be leaving for the UK before the conference. PTI leaders later claimed the forum was post-poned because the govern-ment wasn’t ready with its presentation.

‘Plotter’ held over killingsISLAMABAD: Police said they had arrested an alleged mastermind of an attack that killed 10 foreign trekkers in June at a base camp in the Himalayas. The June 22 attack was the deadli-est assault on foreigners in the country for a decade and was claimed by a purported new faction of Pakistan’s umbrella Taliban movement. Police in the northern dis-trict of Diamer in the Gilgit-Baltistan region said they had arrested a suspect on suspi-cion of planning the attack, and an accomplice with whom he allegedly killed three offic-ers. “The suspects killed the Diamer police chief and two military officers investigating the Nanga Parbat incident,” police said.

1.47m people hit by floods ISLAMABAD: The National Disaster Management Authority said 7,693 villages had been hit by floods while 21,133 houses destroyed. It said the death toll across the country has risen to 234 besides injuries to 1,129 people. In its latest data the authority said 1.47 million people had been hit.

AGENCIES

1212 SEPTEMBER 7, 2013www.thepeninsulaqatar.comON SATURDAY Pakistan / Afghanistan

will spend most of his time abroad and insist that he will base him-self in Pakistan and try to revive the party. The centre-left PPP ran a rudderless general election campaign earlier this year and has been thrust into its greatest crisis, suffering a crushing defeat without a true leader.

His son, Bilawal, is chairman but can only run for parliament after he turns 25 on September 21 and is seen as a reluctant heir to the legacy of his assassinated mother. His younger sister, Aseefa, publicly registered to vote this week and some believe she has more of the charisma and political hunger needed to replace her mother.

Zardar i ’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar said Zardari will relocate to Lahore “to start yet another chapter in political struggle”. Hussain is to be sworn in on Monday.

Hussain, 73, will be 12th presi-dent. He is a respected but low-profile businessman who led a successful career in textiles. Hussain’s time in office will cement democratic transition back to a ceremonial head of state.

He owns a textile firm and was president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry dur-ing Sharif ’s second term as prime minister from 1997 to 1999.

AFP

1313SEPTEMBER 7, 2013www.thepeninsulaqatar.comIndia ON SATURDAY

Donkeys saved from dinner tableMUMBAI: In the middle of the night, police cars were in hot pursuit of thieves on a dusty road in India, finally catching them and recovering the goods. But it wasn’t gold jewellery the gang had stolen, it was eight donkeys.

The animals were being rustled from Maharashtra state and sold in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, where some communities believe eating donkey meat can increase strength and virility.

The gang was selling each donkey for Rs10,000 ($152), R R Sayad, an assistant police inspec-tor, said.

The thieves had modified a pick-up truck with stalls so they could nab up to 10 donkeys at a time and had made several trips in the last few months, Sayad said.

REUTERS

Diesel price hike, fuel curbs likelyGovt aiming to trim imports billNEW DELHI: India may announce more measures to curb fuel consumption later this month and raise diesel prices by close to 10 percent soon in a bid to cut the biggest item in its import bill and support the rupee, government officials said.

The world’s fourth-biggest energy user is considering a Rs3-5 increase in the price of diesel, which accounts for over 40 per-cent of fuel use, as it looks to cut oil costs by nearly $20bn.

Rising global prices of crude oil and a slide in the rupee have left India facing an oil bill potentially 50 percent higher than on May 1.

“The timing and the quantum of the hike is a political decision,” said a government official who declined to be named. “But it should happen. Political discus-sions are going on.” The official said it would come sometime after the current parliament session ends today.

Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said his oil ministry counterpart, M Veerappa Moily, could announce steps to curb fuel consumption on September 16, when he returns from a trip to South Korea and Japan.

“No matter what happens, we will have to cut down on fuel con-sumption,” Khurshid told business channel CNBC TV18. “You can’t keep subsiding the costs of fuel

and not restrict the use of fuel.” Moily suggested ways to cut fuel

import costs in letters to the prime minister and finance ministry a week ago, ranging from a street theatre campaign to encourage careful use of fuel to stepping up imports from Iran, which India pays for in rupees. The official said talks were also on with Iraq, India’s biggest crude supplier, to pay in rupees for its oil.

Khurshid said Indians were increasingly realising the inevi-tability of moving away from government-controlled prices. “That’s beginning to happen but has political implications,” he said.

Fuel price rises generally pro-voke stiff resistance from oppo-sition parties, and any increase now is expected to draw a bigger protest as India approaches a gen-eral election. The election must be held by May 2014.

The official said the govern-ment also hopes to be able to raise prices of cooking gas and kerosene, calculating the rupee’s fall has added Rs350-400bn ($5.3-6.1bn)to its subsidy bill.

These two fuels are used largely by India’s poor and aspiring mid-dle classes, making increases a hot political issue.

Overall use of fuel products rose 1.1 percent between April and July.

REUTERS

President Pranab Mukherjee (left) presents the annual Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony to renowned conductor Zubin Mehta at the presidential palace in New Delhi yesterday.

Mehta seeks peace through music

Six get life over gang rape of student

Bus firm told to rehire driver with HIVMUMBAI: A court has ordered a public transport authority to rehire a sacked HIV-positive bus driver, the man’s lawyer said yesterday.

The 43-year-old, whose name has been withheld, was work-ing in the western city of Pune when he became HIV positive in 2008, leading him to require a less heavy-duty job than driving, his advocate Asim Sarode said.

The man approached his employers at the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation, explaining his con-dition and requesting a different position at the company.

“They said it was not possible, that he was taken into employ-ment as a driver and there was no provision to change his job pro-file. From that point they started

harassing him,” Sarode said.He said the harassment led to

the man’s dismissal last year.Sarode heard about the case

through the media and offered to give pro bono legal assistance. He said the state transport min-ister had pledged on television to get the worker reinstated in a “lighter job”, but he was removed again after 13 days.

The man took the case to the Bombay High Court, arguing that “capacity to work is more impor-tant than HIV status. This is defi-nitely against human rights,” his lawyer said.

On Wednesday, the court said the man must be reinstated within seven days and another hearing will be held to decide on his compensation.

AFP

BANGALORE: A court in southern India handed down life sentences yesterday to six men for the gang rape of a law student on a university campus last year.

The six were also ordered to pay a fine totalling 6,000 rupees (around $90) to the 21-year-old victim from Nepal over the injuries and trauma she suffered in the attack last October in Bangalore.

Sessions judge K Sangannavar told the court the men would be sent to prison “till their natural death”.

On October 13, the law student had been walking with a male companion in a secluded area of the Bangalore campus when a group of eight approached them. The woman was attacked after her companion was beaten up.

The judge, who found the group guilty earlier in the week, said they deserved the maximum sentence as their crime “involved

not just the physical torture, but also the mental trauma of the victim that won’t go away for a long time”.

A seventh suspect is being tried in a juvenile court while the eighth is still on the run. The six convicted, who were all residents of a nearby rural area, were arrested within a week of the assault.

The woman abandoned her studies after the assault and returned to Nepal.

In Mumbai, police said three of the men accused of gang-raping a photographer had allegedly raped a teenager in the same spot just weeks earlier.

Sketches of suspects in the attack on the photographer, pub-lished in the media, prompted a 19-year-old telephone operator to come forward to say she was raped there at the end of July by three of the same men, along with two others, police said.

AFP

Bill negating court order on jailed lawmakers passedNEW DELHI: With the Lok Sabha’s nod, parliament yester-day passed the Representation of People (Amendment) Bill, 2013, which will negate a Supreme Court order banning politicians in jail and under police custody from contesting polls.

The Rajya Sabha passed the bill on August 28.

At the start of the session, all parties were united in demanding that the government bring a bill to negate the apex court order.

The parties had apprehensions that false cases could be lodged by their rivals on the eve of any polls to get a candidate disquali-fied from contesting in keeping with the apex court order.

The bill negates the July 10 apex court order, which held that since those in jail cannot vote as per the electoral act, they cannot qualify for contesting elections to parliament or state assemblies.

Law Minister Kapil Sibal moved the bill.

IANS

Business favours Modi as PM: PollNEW DELHI: India’s business community strongly supports Hindu hardliner Narendra Modi to be the next premier, a poll showed yesterday, with the ruling Congress party’s heir-apparent, Rahul Gandhi, trail-ing a distant second.

Modi, chief minister of the eco-nomically thriving Gujarat state, is expected to be tapped to be prime minister if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wins a general election due by May.

The Nielsen/Economic Times newspaper poll of 100 corpo-rate leaders showed 74 percent wanted Modi to be prime minister while just seven percent believed Gandhi would be the best choice.

Modi, popularly known as “NaMo”, was named the BJP’s election committee chairman in June and has sought to broaden his appeal by pitching himself as an advocate of economic develop-ment rather than Hindu suprem-acy, by stressing his achievements in promoting industry.

He has not stated publicly he wants to prime minister, but has painted himself as a pro-business reformist who can revive the fortunes of the world’s largest democracy.

Analysts have raised fears that India could face a crunch of the sort it suffered in 1991 when a foreign exchange-strapped gov-ernment had to pawn its gold for an International Monetary Fund bailout.

Modi has become popular in India’s corporate world, where he is seen as a market-friendly leader who has energetically wooed industry to set up facto-ries in his state. But he remains a divisive figure after being accused of doing nothing to stop Hindu mobs massacring Muslims dur-ing riots in his state in 2002 in which as many 2,000 people died, according to rights groups.

AFP

SRINAGAR: Renowned con-ductor Zubin Mehta yesterday said he wanted to bring peace to Indian Kashmir through music, after separatist leaders demanded a controversial con-cert planned for the disputed region be scrapped.

The Mumbai-born Mehta is set to go ahead with the concert in the region’s main city of Srinagar this evening. It is expected to attract a 1,500-strong audience, including government ministers and diplomats.

Security is tight in Srinagar for the concert organised by the German ambassador to India, fol-lowing demands from separatists for its cancellation, saying it legit-imises Indian “state repression”.

Mehta, a former director of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, said: “We are only playing from our hearts tomorrow”.

“That’s all we want to do. We must never underestimate the power of inner peace that music brings,” he was quoted by CNN-IBN’s website as saying.

Mehta made the comments as he received a cultural harmony award yesterday from Indian President Pranab Mukherjee in a ceremony in the capital.

Mehta will conduct the Bavarian State Orchestra in works by Beethoven, Haydn and Tchaikovsky for an invited audi-ence at the sprawling Shalimar Mughal gardens on the banks of the picturesque Dal Lake.

Hundreds of police and mili-tary were patrolling the streets of Srinagar, while metal detectors have been set up and sniffer dogs deployed near the venue, police and witnesses said.

Separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani has called for a strike in the tense region today to protest the concert.

“Any sort of international activ-ity, be it political, diplomatic, cul-tural or sport will have an adverse effect on the disputed nature of Kashmir,” Geelani said.

Germany’s Ambassador Michael Steiner has defended the concert as “a wonderful cultural tribute to Kashmir and its warm-hearted and hospitable people”.

AFP

1414SEPTEMBER 7, 2013www.thepeninsulaqatar.com Business

ON SATURDAY

Economy limping back, but no end to crisis yet: G20BRICS to chip $100bn into reserve pool

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) arrives for the family picture event during the G20 summit in St Petersburg yesterday .

ST. PETERSBURG: The Group of 20 said yesterday the global economy was improving but it was too early to declare an end to cri-sis with emerging markets facing increasing volatility.

Leaders of the G20 — which groups developed and emerging economies accounting for 90 percent of the world economy and two-thirds of its popu-lation — acknowledged the troubles faced by some emerging nations but said it was up to them, first and fore-most, to put their own houses in order.

The prospect that the Federal Reserve may rein in its expansive monetary policies as soon as this month has plunged into turmoil some emerging economies that had enjoyed rapid growth thanks in part to a flood of cheap dollars.

Emerging and developed G20 pow-ers in St Petersburg struggled to find common ground over the turbulence unleashed by the prospect of the United States reducing its money printing.

A communique issued at the end of the two-day summit stuck closely to the statement issued by finance ministers in July, demand-ing changes to monetary policy must be “carefully calibrated and clearly

communicated”.The G20, which united in response

to global crisis in 2009, now faces a multi-speed recovery with the US economy pushing ahead, Europe maybe finding a floor but developing economies facing blowback from the looming ‘taper’ by the Fed.

As the communique was released, markets were fixated on the monthly US jobs report which came in weaker than expected, complicating the Fed’s decision on whether to scale back its massive monetary stimulus later this month.

Demands led by Germany for bind-ing targets to extend the Toronto debt reduction goals agreed at a sum-mit hosted by Canada in 2010, fell on deaf ears as the focus has shifted firmly towards promoting growth.

“Medium-term fiscal strategies ... will be implemented flexibly to take into account near-term eco-nomic conditions, so as to support economic growth and job creation, while putting debt as a share of GDP on a sustainable path,” the commu-nique said.

New elements referred to a growth initiative proposed by Australia, which assumes the G20 chair next year, a proposal to tighten regulation

of so-called ‘shadow banking’ and extending a deadline on reining in trade protectionism.

The summit debate on the health of the world economy, chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday evening, was difficult and reflected concerns about a growth slowdown in the devel-oping world.

“The most difficult and time-consuming discussions related to the evaluation of the situa-tion of global economy,” Andrei Bokarev, head of the Finance Ministry’s international

department who was involved in drafting the communique, said.

The BRICS group of large emerging economies — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — agreed to chip $100bn into a currency reserve pool that could help counter a pos-sible balance-of-payments crisis.

But the facility is a drop in the ocean compared to the trillions traded in foreign exchange daily and it is likely to be next year at the earliest before it is finalised.

China and Russia — which both run external surpluses —chided India on Thursday for

failing to tackle a yawning cur-rent account deficit that has exposed the rupee to a brutal selloff amid a broader flight to the US dollar.

“Facing increased financial vol-atility, emerging markets agree to take the necessary actions to support growth and maintain stability, including efforts to improve fundamentals, increase resilience to external shocks and strengthen financial systems,” the G20 communique said.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh won some support from Japan yesterday,

as the two countries said they would expand a bilateral cur-rency swap facility to $50bn from $15bn, strengthening the rupee’s defences.

Nascent signs of a turnaround in Europe after a sovereign debt crisis and slump in parts of the euro zone kept the region’s lead-ers out of the firing line for the first time in three years.

“I want to tell you, at this G20 we were no longer the focus of attention,” said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

REUTERS

Cyprus moves deeper into recession in second quarterNICOSIA: Cyprus’s struggling euro economy moved deeper into recession in the second quarter, contracting 5.9 percent from a year earlier, according to an official estimate yesterday.

The figure was worse than the 5.4 percent flash estimate issued last month for Q2.

The 5.9-percent contraction compared with a 5 percent year-on-year drop in Gross Domestic Product in the first quarter, adjusted data showed yesterday.

It is reported to be the larg-est contraction of the crisis-hit Cyprus economy since the mid 1970s.

The decline in the April-to-June period, the eighth succes-sive quarterly fall, is the first to measure the economy’s perform-ance since a March deal with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to rescue the economy.

The latest estimate showed that GDP shrank 1.8 percent from the first quarter, when it fell by 1.7 percent.

Tourism revenue helped blunt the effects of the downturn, but arrivals have dipped in recent months to thwart official predic-tions of another bumper year in the key sector.

The statistical service said con-struction, manufacturing, bank-ing, transport, trade, tourism and services all declined from April to June.

In May, Cyprus received its first tranche of a ¤10bn ($13.3bn) res-cue package negotiated with the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund to bail out its troubled economy and oversized banking system.

The deal also involved the clo-sure of the island’s second-largest bank Laiki and a large “haircut” on deposits above ¤100,000 at the largest lender, the Bank of Cyprus. The country is now waiting for its next instalment of cash which needs to be approved by eurozone finance ministers on September 13 following a recent visit by the troika to carry out its first review of the adjustment programme.

AFP

US job growth disappoints; offers cautionary note to FedWASHINGTON: US employ-ers hired fewer workers than expected in August and the job-less rate hit a 4-1/2 year low as Americans gave up the search for work, complicating the Federal Reserve’s decision on whether to scale back its mas-sive monetary stimulus this month.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 169,000 jobs last month, the Labour Department said yester-day, falling short of the 180,000 Wall Street had expected and adding to signs that economic growth may have slowed a bit in

the third quarter. While econo-mists believe the Fed could still announce a tapering of its monthly bond purchases at its September 17-18 policy meeting, they said the weak data increased chances of a delay.

“A compromise between hawks and doves might be that the tapering will be announced in September but that the pur-chase amount will be reduced by an even smaller amount than we currently anticipate,” said Harm Bandholz, chief US economist at Unicredit Research in New York.

Economists said the $85bn in

bonds per month that the US cen-tral bank is buying to hold inter-est rates down could be cut by as little as $5bn or $10bn.

The jobs report pulled the dol-lar down from a seven-week high against the euro. It also fuelled a rally in US government bonds, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note falling back below three percent. US stocks moved higher, but investors remained jittery over a potential military strike against Syria.

Not only did hiring miss expectations last month, but the job count for June and July

was revised to show 74,000 fewer positions added than previously reported.

While the unemployment rate fell a tenth of a percentage point to 7.3 percent, its lowest level since December 2008, the decline reflected a drop in the share of working-age Americans who either have a job or are looking for one.

That participation measure reached its lowest point since August 1978, a further sign of underlying economic weakness. The rate for men touched a record low.

“Declining participation is bad for financing entitlements long-term and the potential economic growth trend,” said John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Fed officials have made clear they would base their bond-buying decision on the progress the labour market has made since they launched their third round of ‘quantitative easing’ a year ago. When they started that round, they were looking at a jobless rate that stood at 8.1 percent.

REUTERS

Shell in Nigeria oil spill compensation talksLONDON: Shell is to begin compensation talks with thou-sands of Nigerian villagers who say their livelihoods were ruined by two massive oil spills in the Niger Delta, the energy giant said yesterday.

The talks will start next week in Port Harcourt, the capital of Nigeria’s southern Rivers state and the hub of Africa’s largest oil industry, the Anglo-Dutch com-pany said.

About 15,000 residents of Bodo, a cluster of fishing villages in

Rivers State, are seeking millions of dollars of compensation over the 2008 spills.

“We’re hopeful that an accepta-ble agreement can be reached with the Bodo community during next week’s settlement negotiations in Nigeria,” a Shell spokesman said.

Lawyers acting for the villag-ers say the local environment was devastated by the two spills, depriving thousands of subsist-ence farmers and fishermen of their livelihoods.

Experts estimate the spills to

be between 500,000 and 600,000 barrels, according to London-based law firm Leigh Day, which is representing the Nigerians.

Shell admitted liability for the spills in 2011 but disputes the amount of oil spilled and the extent of the damage.

“To date nothing has been paid in compensation and no clean-up work has begun,” Leigh Day said.

The Nigerians’ lawyer Martyn Day described Shell’s position on the clean-up as “pitiful”.

AFP

Ireland to seek €10bn post-bailout backstopDUBLIN: Ireland will seek a ¤10bn precautionary credit line to insulate it against possible market shocks when its bail-out expires at the end of this year, Finance Minister Michael Noonan said.

For the first time putting a figure on the post-rescue back-stop that Dublin has widely been expected to seek, Noonan told the Irish Independent he was hope-ful a deal could be struck with no new conditions attached.

If the rest of its ¤85bn inter-national bailout programme goes according to plan, Ireland will in a few months become the first euro zone country to exit an aid scheme.

That would provide a much-needed success story for the troika of lenders — the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund — which has tied aid to Ireland and four other euro zone states to tough austerity programmes.

Dublin’s euro zone partners would have to sign off on any pre-cautionary credit, which Noonan told the newspaper would only be drawn on if needed and would act as reassurance for markets that its position was solid.

Ireland’s borrowing costs have fallen steadily since peaking in 2011 and it returned to longer-term financial markets by rais-ing ¤5bn in a ten-year bond sale in March, suggesting it is almost

ready to wean itself off emergency aid.

“If we had a credit line equiva-lent to a full year’s deficit, in other words about ¤10bn, then if some-thing happens ... we have a year’s funding of the deficit to allow the thing to work through,” Noonan said in comments confirmed on Friday by the finance ministry.

Any precautionary credit line would come from the European Stability Mechanism, the euro zone’s permanent bailout fund, and the chair of the bloc’s finance ministers, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said this week that Ireland would get euro zone support in exiting the bailout. He gave no details.

The finance ministry of the region’s economic powerhouse Germany said yesterday nothing had been decided yet on Ireland. “So far, there have been no discus-sions... about Minister Noonan’s proposals and there is still some time to go until the end of the programme,” it said.

European Commission spokes-man Olivier Bailly said on Thursday it was very likely finance ministers and the Commission would discuss the best option for Ireland in the autumn.

Reuters reported last month that Ireland was seeking a pre-cautionary credit line, with any conditions focused solely on its still-troubled banks.

REUTERS

A view of creeks and vegetation devastated as a result of spills from oil thieves and Shell operational failures in the Niger Delta.

Inflation pressure on Indonesia

Workers sort out onions at the Kramat Jati vegetable and fruit market in Jakarta yesterday. Indonesia reported that annual inflation in August was the highest since January 2009, at 8.79 percent.

Grocery shopping goes online

An employee gathers groceries for a click and collect online customer at an Intermarche supermarket in Lanton, Southwestern France. France has moved fastest to capitalise on the click and collect trend with 20 percent of the population already using drive-thru collection for groceries ordered online.

15 15 SEPTEMBER 7, 2013www.thepeninsulaqatar.com ON SATURDAYBusiness

IMPORTANT NOTE: Published by HSBC Bank Middle East Limited, P O Box 57, Doha, Qatar which is licensed and regulated by Qatar Central Bank and Jersey Financial Services Commission. Information quoted is from publicly available sources or proprietary data and subject to change. HSBC accepts no liability for any loss or damage arising out of the use of all or part of this material. This information is general and does not take into account individual circumstances, objectives or needs. The price of bonds can and does fluctuate. The secondary market for bonds may not provide significant liquidity or may trade based on prevailing market conditions. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. You should consider these matters and consult your financial advisor prior to making any investment decisions.

*Periodic Distribution Amount

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

Qatar Govt 5.15% 4/9/2014 USD 102.63 0.69 % Aa2 AA

Qatar Govt 3.125% 1/20/2017 USD 103.38 2.08 % Aa2 AA

Qatar Govt 6.55% 4/9/2019 USD 117.50 3.11 % Aa2 AA

Qatar Govt 5.25% 1/20/2020 USD 109.75 3.53 % Aa2 AA

Qatar Govt 4.5% 1/20/2022 USD 103.50 4.00 % Aa2 AA

Qatar Govt 9.75% 6/15/2030 USD 152.25 5.08 % Aa2 AA

Qatar Govt 6.4% 1/20/2040 USD 110.75 5.61 % Aa2 AA

Qatar Govt 5.75% 1/20/2042 USD 102.75 5.56 % Aa2 AA

Qatari Diar 3.5% 7/21/2015 USD 104.00 1.33 % Aa2 AA

Qatari Diar 5% 7/21/2020 USD 107.25 3.79 % Aa2 AA

Comqat 5% 11/18/2014 USD 104.63 1.10 % A1 A-

Comqat 3.375% 4/11/2017 USD 102.75 2.57 % A1 A-

QIB 3.856% 10/7/2015 USD 104.25 1.77 % NR NR

QNB 3.125% 11/16/2015 USD 103.13 1.67 % Aa3 A+

QNB 3.375% 2/22/2017 USD 103.00 2.47 % Aa3 A+

Doha Bank 3.5% 3/14/2017 USD 103.00 2.60 % A2 A-

Qtel 3.375% 10/14/2016 USD 103.75 2.12 % A2 A

Qtel 7.875% 6/10/2019 USD 120.13 3.93 % A2 A

Qtel 4.75% 2/16/2021 USD 103.00 4.27 % A2 A

Qtel 5% 10/19/2025 USD 98.88 5.12 % A2 A

Rasgas 5.5% 9/30/2014 USD 104.25 1.47 % Aa3 A

Rasgas 5.832% 9/30/2016 USD 106.50 3.57 % Aa3 A

Rasgas 5.298% 9/30/2020 USD 106.50 4.22 % Aa3 A

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

Abu Dhabi Govt 5.5% 4/8/2014 USD 102.88 0.59 % Aa2 AA

Abu Dhabi Govt 6.75% 4/8/2019 USD 119.75 2.90 % Aa2 AA

Dubai Govt 6.7% 10/5/2015 USD 107.75 2.84 % NR NR

Dubai Govt 4.9% 5/2/2017 USD 104.25 3.65 % NR NR

Dubai Govt 7.75% 10/5/2020 USD 113.00 5.51 % NR NR

Dubai Govt 6.45% 5/2/2022 USD 104.50 5.78 % NR NR

Qatar Govt 4% 1/20/2015 USD 103.75 1.23 % Aa2 AA

Bahrain Govt 6.273% 11/22/2018 USD 110.00 4.12 % NR BBB

Bahrain Govt 5.5% 3/31/2020 USD 97.50 5.96 % NR BBB

Egypt Govt 5.75% 4/29/2020 USD 86.25 8.50 % Caa1 CCC+

Morocco Govt 4.5% 10/5/2020 EUR 101.00 4.33 % NR BBB-

IILM moves to build sales networkFocus on secondary market after healthy demand for debut sukukKUALA LUMPUR: Primary dealers of the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corp (IILM) said after enjoy-ing healthy demand for its debut Islamic bond last week, efforts were shifting to expand the dis-tribution network of buyers.

The $490m, three-month sukuk was auctioned to seven primary dealer banks, as the IILM aims to address a shortage of financial instru-ments for Islamic banks to manage their short-term funding needs.

With the structure and approvals now in place, Malaysia-based IILM can shift its focus to establishing reg-ular issuance, decide on future tenors and possibly expand its network.

“Ideally one of the next steps would be to develop an issuance calendar. They will develop a plan in relation to the other tenors,” said Leon Koay, head of global markets and co-head of wholesale banking

at Standard Chartered Malaysia, one of the seven primary dealers.

“They’ve been approved for $2bn, they’ve got plenty of runway. With this landmark issuance out of the way, the rest of it would be easier.”

A key element of the IILM, backed by nine central banks and monetary agencies as well as the Islamic Development Bank, is a net-work of dealer banks that ensure a secondary market for sukuk.

“As primary dealer, we are obliged to participate in all auc-tions conducted by IILM and at best, try to be the market maker for the sukuk,” Aria Putera Ismail, head of Islamic global markets for Maybank Islamic, said.

“The market in general is still short of Islamic assets. Hence, we expect that there will be continu-ous demand from investors for such instruments.”

With the sukuk now trading in the

open market, prospective buyers can observe the bid-ask spreads which reflect liquidity in the market for IILM paper. On Thursday, the first IILM sukuk had a sample best bid of 0.608 (for a block of $5m) with a sam-ple best offer of 0.525 (also for $5m).

“This shows a perfectly normal and healthy secondary market,” said Jonathan Grosvenor, General Manager of global financial markets at KBL European Private Bankers, the Luxembourg-based primary dealer for IILM. The remaining IILM primary dealers are Kuwait Finance House, AlBaraka Turk, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Qatar National Bank.

The sukuk was sold to primary dealers at 30 basis points over the London interbank offered rate, seen as attractive pricing for primary dealers to create a secondary market.

That spread was set by the IILM for the launch but going forward

it would be determined according to the auction process by primary dealers, Grosvenor added.

As the market gains a better understanding of how the IILM works, it could also attract a wider range of buyers.

KBL, for instance, has reached out to Islamic asset managers and other regular buyers of such instru-ments in Europe, said Grosvenor.

“We haven’t made any calls to the Middle East and in a way we are very complementary to IILM, we are adding something different.”

Better understanding of the IILM’s structure could help to mar-ket its offerings.

The IILM uses a wakala struc-ture, according to a filing with Malaysia’s central bank. Wakala is a Shariah-compliant agency agree-ment where one party acts as agent (wakil) for another.

REUTERS

WTO set to agree Yemen’s membership termsGENEVA: Yemen’s 13 year pursuit of a seat at the World Trade Organisation is set to end successfully this month, making its entry into the global trade club a formality early next year.

According to an agenda circulated to WTO members this week, the WTO working party on Yemen’s accession will meet on September 26 “with a view to adopting” the key documents setting out its membership terms.

The arrangement will be rubber-stamped by the full WTO membership and then again at a ministerial meeting in December, opening a three month window for Yemen to ratify it.

WTO officials say the deal was made possible after Ukraine agreed terms for Yemen’s membership, effectively withdrawing a veto that had been the only obstacle for more than a year.

All other WTO members have signalled they are ready for Yemen to join, and many had privately said they were mystified by Ukraine’s objections, since it had negligible trade links with Yemen. Yemen first applied to join the WTO in April 2000 and will become its 160th member.

Its accession will be a boost for a country that is struggling to recover from the turmoil brought by pro-democracy protests in 2011, which forced the president to step aside, took the country to the brink of civil war and dealt a blow to its already dismal economy.

REUTERS

Russia may order price freeze as growth worries pile upMOSCOW: Russia may prevent regulated prices from rising next year for the first time since 1999 as President Vladimir Putin’s government seeks to ease pressure on household budgets in an economy that is barely growing.

A directive from Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev pub-lished yesterday asked minis-tries to look into the impact on the economy and companies of a freeze in prices charged for state-regulated services including gas, electricity and railways in 2014.

The Russian government is used to using its control of such costs for political purposes. In a bid to boost electoral support before Putin’s return to the presidency for a third term last year, it delayed rises in regulated costs for six months,

shortly after the first major street protests against Putin.

But it now faces a more diffi-cult equation of how to reheat an economy that has been battered by five years of financial turmoil in Europe and, more fundamen-tally, by Russia’s failure to reduce its huge dependence on oil, gas and other commodities.

Opinion is divided on the impact of a tariff freeze.

Analysts at Uralsib said it “would result in significant pres-sure on the financials of companies in the utilities sector” and shares in power- and gas-related com-panies fell in Moscow yesterday.

Shares in gas monopoly Gazprom, once the world’s most profitable company but now under pressure from smaller and more flexible

competitors, fell one percent.That will be of concern to the

government, which owns a major-ity of the company and draws huge tax revenues from it. But any corporate fallout may take second place to the need to help consum-ers who look like Russia’s best hope of arresting Russia’s recent slide into economic stagnation.

Russia’s population of 140 mil-lion, flooding into newly con-structed supermarkets and shopping malls in recent years, is still more concerned with prices than anything else.

Polling shows more than half list household bills as a major concern, compared to just 9 per-cent who mention the country’s patchy record on human rights and democracy.

REUTERS

Apple hit with US injunction in e-books caseNEW YORK: A US judge who found Apple Inc liable for con-spiring to fix e-book prices entered an injunction yesterday to bar the iPad maker from fur-ther antitrust violations.

US District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan said Apple could not enter into agreements with five major US publishers that would impede its ability to reduce e-book retail prices or offer price discounts.

The judge also said she would appoint an external monitor to review Apple’s antitrust com-pliance policies, procedures and training for two years.

The terms of the judgment will expire after five years, but

Cote’s order allows for exten-sions in one-year increments if necessary.

The injunction followed a July 10 ruling by Cote finding Apple conspired with five publishers to undermine e-book pricing estab-lished by the dominant retailer in the market, Amazon.com Inc.

The five publishers, all of which have settled with regula-tors, include Lagardere SCA’s Hachette Book Group Inc, News Corp’s HarperCollins Publishers LLC, Penguin Random House LLC, CBS Corp’s Simon & Schuster Inc and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH’s Macmillan.

The US Justice Department,

which sued Apple in April 2012, had initially sought an even broader injunction that could have touched on the company’s agreements with suppliers of other types of content, such as movies, music and TV shows.

But Cote had made clear at a hearing last week that she would not go that far, saying she wanted the injunction “to rest as lightly as possible on how Apple runs its business.”

The Justice Department none-theless welcomed the injunction.

“Consumers will continue to benefit from lower e-books prices as a result of the department’s enforcement action to restore competition in this important

industry,” Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer said in a statement.

Apple said yesterday that it would appeal the injunction.

“Apple did not conspire to fix e-book pricing,” said company spokesman Tom Neumayr. “The iBookstore gave customers more choice and injected much-needed innovation and competition into the market.”

Shares of Apple were down 0.1 percent at $494.64 in morning trading.

The case is US v Apple Inc et al, US District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-02826.

REUTERS

Austria’s OMV reports oil find in Barents SeaOSLO: Austrian energy giant OMV has made a large oil find in a Norwegian far north sec-tion of the Barents Sea until now unexplored, OMV and its partner Statoil said yesterday.

The Wisting Central well is believed to hold between 60 mil-lion and 160 million barrels of oil, and 10-40 billion cubic feet of natural gas, according to OMV’s preliminary estimates.

The drilling is the first in the Hoop region, located in the north-ernmost section of the Barents Sea that Norwegian authorities have opened for prospecting so far. Statoil, a project partner planning to carry out two drillings 50 km further north next year, hailed the find.

The Wisting Central field “gives us valuable geological information and demonstrates that the Hoop area has an exciting oil potential,” Statoil’s senior vice president for exploration, Gro Haatvedt, said in a statement.

AFP

BY FRANCES O’GRADY

Britain is booming, the economy’s getting fat, so please put a vote in the government’s hat – that’s the simple message ministers are developing. And with growth

returning, and forecasters dusting off for-gotten skills of how to revise upwards, some say the coalition has a point. So should the critics of austerity give up?

The answer is a decisive no. There are many reasons to quibble with claims of a boom. Government strategy has delayed a return to growth, which is still precarious as so much is based on a house price bubble and credit card loans. We are still some way off returning to where we were before the crash, let alone catching up on what we have lost since. Getting back to the trend rate of growth is no great achievement. The limited growth we are seeing is passing many parts of the country by as regional inequalities grow and living standards shrink.

But while all these arguments are valid, the worst thing we should do is pretend that nothing has changed. There is defi-nitely more optimism about. We are no longer counting dips. Confidence is always key to recovery, and even modest growth will encourage the kind of decisions by con-sumers and businesses that lead to further spending.

This poses a challenge to government

critics. Balancing a recognition that we are now on an upwards trajectory with the nec-essary challenges about why we have had to wait so long requires both judgment and care that we do not get too far from the national mood.

Yet I see a bigger problem for the gov-ernment. Up to now it has got away with shrinking the state and reducing the public realm by claiming that there is no alterna-tive. Voters have never accepted that the cuts are being implemented fairly, but there has been a consistent majority that they are necessary, if too deep and too fast. Voters bought the government’s claims that the nation had maxed out its credit card and must now pay it back through cuts and austerity.

The even bigger challenge to the govern-ment’s narrative is that growth opens up a whole new question of where the pro-ceeds should go. Saying “we cannot afford it” will no longer work as a default answer. Borrowing for a mass housebuilding pro-gramme has made sense throughout the depression, but more easily overcomes the

“unaffordable” objection when wealth is being generated. Advocating the investment that can secure sustainable growth will become easier if recovery beds in.

There have always been two things wrong with the government’s economic strategy. Taking demand out of the economy during a recession was the worst possible policy.

But as growth returns, the second flaw is exposed. The economic model that devel-oped in the 1980s is bust. Letting the market rip, weakening unions, undermining wel-fare and caring little about inequality had stopped delivering for the majority even before the crash. “Whose growth?” is the new central political question.

The longest squeeze on living standards since the 1870s began before the crash. It is now biting hard, as millions of families struggle to pay their bills. People who now grumble, while accepting the argument that there’s no money in the system and that we must all tighten our belts, will start to get angry if growth returns but they are excluded. Employers will find it harder to increase profits while holding wages down.

The challenge is to build a new economy that delivers good secure jobs with decent wages. It must reduce the gap between ordi-nary families and the soar-away super rich. And we need to renew decent services – and include the social care and childcare omit-ted from the Beveridge-Attlee settlement.

I for one welcome that new terrain. For while renewing our economic model is no easy project to be summed up in a few glib election promises, it still offers a politics of hope and aspiration.

Advance is always better than the defence of damage limitation. And I first joined the trade union movement to make progress, not to hold our ground. THE GUARDIAN

Critics of austerity can’t deny that growth is back

Unwelcome returnof risk-on, risk-offBY JAMES SAFT

Many investors, especially stock pickers, hoped they’d seen the last of “risk-on, risk-off”, a pattern in which commodities, stocks, currencies and bonds move very tightly in predictable ways and which has been the

dominant trade in the post-financial-crisis landscape.That certainly was the way the world looked even a month

ago, with more assets going up or down on their own merits and prospects rather than in a lemming-like flight from risk towards safety or vice versa.

But with a simmering financial crisis in emerging markets, and with seemingly growing chances that the Federal Reserve is just weeks away from beginning to taper its bond purchases, some data shows risk-on, risk-off correlations are again on the rise.

First off, let’s look at how risk-on, risk-off worked, what caused it and who it hurt and helped.

The great correlation took off during the financial crisis when investors realized that a) the global economy and markets were in deep trouble and b) only central bankers and governments were in any position to make a meaningful impact.

When investors felt authorities were taking the right interven-tionist steps, everything ‘risky’, like equities or commodities tied to economic growth, rallied together, sometimes almost without reference to regional or individual differences. At the same time, good news was bad news for the dollar and Treasuries, which would rally instead on disappointing or negative developments.

Bad news, or the fear that authorities wouldn’t do enough, were good for the dollar and for Treasuries, both of which were seen as most insulated from any disaster.

One group for whom this was a disaster was stock pickers, or really anyone who added value chiefly by analysing a given secu-rity or company. What is the point of poring over the books of an Italian dairy company, for example, if the value of its shares was going to be driven more by ECB chief Mario Draghi than by its own products and strategy? For several years the skills that mattered were risk management and the ability to gauge policy-makers’ commitment to the status quo.

All of this seemed to be changing for the first seven months of this year, and it had to be seen as good news. One of the easiest ways to see this was that stocks weren’t all going up or down at the same time. Instead, for the first time in years, they were being driven by their own prospects, or of course, by the way in which their specific business model would be driven by economic developments.

According to Deutsche Bank data, correlations within the Russell 1000 index of stocks dropped to 30 percent over the sum-mer from nearly 60 percent a year ago. Or consider what Bespoke Investment Group calls “all or nothing days” on the S&P 500, a day in which at least 80 percent of the index is up or down. In the 1990s, a whole year could pass without an all or nothing day, but during the crisis the number spiked to 70 in 2011, which is more than 25 percent of all trading days in the year. So far this year, we are on track for 25 or fewer.

In the last month, however, we’ve seen an increase in correlation, especially in relation to emerging markets. Emerging markets are suffering a sort of mini-crisis due to the prospect of tighter global liquidity when the Fed begins to taper. That has hit countries like India and South Africa which need to import capital. Countries like those have seen strong sell-offs, but more to the point their sell-offs have begun to drive other assets, such as commodities and even developed market stocks. HSBC notes that three-month rolling correlations between emerging market currencies and the S&P 500 have about doubled in recent months.

As we approach the Fed’s meeting in two weeks, at which it is expected it will announce some form of taper, there is every chance that these correlations rise and spread, not just from emerging to developed markets but more deeply among developed markets. That has to be a huge frustration to the average investor, who doubtless would simply like to return to being rewarded for allocating capital well among companies and borrowers.

And that’s the real danger here: that risk-on, risk-off represents a kind of failure of capitalism, in which investors get paid simply for second-guessing official policy and thus do a much poorer job of putting money where it will be best and most productively used.

For a while yet, it seems we are all sentenced to being Fed watchers. Investors and Fed officials alike can probably agree this is a bad thing.

REUTERS

What happens when vultures land in Hamptons?BY FELIX SALMON

For most readers, this story is just another glimpse into the hedge-fund lifestyle, where one man will spend $120,000 for a one-foot-

wide strip of land — not so that he can get beach access (he already has that) but rather to ensure that his next-door neighbour loses his beach access.

As the Daily Mail puts it, Kyle Cruz, who owns the house behind Marc Helie, is now “hemmed in”, and can no longer reach the beach directly from his home.

To a small set of sovereign-debt geeks with long memories, however, it’s not the beach-access politics which jumps out from this story — it’s the name Marc Helie.

For back in 1999, Helie was the man who loved to take credit for forcing what was in many ways the first ever sovereign bond default. And Helie’s actions 14 years ago are actually rather similar to what he’s doing now, in the Hamptons.

Sovereign bond defaults are relatively commonplace these days — even Greece got in on the game.

But back in 1999, there was some-thing special about sovereign for-eign-law bonds (as opposed to loans): They always managed to avoid being

restructured when a country defaulted on its debt.

Even Russia, in its catastrophic 1998 sovereign default, always remained cur-rent on its Eurobonds.

When Ecuador got into fiscal trouble in 1999, then, its first instinct was not to default on its bonds — even though the IMF was rumoured to be pushing it to do exactly that.

The bonds in questions were Brady bonds — restructured loans — which included various guarantees, in the form of built-in Treasury bond collateral, which could be used to make payments if and when Ecuador got into trouble.

So Ecuador proposed that it would pay the coupons on the bonds without collateral in full, and it would dip into collateral to make payments on its other bonds, while trying to work out a longer-term solution.

But Ecuador’s tactics were atrocious: the country’s announcement came right in the middle of the IMF annual meet-ings, the one time of the year when all the world’s emerging-market bond investors converge on the same city at the same time. Those investors were not happy, and it wasn’t long before a vocal group of them, led most visibly by Helie, started agitating for highly aggressive action

against the country. Normally, of course, bondholders don’t want borrowers to default — and Ecuador was hoping that this case would be no different.

But rather than accept Ecuador’s deal, which treated different classes of bonds differently, and which was very vague, Helie and other bondholders decided that they would rather force the matter.

They discovered that if they could organize 25 percent of the holders of the affected bonds, and get them to write a very specific letter to the bonds’ fiscal agent in New York, they could accelerate those bonds. Rather than just owing a sin-gle coupon payment, Ecuador would then owe the entire principal amount, plus all future coupon payments, immediately.

No one expected that Ecuador could pay such a sum, but Helie and the other bondholders just wanted to make things simple.

If Ecuador was going to effectively default on certain bondholders, then they would make it official, and force the coun-try into a full-scale bond restructuring, the likes of which the world had never seen.

Brady bonds were specifically designed to be very difficult to restructure: Any change in the payment terms needed the unanimous consent of bondholders, and

there were so many bondholders that unanimous consent was always going to be impossible to find.

Finding 25% of bondholders, however, to block what Ecuador wanted to do, was much easier — and that’s exactly what Helie did.

Essentially, Ecuador expected that it could just walk down to the beach and do its bond exchange relatively easily.

Instead, it found that hedge fund man-agers like Helie bought up property which would prevent it from doing that. When Helie et al accelerated Ecuador’s bonds, they forced it to enter into a far more elaborate and convoluted restructuring, in much the same way that Kyle Cruz now needs to walk much further to get to the beach.

Helie worked very hard and spent a lot of money on making life as difficult for Ecuador as he possibly could — in violation of the general assumption that bondholders tend to want what’s best for any given debtor nation.

His plan worked, too: The exchange that Ecuador eventually unveiled was much more generous than the market expected, and Helie made a lot of money on his bonds. He was also lionized on the front cover of Institutional Investor mag-azine, under the headline “The Man Who

Broke Ecuador”. It was all very welcome publicity for a man who was punching well above his weight: His hedge fund managed only about $10 million, and behind the scenes other, much more established (and much more publicity-shy) hedge funds had done most of the hard work of organizing the acceleration.

Helie was flying high, enjoying all the stories about the young hedge-fund man-ager with a ponytail and an office above a modelling agency, who was shaking up the world of sovereign debt.

But while his hedge fund, Gramercy Advisors, went on to much bigger things, moving out of the small offices in Manhattan and into much larger digs in Connecticut, Helie didn’t last long.

He was spending too much time at his beach house, and eventually his partners decided that he wasn’t doing enough work, and effectively kicked him out of the business.

Evidently, however, old habits die hard; Helie was so adamant that he didn’t want Cruz walking past his house to the beach that he spent $120,000 to make Cruz’s life as difficult as possible.

It might even be enough to make a hardened hedge-fund manager start to feel a bit of sympathy for the government of Ecuador. REUTERS

1616 SEPTEMBER 7, 2013www.thepeninsulaqatar.comON SATURDAY Business Views

Cartoon Arts International / The New York Times Syndicate

1717SEPTEMBER 7, 2013

www.thepeninsulaqatar.comClassifiedsON SATURDAY

SERVICES

IMMIGRATION SERVICES

INVEST IN QATAR

LEADER MIDDLE EAST W.L.L.For fast & reliable BUSINESS SET-UP, LOCAL SPONSORS, Trade Licences, Joint Ventures, Public Relations, Visas & Real Estate Services. Tel: +974 55745147 E-mail: bizqatar@yahoo.com

HELPLINE GROUP OF COMPANIESWe provide A to Z support for the Company Formation, Commercial Registration, PRO Services & Real Estate Services. Call Now: 77711129/44351974/44919213 - www.helplinegroups.com

IT SOLUTION

Softw

are

Labs

Software Lab QatarP.O. Box : 31400, Doha, QatarTel: +974 44622703, 44622705 GSM: 66836037

E-mail: gopinath@softlabqatar.com Website: www.softlabqatar.com

HR MANAGEMENT SYSTEM(DEVELOPED SPECIFICALLY FOR QATAR)

• Document Management System • Inventory Management System • Plant Management SystemExpertise and capability to develop any kind of Software to suit your specific business needs!!!

INTN’L TRDG. & TECHNICAL SVCS. CO. (INTER-TECH)Hardware, Software, Networking, ERP, Cabling, Servers, UPS, Network Operation, Maintenance, etc.Tel: 44416556 Fax: 44416410 - intertek@qatar.net.qa

BLASTING AND PAINTING

M. PALLONJI QATARP.O. BOX: 23933. E-mail: mpallonji@qatar.net.qaTel: 44606822 Fax: 44606977 GSM:55879234

APOLLO ENTERPRISES Crystal Bond Glass Coating Against The Sun’s Harmful Rays, Heat Resistance. Salwa Road. Tel: 44426664 GSM: 55830870/33599574 E-mail: mlibor@belzona.org

GLASS COATING

HOME CONTROL SYSTEM

HEALTH CARE

BEAUTY SALON

ACCOUNTING SOFTWARES

ARTECHSage Accounting, Peachtree, QuickBooks, Dynacom, DacEasy, Tally, POS, Bar Code, Fixed Assets Software’s.Tel: +974 44375654 E-mail: artech@ar-technology.net

GEM ADVERTISING & PUBLICATIONS(Overseas Newspaper Advertisements) Tel: 44442001 - GSM: 55783303

ADVERTISING OVERSEAS NEWSPAPER

A/C MAINTENANCE & SERVICES

COOOOL/BARADAll kinds of A/C Maintenance & Services. A/C Tech. from Philippines. Waranty after maintenance. Something different at moderate prices. Tel: 33202138 / 77619899

IMPRESS TRADING & CONTRACTING W.L.L.All kinds of A/C Maintenance & Services. Fax: 44517658 GSM:55920406/33261128/77269612 Tel: 44517659E-mail: info@impressqatar.com sales@impressqatar.com

SAMA COOLInstallation, Maintenance (AMC & On Call) and Servicing of all kinds of Split, Package Units, FCU, AHU, VRV unit and Chilliers. “a SAMA GROUP initiative”. Tel: 4411 2249 Mob: 66797555 Fax: 4444 7709 - E-mail: samacoolqatar@gmail.com

ATTESTATION

NEW INDIA ATTESTATIONToll Free: 8001516, Express Attestation in days, Document Insured. Affordable Rate. Payment after delivery. Free collection & delivery. Track your document. From India/UK/USA/GCC. We arrange Pancard. T: 44430824 M: 66166884/30092444 Powered by Ametek www.newindiaattestation.com

HELPLINE GROUP OF COMPANIESCertificate attestation from India, UK, USA, Australia, Gulf Countries and Canada. We have 15 years experience & approved Agency. GSM: 77711129 Tel: 44351974/44919213 - www.helplinegroups.com

BATTERY

AUTOMOBILE BATTERYMade in Korea with One Year Warranty. Special Price for Special Quantity. Contact: 66557122/70777406

AL SADEQ TRAD. & MAINTENANCE CO.General Cleaning for Villa, Flat, Building, Carpet Shampooing, Sofa Sets, Marble Polish, Manpower Supply & Pest Control - Daily, Weekly, Monthly & Yearly Contracts (24 Hours Service). GSM: 33020107/33020108 Tel: 4436068 Fax: 44353336 E-mail: alsadeq-2000@hotmail.com -niyasahd@yahoo.com

CAPITAL CLEANING COMPANY W.L.L.Complete General Cleaning Services for Old and New VillasTel: 44582257 Mobile: 33189899/ 55565328/77609026E-mail: capitalcleaningwll@gmail.com

SKATE SHACKAl Ain # 3, Salwa Road, For Direction call: Tel: 446-92532 GSM: 552-47885/779-36152 - www.skate-shack.com

BICYCLES & WATER SPORTS

BLINDS

AL JAWHAR CURTAINS & FURNITUREVertical-Venitian Blinds.Salwa Road, Qatar Decoration R/A. Tel: 44689897

AL SHARK EXHIBITIONVertical-Venitian Blinds. Bin Mehmoud. Tel./Fax: 44422906

COMPUTER TRAINING CENTRE

FAMILY COMPUTER CENTREAl Rayyan Complex, Rayyan Road.Tel: 44435361/44370779 - Fax: 44449130

NATIONAL COMPUTER CENTERDesktops, Laptops, Printers, Scanners, UPS, Softwares, ERP, Accessories, Networking & Cabling - Tel: 44351200 Fax: 44315058 - natcomp@qatar.net.qa

COMPUTERS & NETWORKING

CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE

AL MUTWASSIT CLEANING & PEST CONTROLKharaba Street, Behind White Mosque, Tel: 44367555 Fax: 44367999 GSM: 55875920/55860432

PRESTIGE GENERAL SERVICESGeneral Cleaning for Villas, Flats, Sofa, Carpets, Floor Tiles, Marble Polish. Daily, Weekly, Monthly & Yearly Contracts. GSM: 66752291 Tel: 44323040 Fax: 44131012 E-mail: prestigepartner@yahoo.com - www.prestigegeneralservices.com

KASHMIR HANDICRAFT EMPORIUMHandmade Cartpets, Handicrafts & Furniture. Al Mirgab Street, Al Naser. Tel: 44432761 GSM: 55553407

CARPET

CURTAINS

AL SHARK EXHIBITIONBin Mehmoud - Tel./Fax: 44422906

AL JAWHAR CURTAINS & FURNITURESalwa Road, Qatar Decoration Roundabout. Tel: 44689897

DENTAL

AL MASA DENTAL COMPLEXDR. Saeed Mohammed Abdelkhalek, MS, Prosthodontics. Opposite Villagio. Tel: 44513289 Fax: 44693086

AL MASA DENTAL COMPLEXDR. Sami Khalil Elmorsi Elsharoud, MS, Restorative Dentisty & Endodontics. Opposite Villagio. Tel: 44513289 Fax: 44693086

AL MASA DENTAL COMPLEXDR. Mohammed Naveed Yawar GB, General Scope Dentist (Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences). Opposite Villagio. Tel: 44513289 Fax: 44693086

EDUCATION

PEARL SCHOOLIndian CBSE Curriculum based in Al Rowdah.Admission open from KG1 till Class 5. Call: 66250332/44442555E-mail: pearlschooldoha@gmail.com Web: http://www.pearlschool.sch.qa

INTN’L TRDG. & TECHNICAL SVCS. CO. (INTER-TECH)Planning, Design, Engineering, Supply, Installation, Testing, Commissioning, Multi System Integration, Maintenance in Telecommunication, Electronics, Power, Security & Cabling.Tel: 44416556 Fax: 44416410 - intertek@qatar.net.qa

ENTERPRISE TELEPHONY AND SECURITY SOLUTIONS

APOLLO FURNITURE Salwa Road. Tel: 44689522 (3 Lines) www.apollofurnitureonline.com

FURNITURE

FLORIST

QATAR INTERNATIONAL NURSERYGarden Services, Irrigation Systems, Soft & Hard Landscaping, Indoor & Outdoor Plants, Water Fountains, Fresh Cut Flowers & Garden Maintenance. Tel: 44212630Fax: 44213619 www.qinagriqatar.com E-mail: qinqatar@hotmail.com

FIRE AND SAFETY

CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE

‘WE GET THE JOB DONE’Specialised in Governmental work, Work Visa, Family Visa, Resident Permits and many more. Email: info@deltaqatar.com Tel: 44675502, Fax: 4467-5503 Website: deltaqatar.com

MISSION SERVICESSpecialised in govermental services processess: establishing new companies, immigration services, traffic and labor departments and other authorities. Our mission is to get your job done. Tel: 44131358 Fax: 44131359 E-mail: info@mission-qatar.com

INSTRUMENTATION

1818 SEPTEMBER 7, 2013www.thepeninsulaqatar.com ClassifiedsON SATURDAY

APOLLO REAL ESTATEDoha’s leading Real Estate Agency can offer you a wide selection of available

properties. Apartment to compounds and office space. Give us your requirements and let us find you a place that fits. With over 30 years experience in Doha, we know the market.

Qatar’s first Real Estate Company under British Management

Call: Office: 44689522, Maureen 55864352Abubakar 55850815, Peter 55506803, Dexter 55872145

www.apollopropertiesonline.com

FOR RENT

SITUATIONS VACANTSERVICES

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Call: 55505773

BUYING

We buy all kinds of used household items. Office Furniture, Electric and

electronics items.. Fridge, A/Cs, Freezer, TV & Computers.

WATER TANK CLEANING

AL MUTWASSIT CLEANING & PEST CONTROLKharaba st, Behind white Mosque. Fax: 443679 99 - GSM. 55875920/55860432

CAPITAL CLEANING COMPANYCleaning Water Tanks & Pest Control. GSM: 55565328/33189899/77609026 Tel: 44582257E-mail: capitalcleaning@gmail.com

OFFICE EXPERTSRegular Supplier of Office Stationery & Supplies, IT Products and Consumables and other General Consumables. We do fast deliveries - “a SAMA GROUP initiative”.Tel: 4411 2248 - Fax: 4444 7709 - Email: oe@samagroup.me

STATIONERY & OFFICE SUPPLIES

SCAFFOLDING

APOLLO ENTERPRISES SCAFFOLDING DIVISIONContract/Hire/Sale - Salwa Road. Tel: 44693334 Fax: 44416274 GSM: 55521089/55560246/55536285 www.apollo-qatar.net - E-mail: apolloscaff@qatar.net.qa

COSMOS TOOLS & INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIES CO. W.L.LScaffolding & Ladders. Tel: 44151824, 44315500 Fax: 44151825/ 44214809 GSM: 66537470 E-mail: sales@cosmoscotools.comShowroom: Beside Doha Stadium, near to Clock R/A.

MALZAMAT QATAR W.L.L.Steel & Aluminium Scaffolding Sale, Hire & Contracting Tel: 44504266 Fax: 44502489 GSM: 66715063www.malzamatqatar.com E-mail: info@malzamatqatar.com, malzamat@gmail.com

SARVIKA & CO. QATAR W.L.L.Tel: 44514689/90/91 Fax: 44514688 Website: www.srimalshqatar.com E-mail: sarvika@srimaleshqatar.com

COREORent, Buy & Sell Real Estate. Property Photos, Prices, and more can be found online. Tel: 446.99950 Web: www.mycoreo.com

APOLLO REAL ESTATESalwa Road. GSM: 55864352/55506803/ 55872145 Tel: 44689522 www.apollopropertiesonline.com E-mail: apolloprop@qatar.net.qa

ADAM REAL ESTATE COMPANYAl Kuwari Blgd., 8th Floor, Al Sadd, Near Sebstain Rest. Tel: 44366932 Fax: 44366931 GSM: 55500789 / 55803731

AL MUFTAH SERVICES & RENT A CAR WLLC Ring Road Main Office Tel: 44328100/44442003, Fax: 44414339 - Musherib Branch Office: Tel: 44326840/ 44426649, Fax: 44312899 E Mail: rac@qatar.net.qa Website: www.racqatar.com

REAL ESTATE

MANPOWER SUPPLY

THE LITTLE HANDS NURSERYAge group 2 months to 4 years. Separate classes for babies, toddlers & students with spacious play area. British Management & Camera Protection. Location: New Salata, 137 Al Maahed Street, (at the back of Birla Public School) GSM: 55312803

NURSERY

MASSAGE

MEDIHERBSeparate Section for Gents & Ladies. Back, Neck & Joint Care, Indian Ayurvedic Massage, Holistic Rejuvenating Massage. Fareej Al Nasar, Near Midmac R/A.Tel.: 44690363 GSM: 66167700 www.mediherbqatar.com

INTERNATIONAL MASSAGE CENTER (AYURVEDIC)Indian & Thailand Rejuvanation, Back & Joints Pain, Paralysis, Rheumatic Diseases. Home Services. Opposite: Al Jazeera TV, Bin Omran. Tel.: 44218166 GSM: 77702421

iRest Massage ChairBuy Online www.qbuy.qa 2nd Floor, Quality Hyper Market - GSM: 55684777

THAI LADY MASSAGE & BEAUTY SALONFor Ladies. Thai Massage, Oil Massage, Steam Bath. Home Visit. Villa No.4, Al Kinana St., Al Sadd Road. Tel: 44350143

KOTTAKKAL AYURVEDIC MASSAGE CENTREOil Massage, Hotel & Home Visit. Opposite Hamad Hospital. Al Rayyan Street. Tel.: 44360061 GSM: 33453697

OFFICE EXPERTSDesigning and Implementing Cost Effective, Modern Office Interiors with maximum space utilization - “a SAMA GROUP initiative”. Tel: 4411 2248 - Fax: 4444 7709 Email: oe@samagroup.me

OFFICE INTERIORS/FIT-OUT CONTRACTOR

PORTABLE/CHEMICAL TOILETS

BEAM CONSTRUCTIONNear Al Saliya Sports Stadium. Tel: 44901760 Fax: 44901566 GSM: 33138018 E-mail: pcs@beam-ig.com

PARTY KINGDOMNear Jaidah Flyover, Nasrallah Centre. Tel: 44353501/ 44366431 - E-mail: partykingdom10doha@yahoo.com

PARTY ITEMS & BALLOON DECORATION

PEST CONTROL & CLEANING

AL SULAIMAN RENT A CARMain Office D’ Ring Road. Tel: 44911711/44911710 Fax: 44911699. E-mail: info@alsulaimancar.com Musherib: 44355477/44440702/44315616 Fax: 44355466. Al Wakra: 44646775/44649153 Fax: 44646773 Al Khor: 44796677/44725378 Fax: 44796633

THE OWNERS RENT A CAR + LIMOUSINE SERVICE24 Hrs Service! Tel: 44515515 GSM: 55149555 Fax: 44515155 Contact Mr. Anjum Malik E-mail: anjum@ownersqtr.com

REGENCY FLEETS (A Regency Group Co.)Special Corporate leasing and Rental rates. Price includes Comprehensive Insurance, Maintenance, Replacement Vehicle etc. Driven by Values. E-mail: info@regencyfleets.com Tel: 44433822/44554046 Fax: 44554047 Branches: Airport - Tel.: 44153086 Beverly Hills - Tel.: 44122131 Movenpick Tower & Suites: Tel.: 44966107/30122300

JABRCO RENT A CARWe have many vehicles like 2009, 2010 & 2011 models for rent with a comfortable price on daily/weekly and monthly. Main office: 44663933 GSM: 33131241 - Branch Barwa Village: 44152020 GSM: 33640652 E-mail: jabrco.companies@hotmail.com

BASE RENT A CARCars that fits your Needs & Budget. We Deliver & Pickup. Call for a quote 24 Hours @ 55206569

NICE RENT A CARSolution for Transport & Leasing all types of vehicle & Heavy Equiment.Tel: 44413392 GSM: 55514223 Fax: 44317896 Website: niceqatar.comE-mail: niceqatar@qatar.net.qa/ rasheed@niceqatar.com

OASiS RENT A CAR AND TRANSPORTATIONYOU RENT MORE THAN A CAR WITH OASiS. Fax: 44130033 Tel: 44130011/44130022 GSM: 55157587 (Rental)/ 55129615 (Transportation) Rental@OasisCars.Com - OasisCars.com

AVIS RENT A CARMain Office at Al Sharif Trading & Contracting Co. Bldg., at the junction of Airport Street and Suhar Street. Road. Tel: 44667744 / 44622180 Fax: 44657626

BUDGET RENT A CARThe Best Car Rental Service in Qatar. Head Office - 44310411 Airport Arrival - 44153048 Airport Departure - 44622678/55808638 (24 Hrs)

NATIONAL CAR RENTALCars - 4WDs - Pickups - Buses - Chauffeur Drive Call: 5547 8150/5547 8151 E-mail: info@national-qatar.com

RENT A CAR

AL MUFTAH RENT A CAR WLLMain Office: D’ Ring Road, T: 44634444/44010700 - Branch: Airport: 44634433/ 70634433 Grand Hamad: 44442003/70442003; Aziziya: 44440300/55525639; Ras Laffan: 44748840/55574138; Al Khor: 44113344/55523594 E Mail: rac@qatar.net.qa Website: www.rentacardoha.com

EUROPCARYou rent A lot more than a car. Airport: 44621188 - Tel: 44660677 Fax: 44662677

AL DAR CAR RENTAL24 Hours. Bin Omran, Ahmed Bin Ali St., PO Box 24816 Tel: 44877789 GSM: 55599972/55732070, Fax: 44866637 aldar-car-rental@hotmail.com

COUNTRY RENT A CAR - BARWA AL WAKRAA car has a choice of vehicles to suit your needs. Special cost provide nice service to our customer. What’s more? Comprehensive, Maintenances & Replacement Vehicle. Come to you at affordable rates, etc. Tel.: 44154467 GSM: 55440424 E-mail: countryrentacar.qa@hotmail.com

GO RENT A CARCompetitive Rates for Car Rental & Leasing. Tel: +974 44325500 Fax: +974 44375753 GSM: 33697075/ 66971703/55241629 E-mail: info.goqatar@gorentacarme.com.

GULF GHAZAL RENT A CARAvailable - Saloon Cars, 15, 30, 66 Seaters & Pickups. Salwa Road, Ain Khalid, Near United Bank, Upstairs Kamlco Trading & Cont. Tel: 44272619 E-mail: rentacar@gulfghazal.com - Mob: 55212784/55492705/55634924

MEDICAL SERVICES

APOLLO ENTERPRISESBelzona Polymerics - Tel: 44426664 GSM: 55871914/55524897 E-mail: apollo@qatar.net.qa - inquiry@apollo-chemicals.com

METAL REPAIRS

MOBILE PHONES & ENHANCEMENTS

JEWELLERY

CANARA JEWELLERYAl Mansoura, Bin Dirham Street. Tel: 44422071, 44357283 E-mail: canarajewellery@yahoo.com canarajewllery@gmail.com - www.4422071.com

INSTRUMENTATION

MOVERS

HOMEPAC INTERNATIONAL REMOVALSLocal & International Relocation. Professional Packing. 24 Hrs Service. Qatar - Tel: 44181800/30082345, Dubai - 042399883, Bahrain - 17710250, Dammam- 038330044 E-mail- qatar@homepac.com

GOLDEN-WING & LOGISTIC W.L.L.For International/Local Relocation of Domestic and Office Shifting & Industrial Packing. Worldwide Door to Door. Air Cargo. Call: 33991967/55418573/44179579

E2E GLOBAL PACKERS & MOVERS W.L.L.Professional’s in Int’l & Domestic Relocations & RemovalsOffice Shifting & Industrial Packing. E: info@e2eqatar.com Tel: 4451 6688, Mobile: 5599 0644, Fax: 4468 8631

SUPER LINK INT. CARGO SERVICES (AIR, SEA & LAND)All Arab Countries (Egypt, Morocco, GCC..) & Asian Countries (India - Pak - Philippine) Packing & Removal - Custom Clearance - Transportation - Car TransitCall: 44445456/55014212/33283616 E-mail: info@slicscargo.com

XINGULAR SOLUTIONS (BEST CHOICE INTERNATIONAL MOVERS)For International/Local Relocation, Office, Villa Shifting with Trained Staff.Also we do Computer Installation & Networking.Call: 77606860 E-mail: xingularmovers@yahoo.com

TRANPORTATION

YALLA TRANSPORTATIONComprehensive transport services affording rental of busses and vans with drivers. Tel: 777.92552 Web: www.yallatransportation.com

SAFETY TRAINING

SERVICES

New Labour Accommodation with utilities + stores for big and small

companies in Sailiya

Call: 55859772

FOR RENT

Required staff for a Trading and Contracting Company:

1. Female Professional Accountant2. Female Professional Outdoor Sales

Ready to change sponsorship.

Call: Tel: +974-44692499 Fax: +974-44692497GSM: +974-66627012

E-mail: www.eastpalaces@hotmail.com

NOTICE

MR. KISHOR KUMAR OM PRAKASH INDIAN NATIONAL, PASSPORT NO. F0369915

QATAR ID NO. 28835627884

Employer’s Contact:Mob: 55881786 / Tel: 44311122

The above said person has left the job with us and is leaving the Country for Good. Anyone having any claim or pending issues against him to kindly contact the employer within Three working days of the date of this advertisement. After this no claims will be entertained.

1919SEPTEMBER 7, 2013www.thepeninsulaqatar.com ON SATURDAYSport

Cities prepare for 2020 Olympic announcement

Istanbul 2020 Bid Chairman Hasan Arat (centre), flanked by young athletes, gestures during a press conference to promote Istanbul as host city for the 2020 Olympic Games, in Buenos Aires, yesterday. International Olympic Committee (IOC) members will vote in Buenos Aires today to decide whether to award the 2020 Games to Istanbul, Madrid or Tokyo. Political leaders from all three countries are busy making a final push to clinch the Games.

D-day arrives for the bidding cities Tokyo, Madrid and Istanbul FROM LEFT:

Madrid’s Mayor Ana Botella, Minister of

Education and Culture Jose Ignacio Wert, President of Madrid 2020

Bid Committee Alejandro

Blanco, and President of Spanish Paralympic Committee

Miguel Carballeda pose before a news conference in Buenos Aires

yesterday.

BUENOS AIRES: Tokyo, Istanbul and Madrid were yes-terday preparing to celebrate or commiserate their 2020 Olympics bids, as political lead-ers from all three countries make a final push to clinch the Games.

Members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) vote today afternoon in Buenos Aires, with bookmakers putting Tokyo just in front of Madrid as favour-ites and the eagerly-awaited result to be beamed live across the world.

Questions over safety have dogged Tokyo’s bid, however, because of the meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant after the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami while Madrid has faced fears about the state of Spain’s recession-hit economy.

Istanbul, meanwhile, has been in the spotlight after a heavy-handed crackdown on anti-gov-ernment protesters earlier this year and the bloody conflict in Turkey’s neighbour Syria.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, his Turkish coun-terpart Recep Tayip Erdogan and Spanish premier Mariano Rajoy were all due in the Argentine cap-ital today in a last-ditch effort to persuade IOC members of their cases.

In the bid cities themselves, though, final preparations were under way to mark the decision.

Tokyo’s super-efficient under-ground train system has for months been awash with posters showing the triumphant faces of Japanese athletes at the 2012 Games in London.

“Next time, this feeling could be felt in Japan,” the posters read, with an upbeat mood across the city reflected in increasingly glow-ing reports on the city’s chances.

The education ministry last month said a survey suggested that a massive 92 percent of the public supported Japan hosting of large-scale sporting events.

A countdown board has been erected near the National Training Centre for elite athletes showing the number of days left before the IOC vote, with local traders preparing to organise spe-cial bargain sales if Tokyo wins.

“There are quite a few cities that have hosted the Olympics twice. The Olympics will give Japan a chance to reinvigorate itself,” said Sato, who took part in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics as a boy scout.

“It’s been more than 50 years since.

“I really want the Games to come to Tokyo.”

In Madrid, workers were busy building a huge stage of scaffolding on the Plaza de la Independencia, a major roundabout around a great stone arch next to the leafy Retiro park.

The stage will host concerts and appearances by sports per-sonalities today afternoon and evening, with big screens broad-casting the IOC decision live.

“I am looking forward to hearing the decision tomorrow (Saturday),” said Ciro Cabal, a 28-year-old biologist, pausing as he did stretches after jogging in the Retiro.

“To have a world event like this would be good for the economy,

and to get back all the money they have invested.”

Just down the road, Madrid city hall was hosting a small exhibition on the city’s plans for the Games, showing how its many existing venues such as Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium and the Las Ventas bullring would be used.

“I am from Madrid and I was born here. I have seen how it has evolved in all its aspects. I am proud of Madrid and especially of the transport network we have,” said Francisco Moreno, 78, visit-ing the exhibition with his grand-son Diego, 10.

A survey released on Thursday by market research group Opinea said 77 percent of Spaniards ques-tioned were in favour of Madrid’s

bid, while Spanish Formula One driver Fernando Alonso said Madrid “deserved” the Games after two previous failed bids.

In Istanbul, thousands of peo-ple are expected to watch the IOC vote on giant screens at Sultanahmet Square, between Hagia Sofya and the Blue Mosque.

Sports minister Suat Kilic told the Hurriyet newspaper that Istanbul was ready both economi-cally and in terms of support.

“Everyone did their share for Istanbul 2020,” he wrote

“We have reached out to all del-egates who are going to vote... We have already deserved Istanbul 2020,” he added.

Optimism for a first Olympics in a predominantly Muslim coun-try were high but in Istanbul,

as elsewhere, not everyone was upbeat.

“I didn’t know the decision was to be made tomorrow,” said Kemal Ozturk, a waiter. “Hosting the Games would be a great news for us, it would mean more business and more tourists. But I don’t think they are ready to grant the Games to Turkey because of what happened in Gezi Park last June.”

In Tokyo, a small group took to the streets last weekend to demonstrate against Tokyo’s bid, saying the huge sums of money required for the Games would be better spent on welfare.

Protestors said they were also worried about the effect of the leaking Fukushima nuclear plant 220 kilometres (135 miles) north of the city. REUTERS

The voting system for 2020 host cityBUENOS AIRES: Voting procedure for Saturday’s election in Buenos Aires of the host city for the 2020 summer Olympic Games by International Olympic Committee (IOC) members:

Candidates: Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo.

Voting IOC members (IOC president Jacques Rogge and honorary ones do not vote): 103

1st round potential voters -- 98 as members from bid city countries ineligible, thus three from Spain and one each from Japan and Turkey cannot vote

Should one city gain the majority of votes then the con-test is over. However, if no city has majority then the one with the lowest number of votes is eliminated and the IOC mem-ber/members can then vote in second and final round.

2nd round -- the one with largest amount of votes wins.

ABOVE: Tokyo Governor and Chairman of Tokyo 2020 Naoki

Inose (centre), Japanese TV host and ‘Cool Tokyo’ Ambassador

Christel Takigawa (left) and Beijing 2008, London 2012

silver medallist in fencing and Tokyo 2020 Athlete Ambassador

Yuki Ota, pose after a news conference promoting Tokyo

for the 2020 Olympic Games in Buenos Aires today.

Crunch time for the political leaders BUENOS AIRES: The leaders of Japan, Spain and Turkey leave the G20 Summit in Russia to back their cities’ bids for the 2020 Summer Olympics, ahead of the final decision today.

They would do well to heed the lessons of two of their fellow leaders.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart Barack Obama had contrasting experiences in their campaigns.

Putin’s campaign to win the 2014 Winter Games for Sochi was a spectacular success. Obama’s efforts to bring the 2016 Summer Games to Chicago, anything but.

The 100+ International Olympic Committee (IOC) members melted as Putin put up a scene stealing performance at the final presentation in Guatemala City in 2007. He stunned everyone as he spoke in perfect English, a language most people thought he could not speak.

Sochi prevailed in a shock win over South Korean favourite Pyeongchang.

“Putin being here was very important,” Jean-Claude Killy, a French IOC member and one of the main organisers behind the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, said after the vote. “He was charm personified. He spoke two languages he never speaks usually, French and English. The Putin cha-risma turned four votes for Pyeongchang into four for Sochi.”

Obama was thought to be the final ace in the pack of his adopted home city of Chicago as he flew in on the day of the vote in Copenhagen in 2009.

However, while he received a respectful welcome, his powerful oratory and cha-risma failed to win over the members and less than a year after his becoming the first black president he suffered his first defeat.

It was not just a defeat. It was a humili-ation for at just about the time he was

boarding Air Force One, after departing before voting began, Chicago were stun-ningly voted out in the first round.

Part of the reason for this reverse boiled down to the most basic of reasons for sev-eral IOC members.

“We knew we were in trouble when IOC members came up to us before the day of the vote and grumbled that did he have to really come as because of extra security measures they had to get up earlier,” one member of the bid team said.

“Unbelievable! The most powerful man in the world is coming to plead the case for Chicago to the IOC and they complain that they have to get up earlier because of that.”

For Putin and Obama read then British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac for the battle to win the hosting of the 2012 Olympics as the two old historical rivals Britain and France battled it out in the form of London and

Paris with the latter the frontrunners for most of the race. However, as the French began to idle in front sensing victory was theirs the never say die attitude of the London campaign - the British fighting spirit - plugged away.

Blair added the crucial finishing touches as he arrived early in the week leading up to the vote and wooed the IOC members meeting them one on one in his hotel suite.

“Blair was magnetic, he looked you in the eye and you really believed that you were the most important person in his life,” one IOC member said.

Thus today when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks on behalf of Tokyo, his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayip Erdogan for Istanbul and Spanish premier Mariano Rajoy for Madrid they will do well to recall the pitfalls that can await even experienced politicians when they go before the IOC electorate. AFP

The Olympic Games hosts

1896 Athens, Greece

1900 Paris, France

1904 St Louis, US

1908 London, UK

1912 Stockholm, Sweden

1916 Awarded to Berlin, cancelled due to World War I

1920 Antwerp, Belgium

1924 Paris, France

1928 Amsterdam, the Netherlands

1932 Los Angeles, United States

1936 Berlin, Germany

1940 Originally awarded to Tokyo, then awarded to Helsinki, cancelled due to World War II

1944 Awarded to London, cancelled due to World War II

1948 London, UK

1952 Helsinki, Finland

1956 Melbourne, Australia

1960 Rome, Italy

1964 Tokyo, Japan

1968 Mexico City, Mexico

1972 Munich, West Germany

1976 Montreal, Canada

1980 Moscow, Soviet Union

1984 Los Angeles, US

1988 Seoul, South Korea

1992 Barcelona, Spain

1996 Atlanta, US

2000 Sydney, Australia

2004 Athens, Greece

2008 Beijing, China

2012 London, UK

2016 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

2020 SEPTEMBER 7, 2013www.thepeninsulaqatar.com SportON SATURDAY

Al Rayyan, Al Kharaitiyat eye victory in Cup finalThe season’s first trophy up for grabs in today’s clash at Doha Stadium

Al Kharaitiyat’s coach Bertrand

Marchand speaks during

a press conference

ahead of the Sheikh Jassim Cup final at the Qatar Football

Association (QFA)

headquarters in Doha. RIGHT: Al Rayyan’s coach Diego Aguirre.

PICTURES BY: SALIM

MATRAMKOT

DOHA: Al Rayyan will be bid-ding to win their second con-secutive trophy when they lock horns with Al Kharaitiyat in the Sheikh Jassim Cup final at Doha Stadium today.

Al Rayyan enjoyed a 3-0 vic-tory against Al Wakra in the semi-final, while Al Kharaitiyat shocked Eljaish 2-1.

Al Rayyan coach Diego Aguirre said his team is eager to win the final but expects a tough match. He said: “The final match will be a tough match, however, Al Rayyan is ready for it.”

He added: “We take this com-petition very seriously and con-sider it as a very good training for the Qatar Start League (QSL).”

The reigning champions beat Al Sadd 1-0 in last season’s final and Aguirre said he is satisfied with the club’s record in the competition.

He said: “It’s a good thing that we won the Sheikh Jassim Cup many times and that we’re win-ning titles every year in different tournaments.”

He added: “As I said, it’s very important to win the Sheikh Jassim Cup.”

Al Rayyan player, Ahmad Ala El Din echoed his coach’s view saying the team is ready for the match. He said: “We’re ready for this match, all teams were good in the Cup.”

He added: “Al Kharaitiyat has some really good players and hopefully we will do our best to win this match.”

Aguirre’s opposite number, Bertrand Marchand said his team is keen to finish the tournament

on a winning note, who are one victory away from Cup glory.

Marchand said: “We’ve done a good job during the Cup, and we trained very well in the training camp abroad.”

He added: “The upcoming match will be a difficult one but we are motivated to win the match and are ready to win it. With all due respect to Al Rayyan, and considering the won the Cup more than once before, we are positive that we will play very well on Saturday (today).”

The former French footballer is hoping for Yousif Al Qedewy can shine in the final. He said: “The last five matches went very well for us in the Cup and I expect Al Qedewy to play extremely well in the final.”

Player Saleh Anad, said of the match: “We are eager to win this match. We will play to win this match. The matches we played in Holland during the camp pre-pared us well for the final match.”

Meanwhile, Saoud Al Mohannadi, General Secretary

of Qatar Football Association (QFA) congratulated both sides on reaching the final, and wished the finalists the best of luck.

Al Mohannadi said: “QFA congratulates Al Rayyan and Al Kharaitiyat on reaching the final of the Sheikh Jassim Cup 2013. The tournament kick starts the 2013/2014 sports season in Qatar and is a prelude to QSL. We wish them the best of luck and hope to see a unique performance in the final match which will take place in Doha Stadium at 6:30pm.”

He added: “We highly appre-ciate the unique level that our referees have reached in their refereeing performance and are happy to witness the constant performance development they are undergoing. We are witness-ing this constant development through their successful refe-reeing skills that are conducted in different QFA tournament matches. Sheikh Jassim Cup was a great example to showcase the excellent performance of our ref-erees.” THE PENINSULA

Casillas axed for easing Barca-Real tension, says Del Bosque MADRID: Iker Casillas lost his place in Real Madrid’s team under Jose Mourinho because he helped calm the waters between the Spanish internationals at his club and at Barcelona, according to national coach Vicente Del Bosque.

Several matches between the two clubs during the combative Mourinho’s stint in Spain were marred by brawling, accusations of refereeing bias and play-acting although more recent meetings have been less controversial.

“It’s true that in difficult moments for the national team, when the Real-Barca matches got a little strange, he (Casillas) ... helped the team to move on and continue winning things like the (2012) European Championship,” Del Bosque told radio station Onda Cero.

“This did not go down well and perhaps had a detrimental effect

Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas during a training session of the Spanish team at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland, on Thursday.

also on Iker,” added the former Real coach. “He was a key fig-ure in fostering harmony in the national team.”

The tension reached a low point in August 2011 when Mourinho, who returned three months ago for a second spell at Chelsea, jabbed a finger in the eye of Barca assistant coach Tito Vilanova as fighting erupted during a Spanish Super Cup game.

Real’s Spain contingent, includ-ing goalkeeper Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso and Alvaro

Arbeloa, appeared to fall out with Barca internationals like Xavi and Carles Puyol, prompting concern it could affect the national team’s performances.

Casillas, the Real and Spain captain, sought to ease the ten-sion by meeting Xavi and Puyol, and Del Bosque suggested this had contributed to Mourinho’s deci-sion last season to replace his skipper with Diego Lopez.

Under new Real coach Carlo Ancelotti, Casillas has been left on the bench this season. REUTERS

No LA Galaxy deal for Kaka: AC Milan MILAN: AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani has ruled out any future agree-ment between the club and Los Angeles Galaxy over an eventual transfer of new arrival Kaka.

Brazilian forward Kaka ended a frustrating few years at Real Madrid when he re-joined the Italian Serie A giants on Monday, signing a two-year contract after being allowed to leave the Spanish giants for free.

His return came four years after he quit the seven-time European champions to join Real, where he fell out of favour under Jose Mourinho and was not in the plans of new coach Carlo Ancelotti.

Prior to Kaka’s arrival reports suggested Milan would initially sign Kaka before offloading him to Major League soccer side LA Galaxy.

But at his official presentation Galliani

indicated the club had no intention of such a move:

“Can you imagine what would happen if Ricky came here, played for three months and then left ?

“The fans would not be happy at all.”He added: “There is no such agreement

with LA Galaxy. Kaka has a two-year con-tract with us.”

Kaka was one of Real’s most expensive signings in 2009 when the club paid Milan €65m for him.

After being left on the sidelines under Mourinho, Kaka’s chances of more regular first team action at the Santiago Bernabeu faded further when his former coach at Milan, Ancelotti, took over the ‘Galacticos’ for the new season.

Kaka refused to blame either coach.“Mourinho’s not to blame. He taught me a

lot, about football and also outside the game,” added Kaka.

“And Ancelotti was very honest with me these last six weeks in Madrid. Real had other plans, new players and also with younger players coming into the squad there were fewer and fewer spots in the team.”

With Brazil hosting the 2014 World Cup, Kaka launched a public plea to leave Real last week and the Spaniards allowed the 31-year-old to return to his former club on a free transfer.

Kaka is hoping his return to the club he helped to Champions League glory in 2007, the year he was also voted Ballon d’Or, can help relaunch his career as well as bring back the joy of playing football.

“On a professional level things didn’t go as I hoped in Madrid although on a personal level it was a really great experience,” he said. AFP

LONDON: Portuguese winger Nani has signed a new five-year contract at Manchester United, the Premier League champions announced yesterday.

The 26-year-old made only seven league starts last season, but new manager David Moyes has confirmed his faith in him by awarding him a deal that ties him to Old Trafford until 2018.

“I’m really pleased Nani has re-signed for the next five years,” Moyes told the club website.

“He has great ability and expe-rience beyond his 26 years. I’ve been impressed with his approach to training and look forward to working with him in the coming seasons.”

“Playing at United has been a fantastic experience for me,” said Nani, who made his first appear-ance of the season in Sunday’s 1-0 league defeat at Liverpool.

“When I came to the club, I never imagined the success we have enjoyed. Training every day with top players who want to win trophies every year is a great motivation to me,” the attacking midfielder added. AFP

Man United’s Nani signs newfive-year deal

Argentina’s Lionel Messi Argentina’s Lionel Messi heads the ball during a heads the ball during a

training session in Ezeiza, training session in Ezeiza, Buenos Aires yesterday. Buenos Aires yesterday.

Argentina will face Argentina will face Paraguay on September Paraguay on September 10 in Asuncion in a Brazil 10 in Asuncion in a Brazil

2014 FIFA World Cup South 2014 FIFA World Cup South American qualifier match.American qualifier match.

England on the defensive over chairman’s gaffe WATFORD, United Kingdom: England captain Steven Gerrard insists boss Roy Hodgson is right not to be drawn into the debate about his country’s chances of winning the World Cup.

New English Football Association chairman Greg Dyke’s claim this week that nobody expects England to win the 2014 World Cup in Brazil triggered a storm of complaints on the eve of two crucial quali-fiers for Hodgson’s team against Moldova and Ukraine.

Dyke believes England’s hopes of winning in Brazil are a ‘doomed mission’ even if they do qualify from Group H.

But Hodgson made it clear he didn’t want to be drawn into a lengthy debate about Dyke’s views when he was quizzed at a press conference.

“We don’t see it that way,” Hodgson insisted. “None of us, with the team, ever saw it in that way. We don’t believe our chair-man sees anything as a doomed mission.

“He also said in his speech how much he supports the team and hopes we get to Brazil and do well.

“I don’t think he’s giving up on the team. That would be harsh on him and even harsher on the team.”

And Liverpool midfielder Gerrard was also diplomatic when he said: “I think realistically eve-ryone in the room knows we’re not going to be one of the bookies’ favourites to win the World Cup.

“But it doesn’t mean we can’t get there and have a successful tournament to make the country proud. But, look, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. Our prior-ity is to get there first.” AFP

Madrid income climbs to €520m in 2012-13 MADRID: Real Madrid’s revenues exceeded €500m for a sec-ond consecutive season in 2012-13, rising 1.3 percent to €520.9m ($683.4m), the world’s richest club by income said.

The La Liga giants made a net profit of €36.9m, up from €24.2m the previous season, Real said on their website (www.realmadrid.com).

Real topped Deloitte’s annual ranking of the world’s richest soccer clubs for an eighth consecutive year.

Under president Florentino Perez they became the first sports club to exceed the threshold of half a billion euros, said Deloitte, who exclude player transfer fees, VAT and other sales-related taxes . REUTERS

Kokorin nets brace in comfortable Russia win MOSCOW: A double by Dynamo Moscow forward Alexander Kokorin helped Russia to a 4-1 win against Luxembourg in their 2014 World Cup qualifier in Kazan yesterday.

The result left Fabio Capello’s side with 15 points from seven games in European qualifying Group F and put them a point clear at the top of the section.

“We were deserved win-ners,” said Kokorin, 22, who rejoined Dynamo from Anzhi Makhachkala last month, only weeks after moving in the oppo-site direction.

“An early goal helped us a lot and the result gives us confidence ahead of the match with Israel, which we desperately need to win.” AFP

AMMAN: Jordan and Uzbekistan played out a scrappy 1-1 draw in the first leg of their World Cup Asia zone qualifying play-off on a terrible pitch in Amman yesterday.

The Uzbeks started brightly and had the best of possession and chances, only to fall behind to a Musab Al Laham goal in the 30th minute when the midfielder neatly slotted home after clever Jordanian passing.

The Uzbeks grabbed a vital away goal five minutes later, though, when their captain Server Djeparov exchanged passes with Jasur Khasanov before firing home a low left-foot drive from inside the area. REUTERS

Jordan and Uzbekistan level after scrappy play-off first leg

2121SEPTEMBER 7, 2013www.thepeninsulaqatar.com ON SATURDAYSport

Stage 2 of pool tournament begins in Doha todayDOHA: The 2013 World Pool-Billiards Association (WPA) World 9-ball Championship Stage 2 is set to kick off today with most of the leading players of the game in attendance.

Ten Qatari players have been seeded directly into the main draw of the 12-day champion-ship, sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) and the Asian Pocket Billiard Union (APBU) which is contested by players from 43 countries.

The 10 Qatari players who feature in Stage 2 are Bashar Hussain, Mohammedd Al Bin Ali, Abdulatif Al Fawal, Khamis Al Obaidly, Ali Al Obaidly, Mohamed Al Buainain, Mohanna Al Obaidly, Waleed Majed, Israel Rota and Antonio Gabica.

The 12-day championship, held in two stages, Stage 1 and stage 2, is been held at the Al Arabi Indoor Hall. In Stage 2, 128 players are vying for a place in the September 13 final.

The Stage 2 draw reads like a veritable who’s who of greats from across the globe.

Defending champion and World number one

Darren Appleton of Great Britain looks set to make a spirited defence of his title. Appleton won his first World 9-ball championship in June, 2012, with an incredible 13-12 win over China’s Li Hewen, in Doha.

Almost all of the top 30 players in the world are in Doha.

These include China’s Li Hewen(4), Hall of Famer Ralf Souquet (5) of Germany, Finland’s Mika Immonen(6), Karl Boyes(7) of Great Britain, and three greats from Taiwan, Chang Jun Lin(8), Ko Pin Yi(9), and Fu Chei Wei(10).

Also in the line-up are Germany’s Thorsten Hohmann(11), the USA’s Shane Van Boening(13), as well as Dutch pool stars Niels Feijen(18) and Nick Van Den Berg(22).

The Philippines looks set to make its usual splash.

Leading the way for the Philippine con-tingent is world number 2 Dennis Orcollo, and world number 3 Lee Vann Corteza. Also joining Team Philippines is the young up and comer, Carlo Biado, the legend and 1999 World 9-ball Champion Efren “Bata” Reyes,

and 2010 World 9-ball Champion Francisco Bustamante.

The Stage 1, qualifying rounds of the tour-nament, followed a single elimination, race to 7 matches, with 12 qualifiers, making it to the qualified for the main draw.

The main draw players have been divided into 16 groups of 8.

Players will play a double elimination for-mat, race to 9, alternate break. The top four players in each group, two from the winner’s side, and two from the loser’s side, will advance into the final 64.

From the final round of 64, the tourna-ment will follow the knockout system, with all matches single elimination race to 11, alter-nate break.

The semi-finals and finals will take place on September 13. The finals will be a race to 13, alternate break.

The winner of the 2013 World 9-ball Championship will receive $36,000. The run-ner-up will take home $18,000. The total prize fund is $250,000. THE PENINSULA

Qatar’s Mohammad Sulthan is seen in action during the World 9-Ball Championship in Doha. KAMMUTTY VP

Djokovic crushes Youzhny; Wawrinka grabs headlinesRoger texted me after the match. He told me congrats, says Wawrinka

Serbian player Novak Djokovic

goes for a forehand against Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny during their 2013 US

Open quarter-final match at the USTA

Billie Jean King National Tennis

Centre in New York on Thursday.

Djokovic won 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0.

NEW YORK: Defending cham-pion Andy Murray was the lat-est Grand Slam winner to be bundled out of the US Open and deny fans a dream match-up, while Novak Djokovic stayed the course on Thursday to complete the last four line-up.

Winds blew across Arthur Ashe Stadium but that did not bother top seed Djokovic, who defeated Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 to claim a berth in today’s semi-finals.

An eagerly anticipated renewal of his Grand Slam rivalry with Wimbledon winner Murray had already been spoiled after ninth seed Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland spanked the out-of-sorts Scot 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in their quarter-final.

The other semi-final will have French Open champion Rafa Nadal against eighth-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

“I’m always trying to play my best tennis in the Grand Slams,” said world number one Djokovic, who reached his 14th consecutive grand slam semi-final. “I’m really working on my game.”

Youzhny, the 21st seed, said the Serb had never given an inch.

“Every point you have to play,” the Russian said.

“He never miss. He never give you some presents.”

Wawrinka stepped out from the shadow cast by compatriot Roger Federer and into his first Grand Slam semi-final with a decisive victory over the Wimbledon champion, winning the battle from the baseline and the net.

The surging Wawrinka, who raised his 2013 record to 41-15 with the upset win, raised both arms in triumph after third seed Murray dumped a second-serve return into the net on match point.

“It feels amazing for sure, espe-cially here,” the excited Swiss said. “He’s defending champion, he’s a tough opponent. It was a crazy match for me. To beat him

Former tennis players Chris Evert (left) and Monica Seles, both from the US, are introduced before their exhibition game against Jason Biggs and Rainn Wilson at the US Open on Thursday. Evert won 18 Grand Slam titles in her career. Seles bagged nine Grand Slam wins in her career.

in three sets is just amazing.”Wawrinka broke the Briton

four times and never faced a break point against a player noted for his ability to return.

He cracked 45 winners past the listless Murray and won 31 of 42 forays to the net in the one-sided match.

Murray admitted to a Wimbledon hangover after end-ing a drought of 77 years with-out a British winner since Fred Perry’s 1936 triumph at the All England Club.

“When you work hard for something for a lot of years, it’s going to take a bit of time to really fire yourself up and get yourself training 110 percent,” he said.

“That’s something that I think is kind of natural after what

happened at Wimbledon,” added Murray, who beat Djokovic in the Wimbledon final and to win the 2012 US Open title while losing the Australia Open final to the Serb in between. But I got here. I got to the quarter-finals of a Slam, which isn’t easy.”

Much more was expected of Murray, as it was for the other Swiss player that factored at Flushing Meadows - Roger Federer.

Murray’s loss was the sec-ond seismic shocker to strike the men’s draw in the last two rounds following the straight sets dismissal of five-time US Open champion Federer in the fourth round by Spain’s Tommy Robredo.

Robredo’s rousing victory robbed fans of a quarter-finals match between Federer and Nadal that would have marked the first US Open meeting between the two, who have met 31 times else-where around the world.

Djokovic, one week younger than his friend and fellow 26-year-old Murray, would seem to benefit from the shuffle.

The Serb has a narrow 11-8 career mark against Murray, hav-ing won their first four meetings at the start of their pro careers, but is 12-2 including the last 11 against Wawrinka.

Murray complained about the breezy conditions, but gave credit to Wawrinka.

“He played great. He hit big shots. He passed extremely well. He hit a lot of lines on big points. He served well. That was it,” said Murray.

The 28-year-old Wawrinka,

meanwhile, was basking in the unaccustomed spotlight.

“It’s my moment and I’m enjoy-ing it a lot,” he said. “I’m really thankful for (Federer) because he has helped me a lot. But today, for sure it’s my moment. Roger texted me straight after the match. He told me congrats.”

Another upset was registered earlier when American twins Bob and Mike Bryan fell short in their bid to capture a calendar-year Grand Slam when they lost to Czech Radek Stepanek and India’s Leander Paes in the men’s doubles semi-finals. The top-seeded brothers, who won this year’s Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon men’s dou-bles titles, fell 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

“We’re very disappointed,” said Bob Bryan. “We hate to lose and we knew what was riding on this match and the oppor-tunity of what we could have accomplished.”

The Bryans were hoping to become the first pairing to com-plete the calendar Slam since Australia’s Ken McGregor and Frank Sedgman in 1951.

The women’s semi-finals will feature defending cham-pion Serena Williams of the US against Li Na of China, and 2012 runner-up Victoria Azarenka of Belarus against unseeded Italian Flavia Pennetta.

The Day 12 programme begins with the mixed doubles final pit-ting Czech Andrea Hlvackova and Belarus veteran Max Mirnyi, against American Abigail Spears and Mexican Santiago Gonzalez.

REUTERS

India veteran Paes rides wave of New York memories NEW YORK: Leander Paes (pictured above) has eased past the milestone of his 40th birthday, made a car wreck of a Bollywood movie and overcome brain surgery, but nothing beats his 20-year love affair with New York. The Indian star reached the US Open men’s doubles final with his partner Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic on Thursday with a smooth display matched only by his exuberance at his post-match news conference.

This is Paes’ 20th year as a professional at the US Open, a tour-nament where he had already been a junior champion in 1990 and where he learned to grow up faster than other boys his age.

It was a process encouraged by his father Vece, a 1972 Olympic Games bronze medallist with the Indian hockey team.

“I was a young little Indian kid coming from Calcutta who was trying to see whether I could make it on the pro tour,” Paes said after he and Stepanek had ended the calendar Grand Slam hopes of American brothers Bob and Mike Bryan. “I played the junior final and there were amazing experiences. I took the No. 6 train from Grand Central into Queen’s. My father was trying to make a man out of me and put me on a train going out to train with the Columbia college team down on 283rd Street where they have the practice site.

“Thank God that was the only time I had to make that ride. New York is a great city. The culture, the melting pot of society, what New York stands for, the resilience that the people have here in the city is phenomenal.”

That resilience became even more apparent for Paes after 9/11.He recalls being in the shopping mall inside the Twin Towers

the night before the terrorist attacks that toppled the New York landmarks. The memories of that day are so raw that Paes can even remember what he bought and where he was going.

“I still have a receipt. I bought some khaki pants. I was going back to India for a birthday for three days before coming back to Winston-Salem for Davis Cup. “I was there probably 10 hours before it hap-pened. The resilience that New Yorkers show is the reason I love this city. I lived here for four and a half to be exact. It’s awesome.”

Paes has won 52 doubles titles, including two in New York in 2006 and 2009 with Lukas Dlouhy; Stepanek, 34, has been a beaten finalist twice, in 2002 with Jiri Novak and 2012 with Paes. Paes underwent surgery on his brain in 2003 while Stepanek, famously once engaged to Martina Hingis, required an operation on his spine which sidelined him for three months this year. REUTERS

Men’s semi-finals

line-upsNovak Djokovic (SRB

x1) vs Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI x9)

Richard Gasquet (FRA x8) vs Rafael Nadal

(ESP x2)

US Open results

NEW YORK: US Open results on Thursday (x denotes seeded player):

Men’s singles - Quarter finals

Novak Djokovic (SRB x1) bt Mikhail Youzhny (RUS x21) 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0

Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI x9) bt Andy Murray (GBR x3) 6-4, 6-3, 6-2

Men’s doubles-Semi-finals

Leander Paes/Radek Stepanek (IND/CZE x4) bt Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (USA/USA x1)

3-6, 6-3, 6-4

Alexander Peya/Bruno Soares (AUT/BRA x2) bt Ivan Dodig/Marcelo

Melo (CRO/BRA x10) 7-5, 6-4

Women’s doubles-Semi-finals

Ashley Barty/Casey Dellacqua (AUS/AUS x8) bt Sania Mirza/Zheng Jie (IND/CHN x 10)

6-2, 6-2

Quarter-finals

Serena Williams/Venus Williams (USA/USA) bt Sara Errani/Roberta

Vinci (ITA/ITA x1) 6-3, 6-1

2222 SEPTEMBER 7, 2013www.thepeninsulaqatar.comON SATURDAY

Pakistan (I innings): ......................... 249Zimbabwe (I innings): ...................... 327Pakistan (II innings):Khurram Manzoor lbw Panyangara.............5Mohd Hafeez c Mawoyo b Chatara ...........16Azhar Ali lbw Panyangara ..........................0Younis Khan (not out)............................ 200Misbah c Sibanda b Masakadza ...............52Asad Shafiq b Chatara .............................15Adnan Akmal (run out) .............................64Abdur Rehman lbw Utseya .........................9Saeed Ajmal lbw Utseya ............................1Junaid Khan b Utseya ................................8Rahat Ali (not out) ...................................35Extras (B-11, LB-1, W-2) .........................14Total (for 9 wkts decl) ....................... 419Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-21, 3-23, 4-139, 5-169, 6-287, 7-309, 8-313, 9-331.Bowling: T L Chatara 33-7-99-2; T Panyan-gara 30-14-42-2 (1w); P Utseya 37.3-5-137-3 (1w); S W Masakadza 34-4-100-1; H Masakadza 15-5-29-0.Zimbabwe (II innings):T M K Mawoyo lbw Saeed Ajmal .................2V Sibanda (batting) ....................................5Extras (B-1, LB-5) .....................................6Total (for 1 wkt) ...................................13Fall of wicket: 1-13.Bowling: Junaid Khan 3-2-3-0; Rahat Ali 2-1-4-0; Saeed Ajmal 1.3-1-0-1; Abdur Reh-man 1-1-0-0.

Scoreboard

Sport

Younis hits double century to put Pakistan on topZimbabwe need 342 to win first Test after the batsman’s unbeaten 200

MONZA, ITALY: Red Bull’s Formula One championship leader Sebastian Vettel did his best to demoralise the ranks of Ferrari fans at their home circuit with a stunning show of speed in Italian Grand Prix practice yesterday.

The triple champion was a com-manding 0.623 seconds quicker than his own team-mate Mark Webber, next on the timesheets, in the afternoon sunshine at Monza with a fastest lap of one minute 24.453 seconds.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, the German’s closest championship rival with a cavernous 46-point gap to make up and eight races remaining, was fifth and 0.877 off the pace on the fastest circuit on the calendar.

Last year’s winner Lewis Hamilton had put Mercedes on top in the morning session with Alonso putting in the second-best lap only 0.035 seconds slower and Vettel fourth fastest.

Hamilton, who will be chasing his fifth pole position in a row today, roared around Monza’s classic ‘Pista Magica’ in 1:25.565 on a sunny morning in the former royal park. He was sixth after lunch.

The Briton, who was booed by some of the passionate Ferrari ‘tifosi’ when he won for McLaren last year, had said on Thursday that he hoped they would be boo-ing him again if it meant a return to the top step of the podium on Sunday.

The 2008 world champion certainly has a good chance, as one of only three current driv-ers to have won the final round of the European season and with Mercedes looking increasingly competitive.

Vettel and Alonso, the top two in the championship with Hamilton third, are the other two past winners.

Alonso might have gone quicker than Hamilton in the morning had he not run wide, kicking up a cloud of dust, at the exit to the Parabolica corner on a fast lap with half an hour to go.

Hamilton’s team-mate Nico Rosberg was third and seventh in the two sessions while former Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 champion now with Lotus, was fifth and third equal with the same afternoon time as his own team mate Romain Grosjean.

Raikkonen suffered his first retirement of the season, ending a 27-race scoring run, at the pre-vious race in Belgium. REUTERS

Red Bull’s Vettel on top in Monza practice

HARARE: Younis Khan hit a double century as Pakistan wrested control on the fourth day of the first Test against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club yesterday.

Younis hit 200 not out to ena-ble Pakistan to declare on 419 for nine, setting Zimbabwe an unlikely 342 to win.

Zimbabwe were 13 for one at the close, losing opening batsman Tina Mawoyo in the last over of the day, leg before wicket to Saeed Ajmal.

Off-spinner Ajmal, who took seven for 95 in the first innings, will be the main threat to the Zimbabwe batsmen on the last day on a deteriorating pitch.

It was a monumental perform-ance by Younis, who batted for 10 hours 12 minutes and faced 404 balls, knowing for much of his innings that his side would be in danger of defeat if he was dismissed.

Pakistan were in deep trou-ble at 23 for three early in his innings. He shared a century partnership with captain Misbah-ul-Haq on Thursday but the tour-ists were still vulnerable when Asad Shafiq was bowled in the first over yesterday with Pakistan only 91 ahead with five wickets remaining.

Another century stand, with wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal, who made a career-best 64, steered Pakistan towards safety. An unbroken last wicket partnership of 88 with Rahat Ali (35 not out) took the game away from a tiring Zimbabwe team.

Patience was the hallmark of Younis’ innings until he cut loose in the last wicket stand, adding his last 51 runs in quick time.

Misbah delayed the declaration,

Azarenka beats Pennetta to reach US Open final

Pakistan’s batsman Younis Khan celebrates his century during the fourth day of the first Test match against hosts Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club, yesterday.

LEEDS, UNITED KINGDOM: The first one-day international between England and Australia in Leeds was washed out yesterday, as heavy and persistent rain flooded the ground and ruined any chance of play.

Umpires Aleem Dar and Richard Illingworth had little option but to abandon hopes of any play taking place after inspecting the waterlogged outfield for a third time at 1.30pm (1130 GMT).

Drenched groundstaff tried in vain to soak up and sweep away pud-dles which had grown larger by the hour on the grass and the large Headingley covers. AFP

first signalling two more overs as Younis neared a double century, then indicating a further over when Younis was on 194 when the allotted two were complete. Younis hit off- spinner Prosper Utseya to reach the landmark and the declaration was immediate.

It meant Pakistan had only eight overs to bowl at Zimbabwe before the close of play. Mawoyo and Vusi Sibanda negotiated the first seven before Mawoyo went back in his crease and missed an Ajmal ‘doosra’ to be trapped in front of his stumps

Run-scoring ground almost to a halt at times before the late flurry.

Zimbabwe, lacking out-and-out strike bowlers, were forced to bowl for containment and the batsmen refused to take risks. In the first hour after lunch, only 18 runs were scored in 15 overs. Just when the tempo started to pick up again Akmal was run out after a mix-up with Younis.

Younis survived a chance when he had 83, edging medium-pacer Hamilton Maskadza low to slip .

AFP

Rain washes out first England-Australia ODI

South Africa, India to discuss scheduling dispute JOHANNESBURG, Gauteng: India and South Africa cricket chiefs are to meet in Dubai this month to defuse a row over the scheduling of an upcoming tour between the two coun-tries, Cricket South Africa said yesterday.

CSA said chief executive Haroon Lorgat will meet Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Sanjay Patel during a scheduled International Cricket Council (ICC) chief exec-utives’ meeting on September 16-17.

A statement said the meeting was agreed “after several con-versations between the two over the past few days as they work towards resolving scheduling issues around the end-of-year tour to South Africa by India”.

What was announced as a tour consisting of three Tests, seven one-day internationals and two Twenty20 internationals seems likely to be shortened following announcements by the BCCI of plans for an incoming tour by the West Indies and the re-scheduling of a tour by India to New Zealand next year.

The West Indies tour will end only after the tour to South Africa was due to start, while the tour to New Zealand will start before the scheduled third Test in South Africa is due to finish.

CSA’s statement quoted Lorgat as saying: “There has rightly been concern about reports of a shortened tour by India but I am looking forward to meeting Sanjay so that we can work out the best possible schedule under the present circumstances.

“As custodians we have a responsibility to act in the best interests of the game and all our stakeholders.

“It is clear to me that both our Boards are committed to working together to ensure the wonderful relationship we have had for the past 22 years is strengthened,” he added yesterday. AFP

Umar Akmal cleared to play again by neurologists KARACHI: Pakistan wicket-keeper-batsman Umar Akmal has been given the green light to resume playing after suffering a fit while on duty for Barbados in the Caribbean Premier League last month.

The 23-year-old had to drop out of the tour to Zimbabwe after being taken ill on a flight to Jamaica.

“The good news is that after extensive tests and examina-tion by top neurologists ... Umar Akmal has been cleared to play again,” a Pakistan Cricket Board spokesman said yesterday.

The spokesman added that the fit was down to sleep deprivation and there was no restriction on physical activity or exertion plus no need for medication or any fur-ther medical checks. REUTERS

New Zealand Test Squad

WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s 15-man Test squad named yesterday for a tour of Bangladesh beginning next month:

Brendon McCullum (captain), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Dean Brownlie, Peter Fulton, Mark Gillespie, Tom Latham, Bruce Martin, Hamish Rutherford, Ish Sodhi, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson.

Bolt wraps up golden season with victory

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus celebrates a point against Flavia Pennetta of Italy at the US Open in New York, yesterday.

NEW YORK: Belarussian Victoria Azarenka beat Italian Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-2 yesterday to reach her second consecutive US Open final.

The Australian Open champion heads into tomorrow’s women’s sin-gles final having dropped just two sets in the year’s last Grand Slam, where she was a runner-up last year to Serena Williams.

Azarenka, the second seed at Flushing Meadows, will play the win-ner of the other semi-final matchup between top-seeded Williams and Chinese fifth seed Li Na.

Also, Max Mirnyi of Belarus won his third US Open mixed doubles crown, joining Czech Andrea Hlavackova to beat Mexican Santiago Gonzalez and American Abigail Spears 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 in the final.

The seventh-seeded European duo needed only 86 minutes to capture the crown over the unseeded North Americans for the $150,000 top prize at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Meanwhile, A Spanish judge handed an eight-month jail sentence to John Tomic, father of Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic, for headbutting his son’s French training partner, a court said yesterday.

John Tomic was sentenced for the assault outside a Madrid hotel in May, in which he broke Thomas Drouet’s nose and knocked him out, the court said in a written judgement.

“I sentence the accused Ivica Tomic as the author of a crime of bod-ily harm... to a penalty of eight months’ prison,” wrote judge Jacobo Vigil Levi in a ruling, referring to the Bosnian-born defendant, 49, by his official name.

A court source said that Tomic could appeal to two higher courts before the sentence is made definitive.

He will not serve jail time, however, as the sentence is less than two years and he has no previous convictions in Spain, the source added. If the sentenced is confirmed, he will have to pay small legal costs.

AGENCIES

BRUSSELS: Jamaican track star Usain Bolt wrapped up another gold-laden season at the season-ending Diamond League meet yesterday with victory in 9.80sec in the 100m.

Fresh from winning tre-ble sprint gold at last month’s world championships in Moscow, the 27-year-old led four others through the line in sub-10sec times.

American Michael Rodgers claimed second in a season’s best of 9.90sec, with Jamaica’s Nesta Carter nipping world silver med-allist Justin Gatlin for third after both were clocked at 9.94, Bolt’s training partner Kemar Bailey-Cole timing 9.98sec.

“It’s my last race of the season, the time’s close to my season’s best (of 9.77sec), I’m happy,” said Bolt.

Out of the blocks in lane five just slower than Gatlin outside him, Bolt kept his head and shoulders low as he drove into the opening metres.

His trademark transition phase then showed at the 50 metre mark to win in ease. AFP

England crush Moldova 4-0

England’s Rickie Lambert England’s Rickie Lambert (right) heads the ball into (right) heads the ball into the net during their 2014 the net during their 2014

World Cup qualifying World Cup qualifying match against Moldova at match against Moldova at

Wembley Stadium in London, Wembley Stadium in London, yesterday. yesterday.

LONDON: England outclassed Moldova 4-0 to top World Cup qualifying Group H thanks with two goals from Danny Welbeck and one each from captain Steven Gerrard and Rickie Lambert sealing a comfortable victory at Wembley yesterday.

The result gave England the perfect lift ahead of Tuesday’s far more difficult game in Kiev

against Ukraine, who kept alive their chances of qualifying for next year’s finals in Brazil with an even more emphatic 9-0 win over San Marino.

With Montenegro drawing 1-1 in Poland, England head the group with 15 points from seven matches ahead of Montenegro, who have played one match more on goal difference. REUTERS

MALL

1

The Smurfs 2 (3D/Animation) – 3.00pm

Nazareyet Amity (2D/Arabic) – 5.00pm

2 Guns (2D/Action) – 7.00pm

Riddick 2 (2D/Thriller) – 9.15 & 11.30pm

2

Shuddi Desi Romance (2D/Hindi) – 2.30pm

Neelakasham Pachakadal Bhoomi (2D/Malayalam) – 5.00pm

Zanjeer (2D/Hindi) – 8.00 & 11.00pm

3

Peeples (2D/Comedy) – 2.15 & 4.00pm

Turbo (3D/Animation) – 5.45pm

Kick-Ass 2 (2D/Comedy) – 7.30pm

We Are The Millers (2D/Comedy – 9.30 & 11.30pm

LANDMARK

1

Shuddi Desi Romance (2D/Hindi) – 2.30pm

Neelakasham Pachakadal Bhoomi (2D/Malayalam) – 5.00pm

Zanjeer (2D/Hindi) – 8.00 & 11.00pm

2

The Smurfs 2 (3D/Animation) – 3.00pm

Nazareyet Amity (2D/Arabic) – 5.00pm

2 Guns (2D/Action) – 7.00pm

Riddick 2 (2D/Thriller) – 9.15 & 11.30pm

3

Peeples (2D/Comedy) – 2.15 & 4.00pm

Turbo (3D/Animation) – 5.45pm

Kick-Ass 2 (2D/Comedy) – 7.30pm

We Are The Millers (2D/Comedy – 9.30 & 11.30pm

ROYAL

PLAZA

1

Shuddi Desi Romance (2D/Hindi) – 2.30pm

Zanjeer (2D/Hindi) – 5.00pm

2 Guns (2D/Action) – 7.15pm

Riddick 2 (2D/Thriller) – 9.15 & 11.30pm

2

Turbo (3D/Animation) – 2.30 & 4.15pm

Varutha Padatha Valibar Sangam(2D/Tamil) – 6.00pm

We Are The Millers (2D/Comedy) – 9.00pm

Zanjeer (2D/Hindi) – 11.00pm

3

Nazareyet Amity (2D/Arabic) – 2.30pm

Neelakasham Pachakadal Bhoomi (2D/Malayalam) – 4.30pm

Peeples (2D/Comedy) – 7.00pm

Kick-Ass 2 (2D/Comedy) – 9.00pm

We Are The Millers (2D/Comedy) – 11.15pm

Baby Blues By Jerry Scott and Rick Kirkman

C O O DSR S RW

Yesterday’s answer

Yesterday’s answer

How to play Hyper Sudoku:A Hyper Sudoku Puzzle is solved by filling the numbers from 1 to 9 into the blank cells. A Hyper Sudoku has unlike Sudoku 13 regions (four regions overlap with the nine standard regions). In all regions the numbers from 1 to 9 can appear only once. Otherwise, a Hyper Sudoku is solved like a normal Sudoku.

How to play Kakuro:

The kakuro grid, unlike in sudoku, can be of any

size. It has rows and columns, and dark cells

like in a crossword. And, just like in a crossword,

some of the dark cells will contain numbers. Some

cells will contain two numbers.

However, in a crossword the numbers reference

clues. In a kakuro, the numbers are all you get!

They denote the total of the digits in the row or

column referenced by the number.

Within each

collection of cells

- called a run - any

of the numbers 1

to 9 may be used

but, like sudoku,

each number may

only be used once.

HYPER

ACROSS

1 Mediterranean and Baltic, in

Monopoly: Abbr.

5 Org. suggested by the starts of

17-, 31-, 41- and 62-Across

9 Kind of point

14 Tora ___

(Afghan area)

15 Pop

16 One of the Dutch Antilles

17 Pricey accommodations on a

ship

20 HI hi

21 Kaput

22 Fruit drink

23 One who knows his beans?

26 In a row

28 “I ___ what I said”

30 “+” thing

31 Ward worker

38 Like some highly-rated bonds

39 Grant-giving org.

40 Dog command

41 What disabled people are

entitled to on a subway

48 Mich./Minn. separator

49 Sei + uno

50 Bell site

54 “Hmmm …”

58 “___ ba-a-ack!”

59 Hemingway’s nickname

61 Words after hang or dash

62 Quick way to pay

66 Maker of Aleve

67 Western tribe

68 Prefix with European

69 Little helpers?

70 5-Across’s business

71 Olympic female gymnast,

typically

DOWN

1 ’90s-’00s Britcom

2 “Ta-da!”

3 Overthrowing a base, e.g.

4 Menu item often accompanied

by wasabi ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE

S C H L E A D J U S T I NI R A E P E E S U P P O S ET O S V I S E U N T I M E DP U B L I C O P I N I O NA C R O P E T C O P A R KT H O M A S N A H L E E S

A C H E L I K E A R FF R A N C I S C O P I Z A R R OC O N T A C O S L R SC A N T A L A N A P O L I

M A R C O P O L O E C O NU N D E R C O V E R C O P

O U T M O D E O M E N U M AA V I A T E S T P E D R P IT A N N E R T A R S S A N

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16

17 18 19

20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30

31 32 33 34 35 36 37

38 39 40

41 42 43 44 45 46 47

48 49

50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57

58 59 60 61

62 63 64 65

66 67 68

69 70 71

5 Pac-12 school,

for short

6 Roman sun

god

7 Droids, e.g.

8 Obama girl

9 Group within a

group

10 Man-mouse

link

11 Like the

rumba,

originally

12 Tolerate

13 Like interstates

18 Shocks, in a

way

19 Sphere or

pyramid

24 Bit of body art,

informally

25 Regarding

27 Beast with a

beard

29 Low poker

holdings

31 Jay-Z’s genre

32 Musician’s

asset

33 Moo goo ___

pan

34 Hotel meeting

room amenity

35 Hitter’s stat

36 Statehouse

worker: Abbr.

37 A snake may

swallow one

whole

42 Part of i.o.u.

43 Bodice-___

(old-fashioned

romance

novels)

44 Puerto Rico y

La Española

45 Summer on the

55-Down

46 High level?

47 Do-it-yourself

diagnostic tool

50 Biblical land

on the Arabian

Peninsula

51 ___-size (big)

52 Awards won by

LeBron James

and David

Beckham

53 British

racetrack site

55 Rhône feeder

56 Avoid

57 Rocker John

60 Court records

63 Like many

seniors: Abbr.

64 ___ polloi

65 Wriggly fish

ON SATURDAYSEPTEMBER 7, 2013

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com 2323Break Time

TV LISTINGS

7:30 NEWSHOUR

8:00 News

10:00 News

10:30 Inside Story

11:00 News

11:30 Listening Post

12:00 News

12:30 Counting the Cost

13:00 NEWSHOUR

14:00 News

14:30 Inside Story

15:00 The Frost Interview

16:00 NEWSHOUR

17:00 News

17:30 South2North

18:00 NEWSHOUR

19:00 News

19:30 Fault Lines

20:00 News

20:30 Inside Syria

21:00 NEWSHOUR

22:00 News

22:30 Listening Post

23:00 Al Jazeera World

10:00 Ireland vs Sweden

(R) World Cup 2014

Qualifiers

11:45 Newcastle vs Bath

(R) Rugby - AVIVA

Premiership

14:00 Omni Sport

14:30 Golfing World

15:30 UEFA Champions

League Magazine

16:00 London Irish vs

Saracens (L) Rugby

- AVIVA Premiership

22:30 Chile vs Venezuela

(R) World Cup 2014

Qualifiers

22:15 Brazil vs Australia (L)

Friendly Match

00:15 London Irish vs

Saracens (R) Rugby

- AVIVA Premiership

TEL: 444933989 444517001SHOWING AT VILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER QF RADIO 91.7 FM ENGLISH

PROGRAMME BRIEF

LIVE SHOWS Airing Time

Programme Briefs

SPIRITUAL HOUR

6:00-7:00 AM

A time of reflection, a deeper understanding of the teachings of Islam.

FASHION NEWS 12:00 Noon

Is a lighthearted 10-minute fashion bulletin from red carpets and popular brands around the world.

INTERNATIO-NAL NEWS

1:00 PM The latest news and events from around the world.

DECADES 4:00PM A journey through time. The show reminisces at the music, the inventions, and the events that ensued during that era and defined modern history. Hosted by Ms. Laura Finnerty and Scotty Boyes.

TOUR OF QATAR

6:00PM The show takes you on a weekly trip to different locations in Qatar

LEGENDARY ARTISTS

8:00PM The show tells the story of a celebrity artist that has reached unprecedented fame. Throughout the episode, the artists’ memorable performances/songs will be played to put listeners in the mood.

THINK ABOUT IT

10:30 PM

Is a show about ‘Spoken Word.’ Every week the audience is introduced to a new artistic piece. Created by our very own Nabil Al Nashar.

MUSIC & INFORMATION

Listen in the whole day as we offer a wide array of music from Pop, to Classical, Reggae, Jazz, Funk, World/Ethnic and loads of information through QF Radio’s Factoid Series. Stay tuned in to learn more about our upcoming new season which will start 1st of September.

13:00 Mighty Ships

13:50 Food Factory

14:20 The Gadget

Show

14:45 The Tech Show

15:10 James May’s

Man Lab

16:00 Prototype This

17:45 Alien Mysteries

18:35 How Stuff’s

Made

19:05 How Stuff’s

Made

19:30 James May’s

Man Lab

20:20 Storm Chasers

21:10 The Gadget

10:30 Science with

Brain Café

11:00 LOL (Hungama)

14:00 DID SuperMoms

(Clubbed

Repeat)

17:00 Fear Files

17:30 Fear Files

18:00 Teenovation

18:30 Soul Music

19:00 Zee Connect..

Are You

Connected

Season 3

19:30 DID SuperMoms

20:30 DID SuperMoms

21:00 Qubool Hai

06:00 Jelly T

08:00 Tommy &

Oscar

10:00 Cinderella

13:30 Quest For A

Heart

16:45 Over The

Hedge

18:15 Cinderella

20:00 Hey Arnold!

The Movie

21:45 Over The

Hedge

23:15 Three

Investigators

16:10 Dog With A Blog

16:35 A.N.T. Farm

17:00 Jessie

18:10 Austin And Ally

19:20 Good Luck

Charlie

19:40 Dog With A Blog

20:05 Shake It Up

20:30 Austin And Ally

20:50 A.N.T. Farm

21:15 That’s So Raven

21:40 Good Luck

Charlie

22:00 Shake It Up

22:25 A.N.T. Farm

22:50 Austin And Ally

04:00 Wayne’s World-

06:00 Ernest Scared

Stupid

08:00 I Think I Do-

10:00 Turner & Hooch

12:00 Wayne’s World

14:00 Raising Arizona

16:00 Turner & Hooch

18:00 Wayne’s World

20:00 American

Cowslip

22:00 Stripes

00:00 Slums Of Beverly

09:10 Austin

Stevens: Most

Dangerous...

10:05 Escape To

13:45 The Magic Of

The Big Blue

18:20 Wild Things

With Dominic

Monaghan

19:15 Buggin’ With

Ruud

20:10 O’shea’s Big

Adventure

2424 SEPTEMBER 7, 2013www.thepeninsulaqatar.com Morning BreakON SATURDAY

Fajr (Dawn) 3:59

Shorook (Sunrise) 5:17

Zuhr (Noon) 11:32

Asr (Afternoon) 3:01

Maghrib (Sunset) 5:48

Isha (Night) 7:18

PRAYER TIME

Weather Conditions:

Hazy to misty at places at first becoming hot during the day and humid.

High: 38° Low: 32°

High: 39° Low: 31°

High: 40° Low: 30°

Partly cloudyClear Partly cloudy

Today Sunday Monday

SUNRISE | SUNSET

05:19 17:43 05:45 & 18:00 00:00 & 11:30 05-14/20 KT

HIGH | LOW WIND

SUN TIDE SEA

TODAY TOMORROW

HI/LO WEATHER HI/LO WEATHER

THE REGION

TODAY TOMORROW

HI/LO WEATHER HI/LO WEATHER

THE WORLD

DOHA - SUN & SEA

WEATHER

MUSCAT 32/27 Partly cloudy 31/27 Partly cloudy

KUWAIT 43/32 Clear 43/31 Clear

BAHRAIN 41/26 Clear 42/25 Clear

SANAA 29/15 T-storms 28/14 Partly cloudy

RIYADH 44/29 Clear 43/29 Clear

DUBAI 42/32 Partly cloudy 41/32 Clear

BAGHDAD 39/25 Clear 41/26 Clear

ATHENS 30/23 Chance of rain 29/22 Clear

WASHINGTON 27/19 Clear 29/16 Partly cloudy

SYDNEY 31/15 Mostly cloudy 29/13 Chance of storm

LONDON 21/11 Chance of rain 18/12 Chance of rain

PARIS 22/16 Clear 22/13 Partly cloudy

ISTANBUL 26/17 Clear 22/17 Chance of rain

MANILA 33/24 Chance of rain 32/25 Chance of rain

DHAKA 32/25 Chance of storm 32/25 Chance of storm

DELHI 35/26 Mostly cloudy 34/25 Clear

ISLAMABAD 33/23 Chance of storm 33/23 Chance of storm

Pumpkin dinosaur

A 15-meter long dinosaur made from 2,000 pumpkins stands at “Karls Erlebnis Dorf” in Roevershagen, northern Germany, yesterday. The figure is part of the traditional pumpkin market that officially opens today.

DJ Dave Lee Travis to face assault trialLONDON: British radio pre-senter Dave Lee Travis, who counts Aung San Suu Kyi among his fans, will stand trial next year accused of 11 counts of indecent assault and one sexual assault, a judge said yesterday.

The 68-year-old former BBC star, one of the biggest names in British broadcasting during the 1970s and 1980s, has indicated that he will plead not guilty to

the charges. At a 20-minute pre-liminary hearing at London’s Old Bailey court, judge Nigel Sweeney said Travis would next appear on October 21, and fixed his trial date for March 4 next year.

Bearded Travis, wearing a grey suit and a red patterned tie, spoke only to confirm his name and to say that he understood his bail conditions.

He got straight into a taxi after

leaving the court, ignoring the scrum of waiting journalists and photographers.

The assaults are alleged to have taken place between 1977 and 2007 against nine alleged victims aged between 15 and 29 at the time.

Travis, whose real name is David Patrick Griffin, has repeat-edly denied any wrongdoing since he was arrested in November. His

lawyer said at a previous hear-ing that he would be pleading not guilty. The trial is expected to last between four and five weeks.

Travis is one of several ageing celebrities in Britain arrested under Operation Yewtree, the police operation set up in the wake of revelations that late BBC star Jimmy Savile was a prolific sex offender.

AFP

Last Hitler bunker witness Misch dies aged 96BERLIN: Roland Misch (pic-tured), the last surviving wit-ness of Adolf Hitler’s final days in the Berlin bunker who always referred to the Nazi dictator as “the Boss”, has died in his home at the age of 96, his book agent said yesterday.

Misch, who said in a 2007 inter-view at his home that there was a strange silence in the bunker as the battle for Berlin raged above in April 1945, had been suffering from the effects of a recent heart attack when he died on Thursday.

“His family was with him when he died,” Misch’s agent, Michael Stehle, said. Misch died in the modest house in south Berlin where he had lived since 1938.

In the 2007 interview, Misch — who worked as Hitler’s body-guard, phone operator and courier for five years — said: “Life in the bunker was pretty normal. Hitler

was mostly very calm.” He said historians, filmmakers and jour-nalists always got it wrong when they described the mood in the bunker as Soviet forces closed in on Hitler in the final days of the Nazi regime.

“It was much less dramatic than shown by many historians, filmmakers and journalists,” said the former soldier. “The worst thing was the silence ... Everybody was whispering and nobody knew why. That’s why it felt like the bunker of death.”

Misch remained neutral on Hitler up to his death.

“History is history, it was the way it was and nobody should lie about it,” he said, refusing make judgements about the past.

When asked about the happiest time in his life, Misch pulled out pictures of Hitler and his close associates at the Nazi leader’s

summer Berghof residence in the Bavarian Alps.

“The best time I ever had was Berghof,” Misch said. He pointed to a picture showing Hitler, sur-rounded by children and the Third Reich’s architect, Albert Speer. “It was wonderful, like a holiday. The boss was very relaxed when he was there.”

Misch was the last survivor of the final days of the bunker. Another, Bernd von Freytag Loringhoven, died in 2007. Misch was a burly man with silver hair and appeared in a number of documentary films about Hitler and the bunker. “No matter who wanted to see Hitler, no mat-ter if it was (propaganda chief Joseph) Goebbels, (Luftwaffe chief Hermann) Goering or any-one else, they had to get past me,” said Misch. “Regardless of who called, I picked up the phone.”

The only soldier allowed to carry a weapon in the bunker, Misch joined the SS in 1937 aged 20 and was wounded in 1939 in Poland. He recovered and was reassigned to Hitler’s chancellery.

He was captured after the war and spent nine years in Soviet prisons. Back home, he launched a house-painting business.

Misch said he stayed in the bunker even after Hitler let oth-ers leave. He said it was his duty as a soldier. With the war clearly lost, Hitler killed himself on April 30, 1945.

“I was prepared for it and was just waiting for the moment,” Misch said. “When the door opened I saw Eva (Braun) lying with her legs bent so that her knees almost reached her chin. I will never forget that.”

Later, Misch saw Hitler’s corpse covered by blankets and

with only his shoes protruding. “There was a complete silence,” he said. “I went to the commander and said: “’The Fuehrer is dead’. My colleague then said, ‘Now the boss is to be burnt’.”

REUTES

Peking duck not all it’s quacked to beBEIJING: China’s first authen-tic version of the giant Rubber Duck that has made a splash around the world and inspired fakes across the country made its debut yesterday — but some complained that visitors had to pay to see it.

The inflatable yellow bird —which has made appearances from Australia to South America since 2007 — attracted huge attention in China after it arrived in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour to rave reviews, bobbing up and down in front of the city’s distinctive urban skyline.

Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman promotes the oversised toy’s uni-versal appeal on his website as knowing “no frontiers” and “soft, friendly and suitable for all ages”.

But the artwork took a com-mercial turn in China, with property developers setting up imitations in Hangzhou, Tianjin and other cities, that was criti-cised by the ruling Communist

Party’s mouthpiece the People’s Daily. Previous displays of the Rubber Duck have normally been free, but the moneymaking con-tinued with the authentic creation in Beijing as it went on show at the International Garden Expo on the outskirts of the city, which costs 100 yuan ($16) to enter.

After a few weeks the duck will shift to the Summer Palace, a tourist spot that also charges an entrance fee.

Expo official Qiao Xiaopeng said there were currently no plans to offer a free day but that the vast grounds — spanning 246 hec-tares — could accommodate large numbers of visitors.

The first crowds were small yesterday. Viewers meandered a pathway on the bank of a river where the duck floated before a backdrop of flowers and greenery spelling out in large letters: “International Garden Expo”.

AFP

A man rows a boat before an 18-metre tall inflatable duck displayed on a lake at the Beijing Garden Expo Park yesterday.

Fifth Estate exposes WikiLeaks at Toronto festivalTORONTO: The Fifth Estate, an unlikely thriller that chroni-cles the emergence of anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks and its enigmatic founder Julian Assange, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

English actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Assange, called the debut at Toronto the “perfect marriage” of a festival, known for its popular participa-tion, and a film, about what he called “people journalism.”

The festival is also considered a harbinger of the awards sea-son. Films that have fared well in Toronto, like Slumdog Millionaire, have gone on to win best picture Oscars.

Some 366 films, including 146 world premieres, will screen over 11 days. Transparency and secrecy in the Internet age have emerged as prevalent themes in the pro-gramme, led by The Fifth Estate.

The film, made and distrib-uted by Disney/Dreamworks, was chosen to kick off Toronto weeks after former government contrac-tor Edward Snowden leaked US surveillance data with the help of WikiLeaks and Assange.

“As we have seen in the Edward Snowden case, this is a story that continues to be central, and we have also seen that people of great intelligence and goodwill disa-gree,” director Bill Condon told the Toronto audience.

Condon said The Fifth Estate was not a judgement about WikiLeaks or Assange, but a portrayal of a complex issue that raises more questions than answers about the struggle between transparency, privacy and the security implications.

“There is no takeaway or single right or wrong,” Condon said. “I hope people walk away and go to dinner to talk about it.”

The Fifth Estate is based on the book by Assange’s once-trusted lieutenant, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, who joined the Australian activist in 2007.

REUTERS