Italy’s Conte appointed as new Chelsea manager

BUSINESS | 21 SPORT | 34

Al Shaheen project: QP hints at ‘service

continuity’

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Deputy Emir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani met at the Emiri Diwan yesterday with the Russian President’s Special Representative for the Middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister, Mikhail Bogdanov. Talks dealt with bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest.

Deputy Emir meets Russian minister

TUESDAY 5 APRIL 2016 • 27 Jumada II 1437 • Volume 21 • Number 6757 thepeninsulaqatar @peninsulaqatar @peninsula_qatar

Emir congratulates Senegal PresidentDOHA: Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani sent yester-day a cable of congratulations to the President of Senegal, Macky Sall, on his country’s National Day, reports QNA.

WASHINGTON: A US air strike in northwest Syria on Sunday hit a meeting of senior Al Qaeda offi-cials at which prominent leader Abu Firas Al Suri was present, the Pentagon spokesman said yester-day, reports Reuters.

The US military is still assess-ing whether Al Suri died, said the spokesman. “We deemed that he (Al Suri)was present at that meet-ing and we’re trying to determine if he has been removed from the battlefield.”

→ See also page 8

External auditor for 2022 FIFAlabour welfare

The Peninsula

DOHA: Qatar has hired an inter-nationally-famed entity as a third-party and independent watch-dog to further ensure the welfare of workers engaged in infrastructure development projects related to FIFA 2022 World Cup.

The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) has appointed Impactt Ltd as an independent third-party External Monitor to further bolster the auditing and inspections process of the SC Workers’ Welfare Standards (WW Standards), a set of enforceable principles and regulations which are incorporated into all contracts for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.

The second edition of the WW Standards was published on March 1, and clearly sets out

the SC’s requirements regarding the recruitment, employment, living and working conditions of everyone engaged on an SC project, said a press statement issued by SC yesterday.

Developed by the SC’s Workers’ Welfare Unit (WWU) in close consultation with stakeholders, including contractors, FIFA and non-government organisations (NGOs), the new requirements update the original WW Standards, which were published in February 2014.

These revised standards are now in the process of being further embedded throughout the supply chain in a series of workshops |with contractors and sub-contractors.

In addition to numerous visits by non-government organisations to SC projects, the SC’s Workers’ Welfare Unit and senior SC man-agement conducted a two-day trip to London in January 2016 to brief Amnesty International, Engi-neers Against Poverty, Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI), Humanity United and the Interna-tional Labour Organisation (ILO) on the updated standards, progress to date, and to get feedback from these organisations.

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Illegal villa partitions cease after crackdownBy Sanaullah Ataullah The Peninsula

DOHA: Civic crackdowns on illegally partitioned villas have brought the activity to a near halt.

Market sources say the situation has led to shortage of affordable

housing that serves mostly low-income expatriate families and single workers.

It is feared that the greedy mid-dlemen in the illicit business may take advantage of the shortfall to increase the rents. A major reason the unscrupulous elements are una-ble to partition villas without civic

approvals is that the small contract-ing firms that thrived on the unlawful activity are unwilling to do the work anymore due to what sources say are prohibitive fines.

The municipalities have increased vigilance and agile inspectors are always on the move, trailing con-struction materials transported on

trucks at the slightest suspicion and zeroing in on any illegal construc-tion activity. The municipalities have cracked down on hundreds of ille-gally partitioned villas across the country, triggering fear among mid-dlemen, say sources.

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Municipality shutters 18 outletsBy Mohammed Osman The Peninsula

DOHA: The Doha Municipality tem-porarily shut down 18 food outlets last month for violating the food monitoring law. The closed outlets included six restaurants, two gro-ceries, three cafeterias, a sweetmeat shop, a traditional kitchen, two food stores and three other facilities.

Municipality Health Control inspectors conducted 2,604 inspec-tions in March. A total of 2,238 were in food outlets, barber shops and

beauty salons. Inspectors destroyed 288 tonnes of foodstuff found unfit for human consumption.

A majority of the inspected facili-ties — 1,854 — were found complying with health requirements, while 29 outlets were found violating the law, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment said yesterday.

Municipal inspectors settled the cases of two violating food out-lets after they took corrective steps. They examined around 12,466 tonnes of vegetables and fruits at the Cen-tral Vegetable Market and destroyed 271 tonnes found unfit for human consumption.

Veterinary doctors of the munic-ipality last month supervised the slaughtering of 64,210 animals, including sheep, cows and camels.

They also checked 1,472 tonnes of imported fishes and destroyed 3.3 tonnes of meat unfit for human consumption.

The inspectors detected 223 vio-lations of the law at commercial and industrial facilities during surprise raids and settled 74 violations after they took corrective measures and met all conditions.

The ministry has urged con-sumers to check all foodstuff before purchase.

Panama Papers trigger worldwide probesReuters

LONDON/PANAMA CITY: Gov-ernments across the world began investigating possible financial wrongdoing by the rich and pow-erful yesterday after a leak of four decades of documents from a Pana-manian law firm that specialised in setting up offshore companies.

The “Panama Papers” revealed financial arrangements of global pol-iticians and public figures including friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of the prime ministers of Britain, Iceland and Pakistan, and the president of Ukraine.

While holding money in offshore companies is not illegal, journalists who received the leaked documents said they could provide evidence of

funds hidden for tax evasion, money laundering, sanctions busting, drug deals or other crimes.

The law firm, Mossack Fonseca, which says it has set up more than 240,000 offshore companies for cli-ents around the globe, denied any wrongdoing and called itself the vic-tim of a campaign against privacy.

The Kremlin said the documents contained “nothing concrete and nothing new” while a spokesman for

British Prime Minister David Cam-eron said his late father’s reported links to an offshore company were a “private matter”. Iceland’s Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson could not immediately be reached for comment on the naming of his wife in connection with a secretive company in an offshore haven, which brought opposition calls for him to resign.

Pakistan denied any wrongdo-ing by the family of Prime Minister Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after his daughter and son were linked to offshore companies. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko did not comment on his reported offshore links. Australia, Austria, France, Swe-den and the Netherlands were among countries which said they had begun investigating the allegations.

→ See also page 17

Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy appoints Impactt Ltd as independent monitor.

Syria skirted sanctionsBEIRUT: Syria’s regime has been able to circumvent international sanctions and fund its war effort through shadow companies, according to leaked “Panama Papers” seen by French daily Le Monde, reports AFP.

Al Qaeda leader dies in US strike

HOME02 TUESDAY 5 APRIL 2016

The Peninsula & QNA

DOHA: Deputy Emir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani yesterday sent a cable of congratu-lations to Senegal President Macky Sall on his country’s National Day.

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani sent a similar cable to President Sall.

Deputy PM meetsRussian officialDOHA: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud yester-day met the Russian President’s envoy to the Middle East and Africa Mikhail Bogdanov. Talks dealt relations, means of devel-oping them in various fields and regional and international issues of common concern. Russian Ambassador to Qatar Nurmakha-mad Kholov was present.

Advisory Councilholds meetingDOHA: The Advisory Council held its weekly meeting of the 44th ordinary session, chaired by Speaker Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khulaifi.

Secretary-General Fahad bin Mubarak Al Khayareen read out the agenda which was agreed upon. The council also endorsed the minutes of its previous session.

It discussed a report by the Legal and Legislative Affairs Com-mittee on a draft law on biological weapons and decided to refer its recommendations to the Cabinet.

The council’s Services and Public Facilities Committee yes-terday met during the regular 44th session under the chairmanship of Rapporteur Saqr Fahd Al Muraikhi.

It resumed study of a draft law on protecting privacy of personal data and decided to invite special-ists from the Ministry of Transport and Communications to its next meeting to listen to the ministry’s viewpoint.

Ministry recalls Honda City and Jazz modelsDOHA: The Ministry of Economy and Commerce, in collaboration with Doha Marketing Services Company (Domasco), dealer of Honda vehicles, has announced the recall of Honda City models of 2012-2013 and Jazz models of 2012-2014 over flaw in the driver air bag.

The ministry said the recall is part of its efforts to protect con-sumers and ensure dealers follow up on vehicle defects and repairs.

It urged customers to report any violations to its Consumer Protection and Anti-Commercial Fraud Department through hotline: 16001; email: info@mec.gov.qa; Twitter: @MEC_Qatar; Instagram: MEC_Qatar; and the ministry’s mobile app for Android and IOS: MEC_Qatar.

Doha Girls Forum to hold workshopDOHA: Doha Girls Centre, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Sports, will organise on Sunday a training workshop ‘Innovative Ideas and Initiatives’ at the centre.

The workshop, sponsored by Dr Haya Al Maadhadi, aims to encourage girls to achieve progress through ideas and innovation and transform such skills into a tangi-ble reality. Girls aged between 15 and 29 are allowed to participate.

The centre is exerting efforts to realise its mission of present-ing outstanding programmes to build national capacities and pre-pare leaders from among girls with ability to achieve management innovation and run youth activ-ities and institutions with high competence.

Greetings sent to SenegalPresident

The Peninsula

DOHA: Registration for the second edition of Qatar Career Fair’s (QCF) career adviser training course is open. The training sessions will be held between May 22 and 26

Launched in 2015, it is the first specialised programme of its kind for career advisers in Qatar and the Gulf.

Certified by Kuder, a world leader in career planning services, the course aims to equip participants with career guidance, planning skills and tools to assist youth along their career journeys.

Offered in Arabic and English, the course is open to the public and will also be useful for academic and voca-tional counsellors, human resources personnel, professors, instructors,

scholars and parents who play a key role in their children’s career decisions.

Abdullah Ahmed Al Mansoori, Director, QCF, said, “We have attached a great deal of importance to the course because it allows individuals to further professional development. It will offer in-depth knowledge of tech-nology-based applications that can be used to enhance careers.

“Educational institutions will ben-efit from the programme as it will enable them to help students make better, more informed choices about their post-secondary majors. This will increase productivity on the job and personal life satisfaction,” he added.

During the course and six months thereafter, participants will have access to an online portal which will serve as a knowledge bank.

Dr Spencer Niles, who directs

Kuder’s research programme and coordinates Kuder’s Research Review Board, will present the course with Dr Mohammad Abul-Ola.

Dr Niles, A distinguished professor and Head, Department of Educa-tional Psychology, Counselling and Special Education, is Director, Centre for Study of Career Development and Public Policy at Pennsylvania State University.

Candidates who register for the course will automatically be accepted into the Introductory Career Advisory Course, which will be hosted by QCF on April 28, at Education City Club-house. The one-day intensive training, accredited by Association of Career Professionals International, aims to equip counsellors and career advisers with skills and advisory methods to enable them to provide effective aca-demic and career guidance. Participants at last year’s Career Adviser Training Course.

Registration open for career adviser training course

The Peninsula

DOHA: Minister of Economy and Commerce H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani will today leave for Paris, lead-ing a delegation to meetings in Cadran that will bring together chief corporate executives and businessmen from Qatar and France.

Discussions will deal with the promotion of bilateral investment and commercial ties and dialogue between the French and Qatari business communities to develop new partnerships between com-panies from both countries and increase Qatari exports to France.

The meetings represent an important step towards expand-ing cooperation and creating new opportunities for bilat-eral investments through the establishment of partnerships between Qatari and French companies and businessmen to benefit both sides in economic and trade fields.

The one-day meeting will be divided into three sessions and will focus on Qatari investments in France, the development of economic relations and the con-tribution of French industries to promoting a diversified and sus-tainable Qatari economy in line with Qatar National Vision 2030.

Participants will also discuss efforts to expand partnerships and identify new investment opportunities for companies in both countries.

Qatar and France enjoy strong political and economic relations bolstered by the ratifi-cation of economic agreements and memorandums of under-standing. The bilateral trade volume reached QR7.5bn in 2015. Qatari exports to France, including natural gas and petro-leum products, stood at nearly QR3bn last year, and the imports at about QR4.5bn.

French direct and indirect investments in Qatar have also risen in various sectors, with 294 companies operating in Qatar, including 66 fully-owned French firms while several Qatari investments exist in France.

Minister to attend meetings in France to explore economic opportunities

Continued from page 1

Commenting on the independent third party External Monitor coming on board to enhance monitoring of the updated WW Standards, SC Sec-retary General, Hassan Al Thawadi, said: “In line with our continued com-mitment to making tangible progress on workers’ welfare, this appointment of an independent third party Exter-nal Monitor is an important step for us.

“We will keep improving on every step of our journey as we make sure our approach to workers’ wel-fare progress is transparent and our updated standards are effectively and stringently enforced throughout the entire supply chain and life cycle of our projects.”

As part of its holistic approach to workers’ welfare, the SC’s WWU has been working closely with NGOs from around the world to accelerate positive initiatives already underway in Qatar with the help of additional expertise.

One of these NGOs was the inter-nationally-recognised organisation Verité, which has worked with the SC since early this year to help appoint the External Monitor.

“In January this year, Verité was commissioned by the SC to develop the technical scope of services for the appointment of an independent exter-nal monitor to assess compliance with the Worker’s Welfare Standards on all SC projects.

The scope requires the external monitor to continuously review and assess the extent to which SC contrac-tors and sub-contractors – including their recruitment agents - and the SC itself are in compliance with the

Standards. “We also assisted the SC in identifying potential tenderers and the technical evaluation of tenderers for the external monitor role,” said Dan Viederman, CEO of Verité.

With two years’ experience of applying the WW Standards col-laboratively with contractors and sub-contractors, the WWU introduces a number of amendments in Edition Two, which seek to bolster regulations on auditing and inspections, as well as ethical recruitment.

The addition of the independ-ent third party External Monitor will mean independent audits of the SC and its contractors take place on a regular basis, completing the four-tier auditing process.

“We are delighted to hear the news that we have been appointed as External Workers’ Welfare Com-pliance Monitor.

“Our approach is to put workers at the centre of everything we do, as we work to understand how and why labour standards abuses occur, to support remediation for any individ-ual whose rights have been infringed and to build systems and practices to support decent jobs for workers now and in the future. We are looking for-ward to applying these principles with the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy when our engagement begins,” said Rosey Hurst, Director of Impactt.

In addition, the WW Standards’ related to the issue of Ethical Recruit-ment have been bolstered by the introduction of a requirement that Contractors obtain a signed state-ment from their Recruitment Agent evidencing the Agent’s compliance with the WW Standards, as well as a requirement for the Contractor to

share with the SC a completed New Starter Checklist on each worker they recruit. The SC has maintained an open dialogue with stakehold-ers including governments of labour sending countries and international NGOs in this regard.

Other changes introduced in Edition Two of the WW Standards include:

1. Inserting a requirement for Contractors to pay all workers in accordance with the Wage Protec-tion System (WPS), introduced by Law No. 1 of 2015 in November 2015;

2. Inserting a requirement for the appointment of a Project Worker

Welfare Officer once the number of workers on-site exceeds 500 work-ers to look after site welfare matters;

3. Inserting a mechanism for com-panies not working on SC projects to voluntarily adopt the WW Standards and come under the auditing & com-pliance regime and support systems of the SC.

The announcement of the inde-pendent third party External Monitor and publication of Edition Two of the WW Standards is the latest signal of the SC’s commitment to leading by example in continuous improvement of workers’ welfare across its projects.

Additional planned improvements

in 2016 include:1. Further developing a bespoke

online IT platform auditing tool which was recently launched, enabling the SC and its contractors to gener-ate more accurate, streamlined and immediate insights into the imple-mentation of the WW Standards;

2. Commencing operations of the SC Workers’ Skills Training Cen-tre and

3. Hiring additional inspectors to account for growing demand and to ensure that the team is able to deliver and implement rectification plans for all issues, the press statement issued by SC said.

Workers taking part in one of the activities.

‘Approach to labour welfare transparent’

The Peninsula

DOHA: A social arm of Eid Charity helped get five deserving people out of prison as they were spending time in incarceration for not being able to repay loans.

Out of jail, these people are rehabil-itated and now living normal life. They had small amounts to repay so Sheikh Eid Social Centre came to their rescue.

The Centre repaid a total of QR130,000 on behalf of the five ear-lier this year, reports Al Sharq.

The cases were genuine and the people were not able to repay the loans as they faced finance-related hardships.

The Centre spent a total of QR2.69m in aid provided to the needy in the first quarter (January to March) of this year.

Of this, QR2.4m was disbursed in cash to the needy that included patients undergoing expensive treatment, and widows and divorcees, among others.

The beneficiaries were 314 families, the head of Sheikh Eid Social Centre, Yusuf Al Awadhi told the daily.

In addition, the Centre provided QR625,000 to 86 people who were undergoing treatment for various diseases.

Some 228 families were provided support with cash on a temporary basis as several of them suffered finance-related woes for the time being.

Some may not have had a

bread-winner in employment, while bread-winners of some other benefi-ciary families may have been injured, for instance.

The Centre provides monthly dole to 26 families and the dole varies from QR1,000 to QR10,000. In the first three months of this year a total of QR170,000 was given away to these families.

An aid committee of the Centre apparently does research and verifies if the case of a needy person or family is genuine or not. The panel then short-lists the beneficiaries.

Then, purchase coupons were given away to 90 needy families to buy foodstuff and the money spent on this support totalled QR142,000 in the first quarter.

The Centre gives away purchase coupons for QR300, QR800 and QR1,000, with which a beneficiary can buy foodstuff from designated outlets.

The Centre’s head said that they have more requests from the needy fam-ilies for monthly dole and their target is to take the number of beneficiaries to 500.

Foodstuff provided to needy families by Eid Charity Social Centre.

Charity helps in release of 5 from jail

HOME 03 TUESDAY 5 APRIL 2016

The Peninsula

DOHA: The best practice for patients requiring neurological rehabilitation after stroke was discussed at a work-shop organised by the Educational Committee (PTRH-EC) at the Phys-iotherapy Department at Rumailah Hospital of Hamad Medical Corpo-ration (HMC).

The ‘Stroke Physical Ther-apy Outcome Measures (SPOM)’ workshop was for HMC’s physical therapists to augment their practical knowledge on the usage of outcome measures recommended by PAAS (Physical Therapy After Acute Stroke) clinical guidelines, developed and implemented in March 2015.

“The department utilises every opportunity to update skills of phys-ical therapists in HMC so they can continue to provide the best care possible for each of our patients,” said Noora Al Mudahka, Chief of the department.

“We hope the workshop, based on PAAS clinical guideline, has broadened the scope of expertise of our physical therapists in provid-ing required support for our patients who have suffered stroke and need rehabilitation,” she added.

Nearly 50 neurological physi-cal therapists from HMC attended the workshop. Twenty-one inter-nationally recommended outcome measures were selected as top-ics. Course participants were able to boost knowledge and take a

competency examination at the end of the workshop leading to a ‘PAAS Guideline Outcome Measure Com-petency Certificate’ with 11 CPD (Continuing Professional Develop-ment) points from Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners-Accredita-tion Department.

Al Madzhar Ahmadul, Supervisor of Physiotherapy, Rumailah Hospital, and the workshop co-organiser, said, “The event is significant because of the participation of many colleagues and the number of lectures compared to last year. They have exceeded expectations in their preparations and delivery.”

The workshop was based on a professional framework that incor-porates evidence-based strategies for evaluation of stroke patients.

The Peninsula

DOHA: Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has launched a three-month campaign to raise $2m (QR7,300,000) to implement an urgent relief pro-gramme for thousands of displaced Iraqi families in Al Anbar Governo-rate, Iraq, over six months.

Last week, QRCS issued an emergency appeal to support 8,000 families (40,000 people) affected by the recently escalated violence across the country.

At a press conference yester-day, Saleh bin Ali Al Mohannadi,

Secretary-General, QRCS, praised media support for QRCS’s human-itarian activities, especially the charitable campaign that comes in a critical time for thousands of help-less Iraqi families who need shelter, healthcare, water and sanitation services and food assistance.

“Our office in Iraq is working with other local and international human-itarian organisations to ensure timely delivery of aid, avoid duplication of efforts and reach out to as many

victims as possible,” he said.Aiham Al Sukhni, Head, Disas-

ter Management, QRCS, highlighted QRCS’s humanitarian intervention.

“We plan to provide shelter and nonfood aid for 4,000 families at a cost of $650,000, clean water and hygiene facilities for 8,000 fami-lies ($500,000), medical care and health education for 8,000 families ($650,000) and food packages for 8,000 families ($200,000).

Ahmed Al Khulaifi, Head,

Resource Mobilisation, QRCS, said: “People can send an SMS to 92966 to donate QR100, 92770 (QR500), or 92740 (QR1,000).

“Donations can also be deposited in person at QRCS’s headquarters or agents at malls and shopping centres.

“Our online donation website is www.qrcs.org.qa and donation bank account IBAN at Barwa Bank is QA26BRWA000000000100000002005. For help, call any of our hot-lines 66644822 and 66666364,” he added”.

An emergency appeal was issued on June 19, 2014, which secured humanitarian projects for more than 30,000 people (6,000 most affected families). In Ramadan 2014 and 2015, QRCS personnel distributed food packages to 25,000 displaced Iraqis in Al Anbar, Saladin, Baghdad, and Erbil. Under its Warm Winter Cam-paign last year, QRCS distributed winterisation aid to 5,000 homeless Iraqi families in Mosul, Al Anbar, Amiriyah Fallujah, Baghdad, Ram-adi outskirts, Diyala, Halabja and the desert area between Hit and Ar Rutbah and Al Anbar. Also, major water and sanitation projects were co-implemented by QRCS and United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), with a budget of over $1,750,000.

Rumailah Hospital holds workshop on stroke physical outcome measures

Course participants pose for a group photo.

QRCS begins fundraiser for IraqisThe three-month campaign to raise QR7,300,000 for an urgent relief programme for thousands of displaced families in Al Anbar Governorate.

Saleh bin Ali Al Mohannadi (centre), Secretary-General, QRCS, with Aiham Al Sukhni, Head, Disaster Management, and Ahmed Al Khulaifi, Head, Resource Mobilisation, at the press conference yesterday.

The Peninsula

DOHA: Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) hosted its Quarterly Frame-work Marketing Summit for the second quarter of 2016.

Heads of QTA representative offices abroad along with members of the sector in Qatar presented their first quarter achievements and sec-ond quarter marketing plans.

The overseas offices covering the GCC, the UK, France, Germany, Southeast Asia and Italy, reflected the KPI results of marketing activ-ities undertaken during the first quarter of 2016 along with their targets and strategies for the rest of the year.

During Q1 of 2016 QTA’s repre-sentative office organised six trips to Qatar for 36 representatives of inter-national media and 35 travel agents to familiarise them with the desti-nation. In addition, the number of tour operators selling trips to Qatar increased to 192 with continuous independent travel agents registering for QTA’s online Tawash programme, which assists them in developing expertise on Qatar and its tourism offering.

March saw the introduction of the Qatar destination brand in the German market during ITB Ber-lin, and the branding will continue during the Arabian Travel Market in

Dubai from Apirl 25 to 28. “Such meeting are conducted

quarterly to maximise and expose the impact of Qatar’s marketing efforts and resources.

“We place great importance on promoting the key attractions that give Qatar its distinctive cultural edge. It is a question of synergy,” said Rashed Al Qurese, Chief Mar-keting and Promotion Officer, QTA.

“We continue to avoid frag-mentation of Qatar’s message and ensure we create a strong and pos-itive Qatar brand positioning that continues to resonate in our key overseas markets.

“This message will gain momen-tum in the region during the Arabian Travel Market where Qatar will dis-play a strong presence.”

Marketing Qatar internationally involves collaboration between the public and private sectors as hotels and other tourist facilities and serv-ices form key factors in the selection of tourism products QTA promotes worldwide.

The new format of individual Market Place stations during the Q2 Summit provided networking oppor-tunities for QTA marketing personnel to meet private sector representa-tives face-to-face. It also provided QTA overseas office representatives with opportunities to interact with counterparts in Qatar and familiar-ise themselves with the destination and its latest developments.

Qatar to take part in Arabian Travel Market with strong presence

Qatar Tourism Authority officials and representatives of its offices abroad and Qatar attend the second Quarterly Framework Marketing Summit of 2016.

The Peninsula

DOHA: A festival to celebrate Poland’s art and culture will begin in Doha on Friday.

‘Polska Presents’ is a weeklong event organised by Poland embassy and will feature Polish films, music, drama and traditional food.

‘Polska’ means Poland in Polish language. “That is the name of our country and that is how we want to promote it by using this particular linguistic form,” the embassy said in a statement yesterday. ‘Polska Presents’ will begin with a concert of a modern Polish band ‘Marcin Wyrostek and Tango Corazone’ at Cultural Village Foundation-Katara.

The concert is being organised in cooperation with Katara, with the sponsorship of Polish Oil and

Gas Company PGNiG. Entry is free.Four films will be screened as part

of the festival between April 9 and 14 daily starting from 7.30pm. They include Jack Strong; Carte Blanche; and Strange Heaven which will be screened at Katara’s Drama theatre.

To coincide with ‘Polska Presents’ a Polish trade delegation headed by Katarzyna Kacperczyk, Undersecretary of State (Deputy

Foreign Minister) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland will visit Doha on April 12.

Kacperczyk will be accompanied by a 30-member delegation, including representatives from the construction, transport, food, agriculture, ICT, pharmaceuticals and medical sectors.

During their two-day visit, the delegation will also participate in the Polish-Qatari Business

Forum co-organised with Qatari Businessmen Association at Marriott Marquis Hotel.

Also, food lovers will have a chance to taste Central-European cuisine, including Polish traditional dishes, at Coral Restaurant (InterContinental Doha Hotel) from today until Friday, though the event is not directly related to ‘Polska Presents.’

Festival to celebrate Poland’s art and culture

As part of its campaign to clean up the northern coastline, the Beach and Islands Section at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment cleaned the coastline of the north and northwestern area. A team worked for 45 days and cleaned a 35km stretch from Abu Zaluf to Fehayhel and removed waste, including carcasses, wood, abandoned boats and sea waste.

Northern coastline cleaned up

HOME04 TUESDAY 5 APRIL 2016

The Peninsula

DOHA: A temporary exhibition, ‘Shifting Sands — A Journey of Qatar and its People’ will be inaugurated on

Thursday in the temporary exhibition space at Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani Museum.

The annual expo curated by UCL Qatar’s MA Museum and Gallery Practice students will be held in part-nership with Sheikh Faisal Museum.

The two month-long event will feature memorabilia of early pio-neer life to create dialogue between generations and cultures through the objects and stories on display. Research has led to the develop-ment of intercultural understanding with a focus on Qatari culture and its people.

Different mediums and means of display such as the use of story-tell-ing, interviews and videos, will be an attractive feature of the exhibition.

Visitors will enjoy exhibits from

different parts of the museum — from archaeological objects to a vehicle, demonstrating the range and depth of Sheikh Faisal’s collection.

The exhibition will be presented along with stories it collectively holds. Sheikh Faisal has supported students by providing over 120 photographs from his private archive. The pho-tographs explore and celebrate the sport of hunting in Qatar through the passage of time.

The exhibition will have stalls under four themes — Life in the desert; Changing landscape; Social-ising; and Icons to showcase Qatar’s rich cultural heritage and its diverse traditions and cultures, leaving a lasting impression on visitors. The exhibition is open for the general public from Thursday until June 7.

Expo to focus on journey of Qatar and its people

Visitors at a previous exhibition at the museum.

Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani Museum to host the annual event curated by UCL Qatar’s MA Museum and Gallery Practice students.

QNA

DOHA: Aspire Academy hosted a meeting of par-ents of students in grade levels 7, 8 and 9.

Parents, teachers and coaches discussed means of enhancing collabora-tion to support academic and athletic perform-ances of student-athletes.

The meeting also helped the teachers and coaches communicate their expectations of stu-dent-athletes, build close rapport with parents and boost trust with the local community.

School Principal Jassim Al Jaber said con-tinuous communication and dialogue with par-ents of the academy’s student-athletes is one of the key objectives for the faculty, as it helps build a positive relationship between the academy and the parents that sup-ports the development of the students.

Al Jaber stressed the importance of par-ents’ role in supporting guidance and education students receive at the academy, which enriches their growth.

He called on parents to spend time with their children on a daily basis to get updates on how they are doing and said it provides the students with a positive sense of support and guidance that will contribute to their development.

Ali Ahmad Khalifa Al Muhannadi, parent of one of the athletics stu-dents, said such meetings are beneficial to parents and students, as they help identify areas of development and facili-tate continued dialogue between the academy and parents.

Engineer Abdulaziz Mohammed, parent of one of the gymnas-tics students, expressed delight over his son continually improving athletic and academic performance and attrib-uted it to the academy’s attention to the students’ performance and support in the areas that need further development.

He also stressed the importance of par-ents meetings in helping keep them and the academy aligned on the future direction of the student-athletes.

The Peninsula

DOHA: A new joint research grant by Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) and Doha International Family Institute (DIFI) has been awarded to a study about issues related to the family structure in the region.

Osra, (‘family’ in Arabic), the new grant encourages research which can be used to develop a knowledge base

on the Arab family. Five proposals from Qatar and the wider region were awarded, and included institutions from Morocco, Lebanon, Oman and Qatar during the recent Annual Research Conference 2016.

The topics of the proposals varied from parenting studies to family law to family work balance in different Arab countries. One proposal aims to study how social preferences are influenced in conflict regions such as Palestine. Research areas included marriage and family structure; parenting; family-work balance; and family laws and practices. The research findings funded under OSRA will assist the development of evidence-based pol-icies and programmes to promote the well-being of the Arab family.

The initiative aims to unite researchers all Arab coun-tries under one umbrella to begin identifying strengths and finding solutions to challenges. Dr Abdul Sattar Al Taie, Executive Director, QNRF, said, “We are delighted to announce the outcome of the first cycle of OSRA grant, which is the result of a collaboration with DIFI. The pro-gramme addresses an important area for Arab societies in general and Qatari society specifically.”

Noor Al Malki Al Jehani, Executive Director, DIFI, said, “DIFI wanted the OSRA grant to support research that could advance family policies and programmes, while promoting the well-being of Arab families. We are pleased with the response of the first cycle of the grant and the diversity of topics addressed.”

OSRA is part of the Thematic and Grand Challenges Programme of QNRF to competitively select research projects that address questions in an identified thematic area. To qualify for OSRA funding, a project must be led by a lead principal investigator with a doctoral qualifi-cation, who has at least three peer-reviewed scientific publications in a relevant field and is living and affili-ated to an institution in Qatar or another Arab country.

The OSRA call for proposals was launched in March 2015 and 16 proposals were submitted to QNRF-DIFI. The proposals underwent a highly competitive review proc-ess that led to the selection of the five awarded proposals.

Noor Al Malki Al Jehani, Executive Director, DIFI, and Dr Abdul Sattar Al Taie, Executive Director, QNRF, sign the QNRF-DIFI MoU for the Osra research grant.

Five projects awarded Osra grants to improve Arab family structure

Aspire Academy boosts collaboration with parents

Moroccan Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane yesterday arrived on a two-day visit to Qatar. He will chair the Moroccan side in the meetings of the sixth Qatari-Moroccan Joint Higher Committee today. He and his delegation were greeted at Hamad International Airport by Minister of Energy and Industry H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, Qatari Ambassador to Morocco Abdullah bin Falah bin Abdullah Al Dosari and Moroccan Ambassador to Qatar Al Makki Kawan.

Moroccan Premier arrives

HOME 05TUESDAY 5 APRIL 2016

The Peninsula

DOHA: A new book that closes the door on the hopes for a Palestinian state, The Impossibility of Palestine: History, Geography, and the Road Ahead, will be the focus of a public lecture at the Centre for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) at Geor-getown University in Qatar (GU-Q) today.

The talk , part of CIRS’ monthly dialogue series, will take place at 6pm, featuring Dr Mehran Kamrava, the book’s author and Director, CIRS.

“This is a book about the impos-sibility of a Palestinian state,” says Dr Kamrava on the first page of his book, launching a compelling argument — why a coherent Pales-tinian state is no longer possible due to historical events and economic dynamics that have resulted in a de facto single-state reality.

“The question of Palestinian ‘lib-eration’ no longer makes much sense anymore. Liberation from what? The nature of occupation in the occu-pied territories has fundamentally

changed in a way that we can no longer speak of occupation versus liberation,” he said, challenging the terms that have long framed the nar-rative of “sides” in the Holy Land.

“Today, the occupiers and the occupied are far too enmeshed and integrated on multiple levels.”

In retelling the story of Palestine through detailed fieldwork, exhaus-tive scholarship and an in-depth examination of historical sources, he concludes that the issue isn’t simply a question of geography any more, but also a question of identity and nationhood. The changes that have occurred to Palestinian soci-ety and economy have fundamentally changed the nature of the situation.

“In this book I’ve gone to the root causes of these social, political and economic dynamics that have so intertwined identities between Pal-estinian and Israeli,” he said.

In his lecture, Dr Kamrava will present the research and conclusions

in his book to explain what these dynamics are and suggest that to move forward, Palestine must rede-fine its present predicament and future aspirations. “This book is a courageous undertaking whose sub-ject and timing cannot be ignored, especially given Israeli Prime Minis-ter Netanyahu’s rejection of the idea of a Palestinian state.

“Mehran Kamrava’s analysis and conclusions may arouse controversy, but the undermining of Palestinian statehood cannot be denied,” said Charles Smith, author of Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict.

“Kamrava makes it clear that Israel... has done a truly impressive job of undermining any possibility of a two-state solution... The Impossibil-ity of Palestine... is an essential read for those who want to understand the dynamics that fuel the Israel-Palestine conflict, which is not going away any-time soon,” said John Mearsheimer, R Wendell Harrison Distinguished Serv-ice Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago.

Palestinian state is an impossibility: BookCIRS Director Dr Mehran Kamrava argues why a coherent Palestinian state is no longer possible due to historical events and economic dynamics.

Dr Mehran Kamrava, Director of CIRS and author of the book, will deliver a lecture at GU-Q today.

The Peninsula

DOHA: Construction work and retail fit outs at the upcoming Mall of Qatar resumed yesterday as normal following the outbreak of a fire on Sat-urday (at around 2.30pm). The fire was successfully put out and there were no casualties.

Mowa fa q K ha r-bat, Project Director of Urbacon Trading and Contracting (UCC), in a press statement yester-day confirmed that safety engineers were alerted immediately which prompted the safe evac-uation of all workers and staff on site, and in adja-cent buildings.

Official authorities were informed, which led to the civil defence team, traffic department, Al Fazaa police and the Lekhwiya internal secu-rity forces to deploy their teams. “We are thankful that no one was harmed and our priority right now is to continue construc-tion work and carry on with retail fit outs within the mall.

“We would like to express our gratitude to the authorities for their immediate and profes-sional support to ensure the safety of everyone on the site and to contain the fire,” said Mowafaq.

“UCC has a com-prehensive operations risk plan that gets reviewed regularly and

Mall of Qatar construction work resumes

The Peninsula

DOHA: The fifth edition of the senyar traditional fishing and pearl diving competition will open today at Katara beach.

The competition will continue until April 9 and has 948 participants divided into 69 teams.

The competitions are divided into three major segments — Allafah, fish-ing and pearl diving.

All teams are required to take part in Allafah which to be held on April 5 and April 9. Pearl diving and fishing competitions will take place on April 6 and 7, respectively.

Before the launch of the traditional competition, the organ-izing committee checked all boats to ensure that they have fulfilled all requirements including a licence for sailing for more than five days.

Another licence from the Ministry of Transport and Communication is also required, besides meeting other logistic and supply requirements.

The committee has formed seven sub committees, each comprising six members and responsible for eleven teams.

All the participating teams have been given different colours to make it easier for the committee to monitor.

Winners of the first and second positions in pearl diving will have the priority to represent Qatar in pearl diving competitions at the GCC level, as per terms introduced by the com-mittee this year, said a statement yesterday.

One of the teams contesting during the previous event.

Senyar competition opens today

also implements strin-gent safety precautions on a daily basis, this was expertly put into action

during this incident,” he added. Pending an inves-tigation by the related authorities and for the

official outcome of their enquiries, the cause of the fire is still unknown at this stage.

Al Shamal Municipality’s Graveyards Service Section has set up sheltered waiting areas in the Abu Zulaif graveyard as part of efforts to supervise and enhance services.

Graveyard waiting areas sheltered

HOME06 TUESDAY 5 APRIL 2016

By Sidi Mohamed The Peninsula

DOHA: The Directorate of Civil Defence at the Ministry of Inte-rior is to ask establishments and all institutions to develop plans for workplace emergencies and evac-uations and hopes to train their staff in handling emergencies.

Captain Khamis Al Suwaidi, Evacuation Officer, Directorate of Civil Defence, told a workshop it is important that establishments have plans in place for workplace emergencies and evacuations.

In this context, he stressed the importance of training the staff of institutions in handling emergencies.

This was the second workshop

on evacuation of buildings held at the Officers’ Club in the Civil Defence Directorate on Sunday.

The workshop will continue for three days, and is being held in line with the Directorate’s ‘Darb Al Aman’ (Road to Safety), an aware-ness campaign. Representatives of different establishments and authorities are taking part in the event. Captain Khamis Al Suwaidi made a presentation.

On the first day, Al Suwaidi talked about the general concept of evacuation and how to evacuate and prepare plans for evacuation along with its requirements.

He also explained the vari-ous types of evacuation, and the

principles of each kind and the important basics to ensure the safety of people who are being evacuated. The official pointed out the importance of training the staff members of institutions and establishments and also talked of the significance of setting up an evacuation team to handle emer-gencies in each institution and establishment.

The Directorate of Civil Defence has prepared a plan related to training staff in institutions for evacuation through a number of lectures and workshops followed by practical training.

Later, an institution can

make an evacuation plan and implement it under Civil Defence’s supervision.

The goals of evacuation plan focus on readiness at all times to tackle an emergency such as fire. It is important also to raise awareness of employees to follow the necessary safety measures, which can help prevent casualties and accidents, Al Suwaidi said.

He also shed light on the responsibilities of security personnel in companies and establishments. The workshop also included practical exercises about how to account the number of individuals who must be evacuated through emergency exists.

The Peninsula

DOHA: Qatar’s first International Social Responsibility Conference concluded here with a proposal to formulate a national and institu-tional legal structure to organize legislation and determine the priorities and needs of the social responsibility programs.

That structure will act as the official and independent umbrella in partnership with private sector organizations and the civil society.

The three-day interna-tional conference was held under the auspices of Al-Faisal Social Responsibility Centre. It attracted a cross-section of dele-gates including ambassadors and over 40 researchers representing 14 countries.

During the closing ceremony, Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani, and a big number of the audi-ence signed the “Al Faisal Social Responsibility Agreement”, which received a significant support from the participants.

The conference also called for efforts to integrate social responsibility in the mission, vision, philosophy and culture of the institutions, into the princi-ples of private and governmental institutions.

It also proposed to promote the spirit of social responsibility amongst leaders in the vari-ous institutions and adopt it as the responsibility of the execu-tive management. This should be brought under the supervision of the management plans in the

institutions aligned to the Qatar National Vision 2030.

Other recommendations include: Raise community aware-ness of social responsibility issues through official media; and train and educate the public through the integration of the social respon-sibility values in public education and university courses.

-Establish a funding resource and research centres dedicated to social responsibility.

- Create a proposal that embodies a forward-looking con-cept for a comprehensive Arab initiative on Social Responsibility led by the Arab League, in partner-ship with its affiliated institutions, and in cooperation with all the

relevant international organiza-tions and institutions.

- Initiate the expansion of a general framework for corporate social responsibility incorporat-ing the standards of responsible governance.

- Stimulate Interest in cor-porate social responsibility tools through sustainable projects; and simultaneously prevent the abuse of social responsibility practices by private and public entities.

- Establish a committee to fol-low up on the implementation of the recommendations of the First International Conference on Social Responsibility, headed by Mubarka Al Marri, General Manager of Al Faisal Social Responsibility Centre.

A proposal submitted by the Media Department of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of Qatar; and Al Faisal Centre for Social Responsibility on the Sec-ond International Conference was approved. The next conference will take place on March 28-29 next year.

The conference covered a wide range of subjects including: Main platforms for social responsibility, social responsibility in education, social responsibility and the pri-vate sector, social responsibility from the legal perspective, expe-riences and practices of social responsibility in the energy sector, the reality of social responsibility, among others.

The Peninsula

DOHA: The Met Office yesterday said a fresh yet brief spell of unstable weather would likely affect the country in the days to follow.

As a result, there are chances of scat-tered, light rains today, tomorrow as well as on Thursday and Friday.

There are more chances of scattered rains on Thursday and Friday in particular, and the rains may at times be accompa-nied with thunder in some areas.

A trough of low pressure in the upper levels of the atmosphere is expected to affect the country in the days to come, said the Met Office.

In a special bulletin issued, the Office said the weather would be partly cloudy periodically on the aforementioned days.

Moderate to fresh easterly to south-easterly winds are forecast in this period and they would at times become strong during rain and thunder.

Temperatures are expected to be around the average for this time of the year, said the Met Office bulletin.

The temperature would vary between 29 degrees C to 32 degrees in the daytime, while at night they would fall to between 19 and 22 degrees C.

The Met Office said it urges people to be cautious and avoid sea activities during the rains and thunder and follow weather updates on its official website and social media accounts.

Fresh but brief spell of unstable weather likely

The Peninsula

DOHA: Qatar Charity participated in a workshop on programming entitled ‘Hour of Code’ at Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP) held last month.

It was held by Microsoft Qatar on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

QC’s Al Rayyan and Al Wakrah Com-munity Development Centres (Women Branch) participated in the workshop.

Ali Al Gharib, Director of Programs’

and Centres’ Management at Executive Management of Local Development at QC, said that the workshop was held to acti-vate women’s role in the society. “Hour of Code was to appreciate the efforts of girls and women.

More than 40 female students suc-cessfully passed and applied what they had learnt during the workshop,” he said.

Microsoft Qatar’s trainers, Premier Field Engineers of Microsoft’s Services Team, trained the students on the basics of programming, how to activate it and how to start their own systems.

Qatar Charity attends ‘Hour of Code’ workshop on programming

Captain Khamis Al Suwaidi, Evacuation Officer, Directorate of Civil Defence, addressing the workshop.

Workplace safety a priority Civil Defence to ask establishments and institutions to develop plans for workplace emergencies and evacuations and hopes to train their staff.

Needs of social responsibility programmes stressed

QNA

DOHA: Museum of Islamic (MIA) Art will hold a Chamber Music Concert on Thursday. The concert in the lobby of MIA starting at 6pm will be performed by a group of musicians from Qatar Phil-harmonic.

It is part of concerts organised by MIA in connection with its programme ‘Music for All; to provide diverse events and concerts targeting all members of the family. Chamber music is a form of classical music composed for a small group of instruments, traditionally a group that could fit in a palace cham-ber or a large room.

‘Chamber Music’ concert at MIA

Continued from page 1

A company caught partitioning a villa or an apartment without legal approvals can be slapped with a minimum fine of QR40,000, one source familiar with the illicit trade said. Many illegally partitioned structures still exist on the sly and the middlemen managing them are said to be itch-ing to raise the rents. Space is rarely available in such structures. A single room in an illegally partitioned villa or in an annex built in a villa compound which was available for up to QR1,800 monthly rent, may now command up to QR2,000 to QR2,200.

And two-room and three-room sets attract rents varying from QR3,000 to QR4,500.

The takers are mostly limited income

expatriate families and those low-income single workers who get their wives here on either visit or work visas. There are some limited-income expatriates who manage to get their wives here on work visas and they are hired by companies as receptionists, computer operators. Those with less education manage to land jobs in cleaning companies as women-only schools, govern-ment offices and bank branches must get female cleaners. Municipal approvals are hard to get to partition a villa as one must submit a whole design of the proposed alterations made by an engineering consultancy. It is also an expensive and time-consuming affair. If a villa partitioned illegally can involve an expense of QR80,000 for instance, the amount would double in the case of approved changes.

Fine starts at QR40,000 for illegal partitioning of villas

Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani signs ‘Al Faisal Social Responsibility Agreement’ during the closing ceremony of the conference.

MIDDLE EAST 07TUESDAY 5 APRIL 2016

UAE court jails Lebanese ‘Hezbollah’ trioABU DHABI: An Emirati court sentenced yesterday three Lebanese, including a Canadian dual national, to six months in prison for forming a local affiliate of Iran-backed Hezbollah, local media said.

The supreme federal court convicted the trio of “forming a group for the terrorist Hezbollah (movement) in the coun-try,” Ittihad daily reported, adding that they will be deported after serving their sentences.

Two dead in Istanbul wall collapse ISTANBUL: Two peo-ple were killed yesterday when a wall collapsed above a tea house in a popular tourist spot in the historic centre of Istanbul, Turkish officials said.

Five people survived being trapped in the rub-ble that fell onto the tea house but two corpses were recovered by rescue services, Istanbul gov-ernor Vasip Sahin was quoted as saying by Turk-ish media.

Israeli army kidnaps three PalestiniansJERUSALEM: Several Israeli military vehicles invaded at dawn yester-day Teqoua town and Aida refugee camp, east and north of Bethlehem, searched homes and kid-napped three Palestinian teenagers.

A representative of the Teqoua Local Council, east of Bethlehem, reported that the soldiers sur-rounded the town before invading it, searched a few homes and kid-napped two Palestinians in Bethlehem.

AFP

GAZA CITY: Gaza fishermen have begun working further off the coast after Israel relaxed restrictions for the first time in a decade but said yesterday that the meas-ure was not nearly enough.

Palestinian boats working in the south-ern part of Gaza Strip started to fish as far as nine nauti+cal miles off the coast on Sunday, the first extension to the zone since 2005.

Previously they had been restricted to six nautical miles, the same distance that remains in place off the northern part of the Palestinian enclave which borders Israel.

More than 200 fishing boats headed out from Gaza’s port on Sunday night, with most returning early on Monday. Raed Abu Ouda, 35, returned from an overnight trip close to the new nine-mile limit, but said he had been disappointed with his catch. “I hoped with the new permission for a bumper catch,” he told AFP. “But after 17 hours of work we didn’t get what we expected.”

The new nine-mile limit is patrolled by

Israeli naval vessels and indicated by signs, he said. The extended distance means fish-ermen can catch more lucrative types of fish such as grouper, Abu Ouda added.

Nizar Ayyash, chairman of the Gaza fishermen’s union, said between 200 and 300 ships went out on Sunday night.

The Israeli defence ministry body responsible for implementing govern-ment policies in the Palestinian territories, COGAT, estimated on its Facebook page the extended zone could add 400,000 shekels ($106,000) a year to the Gazan economy.

But Ayyash said most had been dis-appointed and called the extension “inadequate”. He called on the Israeli authorities to further loosen the restric-tions to 20 miles, as laid down under the Oslo peace accords of the 1990s. Israel argues the restrictions are necessary to pre-vent weapons smuggling in the Palestinian enclave run by Islamist movement Hamas.

Palestinian militants in Gaza have fought three wars with Israel since 2008.

The strip of 1.8 million people has one of the world’s highest unemployment rates and poverty is widespread.

Gaza fishermen test waters after blockade eased

Reuters

WASHINGTON: A US air strike last week killed a senior leader of the al Qaeda-linked militant group al Shabaab in Somalia, the Penta-gon said yesterday.

Hassan Ali Dhoore was killed in a US air strike targeting him on March 31, Pentagon spokes-man Peter Cook said. Dhoore was a member of al Shabaab’s secu-rity and intelligence wing, and was involved in the planning of high-profile attacks, Cook said.

Dhoore planned and oversaw attacks resulting in the deaths of at least three Americans, Cook said.

The Pentagon disclosed the air strike last week but was still assessing then whether Dhoore had been killed. The strike came weeks after the United States tar-geted an al Shabaab training camp in Somalia in an air strike that the Pentagon says killed more than 150 fighters.

Al Shabaab was pushed out of Mogadishu by African Union peacekeeping forces in 2011 but has remained a potent antagonist in Somalia, launching frequent attacks in its bid to overthrow the Western-backed government.

Al Shabaab has also been behind deadly attacks in Kenya and Uganda.

AFP

BAGHDAD: Suicide bombings claimed by the Islamic State group, clashes and mortar fire killed at least 22 people in Iraq yesterday, security and medical officials said. The violence, which hit four different provinces, also wounded more than 70 people, the sources said.

In the deadliest blast, a suicide bomber struck a street in the southern port city of Basra, killing five people and wounding 10. The Islamic State group, “after the losses it suffered in western areas, is seeking to move the battle to the southern areas,” where many of the forces fighting the jihadists are from, Basra Governor Majid al-Nasrawi told journalists. IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes and training have since regained significant ground.

Reuters

TURKEY: The first migrants deported from Greek islands under a disputed EU-Turkey deal were shipped back to Turkey yesterday in a drive to shut down the main route used by more than a million peo-ple fleeing war and poverty to reach Europe in the last year.

Under a pact criticised by ref-ugee agencies and human rights campaigners, Ankara will take back all migrants and refugees who cross the Aegean to enter Greece illegally, including Syrians.

In return, the European Union will take in thousands of Syrian refugees directly from Turkey and reward it with money, visa-free travel and progress in its EU membership negotiations.

Two Turkish passenger boats car-rying 136 mostly Pakistani migrants arrived from the island of Lesbos in the Turkish town of Dikili, accom-panied by two Turkish coast guard vessels with a police helicopter overhead.

A third ship carrying 66 people, mainly Afghans, arrived there later from the island of Chios.

The EU-Turkey deal aims to dis-courage migrants from perilous crossings, often in small boats and dinghies, and to break the business model of human smugglers who have fuelled Europe’s biggest influx since

World War Two.Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan

excoriated European governments’ response to the crisis even as his government cooperated with the EU scheme.

“As Turkey, we embraced 3 mil-lion Syrian victims, but it is clear who tried to keep them away,” He said in a speech in Ankara. “Did we send our Syrian brothers back? No we didn’t.

But they kept these people out of their countries by putting up razor-wire fences.” EU authorities said none of those deported on Monday had requested asylum in Greece and all had left voluntarily.

They included two Syrians who had asked to return to Turkey. European Commission spokesman

Margaritas Schinas said the first returns were legal, even though Tur-key has not yet made changes to its regulations that the EU said were necessary at the time of the deal.

The EU said at the time of the deal that Ankara would need to change asylum laws to give inter-national protection to Syrians who enter from countries other than Syria, and to non-Syrian asylum seekers returned from Greece.

Altogether, more people arrived on the Greek islands in the 24 hours to Monday morning than were trans-ported to Turkey, Greek authorities said, putting total arrivals at 339.

A few hours after the first boat of returnees set sail from Lesbos, Greek coast guard vessels rescued at least two dinghies carrying more than 50 migrants and refugees, including children and a woman in a wheel-chair, trying to reach the island.

“We are just going to try our chance. It is for our destiny. We are dead anyway,” said Firaz, 31, a Syr-ian Kurd travelling with his cousin.

Asked if he knew the Greeks were sending people back, he said: “I heard maybe Iranians, Afghans. I didn’t hear they were sending back Syrians to Turkey... At least I did what I could. I’m alive. That’s it.”

Two groups of mainly Pakistani men, totalling around 100 people, were also intercepted by the Turkish coast guard on Monday near Dikili, a coast guard official said.

Under the pact, the EU will

Deported migrants from Greece arrive in TurkeyIn return, the European Union will take in thousands of Syrian refugees directly from Turkey and reward it with money, visa-free travel and progress in its EU membership negotiations.

Migrants are escorted by Turkish police as they arrive by ferry from the Greek island of Lesbos at the Dikili harbour in Izmir, Turkey, yesterday.

resettle thousands of legal Syrian ref-ugees directly from Turkey. German police said the first 32 Syrian refugees arrived in Hanover on two flights from Istanbul on Monday under the deal.

The European Commission said more flights were due in Finland on

Monday and the Netherlands on Tues-day. German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Sunday that the “high point of the migrant crisis is behind us”, but migration experts say the pressure to reach Europe will con-tinue, possibly via other routes.

A few dozen police and immigra-tion officials waited outside a small white tent on the quayside at Dikili as the returned migrants disembarked one by one, before being photographed and fingerprinted behind security screening.

Fishing boats float at the Seaport of Gaza City, yesterday.

AFP

ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday lashed out at the West for giving Turkey “les-sons in democracy”, amid mounting US and EU criticism over an alleged clampdown on press freedoms under his rule.

“Those who attempt to give us lessons in democracy and human rights must first contemplate their own shame,” Erdogan told a meet-ing of the Turkish Red Crescent in Ankara.

His comments came after US President Barack Obama said Tur-key’s approach towards the media was taking it “down a path that would be very troubling.”

Erdogan’s government has been accused of increasing authoritarian-ism and muzzling critical media as well as lawmakers, academics, law-yers and NGOs.

Two journalists from the leading opposition daily Cumhuriyet face life in prison after being charged with revealing state secrets over a story accusing the government of seeking to illicitly deliver arms to rebels in Syria. Erdogan met with Obama in Washington last week but said the US president had not raised the issue in talks and added he was “saddened”

that his American counterpart crit-icised him behind his back. The president said he had pointed out in other meetings on his trip in Wash-ington that there was press freedom in Turkey, saying that some publica-tions had branded him a “thief” and a “killer” without being shut down. “Such insults and threats are not per-mitted in the West,” he claimed.

In a telephone conversation ear-lier, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told German Chancellor Angela Mer-kel that he was unhappy about the raft of stories criticising Erdogan in German media in recent weeks.

Davutoglu complained such pub-lications “were incompatible with freedom of the press” and said there should be an end to the publication of such “unacceptable” material, he office said.

German weekly Der Spiegel ran a cover story deeply critical of Erdogan in its latest issue, with a caricature of the Turkish presi-dent—whom the magazine called “the wild man of the Bosphorus”—shaking his fist.

The headline on the story read: “The fearsome friend: President Erdogan’s crusade against freedom and democracy.” Turkey last month summoned Germany’s ambassador to protest a two-minute song lam-pooning Erdogan that was broadcast on German television.

Erdogan rejects ‘lessons in democracy’ from West

US air strike kills senior Al Shabaab leader in Somalia

Iraqi security forces with people gather at the site of a car bomb attack in Basra, yesterday.

IS bombings kill 22 in Iraq

MIDDLE EAST08 TUESDAY 5 APRIL 2016

AFP

BEIRUT: Air strikes have killed sev-eral Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front members including its spokesman and regime forces have retaken a strategic town from the Islamic State group in the latest setbacks for jihad-ists in Syria.

Abu Firas Al Suri (pictured), whose real name was Radwan Nam-mous, fought against Soviet forces in Afghanistan where he met Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and the founding father of global jihad, Abdullah Azzam, before returning to Syria in 2011.

Suri was meeting with other leading Islamist fighters in an Al-Nusra stronghold in Kafar Jales in northwestern Syria when the raids struck on Sunday.

He “was an old time Al-Qaeda member ... He was brought in from

Yemen as an ideological counter-weight” for rival jihadist group IS, said Pieter Van Ostaeyen, a historian and monitor of jihadist movements.

“His death indeed is a blow for Al-Nusra. However, that will not change a lot on the operational level,” he added.

Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi, a research fellow at the Middle East Forum, a US think-tank, was of the same opinion.

Suri “was a very senior member of Al-Nusra, but organisations like Al-Nusra aren’t debilitated because they lose a single senior leader”, he said. “Their organisational structures are well prepared for targeted assas-sinations, which are usual business for them.”

According to the Syrian

Observatory for Human Rights, Suri, his son and at least 20 jihadists of Al-Nusra and Jund al-Aqsa and other fighters from Uzbekistan were killed in strikes on positions in Idlib province. Seven were high-ranking jihadists, the Britain-based Observatory said, add-ing that the Syrian air force had likely carried out the strikes.

A temporary ceasefire between government forces and rebels has largely held since February 27, but it does not cover Al-Nusra and IS.

The break has, in fact, allowed Russia and the US-led coalition that has been bombing IS in Syria to con-centrate on their fight against the jihadists.

Al-Nusra has generally kept a low profile since the truce brokered by the United States and Russia came into force. But on Friday, the Al-Qaeda affiliate and allied rebels pushed regime loyalists out of Al-Eis, a stra-tegic town in the northern province of

Aleppo, killing 12 members of the Leb-anese Shiite Hezbollah movement. “It was Al-Nusra’s biggest operation since the ceasefire began,” Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

Suri’s killing may even be a warn-ing by the regime to Al-Nusra against staging any more offensives, Abdel Rahman added.

“One should not over-interpret the timing,” he said, adding that assassi-nations of jihadists are usually carried out “when a window of opportunity opens”.

IS has also lost a string of high-ranking members in recent weeks, mainly to strikes by the US-led coali-tion that launched an aerial campaign against the jihadists in Iraq and Syria in 2014.Last Wednesday, a drone strike near IS’s de facto capital Raqa killed Tunisian commander Abu al-Haija. Fifteen IS commanders accused of revealing his position have since been executed by the jihadists, and the fate

of another 20 men accused of col-laborating with the US-led coalition remains unknown.

“This is the highest number of exe-cutions of security officials by IS,” said Abdel Rahman, whose Britain-based group has a wide network of contacts on the ground across Syria.

Yesterday, IS’s press officer in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor was killed in an air strike while covering fighting between the jihadists and regime troops, the Observatory said.

“It was unclear whether the air strike that killed Mohammad al-Lafi was Russian or Syrian,” the group said, adding that the IS official used the nom de guerre Abu Abdallah Azzam.

On Sunday, the army seized the town of AlQaryatain, one of the last IS strongholds in central Syria, a week after the Russian-backed army scored a major victory in the ancient city of Palmyra, also located in the vast prov-ince of Homs.

AFP

RIYADH: A delegation of Shia Huthi rebels from Yemen is hold-ing talks in Riyadh, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir said yester-day, ahead of a planned ceasefire and renewed Yemeni peace nego-tiations.

“The Huthi delegation is in Saudi Arabia and the discussions are ongoing. I believe we have made good progress,” Jubeir told reporters. Saudi Arabia is lead-ing an Arab coalition that has been bombing the rebels for over a year, in support of Yemen’s inter-nationally recognised President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi.

“Talks with them are ongoing with the aim of finding a politi-cal solution for the Yemen crisis,” Jubeir said. Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was the first to reveal the presence of a Houthi delegation in Riyadh, in an interview with Bloomberg pub-lished Friday.

“There is significant progress in negotiations, and we have good contacts with the Houthis, with a delegation currently in Riyadh. We believe that we are closer than ever to a political solution in Yemen,” the prince said.

The revelation came ahead of a UN-brokered truce slated to enter into effect on April 10, fol-lowed by talks in Kuwait on April 18. Previous negotiations have failed and earlier ceasefires were not respected, but analysts say the prospects of a deal have improved.

UN says about 6,300 people have been killed in the war, more than half of them civilians.

Reuters

CAIRO: Egyptian officials have indefi-nitely postponed a trip to Rome to discuss the investigation into the murder of an Ital-ian student whose body was dumped on the outskirts of Cairo in February, judi-cial and security sources said yesterday.

Human rights groups have said tor-ture marks on the body of Giulio Regeni, 28, indicated he died at hands of Egyp-tian security forces, an allegation the Cairo government denies.

The case has raised fresh questions about accusations of police brutality in Egypt, a strategic ally of the West and an

important trade partner for Rome.Egyptian officials were initially due in

Italy on April 5 and later postponed the trip to April 7 but have now put it off again. The security and judicial sources did not pro-vide a reason for the decision.

A senior Egyptian interior ministry official told Reuters the investigation con-cluded that Regeni - who was researching the rise of independent trade unions in Egypt - was being watched by security services but that it did not mean that they killed him as suspected by human rights groups.

On March 25 Egyptian police said they had discovered Regeni’s bag and passport following a shootout with a criminal gang whose members had posed as policemen.

AFP

WASHINGTO: The Pentagon yesterday announced the trans-fer of two Libyan inmates from the Guantanamo Bay detention centre to Senegal, the latest move under President Barack Obama’s contentious plan to shutter the notorious jail.

The two men—Salem Abdu Salam Ghereby, 55, and Omar Khalif Mohammed Abu Baker Mahjour Umar, born in 1972 -- had been in the US military prison since 2002.

Both had ties to the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group and Al-Qaeda, according to their leaked prisoner files.

“The United States is grate-ful to the government of Senegal for its humanitarian gesture and willingness to support ongoing US efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility,” the Penta-gon said in a statement.

The latest transfers mean the remaining population at the controversial jail is now 89. Thirty-five of these inmates have been approved for release to other coun-tries, though the complex process is only completed after rehabilita-tion and monitoring measures are implemented.

Obama promised, on his sec-ond day in office in 2009, to close the Guantanamo jail within a year. His efforts floundered, however, largely due to fierce opposition from Republican lawmakers.

But the plan is likely doomed. Republicans continue to oppose the jail’s shuttering, especially because Obama wants to trans-fer the highest-risk detainees to a site in the United States.

“The administration is deter-mined to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

The continued operation of the detention facility weakens our national security by draining resources, damaging our relation-ships with key allies and partners and serving as a propaganda tool for violent extremists,” Secre-tary of State John Kerry said in a statement.

Reuters

TUNIS: In its first days in Tripoli, Libya’s UN-backed unity government has tried to impose its author-ity swiftly by ordering a freeze on ministry budgets and securing the prime minister’s office with the help of a powerful armed brigade.

A violent reaction by hostile militias has so far not materialised as feared. And from a heav-ily guarded naval base, the new government’s leaders have begun charting the sprawling North African state’s economic recovery in conjunction with the central bank and the National Oil Corpo-ration (NOC).

But they still face a daunting task as they strive to unify and rebuild fractured institutions, boost oil production, and disband or absorb armed brigades that have established power bases while drawing on public salaries.

Those steps will be crucial not only to the gov-ernment’s survival, but also to countering Islamic State militants that have seized some pockets of Libya and to rescuing an economy in free fall due to reduced oil output and crude prices.

The unity government’s leadership, or Presi-dential Council, arrived in Libya last Wednesday without securing the formal approval of either of the country’s rival parliaments based in Tripoli and in the east of the country.

It has relied instead on the support or acqui-escence of armed brigades that have controlled the capital since 2014, and earlier backed the self-declared National Salvation government.

But that same support risks stiffening opposition to the unity cabinet in Libya’s east, the base of the National Salvation government’s political adversar-ies and powerful anti-Islamist military commander Khalifa Haftar.

They may fear a western coup by their armed,Islamist-leaning rivals in Tripoli and the pow-

erful port city of Misrata.Aguila Saleh, president of the eastern parlia-

ment, hinted at such concerns when he said on Saturday that statements by some members of the Presidential Council “suggest they are not comfort-able with the military”.

“We will not allow the unity government to be under the control of militias in Tripoli,” he said.

The brigades, who cast themselves as the guard-ians of the 2011 uprising that overthrew veteran autocrat Muammar Gaddafi, have proved a disrup-tive presence in the past, and their loyalties can be fickle.Any attempt to integrate them into national security forces answering to the unity government, or to stop paying their salaries for defying any such step, could trigger violence.

“They are supporting the national unity govern-ment because they are very cleverly repositioning themselves in the new environment,” said Ricca-rdo Fabiani, a senior North Africa analyst at Eurasia Group. “That doesn’t mean they will support the gov-ernment all the time. As soon as divisions appear in the unity government they will side with one min-ister or another, like they did until 2014.”

As well as appointing Haftar as military com-mander in the east, the government there has tried to set up parallel structures including an NOC and a central bank.

Syria’s Qaeda spokesman killed in fight His death indeed is a blow for Al-Nusra. However, that will not change a lot on the operational level: Official Syrian pro-government forces celebrate in Al Qaryatain yesterday after Syrian troops regained control of the

town from the Islamic State (IS), the previous day.

Yemen rebel delegation in Saudi for talks

US transfers 2 Libyans from Guantanamo

Factional splits may hamper Libyan unity government’s push for control

Egyptian officials postpone Rome trip

Supporters of Libya’s unity government hold signs during a demonstration at Martyrs’ Square in Tripoli.

ASIA / PHILIPPINES 09TUESDAY 5 APRIL 2016

Participants hold bamboo sticks as they push to row boats during a traditional celebration for Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb Sweeping Festival, in Taizhou.

Qingming Festival

Anatolia

ZAMBOANGA CITY: The Philippines Annual military drills involving the United States and the Philippines kicked off yesterday with more than 5,000 US troops taking part.

Australian forces are also partici-pating in this year’s war games, to be held until April 15, with some activ-ities taking place near disputed isles off Palawan province in the South China Sea -- which Manila calls the West Philippine Sea.

The joint manoeuvres -- dubbed “Balikatan” (shoulder-to-shoulder) exercises -- are widely seen as a demonstration of Manila’s continued military alliance with Washington.

US exercise director Lt. Gen. John Toolan said during opening ceremo-nies that the alliance between the Philippines and the US is strong and demonstrated by the yearly drills between the two nations.

“The United States is commit-ted to this relationship and these are not empty words. These are in [the] American expression, putting our money where our mouth is,” the state-run Philippines News Agency quoted Toolan as saying. “We have over 5,000 US Marines, sailors, soldiers and airmen here which rep-resent this substantial commitment of the Pacific Command.”

Nearly 4,000 Philippine soldiers and 80 from Australia are also taking part. China claims almost the entire waters, with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also claiming parts. The US and its allies have expressed alarm at Chi-na’s maritime expansion, which includes reclamation work such as the building of airfields on some of the disputed islands, while the

Philippines has taken the quarrel to an international court in The Hague.

Since last October, two US war-ships have sailed close to Chinese claimed features in “freedom-of-navigation operations” that Beijing has called “provocative”.

Vietnam and Japan have sent officers to observe the “Balikatan” exercises. In an editorial Monday, China’s state news agency Xinhua referred to the exercises as “capping Manila’s recent attempts to involve outsiders in the regional row”.

“However, a provocation so fear-mongering and untimely as such is likely to boomerang on the initiators,” it added. The US exercise director underlined that peace in Southeast Asia depends on cooperation. “And as we think about the Philippines and its security landscape, analyz-ing its history, patterns and dynamics of how our militaries engage with one another, we can identify one area that’s missing and what we can do better to help our two nations achieve their respective aspirations for defense and security.”

Aside from ground troops, US fighter jets, five warships and rocket launching pads will see action dur-ing the two-week exercises.

US and Philippines begin military drillsThe US and its allies have expressed alarm at China’s maritime expansion which includes reclamation work such as the building of airfields on some of the disputed islands.

Philippine and US soldiers march with their national flags during the opening ceremony of the annual joint 11-day Balikatan (Shoulder-to-Shoulder) military exercise in Manila, yesterday.

AFP

MANILA: The world’s first public dengue vaccination programme was launched in the Philippines yesterday as nurses began injecting the first batch of a million chil-dren with a French drug to combat the sometimes deadly disease.

Several hundred children aged 9-10 queued in front of government health workers at a public school in east-ern Manila for the injections, capping a 20-year, $1.8bn effort by French drug manufacturer Sanofi to develop the vaccine.

“We are the first country to introduce, adopt and implement the first-ever dengue vaccine through the public health system and under public school settings,” said Philippine Health Secretary Janette Garin.

The Philippines had in December approved the vaccine, the first to be licensed globally to combat the mosquito-borne disease for people aged between nine and 45. Zelin Joice Carungay, aged nine, cried briefly as she and her classmates fell in line for the vaccine on teach-er’s orders.

“I’m terrified of needles but they told us we need it to avoid dengue,” the girl told reporters.“In the end it felt

nothing more than an ant’s bite,” the relieved child said afterwards.

Dengue or haemorrhagic fever, the world’s most com-mon mosquito-borne virus, infects an estimated 390 million people in more than 120 countries each year, kill-ing more than 25,000, according to the World Health Organization.

Symptoms are often mild but more than two million people annually develop more serious symptoms -- which can involve severe headaches, pain behind the eyes, a rash, pain in the joints, muscles or bones and leaking blood vessels. Asia is home to some 70 percent of cases world-wide. In the Philippines 200,000 cases were reported in 2013, according to Sanofi.

The company said the vaccine should prevent eight out of 10 dengue hospitalisations and up to 93 percent of severe haemorrhagic dengue fever cases.

Sanofi’s two-decade effort to develop the vaccine included 25 clinical studies in 15 countries.

This saw 29,000 volunteers receive a vaccine that, aside from the Philippines, has also been registered in Mexico, Brazil and El Salvador, according to Sanofi. Of 17,000 people who were injected with the vaccine in the Philippines in February as part of the clinical study, just 27 developed side effects, proving it was an effective vaccine, Health Undersecretary Vicente Belizario told reporters.

A nurse administers the anti-dengue vaccine on a student at Parang Elementary School in Marikina, west of Manila, yesterday.

World’s first public dengue vaccine programme launched in Philippines

Anatolia

ZAMBOANGA: Police and military confirmed yesterday that three police officers and two army sol-diers were siezed by communist rebels over the weekend across the Philippines.

Regional police command spokesperson Supt. Surki Ser-enas told state-run Philippines News Agency (PNA) that the five were taken in separate surprise roadblocks put up by the New Peo-ple’s Army (NPA) in the provinces of Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon, and Agusan Del Norte on Sun-day morning. NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), which has been waging a 40-year guerrilla war against the government.

Capt. Patrick Martinez, spokesperson for the army’s 4th Infantry Division, also confirmed the capture of the two members of the Army’s 23rd Infantry Battalion.

“The NPA threat is a plain coercion to push their extortion demands,” Martinez said. The military’s Eastern Mindanao Com-mand condemned the road blocks.

“This is a cowardly act for an armed group pretending to fight for the rights of the people,” it said in a statement em