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Volume 21 | Number 7054 | 2 RiyalsFriday 27 January 2017 | 29 Rabia II 1438

Displaced people who fled the clashes receive aid in northern Mosul, Iraq, yesterday.

Relief in Mosul

Qatar hails US call for Syria safe zones

QNA

Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani patron-ised yesterday the graduation ceremony of the 12th class of officer cadets of the Ahmed bin Mohammed Military College.

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani attended the graduation along with a number of ministers and ranking officers of Qatar's Armed Forces, the Ministry of Interior, and military colleges of friendly countries.

The Qatari National Anthem was played upon the Emir's arrival, after which the com-mander of the parade came

forward to request the Emir to review the graduates' parade.

Commander of the Ahmed Bin Mohammed Military College, Brigadier Abdullah Abdulrah-man Al Kaabi, expressed his delight that Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani attended the graduation cere-mony. Al Kaabi said that the 12th class included 90 officer cadets of the Armed Forces, Ministry of Interior, Lekhwiya, Emiri Guard, and state security. He added that the graduates received training in Qatar, Mongolia, Britain and France that helped raise their spirits and strengthened their sense of belongingness to the country and the Emir. Al Kaabi said that the experience will help the new graduates play their part

in Qatar's renaissance. The college cooperated with

a number of other colleges abroad such as Kuwait's Ali Al Sabah Military Academy and Brit-ain's Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. The latter carried out training in Qatar last November. Ahmed bin Mohammed Military College also worked on attract-ing high-quality cadres from different countries to provide the best service possible in terms of military academic programmes and training techniques.

After the speech, the Emir honoured some cadets of the 12th class. These include officer cadet Mohammed Khalfan Al Mansouri who stood joint-first in military science, first in law, first in leadership and first in

physical fitness. The second hon-ours student was Abdullah Hussein Al Marri and third was Mohammed Fahid Al Faheeda, Ghanem Sultan Al Ghanem who stood first in police science and Mohammed Mahfouth Moham-med who ranked first in information systems.

The Emir also honoured Brig-adier Hamad Ahmed Al Nuaimi, former Commander of Ahmed bin Mohammed Military College, in recognition of his efforts in developing the college. The Emir then viewed a performance by the Pakistani military band, which is comprised of 52 military personnel. Later, the graduates took the oath and the National Anthem was played. → More pictures on page 16

The Peninsula

Qatar has welcomed US President Donald Trump's call to cre-ate safe zones in Syria.

Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA), Foreign Minis-try Media Office Director, Ambassador H E Ahmad bin Saeed Al Rumaihi, said the Min-istry welcomes the US intention to sign an executive decision to draw a plan for the establish-ment of safe zones in Syria.

The ambassador reiterated the need to provide safe havens in Syria and impose no-fly zones that ensure the safety of civilians in line with interna-tional resolutions, and protect the Syrian people from the machine of destruction and mass displacement.

On Astana talks that con-cluded recently, the ambassador expressed hope that the outcomes will help in

strengthening the ceasefire, stressing the need to establish an effective and practical mon-itoring mechanism to pave the way for Geneva talks.

In an interview with ABC, Trump had said that he "will absolutely do safe zones in Syria" for refugees fleeing vio-lence in the war-torn country.

"It’s a disaster, what’s hap-pening there," Trump said.

He criticised German Chan-cellor Angela Merkel's immigration policies. Trump said Merkel made a "cata-strophic mistake" by welcoming an influx of immigrants into her country but maintained that he has "great respect" for the Ger-man leader. Trump stated during his presidential cam-paign a plan to start setting up "safe zones" for refugees in Syria, a step that Barack Obama long resisted, fearing the poten-tial for being pulled deeper into the conflict and the threat of clashes between US and Rus-sian warplanes over Syria.

Meanwhile, Turkey said that it will wait to see the out-come of Trump's vow to establish safe zones in Syria.

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Huseyin Muftuoglu said that his country has always been an advocate of the move.

→ Continued on page 2

Emir attends Military College graduation

Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at the graduation ceremony of the 12th class of officer cadets of the Ahmed bin Mohammed Military College, yesterday.

Hope from talks The ambassador expressed the hope that the outcome of the Astana talks will help in strengthening the ceasefire.

Mexico president scraps summit with Trump over wall spatMexico City Reuters

Mexico’s president yes-sterday scrapped a planned summit with Donald Trump in the face of insistent tweets from the US president demanding Mexico pay for a border wall, a deep-ening spat that threatens Mexican efforts to salvage trade ties.

However, the White House left open the door for a possible rapprochement. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the United States was keeping open lines of communication with Mexico and looking to resched-ule the meeting.

Taking a page out of Trump’s playbook, President Enrique Pena Nieto fired the salvo on Twitter, after Trump’s call for Mexico to foot the bill for his planned wall prompted a groundswell of calls in Mexico for next week’s meeting to be called off.

Trump said in a Twitter message earlier yesterday that his Mexican counterpart should cancel his scheduled visit to Washington if Mexico refuses to pay for the wall that he has

ordered constructed along the border. Trump views the wall, a major promise during his elec-tion campaign, as part of a package of measures to curb illegal immigration.

Mexico has long insisted it will not pay for the planned wall.

“We have informed the White House that I will not attend the working meeting planned for next Tuesday with @POTUS,” Pena Nieto tweeted. “Mexico reiterates its willingness to work with the United States to reach agreements that favour both nations.”

Trump, who took office last Friday, signed an executive order for construction of the wall on Wednesday, the same day that Mexico’s foreign min-ister held talks with Trump aides in the White House aimed at healing ties. Relations have been frayed since Trump launched his campaign in 2015, characteris-ing Mexican migrants as murderers and rapists and pledging to build a wall that he said Mexico would pay for.

Trade ties are in the balance after Trump vowed to renego-tiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and slap high tariffs on American companies

that have moved jobs south of the border.

Mexico’s peso, which has fallen sharply against the US dollar in the face of Trump’s stances on trade and immigra-tion, extended losses to 1 percent after Pena Nieto fired off his tweet.

“The US has a 60 billion dol-lar trade deficit with Mexico. It has been a one-sided deal from the beginning of NAFTA with massive numbers... of jobs and companies lost. If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting,” Trump said in his Twitter message.

Leaders of the Republican-controlled US Congress said yesterday they planned to move ahead on funding the border wall. Trump said in an interview with ABC News that Mexico would eventually reimburse the United States for the wall.

“So we intend to address the wall issue ourselves and the president can deal with his rela-tions with other countries,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said at a news con-ference in Philadelphia.

→ See also pages 8 & 12

Israel approves 153 more settler homesJerusalem AFP

Israeli officials gave final approval yesterday to 153 east Jerusalem settler homes, the deputy mayor said, adding to a sharp increase in such projects since US President Don-ald Trump took office.

Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Meir Turgeman said the

approvals by a city planning committee were among those held up due to pressure from former US president Barack Obama's administration.

Turgeman said developers "could start building from tomorrow".

Following Trump's inaugu-ration, Turgeman spoke of plans for some 11,000 homes in proc-ess for annexed east Jerusalem.

"I'm going to deliver permits for thousands of homes in Jerusa-lem in the coming months," Turgeman said.

Yesterday's approvals were for the settlement neighbour-hood of Gilo. Israel has announced a major settlement expansion in the days following Trump's January 20 inaugura-tion. Trump has pledged strong support for Israel.

02 FRIDAY 27 JANUARY 2017HOME

Popular Sri Lankan artistes Saranga Disasekara, Visharad Manoj Peiris, Ravindra Randeniya, Sachini Ayendra, television personality Hishan Sameera and Executive Producer of popular Sri Lankan TV programme Chat and Music, Chaminda pose for a photograph with International coordinator, A Pantalion Perera (left) and chief organiser of the event at the Grand Mercure Hotel in Doha yesterday. The artists are in Doha for a special edition of the Chat and Music, which will be held at the same venue today, starting at 6.30pm.

Chat and Music in Doha today

Grand finaleThe finale saw performances by the Pakistan Military Band, in addition to the activities and stalls that had been drawing in crowds since the festival’s launch.

QNA

EMIR H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani yesterday sent a cable of congratula-tions to Indian President Pranab Mukherjee on the occasion of his country’s Republic Day.

Deputy Emir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister and Inte-rior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Kha-lifa Al Thani sent similar cables to the Indian President yesterday.

Emir greets Indian President on Republic Day

QNA

EMIR H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani yesterday sent a cable of congratula-tions to Governor-General of Australia Peter Cosgrove on the occasion of his country’s National Day.

Deputy Emir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister and Inte-rior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Kha-lifa Al Thani sent similar cablesto the Governor-Gen-eral of Australia, yesterday.

Emir congratulatesGovernor-General of Australia

The Peninsula

The curtains went down yesterday on the fourth Katara Winter Festival, marking the conclusion to five days

of entertainment and activities at the Katara Esplanade.

The finale saw performances by the Pakistan Military Band, in addition to the activities and stalls that had been drawing in crowds since the festival’s launch on Sunday.

Children were kept enter-tained by competitions and events organised by the Child-hood Cultural Center, and the Qatar Heritage and Identity Center.

A huge number of visitors were attracted to Al-Gannas Association’s pavilion, that pre-sented an interactive exhibition and workshop on falconry and Saluki. In addition, the organis-ers of Al-Galayel Championship hosted an exhibition displaying collectibles and equipment from all of their previous

championships.Katara’s efforts to revive

Qatari heritage and culture through events such as this fes-tival, have met resounding success, as visitors to the festi-val were mesmerised by various performances, that started at 4pm and went on until 9pm.

On the sidelines, the festival also saw displays of local antiques, traditional food, and a diverse col-lection of Qatari handmade costumes, offering visitors an opportunity to shop for authentic Qatari products and goods.

The festival attracted multi-tude of people of all ages, and from

all walks of life, including fami-lies, who were keen to have their

children make the most of the interactive activities on offer, in

the pleasant weather.See also Page 16

The Peninsula

Hundreds of Indian expats gathered at their embassy in Doha yes-terday to celebrate country’s 68th Republic Day.

Indian ambassador P. Kumaran hoisted the tricolor to the accompaniment of ren-dition of national anthem by school children.

Kumaran also read Indian President Pranab Mukherjee address to the nation on the Republic Day.

The speech reads as, “It goes to the credit of the strong institutions of democracy built by our founders that for the last six and a half decades, Indian democracy has been an oasis of stability in the region trou-bled by unrest. From a population of 360 million in 1951, we are now a 1.3 billion strong nation. Even then, our per capita income has shown a ten-fold increase, poverty ratio has declined by two-thirds, average life expectancy has more than doubled, and lit-eracy rate has shown a four-fold increase. We are today the fastest growing amongst the major economies of the world. We are the sec-ond largest reservoir of scientific and technical man-power, the third largest army, the sixth member of the nuclear club, the sixth

member in the race for space, and the tenth largest industrial power. From a net food grains importing country, India is now a leading exporter of food commodities. The journey so far has been eventful, some-times painful, but most of the times, exhilarating.”

Moreover, officers of the Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Samudra Pavak visiting the Hamad Port, in conjunction with celebrations of India’s Republic Day were present at the event held at the embassy premises.

Separately a reception was hosted for the diplomats and Indian community members

at the Sheraton Hotel. HE Mohammed Bin

Abdullah Al Rumaihi, Minis-ter of Municipality and Environment, Ambassador Ibrahim Fakhroo, Chief of Protocol, Deputy Inspector General Satish Kumar, com-manding officer of Samudra Pavak with several other dig-n i t a r i e s g r a c e d t h e reception.

Similarly, several Indian schools in Doha organised dif-ferent activities, including cultural programmes to observe the Republic Day. Songs were sung by the stu-dents with patriotic fervour and enthusiasm.

Indian expats celebrate Republic Day with zeal

Fourth Katara Winter Festival concludes

A stilt walker entertains the crowd on the last day of Winter Festival at Katara yesterday.Pic Baher Amin / The Peninsula

Indian Ambassador P Kumaran hoisting the tricolour to mark the 68th Republic Day celebrations at a function held at the embassy premises in Doha yesterday. Pic: Salim Matramkot / The Peninsula

Officers of ICGS Samudra Pavak at the Republic Day function. Pic: Salim Matramkot / The Peninsula

The Peninsula

Three private vehicle inspection centres were found violating the con-sumer protection law during inspection campaigns carried out by the Ministry of Economy and Commerce recently.

The surprise raids covered 15 such centers across Doha and three were found violat-ing the rules and regulations including a failure to provide a detailed report about the technical check up to the customers.

In a press statement the Ministry said that the centres did n o t p r o v i d e w i t h

full information pertaining to technical inspection of cars, which is a violation of the law No 8/2008 on consumer protection.

The inspection campaign is run under the framework of ministry’s aim to monitor mar-kets and commercial activities to crack down on price manip-ulation and protect consumers’ rights.

The ministry has warned in the statement that it would not tolerate any violations of the Consumer Protection Law and its regulations.

It would intensify its inspec-tion campaigns to crack down on violations, it added in the

statement. The ministry has urged all

the consumers to report viola-tions to Consumer Protection and Anti-Commercial Fraud department through its social media accounts.

Three vehicle inspection centres found violating law

Inspection campaignThe inspection campaign is run under the framework of ministry’s aim to monitor markets and commercial activities to crack down on price manipulation and protect consumers’ rights.

Continued from page 1"We have seen the US

president's request for con-ducting a study. What's important is the results of this study and what kind of rec-ommendation will come out," Muftuoglu said.

"Setting up of safe zones is something Turkey has advocated from the start. The best example is in Jarablus," he said, referring to a town near the Turkish border with Syria that was freed from ISIS by Turkish-backed Syrian rebels in August, Qatar News Agency reported.

Meanwhile, a Turkish For-eign Ministry official said yesterday Ankara will not allow anyone to overshadow the efforts deployed to reach a permanent solution in Syria following Astana peace talks.

“The meeting in Astana was not an alternative of a UN-brokered Geneva peace talk, rather a complementary one,” the official Huseyin Muftuoglu said.

Turkey backs Syria safe zones

03FRIDAY 27 JANUARY 2017 MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Lebanese President Michel Aoun (right) with EU Foreign Affairs Chief Federica Mogherini at the Presidential Palace of Baabda in Beirut, yesterday. Mogherini visited Lebanon for talks on Syrian refugees.

EU Foreign Affairs Chief in Beirut

New President of Gambia Adama Barrow (left) with Senegal's President Macky Sall at the Leopold Sedar Senghor International Airport in Dakar prior to his departure from the Senegalese capital, yesterday. Jubilant Gambians prepared to welcome home their new president, who was elected almost two months ago but fled to Senegal when his predecessor refused to step aside.

New Gambia President returns

London/Damascus AFP

Britain's foreign min-ister hinted at a shift in policy on Syria yesterday, saying President Bashar Al

Assad could be allowed to run for re-election and mentioning a possible "arrangement" with regime ally Russia.

"We were wedded for a long time to the mantra that Assad must go. We haven't at any stage been able to make that happen," Boris Johnson told members of a parliamentary committee in the House of Lords.

Asked if one possible sce-nario could include allowing Assad to contest a democratic election in Syria supervised by the UN, Johnson replied: "Yes".

"I see downsides and I see risks in us going in, doing a complete flip flop, supporting the Russians, Assad. But I must also be realistic about the way the landscape has changed and it may be that we will have to think afresh about how to han-dle this," he said.

Britain has been one of the harshest critics of Russia's Syria policy and the Assad regime, saying that his departure is a precondition for any resolution in a conflict that has killed more than 310,000 people and forced millions to flee.

Johnson's comments were wide-ranging and sometimes contradictory as he also men-tioned the "possibility of an

arrangement" with Russia for "getting rid of Assad" and fighting the Islamic State group.

But he added: "There are perils in that approach and it's by no means clear that we would either achieve the end of the Assad regime, nor is it clear that even if we did achieve the end of the Assad regime that Syria would be in a better place".

Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed to bolster a fragile truce in Syria but rebels and Damas-cus made no progress towards a broader settlement.

Mosul Reuters

An Iraqi soldier stared patiently through a high-powered scope until he spotted a bulldozer across the Tigris River. He alerted his elite unit, which fired a missile with a boom so loud it blew a metal door behind the soldiers off its hinges.

The target, which was being used to dig earth berms to for-tify Islamic State positions, exploded into a blaze that sent white smoke into the sky.

Militants could be seen gathering at the bulldozer as it burned. Some arrived on foot, others in a pickup truck or on a motorcycle, seemingly unfazed by the prospect of

another rocket landing.“The terrorist driving that

bulldozer is burning. He is cooked,” said Mostafa Majeed, the soldier manning the scope.

In three months of Iraq’s biggest military operation since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, government forces have seized most of east Mosul.

But they have yet to cross the Tigris, leaving the western half of the city still firmly in the hands of the jihadists, who declared their caliphate here two and a half years ago.

Now, the troops are firing across the river to harass the militants and disrupt their for-tifications, in preparation for the next phase of the campaign: the fight for the other side.

“The idea is to keep making life tough for them from our position, to kill them and pre-vent them from escaping as other forces surround them from other directions,” Major Mohamed Ali told Reuters.

The methodical advance of Iraqi forces is a sharp contrast to 2014, when the army col-lapsed and fled in the face of a force of only an estimated 800 Islamic State militants that swept into Mosul and swiftly seized a third of Iraq.

The soldiers appear disci-plined as they position themselves on rooftops behind green sandbags, painstakingly watching the militants’ every move through binoculars and scopes, hoping to get a clear shot with sniper rifles.

Israel says to take in 100 Syrian orphansJERUSALEM: Israel will take in 100 Syrian orphans despite the two countries officially being at war, the interior ministry said yesterday, in the first such move since the uprising began in Syria. The children will be given tem-porary documents for four years and later receive full citizenship, a ministry spokesman said, confirming a report on Channel 10 television.

Somalia hotel blast death toll rises to 26MOGADISHU: A Somali police official says the death toll in Wednesday's attack on a hotel in the capital, Mogad-ishu, has risen to 26. Capt. Mohamed Hussein says 52 others were injured in the assault that began with a sui-cide car bomb exploding at the hotel gate. He says some of the victims who suffered horrific wounds died in hos-pitals. Islamic extremist group Al Shabab has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Egypt bans lawyer from travel abroadCAIRO: A prominent Egyp-tian human rights lawyer says he has been banned from leaving the country, the lat-est in a series of travel bans imposed on rights activists. Negad Borai, who runs the United Group for Law, says he was heading to Jordan to visit his wife when airport authorities informed him that the public prosecutor's office has banned him from travel The ban comes amid an investigation based on an anti-torture bill drafted by Borai and submitted to Pres-ident Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.

Sudanese oppn leader returns from exileKHARTOUM: Leading Suda-nese opposition figure Sadiq Al Mahdi returned to Sudan after spending two years in exile, telling his supporters that he has returned to achieve peace and democ-racy. Mahdi, who heads one of Sudan’s oldest political par-ties, was the country’s last democratically elected prime minister. He was overthrown in 1989. Sudan’s government had accused Mahdi in 2014 of conspiring with armed rebels, a charge that could carry the death penalty, leading him to seek refuge in Cairo.

Addis Ababa Anatolia

The African members of the International Criminal Court (ICC) have decided to renounce their involvement with the court, an official said yesterday.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Gandour said that a meeting of African Union (AU) foreign ministers had decided to leave the Netherlands-based court. “The foreign ministers who are members of the

committee vehemently criticized the ICC as holding a perverted sense of justice that only pursues the heels of African leaders,” Gandour said in Ethiopian cap-ital Addis Ababa.

He added: “The ministerial decision will be presented to lead-ers who will meet this coming Monday and, on their endorse-ment, African countries will withdraw from the ICC en masse.”

Sudan's leader Omar Hassan Al Bashir, who is accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, has

been the subject of an ICC arrest warrant since 2009.

There are 34 African mem-bers of the ICC, making up the largest single bloc of the 124 states that have ratified the 2002 Treaty of Rome, which estab-lished the court to prosecute genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity cases in the wake of the violent break-up of Yugoslavia and genocide in Rwanda.According to U.S.-based Harper's magazine, which used ICC data, 97 percent of people who are charged by the court in

The Hague are African.AU heads of state and gov-

ernment are due to meet next week. At a leaders’ summit held in Kigali, Rwanda, in July, a mass withdrawal from the ICC was proposed by Kenya.

In 2012, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta was charged with crimes against humanity over eth-nic violence that led to 1,200 deaths following the 2007 elec-tion. He was the first head of state to appear before the court but the charges were withdrawn two years later. The case fostered the

belief among some Africans that the court was unfairly singling out the continent’s leaders.

Last October, South Africa, Burundi and Gambia decided to leave the ICC. Powerful nations such as the U.S., Russia, China and India never ratified the Rome Treaty over concerns about sovereignty and the expo-sure of their citizens and soldiers to the court. However, it remained unclear whether all the 34 African ICC members would withdraw following the decision on Wednesday.

Gaza Reuters

Marwan Annaajar, a Palestinian from the south of the Gaza Strip, says he has not tasted sweet tap water in 10 years. Every day, he travels four kilometres to fill a 20-litre plastic jerrycan at a local desalination station.

Gaza has long suffered severe water problems, with its aquifer contaminated by sewage, chemicals and seawater and the ter-ritory’s three desalination plants unable to meet demand. To drink, most citizens depend on imported, bottled water.

But locals and development specialists say the situation is getting beyond dire, with more than 90 percent of the water in the aquifer unfit for domestic use, accord-ing to Rebhy Al Sheikh, the deputy chairman of the Palestinian Water Authority.

“The (tap) water is salty, as if it came straight from the sea. We have stopped drinking it,” said Najar, a father of six, while queuing to get water at the desalination sta-tion in Khan Younis.

Instead, he and others use the desali-nated water to wash and drink, while those that can afford it buy bottled water. The

water from the tap, when it flows, is barely usable, they say. “It is not even fit for the ani-mals to drink,” said Fathy Mhareb, 60, an unemployed father of eight. “We buy sweet water and use the salty water to shower.”

The causes of the problem are multiple, but stem largely from the contamination of the aquifer.

Gaza’s main water source contains 55 to 60 million cubic metres of water over the course of a year, but demand from Gaza’s two million population exceeds 200 million cubic metres.

That means the aquifer is over-strained, allowing seawater from the Mediterranean to seep into it, along with sewage and chem-ical run-off.

“There is a continuous drop down and invasion of sea water,” said Sheikh, men-tioning too the high nitrate content.

In a study published in 2012, the United Nations said Gaza would become unlivable by 2020 and its aquifer unusable by 2016. Sheikh said that was almost the case—according to international standards, the aquifer is 96.5 percent unusable.

The situation isn’t helped by desper-ate Gazans trying to tap into the underground reserve via homemade wells. Others use home-spun techniques to

desalinate water and sell it on the streets, but the water remains contaminated, Sheikh said.

One solution has been buying more water from Israel, which has vast desalina-tion capacities. But it took the Palestinians 20 years of negotiation—from 1995 to 2015 — to secure the purchase of just five million more cubic metres.

The blockade of Gaza imposed by Israel and Egypt for most of the past decade also makes it difficult to push ahead rapidly with major projects such as new desalination facilities.

A 10-million-euro, EU-funded desalina-tion plant was opened by the European Union and the United Nations Children’s Fund last week. Mohanlal Peiris, a water and sanitation specialist with Unicef, said the facility, which blends water with that from the municipality, would eventually serve 75,000 people.

The big hope is that a large-scale desal-ination plant, costing ¤500m ($535m), can be built to get ahead of the rising demand. Plans are in the works, but it remains years off.

For now, two of Gaza’s three desalina-tion facilities are functioning, producing just 8,600 cubic metres of water a day.

Gaza’s water shortage worsening

Battle for west Mosul looms

Africans choose to leave International Criminal Court

Assad could run in future election: UK

Policy shift"We were wedded for a long time to the mantra that Assad must go. We haven't at any stage been able to make that happen," says Foreign SecretaryBoris Johnson

Britain has been one of the harshest critics of Russia's Syria policy and the Assad regime, saying that his departure is a precondition for any resolution in a conflict that has killed more than 310,000 people and forced millions to flee.

04 FRIDAY 27 JANUARY 2017ISLAM

Abu Amina Elias

Islam teaches us to worship Allah out of love for Him but with a healthy balance of fear and hope.Allah said: They arise from their

beds and they supplicate their Lord in fear and hope, and they spend from what We have provided them.

(Surah Assajda 32:16)Verily, they would hasten to good

deeds and supplicate to Us in hope and fear, and they were humbly sub-missive to Us. (Surah Al Anbiya 21:90)

Al Bara ibn Azib reported: The Messenger of Allah (peace and bless-ings be upon him) said: O Allah, I submit my face to you and entrust my affair to you. I commit myself to you out of hope and fear of you.

(Sahih Muslim)Fear of Allah means to fear fall-

ing into sin and earning His punishment in the Hellfire.

"Fear a Day when you will be returned to Allah. Then every soul will be compensated for what it earned, and they will not be treated unjustly." (Surah Al Baqarah 2:281)

Fear of Allah makes us think twice before we commit a sin. It is the qual-ity of mindfulness and awareness of Allah that resides inside the heart of a believer.

Abu Huraira reported: The Messen-ger of Allah (PBUH) pointed to his chest three times and he said: Godfearing piety is here. (Sahih Muslim)

Indeed, the description of punish-ment in the Hereafter found in the Quran and Sunnah should increase our resolve to be righteous. On the Day of Judgment, those who did not fear Allah will wish they had never been born.

"Verily, We have warned you of a near punishment on the Day when a man will observe what his hands have put forth and the disbeliever will

say: Oh, I wish that I were dust!"(Surah Annaba 78:40)Fear of Allah is the source of all

knowledge as it motivates us to seek the truth and act in accordance with it.

"Only those who fear Allah among His servants are those with knowl-edge. Verily, Allah is Almighty and Forgiving. (Surah Al Fatir 35:28)

Abdullah ibn Mas’ud, may Allah be pleased with him would say dur-ing his sermons: The best provision is mindfulness of Allah, and the foun-dation of wisdom is the fear of Allah the Exalted.

And in the previous scriptures, it is written: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

However, we need to balance our fear of Allah with our hope in His reward and His Paradise.

"Shuaib said: O my people, wor-ship Allah and hope for the Last Day

and do not commit abuse on the earth, spreading corruption."

(Surah Al Ankabut 29:36)Hope in Allah motivates us to per-

form good deeds and to abandon our base materialistic desires for the sake of righteousness.

"Wealth and children are only adornment of the worldly life, but enduring good deeds are better to your Lord for reward and better for one’s hope." (Surah Al Kahf 18:46)

The description of Paradise in the Quran and Sunnah should increase our resolve to perform good deeds to be rewarded in the Hereafter. In fact, it is a major sin to despair of the mercy of Allah. Say: "O My servants who have transgressed against them-selves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Verily, Allah forgives all sins. Verily, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful."

(Surah Azzumar 39:53)

Syed Abul A'la Mawdudi

Why is it that the Prayer, good and beneficial as it is, seems to make no difference to our lives? Why does it

neither improve our morals, nor trans-form us into a force dedicated to Allah? Why do we continue to live disgraced and subjugated? The usual answer will be that you are not offering the Prayer regularly or in the manner prescribed by Allah and the Messenger. Such an answer may not satisfy you. I shall therefore try to explain the matter in some detail.

Look at the clock fixed to the wall: there are lots of small parts in it, joined to each other. When you wind it, all the parts start working and, as these parts move, the result appears on the clock face outside it which you observe. Both hands move to denote each second and each minute. The purpose of the clock is to indicate correct time. All those parts which are necessary for this pur-pose have been fitted together and the winding system has been made so that each of them moves as required. Only when all the parts have been assem-bled correctly and the clock wound up properly will it begin fulfilling the pur-pose for which it is made.

If you do not wind it, it will not show the time. If you wind it but not accord-ing to the prescribed method, it will stop or, even if it works, it will not give the cor-rect time. If you remove some of the parts and then wind it, nothing will hap-pen. If you replace some of the parts with those of a sewing machine and then wind it, it will neither indicate the time nor sew the cloth. If you keep all the parts inside the case but disconnect them, then no part will move even after winding it up. The presence of all the parts will not serve the purpose for which the clock is made because you will have disrupted their arrangement as well as their connection. In all these situations, both the existence of the clock and the act of winding it become useless, although an observer from a distance cannot say that it is not a clock or that you are not winding it. He will surely consider that it is a clock and will expect it to be useful as a clock. Sim-ilarly, when from a distance he observes you winding it, he will take it as a genu-ine effort on your part to do the job, hoping to notice the result which comes from winding the clock. But how can this expectation be fulfilled when what looks like a clock from a distance has in reality lost its ‘existence’?

Aim of Muslim ummahImagine Islam like this clock. Just

as the purpose of the clock is to indi-cate the correct time, so the aim of Islam is that you should live in this world as the vicegerents of God, as witnesses of God unto mankind and as standard-bearers of truth. You must yourselves follow the commandments of God and bring all other people under Him:

You are indeed the best community brought forth for mankind: you enjoin the doing of right and forbid the doing of wrong, and you believe in God (Al Imran 3: 11O) . And thus We have made you a just community, that you might be witnesses unto mankind (Al Baqa-rah 2: 143). God has promised those of

you who believe and do righteous deeds that He will surely make you to accede to power on earth (Al Nur 24: 55).

Wholeness of Islamic teachingsTo fulfil this purpose, various parts

as were required, like those of the clock, have been brought together in Islam. Beliefs and principles of morality; rules for day-to-day con-duct; the rights of God, of His slaves, of one’s own self, of everything in the world which you encounter; rules for earnmg and spend-ing money; laws of war and peace; principles of government and limits of obedience to it - all these are parts of Islam. As in a clock, they are linked to each other in such a way that as soon as the winding is done, every part starts moving and, with the movement of all these parts, the desired result is obtained. Rule of Godss law in the world, domina-tion of Islam, start man-ifesting just as, with the movement of the parts of the clock in front of you, the time appears on its face.

In order to fasten together differ-ent parts of the clock, screws and small pieces of metal have been used. Simi-larly, to join all the parts of Islam together, there is an arrangement called the Jama’ah or organisation. Muslims should organise themselves, and have leaders equipped with proper knowl-edge and endowed with taqwa; the brains should help them and the limbs should obey them, as they all strive to live under God.

When all the parts have been brought together and properly assem-bled, regular winding is necessary to set them in motion and to continue their movement: Salah which is offered five times a day provides that winding, cre-ating the energy which sets an Islamic life in motion. Cleaning this clock is also necessary: fasting observed for thirty days a year cleanses hearts and mor-als. Lubrication, too, is required: Zakah is like the oil which is applied to its parts once a year. Then it is also necessary to overhaul it periodically: Haj is that over-hauling which should be performed at least once in a lifetime. And the more often it is done, the better.

The processes of winding, cleaning, lubricating and overhauling are of use only when all the parts are present in the frame, when they are linked in the order designed by the clock-maker, and when all are so trained that immedi-ately on winding they start moving and begin showing results.

Alas, today the situation has become very different. For a start, the very Jama’ah, the organisational structure, which was supposed to link the parts of the clock together has ceased to exist. The result is that all the fittings have come apart, each has gone its own way. Everybody does whatever takes his fancy. There is nobody to question any-thing. Everyone is autonomous. If someone wants to follow the Islamic code, he can; if he does not want to, he need not. Since even this so-called free-dom has not satisfied you, you have pulled out many parts of the clock and in their place put anything and every-thing: a spare part from a sewing machine, perhaps, or from a factory or from the engine of a car. You call your-selves Muslims, yet you render loyal service to Kufr, yet you take interest, you insure your lives, you file false law suits, your daughters, sisters and wives are forsaking Islamic manners and your children are being given secular mate-rialistic educations.

Despite this, you expect the clock to work when you wind it! And you suppose that cleaning, lubricating and overhaul-ing it will also be of use. With a little reflection, however, you should see that in the condition to which you have reduced the clock you can wind it, lubri-cate it, and overhaul it, for the whole of your lives without any effect. Nothing will happen until you remove the parts brought in from other appliances, replace them with the original parts, and restore the original priorities. Then, and only then, will the winding and so forth pro-duce any results.

This state of affairs is the real rea-son why your Salah, Sawm, Zakah and Haj make no impact upon your lives. First, there are so few among you who perform these acts of worship. Due to the dissolution of Islamic Jama’ah

everybody has become autonomous. Whether you fulfil your obligations or not, there is nobody to care. Nor do those who do apparently carry out their obligations do so in a proper manner. They are not constant in attending the congrega-tional Prayer. People are selected to lead the Prayers in the mosques simply because they are fit for no other work: people who exist on the free bread doled out to mosques, who are uneducated, who lack moral cali-bre. How can congregations led by them turn you into the leaders of mankind? Similar is the situation regarding your Fasting, Almsgiving and Pilgrimages.

Despite all these facts, you may argue, there are nonetheless many Mus-lims who do discharge their religious duties conscientiously. Why does that make no difference? But, as I have said, when the parts of the clock have become unhinged and numerous for-eign bodies have been inserted in it, it makes no difference if you wind it or not, clean it or not, lubricate it or not. From a distance it does look like a clock. An outside observer may say: This is Islam and you are Muslims. But what he cannot see is how badly its inside machinery has been tampered with.

Our deplorable conditionYou understand why it is so that you

pray and fast and yet remain trampled under the heel of cruel tyrants. But, should I tell you something even more distressing? Although most of you no doubt regret this situation but, I would say, 999 people out of 1,000 are not prepared to change their situation. They have no urge in their hearts to assem-ble the clock of Islam again properly. They are afraid that any such recon-struction would mean that their own favourite imported parts would be thrown out, and this they are not pre-pared to accept. They are afraid that any tightening of various parts would mean that they will have to discipline themselves, and this they are not will-ing to undertake. Instead, they prefer that the clock remains a piece of dec-oration on the wall for people to be shown and told how wonderful Islam is, what miracles it can perform. Those who are supposed to love this clock more than others would like to wind it repeatedly and zealously and to clean it most laboriously; but they want to do nothing to reset its parts properly or tighten them, nor will they seek to get rid of the extraneous parts.

I wish I could endorse your attitudes and behaviour, but I cannot say any-thing which I believe is wrong. I assure you that if, in addition to praying five times a day, you were to offer Tahad-jud (pre-dawn), Ishraq (post-sunset) and Chasht (mid-morning) Prayers, read the Quran for hours every day, and observe, over and above Ramadan, extra fasts for five and a half months in the remaining eleven months, you would still achieve nothing. What is needed is to restore the original parts to the clock and fix them firmly. Then even the little necessary winding will make it work smoothly; and the mini-mal amount of required cleaning and lubrication will be needed.

Wama alayna illal balaghThere is no responsibility on us

except conveying the truth.

Worshiping Allah in fear and hope

Abdullah Rahim

We all face situations in our life where we need to pray for ourselves or those who we care about. At times, we feel that our prayer has been answered. At oth-ers, we feel it has not been answered. Sometimes we think it has been answered and then later we think we were wrong. On some occasions, we wonder why a prayer has not been answered. Much later we are thankful that it was never answered. Some other times we feel dis-appointed that we prayed and did not get what we prayed for.

We know that we are given life in this world to be challenged (tested as some say) so that we can improve our-selves through spiritual purification. This covers all aspects of life and all daily affairs including the situations where we feel the need to pray for a request, the prayer itself, and our reac-tion to what we perceive as an answered or unanswered prayer.

The following example may illus-trate what this means:

My uncle is sick. He is in hospital. I love him a lot and am praying for his recovery day and night. After a few weeks I may face the situation where I think my prayer has been answered (i.e. my uncle recovers) or the situation where I think my prayer has not been answered (i.e. my uncle passes away).

The above is only a very limited perspective of what is going on. What really goes on (based on our religious understanding) is as follows:

– My uncle’s sickness is a chal-lenge for me so that I can improve my patience and trust God’s wisdom

– All the worship and prayer that I do to ask for my uncle’s recovery contributes towards my spiritual purification

– My perception of whether my uncle has recovered or not provides me a new challenge

Looking at it from this perspective the clever ones are those who, while passionately praying for their requests, do not forget that there is a bigger pic-ture and a higher level of inquiry here, that is, spiritual purification. I am pray-ing for my uncle, but what I am “really” doing is to use the opportunity to fur-ther purify my soul. At the end of the day, if my uncle survives today he and I will die some day later. What really matters is that we both fulfil our obli-gations in this world and have a good place to abide in the hereafter.

To pray for some one, we need to talk with God humbly and we normally do some acts of worship before or after the prayer. Our prayer may be answered or not (according to our per-ception) but this “talking with God”, our “requesting” attitude and “the act of worship” all contribute towards our spiritual purification.

We therefore need to separate the two issues of our request in the prayer being granted, and the prayer itself being answered. It will be wonderful of course if we feel that requests in our prayers have been granted. However, what is more wonderful is that our prayers, when sin-cere, are always being answered. This is because whether our request is answered or not, a sincere prayer itself always con-tributes in further spiritual purification.

All prayers are answeredHas the prayer lost its power?

The usual answer will be that you are not offering the prayer regularly or in the manner prescribed by Allah and the Messenger. Such an answer may not satisfy you. I shall therefore try to explain the matter in some detail.

05FRIDAY 27 JANUARY 2017 ASIA

'Hina' dolls

S Korea to keep Japan's statueSeoul AFP

A statue stolen from Japan in 2012 should be given to a South Korean temple, a South Korean court

ruled yesterday, on the grounds that it was previously seized by Japanese pirates centuries ago.

The ruling prompted an immediate protest from Tokyo, which is embroiled in disputes with Seoul over history and territory.

The 14th century Buddhist statue was stolen by South Korean thieves from the Kan-non Temple in Tsushima, Japan, five years ago.

It was confiscated by South Korean authorities and Tokyo sought its return.

But the Daejeon district court awarded it to the Buseok Temple near the southern city of Seosan, from where it was allegedly plundered by Japanese pirates long ago.

"Judging from statements made at hearings and inspec-tions of the statue, it is acknowledged that the statue belongs to the Buseok Temple," the court said in a statement.

Ancient scripts found inside the 50.5 centimetre-tall statue indicate that it was dedicated to the Buseok Temple in the early 14th century.

Japan's top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga expressed regret at the decision and urged Seoul to return it immediately.

"Through diplomatic chan-nels at various levels, government has asked for an early return of the Buddhist statue, which has yet to be given back".

"It is extremely regrettable that this ruling came against this background. We will urge the Korean government side to take appropriate action so that the statue will be returned to Japan promptly," he added.

South Korea and Japan, which colonised the peninsula

from 1910 to 1945, are embroiled in a diplomatic row over Tokyo's wartime slavery.

Another statue stolen by the

same South Korean thieves from a different Japanese temple, a bronze standing image of Buddha, was returned to Japan in 2015.

Two-metre high Lego rooster to feature in HK's Lunar New YearHong Kong Reuters

A LEGO rooster made of 220,000 red, white, yellow and green toy bricks will be the centrepiece of a float in Hong Kong's Lunar New Year parade to usher in the Year of the Rooster.

Andy Hung, the territory's only certified Lego profes-sional builder, was commissioned by the Hong Kong Tourism Board to cre-ate the two-metre tall bird.

"I wanted to use Lego pieces that resonate with people from the East and impress my audience".

The rooster, which took 5 people 1-1/2 months to build, is one of several Lego statues on the float, including a life-sized farmer holding a rake, a tuxedo-clad waiter and a race car driver clutching his helmet.

The night-time parade takes place tomorrow, the first day of the Lunar New Year, when 10 floats will light up the streets of Hong Kong's famous Tsim Sha Tsui shop-ping district.

Hung, a full-time artist with studios in Hong Kong and Beijing, is one of Asia's three certified Lego professionals.

Bangkok Reuters

Thailand's top security officer will go to neighbouring Laos to push for the extra-dition of critics of the Thai monarchy, Thailand's defence minister said yesterday.

Insulting the monarchy car-ries a jail term of up to 15 years for each offence in Thailand and

prosecutions have risen since the death last October of the revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

His son, King Maha Vaji-ralongkorn, has taken the throne.

The government has asked seven countries, including Laos, to extradite a total of 19 suspects accused of the crime of lese majeste. None has said it would.

General Thawip Netniyom, the head of the Thai National

Security Council, would travel to Laos to follow up on the request, Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said.

"Laos has responded very well to all our requests," Prawit told reporters, adding that Thai-land had given details of the suspects to Lao government.

Prawit did not identify the suspects in Laos or say how many there were or elaborate on

the accusations they faced.Laos has only a tenth Thai-

land's population of over 65 million and its economy is barely one fortieth the size.

Since taking power in 2014, the Thai junta has taken a tough stance on dissenters.

The government has been criticised by the international community over prison sen-tences for people found guilty of

violating the lese majeste law.The government has urged

citizens to report cases of lese majeste to authorities and asked internet service providers to monitor and block inappropri-ate material.

Thailand thanked Laos for blocking a social media channel critical of the monarchy late last year, but the channel has since resumed.

Denpasar AFP

Indonesian police have detained a family of five, including three children, after they were deported from Turkey for allegedly seeking to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State (IS) group, an official said.

The family were the latest Indonesians to be caught attempting to join the jihadists. Hundreds of radicals from the world's most populous Muslim-majority country have flocked to the Middle East to fight with IS in recent years.

The family left Indonesia for Turkey in August, from where they planned to cross to Syria to join IS, police said.

But they were caught by

Turkish soldiers this month and deported back to Indonesia, arriving late Tuesday on resort island of Bali, local police spokes-man Hengky Widjaja said.

"We interrogated them for two days," he said. "This morn-ing they were sent for further questioning by the national police (in Jakarta)."

The father received his masters degree in Australia and their youngest child -- now aged three -- was born in Aus-tralia, authorities said. The other two children are aged seven and 12.

Seventeen Indonesians were also arrested at the week-end after being deported from Turkey due to suspicions they were trying to reach Syria to join IS.

Thailand seeks extradition of royal critics

Japan considers removing Nanjing Massacre denial books from some hotelsTokyo Reuters

A Japanese hotel chain at the centre of a furore over books its presi-dent wrote denying the Nanjing Massacre in wartime China is prepared to consider removing the books from at least some hotels if it receives a formal written request to do so.

Tokyo-based hotel and real estate developer APA Group came under fire last week for books by president Toshio Motoya, which con-tain his revisionist views and are placed in every room of the company's 400-plus APA Hotels.

APA said on Tuesday that when negotiations took place in April 2015 about using some hotels to host athletes for the 2017 Sapporo Asian Winter Games on Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido, it received a ver-bal request from a travel agent to remove all printed matter from rooms.

It added that if there was a formal, written request, it was prepared to respond, without giving further details.

Officials for the Games said they wanted to create the best possible environment for athletes but had not spoken with APA since the hotels were decided.

They also had not been aware of the books.

"To choose host hotels for the Games, it is a prerequi-site that any hotels meet our standards that there will be no promotion of any kind of political, religious or racial views," said Hisatsugu Yama-zaki, manager of the Sports Affairs Department at the organising committee.

"APA made that state-ment regarding removing printed matter if there was a formal request. We would like to discuss things with the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and decide on a speedy response," he added.

The OCA is the governing body for all sports in Asia.

APA did not immediately respond to requests for addi-tional comments.

In a statement, the Chi-nese Olympic Committee said APA's behaviour was a viola-tion of Olympic charter, which bans the promotion of politics at Olympic-related venues.

Indonesian family arrested over terrorist group links

Hong Kong AFP

Hong Kong leadership hopeful Carrie Lam tes-tified in a high-profile corruption trial yesterday where she described the accused -- a former city leader -- as her "role model".

Donald Tsang is charged with misconduct and bribery while he was Hong Kong's chief executive and is the highest-ranking official to be taken to court for graft.

The trial comes at a time when residents are losing faith

in Hong Kong's elites, as a string of corruption cases fuel public suspicions over cosy links between authorities and busi-ness leaders.

Lam was made secretary for development in 2007 during Tsang's administration and said he "had been my role model in my career as a public servant", when she was called as a prosecution witness at the city's High Court.

Lam answered "yes" when the defence counsel asked whether Tsang did his "honest best to serve the public".

Tsang, 72, was leader from 2005 to 2012 and has pleaded

not guilty to three charges of misconduct and bribery, each with a maximum jail sentence of seven years.

He is accused of failing to disclose his plans to lease a lux-ury penthouse in the neighbouring city of Shenzhen from a major investor in a broadcaster -- which at the time was seeking a licence from the Hong Kong government.

Tsang allegedly approved the company's application for the licence, and also failed to declare that an architect he pro-posed for a government award had been employed as an inte-

rior designer for the flat.Lam denied knowledge of

the Shenzhen property.She also said she had not

come under pressure when she nominated the architect for the award after he was suggested to her department by the chief executive's office.

"Of course I made my own judgement," she said.

The prosecution has called Tsang's behaviour a betrayal of public trust.

Lam was most recently tough deputy to unpopular cur-rent chief executive Leung Chun-ying.

Hong Kong leadership favourite testifies in corruption trial

An employee for Japanese doll maker Kyugetsu displays sets of 'hina' dolls with likenesses of US President Donald Trump and Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike at the company's showroom in Tokyo, yesterday.

A 14th century Buddhist statue stolen by South Korean thieves from the Kannon Temple in Tsushima, Japan, in 2012.

Tokyo protests"Judging from statements made at hearings and inspections of the statue, it is acknowledged that the statue belongs to the Buseok Temple".

Japan's top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga expressed regret at the decision and urged Seoul to return it immediately.

Hong Kong's former deputy leader Carrie Lam arrives at the High Court in Hong Kong, yesterday.

06 FRIDAY 27 JANUARY 2017ASIA

Philippine assures USdefence deal still intactManila Reuters

The United States will upgrade and build facilities on Philippine military bases this year, Manila's defence

minister said yesterday, bolster-ing an alliance strained by President Rodrigo Duterte's opposition to a US troop presence.

The Pentagon gave the green light to start the work as part of an Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), a 2014 pact that Duterte has threatened to scrap during bar-rages of hostility towards the former colonial power.

"EDCA is still on," Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said.

EDCA allows the expansion of rotational deployment of US ships, aircraft and troops at five bases in the Philippines as well as the storage of equipment for humanitarian and maritime security operations.

Lorenzana said Washington had committed to build ware-houses, barracks and runways in the five agreed locations and Duterte was aware of projects

and had promised to honour all existing agreements with the United States.

This week, Republican US Senator John McCain, who headed the US Senate's Armed Services Committee, proposed $7.5bn of new military funding for US forces and their allies in the Asia-Pacific.

The Philippines has said it wants no part in anything con-frontational in the strategic waterway and will not jeopard-ize promises of extensive Chinese trade and investment, and offers of military hardware,

that Duterte has got since he launched his surprise foreign policy shift.

Lorenzana said the Philip-pines had asked China for two to three fast boats, two drones, sniper rifles and a robot for bomb disposal, in a $14m arms donation from China.

The arms package would be used to support operations against Islamist Abu Sayyaf mil-itants in the southern Philippines, he said.

"If these are quality equip-ment, we will probably buy more," he said.

Lorenzana said Russia was offering hardware such as ships, submarines, planes and helicopters.

As with China, those offers have come as a result of a charm offensive by Duterte, who has praised Russia and its leadership.

He last year said if Russia and China started a "new order" in the world, he would be the first to join.

Duterte was infuriated by US expressions of concern about extra-judicial killings in a cam-paign against drugs he launched after he took office in June.

Pakistan to send 1,500 PhD students to USIslamabad Internews

The Executive Committee of National Economic Coun-cil (ECNEC) yesterday, under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, approved PhD Scholarship Pro-gramme under US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor (Phase-1) at a rationalised cost of Rs18.81bn including foreign exchange component of Rs17.714bn.

Dar chaired meeting of the ECNEC yesterday.

The Committee considered and approved various projects relating to climate change, energy, health, and higher edu-cation sector.

On a proposal of the Minis-try of Planning, Development and Reform, the ECNEC approved the project regarding Green Pakistan Programme - Revival of Forestry Resources in Pakistan at an estimated cost of Rs3652.142m.

ECNEC approved Higher Education Commission proposal of PhD Scholarship Programme under US-Pakistan Knowledge

Corridor (phase-1) at a rational-ised cost of Rs18, 810.916m including foreign exchange com-ponent of Rs17, 714.698m.

Under this segment of US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor, HEC will send 1500 PhD students to top ranking US universities.

HEC will also provide coun-seling/guidance facilities to candidates for taking GRE, TOFEL tests and proposal writing to assist students in seeking admis-sion in US universities. ECNEC directed HEC to ensure partici-pation of students/scholars from all over the country on merit.

ECNEC also approved HEC proposal for establishment of Sub Campuses of Public Sector Universities at district level at a rationalised cost of Rs5, 206.28m. Under this project, campuses of universities will be set up in districts where no such facilities exist so far.

ECNEC approved the com-pliance report on Neelam Jhelum Hydroelectric Project with the direction to WAPDA to formu-late proper policy guidelines in the light of the Ministry of Water and Power recommendations and to adhere to the timelines.

Manila Reuters

Philippines President Rod-rigo Duterte apologised to South Korea yesterday after policemen killed one of its citizens, then said he wanted to hang rogue police and send their heads to Seoul.

He called again for the death penalty to be reinstated so that he could hang 20 crim-inals a day.

Duterte promised the toughest punishment for those behind the kidnapping and kill-ing of businessman Jee Ick-joo inside the national police head-quarters in October.

"I will see to it that they are sentenced to the maximum," he

said of the policemen. "You give that power to me

back again, I will execute them... I'll hang them in one day, 20 of them - 20 a day."

"You policemen, you will suffer. I can maybe send your heads to South Korea."

The death of the South Korean comes as the Philippine police face growing criticism from rights groups and law-makers, who say cover-ups and abuses of power are rampant.

Duterte's critics, however, say he is to blame for creating a culture of impunity by prom-ising to protect police on the front lines of his war on drugs.

The police accused of kid-napping and killing Jee were anti-narcotics officers.

Turnbull no to National Day date-changeSydney AFP

The date of Australia's national day should not be changed, the prime min-ister said yesterday, as thousands protested over the day that commemorates the arrival of the country's first Brit-ish settlers.

While a national day of

celebration, some Australians view the date as 'Invasion Day' as it marks the beginning of Brit-ish colonisation.

"I believe we should main-tain the date," Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said yesterday.

"Everyone is entitled to a point of view, but I think most Australians accept January 26 as Australia Day".

"It is a day where we cele-brate the rich diversity of all of our cultures - from our First Australians... to the new citizens, migrants who come from such diverse range of countries."

There were several 'Invasion Day' rallies across major Aus-tralian cities, with protesters marching in support of disad-vantaged Aboriginal community and a change of date.

Duterte to punish cops behind Korean's murder

English denies passport for sale to richWellington AFP

New Zealand passports are not for sale, Prime Min-ister Bill English (pictured) said yesterday, after it emerged US tech titan Peter Thiel gained citizenship in the South Pacific nation despite not meeting official criteria.

The dispute over Thiel's cit-izenship follows reports that mega-wealthy Americans are eyeing the remote South Pacific nation as a "bolthole" should Donald Trump's presidency go disastrously wrong.

The New Zealand govern-ment confirmed this week that

German-born billionaire Thiel was granted citizenship in June 2011, just two months after donating $730,000 to an official Christchurch quake disaster fund.

English acknowledged Thiel did not meet the usual require-ments -- living at least 70

percent of the previous five years in New Zealand -- but said he was granted citizenship due to exceptional circumstances.

"New Zealand is a better place with Mr Thiel as a citizen," English said.

He declined to detail the exceptional circumstances and dismissed as "ridiculous" sug-gestions New Zealand had sold citizenship to Thiel, who Forbes estimates is worth $2.7bn.

"It's not a case of whether wealthy people can jump the queue," English said.

"It's whether people have particular skills, particular con-tributions that don't quite meet the criteria."

Manila Reuters

The Philippines has received intelligence that shows closer links between domestic militants and Islamic State, its defence minister said yesterday, adding weight to worries that Middle East extremists are building a net-work in Southeast Asia.

Intelligence from allies showed a leader of the Abu Sayyaf militant group, which has gained notoriety for piracy and kidnapping in the southern Phil-ippines, was trying to spread into new areas of the Philippines upon the instruction of Islamic State, according to Philippine

Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.

"Isnilon Hapilon left his tra-ditional area of operation on Basilan island and went to Lanao del Sur to see the area and find out if it is conducive for them to move there," Lorenzana said, referring to an Abu Sayyaf leader.

Lanao del Sur is a province on the main southern island of Mindanao, to the northeast of the much smaller Basilan island.

Lorenzana did not say which country provided the intelli-gence but said it included information that Hapilon had made the move to survey the new area "at the behest" of Islamic State.

The army had until recently denied the existence of links between IS and militants in the Philippines and said Abu Sayyaf was had only pledged allegiance to the network to boost its profile.

Abu Sayyaf, which operates in two southern islands, has kid-napped dozens of foreigners over recent years and beheaded several of them, including two Canadians last year.

The United States has a $5m bounty on the head of Hapilon for leading the 2001 kidnapping of 20 people, including three Americans, on a resort island. He has been identified as Abu Sayyaf's commander on Basilan.

Sub-zero temperature leaves 27 Afghan children deadMazar-i-Sharif AFP

Heavy snowfall and freez-ing weather has killed 27 children, all under the age of five, in a remote dis-trict in northern Afghanistan, officials said yesterday, with fears the toll could rise.

Roads in Darzaab in north-ern Jawzjan province were blocked by 50 centimetres of snow, cutting off access for vil-lagers in the area to medical care as temperatures plunged to -10 degrees Celsius (14 Fahrenheit).

"Unfortunately we have 27

children killed due to heavy snowfall and freezing weather," district governor Rahmatullah Hashar said, saying the deaths had occurred over the last two or three days.

All the children were under the age of five, he said, adding the blocked roads mean the toll could still increase.

The deaths were confirmed by the Jawzjan provincial gov-ernor's spokesman, Reza Ghafoori, who said aid would be delivered via emergency committees.

Heavy snowfall and ava-lanches kill scores of people in Afghanistan each winter.

Terror group 'building network' in Asia

Existing treatyThe Pentagon gave the green light to start the upgrade of military facilities as part of EDCA.

Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana confirmed that Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) is still on.

Aboriginal protesters hold signs as they demonstrate outside the Victorian State Parliament on Australia Day, in Melbourne, yesterday.

Philippine Police Chief Ronald Dela Rosa shows photos to Marissa Morquicho, the househelp of Jee, as they appear at a Senate hearing into Jee's death, in Manila, yesterday.

Pakistan bans TV host over hate speechIslamabad Reuters

PAKISTAN'S television reg-ulator yesterday banned a well-known talk show host for hate speech, after he hosted shows accusing liberal activ-ists and others of blasphemy, an inflammatory allegation that could put their lives at risk.

Blasphemy is a criminal offence in Muslim-majority Pakistan that can result in the death penalty. Even being accused of blasphemy can provoke targeted acts of vio-lence by religious right-wing vigilantes.

Aamir Liaquat Hussain, who describes his programme aired on Bol TV as the coun-try's leading television show, had been at the forefront of a campaign to discredit liberal activists who went missing this month, as well as those defending them.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority said Liaquat's show "wilfully and repeatedly made state-ments and allegations which (are) tantamount to hate speech, derogatory remarks, incitement to violence against citizens and casting accusa-tions of being anti-state and anti-Islam."

Liaquat did not answer calls to his mobile telephone yesterday and representatives of Bol TV were not immedi-ately available for comment.

07FRIDAY 27 JANUARY 2017 ASIA

NEWS BYTES

SRINAGAR: Avalanches killed 10 Indian soldiers in Kashmir after cascading onto an army post and a patrol along the de facto border that divides the disputed territory with Pakistan, the military said yesterday.

The separate avalanches buried the soldiers under tonnes of snow on the Line of Control (LoC) in the remote Gurez area on Wednesday, an army spokesman said. A total of seven sol-diers in the patrol, that was approaching a border post when it was hit, were killed.

10 Indian soldiers dead in avalanches

Beijing AP

China has released a new list of items banned for export to North Korea, ranging from wind tunnels to

plutonium, following a new round of United Nations sanc-tions and complaints from US President Donald Trump that Beijing was not doing enough to pressure its communist neighbour.

The step was seen by one leading expert on North Korea as an attempt to show that China is fully meeting its commit-ments, and to pre-empt any moves by the US to punish Chi-nese companies that deal with the North.

However, the expert ques-tioned whether the ban would have much effect in slowing a North Korean nuclear weapons programme that is already well advanced and gathering momentum. A statement from the Chinese Commerce Minis-try late Wednesday said the items included dual-use tech-nologies that could aid the

North's programs to develop nuclear, chemical and biologi-cal weapons as well as the missiles to deliver them.

While largely comprising specialty chemicals and rare alloys, the list also includes

computer software, machinery, high-speed cameras, aerospace engines and six-axle truck chas-sis. Grinding machines, molds and radio transmitting equip-ment also joined plutonium and wind tunnels among the banned items. The ban on "dual-use measures related to weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery" takes effect immediately, the announcement said. There was no evidence that the extensive list of items was prompted by anything other than the UN Security Council resolution passed in November in response to the North's mis-sile test in September.

Foreign Ministry spokes-woman Hua Chunying yesterday said sanctions should be "imple-mented in an all-round and balanced way" and China was merely meeting its obligations.However, the official Commu-nist Party newspaper Global Times suggested the timing had to do with the upcoming week-long Lunar New Year holiday, a period during which North Korea last year staged a missile test and in 2013 held its third underground nuclear test.

China lists items banned for export to North Korea

Political sanction This move was following a new round of UN sanctions and complaints from US President that Beijing was not doing enough to pressure its communist neighbour.

The step was seen as an attempt to show that China is fully meeting its commitments, and to pre-empt any moves by the US to punish Chinese companies that deal with the North.

Colombo AFP

Sri Lanka yesterday said it was stuck in a "gigan-tic debt trap" and that paying off foreign loans would hit a record $2.41bn this year, up from $1.82bn last year. The Finance Ministry said the cash-strapped coun-try's debt servicing cost this year was estimated at about half of its foreign currency reserves, while repayments were expected to worsen to $4.0bn in two years.

The main reason was loans taken by the previous administration for white ele-phant projects such as an airport and a deep sea port, Finance Minister Ravi Karu-nanayake said.

"Sri Lanka is embroiled in a gigantic debt trap," he said. "The infrastructure develop-ment (of the former government) has not brought any returns on its invest-ments." The government announced it would raise $1.5bn through a domestic bond sale to rebuild its for-eign exchange reserves.

Myanmar AP

Twenty-two humanitarian and development groups have called for a halt to fighting between Myanmar's gov-ernment and ethnic rebels in the country's north and for the pro-tection of civilians affected by the conflict.

The groups signing the state-ment, circulated yesterday,

include the International Rescue Committee, Oxfam, Plan Inter-national and Save the Children. "We are alarmed about incidents of civilians being killed, injured and displaced due to intensifica-tion of military operations and use of heavy artillery in close proximity" to populated areas, the local and international groups said. There have been reports that civilians who fled to internal displacement camps have found

themselves caught in the combat.

Kachin state and northern Shan state have been wracked by intense fighting since November, with the government employing airstrikes and artillery attacks. It is fighting guerrillas from the Kachin minority and three other ethnic groups seeking greater autonomy. Khon Ja, a Kachin activist, said the government has not allowed humanitarian groups

to have access to thousands of displaced civilians. The military rejected the allegation. "There is no organization that the govern-ment wouldn't allow, if they work and ask according to the rules and regulations," said Maj. Gen. Aung Ye Win in the Commander-in-Chief's Office. The groups also called for all sides to "construc-tively engage in a mediated peace dialogue to achieve sustainable peace in Myanmar."

Groups seek halt to fighting in Myanmar

Sri Lanka stuck in 'gigantic debt trap'

Dhaka gets $94.98bn remittance

India doesn't meddle in Nepal's affairs

Myanmar sues students over play

China may test new air-to-air missile

YANGON: A group of Myanmar students has been charged with defamation over a play containing jokes about military wives having affairs while their husbands are away fighting.

Nine students were in a court, where they were told they would face trial over the performance that was staged during a workshop promoting peace. A local army lieutenant-colonel lodged the case because the play "could disgrace and destroy the image of the Tatmadaw" and their families.

KATHMANDU: Contrary to the accusation from a section of people in Nepal, India has never interfered in the neigh-bouring country's internal matters, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae said yesterday. Rae said: "We keep on listen-ing in Kathmandu during some political speeches that India is interfering in Nepal's internal matters, but actually people in Nepal do not feel that way." India has never meddled in the internal political matter of Nepal, but has always been cooper-ative intending to resolve the crisis Nepal is facing, he added.

DHAKA: Bangladeshis working abroad remitted home $94.98bn between 2010 and 2016, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina says.

"Bangladesh sent 757,731 overseas workers, including 118,158 women, to 162 countries and received $13.61bn as remittance in 2016," the state-run media quoted Hasina as saying. Hasina said her Awami League party government had undertaken various programmes for development and modernisation of migration procedure along with welfare of the expatriate workers. She said the government had a plan to open labour wings at Bang-ladeshi missions where more than 10,000 workers were living.

BEIJING: China may be testing a new, long-range air-to-air missile that could take out early warning aircraft and aer-ial refuelling aircraft, a state-run newspaper said yesterday, after pictures of the new missile surfaced online.

President Xi Jinping is overseeing an ambitious military modernisation programme that includes stealth jets and air-craft carriers. The country has also tested anti-satellite missiles.

New Delhi IANS

The 68th Republic Day was celebrated yester-day across the nation, from Jammu and Kashmir to Tamil Nadu

and Gujarat to the northeastern states, with pomp and pageantry, with the grand function in the national capital being the cyno-sure of all eyes. Seven bomb blasts occurred in Assam, in a dampner to the Republic Day function there.

In New Delhi, an overcast sky drizzling intermittently, led to some moments of anxiousness -- but the rain gods were kind enough to relent till after the event was over.

On both sides of Rajpath, a crowd of about 50,000 people -- including Indian and foreign dignitaries -- and jubilant

children dressed in colourful dresses cheering and waving the Indian flag -- set the tone for a perfect start to the Republic Day celebration.

The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who was the Chief Guest, watched the parade

alongside President Pranab Mukherjee, from inside a special enclousure. President Mukher-jee, who is commander-in-chief of the armed forces, took the salute at his last Republic Day parade, as his term is due to end in July. The proceedings began with President Mukherjee

unfurling the Tricolour at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi paying tributes to the fallen soldiers at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate.

A 149-member UAE military contingent participated in the parade this time. Led by Lt Col Abood Musabeh Abood Musabeh Alghfeli, it comprised of the UAE Presidential Guard, the Air Force, the Navy, the Army and a band of 35 musicians.

This was followed by military and paramilitary contingents.Making its debut were India's Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas and Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&C). The parade ended with a spectacular fly-past by the Air Force, with aircraft and helicopters setting the skies ablaze. Mi-17 V5 heli-copters flew with the Indian flag and showered flower petals.

India marks 68th Republic Day

Prime Minister Narendra Modi (centre) and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (right) watch the Republic Day Parade at Rajpath in New Delhi.

The Indian Military Police's Dare Devil stunt team take part in a dsiplay during the Republic Day Parade at Rajpath.

School children take part in a cultural performance at the Manek Shaw Parade Grounds in Bengaluru.

Indian National Service Scheme (NSS) cadets take part in a parade at the Manek Shaw Parade Grounds.

An Indian Army contingent marches in New Delhi.

Indian Army's Infantry Combat Vehicles are displayed during the parade in New Delhi.

08 FRIDAY 27 JANUARY 2017VIEWS

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

I regret and condemn the decision of the United States to continue construction of a wall that, for years, has divided us instead of uniting us. I have said it time and again Mexico will not pay for any wall.

Enrique Pena NietoMexican President

President Donald Trump’s vow to accel-erate construction of a “contiguous, physical wall” along the Mexican bor-der is slamming into a Washington reality — who’s going to pay for it and

how? Not us, say the Mexicans. US taxpayers will foot the bill, starting with money already in the Department of Homeland Security account that amounts to a small down payment. Then it’s up to the Republican-led Congress to come up with possibly billions of dollars more, cut-ting money for other domestic programs to finance the wall.

On Wednesday, Trump promised “imme-diate construction” would begin on the border wall, telling ABC News that planning is start-ing immediately. He again vowed that Mexico would pay the US back, though he offered no details.

It is true there is a small amount available now in the Department of Homeland Security accounts dedicated to “border security fenc-ing, infrastructure, and technology” — $100 million by one congressional estimate — that would permit work to get immediately under way.

So far, thanks to spending in the late 2000s, Congress provided about $2.3bn to construct 654 miles of fencing and vehicular blockades. But Trump has promised a wall, not just fencing — and it’s not a universally popular idea by any stretch.

“The facts have not changed. Building a wall is the most expensive and least effective way to secure the border,” said GOP Rep. Will Hurd, whose sprawling West Texas swing dis-trict encompasses more than 800 miles of the border.

“Many areas in my district are perfect examples of where a wall is unnecessary and would negatively impact the environment, private property rights and economy.”

Statements by senior party leaders like Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., praised Trump’s hard line.

GOP members of the appropriations com-mittees are more likely to take a green eyeshade approach to the money since they are familiar with the likely trade-offs.

“There’s any number of complications,” said former House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky., citing obsta-cles such as Indian reservations and national parks and forests. And much of the remaining 1,300 miles is very rough terrain, with steep construction costs and a limited return for the dollar. “It’s expensive and it’s complicated.”

Hundreds of miles of the border are so rugged and inhospitable that it doesn’t make sense to even try to build.

And in Texas, almost all of the land along the border is privately owned. When former President George W. Bush tried to build bor-der fencing starting in 2006, he faced stiff opposition from local ranchers and farmers, many of whom took the government to court on plans to use their land.

In many areas along the Rio Grande the

Trump’s border wall faces reality check

fencing is built well inside the United States, as far as a mile north of the Rio Grande, to ensure that the structure doesn’t interfere with the flow of the river or is built on solid ground. The middle of the

channel marks the internal border and a 1970 treaty with Mexico requires that structures built there not interfere with water flow. A popular golf course near the bor-

der in Brownsville was cut off from the rest of the city by border fencing and was forced to close in 2015.

“We have built a fence along the bor-der almost as much as we possibly can without violating tribal laws, environ-mental requirements, and taking over peoples’ personal, private property,” said Michelle Mrdeza, who worked for the House Appropriations panel during the fence debate of the mid-2000s.

The existing blockade — roughly 350 miles to block pedestrians and 300 miles to block vehicles — has already been built along the southern border. That fencing was built in the areas that are most vulnerable to illegal crossings.

“Insofar as the problem is a physical barrier, we’ve basically addressed that issue,” said Rep. David Price, D-NC, who chaired the congressional panel that funded the border fence when Demo-crats controlled Congress. “This focus, this fixation on a wall and pouring untold billions of dollars into a wall is foolishness.”

Cost estimates prepared a decade ago already varied widely. A 2009 Gov-ernment Accountability Office analysis put costs at $6.5m a mile for pedestrian fencing and $1.8m per mile for vehicular blockades. An actual wall constructed of concrete or brick would be more costly and difficult.

Ryan, in an interview Wednesday on MSNBC, said Congress will work with Trump on the upfront financing for the wall. Asked about estimates that the project could cost $8bn to $14bn, Ryan said: “That’s about right.”

Trump has repeatedly promised that Mexico will pay for his wall, though nei-ther he nor his allies in Congress are able to articulate how. The president of Mex-ico is emphatic that his country will not pick up the tab.

“I regret and reject the decision of the US to build the wall,” Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said Wednesday in a nationally televised address in his coun-try. “I have said time and again, Mexico will not pay for any wall.”

Already, US agencies have been told to scrub their budgets for savings that could be used for the wall.

“These taxpayer dollars would be better spent on investing ... to find cures for cancer and other diseases, spending on hospitals and doctors to care for our veterans, helping communities with clean water investments, supporting police in our communities,” said Sen. Pat Leahy, D-Vt.

Trump has repeatedly promised that Mexico will pay for his wall, though neither he nor his allies in Congress are able to articulate how. The president of Mexico is emphatic that his country will not pick up the tab.

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CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

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

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMEDmsalim@pen.com.qa

Gobal corruption watchdog Transparency International has come out with its annual report on a phenomenon that is all pervasive and probably affects the common man the most. The report ranks nations based on the pervasiveness of corruption in governments and societies. Like every year, most Scandinavian countries have been ranked the least corrupt with Denmark tied for the first position with New Zealand, followed by Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Singapore, Netherlands, Canada. The trio of Germany, Luxembourg and United Kingdom are tied at the tenth place, with BRICS nations of Brazil, India, and China locked at the 79th position.

Somalia is again at the bottom of the list with South Sudan and North Korea being the second and third most corrupt nations. It’s for all to see that the rank of a country shares a strong correlation with the depth of democratic institutions. Almost all western liberal democracies score high on this count. Afghanistan, which has had a consistently poor score has ranked 169 among 176 countries.

Transparency International has commented nega-tively about populist leaders feeding the cycle of corruption. The report warns that “instead of tackling crony capitalism, those leaders usually install even worse forms of corrupt systems.”

The observation is important in the light of several populist leaders em