Observer & Busness 27 Mar 2012 - Oman Daily Observer

Promotion of craft efficiency 

THE chairperson of the Public Authority for Craft Industries 

issued a number of decisions including the establishment of 

departments affiliated to the authority to raise the level of efficiency 

and meet the aspirations of craftsmen. A decision was 

issued to establish a department for craft industries in the South 

Al Batinah Governorate as the department will be at Al Nakhla 

Centre in the Wilayat of Rustaq. Details, P6 

Nizwa Islamic cultural capital 

THE preparatory committee of marking Nizwa as the capital for 

Islamic Culture 2015 met at the Ministry of Heritage and Culture. 

The meeting discussed a number of cultural and heritage issues 

related to the subject. Various sub-committees on infrastructure, 

administrative and financial affairs, cultural activities, researches 

studies and media were formed. It also discussed the proposals 

for a comprehensive view for the event. — ONA 

Tuesday, March 27, 2012/Jumada al Ula 4, 1433 AH 

www.omanobserver.om editor@omanobserver.om 

Ocean Modelling System 

THE marine ecosystems and resources are vulnerable 

to both natural and anthropogenic changes in a rapidly 

developing economy like Oman. The circulation of 

ocean currents plays an important role in regulating 

air-sea interaction, biogeochemical nature and 

productivity of the region. The main focus of past 

major oceanographic expeditions was limited. 

25 28 19 

Jayawardene hits century 

SRI Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene hit his 30th 

Test century and steer the hosts to a respectable 289 

for eight wickets on day one of the first Test against 

England yesterday. The 34-year-old remained not out 

on 168, his seventh Test century against England, after 

a 290-ball knock that stood out in a scorecard where 

the second highest score was Dinesh Chandimal’s 27. 

BOOST TO WATER CONSERVATION: The second phase of the Wadi Dhayqah Dam in the Wilayat of Quriyat was opened yesterday. The dam, with a storing capacity of 100 million cubic metres, will serve Muscat Governorate. Details, P4 

More jobs in oil and gas sector 

MUSCAT — The oil and gas 

industry plays a vital role in 

the economy as it provided job 

opportunities for Omani graduates 

from various higher education 

institutions. 

Speaking at a seminar organised 

by the Ministry of 

Higher Education, in co-operation 

with the Oil and Gas 

Ministry, he pointed out that oil 

and gas sector is the economy's 

Bausher sand dunes under threat 

 

MUSCAT — The awe-inspiring sand 

dunes of Bausher which have always 

been an attraction to both people living 

in Oman as well as those visiting 

the Sultanate, are losing their charm 

slowly but steadily, if not at once, as 

suspected land-grabbers have started 

excavating and transferring the sand. 

News Briefs 

Syria concern 

SYRIAN forces sent shells 

crashing into a dissident 

district of Homs city. — P9 

Stunning charge 

INDIAN Army chief General 

V K Singh yesterday kicked 

up a major row. — P11 

Arms cut pledge 

PRESIDENT Barack Obama 

vowed to pursue further 

nuclear arms cuts. — P13 

Deepest dive 

TITANIC director returned 

to the surface after a solo 

submarine dive. — P15 

main engine and the Sultanate 

relies on this sector in its economic 

revenue. 

The seminar titled ‘Reality 

and Expectations: Higher Education 

Outcomes in Oil and Gas 

Industry’ was attended by several 

private sector companies, 

Omani and foreign oil companies 

working in the Sultanate. 

Dr Abdullah bin Mohammed 

al Sarmi, Under-Secretary of 

The gargantuan dunes may slowly 

make way for housing and commercial 

complexes and thus generate residential 

areas aiming at the elite; but what 

we are going to miss is the splendour 

and importance in complementing the 

environment. 

Bausher sand dunes, the only loose 

sand in the city limits located around 

the ruins of the old Bausher Fort is 

the Higher Education Ministry, 

was also present. 

Dr Al Sarmi said oil and gas 

sector needs human resources 

equipped with skills and capabilities 

which make them fit 

to keep in line with the new 

changes in the industry. He also 

pointed to the role of the Higher 

Education Ministry in generating 

technically and academically 

competent students with 

a spot known for adventure tourism 

where youngsters vent out their urge 

for some kind of action in the evenings 

with their quad bikes bashing 

the dunes around. 

Crowds at these spots during weekends 

are enormous, said Mohammed 

al Shekaili, a quad bike rider in his 

twenties. “This is one of the best tourist 

spots where one can be a part of 

adventure tourism and camping and 

we can see several families making 

it in the evenings especially during 

weekends.” 

The realtors and construction companies 

have started eating up the more 

than 3.5-km-stretch of the sand with 

the blueprints of various multi-level 

building projects. According to construction 

workers To page 3 

Poland eyes investments 

MUSCAT — The Polish trade delegation 

yesterday discussed with 

officials from Al Rusayl Industrial 

Estate (RIE) and Knowledge Oasis 

Muscat (KOM) regarding investments 

available for foreign investors 

and showed interest in starting new 

projects in industrial estates. 

The delegation yesterday toured 

the Rusayl Industrial Estate, a subsidiary 

of Public Establishments for 

Industrial Estates (PEIE). 

Mohsin bin Zahran al Hinai, 

Director-General of the industrial 

estate, briefed them on current investments 

in the area. Already 143 

industries are operating in the area. 

skills of international standards, 

adding that the working papers 

to be presented at the symposium 

will enrich and help in assessing 

and developing higher 

education outcomes in oil and 

gas industry. 

A documentary entitled 

Committed to Sustainable Development 

was also presented 

on the occasion. The film deals 

with history of oil and its role 

Investment opportunities available 

in the area and their future plans 

were also reviewed. 

The delegation viewed a documentary 

on PEIE’s experience and 

goals and its role in providing services 

for tenants from different parts 

of the world and giving them the opportunities 

to invest in the industrial 

estates in the Sultanate. 

The delegation was informed by 

officials at RIE about facilities and 

services provided by PEIE to investors 

in industrial estates and KOM. 

The polish delegation then visited 

KOM and watched a visual 

presentation on the oasis, vision and 

in the development and contribution 

to different sectors of 

the life of Omani citizens. 

The sessions were divided 

into two groups, the first included 

working papers presented 

by higher education institutions. 

Dr Ahmed bin Hassan al 

Balushi, Dean of Caledonian 

Engineering College, presented 

a paper entitled To page 6 

mission that advances human and 

social development through application 

of knowledge using Oman’s 

competitive advantages, in addition 

to basic information about the oasis, 

facilities and services provided and 

its contribution in promoting the 

Sultanate as an international hub for 

business excellence and its ability to 

progress and develop in IT field. 

KOM officials explained the 

goals behind establishing KOM, 

represented in promoting economic 

diversification, investments in IT 

and communication, develop and 

market knowledge-driven economy, 

attract more investments. — ONA 

New student regulations 

MUSCAT — Dr Madeeha 

bint Ahmed al Shaibaniyah, 

Minister of Higher Education, 

has issued regulations regarding 

student affairs in public 

schools. 

The ministerial decision 

No 105/2012 repeals regulations 

of affairs of students 

enrolled in public schools and 

basic education schools issued 

vide ministerial decision No 

56/2008 and all that contravenes 

the decision and the at- 

Sites for solar projects 

MUSCAT — Authorities 

overseeing the Sultanate’s 

maiden foray into large-scale 

renewable energy development 

are progressing studies 

designed to pinpoint an ideal 

location for the establishment 

of the country’s first major solar 

power project. 

The government-owned 

Oman Power and Water Procurement 

Company (OPWP), 

which has been playing a key 

role in, among other things, 

the study of suitable sites for 

the project, says it is continuing 

to evaluate data collected 

from monitoring equipment 

set up at potential locations. 

The state-run procurer 

published solar insolation data 

and other related information, 

Food expo 

MUSCAT — As a part of the 

efforts of the government to 

give a hand to Omani exporters 

and to open a new 

window to Omani products, 

the Public Authority for Investment 

Promotion and Export 

Development (PAIPED) 

will be participating in Food 

Hotel Asia 2012 (FHA2012) 

to be held during April 17-20 

in Singapore. 

Four Omani food companies 

will be part of Oman’s 

45 sq metre pavilion at the 

exhibition. Details, P7 

40 cases 

MUSCAT — The authorities 

have detected 40 cases 

of suspected money laundering 

last year. This was disclosed 

by Khamis bin Salim 

al Khalili, Assistant Attorney 

General, while opening 

a workshop on combating 

money laundering and terrorism 

here yesterday. 

Al Khalili said the cases 

have yet to be verified as 

crimes. They are pending 

investigation and include 

determining the sources of 

income of those involved. 

He said the seminar is 

part of a national plan aided 

by the IMF. 

tached regulations or contracts 

in their provisions. 

The new regulations contain 

38 articles in six chapters. 

Chapter 1 offers definitions 

and general rules, chapter 2 

deals with students’ admission 

and registration and chapter 3 

is about transfer of students. 

The subject of chapter 4 

is students’ school attendance 

and chapter 5 deals with 

school costumes while chapter 

6 tackles students’ discipline. 

for the benefit of potential developers 

and investors looking 

for opportunities linked to 

the establishment of the solar 

power project, as well as a 

wider solar-based industry. 

“The objective of this publication 

is to offer the opportunity 

for all parties that are 

interested in the Solar Project 

in the Sultanate, whether for 

development, investment, 

or other purposes to receive 

an update of data collection 

progress and to allow for further 

analysis and interpretation 

of the raw data provided. 

OPWP has also provided its 

own interpretation of the data 

for review,” the procurer said. 

A clear mandate from the 

Council of Ministers for the 

In addition to the definitions 

and general rules, chapter 

1 also determines the prerogatives 

of the public school 

board which is chaired by the 

school principal and includes 

teachers and other staff. 

The chapter provides that 

a student who fails to observe 

school attendance and 

discipline is referred to the 

educational directorate or department’s 

disciplinary and attendance 

committee To P7 

implementation of the solar 

power project, with a net 

output ranging from 100-200 

MW, is still awaited. However, 

at its meeting last November 

the Council directed 

the Public Authority for Electricity 

and Water (PAEW) “to 

complete the technical and 

economic study for solar energy 

in power generation and 

encourage the private sector to 

invest in this important field.” 

The studies commissioned 

by PAEW have identified 

three potential regions deemed 

to boast conditions suitable for 

the establishment of a largescale 

solar project. 

The areas are Adam/ 

Manah/Ibri, and Sohar/Al 

Khabourah/Barka. See P21 

THE Observer’s lifestyle magazine Mazoon is 

distributed today. Ensure to get your free copy. 

Prayer timing Fajr Dhuhr Asr Magrib Isha Weather W Muscat Musc usc Nizwa Sohar Al Buraimi Sur Khasab Salalah 

EXCHANGE RATES 

GOLD 

Dollar per Omani Rial 

PRICE 

Muscat 04:48 am 12:17 pm 03:44 pm 06:26 pm 07:36 pm Max ax 30 34 28 27 36 33 30 

Min 21 20 23 23 24 25 20 

Buying 0.382 Selling 0.388 $1,681.10

MUSCAT — His Highness 

Sayyid Haitham bin Tareq al 

Said, Minister of Heritage 

and Culture, received in his 

office here yesterday Bogdan 

Borusewicz, President of the 

Polish Senate, currently visiting 

the Sultanate. 

In another seperate 

meeting, HH Haitham also 

received in his office here 

Dr Yaqoub Ibrahim, Information, 

Communications 

and Arts Minister of Singapore, 

currently visiting the 

Sultanate. 

The two meetings discussed 

means relating to 

enhancing the existing 

co-operation between the 

Sultanate and Poland and 

Singapore. 

The meetings were attended 

by officials at the 

Heritage and Culture Ministry. 

— ONA 

2 OMAN 

OMAN DAILY Observer 

TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2012 

Co-operation with Poland, S’pore discussed 

Boost to bilateral relations with Poland 

MUSCAT — Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdallah, Minister 

Responsible for Foreign Affairs, received in his office 

here yesterday Bogdan Borusewicz, President of the 

Polish Senate. The meeting discussed the bilateral relations 

between the two countries and exchanged views on 

international and regional issues of common concern. 

In another meeting, Khalid bin Hilal al Maawali, 

Chairman of the Majlis Ash'shura, also received in his 

office Borusewicz. The Majlis Ash'shura Chairman 

commended the bilateral relations binding the two 

countries. He gave a briefing on the march of the Majlis 

Ash'shura and explained the legislative and audit 

powers of the Majlis and the work mechanisms. 

The President hailed the legislative and oversight 

powers given to the Majlis in particular and 

the march of Omani Shura in general, which has 

achieved remarkable successes in the Sultanate. As 

for the visit of the Polish delegation, he pointed out 

that this delegation is the biggest one ever to visit the 

GCC countries. He gave a briefing on the Polish Senate 

elections, the followed mechanisms in this regard 

and the parliamentary work in Poland. 

The meeting discussed joint co-operation and 

co-ordination areas between the two countries and 

enhancing the parliamentary relations as well as exchanging 

the expertise, in educational, investment 

and transport fields. — ONA 

By Asim al Shidi 

MUSCAT — Dr Abdulmunim 

bin Mansour al Hasani, 

Minister of Information, 

has affirmed responsible 

freedom for the press and 

the media is guaranteed by 

the state and added that the 

current stage in the Sultanate 

needs media’s transparency 

and genuine role in society. 

The minister at meeting 

with the editorial staff 

of Oman Arabic and the 

Observer yesterday, said 

the bodies concerned are 

formulating a media strategy 

to determine what is 

expected from the media in 

the future. 

These bodies are also 

working on a detailed revision 

of laws and regulations 

governing the activities of 

the media. 

He called on journalists 

to practise their authentic 

role while observing the 

principles of responsible 

freedom. 

Dr Al Hassani said his 

ministry will undertake 

training for journalists. 

"Methods of training are being 

minutely revised while 

the ministry and other media 

institutions are providing 

generous funding for 

that purpose”, the minister 

emphasised. 

He further added: “Media 

is fast evolving around 

the world and media institutions 

must cope with all 

changes to remain competitive”. 

He said developing the 

content and layout of Oman 

newspaper is continuing 

and big efforts are being 

made to ensure it plays an 

ambassadorial role for the 

Sultanate in Arab and foreign 

capitals. 

— Pictures by Faisal 

al Balushi 

Sultanate takes part in 

Doha defence exhibition 

DOHA — Sayyid Badr bin Saud al Busaidy, 

Minister Responsible for Defence Affairs, took 

part in the opening of the 3rd Doha International 

Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference 

(DIMDEX 2012) yesterday being held 

in Qatar. 

The exhibition's opening ceremony was 

held under the patronage of Shaikh Tamim 

bin Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani, Hire Apparent 

of Qatar in the presence of defence ministers, 

Chiefs of Staff, Military Commanders and 

heads of participating delegations from differ- 

ent countries of the world. 

Sayyid Badr and his military delegation 

watched the associated shows which were 

held within the activities of the opening. The 

minister is accompanied by a military delegation 

comprises of senior officers of the Sultan's 

Armed Forces (SAF), in addition to participation 

of the Rear Admiral Abdullah bin 

Khamis al Raisi, Commander of the Royal 

Navy of Oman (RNO) and Mohammed bin 

Nasser al Wahaibi, Sultanate's Ambassador 

of Qatar. — ONA 

Information minister says time has 

come for free but responsible media

3 OMAN 



Bausher sand dunes under threat from land grabbers 

From page 1 

(the owners and site supervisors 

declined to speak to the 

press) the work is fast progressing 

and very soon one can 

see huge housing complexes 

for elite class. They also added 

that these deals are worth billions 

of rials. 

As a result, the loose sand 

is disappearing slowly as is 

witnessed by some of the quad 

bikers. They said recently, 

they were asked to move from 

one of the hotspots while they 

were in action. 

“The Royal Oman Police 

(ROP) came and asked us to 

move from the old spot where 

we used to dune bash to another 

place as riding there 

anymore has become dangerous 

in view of the ongoing 

construction activities," 

Saleh Sulaiman al Gheelani, 

an avid rider, told the 

Observer. 

Jihad, a small-scale businessman, 

who rents out quad 

bikes to youngsters, said the 

number of customers has declined 

of late as the area of 

adventure has shrunk considerably. 

“In the past, I used to rent 

out at least 10 to 15 bikes in 

an average hour. Since the 

land is being encroached by 

the land mafia, and after the 

official notice came up asking 

us to move, the area of 

adventure has been reduced, 

it has affected my business 

as well”, Jihad, who has 

been in the business for years 

said. 

What the common public 

feels is that this tendency of 

encroaching and converting 

it into a form to gratify 

individual desires should 

be checked strongly. Additionally, 

any move to play 

with environment should be 

nipped in the bud so that the 

environmental balancing is 

ensured. 

— Pictures by Saeed al 

Harrassi and Kabeer Yousuf

QURAYAT — A celebration 

was held yesterday in the 

Wilayat of Qurayat to open 

Wadi Dhayqah Dam with a 

storing capacity of 100 million 

cubic metres, built at a cost of 

RO 43,645,083. 

The ceremony was held under 

the auspices of His Highness 

Sayyid Fatik bin Fahar al 

Said, in the presence of ministers, 

shaikhs, dignitaries and 

others. 

Wadi Dhayqah Dam in the 

Wilayat of Qurayat in Muscat 

Governorate, which can hold 

about 35 million cubic meters 

of water per year, is one of the 

basic water projects which 

aim at developing water sector 

which is accorded utmost 

priority by His Majesty Sultan 

Qaboos. 

The dam is also one of 

the most important and major 

projects being implemented by 

the Sultanate to ensure sustainability 

of water resources. The 

dam has been designed according 

to the best engineering 

techniques and international 

standards that ensure safety 

and security. 

The project will be one of 

the major achievements of 

the blessed renaissance and 

will make a qualitative leap 

in the implementation of water 

projects and comes within 

the framework of sustainable 

development efforts of the 

Sultanate. 

It also comes within the 

Regional Municipalities and 

Water Resources Ministry 

constant keenness to manage, 

develop and ensure optimum 

use of the resources. It will 

contribute in promoting tourism 

and finding practical ways 

to limit the hazards of floods 

and adverse weather conditions 

which in turn will ensure 

safety of property and lives. 

Ahmed bin Abdullah al 

Shuhi, Regional Municipalities 

and Water Resources Minister, 

said that since the 1980s, 

the Sultanate's government 

initiated dam projects to play 

an important role in the development 

of water resources and 

enhancing the water security. 

He added that Wadi Dhayqah 

Dam is a new achievement 

for the development process in 

the country as it will be a strategic 

reservoir for water and 

will contribute in the development 

of water resources in the 

Wilayat of Qurayat and other 

parts of Muscat Governorate. 

4 OMAN 



Boost to water conservation as Wadi Dhayqah dam opens 

The dam aims at benefiting 

from the flood waters flowing 

in wadis which usually enters 

the sea, and preserving the 

consumption of water used for 

irrigation in the villages and 

areas near the wadi's path and 

below the dam. 

It also aims at providing potable 

water for the wilayat and 

serves as a strategic source of 

water for Muscat Governorate. 

The dam provides protection 

for the villages on the sides of 

the wadi against risks of floods 

and promotes tourism in the 

wilayat. 

He pointed out that the 

project includes two dams, 

one is the main dam and the 

other is the side dam with a 

storing lake. The dam is provided 

with a tower to control 

water discharge form the lake. 

It also includes monitoring 

network that includes a 

number of meters connected 

to a central system for date 

display and saving. There is 

also a tunnel inside the main 

body of the dam for purpose 

of digging, injection and discharge 

of the leaked water appropriates. 

He added that the second 

stage of the project includes 

a developed system for water 

supplies treatment as about 35 

million cubic meter of water 

per year will be pumped to 

distribute the water collected 

at the dam lake, treat them to 

supply the Wilayat of Qurayat 

and some wilayats in Muscat 

Governorate with potable 

water and water for different 

uses. 

He affirmed the importance 

of the projects that have been 

implemented in the different 

parts of the Sultanate and 

that such achievements are the 

fruits of co-operation between 

citizens and the government. 

The opening ceremony 

included a number of poems 

and tableaus the highlight the 

importance of preserving water 

after which the plaque of 

the project was unveiled. The 

chief guest then toured the 

visitors' centre and the exhibition 

which includes the documents 

that cast light on the 

different aspects of the project 

through text and visual presentations 

in Arabic and English. 

The exhibition has two 

halls on water, its hydrologic 

cycle, as well as the major 

water resources related issues 

and facts in the Sultanate and 

the world in general. 

When the dam is full, the 

storing lake will cover 350 

hectares of land that extends 

for 6 km to the upper part of 

the dam body. The average 

circumference of the lake 

when full will be 28 km. 

The project includes control 

rooms for the dam, a tower for 

water discharge, monitors for 

the data, control switches for 

the SCADA system and other 

world-class systems. The control 

and monitoring systems 

also include 39 metres for 

expansion and shrinking, 100 

metres for the temperature and 

a number of limiters at the end 

of limiting basin. 

The project also includes a 

tunnel inside the main structure 

of the dam (3 metres wide 

and 4 metres high) for control, 

injection and discharge of the 

leaked water. It has 122 wells 

to reduce water pressure on 

the foundations of the dam, 4 

monitors to monitor the movement 

in the dam body, 4 meters 

to monitor earthquakes, 

18 valves for the control system 

and 50 monitors for the 

underground water, in addition 

to 18 wells to observe the 

underground reservoirs and 

underground water level. 

To enhance the aesthetic 

value of the project, many 

green spaces were provided 

in the area in between the 

main and the side dam and 

in the lower area for the side 

dams. — ONA 

— Pictures by ONA and Saeed al Harrassi

5 OMAN 



‘Beyond Connectivity 2012’ meet in April 

By A Staff Reporter 

MUSCAT — While the development 

and growth of the 

telecommunications and ICT 

industry has been tremendous 

over the years, the emergence 

of next generation technologies 

and new ICT policies has 

resulted in a number of discussions 

revolving around the 

need for harmonised national 

ICT policies in the Samena 

region. 

Against the backdrop of 

this need for policies that will 

help with the ICT industry’s 

development and progress in 

the region, Samena Telecommunications 

Council, the 

tri-regional telecommunications 

consortium will 

convene some of the industry 

leading CEOs, experts 

and decision makers at its annual 

“Beyond Connectivity 

2012” conference from April 

The two-day event begins with a discussion on 

International Telecommunication Regulations 

and the need for unied ICT policies 

3-4 in Muscat. 

Highlighting the theme 

‘Harmonised Policy — An 

Enabler for Digital Economy 

Growth?’ for this year’s 

conference, Thomas Wilson, 

CEO and Executive Director 

of Samena Telecommunications 

Council said: 

“Harmonised national ICT 

Policies are fast becoming a 

major issue in the Samena 

region, and will be a major 

component in its continued 

development and growth. A 

delicate balance is needed 

between such policies and 

the changing trends in the 

convergent world, which we 

hope will enable a competitive 

business environment 

among operators and service 

providers.” 

Bocar A Ba, President of 

Samena Telecommunications 

Council further added, “We 

strongly believe that there is 

a need for a collaborative approach 

on numerous issues 

such as Spectrum Harmonization, 

DD (Digital Dividends), 

Infrastructure Sharing, Local 

Loop Unbundling (LLU), 

Public Private Partnership 

(PPP) and International 

Roaming Rates, which advocate 

that region-wide harmonised 

ICT policies and ITRs 

be devised and implemented 

to help further boost industry 

growth.” 

The two-day event begins 

with a discussion on International 

Telecommunication 

Regulations (ITRs) and the 

need for unied ICT policies, 

along with how policies and 

regulations can be a major 

tool to boost broadband proliferation. 

Day one concludes with a 

discussion on how the future 

of the content industry compliments 

the demand for local 

content. 

The highlight of the second 

day of the conference is the 

“CEO Live Session” which 

will provide insight into the 

leadership, thoughts and visions 

of telecoms leaders in 

the region, who will have the 

opportunity to interact and 

discuss with participants the 

future of the telecommunications 

industry, exploring 

topics related to intensifying 

competition and future strategies 

and technologies that 

need to be adopted, along 

with investments required 

for building next generation 

high-speed networks. 

The conference will continue 

with a discussion on 

open access LTE (Long Term 

Evolution) Schemes and the 

future of 4G, digital dividends 

and its value for telecommunications. 

“Beyond Connectivity 

2012” will conclude 

with the important issue of 

net neutrality in the region. 

Road safety panel discusses 

accident-prone locations 

MUSCAT — Common areas that are more prone to road accidents 

were discussed at a meeting here yesterday by the National 

Committee for Trafc Safety. The meeting was chaired 

by the Director-General of Trafc. 

101 res reported last week 

MUSCAT — Civil defence centres around the Sultanate received 

101 reports of res. The civil defence directorate also 

offered 2,267 re safety services, including eld visits, study 

of construction plans and issuing certicates and criteria on the 

protection of factories and establishments from res. 

Two held for selling liquor 

MUSCAT — The Royal Oman Police’s Criminal Investigation 

unit in the Batinah Governorate caught red-handed two 

Asian men as they sold liquor in the Wilayat of Sohar. 

The men were found to be in possession of more than 

3,000 bottles of liquor and sums of money generated from 

the illicit trade. They were transferred to the Public Prosecution 

Department in preparation for trial before the respective 

court. 

Workshop held on tackling money 

laundering, terror nancing 

MUSCAT — A workshop 

on combating money laundering 

and terror nancing 

started here yesterday 

under the patronage of 

Shaikh Khalifa bin Mohammed 

al Hadhrami, 

Deputy Chairman of the 

Supreme Court. 

A number of working 

papers were presented at 

the workshop. 

Some of the papers presented 

include working 

papers dealing with combating 

money laundering 

and terror nancing, an 

overview of international 

bodies to combat money 

laundering and terror nancing 

and reporting 

suspicious transactions 

and their analysis, in addition 

to crimes of money 

laundering and conscation 

among other issues. 

— ONA

Media ties with S’pore discussed 

MUSCAT — Dr Abdulmunim 

bin Mansour al Hasani, 

Minister of Information 

received in his ofce here 

yesterday Dr Yaqoub Ibrahim, 

Information, Communications 

and Arts minister 

of Singapore and his accompanying 

delegation, currently 

By Kabeer Yousuf 

MUSCAT — The second Omani 

lm shot in 35mm camera, Aseel 

that tells the story of Oman through 

various ages, will be premiered at 

the City Cinema in Shatti at 5pm tomorrow, 

as part of the ongoing 7th 

Muscat International Film Festival 

(MIFF). 

The ambitious lm which was 

made after a hiatus of ve years 

since the rst lm was released, envisages 

a broader picture of Omani 

lmdom reaching up with the global 

cinema making. 

By Maryam Khalfan 

MUSCAT — In view of improving 

the professional skills 

of pharmacists in diverse 

elds of practice, a symposium, 

which is designed at updating 

the medical personnel 

in this eld will be held at the 

Ministry of Education Theatre 

at Ibra on March 29. 

The event, which will be 

held under the theme: Pharmaceutical 

Care Towards Patient 

Safety will be graced by 

Dr Ali bin Amor Al Dhawi, 

Director General of Health 

Services, North Al Sharqiyah 

Governorate. 

The symposium, the second 

of its kind to be held on 

national scale is also aimed 

at updating the pharmacists 

visiting the Sultanate. 

The meeting reviewed relations 

between the Sultanate 

and Singapore and discussed 

aspects of the joint co-operation 

between the two sides in 

the media eld. 

The meeting was attended 

by Ali bin Khalfan al Jabri, 

Directed by Dr Khalid Abdul 

Rahim al Zadjali, Aseel is simply a 

clear mirror that reects the Omani 

life, the desert and other infallible 

features of country life. 

“The second Omani lm, Aseel 

will be premiered at the City Cinema 

tomorrow”, the writer- director 

Dr Khalid al Zadjali told the Observer, 

adding, “This hundred percent 

truly Omani lm is expected to 

be shown in various forums, in Arab 

and foreign countries as well”. 

Unlike the rst lm which was 

a pictorial debut of shermen and 

their lifestyle, Aseel tries to look at 

and other medical personnel 

with knowledge about the latest 

trends in aspects related to 

pharmaceutical patient safety. 

The symposium is also 

designed at developing and 

improving on the patient’s 

counseling skills, said Amal 

bint Said al Farsi, Head of 

Pharmacists, Ibra Hospital. 

The occasion, which will 

unite a host of participants 

from all the regions and governorates 

of the Sultanate will 

be participated by more than 

500 participants. 

On agenda of programmes 

includes discussions on the 

general use of antibiotics and 

the misuse of antibiotics. Discussions 

will also focus on 

use of antibiotics in pre and 

post surgery, the resistance to 

the life of nomads in the harshest 

weather in the deserts and it also 

tries to answer how they lived in 

harmony in the adverse and challenging 

climatic conditions. 

“How the people found their 

livelihood on breeding camels and 

faced severe challenges and difculties 

of the desert and the many 

demographic changes and development 

that occured from time to time 

affecting the village and its inhabitants”, 

Doctor Khalid said. 

The 7th Muscat International 

Film Festival, on its fourth day today, 

hosted various internationally 

Pharmaceutical patient safety 

symposium on March 29 

antibiotics and the importance 

of patients’ adherence to such 

drugs. 

The symposium will also 

tackle on the general topics on 

anticoagulants and pharmaceutical 

care in patients with 

sickle cell disease. 

Other topics of discussions 

will touch on the pharmaceutical 

care in pediatrics medications 

and matters related on 

how to deal with patients with 

Nasal Gastro Tube (NGT) 

feeding. 

Discussions will also explore 

in to an auto-calculation 

programme for extemporaneous 

preparations, which was 

developed by the pharmacy 

department at Ibra Hospital, 

remarked Al Farsiya. 

6 OMAN 



Aseel to be premiered at MIFF 2012 tomorrow 

MUSCAT — The Ministry of Regional Municipalities 

and Water Resources, represented by 

the Directorate of Water Resources Muscat in 

Under-Secretary of the Information 

Ministry, Said bin 

Khalfan al Harthy, Adviser at 

the Information Ministry, Dr 

Salim bin Sultan al Ruzaiqi, 

CEO of Information Technology 

Authority (ITA) and 

ofcials at the Information 

Ministry. — ONA 

More jobs in oil and gas sector 

From page 1 

“Interference between 

Academic sciences and Job 

Market - Objectives and 

challenges.’ 

The second paper entitled 

“Redeeming the gap between 

requirements of Oil and Gas 

Market and Higher Education 

Outcomes in the Sultanate 

of Oman’, was presented 

by Yousif Tuhami and Dr Natanian 

Rot. 

The third paper on “Role 

of Colleges of Higher Technology 

in developing Omani 

Workforce in Oil and Gas 

Industry”, was presented by 

Ilham al Maskari. 

The fourth paper entitled 

“Rising the competence of 

Omani workers in oil and gas 

industry”, was presented by 

Pradip Karim. 

The second group of 

working papers dealt with the 

relationship between oil and 

gas companies in developing 

and training and assessing 

higher education outcomes in 

oil and gas industry. 

The rst paper was presented 

by Mundhir bin Salim 

al Barwani from Petroleum 

Development Oman (PDO) 

Company. 

The second by Hussam 

al Nabhani from Occidental 

Company and the third presented 

by Azza bint Hilal 

al Harthy from Mohammed 

al Barwani for Oil Services 

Company 

The fourth paper was presented 

by Salim al-Harthy 

from Schlemburger Company 

and the fth paper was presented 

by Hilal bin Masoud 

al Jadidi from the British Petroleum 

Company. — ONA 

co-operation with Al Manhal School, recently celebrated 

World Water Day. The school presented 

cultural awareness programmes, sporting activi- 

Paci establishing new depts 

MUSCAT — Shaikha Aisha 

bint Khalfan al Siyabiya, 

Chairperson of the Public 

Authority for Craft Industries 

(Paci), issued number of decisions 

including the establishment 

of departments afliated 

to the authority to raise the 

level of efciency and meet 

the aspirations of craftsmen. 


MUSCAT — Oman’s Tourism 

Ministry expects its growing 

world-class meetings, incentives, 

conferences and exhibitions 

(MICE) facilities to be 

highlighted as it participates in 

the upcoming Gulf Incentive, 

Business Travel & Meetings 

(GIBTM) exhibition in Abu 

Dhabi this week. 

The event, which began at 

ADNEC yesterday, will concludes 

tomorrow. 

In particular focus at 

GIBTM will be the Oman 

Convention and Exhibition 

Centre project, valued at $1.8 

billion, a statement from the 

Ministry said. 

After its completion in 

2015, the 2 million sq m facility 

will include a 3,200 

She issued a decision to 

establish a department for 

craft industries in the South 

Al Batinah Governorate as the 

department will be at Al Nakhla 

Centre in the Wilayat of 

Rustaq to be afliated to the 

Directorate-General of Craft 

Industries Care. 

The department will qual- 

seat auditorium, four hotels 

with a total of 1,000 rooms, a 

192,000-sq m shopping mall, 

200 serviced apartments, 

85,000 sq m of grade-A ofce 

space, and 25,000 sq m of exhibition 

space. 

The Convention Centre, 

along with Grand Hyatt Muscat 

and Chedi Muscat Hotel 

will exhibit alongside the Ministry 

of Tourism, the statement 

said. 

The ministry expects the 

MICE segment to perfectly 

complement Oman’s growing 

appeal as a tourism destination 

for visitors from around the 

world. In 2011 Oman attracted 

1.6 million tourists, while this 

year the country is targeting to 

attract around 2 million foreign 

tourists. 

The GCC market was a 

major contributor to the Sul- 

tanate’s tourism last year, with 

an overall growth of 26 per 

cent, and the number of visitors 

from UAE growing 30 per 

cent. Revenue from tourism 

last year accounted for 2.6 per 

cent of Oman’s gross domestic 

product (GDP). 

Meanwhile, Muscat was 

recently selected as the Arab 

Tourism Capital for 2012 by 

the Arab Tourism Ministers 

Council. It was also named 

the second best city on earth 

to visit by the inuential 

travel guide publisher Lonely 

Planet. 

“We are keen to capitalise 

on the potential benets of 

a thriving MICE segment to 

further foster the growth of 

Oman’s tourism industry. A 

number of strategic measures 

are currently being undertaken 

to build Oman’s MICE sector 

acclaimed movies and celebrities 

known in the industry. 

Today’s happenings will begin 

with a celebrity talk by Billy 

Boyd and Anvar al Asmi followed 

by screening of Lord of the Rings 

and Turkish movie Wrong Rosary at 

10.30 am followed by Syrian movie 

The Silent Guard, UAE movie The 

Sun Dress and Malayalam Vaanaprastham 

at Oman Auditorium of 

Al Bustan. 

On the silver screens of City 

Cinema 3 in Shatti al Qurum, the 

French movie Headwinds, Spanish/ 

Belgian The Consul of Bordeaux, 

offerings, including the construction 

of world-class exhibition 

and conference venues,” 

said Haitham Mohammed al 

Ghasani, Director of Tourism 

Promotion, Ministry of Tourism. 

“The added value that 

Oman offers the MICE segment 

when compared to other 

destinations is our unique culture 

and heritage,” he said. 

“GIBTM 2012 provides 

the right platform for us to 

identify key trends, explore 

best practices and interact 

with leading industry players 

to showcase Oman’s various 

business travel attractions, and 

we are condent of a highly 

fruitful participation this year 

as well.” 

Representatives of the Ministry 

will participate in the various 

sessions of the exhibition, 

Egyptian Asma, and Moroccan Androman 

from 10 am through 7 pm. 

The Film Festival will come to 

an end on March 31 where a host 

of celebrities will be honoured for 

their contributions to their respective 

lm industries. 

On the sidelines of the closing 

ceremony, popular performers and 

singers such as Japanese band Billy 

Ban Ban, Lucky Ali, Pandit Chaurasya 

and Malaysian ballet Ramli 

Ibrahim and team are all set to enthrall 

the audience at the Al Bustan 

Hotel. 

Tourism Ministry to focus on MICE facilities at GIBTM 

ties and competitions reecting on the importance 

of water conservation. World Water Day is celebrated 

annually on March 22. 

ify and train craftsmen in the 

wilayats of the governorate 

and encourage them to develop 

their skills. 

The second decision establishes 

a department for 

purchases to be afliated to 

the Directorate-General of the 

Administrative and Financial 

Affairs at Paci. — ONA 

MSM index continues decline 

MUSCAT — Muscat Securities 

Market (MSM) general 

index 30 continued its decline 

yesterday when it lost 

more than 89 points constituting 

a decline by 1.52 per 

cent to close at 5,826 points 

compared to 5,916 points 

previously. 

The MSM daily report 

pointed out that the nancial 

sector declined by 1.86 per 


compared to 6,795 points previously, 

followed by the indus- 

MUSCAT — Gen James N Mattis, Commander 

of the US Central Command arrived here 

yesterday on an ofcial visit to the Sultanate. 

He and his delegation were received upon 

their arrival at Al Seeb Air Base by Brigadier 

trial sector which declined by 

0.92 per cent to close at 6,560 

points compared to 6,621 

points previously. The services 

sector also fell by 0.74 per 


compared to 2,731 points previously. 

The trade value yesterday 

stood at RO 3.7 million comprising 

a decline of 2.97 per 

cent compared to last week's 

session, which stood at RO 

3.8 million. The market value 

declined by 0.86 per cent to 

reach about RO 11 billion. 

The report said that the 

value of shares bought by 

non-Omani investors reached 

RO 551,000 comprising 14.91 

per cent. The value of shares 

sold by non-Omani investors 

comprised 38.17 per cent. The 

net non-Omani investment declined 

by 23.26 per cent. 

Out of the 49 companies 

whose shares changed hands 

yesterday, two companies 

rose, 31 declined and 16 remained 

unchanged. — ONA 

US military ofcial arrives 

Sulaiman bin Mansoor al Habsi, head of the 

Military Protocols at COSAF. 

They were also received by the US Ambassador 

to the Sultanate and the Military Attaché 

at the US Embassy in Muscat. — ONA 

Dr Khalid al Zadjali 

Majlis Ash’shura members 

to visit German Bundestag 

MUSCAT — Majlis Ash’shura is participating in the tour being 

conducted by the Majlis Ash’shura, National Assemblies, 

Representatives and Umah Parliaments to German Bundestag 

and other parliament-related establishments and organisations 

in Germany from March 26-30. 

The Majlis is represented by Salim bin Hamoud al Harrasi, 

Assistant Secretary-General for Administrative and Financial 

Affairs and Saud bin Ali al Harthy, Deputy Assistant Secretary 

General for Sessions and Committees. 

The visit is part of the plans to familiarise ofcials from 

Secretariats General in the GCC parliaments with international 

parliamentary with rmly-established experiences and frames 

of performance and work in them and to benet from joint 

expertise. 

The programme includes a visit to the Bundestag, meeting 

some ofcials in the German parliamentary Society. 

The delegation will meet with ofcials and managers for 

expertise exchange and benet from their experience in parliamentary 

eld and familiarise themselves with system, style 

of administrative work and responsibilities of the Bundestag’s 

Secretariat-General. — ONA 

Education ministry launches 

reader web service 

MUSCAT — Higher Education Ministry Inaugurated in cooperation 

with IT Authority Text-To-Speech Reader Web 

Service. This service converts any text into speech without the 

need for any other software. 

It is directed to three categories in the society : the blind 

and those who have sight problems and cannot read electronic 

texts and those who do not read and ordinary web visitors who 

prefer listening over reading while doing other activities on 

their computers or lab tops. — ONA 

Amendments to banking laws 

discussed at Majlis meet 

MUSCAT — The Economic Committee at the Majlis Ash’shura 

yesterday held its 8th regular meeting of the rst annual sitting 

(2011-2012) of the seventh-term under the chairmanship of 

Sulayem bin Ali al Hakmani, Head of the Committee. 

During the meeting, it discussed its work plan to study 

the national calibration and measurement law and the draft 

amendments to the Banking Law promulgated by the Royal 

Decree No 114/2000 which were referred from the Council of 

Ministers to Majlis Ash’shura. 

It also reviewed the report on the joint meeting between the 

Committee and Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) Company. 

The members of the Committee will give their remarks 

on the report before submitting it to the Chairman of Majlis 

Ash’shura. — ONA 

while Ministry ofcials themselves 

will attend a number of 

pre-arranged meetings with 

various MICE travel suppliers 

and other key industry players, 

the statement said. 

GIBTM 2012 will see the 

participation of over 2,000 

professionals from the conference, 

events and meetings 

industry in the Middle East 

across a range of industries, it 

said. 

It will be attended by a 

combination of regional and 

international industry buyers 

and suppliers, for three days 

of business opportunities, 

networking and professional 

education, the statement 

said. 

GIBTM is the driving force 

behind the development of the 

professional MICE industry 

across the region. 

MOVING CAR CATCHES FIRE: A car caught re while in motion near the Shell 

petrol station in Wadi Adai. The Civil Defence and Royal Oman Police (ROP) rushed to 

the scene and the re was doused. No casualty was reported. However, the ROP 

advised motorists to observe precaution and to check brakes, air and water to 

ensure that the vehicle is t for driving. — Photograph by Kenneth Macfarlane

Boost to Oman-Poland trade ties 

MUSCAT — Ali bin Masoud 

al Sunaidy, Minister of Commerce 

and Industry met yesterday 

with the Polish delegation 

led by Bogdan Borusewicz, 

President of the Polish Senate. 

During the meeting, Al 

Sunaidy reviewed with the 

guest and his accompanying 

delegation the volume of trade 

exchange between the Sultan- 

Oman to take part in Food Hotel Asia 


MUSCAT — As a part of the continuous 

efforts of the government to give a hand 

to Omani exporters and to open a new 

window to Omani products, the Public 

Authority for Investment Promotion and 

Export Development (PAIPED) will be 

participating in Food Hotel Asia 2012 

(FHA2012) to be held during April 17- 

20, 2012 in Singapore. 

Four Omani food companies will be 

part of Oman’s 45 sq metre pavilion at 

the exhibition. 

This is part of the initiative of the Directorate-General 

of Export Development 

of PAIPED to reach out to new markets, 

SALALAH — Italian cruise ship 

Costa Deliziosa visited Port of Salalah 

yesterday with 3,020 passengers on 

board including 2,170 tourists and also 

ate and Poland. The two sides 

stressed the importance of raising 

the level of trade exchange 

through the participation in the 

exhibitions, the promotion and 

exchange of businessmen visits 

between the two countries. 

On his turn, the President 

of the Polish Senate stressed 

the importance of promoting 

the trade, industrial and 

investment co-operation between 

the Sultanate and Poland, 

as well as the importance 

of strengthening the economic 

co-operation and the infrastructure 

projects. 

He pointed out to the importance 

of activating the cooperation 

between the two 

countries to cover a number of 

academic, research and stud- 

identify new business and partnership opportunities. 

Food Hotel Asia is considered the 

largest Asian trade fair of its kind, having 

attracted a total of 51,747 merchants 

from 99 countries and regions during the 

last edition. 

This time around, some 440 delegates 

and speakers are expected to 

share their knowledge and expertise 

on a variety of industry-related themes. 

Also due to take part are some 2,400 

exhibitors from 59 countries and regions 

in 46 pavilions. 

According to Faris Nasser al Farsi, 

Acting Director-General of Export Development 

of PAIPED, exporters will 

get excellent exposure to new technolo- 

an Italian cruise ship AIDA Diva with 

2,740 passengers on board within the 

framework of its tourism programme 

of the two cruise ships in ports around 

ies elds, besides the potential 

of co-operation in the eld of 

alternative energy, such as the 

solar energy. 

The two sides stressed the 

importance of co-operation 

between the private sectors 

in the two countries through 

the co-operation between the 

chambers of commerce. 

— ONA 

B’desh Embassy marks I-Day 

MUSCAT — The Embassy of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh celebrated the country’s 41st Independence Day and 

National Day yesterday. A reception held to mark the occasion at the Diplomatic Club was attended by senior 

state ofcials and heads of diplomatic missions and heads of foreign ministry departments. 

gies in packaging and marketing of food 

industries by attending such international 

exhibitions. 

Represented on Oman’s delegation 

are executives from Ali and Abdul Karim 

Trading Company, National Biscuit 

Company, Omani Euro Food Company 

and Sweets of Oman Company. 

Given FHA2012’s appeal, Omani exporters 

will have the opportunity to meet 

with importers and distributors from all 

over the world. 

PAIPED’s participation in the event 

is the result of co-ordination efforts initiated 

by the Authority’s representative in 

Singapore. The representative is part of a 

network established by the Authority in 

various countries around the world. 

the world. 

The two ships visited the most important 

archaeological and historic 

landmarks in the Governorate of Dho- 

7 OMAN 



Talks focus on Oman digital society 

MUSCAT — Dr Yaqoub Ibrahim, Information, 

Communications and Arts Minister 

of Singapore and his accompanying 

delegation yesterday visited the Information 

Technology Authority (ITA) in the 

Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM). 

During the visit, he was briefed on the 

role of ITA, digital Oman initiative and 

its role in executing the national strategy 

for Oman digital society and the e-government. 

The delegation also visited the National 

Data Security Centre during which 

Plan outlay 

cleared 

MUSCAT — His Highness 

Sayyid Haitham bin Tareq 

al Said, Minister of Heritage 

and Culture and Chairman 

of the Board of the National 

Records and Archives Authority 

(NRAA), yesterday 

chaired the regular meeting 

of the board. 

The meeting approved 

the programme plan outlined 

for NRAA in building 

the private document 

management system for authorities, 

besides approving 

the programme plan in applying 

the work system in 

the joint documents, which 

have been approved by the 

Council of Ministers. 

The meeting also approved 

the authority’s plan 

for its action work during 

the three coming years. 

The board also discussed 

the authority’s plan in the 

eld of oral history starting 

from this year, in addition 

to the role and efforts of 

NRAA with the international 

archives to get a copy of 

documents that are related 

to the Sultanate. — ONA 

New student 

regulations 

From page 1 

shall be suspended from attending 

school until a decision 

is made by the committee. 

The committee shall 

reach a decision within one 

week and inform the student 

and his guardian accordingly. 

They may appeal to the 

minister in a week’s time 

and if no reply is received 

after 15 days from notication 

that implies the appeal 

is rejected. — ONA 

Two tourism cruise ships dock at Port of Salalah 

far and the coastal wilayats near to the 

Wilayat of Salalah. 

The cruise ship Costa Deliziosa was 

coming from Port Sultan Qaboos and 

it viewed the role carried out by the centre 

in protecting the data in the Sultanate. 

Later, the Singaporean minister left 

the Sultanate after a two-day visit. 

Dr Ibrahim described his visit as successful, 

during which he acquainted himself 

with the developments the Sultanate 

has enjoyed in IT industry, information, 

heritage and culture, in addition to exchange 

Omani-Singaporean expertise in 

different elds. 

In a statement to ONA, Dr Ibrahim 

said that there is a strong and well-estab- 

MUSCAT — Major General 

Salim bin Musallam bin Ali 

Qatan, Assistant Inspector 

General of Police and Customs, 

received here yesterday 

delegates taking part in the 

19th meeting of the GCC rearms 

and explosives ofcials. 

They exchanged views on 

various aspects of co-opera- 

tion. 

Meanwhile, the 19th session 

for arms and explosives 

ofcials in the GCC countries, 

hosted by the Sultanate during 

March 26-28, began yesterday 

at Shangri-La's Barr al Jissah 

Resort and Spa. 

The meeting discussed different 

issues on its agenda like 

heading to Safaja Port in Egypt while 

the cruise ship AIDA Diva was coming 

from Port of Mumbai and heading to 

Port of Aqaba, Jordan. The Sultanate 

lished ties between the two countries and 

there have been many meetings that will 

result from this visit, adding that this visit 

is part of a tour to the Middle East countries 

to explore aspects of co-operation 

with these countries. 

The Singaporean Minister was seen 

off at the airport by Ali bin Masoud al Sunaidy, 

Commerce and Industry Minister, 

IT Authority Chairman of the Board of 

Directors and Dr Salim bin Sultan al Ruzaiqi, 

CEO of IT Authority and ofcials 

from the Authority. — ONA 

Unication of vehicles 

stressed at arms meet 

specication standardisation 

of trucks and containers carrying 

explosives in the GCC 

countries and discussing the 

programmes for courses in diffusing 

explosives, in addition 

to the discussion of working 

papers presented by the GCC 

countries and all issues rising 

in the meeting. — ONA 

MUSCAT — Students of the Tourism Section of the North Germany Applied Sciences 

University visited the Royal Oman Police yesterday. They were briefed 

about the ROP’s services to different segments of the society. 

witnesses annually the visit of cruise 

ships, that are touring the world, due to 

its distinguished maritime location. 

— ONA

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A 

man in Afghan army uniform shot 

dead two British soldiers in southern 

Afghanistan yesterday, raising to 15 

the number of foreign troops killed in 

similar way this year, ofcials said. 

One in six of the 90 foreign soldiers 

to have died in Afghanistan 

since January has been killed in socalled 

“green-on-blue” attacks. 

In the latest incident, an Afghan 

ofcial said the gunman at a provincial 

reconstruction team base in 

Lashkar Gah, the main town in Helmand 

province, “apparently” was involved 

in an argument after which the 

man opened re. 

A Western security source, who 

MANILA — Boxing superstar 

Manny Pacquiao said 

yesterday a tax suit led by 

the Philippine government 

had cost him millions of dollars 

in endorsements, and 

vowed to ght it out in court. 

Pacquiao, one of the 

world’s richest athletes, said 

the case led against him by 

the Bureau of Internal Revenue 

(BIR) for ignoring an 

order to submit records of his 

earnings smacked of harassment. 

“Why the BIR singled me 

out smacks of bad faith designed 

to tarnish my reputation. 

In just one instance, the 

BIR has tarnished my name,” 

Pacquiao, 33, told reporters. 

“I shall rise to the occasion 

and I shall ght this case 

until the last and nal round. 

We will ght,” he said while 

requested anonymity, said that the 

two Nato victims were British and 

that another Briton was severely 

wounded. An Afghan soldier and the 

killer were also shot dead, the source 

added. The Afghan defence ministry 

in Kabul declined to comment. 

The deaths are the latest in a series 

of such killings that have seen 15 

personnel of Nato’s US-led International 

Security Assistance Force die 

this year, an ISAF spokesman said, 

declining to conrm the two men’s 

nationality. 

Helmand is a Taliban stronghold 

but Lashkar Gah was among the rst 

places where responsibility for security 

was handed from ISAF to Afghan 

Boxing superstar Pacquiao 

hits back at tax man 

being anked by lawyers. 

The BIR last month led 

a criminal case against the 

eight time world champion 

for failing to submit proper 

documents about his earnings. 

If found guilty, he could 

face up to two years in jail. 

Pacquiao said his lawyers 

were preparing to le a counter-suit 

against a local tax of- 

cial in his home province, 

and possibly against higher 

BIR ofcials he did not name 

in the capital Manila. 

Pacquiao refused to elaborate 

when pressed why he 

thought he was being harassed, 

and called on Philippine 

President Benigno 

Aquino to sack those behind 

the tax case. 

His tax woes are the latest 

colourful event in Pacquiao’s 

8 

THE PHILIPPINES/SUBCONTINENT 


forces as part of a gradual transition 

process. 

The deaths come less than three 

weeks after six British soldiers were 

killed when a huge explosion ripped 

through their armoured vehicle near 

Lashkar Gah. 

Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility 

for that attack, which 

pushed the number of British dead in 

Afghanistan over the 400 mark. 

Aside from yesterday’s shooting, 

previous green-on-blue attacks this 

year have killed six Americans, four 

French, an Albanian and two ISAF 

personnel whose nationality has not 

been disclosed. 

The frequency of the incidents 

career, which he hinted last 

week was nearing an end 

because God had told him to 

retire soon. 

He claimed to have 

dropped all his vices, including 

wild partying and gambling 

to become a more vocal 

advocate of Christianity. 

Seen as the world’s best 

pound for pound boxer, 

Pacquiao, also a politician, 

declared assets at the end 

of 2010 at 1.13 billion pesos 

($26.3 million) and no 

liabilities, making him the 

country’s wealthiest member 

of parliament. 

Forbes.com magazine estimated 

he spent $7 million 

in his election campaign in 

2010 while also earning $35 

million for his two ghts 

against Joshua Clottey and 

Miguel Cotto. — AFP 


Two British troops shot dead in Afghanistan 

West’s priority in Afghanistan 

KABUL — The West wants to 

pull out of Afghanistan “with 

or without a settlement” and 

attempts to negotiate with the 

Taliban are unlikely to lead 

to lasting peace, a report by 

a respected think-tank said 

yesterday. 

The Brussels-based International 

Crisis Group (ICG) 

condemned “desperate and 

dangerous moves” by the 

government to bring Taliban, 

the allied Haqqani Network 

and other insurgents to the 

negotiating table. 

If a deal appeared to give 

the Taliban preferential treatment 

it was “likely to spark a 

signicant backlash from the 

Northern Alliance and other 

major factions”, it said. 

MANILA — A feared political 

warlord and ally of former 

president Gloria Arroyo pleaded 

not guilty yesterday to allegedly 

helping rig senatorial 

elections in the Philippines. 

Former governor Andal 

Ampatuan, who is already 

being tried for the country’s 

worst political massacre, was 

taken in an ambulance to a 

suburban court to be arraigned 

on the same charge as Arroyo 

last month. 

Flanked by assault-riewielding 

guards, the wheelchair-bound 

Ampatuan tried 

to cover his face as photographers 

swarmed around him for 

a picture. 

Ampatuan, 70, made his 

plea before being swiftly 

Without a sustainable settlement, 

after international 

forces pull out “all indicators 

point to a fragile political order 

that could rapidly disintegrate”, 

it said. 

The Taliban has been waging 

an insurgency against the 

government and the Western 

forces. 

“The international community's 

most urgent priority 

is to exit Afghanistan with 

or without a settlement,” the 

ICG said. 

“The negotiating agenda 

has been dominated by Washington’s 

desire to obtain a 

decent interval between the 

planned US troop drawdown 

and the possibility of another 

bloody chapter in the con- 

Warlord says not guilty to 

Philippine vote fraud 

whisked back to the ambulance, 

to be taken back to jail. 

He is accused of conspiring 

with Arroyo to rig the 

2007 senatorial elections in 

his southern home province 

of Maguindanao so that an 

Arroyo ally won the nal position 

available in the nation’s 

Senate. 

Arroyo pleaded not guilty 

to the same charge last month 

but Ampatuan’s arraignment 

was delayed because of health 

problems. 

Aside from the alleged 

2007 vote fraud, Arroyo has 

also been accused of massive 

corruption during her almost 

10 years in ofce which ended 

in 2010. 

Then-president Arroyo had 

ict.” 

But the document warned: 

“No matter how much the US 

and its Nato allies want to 

leave Afghanistan, it is unlikely 

that a Washington-brokered 

power-sharing agreement 

will hold long enough to 

ensure that the developments 

of the last decade are not reversed.” 

It said the process should 

instead be mediated by the 

United Nations. 

Progress towards negotiations 

in Afghanistan has been 

long, slow and complicated, 

with no sign of a deal being 

struck, or even substantive 

talks. 

Fake envoys have at times 

hoaxed Kabul. 

supported Ampatuan who had 

ruled Maguindanao for nearly 

a decade with his private army 

of a few thousand men being 

used by government as a proxy 

force against separatists. 

But Arroyo was forced 

to cut ties with Ampatuan 

after his family and private 

army were linked to the 2009 

massacre of 57 people in 

Maguindanao in a bid to prevent 

a rival from running for 

ofce. 

Ampatuan and several 

family members are among 

64 people now being tried for 

the 2009 massacre but critics 

say the proceedings are 

moving too slowly and that 

many other suspects remain 

at large. — AFP 

FORMER Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr (C) attends the 

arraignment of his electoral sabotage case at a regional trial court in 

Pasay, east of Manila, yesterday. — Reuters 

peaked following the desecration of 

copies of the Quran at an incinerator 

pit at the US-run Bagram airbase. US 

President Barack Obama apologised 

for what he said was an error. 

Around 40 people were killed in 

days of violent demonstrations as 

protesters targeted Western bases. 

At one point Nato withdrew all 

its advisers from Afghan government 

ministries after two US ofcers were 

killed inside the interior ministry, apparently 

by an Afghan colleague. Not 

all have since returned. 

On March 11, a massacre of 17 

Afghan civilians, including nine children 

and four women, blamed on an 

American soldier brought relations 

COTABATO, Philippines — Philippine police 

said yesterday they had arrested a wanted 

member of a powerful clan blamed for the 

country’s worst political massacre after he was 

injured in a blast. 

Ipeh Ampatuan, 27, was among 100 suspects 

at large for the massacre allegedly orchestrated 

by his grandfather in which 57 people 

were gunned down in the southern province 

of Maguindanao in 2009. 

Ampatuan was believed to have been escaping 

to remote marshland near the southern city 

of Cotabato on Sunday when a blast destroyed 

the boat he was in, wounding him and several 

others and leaving another person dead. 

“The arrested suspect has been hospitalised 

due to injuries sustained during the explosion,” 

provincial police chief Senior Superintendent 

Marcelo Pintac told reporters. 

He said it was not clear what caused the 

explosion on the boat, and police discovered 

Ampatuan was among those injured. 

“He has warrants of arrest and we served 

it,” Pintac said. 

Pintac said he had deployed additional policemen 

and requested a Marine unit to guard 

between Kabul and Washington to a 

further low. 

Britain is the second biggest contributor 

of troops to Afghanistan after 

the United States with 9,500 soldiers, 

but it is set to pull out all combat 

forces by the end of 2014 in line with 

other Nato nations. 

An ISAF statement released in 

Kabul said an Afghan and Nato investigation 

had been opened into the 

latest killings. 

Elsewhere in southern Afghanistan, 

police said a suicide bomber 

blew himself up outside a US-run base 

in Chora district in Uruzgan province, 

wounding three foreign troops and an 

Afghan policeman. — AFP 

MEN drag a motorcycle from a petrol station after it was attacked during a protest 

demonstration in Lahore yesterday. Irate residents attacked a petrol station, burnt tyres 

and blocked roads for several hours demanding the government to put an end to power 

cuts in the country, local media reported. — Reuters 

Suspect in massacre hurt in blast 

COLOMBO — Sri Lanka’s 

foreign minister said yesterday 

he would meet with US 

Secretary of State Hillary 

Clinton after the adoption of 

a UN resolution pushing Colombo 

to properly investigate 

war crimes allegations. 

Sri Lanka has angrily rejected 

the resolution tabled by 

the United States and passed 

last week by the UN Human 

Rights Council in Geneva. 

Foreign Minister Gamini 

Lakshman Peiris, who had 

turned down an invitation to 

meet Clinton before the Council 

vote, said he planned to 

hold talks with her in Washington 

in mid-May. 

“We will continue to en- 

gage with the UNHRC, our 

bilateral partners like the US, 

as we have been doing in the 

past,” Peiris told reporters in 

Colombo. 

“Any element of pressure 

will be resisted,” he added. 

Rights groups have said 

that up to 40,000 civilians 

were killed in the Sri Lankan 

military’s nal offensive 

against Tamil Tigers in 2009. 

The resolution urged Sri 

Lanka to probe war crimes 

charges, implement the recommendations 

of a domestic 

inquiry into the war and seek 

UN help for reconciliation efforts 

with the minority ethnic 

Tamil community. 

The government in Colom- 

the hospital, amid reports that Ampatuan gunmen 

could try to rescue the wounded suspect. 

Several members of the Ampatuan clan, 

including Ipeh’s father and grandfather, are in 

custody while being tried for the murders. 

The Ampatuans allegedly led a group of 

about 100 gunmen in stopping a convoy of cars 

carrying relatives of a rival political candidate, 

their lawyers and journalists, and then systematically 

killing them near a grassy hill. 

The killings were apparently meant to stop 

Esmael Mangudadatu, a member of a rival political 

clan, from challenging the governorship 

of Maguindanao province, which the Ampatuans 

had controlled for over a decade. 

Thirty-two of the victims were journalists, 

while the body of another reporter believed to 

be also in the convoy remains unaccounted for 

two years after the crime. 

Philippine politicians, especially those in 

remote areas, are known to control their own 

private armies and clashes among them are 

common. 

But the November 2009 massacre was the 

worst, and two years after the crime none have 

yet been convicted. — AFP 

Lanka FM to meet Clinton 

Indian defence 

ofcers to 

be feted 

NEW DELHI — Four 

decades after Bangladesh 

came into being, Dhaka 

will formally recognise 

the role played by Indian 

Armed Forces during the 

1971 war. 

At a function in Dhaka 

today, Bangladesh President 

Mohammed Zillur 

Rahman will confer an 

award on Indian Defence 

Minister A K Antony on 

behalf of the Indian Armed 

Forces in the presence of 

Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina. 

The award will be received 

by Minister of State 

for Defence M M Pallam 

Raju at the Bangabandhu 

International Conference 

Centre in Dhaka, an Indian 

Defence Ministry release 

said here yesterday. 

bo condemned the resolution 

as an attempt to interfere in 

the country’s internal affairs. 

“We oppose it. It internationalises 

Sri Lanka’s situation. 

It takes away the sovereign 

rights of the people,” 

Peiris said. 

“There will be no duress, 

no coercion of any kind. It’s a 

non-binding resolution. There 

are no economic sanctions,” 

he added. 

Tabling the resolution in 

Geneva, the United States said 

Colombo had been given three 

years to hold its own probe 

into war crimes, but “given 

the lack of action... it is appropriate” 

that the 47-member 

UNHRC pushed it to do so. 

Obama to seek 

easing of strains 

with Gilani 

SEOUL — The White House said yesterday that President 

Barack Obama would seek to put strained relations with Pakistan 

on a more even footing when he meets Prime Minister 

Yusuf Raza Gilani at the end of a nuclear security summit in 

Seoul. 

Ties plunged to a new low in November when an attack on 

two Pakistani border posts by an aircraft from Nato’s Afghanistan 

force killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. 

“There obviously has been a fairly turbulent period in US- 

Pakistan relations over the course of the last several months,” 

US Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters 

in Seoul yesterday. 

“We’ll want to address the state of the relationship.” 

He said Obama would assure Gilani of “our continued interest 

in co-operation” with Pakistan and stress shared interests 

in stabilising neighbouring Afghanistan. 

The Pakistani leader would bring up a parliamentary review 

that has been drawing up recommendations on how to proceed 

on ties with Washington, Rhodes said. 

Pakistan’s co-operation is considered critical to US efforts 

in Afghanistan before most foreign combat troops leave at the 

end of 2014. 

Pakistan has strong traditional links with the Afghan Taliban 

and other militant groups. 

Adding to tension, however, a US military ofcial said 

on Saturday there were no plans to discipline any American 

forces over the deadly cross-border strike on November 26 that 

plunged relations into crisis. 

A US military investigation last year had exonerated American 

troops in Afghanistan from inappropriate use of force 

against the Pakistani forces — despite the fact that the US military 

acknowledged some of the blame in the incident. 

In response to the incident, Pakistan shut off ground supply 

lines to the US-led Nato mission in Afghanistan — an issue 

Obama will likely address in today’s talks. 

Despite that, Rhodes said: “When we step back, we’ve continued 

to make signicant progress against our core interest 

with regard to Pakistan.” 

He said Obama would also discuss with Gilani plans for a 

transition to an Afghan security lead in Afghanistan and US 

support to an Afghan-led reconciliation process. 

Rhodes dismissed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s 

warning yesterday of growing instability in the West’s 

relations with Pakistan. 

“I’m not sure that he has any particular insight into Nato’s 

relationship with Pakistan,” he said. 

“I think Nato has had a relationship since the beginning of 

the Afghan war, because we have a shared interest with Pakistan 

and there not being violent extremist groups within their border 

and instability in Afghanistan,” Rhodes said. — Reuters 

Bangla oppn strike off 

DHAKA — The main opposition party in Bangladesh has 

withdrawn its call for a general strike on Thursday because 

Hindus in the country are having a religious festival that day, a 

senior party leader said. 

The party will now stage countrywide demonstrations instead 

on that day, which Hindus celebrate with bathing rituals 

for the Ratha Saptami Festival, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, 

general secretary of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), 

said yesterday. 

BNP chief and former prime minister Khaleda Zia this 

month had called for the dawn-to-dusk stoppage to back restoration 

of a constitutional provision that provides for a nonparty 

caretaker administration to oversee national elections set 

for 2014. 

The Awami League-led coalition government of Prime 

Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed scrapped the provision, under 

which Bangladesh held three national elections. 

The opoosition threatened to boycott polls without a nonparty 

system. — dpa 

Gunmen free teachers 

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines — Gunmen who kidnapped two 

teachers in southern Philippines freed their captives after a 

week-long pursuit by troops, the military said yesterday. 

The men, Rene Somadang and Tino Sanchez, were recovered 

late on Sunday after they were abandoned near the town 

of Tagoloan on the southern island of Mindanao, regional army 

chief Colonel Daniel Lucero said. 

“No ransom was paid and the release was due to our continuing 

operations,” Lucero said. “The operation has not ended 

and we will see to it that the kidnappers will face the bar of 

justice.” 

The duo were snatched exactly a week ago by unknown 

gunmen while on their way to work. 

The gunmen demanded some four million pesos ($93,000) 

for their release, authorities said. 

Also last week, members of the Abu Sayyaf group kidnapped 

a Filipina midwife elsewhere in the south, but freed 

her later, after local ofcials negotiated with the gunmen. 

It was not clear whether any ransom was paid. — AFP 

STUDENTS take part in a parade celebrating Bangladesh’s independence at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in 

Dhaka yesterday. Bangladesh celebrated its 41st anniversary of independence yesterday. — Reuters

9 REGION 



SYRIAN refugee children colour in pages during a class at the refugee camp in Yayladagi, Turkey, yesterday. Turkey is home to a growing number of Syrian refugees eeing the more 

than year-old unrest raging in its neighbour. Ofcials said the total gure has slightly exceeded 17,000 against about 9,500 only two months ago. — AFP 

Russia warns of Syria civil war 

DAMASCUS — Syrian forces 

sent shells crashing into a dissident 

district of Homs city 

for a seventh straight day of 

a deadly onslaught yesterday, 

monitors said, as Russia 

warned Damascus to act to 

avoid a civil war. 

The assault came as Syrian 

opposition factions gathered in 

Istanbul in a bid to close ranks 

ahead of a Friends of Syria 

meeting in the same city on 

April 1, and Turkey closed its 

Damascus embassy. 

The crisis was also discussed 

in Seoul at a meeting 

between US President Barack 

Obama and Russian counterpart 

Dmitry Medvedev. 

President Bashar al Assad’s 

government pressed on with 

its military campaign to crush 

opponents, however, activists 

and monitors said. 

Troops red mortar rounds 

into Khaldiyeh, a dissident 

bastion in the ashpoint central 

city of Homs, setting houses 

ablaze, said the Local Co-ordi- 

nation Committees (LCC). 

“The government is trying 

to storm the neighbourhood,” 

said the LCC, an activist group 

that organises protests. 

At least ve people died 

in the assault, adding to the 

dozens already killed in the 

week-old bombardment of the 

district, said the Syrian Observatory 

for Human Rights. 

Activists fear a repeat of 

the month-long battering that 

killed hundreds in the Homs 

district of Baba Amr before 

the dissident Free Syrian Army 

withdrew and the military 

moved in on March 1. 

Two more people died elsewhere 

in Syria. Snipers killed 

one in northwestern Idlib 

province and an 18-year-old 

woman died in clashes in Harasta, 

Damascus province. 

Violence was also reported 

in the eastern hot spot of 

Deir Ezzor, in central Hama, 

in northwestern Idlib and in 

southern Daraa province, cradle 

of the one-year uprising. 

After the talks, Obama acknowledged 

there had been 

disagreements in the past few 

months between the United 

States and Russia, an ally of 

Assad’s government. 

But he said both agreed “we 

should be supportive of Ko 

Annan’s efforts to end some 

of the bloodshed that is taking 

place in Syria,” and that the 

goal was to have a “legitimate” 

government in Damascus. 

Before ying to Seoul, 

Medvedev warned that Annan 

represented the last chance for 

avoiding a civil war in Syria. 

Russia has been facing 

mounting Western and Arab 

calls to step up pressure and 

stop delivering arms to Syria. 

“This may be the last 

chance for Syria to avoid a 

protracted and bloody civil 

war,” Medvedev told Annan. 

“We will be offering you 

our full support at any level at 

which we have a say,” he said. 

Annan is expected in China 

today to shore up backing for 

Asylum seekers surged 

into the EU last year 

BRUSSELS — Asylum seekers 

from Arab Spring countries 

and West African nations 

suffering civil strife surged 

into Europe last year at a time 

when European politicians 

are talking about re-tightening 

border controls. 

Eurostat, the European 

Union’s statistics agency, 

said on Friday asylum applications 

from Tunisians rose 

nearly 12-fold from 540 in 

2010 to 6,330 in 2011. 

Applications from Libya 

rose more than four times 

from 710 to 2,885 in the same 

period. 

Those who ed Syria increased 

by over 50 per cent, 

even though ghting there 

only accelerated at the end of 

the year. 

Asylum applications from 

Nigeria, the scene of furious 

fuel price protests and a violent 

insurgency, almost doubled 

from 6,750 in 2010 to 

11,470 in 2011. 

Arrivals from Ivory Coast, 

which suffered a civil war after 

disputed elections, surged 

to 5,320 from 1,495 in 2010. 

The Brookings Institution, 

a Washington-based think- 

tank, said that in total almost 

two million people have left 

their homes over the last year 

as a result of the impact of the 

Arab Spring across North Africa 

and the Middle East. 

Europe’s largest group of 

migrants for a third consecutive 

year was from Afghanistan. 

French President Nico- 

Ennahda outlines its 

stand on constitution 

TUNIS — The moderate traditionalist Ennahda party, which 

leads Tunisia’s government, will not back calls by conservatives 

to make Islamic law the main source of legislation in a 

new constitution, a senior party ofcial said yesterday. 

“Ennahda has decided to retain the rst clause of the previous 

constitution without change,” Ameur Larayed told Radio 

Mosaique. “We want the unity of our people and we do not 

want divisions.” 

The party has not formally announced its nal position. 

A constituent assembly, elected in October, is hashing out 

a new constitution as part of Tunisia’s transition after popular 

protests ousted authoritarian leader Zine al Abidine Ben Ali last 

year, sparking the Arab uprisings elsewhere. 

Religious conservatives, including the third largest party in 

the constituent assembly, have called in recent weeks for the 

constitution to include sharia as the key source of legislation. 

Secularists oppose the move, which they say will open the 

way for the religious right slowly to impose its values on what 

had been one of the Arab world’s most secular countries. 

Rachid al Ghannouchi, the leader of Ennahda, which occupies 

over 40 per cent of seats in the assembly, promised before 

the election that his party would be satised with the existing 

rst clause of the constitution, which identies Islam as the religion 

of state but does not specically refer to sharia. 

However, he said a month ago that Ennahda was debating 

the idea of including sharia and had yet to reach a conclusion. 

Ennahda’s stance on the role of religion in government will 

have a huge impact on the constitution that nally emerges, and 

has the potential to either iname or defuse growing political 

polarisation between traditionalists and secularists. — Reuters 

las Sarkozy, ghting for 

re-election, vowed to pull 

France out of the open border 

Schengen zone unless there 

was progress in fortifying Europe’s 

frontiers. 

Austria and Germany have 

threatened to reinstate border 

controls in the Schengen zone 

if countries such as Greece do 

not stem an increasing tide of 

migrants making their way 

across the Aegean Sea from 

Turkey. 

In September last year, 

the European Commission 

proposed legislation to let 

governments temporarily reinstate 

border controls — if 

they can show a neighbouring 

country has repeatedly 

failed to tackle illegal immigration. 

— Reuters 

his efforts from the two UN 

Security Council members 

that have vetoed previous resolutions 

to condemn Assad’s 

government. 

“China values and supports 

the mediation efforts of 

Mr Annan and hopes this visit 

will allow in-depth discussions 

on a political resolution of the 

Syrian issue,” foreign ministry 

spokesman Hong Lei said. 

In Ankara, a diplomatic 

source said Turkey’s decision 

to close its mission in Damascus 

was linked to security conditions, 

adding that the consulate 

in the northern city of 

Aleppo would remain open. 

Norway said it was also 

shutting its Damascus mission 

for security reasons. 

Meanwhile, Syria’s fragmented 

opposition was preparing 

to meet later yesterday and 

today in Istanbul to try to nd 

common ground. 

“We will have a welcoming 

reception tonight and will hold 

meetings all day Tuesday,” 

said Mohamed Sermini, a 

member of the Syrian National 

Council, the main opposition 

group. 

“The aim is for the opposition 

to agree on a united position 

and to outline the major points 

of a national pact,” he said. 

The crisis is also expected 

to dominate a three-day Arab 

summit starting in Baghdad 

today. Syria is a “pressing issue... 

It has an international 

dimension, it has a regional 

(dimension),” Iraqi Foreign 

Minister Hoshyar Zebari told 

reporters ahead of the summit. 

Norway said yesterday it 

was closing its embassy in Damascus 

for security reasons, 

following other countries that 

have done the same for safety 

concerns or to protest against 

the government’s crackdown. 

Several European Union 

countries, as well as the United 

States, Turkey and six Gulf 

states have already shut their 

missions. 

A Norwegian diplomat will 

remain in Damascus, working 

from the Danish embassy to 

handle Norway’s affairs, the 

foreign ministry said. 

At the beginning of February, 

Oslo announced it was 

reducing its diplomatic staff 

in the Syrian capital amid the 

spreading violence. 

Syrian authorities battling a 

year-long uprising have tightened 

restrictions on men of 

military age leaving the country, 

Syrian and Lebanese ofcials 


The restrictions issued on 

Saturday require men between 

the age of 18 and 42 to get permission 

from military recruitment 

and immigration departments 

before travelling, the 

ofcials said. 

Lebanese ofcials at the 

Masnaa border crossing between 

Beirut and Damascus 

said the number of people leaving 

Syria had fallen by 60 per 

cent since the regulations were 

announced two days ago. 

— AFP/Reuters 

STUDENTS shout slogans during a protest inside the Sanaa University campus yesterday 

against what they say is university administration corruption. — Reuters 

Turkey ex-military chief 

on trial for ‘terrorism’ 

SILIVRI, Turkey — Turkey’s 

former armed forces chief 

raised a clenched st and 

waved to supporters when he 

faced terrorism charges yesterday 

in a historic trial that demonstrates 

the ebbing power 

of an army that once ranged 

above the country’s political 

leaders. 

General Ilker Basbug, chief 

of staff from 2008 to 2010, exchanged 

salutes with former 

colleagues during a short break 

in a trial encroaching on sensitive 

territory in a country that 

saw three coups in the second 

half of the 20th century. 

“The Turkish army has 

never been defeated,” one fellow 

ofcer told Basbug. 

“Of course! All this will 

pass,” Basbug, dressed in a 

dark civilian suit, replied. 

The court, sitting in the 

Silivri high security prison 

complex, underlined the fall 

of the military at the start of 

proceedings by denying Basbug’s 

opening appeal to have 

his case considered by the Supreme 

Court. 

Basbug is accused of being 

a leader of a shadowy network 

dubbed “Ergenekon”, behind a 

string of alleged plots against 

the government of Prime Minister 

Tayyip Erdogan. The 

accusation is that Ergenekon 

planned campaigns of disinformation, 

bombings and assassinations 

to stir panic and 

precipitate an army coup. 

Comments by Basbug’s 

lawyer reected a sense among 

some conservatives that the 

case itself, and not Basbug, 

presented a challenge to the 

constitutional order. 

“The allegation... is not 

only against Ilker Basbug, but 

also against the Turkish armed 

forces and even, in political 

terms, the state,” lawyer Ilkay 

Sezer said on the eve of the 

trial. 

The military has viewed 

Erdogan and his AK Party 

with deep suspicion since it 

was rst elected in 2002. Since 

then, it has built up a huge majority 

in parliament, reformed 

the judiciary and used authority 

bolstered by economic 

success to strip the military of 

the power it has enjoyed virtually 

to make or break governments. 

Addressing journalists outside 

the court, Sezer said he 

would continue to press for 

a Supreme Court trial. “I still 

believe that this court is not 

authorised to try my client.” 

Behind him, a couple of 

dozen people waved Turkish 

ags and held aloft posters of 

Basbug. 

One banner read: “Soldiers 

cannot be terrorists. The sun 

cannot be covered with mud.” 

The case against Basbug 

features websites allegedly set 

up by the military to spread 

“black propaganda” against 

the government until 2008, 

including one titled “Islamic 

fundamentalism”. 

“The websites had exaggerated 

news headlines on the 

threat from fundamentalism in 

Turkey designed to provoke 

the people against the executive 

organ and make an atmosphere 

of chaos in the country,” 

the indictment said. 

It cited articles with headlines 

such as “The AKP is 

gently Islamicising”, “The 

AKP worked for theologians”, 

“The AKP’s headscarf plan 

worked” and “there is no room 

for women in the AKP”. 

— Reuters 

Egypt ex-intelligence 

chief could run for 

president: report 

CAIRO — Former Egyptian 

intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, 

a stalwart of ousted president 

Hosni Mubarak’s government, 

could run for president in 

upcoming elections, local press 

reported yesterday. 

“Omar Suleiman approaches 

the presidential battle,” read 

the headline of the state-owned 

daily Al Ahram, adding that his 

supporters would organise a 

march to his house to ask him to 

declare his candidacy ofcially. 

“I cannot refuse the call of 

the people, I don’t want power 

but to prove my intention to 

serve the country for the rest of 

my life,” Suleiman was quoted 

as saying by another stateowned 

daily, Al Akhbar. 

The former intelligence 

chief — who was in charge of 

the sensitive Israeli-Palestinian 

Omar Suleiman, 

Egypt’s former 

intelligence chief 

— who was in 

charge of the 

sensitive Israeli- 

Palestinian issue 

— was named 

vice-president by 

Mubarak a few 

days before the 

veteran president 

was forced out 

of power by a 

popular uprising 

issue — was named vice-president by Mubarak a few days before 

the veteran president was forced out of power by a popular 

uprising. 

Once a staunch enemy of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, 

Suleiman began talks with the group during the last nal 

of Mubarak’s rule in February last year. 

Registration for candidacy is open until April 8, with the 

rst round of elections scheduled for May 23 and May 24. 

Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm, the 

Freedom and Justice Party, was still mulling which candidate it 

would endorse, having said it would back a Muslim candidate 

who does not belong to any traditionalist political group. 

But in a recent statement, the FJP said it would “examine 

the possibility of nominating a leader of the party or the Muslim 

Brotherhood as a candidate in the presidential elections.” 

Relations have been strained between the Brotherhood and 

the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which took 

power when Mubarak was ousted, with the group pressuring 

the SCAF to sack the government and clear the way for an 

FJP-led cabinet. 

The group has also sparked the ire of liberals and leftists 

after a newly formed panel to write the new constitution was 

dominated by traditionalists. 

Meanwhile, three people were killed and a dozen others injured 

when a tugboat engine exploded in Egypt’s Suez Canal 

yesterday, security ofcials said. 

Movement in the vital waterway that links the Mediterranean 

to the Red Sea was not affected, the ofcials said. 

The engine of the tugboat exploded during maintenance 

work, setting off a huge re on the vessel in the shipyard of the 

Suez Canal Authority. 

“More than 10 people were injured by the re, suffering 

from varying degrees of burns,” one ofcial said, adding all 

those injured had been taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. 

— AFP 

Nejad says US can no 

longer dictate policy 

DUSHANBE — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 

said yesterday the United States could no longer dictate policy 

to the rest of the world and warned of growing instability in the 

West’s relations with Pakistan. 

Ahmadinejad, speaking at a regional conference on Afghanistan, 

called for the immediate withdrawal of foreign troops 

from the country and proposed that Nato use part of its military 

budget to help revive the Afghan economy. 

“Nato and the United States should change their policy because 

the time when they dictate their conditions to the world 

has passed,” Ahmadinejad said in a speech in Dushanbe, capital 

of the Central Asian republic of Tajikistan. 

“It’s better to respect nations than to scare them and colonise 

them. The time of imperialism has long gone. Those who do not 

learn from the mistakes of history will be punished.” 

The US delegation to the conference, headed by Assistant 

Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake, left 

the hall when Ahmadinejad began to speak and returned after 

the conclusion of his speech. 

Ahmadinejad said Nato policy in Afghanistan and other 

countries would make Western relations with Pakistan worse. 

“Relations between Nato and Pakistan — their unsteadiness 

and instability will only grow,” he said. “The main reason for 

the difculties in the world is the policy of Nato member countries, 

undertaken with the aim of reviving colonialism.” 

Ahmadinejad said he believed Afghanistan was capable of 

running its own affairs, without the presence of foreign troops. 

Sarkozy to bar radical 

preachers from meet 

PARIS — France will bar radical preachers from entering the 

country to participate in an Islamic conference next month as 

part of a crackdown after shootings by an Al Qaeda-inspired 

gunman, President Nicolas Sarkozy said yesterday. 

Sarkozy, who has announced plans to punish those viewing 

web sites and going abroad for indoctrination, said he would 

block the entry of some imams invited to a congress organised 

by the Union of French Islamic Organisations (UOIF). 

“I have clearly indicated that certain people who have 

been invited to this congress are not welcome on French soil,” 

Sarkozy told France Info radio. 

He cited Shaikh Youssef al Qaradawi, an Egyptian cleric 

based in Qatar who is one of the most prominent preachers in 

the Arab world and a household name in the Middle East due 

to regular appearances on the Al Jazeera news channel. 

A former member of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, Qaradawi 

is independent of the group but remains close to it. 

Sarkozy said the situation was complicated because the 

imam holds a diplomatic passport and does not require a visa 

to enter France. 

“I indicated to the Emir of Qatar himself that this person 

was not welcome on the territory of the French republic,” 

Sarkozy said. “He will not come.” 

Qaradawi was denied a visa to visit Britain in 2008 on 

grounds of seeking to “justify acts of terrorist violence or disburse 

views that could foster inter-community violence”, a 

Home Ofce spokeswoman said at the time. 

The cleric had defended Palestinian suicide bombers in Israel 

and attacks on US-led coalition forces in Iraq. — Reuters

Gillard surprised by 

Labor election rout 

SYDNEY — Australian Prime Minister Julia 

Gillard says she was surprised at the scale of 

her ruling Labor party’s defeat in state elections, 

widely seen as a dire warning for her 

fragile government. 

Labor, which has ruled for 20 of the past 

22 years in northern Queensland, suffered an 

unprecedented rout at weekend elections, taking 

so few seats that its ofcial party status in 

the state is under threat. 

Premier Anna Bligh, who rose to prominence 

for her handling of the twin ooding 

and cyclone disasters in northern Australia 

last year, narrowly held on to her own seat but 

resigned on Sunday due to the scale of Labor’s 

loss. 

Gillard said the “expectations were that 

Labor was going to be defeated and soundly 

defeated” but the “dimensions of this defeat 

took me by a bit of surprise,” describing it as a 

“deep disappointment.” 

When Labor came to power nationally 

in 2007 it also controlled all the state parliaments, 

but since then the four major east and 

west coast states have fallen to the Liberals, 

complicating passage of its policies and reforms. 

After the Queensland vote, Labor is expected 

to have just seven seats in the state to 

the conservative Liberal National Party’s 78. 

“For the federal government, while elections 

turn on their own issues and own questions, 

inevitably there will be discussions 

about what are the implications,” Gillard said 

on the sidelines of a nuclear summit in Seoul. 

“Since I rst became prime minister... I’ve 

never underestimated the degree of (the) challenge 

for federal Labor and I don’t underestimate 

it now. 

“We’ve got a lot of hard work to do for the 

people of Queensland and with the people of 

Queensland.” 

Gillard said next year’s national election 

would be decided on its own issues including 

sweeping taxation reforms to the powerful 

mining industry and a levy on pollution for 

major emitters. 

“The (Queensland) ght was overwhelmingly 

on state issues, there was clearly a major 

‘it’s time’ factor after Labor having government 

for so long,” she said. 

“People will make their decisions (in 2013), 

for us it’s about... knuckling down, getting on 

with the job,” she said. — AFP 

Man who shot Florida teen 

fears for safety: supporters 

SANFORD, Florida — The 

neighbourhood watch volunteer 

who sparked a national 

uproar by shooting an unarmed 

teenager to death has 

wept with remorse over the 

killing and now fears for his 

own life, a friend of the gunman 

and a legal adviser say. 

Supporters of the boy and 

his family staged more protest 

rallies and prayer vigils across 

the country, many dressed in 

“hoodies,” or hooded sweatshirts, 

like the one Trayvon 

Martin, 17, was wearing when 

he was gunned down last 

month. 

His admitted assailant, 

George Zimmerman, 28, remained 

in seclusion after 

receiving death threats and 

learning of a $10,000 bounty 

offered by a group called the 

New Black Panther Party, said 

lawyer Craig Sonner, who 

added he would represent 

Zimmerman if charges were 

led. 

Zimmerman, a white Hispanic, 

has said he acted in 

self-defence when he shot 

Martin, who was black, in a 

gated community in Sanford, 

Florida, near Orlando, despite 

an apparent lack of evidence 

the teenager posed any threat. 

The boy’s February 26 

death, which drew little attention 

at rst, has grown into a 

rallying cry for African-Americans 

pointing to his shooting 

and the decision by authorities 

not to prosecute Zimmerman 

as a blatant case of racial injustice. 

The shooting also has provoked 

a heated debate over 

TOURISTS enjoy the cherry blossoms in full bloom around the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC. 

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the cherry trees, which were originally a gift 

from Japan and were planted around the National Mall. — AFP 

Mexican poll favourite 

extends lead over rival 

MEXICO CITY — Mexican presidential front runner Enrique 

Pena Nieto has extended his big lead over ruling party candidate 

Josena Vazquez Mota with barely three months to go 

until the election, an opinion poll shows. 

The voter survey by polling rm Buendia & Laredo for 

newspaper El Universal showed backing for Pena Nieto, a 

member of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or 

PRI, at 42.5 per cent, up from about 39 per cent in a poll in 

February. 

By contrast, support for Vazquez Mota, who is running for 

President Felipe Calderon’s conservative National Action Party, 

or PAN, fell to 23.7 per cent from some 25 per cent. 

Leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who narrowly lost 

the 2006 presidential contest to Calderon, was at 16.9 per cent, 

compared with just under 16 per cent in the last survey. 

The latest poll comes just a few days before the ofcial start 

of campaigning on Friday. The election takes place on July 1. 

The PRI, which ruled Mexico for seven decades until 2000, 

is hoping the telegenic Pena Nieto can return the party to of- 

ce, 12 years after it was ousted by the PAN. 

The PAN has struggled to generate enough jobs for the 

country’s growing population, and has been mired in a bloody 

struggle with drug cartels, whose turf wars and clashes with 

security forces have claimed 50,000 lives in ve years. 

Calderon, who is not allowed to run for a second six-year 

term in ofce, staked his reputation on bringing the drug gangs 

to heel, but the bloodshed has hurt his party’s chances of retaining 

the presidency. — Reuters 

“Stand Your Ground” laws 

enacted in Florida and other 

states and cited by Sanford police 

as the reason Zimmerman 

has not been arrested. Florida’s 

law allows people to use 

deadly force in self-defence. 

President Barack Obama 

weighed in on the situation 

on Friday, calling the shooting 

a “tragedy” and saying, 

“If I had a son, he’d look like 

Trayvon.” 

A long-time friend of Zimmerman, 

Joe Oliver, 53, a 

former television news reporter 

who is himself black, came 

to Zimmerman’s defence on 

Sunday, denying his friend 

was a racist and saying Zimmerman 

cried for days over 

the shooting. 

“He’s a caring human being,” 

Oliver said. — Reuters 

10 

PACIFIC/AMERICAS 



SANTIAGO — A major 

quake hit central Chile on 

Sunday, rattling buildings and 

temporarily triggering a coastal 

evacuation on fears of a tsunami, 

but there was no serious 

damage and big mines in the 

world’s top copper producer 

were operating normally. 

Residents in Chile’s capital, 

Santiago, ed their homes 

as the tremor rattled television 

sets, kitchen cabinets and 

tables, and a mayor in the 

town of Parral in south-central 

Chile told local radio a 

74-year-old woman died of a 

heart attack due to the quake. 

There were no reports of serious 

casualties. 

The 7.1 magnitude quake 

struck 27 km north-northwest 

of the town of Talca at a depth 

of 35 km at 7:37 pm local 

time (1037 pm GMT), the US 

Geological Survey said, revising 

down an initial magnitude 

of 7.2. 

‘Lost’ Lempicka set 

to fetch millions 

NEW YORK — A newly rediscovered 

painting by the pioneering 

female artist Tamara 

de Lempicka is expected to 

fetch nearly $5 million when 

it is auctioned at Sotheby’s in 

May. 

Nu adosse 1 was featured 

in De Lempicka’s rst major 

exhibition in 1925 in Milan, 

after which its whereabouts 

went virtually unknown — 

until a few months ago. 

The artist’s catalogue raisonne, 

published in 1999, listed 

the painting with the designation 

“location unknown.” 

The consignor, a West 

Coast construction company 

owner, had the 1925 work 

in his home for a decade before 

an art consultant recommended 

contacting the 

auction house, according to 

Sotheby’s. 

The owner “had no inkling 

of what it was,” said Simon 

Shaw, Sotheby’s head of Im- 

CHILEAN reghters remain on a street as a building is inspected in downtown Santiago after the earthquake. — AFP 

Major quake rattles Chile; no serious damage 

pressionist and modern art, 

explaining that Lempicka was 

Polish and sometimes signed 

her work Lempinski, as was 

the case with Nu adosse 1. 

The auction house was able 

to verify the work’s authenticity 

in large part because Lempicka’s 

1925 exhibition had 

been photographed. 

“It’s rare that you can actually 

prove that a picture is 

this great, long lost work as a 

result of a gallery installation 

photograph, as in this case,” 

Shaw said. 

Shaw said the piece was a 

classic Lempicka, noting its 

Art Deco aesthetic and depiction 

of 1920s-era female sexuality, 

which is so endemic to 

her work. 

“It’s very clean, elegant 

and glamorous, and epitomises 

her work,” he said. 

Prices for works by Lempicka 

have soared in recent 

years. — Reuters 

The tremor struck 219 km 

from Santiago, home to about 

a third of Chile’s population 

of 17.2 million people. 

It was one of the strongest 

quakes to hit Chile since 

a massive 8.8 temblor devastated 

the south-central region 

in early 2010, which triggered 

tsunamis, killed about 500 

people and hammered roads 

and infrastructure. 

The government lifted a 

preventive evacuation order 

just before midnight, after 

about 7,000 people were ordered 

to evacuate the Maule 

region’s coast due to signs the 

sea had retreated a bit, Chilean 

Health Minister Jaime 

Manalich said. No tsunami 

alert was issued. 

“Fortunately, save for 

one person who died due to 

a heart problem, there are no 

fatalities and fortunately the 

country’s infrastructure, both 

public and private, resisted 

WASHINGTON — The wife 

of a US Army sergeant accused 

of killing 17 Afghan civilians 

this month said she does not 

think her husband could have 

carried out the massacre as he 

was like a child himself and 

would not have harmed children. 

Staff Sergeant Robert 

Bales, a decorated 38-year-old 

veteran of four combat tours 

in Iraq and Afghanistan, was 

charged last week with 17 

counts of murder for killing 

eight adults and nine children 

and six counts each of assault 

and attempted murder for attacking 

two other adults and 

four children. 

Karilyn Bales, speaking 

publicly for the rst time 

since the March 11 shootings 

in Afghanistan’s Kandahar 

province, told NBC’s “Today” 

the earthquake’s effects well,” 

President Sebastian Pinera 

told reporters in Seoul, South 

Korea, where he is on an 

Asian tour. 

The government emergency 

agency, ONEMI, said 

two people were injured after 

the fake ceiling of a church in 

Santiago collapsed, and one 

person suffered injuries from 

a transit accident in the Biobio 

region. 

Interior Minister Rodrigo 

Hinzpeter said later 

there could be up to 10 people 

lightly injured from the 

quake. Electricity supply was 

restored after short disruptions 

in some areas. 

With the memory of the 

February 2010 quake still 

seared in their memories, 

many Chileans were visibly 

shaken up. 

“I was watching television 

and all of a sudden the sofa 

started to move, and lamps 

show she had recently spoken 

to her husband twice, but did 

not directly ask him if or how 

he was involved. 

“I just don’t think he was 

involved,” she said in the interview. 

“This is not him. It’s 

not him. 

“He seemed a bit confused 

as to where he was and why he 

was there,” she said. 

She said Bales, who is being 

held at Leavenworth mili- 

started to swing from one side 

to the other,” said Guilda Carrasco 

in Santiago. 

“It just kept moving 

and didn’t stop. It was very 

strong.” 

Canadian tourist Rob 

Huneault was enjoying the 

warmth by a Santiago pool 

when the quake hit. 

“It started going crazy, 

waves shooting out of the 

pool,” he said. 

Chilean state copper giant 

Codelco said after the quake 

that operations were normal 

at its Andina mine and El 

Teniente deposit, which is 

nearer the epicentre. 

The two mines produce 

about 635,000 tonnes of copper 

annually. 

Global miner Anglo American 

said its Los Bronces copper 

mine in central Chile was 

operating normally, and the 

country’s top oil renery, Bio 

Bio, said operations were nor- 

tary prison in Kansas, was a 

great father who would not 

have harmed children. 

“He loves children. He’s 

like a big kid himself ... I have 

no idea what happened ... 

but he loved children, and he 

would not do that. It’s heartbreaking.” 

Karilyn Bales said her husband’s 

latest mission seemed 

more intense than his past 

tours, but there was no question 

that he was mentally and 

physically cleared to deploy. 

He did not appear to show 

signs of post-traumatic stress 

syndrome, and there were no 

nightmares or bouts of erratic 

behaviour, she said. 

Still, her family was unprepared 

before he went to 

Afghanistan for the news that 

Bales would be going overseas 

for a fourth time. 

mal after the tremor. 

The central area is home to 

some important copper mines, 

but the bulk of output in Chile, 

which produces about a third 

of the world’s red metal, is 

concentrated in the north. 

Quakes of magnitude 7 or 

above are capable of causing 

major damage. The 2010 

quake caused roughly $8 billion 

in insured losses and economic 

losses of at least twice 

that. 

In the past two years, earthquakes 

have been a scourge of 

the insurance industry. In addition 

to Chile, quakes in Japan 

and New Zealand in 2011 

caused record-breaking losses 

in the tens of billions of dollars. 

More recently, a major earthquake 

in Mexico caused limited 

losses, disaster modelling agencies 

said, given that it happened 

well away from major population 

centres. — Reuters 

Wife of US soldier says he would 

not have harmed children 

His latest mission 

seemed more 

intense than his past 

tours, but there was 

no question that he 

was mentally and 

physically cleared 

to deploy 

“It was a big shock because 

we weren’t on the schedule to 

be deployed again ... he didn’t 

want to miss out on any more 

of his kids’ lives,” she said. 

The incident in southern 

Afghanistan has further 

strained US-Afghan relations 

after more than 10 years of 

war. 

If convicted, Bales could 

face the death penalty and a 

mandatory minimum sentence 

of life imprisonment with eligibility 

for parole. 

A legal defence fund has 

been set up for Bales, his wife 

said. 

“I’m waiting to hear what 

actually is true,” she told 

NBC. “I don’t think anything 

will really change my mind 

in believing that he did not do 

this, that this is not what is it 

appears to be.” — Reuters 

PROTESTS against President Obama’s healthcare plan in front of the US Supreme Court Building in Washington, DC 

yesterday. The court, which has set aside six hours over three days, was hearing arguments over the 

constitutionality of Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. — AFP

Army chief raises graft stinker 

NEW DELHI — Army chief 

General V K Singh yesterday 

kicked up a major row, claiming 

in a televised interview that 

he was offered a Rs 14 crore 

(Rs 140 million) bribe, forcing 

Defence Minister A K Antony 

to order a Central Bureau of 

Investigation (CBI) probe. 

Singh, known as an upright 

ofcer, claimed the bribe was 

offered by a retired ofcer representing 

a rm manufacturing 

army trucks and immediately 

after the incident, he had told 

Antony about it. 

The claim by Singh led to 

Antony, called as 'Mr Clean” 

for his impeccable record as 

a non-corrupt politician, to order 

the CBI probe, even as the 

allegations rocked both houses 

of parliament. 

“If a person who has just 

retired, a few days ago, comes 

and tells you while talking on 

different issues that you will 

get this thing and when you 

have not heard something like 

this, it will leave you dumbfounded. 

And that is what 

By Ashraf Padanna 

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM — The 

Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), 

the second largest constituent of Kerala's 

Congress party-led ruling coalition, has 

stepped up pressure for an additional 

berth in the state cabinet. 

The call to accommodate Manjalamkuzhi 

Ali, who left the Communist Party 

of India-Marxist (CPM) with his followers 

last year to join the IUML, was announced 

by the IUML chief Panakkad 

Hyderali Shihab Thangal. 

It came as a shock for the United 

Democratic Front (UDF) as there was an 

agreement only for four ministers with 

talks about a parliamentary affairs minister 

before the rst sitting of the assembly. 

“There's no change in the party's decision 

simply because that's announced by 

our president. Now the issue is before the 

UDF to solve. I would make one thing 

very clear — there's no ambiguity on our 

part,” senior IUML leader and the state's 

BHUBANESWAR — Talks 

between Maoists and authorities 

resumed yesterday 

to free the second of two 

Italians abducted in the eastern 

state of Orissa after the 

rst was released unharmed 

by the guerrillas over the 

weekend. 

Claudio Colangelo was 

taken hostage with tour guide 

Paolo Bosusco on March 14, 

in what is believed to be the 

rst time the rebels have targeted 

foreigners. He was released 

to a group of reporters 

on Sunday. 

Maoists say the Italians 

were kidnapped after they 

were spotted taking photos 

of indigenous tribal women 

bathing in a river in the 

state's Kandhamal district, 

an allegation Colangelo denied 

after his release. 

happened,” Singh said in a 

recorded interview to Chauthi 

Duniya, an Internet news portal. 

Asked why he didn't lodge 

a police complaint, the army 

chief said: “You may be right 

that I should have complained 

against him. But at that time 

the way (the bribe was offered), 

for a while I could not 

understand what he was saying. 

“He was telling me that if 

you clear this le you will get 

this much of the amount, everybody 

takes it, what is your 

problem.” The general said he 

told the former ofcer to leave 

his room and shared the incident 

with Antony. 

“He (Antony) beat his 

forehead and told me that we 

should keep these people out,” 

said the chief. 

The revelation by the army 

chief was rst reported by The 

Hindu newspaper. 

Defence ministry spokesperson 

Sitanshu Kar said that 

the minister gave the order for 

a CBI probe after seeing reports 

of the army chief's claim 

of bribe offer. 

The army chief told The 

Hindu, “just imagine, these 

men had the gumption to walk 

up to me and tell me that if I 

cleared the tranche, he would 

give me Rs 14 crore. He was 

offering a bribe to me.” 

The newspaper said the 

lobbyist offered him the bribe 

in order to have a tranche of 

600 substandard vehicles of 

a particular make cleared for 

purchase. 

As the matter rocked parliament, 

opposition parties tried 

to corner the government, with 

the National Democratic Alliance 

(NDA) members raising 

the issue in both Lok Sabha 

and Rajya Sabha. 

They wanted the government 

to respond to the allegations 

in parliament. 

However, outside parliament, 

political parties wanted 

to know why the army chief 

had not led a police complaint. 

Industries Minister P K Kunhalikutty 

said. “Do you think the party would take 

it lightly?” 

The IUML wants its new minister to 

be sworn in along with Anoop Jacob, the 

newly-elected legislator who will ll the 

vacuum left by his father T M Jacob who 

died last year. Kerala Congress (Jacob) 

chairman Johnney Nelloor said Anoop's 

elevation cannot be delayed because of 

the IUML claim. 

With the installation of Jacob, the 

number of ministers from the minorities 

would go up to 11 besides the deputy 

speaker N Sakhtan, and chief whip P C 

George. Congress fears a backlash from 

the majority community if another minority 

leader joins the cabinet ahead of the 

Neyyattinkara by-election and expects 

the IUML to budge considering the delicate 

balance of communal interests. 

In 2006 elections, Ali played a crucial 

role in turning the tide in favour of the 

Left in Malappuram when its stalwarts, 

Kunhalikutty, E T Mohammed Basheer 

The Bharatiya Janata Party 

(BJP), in particular, blamed 

Antony's “indecision” for the 

situation coming to such a 

pass. 

Talking to reporters, BJP 

leader Jaswant Singh said he 

was “aware” of the defence 

minister's nature. 

“I have known the defence 

minister for long, he specialises 

in indecision... Is it because 

of his (defence minister's) indecision 

that the army chief 

had to go to media,” Jaswant 

said, demanding that the minister 

come out with a clarication. 

The Congress party attacked 

Gen Singh, with its 

spokesperson Manish Tewari 

asking why he kept quiet for 

so long and didn't lodge a police 

complaint. 

Another BJP leader M 

Venkaiah Naidu also asked 

why no action was taken for 

so long, but agreed with the 

Congress that the army chief 

should have led a police 

complaint. — IANS 

IUML demand stings Kerala govt 

and Dr M K Muneer, all members of the 

cabinet then, were defeated. 

In the last elections, IUML which 

contested 23 seats won 20 while the Congress 

party lost more than half of the seats 

it contested when only 38 of its 81 candidates 

sailed through. Kerala Congress 

also won nine of the 15 seats that it contested 

making the Congress party vulnerable 

to the coalition pressures. 

The Kerala Congress has two cabinet 

ministers and the chief whip also belongs 

to it while the Congress party went away 

with all the plum posts — ten cabinet 

berths, including the chief minister, the 

speaker and the deputy speaker. 

The Congress leadership reminds the 

IUML that its leader E Ahamed was inducted 

into his cabinet by Prime Minister 

Dr Manmohan Singh irrespective of the 

party's strength in parliament in 2004 

(himself alone). Chief Minister Oommen 

Chandy who is in New Delhi is expected 

to discuss the issue with the party high 

command. 

MEMBERS of United Nations Foundation including Norway's Gro Harlem Brundtland (Front L-R), Chief Mentor 

of Infosys Technologies N R Narayana Murthy and CEO of United Nations Foundation Kathy Calvin during the 

delegation’s visit to the Infosys Campus in Bangalore yesterday. Murthy, co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of Infosys 

Technologies Limited, is hosting the United Nations Foundation Board of Directors who are in Bangalore to meet with 

government, business and civil society leaders to share strategies for developing public-private partnerships that 

leverage advances in technology to support UN efforts to bolster global sustainability. — AFP 

Bid to free 

second 

Italian on 

Protester sets himself ablaze 

NEW DELHI — A Tibetan 

exile set himself on re in 

New Delhi yesterday, suffering 

life-threatening burns 

during a protest against a visit 

this week to India by Chinese 

President Hu Jintao. 

The 27-year-old, identi- 

ed by fellow protesters as 

Janphel Yeshi, carried out his 

attempted self-immolation in 

Jantar Mantar, a city centre 

venue for public rallies and 

demonstrations. 

Yeshi, dressed in a cardigan 

and dark trousers, screamed 

as his body was covered in 

ames and he ran along the 

road with black smoke pouring 

from his hair, according to 

witnesses. 

R K Doshi, a doctor on 

the emergency ward of Ram 

Manohar Lohia Hospital, said 

medical staff were ghting to 

save Yeshi's life. 

“His situation is very critical. 

His survival chances are 

small,” he said. 

Hu is due in Delhi to attend 

a summit on Thursday of the 

fast-developing BRICS nations 

— Brazil, Russia, India, 

China and South Africa. 

A group of several hundred 

Tibetan protesters gathered 

near parliament, where 

they jostled with police and 

vowed to demonstrate during 

the summit. 

“We want the other BRICS 

countries to take note of why 

so many people are dying in 

Tibet,” said Tenzin Namgyal, 

27. “We want to tell China, 

'Tibet is not your country, get 

out.'” 

Fellow activists said that 

Yeshi was an unemployed 

man and had arrived at the 

site carrying a hidden bottle of 

kerosene fuel which he used 

to douse himself. 

Yeshi was living in the Tibetan 

exiles' colony of Majnu 

ka Tila in Delhi, friends said. 

China accuses the Dalai 

Lama of inciting self-immo- 

lations in a bid to split Tibet 

from the rest of the nation. 

The Dalai Lama's spokesman, 

speaking from Dharamshala, 

said the leader was 

“very sad to hear about these 

kinds of sacrices. 

“The root cause is the Chinese 

repression in Tibet... It is 

like a lockout as the military is 

present everywhere in Tibet.” 

“It's very, very unfortunate. 

We've always maintained 

a position of appealing 

to individuals not to resort to 

drastic actions,” added Dicki 

Chhoyang, information secretary 

of the Tibetan government 

in exile, speaking from 

Dharamshala. 

Yesterday's protest was the 

second attempted self-immolation 

in Delhi, where thousands 

of Tibetan exiles live. 

Another man suffered minor 

burns in November when he 

tried to set himself on re 

outside the Chinese embassy. 

— AFP 

11 INDIA 



US President Barack Obama listens to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh before the start 

of the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit working dinner at the Coex Centre in Seoul 

yesterday. The two-day meeting in South Korea is a follow-up to an inaugural summit 

in Washington in 2010 hosted by Obama, which kick-started efforts to lock up ssile 

material around the globe that could make thousands of bombs. — AFP 

MPs angry at Team Anna remarks 

NEW DELHI — The Lok 

Sabha was adjourned for the 

day yesterday after members 

cutting across party lines protested 

Anna Hazare's allegations 

of corruption against 

politicians. 

The issue was raised by 

irate members earlier in the 

day. Speaker Meira Kumar allowed 

some leaders to express 

their views when the house reconvened 

at 2 pm. 

Suggesting that Hazare 

should remain within his limits, 

Bharatiya Janata Party 

(BJP) member and leader of 

opposition Sushma Swaraj accused 

him of using unparliamentary 

language against the 

legislators. 

“Anna should remain within 

his limits... he is using unparliamentary 

language,” said 

Swaraj. 

Team Anna member Arvind 

Kejriwal had on Sunday alleged 

that 165 parliament 

members, including 14 ministers, 

were corrupt and rapists. 

Observing that Team Anna 

had lost direction, Sushma 

Swaraj said it had put pressure 

on parliament to pass the 

Lokpal bill but was critical of 

the MPs. 

National Democratic Alliance 

convenor and Janata Dal- 

United leader Sharad Yadav, 

who had gone to support the 

activist at Jantar Mantar last 

year, said: “Anna is against 

democracy as he is attacking 

parliament.” 

“We have fought against 

corruption for the past 30 years 

and for the rights of the poor 

and the farmers .. I supported 

Anna but can't agree with all 

his demands,” said Yadav. 

Terming the allegations 

levelled against politicians 

by Team Anna as “highly regrettable”, 

the Congress said 

it stood for dissent provided 

there is dignity of discourse. 

“The allegations of Team 

Anna are highly regrettable... 

we stand for dissent but it 

should come with dignity of 

discourse,” Congress spokesperson 

Abhishek Manu Singhvi 

told reporters. 

Congress has particularly 

been at the receiving end 

of the anti-corruption tirade 

launched by the activist last 

year demanding an anti-graft 

ombudsman Lokpal. 

Singhvi cautioned the activists 

that just because no 

FIRs were lodged against 

them or no privilege motions 

were initiated by any political 

party, it did not mean they 

Delhi to host Asia’s largest 

defence exhibition 

NEW DELHI — The national 

capital will host from Thursday 

Asia's biggest defence 

exposition, showcasing the 

country's military prowess 

and the nation's emergence as 

an attractive destination for 

investment in the sector. 

Some 567 global defence 

rms from 32 countries will 

display weapons systems for 

the army, navy and also for internal 

security, an ofcial said 

yesterday. 

The four-day event to be 

held at Delhi's Pragati Maidan, 

a known expo venue in the 

capital, will be inaugurated 

by Defence Minister A K Antony. 

“The largest ever defence 

exposition in Asia will showcase 

India's emergence as an 

attractive destination for investment 

in the defence sector 

and provide a platform for 

alliances and joint ventures in 

the defence industry,” Shekhar 

Agarwal, secretary, defence 

procurement, told reporters. 

The Department of De- 

fence Production in the defence 

ministry is organising 

the expo while the Federation 

of Indian Chambers of Commerce 

and Industry (Ficci) is 

the manager. 

Suppliers, manufacturers, 

technology and services providers 

will get an opportunity 

to promote and showcase their 

products and services to the 

international defence industry. 

“The exhibition generates 

attention globally and has 

carved a niche amongst major 

defence exhibitions around 

the world,” Agarwal said. 

The rms participating in 

the event include those from 

the US, Russia, France, Germany, 

Israel and others. 

The event is expected to 

be attended by ofcial delegations 

from 60 countries. 

Chinese companies have 

not been invited for the biennial 

exhibition but there will 

be an ofcial delegation from 

Beijing for the event to be led 

by an ofcer of a major general 

level, Agarwal said. 

The Def Expo was conceptualised 

in 1998 with an 

objective to promote defence 

exports from India and exhibit 

the capabilities of Indian defence 

research and development 

and production. 

The rst exhibition was 

held in 1999 and subsequently 

in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 

2010. While a modest 197 exhibitors 

participated in the rst 

Def Expo, the event features 

567 exhibitors in its seventh 

edition this year. 

Israel is the biggest participating 

country in terms of indoor 

space occupied (1,293 sq 

mt) while Russia is represented 

with the maximum number 

of 37 companies. 

In the year 2010, there 

were 412 exhibitors from 35 

countries. The exhibition area 

has increased from 27,309 sq 

mt in 2010 to 30,760 sq mt 

this year. 

More than 60 ofcial delegations 

including 14 headed 

by defence ministers are expected 

to attend. — IANS 

Gujarat riot 

case: relief 

for Modi 

NEW DELHI — In a big relief 

to Gujarat Chief Minister 

Narendra Modi, the Supreme 

Court yesterday dismissed a 

petition seeking direction to 

the Nanavati Commission 

to summon him regarding 

his alleged role in the 2002 

post-Godhra riots. 

The court said it would 

look into the plea whether 

report of the Special Investigating 

Team, appointed by 

it, could be given to Nanavati 

Commission, when told 

that the panel has issued notices 

to SIT ofcers who had 

investigated the riot cases. 

A bench of Justice D K 

Jain and Justice Anil R Dave 

rejected the plea by senior 

counsel Colin Gonsalves 

for summoning Modi on 

the grounds that the court 

could not give any direction 

to the Nanavati Commission 

which was appointed under 

the Commissions of Inquiry 

Act. — IANS 

had the right to call politicians 

goondas. 

Standing by his words, 

Kejriwal said he was ready to 

face a privilege motion. 

“I am ready to face charges. 

I have not said anything 

wrong. Team Anna is against 

corruption and not against parliament, 

and people who are 

facing corruption charges will 

not pass the Lokpal bill,” Kejriwal 

said in an interview to 

news channel CNN IBN. 

Terming the allegations a 

“matter of concern”, Congress 

MP Sanjay Nirupam demanded 

a probe into the activities of 

the anti-corruption movement. 

Communist Party of India-Marxist 

leader Basudeb 

Acharia and Samajwadi Party 

MP Shailendra Kumar termed 

Team Anna's allegations condemnable. 

— IANS 

Rupee at 

10-week low 

MUMBAI — The rupee hit a 

10-week-low against the dollar 

yesterday but clawed back 

ground amid reports that the 

central bank had intervened 

in the foreign exchange market, 

traders said. 

The central Reserve Bank 

of India (RBI) was believed 

to have stepped in to the 

market after the rupee hit an 

intraday low of 51.48 against 

the dollar, a level last seen on 

January 16 this year. 

The rupee has been 

weighed down by weak local 

stock markets, foreign fund 

outows and continuing pressure 

from oil importers. Yesterday, 

the country's benchmark 

30-share Sensex index 

ended at a two-month-low of 

17,052.78 points. 

“The RBI is suspected to 

have intervened, selling dollars 

at around 51.37 levels,” 

a dealer said. The partiallyconvertible 

rupee recovered 

to 51.18. 

The RBI has a policy of 

not commenting on rupee 

movements or conrming forex 

market interventions. 

A Tibetan exile runs after setting himself on re during a protest against the upcoming visit of Chinese President 

Hu Jintao to India in New Delhi yesterday. Hu is scheduled to attend the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, 

China and South Africa) Summit in India on March 29. — Reuters

A bitter pill 

By Louise Redvers 

MANY white South Africans conscripted to ght for 

the apartheid military in Angola still struggle to 

swallow the bitter pill that their battle landed on the 

wrong side of history. 

Known here as the Border War, apartheid South Africa 

sent troops to support Angola’s UNITA ghters, backed by 

the United States against the then-Marxist MPLA government 

and its Cuban allies. 

The Cold War conict was depicted at the time as a battle 

to stave off communism and black liberation, and until recently 

few veterans dared talk about their experiences for fear 

of upsetting South Africa’s ruling black majority. 

In the past year there has been a surge in dialogue about the 

Border War, including a raft of self-published soldiers’ memoirs, 

some deemed insensitively nostalgic even racist. 

But there have been some more considered accounts, and 

several lm documentaries, including Marius van Niekerk’s 

award-winning My Heart of Darkness which follows four exconscripts, 

black and white, on an emotional journey back into 

Angola. “I am trying to raise awareness of what happened in 

Angola and lm is a good way to do that,” said Van Niekerk, 

himself a Border War veteran. 

“There is a lot of unresolved trauma, a misunderstanding 

between different sides, we haven’t talked enough about how 

we feel and we need to.” 

Also adding to the discourse is the re-staging of Anthony 

Akerman’s controversial and hard-hitting play Somewhere on 

the Border which was banned under apartheid due to its brutal 

language and its depiction of the South African Defence 

Force. Akerman wrote the play in the 1980s while in exile in 

Holland, having ed South Africa to avoid the draft. 

“When the play was rst done in 25 years ago, kids who 

couldn’t talk about their experiences of war took their parents 

to see the play, and afterwards, they were able to talk,” Akerman 

said. 

“So now, maybe it’s the other way round, the guys who 

were the kids at the border, now have their own kids who want 

to know what happened and that can facilitate an inter-generational 

dialogue again.” 

Unlikely home 

By Amy Coopes 

A 

RURAL Australian gold mining and farming town 

famous as the birthplace of “Waltzing Matilda” poet 

Banjo Paterson seems an unlikely home for refugees 

eeing decades of conict in Sudan. 

But what started with a single pioneering family has become 

a thriving community of more than 300 people from 

the strife-torn north African nation who call pastoral Orange 

home. “Maybe its best town in the world, especially the 

weather,” explained Sudanese refugee Fathi Shouma in broken 

English. 

“It is like area where we come from in Sudan, it’s looking 

like same area and reminding me I’m living in the same area 

when I was born. Happy life is going on here.” 

Shouma’s road to peace has been a long one — he and wife 

Neimat Darar spent three years in an Egyptian refugee camp 

after eeing their native Nuba Mountains, in South Kordofan, 

amid raging civil war. It was a time they would sooner forget; 

women were known to vanish and there were stories of refugees 

being killed for their organs, with overcrowding, heat 

and disease a fact of daily life. 

“Egypt is very hard,” says Darar, sadly. “We can thank the 

God because he take us from there and we come here safely.” 

Serving coffee in the kitchen of their modest brick home as 

the laughter of their children can be heard from the front lawn, 

Egypt seems a world away from suburban Orange. 

But an inux of Sudanese have made it a home away from 

home. At the time of last census in 2006, some 24 per cent of 

people in Australia on refugee visas at that time were from 

Sudan, making it the number one country of birth for humanitarian 

migrants to Australia. 

It has been seven years since the rst family — Osman 

Tag, his wife and seven children — left Sydney where most 

of the refugees are initially settled, to nd a new life in the 

37,000-person town famed for its mines, agriculture, rugby 

team and icy winters. 

Paterson, one of Australia’s most famous poets and author 

of the iconic national folk-song Waltzing Matilda, drew inspiration 

from the region’s rolling hills and rivers, and Tag was 

reminded of Sudan’s mountain country. 

The dark horse 

By Mark John and Diadie Ba 

SENEGAL’S Macky Sall has leapt back from the political 

wilderness with a crushing presidential run-off victory 

over incumbent Abdoulaye Wade that cements the 

West African country’s reputation as a stable democracy in a 

restive region. 

Sall is a one-time prime minister who served under Wade 

but in 2008 lost favour with the outgoing octogenarian president 

known as “The Hare”, a local symbol of cunning. At one 

point, Sall seemed condemned to political obscurity. 

But the 50-year-old geologist — whose campaign symbol 

was a horse’s head — immediately hit the road to amass support 

for a presidential bid which paid off when his ex-boss 

conceded defeat in Sunday’s election. 

“When I was crossing the country, I saw the enormity of 

the challenges ahead,” Sall said in a campaign interview at his 

home in the Atlantic Ocean resort of Saly. 

“While those in power built monuments and motorways, 

ordinary Senegalese were struggling to get access to drinking 

water, healthcare and education,” Sall said in a dig at Wade’s 

2010 “African Renaissance” monument, an edice bigger 

than New York’s Statue of Liberty that towers over Dakar. 

As poll returns overnight showed him ahead of his rival, 

Sall accepted fellow liberal Wade’s admission of defeat and 

pledged to be “president of all the Senegalese” in a gesture to 

the left-leaning voters who backed him in the run-off. 

A full 35 years younger than the outgoing president, Sall 

embodies the generational change in Senegalese politics 

which several foreign governments from Paris to Washington 

had urged Wade to allow by not standing for a third term. 

Despite some early violence by those opposing Wade’s 

third-term bid, the election and its result appeared to consolidate 

Senegal as an oasis of stability in a region plagued 

by awed elections and conict, such as last week’s military 

coup in Mali. 

Sall has promised his rst steps will include moves to cut 

the prices of basic foods, end a long-running teachers’ strike 

and draft a constitutional reform reinforcing a two-term limit 

for both him and successors. 

But a decade of past membership of Wade’s ruling PDS 

party, and personal wealth that includes the Saly villa and other 

property, means Senegalese will watch Sall’s performance 

keenly for a true break with 12 years of Wade rule that failed 

to tackle poverty or corruption. 

By Takehiko Kambayashi 

A 

JAPANESE power company 

shut down its last atomic reactor 

early yesterday for a 

regular checkup, leaving the nation 

with only one other of its 54 reactors 

still in service one year after the start 

of the world’s worst nuclear disaster 

in 25 years. 

The Tokyo Electric Power Co 

(TEPCO) halted reactor 6 at the seven-unit 

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear 

Power Station on the Sea of Japan 

coast in Niigata prefecture. 

It was TEPCO’s only remaining 

running reactor after the accident 

at its Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear 

Power Station. The last one in the 

country, reactor 3 at the Tomari Nuclear 

Power Plant in northern Japan, 

run by the Hokkaido Electric Power 

Co, was to be stopped on May 5 for 

12 

ANALYSIS/OPINION 



Japan power grid down to last N-reactor 

SUPPORTERS of Suu Kyi’s party during an electoral rally in Kawhmu yesterday. — AFP 

Personality cult dominates 

By Kristina Rich 

PEOPLE in Kawhmu are excited. 

Myanmar opposition leader Aung 

San Suu Kyi is vying for a parliamentary 

seat from their rural township in 

the April 1 by-elections. 

“She seems so fragile yet full of energy!” 

gushed the proprietor of the town’s 

largest tearoom, on the only paved street 

of the dusty, unremarkable place 90 minutes 

drive south-west of Yangon. 

At the market, the watchmaker’s 

display case was adorned with a large 

sticker depicting a ghting peacock and 

white star on a red eld, the emblem of 

Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy 

(NLD). 

The vendor ashed the V-sign for 

victory. The Lady, as Suu Kyi is known 

throughout the country, will win, he asserted. 

“No other candidate stands a 

chance here,” the barber declared. 

“April 1 will be a very special day for 

us,” predicted a roadside vendor of areca 

nuts and chewing tobacco. “She’s going 

to work for us and the whole country and 

help to improve our lives.” 

Taxi driver Thaung Tin resembled 

a walking advertisement for Suu Kyi. 

The T-shirt he wore bore her image and 

sported an NLD pin. His cap had an NLD 

badge. Thaung Tin said he had been a 

member of the party since its founding 

in 1988. 

“People are beating a path to our 

door,” he said. “We’ve run out of membership 

application forms and can’t print 

them fast enough.” 

The election campaign in Myanmar 

By Nina Chestney 

EUROPEA’S wave and tidal 

power technology is likely to 

disappoint EU expectations 

for 2020 and take over a decade to 

contribute to energy supply in a signicant 

way, even though it is chalking 

up rapid growth and drawing in 

big industrial investors. 

The nascent industry has attracted 

a urry of investor activity over the 

past year, securing an estimated few 

hundred million euros from companies 

such as Siemens and Vattenfall. 

It is making fast progress from 

prototype devices toward full-scale 

sea trials and promises to be more reliable 

than many types of renewable 

power that depend on the weather. 

But those numbers are far less than 

European Union expectations for 8.5 

billion euros ($11.3 billion) of invest- 

maintenance, the company said. 

The country’s reactors have been 

falling idle, as operators have been 

shutting them for maintenance, but 

have faced stiff public and political 

opposition to restarting them after 

last year’s disaster. 

Concerns have been rising about 

severe power shortages this summer 

in a country where 30 per cent 

of electricity before the disaster was 

from nuclear generation. 

A recent survey conducted by the 

Japan Association for Public Opinion 

Research found 88 per cent of those 

polled expressed concerns about nuclear 

plants in the country, Tokyo 

Shimbun reported in mid-March. 

The Fukushima plant in northeastern 

Japan went into meltdown 

after it was hit by a magnitude-9 

earthquake and tsunami on March 

11, 2011. A series of blasts and res 

is dominated by Suu Kyi. Her campaign 

tours around the country ll the front 

pages of newspapers and magazines. 

Her likeness adorns calendars at the 

market and posters in shops. T-shirts with 

her image sell briskly. Her party’s logo is 

plastered on cycle rickshaws, in the telephone 

shop, everywhere. 

It is as if Suu Kyi were a candidate 

for president, rather than for one of 40 

vacant seats in the 440-member lower 

house of parliament. 

Even if the NLD does extremely well, 

the pro-military government would still 

have an overwhelming parliamentary 

majority. Not everyone considers the 

personality cult surrounding the pro-democracy 

icon to be a good thing. 

Although Suu Kyi earned universal 

respect for her uncompromising stance 

against the former military junta — she 

spent 15 years under house arrest and 

won a Nobel Peace Prize — many people 

doubt that she can single-handedly lead 

the country into a rosy future. 

A graduate of England’s Oxford University, 

where she studied philosophy, 

politics and economics, Suu Kyi has an 

elitist air about her, contemporaries say. 

She is not regarded as a team player. 

“Immune to advice” is the description 

by a female dissident who did time in 

prison and worked closely with Suu Kyi 

in the 1990s. 

“She’s not exactly a dyed-in-the-wool 

democrat,” said a diplomat who asked to 

remain anonymous. “When you have a 

conversation with her, there’s an aura of 

having an audience with her.” 

“The whole party is about her,” said 

ment and generation capacity of 3.6 

gigawatts installed by 2020. 

The technology, like other renewables, 

needs government nancing 

help to reach commercial scale and 

then subsidies after that as it grows to 

more cost efcient. 

Its timing as a latecomer behind 

more established renewables such as 

solar and wind is unfortunate. 

Government nancing is hard to 

come by while the euro zone faces 

a sovereign debt crisis and governments 

are cutting spending, including 

on renewable energy. 

Furthermore, its development 

costs are still far higher than for other 

renewables, including offshore wind 

power. 

“Any talk of gigawatts by 2020 is 

optimistic. We are more on course for 

hundreds of megawatts,” said Charlie 

Blair, technology acceleration man- 

at the plant triggered the massive 

release of radioactive material into 

the environment. Japan has turned 

to thermal power generation to meet 

its energy needs, leading it to greatly 

increase the amount of fuel it imports 

and generating trade decits. 

“Without nuclear power, a stable 

electricity supply cannot be expected 

for the time being,” major daily 

Yomiuri said in an editorial on Saturday. 

“The nation cannot afford to 

delay the reactivation of suspended 

reactors when there is no rational 

reason for doing so.” 

On Friday, the government’s Nuclear 

Safety Commission endorsed 

the results of initial stress tests on 

idled reactors 3 and 4 at the Oi Nuclear 

Power Station in Fukui. 

Safety assessments on nuclear 

plants nationwide started in two stages 

to reassure the public in the wake 

Kyaw Min Swe, chief editor of the Burmese 

weekly The Voice. “Imagine the 

party as a snake and Suu Kyi as the head. 

When the head is squeezed, the snake can 

do nothing.” 

The party was paralysed when Suu 

Kyi was under house arrest, he said, adding 

that there were few young party members 

behind her to step into her shoes. 

Voters are also constantly asking 

what, specically, the NLD’s political 

platform is. 

“We all really wish she’d speak more 

with the other democratic parties,” Kyaw 

Min Swe said. 

“The NLD boycott of general elections 

in 2010 was a big mistake,” opined 

Nyo Nyo Thinn, a member of the Yangon 

regional parliament and the small Democratic 

Party (Myanmar). 

“That’s why more small democratic 

parties emerged. If the NLD had taken 

part, we’d all have voted for it and our 

camp would be more unied.” 

Physician and ction writer Ma Thida, 

who spent ve years in prison for 

supporting the NLD, takes a more conciliatory 

view. 

“We might have our concerns, but 

let’s give her a chance,” she said. “She’s 

an icon. Who knows how long the special 

attention on her will last? As long as it 

does, the government will have to listen 

to her. She can move things.” 

Meanwhile, party said Suu Kyi is recovering 

after she fell ill on the campaign 

trail, but must rest this week ahead of the 

by-elections. She cut short a trip to the 

south and cancelled campaigning this 

week after she felt sick on Saturday. 

ager for marine at the Carbon Trust. 

Siemens, which increased its stake 

in UK developer Marine Current Turbines 

last month, sees double-digit 

annual growth rates for marine current 

renewables to 2020 from virtually 

zero now and expects it ultimately 

to meet 3 to 4 per cent of global energy 

demand. 

“The big industrial players getting 

involved is what is needed to move 

this sector forward. Utilities are looking 

at these kind of projects, which 

will be on a similar scale to wind energy 

or conventional power plants,” 

said Frank Wright, renewables manager 

at Douglas Westwood. 

Most experts expect the rst largescale 

commercial projects of 1 MW 

or more to emerge by 2016 or 2017 

and ocean energy to start contributing 

to the EU power mix between 2025 

and 2030. 

of the disaster. Idled reactors were 

subjected to the so-called stress tests 

focused on their capacity to withstand 

earthquakes and tsunami. 

“Nuclear plants that are judged 

to have no problem with their safety 

measures should be restarted,” the 

daily said. Japanese media reported 

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and 

other ministers concerned were expected 

to conrm the safety of the 

reactors at the Oi plant, run by Kansai 

Electric Power Co. 

But Noda’s ruling Democratic 

Party of Japan’s task force on issues 

concerning last year’s nuclear disaster 

compiled a report, urging the government 

not to rush into the reactivation 

of the idled reactors. 

“It’s too early to make a political 

decision on the issue of restarting,” 

said the team led by House of Representatives 

lawmaker Satoshi Arai. 

By Lesley Wroughton 

EMERGING economies 

must be given a fair 

shot at leading the institutions 

at the heart of global 

nance or they will end up 

going their own way, a challenger 

for the top job at the 

World Bank said. 

“The balance of power 

in the world has shifted and 

emerging market countries are 

contributing more and more to 

global growth — more than 

50 per cent — and they need 

to be given a voice in running 

things,” Nigerian Finance 

Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala 

said. “If you don’t, they will 

lose interest. 

Okonjo-Iweala, 57, was 

nominated last Friday by African 

power houses Nigeria, 

South Africa and Angola to 

lead the poverty-ghting 

institution when its current 

president Robert Zoellick 

steps down in June. 

She is going up against 

Jim Yong Kim, a Korean- 

American health expert whose 

name was put forward by US 

President Barack Obama last 

Friday, and former Colombian 

nance minister Jose Antonio 

Ocampo, who was nominated 

by Brazil. 

It’s the rst time the post 

has ever been contested. 

Under an informal agreement 

between the United 

States and its allies in Europe, 

Washington has laid claim to 

the top post at the World Bank 

since its founding after World 

War II, while a European has 

always led the International 

Monetary Fund, its sister 

Bretton Woods institution. 

Okonjo-Iweala, a respected 

economist and diplomat, 

painted the convention as a 

vestige of a bygone era. 

“We’re not asking the US 

not to compete, we’re just 

asking for a level playing 

eld where candidates can be 

evaluated on their merits,” she 

said. 

A former World Bank managing 

director known for her 

colourful African head wraps 

and dresses, Okonjo-Iweala 

contrasted her experience 

with that of Kim, who made 

his mark battling disease in 

some of the poorest corners of 

the world. 

She noted that she has 

A big tidal device probably has a 1 

MW capacity, but the next challenge 

is to get to ve-to-10 MW arrays and 

then move to hundreds of megawatts 

by 2020 or beyond. 

“We still need to prove a 10 MW 

array can function on a commercial 

basis and pay for itself by selling 

electricity,” Blair said. 

Not only are there technical challenges 

in installing multiple devices 

and in developing the grid infrastructure 

and control systems, but developers 

also must reduce the huge 

costs of arrays. 

Current estimates for the levelised 

cost, or the constant price per unit of 

energy for an investment to break 

even, are 0.38-0.48 pounds/KWh for 

wave energy and 0.29-0.33 pounds/ 

KWh for tidal, compared with 0.09- 

0.10 pounds/KWh for nuclear and 

offshore wind, according to the UK’s 

The government has yet to make 

sufcient preparations to judge the 

safety of reactors, the team said. 

In Fukui, government ofcials 

have not even come to talk to residents 

in a community which hosts 

the Oi plant, whose two reactors 

Tokyo wants to restart soon, said 

Hisayo Takada, a Greenpeace Japan 

ofcial stationed near the plant. 

Oi town has not conducted any 

evacuation drills in the rugged region, 

either, even after the nuclear 

disaster, she added. 

A town ofcial conrmed there 

had been no disaster drills and no 

meetings with government ofcials 

about the restart of the idled reactors. 

Instead of rst discussing the restart 

of idled reactors, “the government 

should actively promote the 

development of natural energy resources,” 

Takada said. 

TOUGH TALK 

Balance of power 

has shifted today 

hands-on experience running 

one of Africa’s largest economies, 

as well as a proven track 

record at the World Bank helping 

nations in Asia, Africa and 

the Middle East tap nancial 

markets to fund development. 

“I don’t have a learning 

curve because I know how the 

institution works and I know 

what needs to be done to make 

it work better and faster for 

developing countries,” she 

said. 

“I know what its strengths 

are, its weaknesses and importantly 

I know what policymakers 

need. I’ve actually 

done it.” 

US Treasury Secretary 

Timothy Geithner said over 

this week that he was condent 

that Kim, president of 

Dartmouth College, would 

win global support for the job. 

Through his work in ghting 

HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and 

getting healthcare to the poor, 

Kim had shown an ability to 

get things done in tough environments, 

said Geithner. 

Okonjo-Iweala admitted 

that if the United States, the 

nation with the largest World 

Bank voting bloc, and Europe 

held together, her candidacy 

would be doomed. But she expressed 

hope the World Bank’s 

187 member nations would 

hold true to their pledge for an 

open, merit-based process. 

“We are not just going into 

this saying to ourselves we are 

already defeated,” she said, 

speaking by telephone from 

Abuja. “We are hoping that 

the Bretton Woods institutions 

and their shareholders will 

keep their word.” 

“My biggest hope is that 

this will be a fair contest.” 

Okonjo-Iweala was named 

by Forbes magazine last year 

as one of the world’s 100 most 

powerful women. 

EU push for ocean energy set to fall short 

Carbon Trust. 

Funding constraints threaten to 

impede the push towards commercial 

deployment. Although government 

funding is available for research, 

there is less available for large-scale 

demonstration projects. 

Renewable UK estimates that at 

least £120 million pounds ($190.4 

million) is needed for the UK industry 

alone to reach full-scale deployment. 

The UK and Scottish governments 

have pledged funding of £38 million. 

Scotland added to that last week by 

launching a £103 million fund for renewables 

from money set aside from 

a fossil fuel levy, and some of that 

money will be used to develop tidal 

and wave projects. 

According to RenewableUK, 

every pound of public funding in the 

UK has unlocked £6 of private investment, 

but more is needed.

13 

THE WORLD 



UK gets tough on gas suppliers to ght theft 

LONDON — UK energy 

regulator Ofgem wants gas 

suppliers to pay money into 

an industry-wide pot to cover 

the cost of ghting gas theft, 

a problem that has cost consumers 

£138 million per year 

since 2009, the watchdog said 

yesterday. 

Suppliers are expected to 

implement all changes proposed 

by the regulator by the 

end of 2013 and could face a 

ne if they are found not to 

comply with the rules. 

Gas theft usually refers 

to consumers not paying for 

gas they use by tampering 

with supply systems to bypass 

their meters and has cost 

each household around £6 a 

year over the past three years, 

Ofgem said, citing a group of 

industry experts. 

“We want to see suppliers 

take more action to reduce 

gas theft, which threatens the 

safety of consumers and industry 

workers as well making 

gas more expensive,” Andrew 

Wright, Ofgem’s senior 

partner for markets, said. 

Under the proposals, gas 

suppliers should pay money 

into a joint pot relative to the 

number of sites they supply 

and will be rewarded in proportion 

to the number of thefts 

identied in their segments. 

Each supplier will have a 

target number of thefts to detect 

within a one-year period. 

Ofgem initially proposed 

to exclude Britain’s largest gas 

supplier, British Gas, from the 

scheme, because the company’s 

techniques to tackle gas 

theft are more advanced than 

SOUTH Korea’s President Lee Myung-Bak greets US President Barack Obama as he arrives for the welcoming 

ceremony for the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit at the Coex Center in Seoul yesterday. — AFP 

US vows to pursue further 

nuclear cuts with Russia 

SEOUL — US President 

Barack Obama vowed yesterday 

to pursue further nuclear 

arms cuts with Russia, urged 

China to follow suit and issued 

stern warnings to North 

Korea and Iran in their nuclear 

standoffs with the West. 

Acknowledging the US has 

more warheads than necessary, 

Obama held out the prospect 

of new reductions in the US 

arsenal as he sought to rally 

world leaders for additional 

concrete steps against the 

threat of nuclear terrorism. 

“We can already say with 

condence that we have more 

nuclear weapons than we 

need,” Obama told students at 

South Korea’s Hankuk University 

a few hours before a 

global nuclear security summit 

opened in Seoul. 

He pledged a new armscontrol 

push with incoming 

Russian president 

Vladimir Putin when they 

meet in May. But any further 

reductions would face stiff 

election-year opposition from 

Republicans in Congress who 

already accuse him of weakening 

America’s nuclear deterrent. 

In Seoul, Obama made 

clear that he was committed to 

that notion, saying “those who 

deride our vision, who say that 

ours is an impossible goal that 

will be forever out of reach”, 

were wrong. 

Though Obama was vague 

on exactly how such a vision 

would be achieved, he voiced 

condence the US and Russia, 

which reached a landmark 

arms-control treaty in 

2010, “can continue to make 

progress and reduce our nuclear 

stockpiles”. 

“I rmly believe that we 

can ensure the security of the 

US and our allies, maintain a 

strong deterrent against any 

threat, and still pursue further 

reductions in our nuclear arsenal,” 

he said. 

But another arms accord 

with Moscow will be a tough 

sell to US conservatives who 

say Obama has not moved fast 

enough to modernise the US 

strategic arsenal, a pledge he 

made in return for Republican 

votes that helped ratify the 

Start treaty. 

Obama said he wanted to 

take arms control talks with 

the Russians to a new level. 

“Going forward, we’ll continue 

to seek discussions with 

Russia on a step we have never 

taken before — reducing 

not only our strategic nuclear 

warheads, but also tactical 

weapons and warheads in reserve,” 

he said. 

With US ofcials privately 

expressing concern about 

China’s opaqueness over its 

growing nuclear weapons programme, 

Obama said he had 

urged the rising Asian power 

“to join us in a dialogue on 

nuclear issues, and that offer 

remains open”. 

Obama also used his speech 

to call on North Korea, which 

plans a long-range rocket 

launch next month, to curb its 

nuclear ambitions or face further 

international isolation. 

“And know this — there 

will be no more rewards for 

provocations. Those days are 

over. This is the choice before 

you,” he said, directing his 

comments at North Korea’s 

leadership. 

Chinese President Hu Jintao 

indicated to Obama during 

a one-on-one meeting yesterday 

that he took the North 

Korean nuclear standoff very 

seriously and was registering 

his concern with Pyongyang, a 

senior White House aide said. 

“The two leaders agreed to 

co-ordinate closely in responding 

to this potential provocation 

... and if necessary consider 

what steps need to be 

taken following a potential 

launch,” the White House aide 

added, without elaborating on 

possible consequences. 

Obama says the destitute 

North could be hit with tighter 

sanctions if it goes ahead with 

the rocket launch, but experts 

doubt China will back another 

UN Security Council resolution 

against North Korea. 

The North says the rocket 

will send a satellite into space, 

but South Korea and the US 

say it is a ballistic missile test. 

Earlier yesterday, Obama 

accused Iran of having taken 

the “path of denial, deceit and 

deception” in the past but said 

there was still time for a diplomatic 

solution and that Iran 

had to act with a sense of urgency. 

“Time is short,” Obama 

said, referring to the prospects 

of renewed negotiations between 

Iran and world powers. 

“Iran’s leaders must understand 

that there is no escaping 

the choice before it.” 

Obama has urged Israel to 

hold off on any pre-emptive 

strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites 

to give sanctions and diplomacy 

more time to work. 

The US president also 

met Russia’s outgoing leader, 

Dmitry Medvedev, on the 

sidelines of the summit, with 

missile defence in Europe, 

Iran and the conict in Syria 

topping their agenda. 

— Reuters 

British PM admits hosting 

wealthy party donors BEIJING 

LONDON — Britain’s David 

Cameron admitted yesterday 

to hosting donors to his Conservative 

party at his ofcial 

residence, the day after a top 

party ofcial quit for trying to 

sell access to the premier. 

Cameron published details 

of three dinners he held for 

wealthy supporters at his at 

since taking ofce in 2010, in 

an abrupt U-turn just minutes 

after his Downing Street of- 

ce insisted such events were 

private. 

He spoke amid a growing 

row caused by Peter Cruddas, 

who was forced to quit 

as Conservative treasurer on 

Sunday after being lmed offering 

potential donors private 

dinners with Cameron and an 

opportunity to shape government 

policy. 

The Tories openly offer 

the chance to attend dinners 

and events with Cameron for 

contributions of £50,000 a 

year, but Cruddas went further, 

outlining the benets of 

“premier league” donations 

of £250,000. 

Interrupting a pre-planned 

speech on funding for dementia 

to address the issue, 

Cameron said the fundraiser’s 

remarks had been “completely 

unacceptable and wrong” 

and insisted no money had 

changed hands as a result of 

the talks. 

Cameron then sent senior 

Conservative minister Francis 

Maude to make a statement to 

lawmakers yesterday on proposals 

to restart long-stalled 

reforms on party funding, in 

a further bid to quell the scandal. 

But opposition Labour 

leader Ed Miliband, in a heated 

exchange in the House of 

Commons, branded Maude’s 

proposals a “smokescreen”. 

“This is about the prime 

minister’s chief fundraiser 

seeking cash for access,” 

Miliband said, accusing Cameron 

of being too ashamed to 

face lawmakers himself because 

“he has got something 

to hide”. 

Miliband repeated his 

call for a full investigation 

into the affair, saying Cameron’s 

decision to launch an 

internal Conservative party 

inquiry was “completely inadequate”. 

In his resignation statement, 

Cruddas said the comments 

recorded by undercover 

reporters for the Sunday Times 

newspaper had been “bluster” 

and insisted money could not 

buy access to ministers. 

Cameron swiftly condemned 

the remarks but his 

Downing Street ofce rejected 

calls to publish details 

of his meetings with donors 

— until the prime minister 

abruptly changed tack during 

a speech in London. — AFP 

those of other rms. 

The current proposal 

would prevent other suppliers 

from being hit due to the 

better performance of British 

Gas, Ofgem said. 

Proposals also include setting 

up a central service shared 

by all suppliers to dene and 

tackle gas theft. 

Suppliers can pool information 

about when it would 

be feasible to investigate 

whether gas use is correctly 

recorded. 

Ofgem has the power to 

ne companies up to 10 per 

cent of their turnover, but a 

spokeswoman said this would 

be an unlikely consequence of 

failing gas theft obligations. 

Ofgem’s proposals are 

open for consultation until 

April 30. — Reuters 

New era in Senegal 

as Wade bows out 

DAKAR — Residents of Senegal greeted the dawn of a new 

era yesterday following the post-election departure of longserving 

leader Abdoulaye Wade, who drew widespread praise 

for cementing the country’s reputation as West Africa’s most 

stable democracy. 

Excited residents gathered at tea shops as boys hawked 

newspapers splashing headlines like ‘Wade Knocked Out’, 

after a night marked by reworks, honking horns and singing 

in parts of the capital Dakar that followed his former protege 

Macky Sall’s election win. 

“This is a victory for all Senegalese people, not just the 

politicians,” said Bassirou Sylla, 32, a trader in Dakar’s upscale 

neighbourhood of Point E. 

The election was the latest test for democracy in a region 

plagued by bloodshed and awed votes, including in Ivory 

Coast that triggered a civil war last year. A military coup in 

Senegal’s neighbour Mali last week demonstrated how quickly 

a democracy can unravel. 

Wade’s 12-year rule saw big infrastructure spending but little 

progress in tackling poverty. 

He admitted defeat just hours after polls closed on Sunday 

as early results showed challenger Sall with a landslide win, 

maintaining Senegal’s record as the only nation on mainland 

West Africa not to have seen a coup or civil war since independence. 

While hopes for a better future were running high in Dakar, 

where Wade faced the greatest opposition, it remains to be 

seen whether Sall, a former Wade ally who served for years as 

his prime minister, would bring real change. 

The UN, the EU and the African Union congratulated 

Senegal on its smooth election, and French President Nicolas 

Sarkozy praised Wade for accepting his loss. — Reuters 

Sanogo emerges 

as junta leader 

BAMAKO — Captain Amadou Haya Sanogo, once a UStrained 

English instructor to his fellow Malian ofcers, has 

emerged as the leader of a military junta which ousted a democratic 

regime. 

The middle-aged ofcer comes from Segou, Mali’s thirdlargest 

city on the Niger River and 240 km from the capital 

Bamako. 

His army career saw him make his way through a military 

academy in Kati outside Bamako, whose barracks are now the 

junta headquarters after a mutiny there led to a full-blown coup 

on Thursday. 

Analysts say the coup was hastily planned, and Sanogo has 

spent much of his time since trying to restore order while the 

country’s political class and the world roundly condemn the 

putsch. 

Paul Melly, a researcher at the London-based Chatham 

House, said the coup “appears have been a spontaneous boiling 

over of soldiers’ anger” at the government’s handling of a 

Tuareg insurrection in the north. 

“There’s no sign of a coherent plan and the putschists seem 

to be feeling their way hour by hour.” 

Sanogo has made several television appearances in a bid 

to reassure the nation, speaking in a raspy, hoarse voice and 

insisting he plans to hand over power to a civilian government 

once several problems are dealt with. 

The problem at the moment was “a lack of equipment, a 

lack of training and our comrades are dying all the time,” Sanogo 

told the BBC in an interview. 

“So once this has been xed, I’ll be able to say ‘OK, go for 

election’ in a short period of time. I promise.” 

The captain, with a green beret perched on his shaved head 

and slightly pockmarked cheeks, has a shining United States 

Marine Corps pin attached to his uniform. 

This is a reminder of several trips made to the US, where 

he received training in Georgia and Quantico, Virginia, he told 

journalists in an interview this week. 

American media cite the State Department as saying he attended 

an English-language instructor course in Texas from 

August 2004 to February 2005 and again in 2007. — AFP 

China asked to probe 

businessman’s death 

— Britain said yesterday it had asked Chinese authorities 

to investigate the death of a British businessman in 

Chongqing, a sprawling metropolis at the heart of China’s biggest 

political drama in years. 

“Sometimes after the death of Neil Heywood we became 

aware of speculation about aspects of the case that may warrant 

further investigation,” John Gallagher, spokesman for the 

British embassy in Beijing, said. 

“This is a matter for the Chinese authorities. We have raised 

concerns with them and have asked them to investigate thoroughly.” 

He gave no further details on Heywood or the nature of his 

business in the southwestern city of Chongqing, but there has 

been speculation among Chinese netizens the British national 

died in November in suspicious circumstances. 

There have also been rumours that Heywood was linked to 

Bo Xilai — a prominent Chinese politician who was sacked 

more than a week ago as party chief of Chongqing, in a dramatic 

event still shrouded in mystery. 

Bo was ousted just weeks after Wang Lijun — his former 

police chief and right-hand man — ed to a US consulate and 

reportedly demanded political asylum, in what was a major 

embarrassment for the ruling Communist Party. Wang has 

since been placed under investigation, but the reasons behind 

his reported attempted defection are still unclear. — AFP 

BRITAIN’S Prime Minister David Cameron speaks at 

the Alzheimer’s Society in London yesterday. Cameron 

announced yesterday that funding for research 

into dementia would be doubled to 

£66 million by 2015. — Reuters 

DANISH Minister for Foreign Affairs Villy Soevndal 

(R) arrives with his Palestinian counterpart Riyad 

al Malki prior to a press meeting in 

Copenhagen yesterday. — AFP 

SPAIN’S Crown Prince Felipe and his wife Princess 

Letizia visit the Alimentaria trade show in Barcelona 

yesterday. Food and drink manufacturers and 

distributors from around the world are 

showcasing their products at Alimentaria 

until March 29. — Reuters 

CONGRESSIONAL Budget Ofce Director Douglas 

Elmendorf speaks during the 2012 Economic Policy 

Conference of the National Association for Business 

Economics yesterday in Arlington, Virginia. 

Elmendorf spoke on “Fiscal Policy Choices.” — AFP

PORTA CABINS / TURNKEY CAMPS 

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99414644, 93666201. 

TWIN villa in Al 

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OFFICES, shops, villa 

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96596348. 

APARTMENT for 

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location: N2615083, E 

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APARTMENTS 

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INDOOR store for 

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price: RO 300. Google 

location: N2615083, E 

611993 99247732. 

T 

OURS 

MARINE Tourism 

92808636, e-mail: 

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FOR rent at Wattayah — 

a room with kitchen and 

toilet 95356988. 

TWO attached industrial 

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2, 1400 sqm each 

92113060. 

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GOOD villa, 2nd oor, 

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99358589, 95570288. 

GOOD 2 bedrooms, 

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RO 350 99358589, 

95570288. 

SEVEN rooms and ve 

bathrooms villa on Al 

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minutes from Muscat 

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for rent. Parking facility 

for two cars. Contact 

93172978 

GOOD at, 2 rooms 

with hall, 2 bathrooms, 

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99358589, 99316426. 

A ROOM for rent at 

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Contact No 92277043 

Mr Said. 

S 

FOR RENT 

9000M² of secured 

open land, with basic 

ofce and labour 

camp facilities in 

GHALA. To be 

leased for long and 

short term lease. 

Serious offers write 

to 2275/112. 

Tel : 24791485/ 

92137157 

ALE/BUYING 

ALE/BUY 

WALL paper, 

used 

furniture, carpet, carp curtains, 

all brands, brands sal sale and 

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buying. Yousuf Ali 

99834373, 96642500. 

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99323957/ 95490842/ 

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S 

ITUATION VACANT 

AN Indian di private pr 

Driver is requ required 

99817828. 99817828 

CIVIL Engineer — 

With Civil engineering 

degree and at least 7 

years experience in Gulf 

for roads and buildings 

construction and site 

supervision. Hands on 

experience in AutoCad 

& Similar softwares, 

project management 

program, personnel site 

supervision, tendering 

process and documents. 

E-mail: admin@ 

barkaengg.com. Contact 

96671111. 

REQUIRED Housemaid 

for three months 

99358396. 

TEACHERS for all 

subjects are required 

for the academic year 

2012/2013 for a private 

school in Al Khoudh. 

Contact us on the 

following e-mail address: 

jops@thesupreme.info 

98025619. 

WANTED Diploma 

Mechanical Engineer 

with Omani Driving 

Licence, please send 

CV by e-mail to: 

nakhtrad@omantel.net. 

om or by 

Fax No: 24591566. 

WANTED urgently 

Lady Hairdresser. 

99705444. 

SALES EXECUTIVE 

for Oman; UAE Co 

required for Safety/ 

Electrical and building 

material company for 

their Oman ofce. 

1. Holding a bachelors 

degree.2. Minimum 3 

to 5 years experience in 

the same eld. 3. Valid 

Omani driving licence. 

E-mail: 

tradecir@omantel.net.om 

NURSE vacancy: Urgently 

needed Al Zahra 

Medical Complex. For 

inquiries please call. 

24571094. Send CV 

by Fax to: 24571097 or email 

it to: omarking78@ 

yahoo.com 

I 

NVESTMENT 

NVESTM 

INDUSTRIAL 5000m 

road with very suitable 

way. 99323957/ 

95490842/ 96554668/ 

Fax: 24452534. 

F 

OR SALE 

BRAND new IPad2, 

64 GB. Contact. 

92450303. 

OMAN DAILY Observer TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2012 

ERVICES 

SERVICES 

P.C.O. ( (PEST 

CONTROL OMAN 

CO. LLC) 

Professionals who 

specialise in all types 

of Pest Control 

Services & Snake 

control and 

Guaranteed Termite 

Control. Also 

available Gel 

treatment for 

Cockroaches. 

Suppliers of UK 

Pesticides 

Chemicals, Snake 

Repellent, 

Cockroach Gels and 

Peripel treated 

Mosquito Nets. 

24787606, 

24787503, 

Fax: 24787607. 

TRANSFER and 

installation of 

furniture with 

packaging. 

96114982 

MARBLE 

CRYSTALLISATION, 

restore the original shine 

of your marble. 

24792998/99314807. 

PLUMBING, painting, 

interlock and 

maintenance 

96191837. 

CARPET, sofa 

shampooing, 

GUARANTEED 

CLEANING. 

24792998/ 99314807 

EXECUTIVE Ofce 

Services available. 

Modern furniture, 

Personalised telephone 

line with receptionist 

services, Unlimited 

wireless Internet, 

P O Boxes address, 

Executive conference 

room (10 people), Prime 

location (Al Khuwair), 

Complimentary tea & 

coffee, Service duration, 

quarterly. Contact: 

99463334/ 99201763/ 

24479400. 

WE provide services 

like breaking down 

mountains, digging and 

foundations of buildings. 

95223570. 

1. A/C, Fridge & 

Washing Machine 

Servicing & Repairing 

2. Painting, Plumbing, 

Electrical & Carpentry 

Works. Contact: 

97014234/ 97123569, 

24504281. 

CLASSIFIED SECTION: 

S 

MAINTENANCE 

and Constructions. 

99891799, 

94248626. 

HOOPOE SMART 

CARD SERVICES 

Sanad Service Centre 

We provide the 

following services: 

Typing, clearing all 

transactions related to 

government departments 

and private sector, eg 

labour agreement for 

Omanis and expatriates, 

typing of labour 

card for expatriates, 

typing of visas and 

document clearing 

from immigration 

department, Ministry of 

Commerce & Industry, 

Ministry of Manpower, 

Commercial names 

reservation, renewal of 

commercial registration, 

renewal of OCCI 

membership, attestation 

of all documents from 

OCCI & Ministry 

of Foreign Affairs. 

Renewal of labour 

cards through electronic 

payment or cash 

payment. 

Please note you may 

deliver your transaction 

through our e-mail 

and our representative 

will deliver it to your 

ofce personally after 

completion. Our address 

is: Ruwi, near Gulf 

Transport Co. (GTC), 

Fax: 24793331, GSM: 

98793665 (Direct) 

99231500. 

E-mail: hoopoeoman@ 

gmail.com 

AL FAHAD 

TRANSLATION 

SERVICES 

Translation of all kinds 

of legal, medical, 

and othre types of 

documents, Commercial 

Agencies, etc. Ruwi, 

near Gulf Transport Co. 

(GTC), 

Fax: 24794286. GSM : 

98793665 (Direct) 

95959838. E-mail: 

bptland@gmail.com 

LANDRAIL 

TRADING & 

SERVICES 

(Smart Card) 

Ruwi, near Gulf 

Transport Co. (GTC), 

Fax: 24780244, Tel: 

24789117, GSM 

98793666 (Dir), 

96777170. E-mail: 

landrailoman@ 

gmail.com 

C 

ARGO 

CARGO transfer with 

attractive price to all 

areas in the Sultanate 

and outside of Oman 

(by truck). Contact: 

00968-99171758 

Sulaiman Awlad Thani: 95181747 

Ali al Maashari: 99639264 

GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!! 

G 

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Available on very GOOD prices 

HP 2000 Printer 

RO 12.900 only 

HP M1132 4 in 1 Printer 

RO 54.900 only 

HP PAVILION G6 15 LAPTOP RO 234.900 only 

DELL N5110 15 LAPTOP 

RO 226/900 only 

AII HP, Epson, Canon, Lexmark, Samsung 

Cartridges also available. 

UEST HOUSE HO 

MURAHIB 

HOTEL 

APARTMENTS 

APARTME 

welcome our 

valuable GUESTS 

to our excellent 

location, 

AL KHUWAIR, 

near AL ZAWAWI 

MOSQUE, a single 

bedroom, a bedroom 

& majlis, two 

bedrooms & majlis 

24478087, 

Fax: 24482454. 

QURUM BEACH 

HOTEL. 24564070. 

S 

INDIAN male, mall 

building 

material salesman, sales 

knowing Arabic, Arab English 

and other languages, 

seeks suitable placement. 

Contact 92055986, 

92203891. 

AN Accountant with 4 

years experience, 

seeking suitable 

placement. Well-versed 

in MS Office. 

98326483. 

WELL-qualified Indian 

female (BSc & diploma 

holder) with 8+ years of 

experience as 

Procurement Officer/ 

Executive Secretary/ 

Sales Co-ordinator, 

good knowledge in 

Procurement and 

Secretarial from 

reputed companies in 

Electrical and Oilfield, 

seeks placement. 

97581245. 

EXPRIENCED 

Storekeeper/ asst 

Accountant with Gulf 

experience. Graduate in 

BCom, looking for 

suitable placement. 

93059661. 

MALE Physiotherapist 

with MoH licence 

having NOC. 

93435909. 

B.TECH Electronics and 

Communication Engineer, 

Indian male, 23, 2 yrs 

experience at substation, 

MS Ofce, C, C++, 

JAVA, presently in 

Muscat. 92191792, 

E-mail: khamarkavvayi@ 

gmail.com 

COMPUTER SUPPLIES 

Ruwi: 24792792 

GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!! 

ITUATION ITUATIO WANTED 

U 

MRAH/HAJ 

MRAH/HA 

DIRECT: 24649594 - FAX : 24649590 

e-mail: classified@omandaily.om 

AFAQ WADI AL-MA’AWIL LLC 

CRANE (35 - 80 Ton) 

DOZER 

LOAD/ALL 

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BACK HOE/LOADER 

FUEL TANKER 

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CONTACT: 99310448 /99333506 /24505994 

FAX: 24504023. E-mail: afaqwadi@yahoo.com 

GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!! 

AL Hikmani 

for 

HAJ and UM UMRAH 

— With a hhost 

of 

services including 

the following: Hiring 

luxurious coaches, 

arranging weekly 

trips, preparing 

visas for expats at 

cost-effective price, 

including transport, 

housing, meals 

and visits to shrine 

locations. Land and 

air trips weekly. 

(99311310, 24566016, 

99361982, 99707248, 

99322124. 

FINANCE & Accounts 

Manager, MBA (Finance), 

CA Inter with more than 

20 years Oman experience, 

seeks suitable position in 

reputable organisation. 

92102983. 

INDIAN electrical 

engineer, 6 years 

experience in building 

construction in UAE 

having valid UAE 

driving licence, seeks 

suitable job. Please 

contact 92728438 

E-mail: sreenunair@gmail. 

com. 

SIX years experienced 

computer technician, 

seeks suitable placement 

in Oman 99572029, 

93555302. 

DIPLOMA Civil 

Engineer, 25, Indian, 3.5 

years experience, 1 year 

in Oman, seeks suitable 

placement. 95989500. 

E-mail: cv.shilabedappal@ 

gmail.com 

INDIAN male 9 years 

Oman experience in server 

and network support, 

having driving licence, 

seeks new opening in 

reputed companies. 

98917971. 

PERSON with 4 years 

experience in PRO seeks 

immediate placement. 

Contact: 92265302. 

DR M O Afzaluddin 

Ahmed (BPT) 

physiotherapist with 

3 years experience as 

assistant physiotherapist, 

seeks job to practise in 

hospital 94023557, 

99540105. 

al-haditha 

centre 

AUTO REPAIR 

CENTRE 

G 

OOD NEWS NEW 

FREE FRE 

INFORM INFORMATION 

ABOUT ISLAM 

If you would like to 

know more about 

Islam, please call: 

Tel : 99425598, 

96050000, 99353988, 

99253818, 99341395, 

99379133, 

For ladies: 99415818, 

99321360, 99730723 

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AYURVEDIC 

Treatment, Yoga massage 

& slimming. Contact: 

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www.drsajjay.com 

D 

RIVING SSCHOOL 

CLASSIFIEDS 

Continued on P-15 

F 

O 

R 

H 

I 

R 

E 

Quality Repairs & Maintenance of all 

types of Cars and Heavy vehicles 

(ROP approved Grade A Workshop) 

Telephone: 24595951/1414, Fax: 24597979. 

MORNING STAR 

DRIVING SCHOOL S 

— Learn driving 

manual/ automatic 

with professionally 

qualified male/ 

female trainees in 

brand new cars and 

flexible payments. 

Call: 99043283, 

24478589, 24478505, 

www.chamberman. 

com/member/ 

morningstar 

www.morningstar. 

com 

M 

ANPOWER 

ANPOWE 

FRIENDS 

MANPOWER: Filipino 

housemaids and all kinds 

of workers. 24489268 

Tel/Fax: 24478153. 

L 

OST 

CHIRAGUDDIN 

Chowhan Kureshi has 

lost Indian Passport No 

G 9767342. Finder 

please handover to ROP. 

JONAL Mosa has lost 

Pakistani Passport No 

AA-6448099. Finder 

please handover to ROP.

Cameron dives to 

the deepest point 

WASHINGTON — Titanic director James Cameron returned 

to the surface yesterday after a solo submarine dive to the deepest 

point in the world’s oceans that was hailed as the ultimate 

test of “man and his machine”. 

Cameron plunged about 11 km to the bottom of the Mariana 

Trench in the western Pacic, where temperatures are barely 

above freezing and the pressure is a crushing thousand times 

that at sea level. 

The voyage was the rst manned expedition to the trench in 

more than half a century and Cameron said it was the culmination 

of more than seven years of planning. 

“Most importantly, though, is the signicance of pushing 

the boundaries of where humans can go, what they can see and 

how they can interpret it,” he said in a statement. 

The journey down to the Challenger Deep valley of the 

Mariana Trench, which lies southwest of Guam, took two 

hours and 36 minutes, organisers said. 

The lm-maker stayed for about three hours on the sea 

oor, where he collected samples for research in marine biology, 

microbiology, astrobiology, marine geology and geophysics, 

and captured photographs and 3D moving images. 

Cameron is the rst person to make a solo dive to the Pacic 

Ocean trench. The last dive of any kind there was made by 

a two-man team in a relatively brief expedition back in 1960. 

His rst words on reaching the bottom were “All systems 

OK,” according to a mission statement. 

He then tweeted: “Just arrived at the ocean’s deepest pt. 

Hitting bottom never felt so good. Can’t wait to share what 

I’m seeing w/ you.” 

After a faster-than-expected, roughly 70-minute ascent, 

Cameron’s sub, bobbing in the open ocean, was spotted by 

helicopter and plucked from the Pacic by a research ship’s 

crane, organisers said. 

Expedition physician Joe MacInnis called Cameron’s descent 

“the ultimate test of a man and his machine.” 

Mission partner the National Geographic said Cameron had 

reached a depth of 10,898 metres at 7:52 am yesterday in his 

specially designed submersible the Deepsea Challenger. 

Because of its extreme depth, the Mariana Trench is cloaked 

in perpetual darkness and the temperature is just a few degrees 

above freezing. 

The water pressure at the bottom is a crushing eight tonnes 

per square inch — or about a thousand times the standard atmospheric 

pressure at sea level. 

The images collected by Cameron will be used to make a 

3-D feature lm, which is expected to be broadcast on the National 

Geographic Channel. — AFP 

S 

INDIAN male, l 39, 16 years 

exp, in purchase, purchas import/ 

export, export inventory, invento freights, 

general management, 

MBA (Logistics & Supply 

Chain), valid Omani 

driving licence, seeks 

suitable placement. Contact 

99500670 

INDIAN male, Sr 

Accountant, B Com, 

MBA Finance, 10 years 

experience in Accounts 

& Finance (4 years in 

Oman). Having valid 

Omani driving licence, 


98248377. 

FILIPINO, female, BS 

in commerce graduate, 

a multi-tasking and 4 

years UAE experienced 

operations ofcer with 

secretarial skills in line 

with tourism mainly in 

transportation industry, 

knowledge in MS Ofce, 

business correspondence 

and highly levelled 

customer service oriented 

96893261158, e-mail: 

arcel _77@yahoo.com 

CIVIL Engineer diploma 

with 5 years experience 

with driving licence, seeks 

placement 98828536. 

INDIAN male, 27 years, 

creative, dedicated, quick 

learner, studied in ISM, 

Oman, up to 12th standard, 

B.Com, MCA (Bombay 

Uni), 1 year exp as software 

developer, C#.net, ASP. 

net, SQL, HTML, CSS 

97329324 hiren_84@ 

hotmail.com 

DEGREE in Interior 

Design with 3 years of 

experience, procient 

in AutoCad, Photoshop, 

3D Max, MS Ofce, 

seeks suitable position 

93257449, E-mail: 

bolakidia@gmail.com. 

Mailing Address: OBSERVER CLASSIFIEDS SECTION, P.O. Box 974, Muscat, P.C. 100 

Location: OEPPA HEAD OFFICE, Medinat Al Alam, 

Near Ministry of Information 24649 593, 594, 594, 595, 596, 597 

& OEPPA Ruwi Office, Next to Dhofar Bldg, Behind Ruwi Police Station 24785668 

15 

SPOTLIGHT/CLASSIFIEDS 


INDIAN male, 39 years, 

hotel management PG, 

diploma holder, 12 years 

experience in manager 

operation, house-keeping, 

F and B service. Currently 

on family visa, seeks a 

suitable placement 

98424621. 

ELECTRONICS & 

communication engineer 

(BE), Indian male, 23 

years, CCNA ceritied 

& industrial automation, 

studied in Oman, now on 

visit.99457898. 

INDIAN male, 22 

years, CCNA, MCP, 

doing BA Sociology, 

2 years experience in 

IT engineering and can 

handle OS related issues 

in hardware, seeks good 

placement 93472051. 

INDIAN female, 26 

years, BSc graduate, 

MBA (HR/ back ofce/ 

admin/ customer support, 


Interested areas: HR/back 

ofce/admin/customer 

support 96715884. 

ELECTRONICS & 

communication engineer 

(BE), Indian male, 23 

years, CCNA ceritied 

& industrial automation, 

studied in Oman, now on 

visit.99457898. 


CREWS prepare the Deepsea Challenger for its rst test in the ocean at Jervis Bay, south of Sydney. Right: James Cameron slides into the hatch of the Deepsea Challenger 

submersible as he prepares for his record dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. — Reuters 

Asia gets new budget airline eyeing Chinese yers 

SYDNEY — Australian ag carrier 

Qantas and China Eastern Airlines 

said yesterday they will launch a new 

Hong Kong-based budget airline next 

year aimed at cashing in on China’s 

booming aviation market. 

The new low-cost Asian carrier, 

Jetstar Hong Kong, will y shorthaul 

routes, including in China, Japan, 

South Korea and Southeast Asia, 

the partners announced. 

The move marks a major expansion 

of Jetstar, Qantas’s budget brand, 

which ies domestic Australian and 

Asian routes, and comes as the embattled 

carrier struggles to refocus on 

Asia, the world’s fast-growing aviation 

market. 

“This is a unique opportunity to 

capitalise on the enormous potential 

of the Greater China market, where 

the penetration of low-cost carriers is 

less than ve per cent,” Jetstar’s Chief 

Executive Bruce Buchanan said. 

“Jetstar’s fares will be 50 per cent 

less than existing full-service carriers, 

which we’ve seen create new 

travel demand in our markets across 

Asia because it enables people to 

make more trips, more often.” 

Qantas and China Eastern — 

which will each have an equal stake 

in Jetstar Hong Kong — told the 

Australian Stock Exchange that the 

new airline would have a maximum 

capitalisation of $198 million. 

Jetstar Hong Kong, which will be 

a pioneer in the China budget market, 

will launch in mid-2013 with a eet of 

three Airbus A320s, but will increase 

that number to 18 by 2015, aiming 

for a 6-7 per cent market share. 

ITUATION ITUATIO WANTED SITUATION WANTED SITUATION WANTED 

GM/Business Manager 

wants change, 20 years 

in Oman, real estate, 

home appliances, 

building material, 

construction machinery, 

business development. 

Contact 93451106 

Shanghai-based China Eastern’s 

chairman Liu Shaoyong said the carrier 

was expected to be protable by 

its third year of operation. 

“We believe there are huge opportunities 

in the Jetstar low fares model 

throughout Asia, including Greater 

China,” Liu said. 

Greater China boasts a travel market 

of almost 300 million passengers 

a year, which is forecast to grow to 

450 million by 2015 as middle class 

spending and travel surge in the vast 

nation, according to Qantas. 

The announcement comes little 

more than a fortnight after Qantas’s 

Asian plans were dealt a blow when 

talks with Malaysian Airlines over a 

premium joint-venture Asian airline 

collapsed. 

Qantas is instead moving to build 

8 YEARS experience 

with .Net,Oracle,PL 

SQL,Sql Server, Business 

Objects,VB & Crystal 

Reports, using share-point 

& moodle for E-Learning 

seeks suitable job. 

96932038 

CIVIL Engineer, diploma 

with 4 years experience 

(18 months in Oman), 

Sudanese nationality, 

having Omani driving 

licence, seeks placement 

92463573 

30 YEARS Indian male, 

PGDBA — Operations, 

having 8 years of Logistics 

and Operations experience 

in Oman, seeks suitable 

placement. Contact 

92337137. 

AUTOCAD 

draughtsman, Indian male, 

32 years, diploma 

in mechanical 

Engineering, 7 years 

experience in pipeline 

and structural drawings. 

98182408. 

A WELL-experienced 

IT Technician and sales, 

3 years experience, 

certication in hardware, 

MCSE, CCNA, good 

communication skills, 

valid Oman D/L, seeks 

good position in IT and 

sales. 96339599. E-mail: 

ahmedmohdkhan@gmail. 

com 

NTERIOR designer 

degree holder, procient 

in AutoCad, MS Ofce, 

3D MAX, Photoshop, 

seeks a good position as 

Interior Designer. Contact 

93257449. E-mail: 

bolakida@gmail.com 

INDIAN educated, 

with more than 3 years 

experience in Oman 

in sales parts, having 

valid visa. 96589246. 

STORE warehouse & 

logistics management 

professional with valid 

experience in Asian 

countries, now employed 

with a leading group 

company in Oman, seeks 

opportunity. 94211162. 

FILIPINO female, BS 

Commerce graduate, 

a multi-tasking & 4 

years UAE experienced 

operations ofcer with 

secretarial skills in line 

with tourism mainly in 

transportation industry, 

knowledge in MS Ofce 

business correspondence 

and highly levelled 

customer service oriented 

96893261158 arcel_77@ 

yahoo.com 

IINDIAN male 23 years, 

Mechanical Engineer 

(B-Tech) fresher with 

HSE certications in 

Nebosh (IGC), Josh (MS) 

and Medic First, holding 

a valid Omani driving 

licence, seeks suitable job 

in Muscat. Contact: 

93774987. e-mail: cibil. 

binoy@gmail.com 

PERSON with 3 years 

experience in 

Administration and 

Accounting, seeks 

immediate placement. 

Contact: 99000706. 

4 YEARS experience in 

marketing & administration 

with valid driving licence, 


Contact: 92837262. 

ZAJEL weekly magazine evry saturday along with OMAN DAILY 

for advertising contact 

Mobile 96224397 95181747 

Tel 24649593 Fax 24649590 Email zajeloman@yahoocom 

on the successful business model of 

budget Jetstar, which has branded 

operations in Singapore, Vietnam and 

Japan, by boosting trafc through 

more affordable travel. 

“We see tremendous potential for 

the Qantas Group in Asia,” Qantas 

chief executive Alan Joyce said. 

“We hope it’s the rst of a whole 

series of partnerships that we can get 

involved in” in Asia, he added. 

Qantas in August announced plans 

to establish a joint-venture in Asia as 

it repositions itself towards the region 

and seeks to turn around its loss-making 

international arm as the global industry 

struggles. 

Talks with Malaysia and Singapore 

on a premium joint venture have 

lapsed but Joyce said both options 

were still under consideration. 

MORE than 15 years Oman 

experienced Storekeeper/ 

Salesman having valid 

Driving licence, on visit, 

seeks suitable placement 

99284879. 

MECHANICAL Engineer 

with 24 years experience in 

QA/QC/ quality systems/ 

construction in GCC 

countries and in a wellknown 

O&G company in 

Oman. Having ISO: 9001 

lead auditor certication, 

welding CSWIP 3.1 

NACE level 1 & 2, valid 

Oman/PDO driving 

licence. Please contact 

96518357, E-mail: 

ns_mani69@gmail.com. 

MALE 34, MCom, 

Accounts Mana ger 

with 12 years exp (6 yrs in 

Oman), seeks suitable post. 

95032936. 

WELL qualified Finance 

Controller with 10 years 

experience in reputable 

manufacturing, contracting 

& trading companies in 

Oman looking for an 

opportunity, currently in 

Sri Lanka, available to join 

immediately. 0094 

778560312. E-mail: 

chamara.sililara@ymail. 

com. Locally contact if 

needed 97195540. 

“We are still reviewing them but 

the time is not right for both Singapore 

and Malaysia, so we are not going 

to do them in the short term,” he 

said. 

Qantas’s Asia plans sparked a 

erce domestic backlash when unveiled 

last year, with Australian unions 

concerned the move would see 

jobs sent abroad. 

The ensuing acrimony between 

management and unions saw Joyce 

ground the entire Qantas eet in 

October, stranding thousands of passengers 

at airports around the world 

and digging into the airline’s bottom 

line. 

Last month Qantas announced it 

would slash at least 500 jobs and cut 

costs after an 83 per cent slump in 

rst-half net prots. — AFP 

BE (Computer Science) 

with CCNA completed 

born and studied till 12th 

in Oman, Indian male, 

23 yrs, seeks suitable job 

94251360, E-mail: 

abumohd3@gmail.com 

INDIAN female MCA 

fresher, looking for a great 

opportunity to work. 

Contact Achutha 

98245969, E-mail: 

achutha08@gmail.com 

INDIAN male , 20 years of 

Gulf experience in HR & 

Admin, stores, logistics 

and warehouses, having 

Oman driving licence, 

Please Contact 

99451254 

26 YEARS Indian male, 

MBA-Marketing with HR, 

3 yrs experience in sales, 

currently in Oman, seeks 

suitable placement. 

Contact: 94260657. 

aneethkanilan@gmail.com 

INDIAN female, MSC 

Biochemistry, good 

knowledge in computer 

& ofce co-ordination, 

accounts assisting, seeks 

good placement. Contact 

99819860. 

CLASSIFIED SECTION 

RUWI: 

24785668 

Behind Royal Oman Police 

Adjacent to Dhofar Building

FLIGHT LIGHT SSCHEDULE 

CHEDULE 

ARRIVALS LS S — TUESDAY 

S 

Flight No Aircraft From om / Via STA 

WY614 B737-8 Dubai 0005 

WY682 B737-8 Riyadh 0015 

WY648 B737-8 Kuwait 0015 

TK858 B737-8 Istanbul 0130 

BG021 DC10 Dacca-Chittagong 0130 

IX141 B737-8 Amritsar 0140 

PK225 B737-3 Karachi 0200 

QR170 A320 Doha 0315 

EY384 A320 Abu Dhabi 0350 

EK866 B777 Dubai 0355 

FZ041 B737-8 Dubai 0415 

GF560 E190 Bahrain 0425 

MS930 B737-8 Cairo 0500 

WY146 A330-200 Malpensa 0605 

WY122 A330-300 Munich 0630 

WY114 A330-300 Frankfurt 0645 

WY652 E175AR Bahrain 0700 

WY662 E175AR Doha 0700 

FZ043 B737-8 Dubai 0740 

WY132 A330-200 Paris 0745 

WY674 B737-8 Jeddah 0800 

WY202 B737-8 Bombay 0800 

WY914 B737-8 Salalah 0800 

WY632 ATR42 Abu Dhabi 0800 

WY602 B737-8 Dubai 0825 

WY326 B737-8 Islamabad 0900 

WY322 B737-8 Karachi 0900 

WY102 A330-300 London Heathrow 0900 

WY262 B737-8 Lucknow 0920 

EK862 B777 Dubai 0930 

QR166 A321 Doha 0950 

G9113 A320 Sharjah 0955 


PK191 ATR42 Gwadur 1045 

9W530 B737-8 Trivandrum 1045 

WY3302 ATR42 Mukhaizna 1045 

IX549 B737-8 Trivandrum 1050 

WY604 E175AR Dubai 1100 

WY916 E175AR Salalah 1200 

WY314 B737-8 Chittagong 1210 


IX337 B737-8 Calicut 1255 

WY918 ATR42 Khasab 1315 

WY606 B737-8 Dubai 1330 

WY924 A330-300 Salalah 1410 

IX815 B737-8 Mangalore 1425 


FZ045 B737-8 Dubai 1545 

RJ602 ERJ175 Amman 1545 

WY664 E175AR Doha 1615 

WY328 B737-8 Lahore 1640 



WY204 B737-8 Bombay 1655 

WY244 B737-8 Delhi 1710 

WY298 B737-8 Calicut 1750 

WY284 B737-8 Bangalore 1800 

WY216 B737-8 Trivandrum 1805 

GF564 A319 Bahrain 1810 

WY236 B737-8 Hyderabad 1835 


SV534 EMB170 Riyadh 1900 

TG507 A330 Bangkok-Karachi 1900 

G9117 A320 Sharjah 1905 

WY926 B737-8 Salalah 1945 

FZ047 B737-8 Dubai 2020 


WY338 B737-8 Kathmandu 2100 

AI973 A320 Delhi 2125 

BA073 B777 London Heathrow-Abu Dhabi 2130 


WY926 B737-8 Salalah 2155 

AI907 A319 Madras 2200 

WY406 B737-8 Cairo 2215 

WY381 A330-300 Male-Colombo 2215 

LH618 A330 Frankfurt-Abu Dhabi 2225 


QR168 A320 Doha 2235 

LX242 A330 Zurich-Dubai 2235 

GF566 B737-7 Bahrain 2250 

WY228 B737-8 Cochin 2250 

WY624 ATR42 Al Ain 2305 

WY656 B737-8 Bahrain 2305 

WY668 B737-7 Doha 2310 

WY928 B737-8 Salalah 2310 

AI985 A321 Ahmedabad-Bombay 2310 

WY672 A330-300 Jeddah 2315 


WY686 B737-8 Dammam 2320 

9W534 B737-8 Cochin 2330 

WY816 A330-200 Bangkok 2335 

9W540 B737-8 Bombay 2340 

WY258 B737-8 Madras 2340 

QUOTATIONS FOR TODAY 

Wise men talk because they have 

something to say; fools, because 

they have to say something. 

— Plato 

The secret of being tiresome is 

to tell everything. 

— Voltaire 

CINEMA 

FILM INFORMATION 

www.citycinemaoman.net 

AL BAHJA CINEMA: 

24540856, 24540855. 

AL NASR CINEMA: 

24831358, 24831809 (after 3pm) 

AL SHATTI PLAZA: 

24607360, 24692656 (after 2pm) 

STARS CINEMA: 

24791641, 24792360 

MAJLIS A’SHURA 

ADDRESSES 

Keep in touch with Majlis Ash’shura’s 

news. 

Log on to the Majlis’s website: 

www.shura.om 

and the Majlis’s 

e-mail: info@shura.om 

Or write to the Majlis’s postal address: 

P O Box 981 

Postal Code 111, Muscat 

Tel: 24510344 / 24521427/ 

Fax 24510560 

INFORMATION 

MINISTRY WEBSITES 

Ministry: www.omanet.om 

Oman TV: 

www.oman-tv.gov.om 

Oman Radio: 

www.oman-radio.gov.om 

Omani Centre for Traditional Music: 

www.octm-folk.gov.om 

OMAN RADIO 

6.00 Opening, Royal Anthem, The Holy Quran, Preview of 

Morning Programme, Weather Forecast and Pharmacies 

on Duty; 6.15 Good Morning Oman; 7.00 News Bulletin; 

7.10 Good Morning Oman (Sat-Wed) with What the Paper 

Says; 9.00 News Headlines; 9.02 Piano; 10.00 

Instrumental Music; 11.00 Light Classical Music; 12.00 

News Headlines, 12.02 Midday Edition (Live) Sat-Wed; 

2.07 Around the World in 30 mins; 2:25 Jungle — On 

Road with 90.4 — Sat-Wed; 2.30 News Bulletin; 2.40 

Sports (Faiq) Daily except Thu & Fri; 2:50 Mix Music 

Except Thu & Fri; 3.00 Women in Focus — Nisham 

Repeat of Thu 6.40 & Fri 3.30 pm; 3.20 Radio Station 

Jingles and Programmes; 3.25 Mix Music; 3.30 Health 

Matters; 4.00 News Headlines; 4.02 Health Matters; 6.00 

Forts and Castles of Oman — Laxmi Repeat of Monday 

3.00 & Fri 2.40 pm;. 6.15 Radio Station Jingles and 

Programmes; 6.30 News Bulletin; 6.40 Mix Music; 7.00 

Football Lounge (Rumaitha); 8.00 News Headlines; 8.02 

Night Express; 10.00 News Bulletin; 10.10 Flash Back; 

11.15 Mix Music; 12.40 News Summary; 12.45 The Holy 

Quran; 01.00 National Anthem, Close Down. 

DEPARTURES 

DEPARTURESS 

Flight No Aircraft To / Via STD 

BA072 B777 Abu Dhabi-London Heathrow 0001 

AI986 A321 Bombay-Ahmedabad 0005 


9W539 B737-8 Bombay 0045 

KQ318 B737-8 Nairobi 0050 

WY601 B737-8 Dubai 0115 


WY261 B737-8 Lucknow 0125 

WY201 B737-8 Bombay 0130 

9W529 B737-8 Trivandrum 0130 

WY661 E175AR Doha 0130 


WY313 B737-8 Chittagong 0200 

WY325 B737-8 Islamabad 0220 

TK859 B737-8 Istanbul 0220 

WY321 B737-8 Karachi 0220 

IX816 B737-8 Abu Dhabi-Mangalore 0220 

PK226 B737-3 Karachi 0300 

BG022 DC10 Chittagong-Dacca 0300 

EK867 B777 Dubai 0500 

FZ042 B737-8 Dubai 0500 


QR171 A320 Doha 0550 

MS931 B737-8 Cairo 0600 



WY915 E175AR Salalah 0800 


FZ044 B737-8 Dubai 0820 

WY243 B737-8 Delhi 1000 

WY717 B737-8 Zanzibar-Dar-es-Salaam 1000 

WY327 B737-8 Lahore 1000 

WY825 A330-200 Kuala Lumpur 1000 

WY923 A330-300 Salalah 1005 

WY297 B737-8 Calicut 1005 

WY215 B737-8 Trivandrum 1010 

WY815 A330-200 Bangkok 1010 

WY917 ATR42 Khasab 1030 

WY605 B737-8 Dubai 1030 

WY381 A330-300 Male-Colombo 1030 

G9114 A320 Sharjah 1035 

WY203 B737-8 Bombay 1040 

EK863 B777 Dubai 1045 


QR167 A321 Doha 1055 


WY235 B737-8 Hyderabad 1115 

PK192 ATR42 Gwadur-Turbat 1130 

9W533 B737-8 Cochin 1145 

IX554 B737-8 Cochin-Trivandrum 1150 

WY337 B737-8 Kathmandu 1155 

WY663 E175AR Doha 1215 


WY405 B737-8 Cairo 1310 



IX350 B737-8 Calicut 1355 

WY101 A330-300 London Heathrow 1400 

WY227 B737-8 Cochin 1445 


IX142 B737-8 Abu Dhabi-Amritsar 1515 

WY671 A330-300 Jeddah 1540 

WY257 B737-8 Madras 1545 

FZ046 B737-8 Dubai 1630 

RJ603 ERJ175 Amman 1630 


WY925 B737-8 Salalah 1750 


GF565 A319 Bahrain 1855 

WY685 B737-8 Dammam 1905 

WY647 B737-8 Kuwait 1905 

WY927 B737-8 Salalah 1905 

WY681 B737-8 Riyadh 1910 

WY667 B737-7 Doha 1910 

WY655 B737-8 Bahrain 1915 

G9118 A320 Sharjah 1945 

SV535 EMB170 Riyadh 2000 

TG508 A330 Karachi-Bangkok 2005 

WY623 ATR42 Al Ain 2015 

WY613 B737-8 Dubai 2045 

FZ048 B737-8 Dubai 2105 

WY635 E175AR Abu Dhabi 2105 

WY913 B737-8 Salalah 2245 

AI908 A319 Madras 2300 

AI974 A320 Delhi 2310 


LX243 A330 Dubai-Zurich 2335 

QR169 A320 Doha 2335 

GF567 B737-7 Bahrain 2345 

LH619 A330 Abu Dhabi-Frankfurt 2345 

CRYPTIC PUZZLE 

ACROSS 

1 Holiday snaps? (6) 

7 Hotel permitted to be 

regarded as sacred (8) 

8 Occasion for hearty 

sentiments? (4) 

10 Possible dearth of what a 

seamstress needs (6) 

11 With which to picture me 

in a car maybe? (6) 

14 Anybody single (3) 

16 Give the kid a quid, 

that’s all (5) 

17 Dogs, for instance, can 

make you step back (4) 

19 Tempted to break a rule 

to a good end (5) 

21 Never really an Angel 

from Hell! (5) 

22 Thus persuaded to get 

shoes mended (5) 

23 Complain of a cheating 

device? (4) 

26 Giving Romeo a wild 

kiss can be chancy! (5) 

28 Shot a duck, making a 

sticky mess (3) 

29 Flower a learner will 

long for? (6) 

30 An Australian digger (6) 

31 Form of pear yielding oil 

and fodder (4) 

32 A sailor’s left, quite fit, 

yet maybe carried (8) 

33 A naval commander of 

singular vision (6) 

DOWN 

1 Couple falling out of a 

motor coach put in 

reverse (4-2) 

2 In France, a friend gets 

directions to this city (6) 

3 It seems the vessel had 

cast off (4) 

4 Will it distend one’s 

stomach? (7) 

5 Very nice and, in a way, 

very small (5) 

6 It’s perfect when I give 

people a hand (5) 

8 Run as Communist? (4) 

9 She has the master key 

(3) 

12 A youth of modish dressconsciousness? 

(3) 

ARIES 

(March 21-April 20) 

Due to a letter just received 

you will have to improvise 

arrangements for visitors, but they 

appreciate that you have not had time to 

make any elaborate preparations. 

TAURUS 

(April 21-May 20) 

Try to mix with people 

who share your interests 

instead of spending time on empty 

social encounters. There is a lot to be 

learned from the experience of others. 

GEMINI 

(May 21-June 21) 

Be your own natural self if 

you want to impress a new 

acquaintance of the opposite sex. There 

is no point in putting up a front, which 

you cannot maintain. 

CANCER 

(June 22-July 21) 

Something which is worrying 

you and you are finding 

it difficult to cope with will be partially 

resolved today and completely resolved 

soon. 

16 

INFORMATION/LEISURE TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2012 

PHARMACIES 

PHARM 

24-HOUR SERVICE 

Al Hashar ph, Ruwi 24783334 

Muscat ph, Ruwi, 24702542 

Al Sarooj, 24695536 

Scientific ph, Qurum, 24566601 

Ruwi, 24702850 

DAY DUTY 

Muscat Scientific 24451195 

Waleed 24492897 

Scientific 24537127 

Bombay 24795252 

Sur Al Fajr 25543113 

Ibri Al Huda 25692604 

Buraimi Zohal 25640211 

Nizwa Qalaa 25431666 

Salalah Abu Aldahab 

23291303 

NIGHT DUTY 

Muscat Al Jabry 24420761 

Atlas 24503585 

Muscat 24535977 

Muscat 24833323 

Sur Medical 25540755 

Ibri Muscat 25689216 

Buraimi Yass 1 25653855 

Barka Badr Al Samaa 

26884910 

Rustaq Al Rustaq 26875045 

Samayil Sumail 25350653 

Nizwa Al Qalaa 25410076 

Salalah Muscat 23291635 

KHOULA HOSPITAL VISITING HOURS 

Private & Other Wards 

Working Days: 16:00-18:00. Weekends & Public 

Holidays: 10:-12:00, 16:00-18:00 

ICU 

Working Days: 16:00-17:00. Weekends & Public 

Holidays: 16:00-17:00 

Special Care Baby Unit 

Working Days: Parents may visit at any time. 

Weekends & Public Holidays: Parents may visit 

at any time 

CROSSWORD 

13 Two will reach across the 

ring (5) 

15 Edward, touring the 

United Kingdom, did 

terrible damage! (5) 

18 Letter by which you hear 

from some female (1-4) 

19 She has fifty-one pounds, 

but a diamond would suit 

her! (3) 

20 Looking angry, floored 

by some mad fool? (3) 

21 Foreigner possibly 

seeming a snob to Ian (7) 

22 Runner a Pole may be 

finished with (3) 

23 Drive an officer round 

with a new MEP (6) 

24 As worn by a Bobby at 

closing time? (4) 

25 Piece of wood — or a 

piece of cake? (6) 

26 For prams, they need the 

right electric current (5) 

27 Fun with a “mate” (5) 

28 Indian tailless goat (3) 

30 Jenny, like Jack in a way 

(4) 

EASY PUZZLE 

ACROSS 

1 Afternoon nap (6) 

7 Demonic (8) 

8 Rotary file (4) 

10 Bad luck (6) 

11 Partial refund (6) 

14 Generation (3) 

16 Speed contests (5) 

17 Weary (4) 

19 Cloth made of flax (5) 

21 Timorous (5) 

22 Student (5) 

23 Lost blood (4) 

26 From Rome (5) 

28 Owing (3) 

29 Charm (6) 

30 Illusion (6) 

31 Unlock (4) 

32 Cloistered (8) 

33 Of horses (6) 

DOWN 

1 Small pouch (6) 

2 Blurred mark (6) 

3 Hairstyle (4) 

4 Enraged (7) 

5 Pale mauve colour (5) 

6 Brogues, say (5) 

8 Male pig (4) 

9 Fish eggs (3) 

12 Forbid (3) 

13 Taut (5) 

15 Restrict (5) 

YOUR STARS 

LEO 

(July 22-August 21) 

Don’t base your decision 

concerning a young person’s 

future on your own enthusiasm. Consider 

his points of view — his feelings should 

be of greater importance. 

VIRGO 

(August 22-Sept 22) 

You may have to take the 

initiative if a person of the 

opposite sex continues hiding their feelings 

and is too shy to approach you. 

LIBRA 

(September 23- 

October 22) 

Make an effort to get in 

touch more often with a relative to 

whom you owe a great deal. He may 

have reason to feel hurt by your apparent 

neglect. 

SCORPIO 

(October 23- 

November 21) 

Don’t resist your partner’s 

attempts to put something by for the 

future, but be glad that at least one of 

you is provident and thinks ahead. 

Hospital. . . . . . Board . . . . . . . Emergency 

Royal. . . . . . . .24599000 . . . .24590491 

Health Services Department 

Muttrah . . . . . .24797602 

Quriyat . . . . . .24845001 . . . .24845003 

SQH, Salalah .23211555 . . . .23211151 

Police . . . . . . .24603988 . . . .24603980 

Al Nahda. . . . .24831255 . . . .24837800 

Ibn Sina . . . . .24876322 . . . .24877361 

Nizwa . . . . . . .25439361 . . . .25425033 

Al Rustaq . . . .26875055 . . . .26877186 

Sumayil. . . . . .25350055 . . . .25350022 

Izki . . . . . . . . .25340033 . . . .25340033 

Haima . . . . . . .23436013 . . . .23436055 

Sohar . . . . . . .26840022 . . . .26840099 

18 Parlance (5) 

19 Impudent talk (3) 

20 Nothing (3) 

21 Melodious (7) 

22 Friend (3) 

23 Writing desk (6) 

24 Thin (4) 

25 Sprinkle with flour (6) 

26 Lift (5) 

27 Chew noisily (5) 

28 Plunge (3) 

30 Manner (4) 

YESTERDAY’S CRYPTIC 

SOLUTIONS 

ACROSS: 1, AS-hen 6, 

Right 9, Left out 10, Wh-Eat 

11, Sense 12, S-p-asm 13, 

Ar-res-ts 15, Ten 17, Pa-I-d 

18, Marina 19, Arson 20, Insect 

22, Lame 24, Su-E 25, 

Bananas 26, S-U-gar 27, (h-) 

Oboes 28, Genie 29, Weak- 

ENS 30, Grand 31, Ut-t-er. 

DOWN: 2, Sahara 3, E-Lated 

4, Net (ten) 5, Steps(on) 

6, RUSS-Ian 7, Item 8, 

Hasten 12, Start 13, Aphis 

14, Ri-n-se 15, Titan(-ic) 16, 

Names 18, Molar 19, A-c.c.used 

21, Number 22, Late- 

St. 23, Max-in-e 25, Banks 

26, Sewn 28, Gnu. 

YESTERDAY’S EASY 

SOLUTIONS 

ACROSS: 1. Glass; 6. 

Swats; 9. Leather; 10. 

Macaw; 11. Veers; 12. 

Vixen; 13. Demonic; 15. Far; 

17. Adam; 18. Lahore; 19. 

Flail; 20. Utopia; 22. Stun; 

24. Mar; 25. Kittens; 26. 

Scout; 27. Sloth; 28. Colic; 

29. Aerosol; 30. Arabs; 31. 

Glade. 

DOWN: 2. Loaded; 3. 

Slalom; 4. Sew; 5. Attic; 6. 

Several; 7. Wren; 8. Tartar; 

12. Villa; 13. Datum; 14. 

Major; 15. Forte; 16. Reins; 

18. Licit; 19. Filches; 21. 

Tailor; 22. Stroll; 23. 

Unkind; 25. Kudos; 26. 

Stab; 28. Cog. 

IF IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY: There is a great deal of work required of you in the coming year which only you can 

do. The home situation requires some sorting out and you are the only person who can handle the present state of 

affairs but you can be sure that it will be well worth while in the end. 

SAGITTARIUS 

(November 22- 

December 21) 

Put a time limit on that overdue 

household task, and avoid straining 

domestic relationships. It is not a job 

that can be put off any loner. 

CAPRICORN 

(December 22- 

January 20) 

Make allowances for a 

friend’s pre-occupation with his own 

pressing problems, and don’t expect his 

individual attention at the moment. 

AQUARIUS 

(January 21-February 19) 

Don’t let your determination 

to stick to a strict 

budget evaporate. You’ll need every 

penny if you are to achieve your ambitions 

for the future. 

PISCES 

(February 20-March 20) 

Try to conduct your life 

along more consistent lines 

instead of jumping from one project to 

another, and you will be rewarded with 

steadier progress. 

OTHER HOSPITALS 

Al Buraimi . . . .25650855 . . . .25652319 

Sur . . . . . . . . .25440244 . . . .25461373 

Tanam. . . . . . .25499011 . . . .25499033 

Masirah. . . . . .25404018 . . . .25404018 

Ibra . . . . . . . . .25470533 . . . .25470535 

Adam . . . . . . .25434167 . . . .25434055 

Bidiya . . . . . . .25483535 . . . .25483535 

Ibri. . . . . . . . . .25491011 . . . .25491990 

Saham . . . . . .26854427 . . . .26855148 

Khasab . . . . . .26830187 . . . .26830187 

Dibba . . . . . . .26836443 . . . .26836443 

Burkha . . . . . .26828397 . . . .26828397 

Sinaw . . . . . . .25474338 

ACROSS 

1 Cease (4) 

4 Weep (3) 

6 Irritation (4) 

8 Uproar (6) 

9 Excursion (6) 

10 Novel (3) 

12 Pulsate (5) 

14 Stream (5) 

15 Canoe (5) 

18 Respect (6) 

20 Introduce (6) 

24 Giant (5) 

26 Utter (5) 

28 Showy (5) 

30 Encountered (3) 

32 Courteous (6) 

33 Beg (6) 

34 Present (4) 

35 Fixed (3) 

36 Sketched (4) 

DOWN 

2 Veracity (5) 

3 Incite (7) 

4 Observed (4) 

5 Gust (4) 

6 Bury (5) 

7 Frankness (7) 

FAISAL BIN ALI AL SAID MUSEUM, 

Tel: 24641650 

MUSEUM OF OMANI HERITAGE, 

Tel: 24600946 

CHILDREN’S SCIENCE MUSEUM. 

Tel: 24605368 

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, 

Tel: 24641374 

NATIONAL MUSEUM, Tel: 24701289 

SULTAN’S ARMED FORCES 

MUSEUM, Tel: 24312646 

CURRENCY MUSEUM, 

Tel: 24796102 

MUSCAT GATE MUSEUM, 

Tel: 24739005. 

OMANI-FRENCH MUSEUM (Bait 

Fransa), Tel: 24736613 

BAIT AL ZUBAIR, Tel: 24736688 

BAIT A’NAMAN, Tel: 24641300 

SOHAR FORT MUSEUM. 

Tel: 26844758 

NAHKAL FORT, Tel: 26781384 

BAIT AL MAKHAM. Tel: 24641300 

BAIT ADAM MUSEUM, QURUM, 

Tel: 24605033, 24605013 

OIL AND GAS EXHIBITION 

CENTRE AND PLANE-TARIUM, 

Tel: 24677834. 

PLANETARIUM, Tel: 24675542. 

AQUARIUM at the Marine Science 

and Fisheries Centre (located next to 

Marina Bandar Rowdha, Sidab). 

SALALAH MUSEUM, Tel: 23294549 

CULTURAL CENTRE, Tel: 23294549. 

SUR MARITIME MUSEUM, 

Tel: 24541466. 

BAIT AL BARANDA, Tel: 24714262. 

QUICK CROSSWORD 

11 Epoch (3) 

12 Hill (3) 

13 Lever (3) 

16 Still (3) 

17 Equipment (3) 

19 Burst (7) 

M USEUMS IN OMAN 

21 Horse (3) 

22 Broke (7) 

23 Attempt (3) 

25 Wrath (3) 

27 Living (5) 

29 Hang (5) 

CARTOONS 

ROYAL OMAN POLICE 

EMERGENCY 9 9 9 9 

DG of Passports & Residency, 24569603 

DG of Customs, 24714626 

Traffic offences, 24510227/228 

ROP Public Relations, 24569270 

Consumer Complaints Cell, 24817013 

Muscat Governorate Headquarters, 24560021 

Muscat, 24736611 

Wattayah, 24677990 

Ruwi, 24701099 

Muttrah, 24712211 

Bausher, 24600099 

Al Amerat, 24875999 

Qurayat, 24845555 

A’Seeb, 24420099 

Al-Athaiba, 24521099 

AI-Khodh, 24425012 

Directorate of the University Security, 24513999 

Directorate of Traffic Muscat, 24567898 

Al Batinah Headquarters, 26840096 

Al Rustaq Division, 26875099 

Al Dakhiliyah, 25425099 

Nizwa Division, 25425099 

Samayil Division, 25350099 

Al Sharqiyah Headquarters, 25545070 

Ibra Division, 25570100 

Al Dhahirah Headquarters, 25650099 

Al Buraimi Division, 25650199 

Ibri Division, 25689099 

Al Wusta Headquarters, 23436099 

Haima Division, 23436211 

Special Task Force, 24560088 

Coastguard Headquarters, 24714888 

Dhofar Governorate Headquarters, 23234599 

Salalah Police Station, 23290099 

Thamrait Division, 23279099 

Musandam Governorate Headquarters, 

26730299 

Khasab Division, 26731502 

ROP websites: www.rop.gov.om, www.ropoman. 

net and 

e-mail: ropnet@omantel.net.om 

30 Muddle (4) 

31 Acid (4) 

YESTERDAY’S 

QUICK SOLUTION 

ACROSS: 2, Civil 7, 

Shear 8, Voter 10, Boxer 

12, Led 13, Basin 15, 

Massage 17, Opened 

19, Vat 20, Delayed 

23, Seem 25, Rise 26, 

Dappled 30, Sea 31, 

Detest 34, Robotic 37, 

Array 38, Don 39, Rifle 

40, Heart 41, Enter 42, 

Beard. 

DOWN: 1, Cheap 2, 

Cabin 3, Ironed 4, Item 

5, Bolster 6, Wedge 9, 

Tea 11, Ravaged 13, 

Boast 14, Sewed 16, 

Say 18, Despair 21, 

Diver 22, Hefty 24, Masonry 

27, Pet 28, Dealer 

29, Rodeo 32, Trend 33, 

Saver 35, Boa 36, Cite. 

ADAM @ HOME by Brian Basset 

CALVIN AND HOBBES by Bill Watterson 

GARFIELD by Jim Davis 

STONE SOUP by Jan Eliot

MIAMI — World No 2 Rafael 

Nadal cruised through to the 

last 16 at the ATP/WTA Miami 

Masters tournament, while 

fourth seeded Andy Murray 

advanced without even breaking 

a sweat on Sunday. 

Nadal continued his domination 

over Czech Radek 

Stepanek with a straight forward 

6-2, 6-2 victory in a third 

round match on centre court. 

Murray reached the fourth 

round by not hitting a ball 

when Canadian Milos Raonic 

withdrew with a right ankle 

injury. 

Nadal, who is chasing his 

first Miami title, has now beaten 

Stepanek in all six contests 

dating back to their first meeting 

in 2004. 

"I am just happy to be in 

the fourth round winning two 

matches with positive feeling 

and with comfortable results," 

Nadal said. "I will just try 

to keep doing well and try to 

keep improving a little bit the 

level." 

Nadal finished with three 

aces, won 74 per cent of his 

first-serve points and saved 

both break point chances he 

faced in the 86 minute match. 

Nadal advances to face 

Japan's Kei Nishikori who 

breezed past Czech Lukas 

Rosol 6-4, 6-2 on Sunday. 

"He's a fantastic player 

and will be a very difficult 

match for me," Nadal said of 

Nishikori. "He has big talent to 

hit the ball very early, to play 

very aggressive." 

The 24-year-old Scot Murray 

will tackle French 13th 

seed Gilles Simon for a place 

in the quarter-finals of a tournament 

he won in 2009. 

Highly-regarded Canadian 

26th seed Raonic had already 

been forced to pull out of the 

doubles on Saturday where 

he and South African partner 

Kevin Anderson had managed 

just three games against 

Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic. 

The 21-year-old Raonic had 

been in a rich vein of form in 

2012, winning titles in Chennai 

and San Jose and making the 

final in Memphis. 

At Indian Wells last week, 

he was knocked out in the third 

round by eventual champion 

Roger Federer. 

"The doctor in Spain doesn't 

think it's anything big. It probably 

just needs a couple days 

of rest and, with treatment, it 

should be OK in a week," said 

Raonic. 

"It's frustrating, but you 

have to look at the big picture." 

Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov 

recorded his first victory over 

a top 10 player when he beat 

seventh-seeded Czech Tomas 

Berdych 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 in two 

hours and 16 minutes. 

Dimitrov saved five of 

seven break points to reach the 

fourth round of a Masters 1000 

tournament for the first time. 

The 20-year-old Dimitrov 

will next face ninth-seeded 

Serb Janko Tipsarevic, who 

fired down 10 aces to get past 

18th-seeded Ukrainian Alexandr 

Dolgopolov 6-4, 5-7, 6-2. 

Tipsarevic leads Dimitrov 

2-0 in their head-to-head series, 

with both meetings com- 

17 SPORT 



Woods ends PGA Tour title drought 

ORLANDO, Florida — Tiger 

Woods ended his two and a 

half year drought on the PGA 

Tour when he won the Arnold 

Palmer Invitational by 

five strokes on Sunday, sending 

a warning signal to his 

rivals ahead of next month's 

Masters. 

The former world No 1 

shot a final round 70 to finish 

at 13-under-par at the Bay 

Hill course where had won six 

times before. 

The American claimed his 

72nd PGA Tour title and his 

first since the BMW Championship 

in Sept. 2009. 

Northern Ireland's Graeme 

McDowell, the 2010 US Open 

champion, finished second, 

five shots behind Woods, after 

starting the final round a shot 

in arrears. 

The win was the first for 

Woods since the very public 

breakdown of his marriage after 

sordid details of his affairs 

were revealed. 

It was also the first victory 

for Woods since the rebuilding 

of his swing by coach Sean 

Foley and comes just two 

weeks after he limped out of 

a PGA event at Doral, raising 

doubts about his fitness for the 

Masters. 

McDowell was never able 

to mount a serious challenge to 

Woods after he made a double 

NEW YORK — Kevin Durant 

upstaged LeBron James 

to guide the Oklahoma City 

Thunder to a 103-87 win 

over the visiting Miami Heat 

on Sunday. In a marquee 

match-up of two teams expected 

to challenge for the 

NBA title, Durant recorded 28 

points, nine rebounds and 

eight assists for the Western 

Conference-leading Thunder 

(37-12). 

Durant, being touted as a 

candidate for the MVP award, 

was at his best in the second 

quarter, shouldering the scoring 

burden as All Star Russell 

Westbrook sat on the bench 

mired in foul trouble. 

Durant scored 11 in the 

quarter and pushed the Thunder 

to an 11-point halftime advantage. 

While Durant clearly got 

the better of fellow MVP candidate 

James, who finished 

with 17 points and seven assists, 

the Thunder's Kendrick 

Perkins and Serge Ibaka provided 

enough defensive presence 

in the middle to stifle the 

Heat. Ibaka finished with 19 

points and 10 rebounds and 

Perkins scored a season-high 

16 points. 

"We did a good job of locking 

the paint up and forcing 

them to shoot contested shots," 

Durant told reporters. "They're 

a really good team, they do 

a lot of good things, we just 

TIGER Woods holds the trophy after winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational PGA 

tournament in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday. — Reuters 

bogey on the first hole, going 

from one greenside bunker to 

another and closed with a 74. 

"I believed I had a chance 

but I just never really got close 

enough to the guy," said Mc- 

Dowell. 

"He played well and de- 

serves his win and it is great 

to have him back winning 

tournaments. I think he is 

great for the world of golf 

and the excitement levels, 

atmosphere, television and 

fans, just great for this game," 

he added. 

Woods led by four at the 

turn and maintained his composure 

on the back nine in a 

time to end his title drought 

and boost his confidence ahead 

of the Masters. 

Fast greens and high winds 

made for some challenging 

conditions but Woods limited 

himself to two bogeys and 

made some key saves, including 

a 13-foot putt for par on 

the 15th that gave Woods a 

four shot lead and effectively 

ended McDowell's hopes. 

Fans followed Woods down 

to the 18th green, cheering 

wildly and after he made par 

on the final hole, the old chant 

of "Tiger, Tiger" boomed out 

from the gallery. 

Woods has already 14 Majors 

but none since the 2008 

US Open and will be among 

the favourites to challenge 

at Augusta, along with the 

world's top two Luke Donald 

and Rory McIlroy. 

"I'm excited there is no 

doubt. I am looking forward 

for the momentum that I've 

built here and the things 

that I have worked on in my 

game all coming together 

at the right time," he said. 

— Reuters 

Durant guides Thunder to win over Heat 

OKLAHOMA City Thunder’s Kevin Durant (left) defends Miami Heat’s LeBron James as he shoots during their 

NBA game in Oklahoma on Sunday. — Reuters 

played hard tonight." 

Miami's Dwyane Wade 

scored a team-high 22 points 

and Chris Bosh added 18 

but the Heat (35-12) were on 

the back foot for most of the 

game. 

The defeat ended their 

four-game win streak and 

leaves them 3.5-games behind 

Eastern Conference-leading 

Chicago. 

Miami made one last push 

to get back in the game in 

the fourth quarter with backto-back 

three-pointers from 

Shane Battier reducing the 

deficit to eight, but the Thunder 

answered with a 9-2 run to 

make the game safe. 

The Heat were sloppy in 

possession and had 21 turnovers 

for the game. 

Results: Phoenix Suns bt 

Cleveland Cavs 108-83, Min- 

nesota Timberwolves bt Denver 

Nuggets 117-100, Atlanta Hawks 

bt Utah Jazz 139-133, Boston Celtics 

bt Washington Wizards 88-76, 

San Antonio Spurs bt Philadelphia 

76ers 93-76, Oklahoma City Thunder 

bt Miami Heat 103-87, Portland 

Trailblazers bt Golden State 

Warriors 90-87, Memphis Grizzlies 

bt LA Lakers 102-96. — Reuters 

Smooth sailing for Nadal, Murray gets walkover; Azarenka wins 

ing last year at Eastbourne and 

Washington. 

On the women's side, American 

wild card Venus Williams 

struggled to defeat Aleksandra 

‘It was just 

pure joy’ 

NEW YORK — Tiger 

Woods said his first win 

in over two years on 

the PGA Tour gave him 

"pure joy" and that it 

had just been a matter 

of patience to finally 

get back to winning 

ways. 

Woods held off 

Northern Ireland's Graeme 

McDowell to win the 

Arnold Palmer Invitational 

by five strokes and 

finally end the nagging 

doubts over whether 

he could ever succeed 

again. 

"It was just pure joy," 

a smiling Woods told reporters. 

"It felt good. This is 

our progression and were 

are heading in the right 

direction. 

"I've gotten better and 

that's the main thing. If 

you look at my results 

... I've been close for a 

number of tournaments 

now. 

"It was just a matter 

of staying the course 

and staying patient, keep 

working on fine tuning 

what we are doing and, 

well, here we are," he 

added. — Reuters 

Penguins outlast Devils 

NEW YORK — The Pittsburgh 

Penguins kept up the 

pressure on the Eastern Conference-leading 

New York 

Rangers with a 5-2 home win 

over New Jersey Devils on 

Sunday. 

Sidney Crosby scored for 

the second game in a row and 

added an assist as the surging 

Penguins (47-22-6) earned 

their 14th win in their last 16 to 

pull a point behind the Rangers 

with seven games left. 

Crosby, who scored in 

Pittsburgh's 8-4 loss to Ottawa 

on Saturday, has two goals 

and 11 assists in seven games 

since returning to the ice from 

concussion-like symptoms. 

"After giving up eight 

goals, not playing the way we 

wanted, it was a good way to 

bounce back," Crosby told reporters.The 

Devils (42-28-6), 

sixth in the East, fell behind 

just a minute into the first period 

after Chris Kunitz scored 

for the Penguins. Zach Parise 

tied the score at 1-1 but the 

Penguins went back in front 

on Jordan Staal's goal. 

Pascal Dupuis' snap shot 

gave the Penguins a two-goal 

lead in the second period before 

Ilya Kovalchuk pulled 

New Jersey back to 3-2 early 

in the third. Crosby responded 

with a wrist shot about a 

minute later and Evgeni Malkin 

sealed the game with his 

Wozniak of Canada 4-6, 6-4, 

7-6 (7/5) and top seed Victoria 

Azarenka powered past Heather 

Watson 6-0, 6-2 in third 

round matches on Sunday. 

Ferrari still have their 

work cut out: Alonso 

SEPANG, Malaysia — 

Spain's Fernando Alonso 

warned Ferrari still had 

their work cut out to stay 

competitive this year despite 

his masterful victory at the 

rain-soaked Malaysian 

Grand Prix. 

Alonso said the team 

were labouring "day and 

night" to improve the cumbersome 

F2012, which despite 

its faults was manoeuvred 

to perfection around 

sodden Sepang by the twotime 

world champion for his 

28th victory. 

The win, after a 51minute 

rain suspension and 

a thrilling victory chase 

from Sauber's Sergio Perez, 

was a major surprise 

after Ferrari struggled 

in pre-season testing and 

at the year's first race in 

Australia. And the 30-yearold 

from Oviedo said the 

result changed nothing for 

Ferrari as they strive to 

match favourites McLaren 

and reigning champions 

Red Bull, as well as newly 

competitive Mercedes. 

"At the start of the season 

we've had some problems 

with the car and some 

lack of pace but we're working 

on that. We're working 

46th goal of the season, taking 

his NHL-leading points total 

to 97, with just over 90 seconds 

left. 

Results: Edmonton Oilers 

bt 6 Columbus Blue Jackets 

RAFAEL Nadal of Spain salutes the crowd after defeating Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic in their men’s singles match in Miami on Sunday. 

PICTURE RIGHT: Victoria Azarenka of Belarus celebrates a point against Heather Watson of Great Britain. — Reuters/AFP 

Williams advances to face 

former world number one Ana 

Ivanovic who beat 20th seeded 

Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 7-6 

(7/2). 

day and night. Ferrari has 

proved over 60 years that 

we're able to win," Alonso 

said. 

"The win has changed 

nothing in our approach 

for the coming weeks. In 

the coming races we'll have 

an aggressive approach we 

need to bring updates for 

the race because we're far 

behind." 

Meanwhile rival boss 

Peter Sauber strenuously 

denied Perez, a product of 

the Ferrari Driver Academy 

who is seen as a future member 

of the Italian marque, 

was under team orders not 

to pass Alonso in the dying 

laps. Sauber technicians 

were heard frantically urging 

Perez to preserve his 

second spot as he hunted 

down the Spaniard before 

dramatically running offcourse 

with six laps to go. 

But the principal of the 

Sauber team, which runs 

Ferrari engines, said there 

was "100 per cent... no discussion 

about the position" 

with the Italian squad. 

"We told him, be careful 

— we need the result — because 

behind us, all of our 

competitors scored points," 

Peter Sauber said — AFP 

PITTSBURGH Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin (right) 

congratulates his team-mate Chris Kunitz on his goal 

against the New Jersey Devils in their NHL game in 

Pittsburgh on Sunday. — Reuters 

6- 3, Washington Capitals bt Minnesota 

3-0, NY Islanders bt Florida 

Panthers3-2 , Pittsburgh bt New Jersey 

5-2, Nashville Preadators bt Chicago 

Blackhawks 6-1, Boston Bruins 

bt Anaheim 3-2, St Louis Blues 

bt Phoenix Coyotes 4-0. — Reuters 

"I just kept coming back," 

Williams said. "I tried not to let 

anything discourage me today. 

I kept thinking about how I really 

need this match and I need 

these points." 

Azarenka will square off 

against 16th seeded Slovakian 

Dominika Cibulkova for a spot 

in the quarter-finals. 

In other women's matches 

on Sunday, French seventh 

seed Marion Bartoli defeated 

Simona Halep 6-4, 7-6 (8/6. 

RESULTS: (x denotes seed): 

Men's 3rd round: Grigor Dimitrov 

(BUL) bt Tomas Berdych (CZE x7) 

6-3, 2-6, 6-4; Andy Murray (GBR 

x4) bt Milos Raonic (CAN x26) - 

walkover; Janko Tipsarevic (SRB 

x9) bt Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR 

x18) 6-4, 5-7, 6-2; Gilles Simon 

(FRA x13) bt Jurgen Melzer (AUT 

x22) 7-6 (7/5), 6-4; Jo-Wilfried 

Tsonga (FRA x6) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber 

(GER x32) 6-4, 7-6 (7/2); Kei 

Nishikori (JPN x16) bt Lukas Rosol 

(CZE) 6-4, 6-2; Rafael Nadal (ESP 

x2) bt Radek Stepanek (CZE x25) 

6-2, 6-2; Florian Mayer (GER x19) 

bt John Isner (USA x10) 6-4, 6-2 

Women's 3rd round: Dominika 

Cibulkova (SVK x16) bt Zheng Jie 

(CHN) 6-2, 6-0; Marion Bartoli (FRA 

x7) bt Simona Halep (ROM) 6-4, 7-6 

(8/6); Maria Kirilenko (RUS x22) bt 

Ksenia Pervak (KAZ) 6-2, 6-1; Garbine 

Muguruza Blanco (ESP) bt Flavia 

Pennetta (ITA x24) 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 

(8/6); Venus Williams (USA) bt Aleksandra 

Wozniak (CAN) 4-6, 6-4, 

7-6 (7/5); Ana Ivanovic (SRB x15) 

bt Daniela Hantuchova (SVK x20) 

6-2, 7-6 (7/2); Agnieszka Radwanska 

(POL x5) bt Silvia Soler-Espinosa 

(ESP) 6-1, 6-2; Victoria Azarenka 

(BLR x1) bt Heather Watson (GBR) 

6-0, 6-2. — AFP

MUSCAT — Curtains will 

come down on the Villeroy & 

Boch + Hansgrohe Open table 

tennis tournament sponsored 

by Al Amana Building Materials 

Company and organised 

by the Indian Social Club 

Muscat when the last three 

finals will be played at the 

ISC Club Hall in Darsait this 

evening. 

Table tennis enthusiasts can 

look forward to a table tennis 

of a high standard this evening 

when the two-week-long tournament 

in which players from 

eight nationalities participated, 

will culminate with Nigerian 

Oluyomi Salako, a sports 

teacher at the American British 

Academy who won the title in 

the city of Starnberg in Germany 

in 2007/2008, taking on 

Korean Oh Kab Kwon in the 

men’s singles final. 

In the first match of the 

evening starting at 7.00 p.m, 

Said al Kharusi of Al Rustaq 

Club will take on Amor al 

Amri of Salalah in the Omani 

singles final. 

The men’s doubles final 

between the dynamic team of 

schoolboys Sachin Hemanth 

and Kenneth Vaz versus the 

seasoned campaigners Suhail 

Khan and Srinivas Laxman 

will also be played this 

evening. 

Oluyomi Salako, proved 

too good and too quick for Suhail 

Khan whom he downed 

11-6, 11-9, 11-5, 11-6 to book 

his berth in the summit clash. 

Table tennis of a high level was 

witnessed in the second semi- 

18 SPORT 



Real, Barca face contrasting opponents in quarters 

REAL Madrid’s players during a training session at GSP Stadium in Nicosia yesterday on the eve of the Champions League first leg quarterfinal match against APOEL. PICTURE RIGHT: APOEL’s players attend a warm-up session. — AFP 

BERLIN — Holders Barcelona 

and domestic rivals Real 

continue their march towards 

a possible "Clasico" in the 

European Champions League 

final against quarterfinal opponents 

who couldn't be more 

different. 

The Spanish league leaders 

Real Madrid visit arguably the 

biggest surprise team in event 

history, APOEL Nicosia of Cyprus, 

today. 

The next day Barca are at 

Italian champions AC Milan 

who have won the elite event 

MADRID — Villarreal moved 

above the danger zone in the 

Spanish Liga on Sunday with 

a 2-0 win at Rayo Vallecano, 

with goals from Marco Ruben 

and veteran defender Angel. 

The comfortable win confirmed 

Villarreal's progress 

under Miguel Angel Lotina, 

who took over as coach last 

week from the short-lived Jose 

Molina. 

The yellows are now fifth 

seven times and are the only 

team to have taken a point off 

the title holders in the campaign 

in a 2-2 group stage 

draw. 

In the other ties, Chelsea 

carry all English hopes when 

they visit Benfica in Lisbon, 

and Bayern Munich are at 

Olympique Marseille in their 

dream of reaching the May 19 

final in their home stadium. 

Just as Barca, Real Madrid 

have won seven and drawn 

the other game in an emphatic 

campaign as they travel to 

from bottom in the league, five 

points above the danger zone, 

and level with Granada on 31 

points. Granada and Villarreal 

are one point below Betis, who 

stayed above the danger zone 

on Sunday with a 1-1 draw at 

home to Racing Santander. 

Roque Santa Cruz put Betis 

ahead. Christian Stuani then 

levelled for Santander, who 

are third from bottom, level on 

25 points with Sporting Gijon 

APOEL, who after surprisingly 

winning their group eliminated 

Olympique Lyon on penalties 

in the round of 16. 

"We've done something 

exceptional, something that 

can never happen again," said 

APOEL president Phivos Erotokritou 

ahead of the biggest 

game in club history. 

Cristiano Ronaldo and 

company are the overwhelming 

favourites even though 

the Spanish league leaders 

will miss the suspended Xabi 

Alonso and injured lassana Di- 

Villarreal, Betis move above Spanish danger zone 

and Zaragoza. 

Earlier on Sunday, Gijon 

drew 1-1 at Bilbao. The result 

did them few favours, just as 

Santander's draw wasn't really 

much help either. 

Zaragoza, for their part, 

beat Atletico Madrid 1-0, 

thanks to a late Apono penalty. 

However, it is clear that they 

are still favourites for relegation, 

together with Gijon and 

Santander. Earlier on Sunday, 

Oluyomi Salako to play Oh Kab Kwon in table tennis final 

MEN’S finalists Oluyomi Salako (left) and Oh Kab Kwon. 

arra, but club director Emilio 

Butragueno remained his usual 

diplomatic self. 

"You never know, football 

is unpredictable and it's true 

that there were very strong 

teams that we wanted to avoid, 

but APOEL have been a big 

surprise in this competition, 

and we have to be extremely 

respectful," Butragueno said. 

"They have reached the 

quarterfinals, which means 

they are a very strong team, so 

we have to be very focused on 

every detail and be alert." Bar- 

Luiz plays down Drogba ‘jibe’ ahead of tie 

LISBON — Chelsea defender David 

Luiz insisted Didier Drogba had not been 

mocking Benfica when he was filmed 

trembling theatrically after the Blues were 

drawn against the Portuguese giants. 

In video shown on Chelsea's website 

shortly after the Champions League quarterfinal 

pairings were announced, Ivory 

Coast striker Drogba could be seen shaking 

uncontrollably after the club were 

drawn with Benfica. 

The footage has been viewed as a jibe 

against Benfica in some quarters, but Luiz 

revealed yesterday that Drogba's bizarre 

act was referencing the fact that Chelsea 

were on course to play Barcelona in the 

semifinals. 

"If people watch the video closely, it's 

not directed at Benfica, it was at Barcelona, 

because Barcelona are a big team," 

Luiz told reporters. 

"It was not directed at Benfica because 

Didier knows that they are a big team 

and that Benfica are going to be difficult 

opponents."Benfica coach Jorge Jesus 

meanwhile laughed off Drogba's antics, 

but pointedly took a swipe at the demise 

of English giants Manchester United and 

Manchester City against Portuguese op- 

CHELSEA’S Brazilian defender David 

Luiz gives a press conference yesterday 

in Lisbon on the eve of his team’s 

Champions League match against 

Benfica. — AFP 

position this season. 

Benfica helped eliminate United in 

the first round of the Champions League 

while Sporting Lisbon dumped City out 

of the Europa League earlier this month. 

"Mr Drogba? Who knows what he 

was thinking, he was probably joking," 

Jesus smiled. "But Benfica and Sporting 

eliminated England's top two teams from 

Europe this season so you can see that 

Portuguese football is strong. "Any re- 

sponses we give to Drogba will be given 

on the field." 

Jesus also shrugged off the problems 

bedevilling Chelsea, who are struggling 

to qualify for next season's Champions 

League following a difficult season which 

saw the departure of Andre Villas-Boas 

earlier this month. 

"It's not important. They are a team 

well-used to reaching finals of big competitions," 

Jesus said. "The change of coach 

doesn't change the quality and experience 

of the players that they have. They are 

used to reaching finals." 

The Benfica coach also played down 

the significance of Benfica's formidable 

home record at the Stadium of Light, 

where they are unbeaten in 10 home 

matches in European competition. 

"(The home record) is only a sign that 

we've played well all the way through the 

competition and a sign that we are working 

well," Jesus said. 

"But the further we go the stronger the 

opposition gets so we're going to have to 

continue to be strong to keep winning. 

"We're going to have to play a perfect 

game to win. At this time there are no favourites. 

Both teams are strong." — AFP 

Athletic Bilbao, Espanyol and 

Levante saw their hopes of finishing 

in the European places 

dented.Bilbao were held 1-1 

at home by lowly Sporting 

Gijon, for whom Alberto Lora 

equalized in injury time. 

Oscar de Marcos seemed to 

have won the game for Bilbao 

by breaking the deadlock 13 

minutes from time, after being 

set up by teenage idol Iker 

Muniain.. — dpa 

ca will also not have a stroll 

in the park against Milan after 

destroying Bayer Leverkusen 

7-1 in the last game thanks to a 

Champions League record five 

goals from Lionel Messi. 

But Barca won 3-2 in Milan 

in the group stage and will 

be happy that Thiago Silva is 

missing for Milan after scoring 

a late 2-2 equaliser at the Nou 

Camp. 

Milan coach Massimiliano 

Allegri said his team is at 

his best in matches like these 

and captain Massimo Ambro- 

PARIS — Paris St Germain's 

faltering Ligue 1 title challenge 

suffered another blow 

when they were held to a 1-1 

home draw by Girondins Bordeaux 

on Sunday. 

PSG are level with 

Montpellier on 60 points from 

29 games but the unfashionable 

southern side, who reclaimed 

top spot on Saturday 

thanks to a last-gasp 1-0 win 

over St Etienne, lead on goal 

difference. 

Visitors Bordeaux took 

the lead on 77 minutes when 

SACHIN Hemanth and Kenneth Vaz. 

final when Oh Kab Kwon and 

Mohamed Al Naggar battled 

before Kab Kwon triumphed 

with 11-9, 12-14, 11-13, 11- 

4.11-9 verdict. 

Schoolboys Sachin He- 

sini is also ready for the big 

occasion. "I think that Barcelona 

are the strongest team in 

the world, but it does not take a 

wizard to know it. They marked 

an era in football history, but 

tackling them is a big stimulus 

for us," Ambrosini said. 

"It will take a game with 

great spirit of sacrifice from 

all of us. There is not a single 

player to stop. Barca have 

many weapons." The winner 

of the Milan v Barca tie runs 

into Benfica or Chelsea, with 

the Blues looking to use a little 

Nicolas Maurice-Belay set up 

Cheick Diabate who scored 

into an empty net but Guillaume 

Horau equalised for the 

hosts four minutes later with a 

powerful shot from a superb 

Mathieu Bodmer heel pass. 

Bordeaux moved up to 

eighth place on 41 points. 

Four days after their first 

defeat in four months in the 

French Cup, Paris played 

poorly once again. 

"Obviously, it was not a 

good game. We struggled to 

develop our moves, we had to 

manth and Kenneth Vaz, archrivals 

in the singles, joined 

forces in the men’s doubles to 

cause the biggest upset of the 

tournament when they played 

with maturity beyond their 

bit of inside knowledge from 

their former Benfica players 

David Luiz and Ramires on 

Tuesday. 

"They will both know the 

atmosphere there and they 

both know the team. So it does 

help. They are looking forward 

to going back," said manager 

Roberto Di Matteo. 

Chelsea have no serious 

injury concerns but Di Matteo 

must choose between Didier 

Drogba and Fernando Torres 

in attack while Gary Cahill is 

in pole position to start along- 

react once again," PSG football 

director Leonardo told 

French television Canal+. 

"This game had been exhausting 

because we did 

not have the control. You 

suffer when you trail your 

opponent on the scoreboard," 

he added. 

Paris had the first chances 

but Alex headed the ball 

against the post on 29 minutes 

and keeper Cedric Carasso 

brilliantly denied Mohamed 

Sissoko shoot from outside the 

box. 

years to upset the highly fancied 

top seeded team of Nitin 

Vaidya and Chandrashekar 

Nooyi in a nerve-racking semifinal 

which went to the wire. 

Sachin and Kenneth went 

all out even when the chips 

were down and rallied from 

two games down to record 

a splendid 8-11, 9-11, 11-8, 

11-8, 11-5, 6-11, 14-12 semifinal 

victory to book a place 

in the final where they will 

take on the second seeded pair 

of Suhail Khan and Srinivas 

Lakshman. 

Suhail and Srinivas 

struggled before defeating 

the other teenage duo of 

Arun Philips and Avinash 

Mukund 11-7, 11-5, 6-11, 

11-8, 7-11, 11-7 in the second 

semifinal. 

The organisers have extended 

an open invitation to table 

tennis enthusiasts to attend the 

finals which should provide a 

high level of table tennis. 

side John Terry in defence 

after strong back-to-back performances. 

Marseille beat Bundesliga 

champions Borussia Dortmund 

twice in the group stage but 

the next German opponents 

Munich may be of a different 

calibre on the continental stage 

tomorrow. 

Munich have rediscovered 

their form and the home final 

is an extra motivation for the 

Germans who trounced Basel 

7-0 in the last continental 

game. — dpa 

Faltering PSG held by Bordeaux 

BORDEAUX’S players celebrate after scoring against Paris St Germain during their French Ligue 1 match at 

Parc des Princes stadium in Paris on Sunday. — Reuters 

Bordeaux reacted when 

Jaroslav Plasil hit the woodwork 

five minutes before Diabate 

netted. Keeper Salvatore 

Sirigu had to make a superb 

save to deny Diabate again 

only one minute after Hoarau 

equalised. 

Toulouse climbed back to 

fourth when they defeated bottom 

side Auxerre 1-0 at home 

— thanks to a Franck Tabanou 

goal. Dijon moved up to 13th 

on 33 points and Caen stayed 

17th, just above the relegation 

zone on 29 points. — Reuters 

Challengers 

trophy cricket 

MUSCAT — The inaugural 

edition of Challengers trophy 

kicks off on March 30. 

A total of 24 teams will 

be participating in the event. 

Interested teams can register 

on or before March 28. 

The draw will be held at 

the Daisy Restaurant Ghala 

tomorrow. 

The captain of the team 

or a representative from the 

team should be present for 

the draw. For registration 

contact Sushanth 95573654, 

Iqbal 97881776 or Chris 

95289484. 

Markaz Al Bahja 

chess tournament 

MUSCAT — The March edition 

of the Markaz Al Bahja 

Open Chess Tournament is 

to be held on March 31. 

For further information 

contact Shan 92277539.

GALLE — Sri Lanka captain 

Mahela Jayawardene combined 

luck and pluck to hit his 

30th Test century and steer the 

hosts to a respectable 289 for 

eight wickets on day one of 

the first Test against England 

yesterday. 

The 34-year-old righthander 

remained not out on 

168, his seventh Test century 

against England, after a stellar 

290-ball knock that stood out 

in a scorecard where the second 

highest score was Dinesh 

Chandimal's 27. 

Jayawardene, who hit 20 

fours and three sixes, had 

Chanaka Welegedara (10) for 

company at stumps. 

His cause was helped by 

England's sloppy fielding with 

the visitors dropping him on 

64, 90, 147 and 152. Monty 

Panesar was the chief offender, 

flooring two catches after 

England had taken the second 

new ball. 

"The first session I had to 

dig deep because we lost wickets...later 

I could play some 

shots," Jayawardene, who 

passed 2,000 Test runs at the 

venue, told Sky Sports. 

The home team captain figured 

in half-century partnerships 

with Thilan Samaraweera 

(20), Dinesh Chandimal (27) 

and Prasanna Jayawardene 

(23) but none of this partners 

stayed long. 

"Mahela played unbelievably 

well, it's probably one 

of the best Test innings I've 

ever seen," James Anderson 

(3-56), the pick of the English 

bowlers, said. 

England's persistence on 

the field paid off as they took 

wickets consistently in the 

three sessions. They picked up 

three in the final session before 

the new ball was taken. 

Anderson took his third for 

the day when he trapped Pras- 

anna Jayawardene lbw off the 

fifth ball after tea. 

Suraj Randiv followed him 

for 12, failing to beat Andrew 

Strauss' direct throw, and debutant 

Samit Patel took his second 

wicket when he trapped 

Rangana Herath (five) lbw. 

Earlier, England new ball 

bowlers Anderson and Stuart 

Broad had rocked Sri Lanka in 

their opening spells, claiming 

three quick wickets before the 

hosts staged a recovery. 

DRY TRACK 

On a dry batting track, Sri 

Lanka's delight at winning the 

toss and taking first lease of the 

19 SPORT 



Jayawardene’s ton frustrates England 

Satish helps 

Al Bahihi 

defeat 

Al Habib 

MUSCAT — Opening batsman 

Satish Madhavan struck 

a blazing 83 (34b, 15x4) to 

help Al Bahihi defeat Al 

Habib by 43 runs in an Oman 

Cricket Club organised T20 

match played at the new 

MOS grounds at Al Amerat 

during the weekend. 

Opting to bat first, Al 

Bahihi piled on a massive 

201 for eight wickets thanks 

to contributions from Iqbal 

(29: 10b, 3x6, 2x4) and No 9 

batsman Jeevan Devadas (28 

not out: 13b, 5x4). 

Shiv Kumar was the pick 

of the bowlers with figures 

of three for 17 off three 

overs supported by Satheesh 

Kumar who picked two for 

52 off four overs. 

Requiring a mammoth 

202 for victory, Al Habib 

were bowled out for 158 in 

15.5 overs with Mohammed 

Mudassar striking a blistering 

62 (20b, 4x6, 8x4). 

Jithin Devadas bowled 

a tight line to end with figures 

three for 24 whilst Nigil 

Rajkumar (two for 14), skipper 

Baiju K G (two for 25) 

and Jeevan Devadas (two for 

32) lent valuable support. 

Brief scores: Al Bahihi 201 for 

8 off 20 overs (Satish Madhavan 

83, Iqbal 29, Jeevan Devadas 28 

n.o.; Shiv Kumar 3/17, Satheesh 

Kumar 2/52) beat Al Habib 158 

all out in 15.5 overs (Mohammed 

Mudassar 62, Manas Kapoor 29, 

Shoaib Parker 21; Jithin Devadas 

3/24, Nigil Rajkumar 2/14, Baiju 

K G 2/25, Jeevan Devadas 2/32). 

Points: Al Bahihi 2 (6 gm, 4 pts), 

Al Habib 0 (7 gm, 0 pt). 

GROS ISLET, St Lucia — 

West Indies' hopes of a first 

series win over Australia in 17 

years were shattered on Sunday 

when the tourists clinched 

a 30-run victory in a thrilling 

fifth and final one-dayer. 

Chasing a victory target of 

282, West Indies came agonisingly 

close before Australia 

won to level the series 2-2 with 

one tie. 

From a seemingly hopeless 

position of 118 for seven, skipper 

Darren Sammy and allrounder 

Andre Russell carved 

out a record eighth-wicket 

partnership of 101 off just 59 

balls to take their team to 219 

with nine overs left. 

Sammy, batting at nine, 

raced to 50 off just 20 balls and 

was eventually last man out in 

the 48th over having hit a blistering 

84 off 50 deliveries with 

six boundaries and six sixes. 

Russell made 41 off 33 

balls before he was out lbw to 

SRI Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene raises his bat as he celebrates scoring a century during the first day of the 

opening Test against England in Galle yesterday. — AFP 

WELLINGTON — New Zealand 

finished the fourth day of 

the final Test against South Africa 

yesterday trailing by 274 

runs having lost Ross Taylor to 

a broken arm after the skipper 

was struck by a Morne Morkel 

bouncer. 

Vernon Philander took his 

sixth five-wicket haul in just 

seven Tests as the Black Caps 

were bowled out for 275 before 

Graeme Smith and Alviro 

Petersen eased South Africa to 

a comfortable advantage in the 

final 15 overs of the day. 

Smith was on 34 at the 

close of play with first-innings 

centurion Petersen on 38 as 

the visitors moved to 75 without 

loss in their second innings 

to add to their tally of 474 for 

nine declared in their first. 

Taylor was hit just above 

the left wrist by Morkel's delivery 

and, after facing one 

more ball, walked off the field 

at Basin Reserve to undergo 

an X-ray, which showed he 

had broken his left ulna. 

"When your captain gets 

injured and has to come off it's 

devastating for the team and 

things change with that," New 

Zealand assistant coach Trent 

Woodhill told reporters. 

"The team wants to make 

sure they can look after their 

skipper by putting in a performance 

tomorrow morning 

or tomorrow afternoon and 

make sure that we back Ross 

up." 

Taylor did not return to the 

crease in New Zealand's first 

innings and was "unlikely" to 

make any further appearance 

unless it was absolutely necessary, 

Woodhill added. 

"If it's not going to damage 

his hand then he will probably 

bat, but that comes down to 

(facing) balls rather than overs 

and (we) will cross that bridge 

when we come to it. 

"He's a resilient character 

and if he thought what was best 

for the team he would, but he 

won't be batting at (his normal 

position of) four tomorrow." 

Philander, playing just his 

seventh Test, finished with figures 

of six for 81. 

The 26-year-old, who took 

10 wickets in the second Test 

to help South Africa to a ninewicket 

victory and 1-0 series 

lead, also claimed his 50th 

Test victim when he bowled 

Doug Bracewell for a secondball 

duck. 

He has taken 21 wickets 

this series at 14.09. 

Mark Gillespie hit two 

wicket was short-lived as they 

slumped to 15 for three within 

the first 24 minutes of play. 

Anderson struck first, forcing 

Lahiru Thirimanne (three) 

to edge a catch to Graeme 

Swann at third slip when the 

batsman poked at a delivery 

without moving his feet. 

South Africa extend lead after 

Ross Taylor breaks arm 

Xavier Doherty, the Australians 

succeeding with a review 

after the batsman had been 

given not out by the on-field 

umpire. 

Once that red-hot partnership 

was broken, the Australians 

were virtually home. "At 

one time it looked like we 

would be chasing 330 but we 

pulled it back," said Sammy. 

"Against the world number 

one, with our backs against 

the wall, it was a fantastic 

effort. 

"Today again the top order 

didn't click but we can still put 

runs on the board. We have a 

'never say die' attitude. I think 

we should have won the series." 

Australian captain Shane 

Watson admitted there was 

still work to be done ahead of 

a two-match Twenty20 series 

which starts here today. 

"Darren Sammy ran us 

close," said Watson. "We 

NEW Zealand’s captain Ross Taylor is injured by a ball 

from South Africa’s Morne Morkel in the third and final 

Test match in Wellington yesterday. — Reuters 

boundaries off Philander to ensure 

New Zealand just avoided 

the follow on target before he 

became the South African's 

sixth victim of the innings. 

"I think we would have 

more than likely made them 

follow on, but obviously we've 

missed it by one run thanks to 

me," Philander said with a 

grin. 

"Yeah we would have 

made them follow on it's just 

a pity we didn't get it. It's all 

in the start tomorrow morning. 

Hopefully we can get 350-plus 

and set them a good target." 

SCOREBOARD 

South Africa 1st innings 474/9 dec. 

New Zealand 1st innings 

(overnight 65 for no loss) 

D Flynn c Boucher b Philander .. 45 

M Guptill lbw Philander ............ 59 

B McCullum c Boucher b Steyn 31 

R Taylor retired hurt 18 

K Williamson c Boucher b Steyn 39 

D Brownlie c Steyn b Philander . 29 

D Vettori c Rudolph b Philander 30 

K van Wyk c sub b De Lange ...... 7 

D Bracewell b Philander .............. 0 

M Gillespie c De Villiers 

b Philander ............ 10 

C Martin (not out) ........................ 2 

Extras: (lb-2, nb-1, w-2) ............. 5 

Total: (9 wkts, 96 overs) .......... 275 

Fall of wickets: 1-86, 2-136, 3-145, 

4-219, 5-242, 6-263, 7-263, 8-263, 

9-275. 

Bowling: Steyn 23-8-41-2; Philander 

22-4-81-6 (nb-1, w-1); Morkel 

20-6-54-0; De Lange 21-1-74-0 

(w-1); Duminy 10-0-23-0. 

South Africa 2nd innings 

A Petersen (not out) ................... 38 

G Smith (not out) ....................... 34 

Extras: (w-2, nb-1) ...................... 3 

Total: (for no loss, 15 overs) ..... 75 

Bowling: Martin 6-0-24-0; 

Bracewell 5-0-29-0 (w-2); Gillespie 

4-0-22-0 (nb-1). 

Anderson struck again with 

his next delivery, sending back 

Kumar Sangakkara, the No 

1 ranked Test batsman, for a 

first-ball duck when he pushed 

at a full-length delivery for an 

edge to wicket-keeper Matt 

Prior. 

Jayawardene survived Anderson's 

hat-trick delivery but 

Broad struck in the following 

over when he had Tillakaratne 

Dilshan (11) edging a catch to 

Strauss at first slip. 

England wasted both their 

reviews inside the first 23 

overs. Just when they were 

showing signs of a recovery, 

Sri Lanka lost Samaraweera 

immediately after lunch when 

he was run out in the third over 

of the afternoon. 

England picked up the bonus 

wicket of Chandimal who 

top-edged a catch to Ian Bell 

at cover to give debutant Patel 

his first Test wicket. 

SCOREBOARD 

Sri Lanka 1st innings 

L Thirimanne c Swann 

b Anderson ............. 3 

T Dilshan c Strauss b Broad ....... 11 

K Sangakkara c Prior b Anderson 0 

M Jayawardene (not out) ......... 168 

T Samaraweera run out .............. 20 

D Chandimal c Bell b Patel ........ 27 

P Jayawardene lbw Anderson .... 23 

S Randiv run out ........................ 12 

R Herath lbw Patel ....................... 5 

C Welegedara (not out) .............. 10 

Extras: (lb-6, nb-4) .................... 10 

Total: (8 wkts, 90 overs) 289 

Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-11, 3-15, 

4-67, 5-128, 6-170, 7-191, 8-253. 

Bowling: Anderson 17-5-56-3; 

Broad 18-1-66-1 (nb-4); Panesar 

23-11-42-0; Swann 23-3-92-0; Patel 

9-1-27-2. 

Team Coorg 

for UTSC 

Gulf Cup in 

Dubai 

MUSCAT — Team Coorg 

Muscat will take part in the 

forthcoming United Thallasery 

Sports Club-organised 

UTSC Gulf Cup hockey 

tournament to be held in 

Dubai on March 30. 

The regional hockey 

tournament have seen representation 

from GCC states 

like Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait 

and the UAE and this time 

around it is expected to bigger. 

Team Coorg Muscat, 

who were the runners-up last 

year, are full of confidence 

to finish on top this time 

around, and team manager 

Kuttapa thanked the UTSC 

for inviting them again. 

“We are a well-knit team 

and we are looking forward 

to win the title this time,” 

said Kuttapa. 

Team Coorg have been 

involved in promotion of 

hockey in various levels 

among the expatriates and 

the group has also won appreciation 

from the hockeyloving 

citizens of Oman for 

providing them the opportunity 

to play the game round 

the year. 

Former national coach of 

India and Oman will lead a 

strong Team Coorg this time 

as player-cum-coach, but 

missing from the line-up will 

be their senior playing member 

Devayya. 

The inspiration behind 

the team is the hockey veteran 

S A S Naqvi. 

hoped to get up around 300 

but thought we'd done enough. 

There are a few things we have 

to work on but we're going the 

right way." 

West Indies got off to a 

nightmare start, losing opener 

Johnson Charles and Marlon 

Samuels, who were both dismissed 

for ducks by a fired-up 

Brett Lee in the first and third 

overs. 

Darren Bravo made just 

three off 21 balls when he 

was caught behind by Matthew 

Wade off Clint McKay 

with Dwayne Bravo becoming 

the fourth man out after a 

lazy prod to mid-off off Shane 

Watson ended his brief cameo 

of 19. 

At the halfway stage of 

their run chase, West Indies 

were 82 for five after opener 

Adrian Barath (42) had been 

dismissed off slow bowler 

Xavier Doherty. 

That left them requiring a 

Chris Cairns wins 

Twitter libel action 

against Modi 

LONDON — Former New 

Zealand all-rounder Chris 

Cairns has won a libel action 

against Lalit Modi in 

London that leaves the onetime 

chairman of the Indian 

Premier League (IPL) facing 

a bill of more than £500,000 

($794,000). 

In the first libel action 

heard in England against a 

post on Twitter, Cairns, 41, 

was awarded £90,000 damages 

after Judge David Bean 

dismissed fixing allegations 

levelled against the cricketer 

by Modi. 

Meanwhile, Modi was 

also ordered to pay an additional 

£400,000 on account 

of Cairns's costs to his solicitors 

within 28 days. 

The figures do not include 

Modi's own legal 

costs. 

Cairns sued over an 

"unequivocal allegation" 

of match-fixing on Modi's 

Twitter account on the micro-blogging 

site in January 

2010. 

Bean said Modi had "singularly 

failed" to provide 

any reliable evidence Cairns 

was involved in match-fixing 

or spot-fixing. 

Modi responded to yesterday's 

ruling by telling his 

Twitter followers: "I have 

seen the judgment. All I 

want to say at the moment 

is that we are appealing the 

Judgment." 

Cairns, not in court yesterday, 

said in a statement: 

"Today's verdict lifts a dark 

cloud that has been over me 

for the past two years. I feel 

mixed emotions. 

"Firstly, sadness that I 

should ever have had to put 

myself, my friends and my 

family through this because 

of one man's misdirected allegations. 

"But I also feel great joy 

because my past career has 

come through unscathed 

and remains intact and because 

I had the courage to 

stand up in the highest court 

to defend my name." 

He added: "Lastly, I feel 

great relief that I am able to 

walk into any cricket ground 

in the world with my head 

held high." 

Bean rejected claims 

by Modi's lawyers that the 

case was an example of 'libel 

tourism', as Cairns had 

been educated in England 

and had also played county 

cricket while Modi — who 

did not give evidence during 

the eight-day trial — had 

been resident in England 

since mid-2010. 

Bean also rejected a 

claim by Modi's barris- 

run rate of eight an over and 

the situation got worse when 

Carlton Baugh was caught in 

the deep by Ben Hilfenhaus to 

give Lee his third victim. 

Kieron Pollard, who blasted 

a match-winning century 

in Friday's win that had given 

West Indies a 2-1 lead, was 

then caught by Mike Hussey 

off Watson in the 32nd over 

having hit two sixes in a 40ball 

33. 

That was the cue for Sammy's 

and Russell's pyrotechnics 

which almost took them 

to a famous win. 

Lee finished with the best 

figures of three for 42 off nine 

overs. 

Australia made 281 for 

nine, their highest score of the 

series, after being put into bat. 

Watson, with 66 off 89 

balls, and fellow opener David 

Warner, who crashed 69 off 

61 balls, with 10 fours and 

a six, put on 118 for the first 

ter, Ronald Thwaites, that 

Cairns had given "incredible 

evidence". 

"Despite prolonged, 

searching and occasionally 

intrusive questioning about 

his sporting, financial and 

personal life, he emerged 

essentially unscathed," 

Bean said. 

The judge said evidence 

given by cricketers Gaurav 

Gupta, Rajesh Sharma and 

Tejinder Pal Singh was not 

to be believed and hearsay 

evidence from Amit Uniyal 

and Love Ablish was inconsistent 

and unreliable, while 

that of Karanveer Singh fell 

well short of sustaining Modi's 

case. 

According to Bean, Modi's 

lawyers had launched a 

"sustained and aggressive" 

attack on Cairns, which 

must be taken to have been 

made on his instructions. 

In Thwaites's closing 

speech to the court, the 

words "liar", "lie" and "lies" 

were used 24 times. 

To reflect that, the judge 

increased the damages by 

about 20 per cent, £75,000 

to £90,000. 

The court had heard that 

Modi's tweet was picked up 

by leading cricket website 

Cricinfo. 

But while they withdrew 

their report following a 

complaint by Cairns, Modi 

refused to apologise and insisted 

the charge was true. 

Cairns was adamant it 

was "wholly untrue" and 

claimed it could undo all he 

had achieved in a 20-year 

career where, despite being 

plagued by injuries, he 

scored over 3,000 runs and 

took more than 200 wickets 

in Test cricket. 

The court was told that, 

in 2007 and 2008, Cairns 

captained the Chandigarh 

Lions in three competitions 

in the Indian Cricket League 

(ICL), which flourished 

briefly before the rise of the 

IPL, a lucrative domestic 

Twenty20 competition featuring 

many of the world's 

leading players. 

The allegation made by 

Modi related to the second 

and third of these competitions, 

between March and 

April 2008 and October and 

November of that year. 

But Cairns's barrister, Andrew 

Caldecott, told the court 

that in October 2008 his client 

was called to an ICL 

directors meeting at a hotel 

where, according to the cricketer, 

his denial of rumours of 

his alleged involvement in 

match-fixing appeared to be 

accepted. — AFP 

Australia level ODI series despite West Indies skipper Sammy heroics 

AUSTRALIAN Mike Hussey cheers after catching the ball to dismiss West Indies batsman 

Darren Sammy during the fifth ODI match in Gros Islet, St Lucia on Sunday. 

RIGHT: Darren Sammy plays a shot during his knock of 84. — AFP 

CHRIS CAIRNS LALIT MODI 

wicket by the 20th over as the 

tourists looked on course for a 

300-plus total. But only Peter 

Forrest, with 53, made another 

major contribution. 

SCOREBOARD 

Australia 281 for nine off 50 overs 

West Indies 

J Charles c & b Lee ...................... 0 

A Barath c Bailey b Doherty ...... 42 

M Samuels c Wade b Lee ............. 0 

Darren Bravo c Wade b McKay ... 3 

Dwayne Bravo c Bailey 

b Watson ........... 19 

K Pollard c M Hussey b Watson 33 

C Baugh c Hilfenhaus b Lee ...... 13 

A Russell lbw Doherty ............... 41 

D Sammy c M Hussey 

b Hilfenhaus ............. 84 

S Narine c Wade b McKay ........... 7 

K Roach (not out) ......................... 2 

Extras: (lb-1 w-6) ........................ 7 

Total: (all out, 47.2 overs) ....... 251 

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-5, 3-37, 4-63, 

5-76, 6-111, 7-118, 8-219, 9-232, 

10-251. 

Bowling: Lee 9-3-42-3; Hilfenhaus 

8.2-1-36-1 (w-2); McKay 10-0-68-2; 

Watson 10-0-44-2 (w-3); Doherty 

10-0-60-2 (w-1).

Woods ends 

PGA Tour 

title drought 

Page 17 


SA extend lead 

after Taylor 

breaks arm 

Syria, Uzbekistan in crucial Asian play-offs clash for Olympics 

Pressure is on them, says Rui de Almeida We have advantage, claims Abramov 

From A Seshagiri Rao in Hanoi 

AFTER surviving a scare against 

Oman on Sunday, Syria go into 

the crucial clash of the Asian playoffs 

for London Olympics against formidable 

Uzbekistan at the My Dinh National 

Stadium today. 

The second of the three play-off 

matches, which will see the top team earn 

a right to challenge African side Senegal 

for a place in the London Games, will also 

have a bearing on the fortunes of Oman. 

The Sultanate side were unlucky not 

to win full points on Sunday when they 

let 10-man Syria fight back for a 1-1 draw 

and that dramatic fightback is providing 

the much-needed motivation for the Syrians 

as they square off against highly rated 

Uzbeks today. “We fought well against 

Oman despite being down to 10 men and 

behind by a goal. That itself provides us 

the motivation for our match against the 

Uzbeks,” said Syria’s coach Rui Miguel 

de Almeida. 

“The fact that we are in these play-offs 

in itself is a big motivation for our boys. 

Big teams like Australia and Saudi Arabia 

couldn’t make it but we are still here fighting 

for a berth in the Olympics,” the Portuguese 

coach said at the match-eve press 

conference at Sheraton Hanoi yesterday. 

“We will fight for qualification and I 

am confident we can spring a surprise 

against Uzbekistan,” he said, adding the 

pressure will be on their rivals. 

“We came through a tough match. That 

boosted our confidence. But tomorrow the 

pressure will be on Uzbekistan. They are 

among the top five in Asia so they have to 

maintain that status,” he said. 

“As I said we fought with ten men 

against Oman and tomorrow we will have 

11 players giving their best.” 

Asked whether he will miss the services 

of striker Omar al Suma, who was 

red-carded for getting physical with his 

own team-mate during the break against 

Oman, the Portuguese coach said: “We 

did not play that match with one player. 

It’s a team game and it will be the same 

against the Uzbeks.” 

Asked about the unimpressive show 

against Oman, he said: “In football we 

live in the present. There are no ‘ifs’ and 

it is ‘now’ that matters. It is not the time 

to put pressure on the players. As I said 

before, I am proud of my players and the 

way they fought against Oman.” 

Uzbek coach Vadim Abramov, meanwhile, 

said his side will have an advantage 

though ‘Syria are a strong side’. 

“They are very strong side. We played 

against them in Tashkent a few days ago 

and since that time we know their game. We 

KARACHI — Cricket's governing 

body in Asia yesterday 

rejected a complaint from 

Bangladesh that one of their 

batsman was obstructed by a 

Pakistani bowler in their recent 

Asia Cup final defeat. 

The complaint was rejected 

on the grounds that it was not 

reported by on-field umpires, 

an official said. 

Ashraful Huq, chief executive 

of the Asian Cricket 

Council (ACC), said Bangladesh 

officially complained 

about the last over of the final, 

which Bangladesh narrowly 

lost. 

"We had received Bangladesh's 

complaint but since 

Page 19 

ACC rejects Bangladesh Cup objection 

SYDNEY — Australia captain 

Michael Clarke has confirmed 

he is in talks to join Indian 

Premier League (IPL) franchise 

Pune Warriors, reports 


Clarke told reporters before 

leaving on Sunday to join the 

Australian team in the West 

Indies that his management 

was negotiating with Pune to 

play in the IPL. 

The Australia skipper 

stayed behind and missed the 

one-day series in the Caribbean 

to treat a hamstring injury. 

"That opportunity has been 

the incident was not reported 

by the on-field umpires nothing 

can be done," Ashraful 

said. 

Bangladesh had appealed 

to the ACC to review the final 

over, accusing Pakistani paceman 

Aizaz Cheema of deliberately 

blocking batsman Mahmudullah 

Riyad from taking a 

second run. 

Pakistan beat Bangladesh 

by two runs to lift the four-nation 

Asia Cup after a thrilling 

final on Thursday. 

The Pakistan Cricket Board 

had expressed disappointment 

over Bangladesh's complaint, 

calling it an "after thought" 

after defeat. 

presented to my management 

company and I," Clarke was 

quoted in newspapers yesterday. 

"Right now they're discussing 

it. We will continue to talk 

about that and make a decision 

in due course. 

"But my focus right now 

is to make sure I get back and 

play some good cricket for 

Australia." 

Clarke has so far resisted 

the lure of playing in the rich 

competition but came close 

in 2009 before withdrawing 

from the IPL auction to focus 

on playing for Australia. 

also had the opportunity to watch Oman- 

Syria match. Now we got an idea about this 

Syrian team,” he said. “But we will have a 

slight advantage as we are fresh whereas 

the Syrians had just one day to recuperate 

after a tough match against Oman.” 

Asked about the element of luck involved 

in these matches, he said: “We 

were not lucky to have qualified directly 

for the Olympics. I don’t know whether 

Oman were unlucky or the Syrians were 

lucky in the last match. Tomorrow we will 

see who will be lucky or unlucky.” 

Captain Al Hadri confident of Oman giving their best against Uzbekistan 

OMAN’S French coach Claude le Roy giving tips to his wards before the training in Hanoi yesterday. PICTURE RIGHT: Le Roy and Oman Football Association chief Sayyid Khalid al Busaidy during Oman team training. 

From Our Sports Reporter 

HANOI — Oman have overcome the disappointment 

of not winning full points 

against Syria on Sunday and are now fully 

focused on achieving a good result in a 

make-or-break final Asian play-off for the 

London Olympics against Uzbekistan on 

Thursday. 

This was message conveyed by the 

Omani captain Hussain al Hadri who is 

confident of his team raising their game to 

match that of fancied central Asians in the 

crucial match. The Sultanate squad wasted 

a first-half lead and went on to share the 

points with 10-man Syria conceding the 

equaliser in the final seconds of the first 

of three play-offs. Now their fortunes also 

depend on the outcome of today’s Syria- 

Uzbek clash. 

Speaking to the Observer a day after 

the disappointing draw against Syria, Al 

Hadri said: “Yesterday’s was a very difficult 

match. We deserved to win but 

missed quite a few chances. But we are 

putting that disappointment behind us. 

The concentration is now on our next 

match against Uzbekistan. 

“Though we are disappointed with the 

draw, we are not mentally down. In fact, 

all my team-mates are in good spirits. 

That is very important for us,” he said, 

“Uzbekistan are a very strong side. We 

have played a couple of friendlies against 

them in the recent times, including one in 

Uzbekistan which ended in a draw. So we 

know their players and their game. So we 

will be ready for them and give our best 

against the Uzbeks.” 

‘NO CAPTAINCY PRESSURE’ 

Al Hadri, who earned and converted 

a penalty against the Syrians, missed a 

handful of scoring opportunities in that 

match. Asked whether the burden of leading 

the team is affecting his game, he replied 

in the negative. 

The captain’s arm band was handed 

over to him after Frenchman Paul le Guen 

took over the reins from Hamad al Azzani 

following a dismal show against South 

Koreans in the previous round. He led the 

team in their final game of the Preliminary 

Muamba 

watched 

team-mates 

in action 

on TV 

LONDON — Fabrice Muamba 

watched his Bolton 

Wanderers team-mates playing 

local rivals Blackburn 

Rovers on a television highlights 

programme — but fell 

asleep before the end of the 

match. 

Muamba dozed off with 

Bolton 2-0 up in a match 

they won 2-1 on Saturday 

— their first fixture since the 

23-year-old midfielder collapsed 

with a cardiac arrest 

during the previous weekend's 

FA Cup quarterfinal 

against Tottenham. 

The former England 

Under-21 international was 

"effectively dead" for 78 

minutes but a series of encouraging 

medical bulletins 

have indicated he is making 

a recovery, although he remains 

in intensive care. 

Bolton manager Owen 

Coyle, speaking yesterday, 

said: "Fabrice is able to recognise 

people and answer 

questions. 

"He also watched Match 

of the Day on Sunday morning, 

which shows he is making 

progress, although he did 

fall asleep with the score at 

2-0." 

Shortly after Muamba's 

collapse towards the end of 

the first half at Tottenham's 

White Hart Lane ground, 

the match was abandoned 

and the player taken to the 

nearby London Chest Hospital, 

where he has been ever 

since. 

The re-arranged FA Cup 

tie will take place at White 

Hart Lane today and Coyle 

said a group of players 

would visit Muamba in hospital 

ahead of the match. 

"It will give us a chance 

to thank the Tottenham fans 

because last Saturday it was 

almost like a sixth sense had 

taken over," said Coyle. 

"There was a real sense 

of unity. 

"Is it going to be tough? 

Yes." — AFP 

Round 3 against Saudi Arabia, which resulted 

in a draw leading to Oman’s qualification 

for the play-offs. 

But against Syria on Sunday, Al Hadri 

struggled in front of the goalmouth. 

Dismissing suggestions of playing 

with any pressure, he said: “I am not under 

any pressure in leading the team. I am 

a team player and I am trying to give my 

best and get the best out my team-mates. 

There is no pressure on me as I still consider 

Mansoor al Naimi as my captain. 

But the coach picked me for the job and I 

am happy about it.” 

The team underwent a light training 

session at the My Dinh Stadium yesterday 

evening but assistant coach Mohanna Said 

revealed the players are likely to be given 

a break today before they resume their 

training tomorrow. 

“The players need to relax a bit,” he 

said, adding “We are lucky with the fixtures. 

The players will get enough rest 

before the next match against Uzbekistan. 

But our rivals will get just one day rest before 

we take on them,” he said. 

Sadoline Schools Football Championship 

EIGHT teams will be participating in the Sadoline Schools Football Championship to be 

held from April 10 to 23. The teams will be divided into two groups with three teams 

each from the Muscat and South Batinah governorates. 

Ashraful, who also hailed 

from Bangladesh, said the 

International Cricket Council 

(ICC) had also turned down 

the complaint. 

"It could have happened 

then and there, in the final 

but since umpires and matchreferee 

did not take any action 

then, so the matter is closed," 

said Ashraful. 

"I think the Bangladesh 

team played so well in the 

whole tournament, beating 

India and Sri Lanka — World 

Cup 2011 finalists — was no 

mean achievement and although 

they lost the final, the 

Bangladesh team won millions 

of hearts." — AFP 

Clarke discussing IPL playing deal: reports 

Last week former India 

Test captain Saurav Ganguly, 

who is the Pune club skipper, 

confirmed that the franchise 

was poised to secure the services 

of Clarke in May. 

Australian Test players 

will miss the first three weeks 

of the Indian domestic tournament 

but will be available for 

the final month of May. 

Clarke said he had come 

through an intense couple 

of weeks of physiotherapy 

in great shape and would be 

ready for the first Test against 

the West Indies in Barbados, 

starting on April 7. — AFP

Bank Nizwa appoints 

Omani national 

as GM 

Page 23 

By Conrad Prabhu 

MUSCAT — Authorities overseeing the 

Sultanate’s maiden foray into large-scale 

renewable energy development are progressing 

studies designed to pinpoint an 

ideal location for the establishment of the 

country’s first major solar power project. 

The government-owned Oman Power 

and Water Procurement Company 

(OPWP), which has been playing a key 

role in, among other things, the study of 

suitable sites for the project, says it is 

continuing to evaluate data collected from 

monitoring equipment set up at potential 

locations. 

Earlier this week, the state-run procurer 

published solar insolation data and 

other related information, for the benefit 

of potential developers and investors 

looking for opportunities linked to the 

establishment of the solar power project, 

as well as a wider solar-based industry in 

the Sultanate. 

“The objective of this publication is to 

offer the opportunity for all parties that are 

interested in the Solar Project in the Sultanate 

of Oman, whether for development, 

investment, or other purposes to receive an 

update of data collection progress and to 

allow for further analysis and interpretation 

of the raw data provided. OPWP has 

also provided its own interpretation of the 

data for review, and is open to feedback 

from interested parties,” the procurer said. 

A clear mandate from the Council of 

Ministers for the implementation of the 

solar power project, with a net output 

ranging from 100-200 MW, is still awaited. 

However, at its meeting last November 

the Council directed the Public Authority 

for Electricity and Water (PAEW) 

“to complete studying the technical and 

economic aspects for utilising solar energy 

in power generation and encourage 

the private sector to invest in this impor- 

Bank Sohar branch managers meet 

AS part of its strategy to gear up emerging challenges, Bank 

Sohar recently organised a meeting of all branch managers of the 

entire bank’s network at Millennium Resort in Al Mussanah. The 

bank is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year and is very much 

focused on its business growth. Page 22 

tant field”. 

Studies commissioned by PAEW have 

identified three potential regions deemed 

to boast conditions suitable for the establishment 

of a large-scale solar project. 

The areas in question are: Adam/Manah/ 

Ibri, and Sohar/Al Khabourah/Barka. 

Of a total of 23 candidate sites found 

suitable in these three broad locations, the 

search has since been narrowed down to 

two sites in the Adam/Manah area and 

one in the Ibri area. Another site in Al 

Khabourah has been deemed suitable only 

if integrated with a Combined Cycle Gas 

Turbine Plant (CCGT). 

“Manah Site 1 is ranked the highest 

and is considered an excellent site location 

for a stand-alone large-scale solar 

power plant,” OPWP said in its findings. 

“The solar insolation for Manah Site 1 

is rated between 6.47-6.85 kWh/m2/day. 

Adam Site 2 has ranked second with a solar 

insolation rating of 6.61 kWh/m2/day. 

Ibri Site 1 is ranked third highest overall 

with a solar insolation rating of 6.26kW/ 

Tuesday, March 27, 2012 

Evaluation of sites for solar power 

project in progress: OPWP price risks 

MOSCOW — Standard and 

MET station monitoring weather parameters. 

m2/day. Both Adam Site 2 and Ibri Site 1 

are also considered excellent for a standalone 

large scale solar power plant. Al 

Khabourah Site 1 with the lowest overall 

ranking has an insolation rating of 6.18 

kWh/m2/day. The topsoil conditions for 

all sites appear stable and sufficient for 

solar facilities construction.” 

OPWP has been actively engaged in 

the collection of solar insolation data from 

two dedicated weather stations located at 

Adam and Manah together with dust monitoring 

located in Manah. 

An array of sophisticated sensors installed 

at the sites are designed to measure 

a number of parameters required for the 

solar power project: Direct Normal Irradiance), 

Global Horizontal Irradiance, Diffuse 

Horizontal Irradiance, atmospheric 

pressure, dust, dry bulb temperature, precipitation, 

relative humidity, wind speed, 

wind direction, visibility, ground temperature 

and soil temperature. One Dust 

Sampler has also been installed close to 

the Adam site. 

S&P warns 

Russia on oil 

Poor's warned yesterday it 

may cut Russia's debt rating 

in case of a drop in the price 

of oil because of its "huge 

impact" on the economy and 

president-elect Vladimir Putin's 

campaign promises. 

The global ratings agency 

said a $10 decline in the global 

price of oil would lead to 

a 1.4 per cent of gross domestic 

product drop in government 

revenues. 

It estimated that Russia 

would need an average 

oil price of $120 per barrel 

this year to keep the budget 

balanced — slightly above 

the $117 figure given by the 

government. 

Settlement prices for 

Urals grade oil futures the 

government uses as a reference 

hovered around $125 

yesterday. 

"This high oil price supports 

the government's expenditure 

levels for now, 

S&P said. 

“However, spending pressures, 

resulting for example 

from an ageing population 

or to implement a significant 

part of the spending promises 

made during the presidential 

election campaign, 

will likely fuel the need for 

rising revenues.” 

It said that a drop in the 

price of oil to $60 would 

see Russia's long-term debt 

rating drop three notches 

from its current level 

of BBB to the second-lowest 

investment grade issued 

by the New York-based 

firm. — AFP 

OAB hosts annual staff meet 

THE management of Oman Arab Bank hosted the annual staff party 

at Grand Hyatt Muscat last week. The party was held under the 

auspices of Abdul Qader Askalan, Oman Arab Bank’s CEO, in the 

presence of all heads of departments and divisions who attended to 

share with their colleagues the happy moments. Page 24

Lexus GX — a 7-passenger luxury SUV 

MUSCAT — Being tough 

and well-mannered at the 

same time isn't easy for an 

SUV. But the Lexus GX 

is one sport-utility that is, 

in fact, talented in both 

areas. Whether providing 

a smooth, quiet highway 

ride on a long road trip or 

skilfully negotiating a rugged 

trail, the GX performs 

its duties without breaking 

a sweat. That's because 

this Lexus has a proven 

on- and off-road DNA. 

The 2012 Lexus GX is a seven-passenger luxury SUV offered in base and Premium 

trim levels. 

Standard features on the base GX include 18-inch alloy wheels, heated side mirrors, 

rain-sensing wipers, running boards, a sunroof, leather upholstery, a leather-wrapped 

power tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel, eight-way power-adjustable heated/ventilated 

front seats (with power lumbar), driver memory settings, power-folding third-row 

seats, dual-zone automatic climate control and an auto-dimming rear view mirror. 

Also standard are a back-up camera and a nine-speaker audio system with a six-CD 

changer, Bluetooth audio and phone, satellite radio, iPod connectivity and an auxiliary 

audio jack. 

The GX Premium adds adaptive variable suspension (with rear adjustable height 

control), auto-dimming side view mirrors, adaptive xenon headlights, upgraded leather 

upholstery, a heated wood-trimmed steering wheel, heated second-row seats and rear 

air-conditioning. Most of these features are available as options on the base model. 

Other options include front and rear parking sensors, wide front and side view cameras, 

power-folding exterior mirrors, DVD-based navigation system, a rear-seat entertainment 

system with twin screens and a 17-speaker Mark Levinson surround-sound 

audio system. The Premium trim is also eligible for adaptive cruise control and the 

Crawl Control off-road system. 

The 2012 Lexus GX460 is powered by a 4.6-litre V8 producing 306 horsepower 

and 329 pound-feet of torque. A six-speed automatic transmission — the only available 

gearbox — routes power to all four wheels via a dual-range transfer case. Properly 

equipped, the GX460 can tow up to 6,500 pounds. 

The Lexus GX460 comes standard with antilock brakes, traction and stability control, 

hill descent control, hill start assist, front- and rear-seat side airbags, driver and front 

passenger knee airbags and roll-sensing side curtain airbags spanning all three rows. A 

collision mitigation system is included with the optional adaptive cruise control. 

The interior of the GX460 is upscale and assembled with precision. The lengthy 

features list translates into a somewhat busy-looking control panel, but these controls 

are easy to use thanks to intuitive placement. The gauges are easily read, as is the optional 

navigation system. 

The 60/40-split-folding rear seats and power-folding third-row seats help add convenience 

for most everyday affairs. Cargo space with both rear rows lowered measures 

a useful 92 cubic feet. Rather than having a typical liftgate, the GX460 comes with a 

swinging rear cargo door hinged on the passenger side. 

The Premium trim's adaptive variable suspension and rear adjustable height control 

enhance versatility and convenience by allowing the driver to select a stiffer or softer 

suspension tuning for various conditions. These features also adjust the rear height by 

more than an inch for added off-road ground clearance and for easier cargo loading. 

Lexus vehicles are brought to you in Oman by the Saud Bahwan Group. In Oman, 

every Lexus vehicle comes with special benefits and privileges such as 6 years unlimited 

extended mileage protection — Aman Bahwan and Lexus Prestige Club Card that 

offers 24 hours on-road assistance from AAA. 

22 OMAN TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2012 

Bank Sohar plans to upgrade data protection technology 

By Hasan Kamoonpuri 

MUSCAT — Bank Sohar has 

announced that it is going in 

for unified and intelligence 

solutions for online replication 

of data centre and disaster recover 

site as part of its plans to 

upgrade technology to improve 

efficiency and data protection. 

Bank Sohar has chosen 

EMC® VNX unified storage 

from EMC technologies along 

with EMC Data Domain® Deduplication 

storage, which is 

the next generation back-up 

and recovery IT solution to 

achieve higher levels of efficiency 

and data protection, it 

was said in a press conference 

here yesterday. The bank is 

currently in the initial stage of 

deploying EMC infrastructure 

at its Data Centre (DC), Head 

Office and Disaster Recovery 

(DR) sites, along with EMC 

RecoverPoint to provide pointin-time 

recovery and online 

continuous replication between 

the DC and DR sites. This new 

Storage Area Network (SAN) 

of EMC VNX will enable Bank 

Sohar to achieve higher levels 

of performance and efficiency 

and also meet its RecoverPoint 

Objectives (RPO) requirements 

as part of IT DR strategy and 

business continuity management. 

Bank Sohar will manage 

the infrastructure optimally, 

reduce operational costs and 

increase business agility. 

“In line with His Majesty 

the Sultan’s vision of harnessing 

IT for all-round development 

of Oman, the bank’s 

strategy is to successfully inte- 

BUSINESS ALERT 

Khimji’s Home Furniture promotion 

KHIMJI’S Home Furniture is 

back with its “Great Exchange 

Offer” offering customers the 

opportunity to exchange their 

old home furniture with the 

newest arrivals from around 

the world. Its stylish showroom 

at Al Khuwair has an extensive 

display of home furniture and 

children’s furniture. 

Praveen Kapoor, Business 

Head — Home Furniture Division, 

Infrastructure Group of 

Khimji Ramdas said, “Changing 

out the furniture in our 

homes can be quite a daunting 

task. Most furniture stores that 

deliver your new furniture usually 

do not remove your old 

furniture and exchange it at the 

best reasonable market price. 

They will leave that up to YOU 

the homeowner. We realised 

this deterrent faced by customers 

and brought in this useful 

replacement scheme. Our customers 

have been giving us an overwhelming thumbs-up for this limited period offer. 

Regular insight into our customers’ preferences and behaviours has enabled us stay 

ahead of the curve and become their dependable partner in Oman reaching out with 

new and innovative offers.” 

Bank Sohar branch managers meet 

AS part of its strategy to gear up emerging challenges, Bank Sohar recently organised 

a meeting of all branch managers of the entire bank’s network at Millennium Resort 

in Al Mussanah. 

Commenting on the significance of the annual branch managers’ meeting, Khalfan 

Rashid al Tal’ey, DGM — Retail Banking — Bank Sohar said, “The branch managers’ 

meeting is an ideal platform for not only exchange of information but also an 

opportunity to chalk out a strategic plan for our business.’’ ‘‘At Bank Sohar we hold 

grate IT across the value chain 

as a key enabler of operational 

excellence and innovation, creating 

opportunities and achieving 

the business objectives. 

IT continues to be our key to 

efficient banking and services 

as an effective differentiator. 

IT has made it possible to improve 

efficiency both in terms 

of uptime and the quality of 

offerings to the customers,” Dr 

Mohamed Abdulaziz Kalmoor, 

these meetings on a regular basis as they indirectly provide a link between the senior 

management and the staff in the entire branch network,’’ Al Tal’ey said. 

‘‘The bank, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year, is very much focused 

on its business growth and these get-togethers help us to strengthen our team to meet 

the challenges ahead,” Salim Khamis al Maskery, AGM Branches said. 

Zawawi to launch four new trucks 

ZAWAWI Mercedes-Benz 

will use its inaugural attendance 

at the Oil and 

Gas West Asia 2012 Exhibition 

and Conference 

(OGWA) next month to 

introduce four tough new 

vehicle ranges, with the 

goal of capitalising on 

market share built by the 

multi-award winning Actros 

truck range in Oman. 

The exclusive distributor 

for Mercedes-Benz in the 

Sultanate, Zawawi Trading 

Co (ZTC) will display a range of new and existing commercial vehicles at the 

exhibition, offering excellent transport logistic solutions to a significant oil and gas 

industry customer base. 

Included in the line-up are the Mercedes-Benz Vito and Sprinter vans, the evergreen 

Actros, through to the introduction of the Daimler Trucks North America range, including 

Freightliner and the ‘behemoth of the US oil industry’ — Western Star. 

Commenting on ZTC’s commercial vehicle aspirations, Craig Hardie, CEO — Automotive 

said: “With the introduction of Freightliner and Western Star brands, we are 

looking forward to a very interesting 2012. ZTC has built a solid reputation over many 

years with the well-established success of the Actros range of vehicles which we plan 

to capitalise on.” 

Mazda powers Muscat Icon 2012 

KNOWN for always lending 

their support to many 

a fun and vivacious event 

in the Sultanate, Towell 

Auto Centre’s Mazda 

brand had signed up as 

sponsor for the recently 

held ‘Muscat Icon 2012’. 

Launched in 2006, 

Muscat Icon is a talent 

hunt contest that showcases 

the talent of talented 

singers above the age of 

15, who compete in categories 

ranging from Hindi, 

Arabic and Ghazals. 

Annurag Chawla, Head of Marketing and Communications, Towell Auto Centre, 

points out, “The Muscat Icon 2012 is a one-of-its-kind community event, where talented 

singers from different walks of life come together. Events of this nature are the 

best way to communicate what our brand is made up of. We have always been strong 

community supporters, and the sponsorship of this event exemplifies our commitment 

to support fun activities and characterises the values reflected in our brand claim — 

Zoom Zoom.” 

BankMuscat’s Manafea e-magazine 

offers shopping extravaganza 


CEO, Bank Sohar said. 

The bank leverages IT to 

make the customer’s experience 

more convenient, effective and 

efficient through services such 

as “Anytime, Anywhere Banking” 

through a range of delivery 

channels, such as branches, 

ATMs, e-Banking and SMS, 

and across payment and settlement 

systems. 

“The SAN project comprises 

SAN storage at the DC and 

MUSCAT — The 2nd edition of Manafea emagazine 

offering a virtual world of shopping 

extravagance has been launched by the Cards 

and e-Banking department of BankMuscat. 

The special issue celebrates the Mother’s Day, 

highlighting the Zeinah suite of products for 

women. 

The e-magazine brings together hundreds 

of merchants in every category — restaurants, 

clinics, jewellery, electronics etc, offering special 

deals and attractive discount to BankMuscat 

cardholders. 

Tariq Atiq, Asst GM — Cards and e- 

Banking, said: “Targeted at over 1.4 million 

BankMuscat cardholders, Manafea is unprecedented 

in its scope, reinforcing the benefits of 

convenience and security electronic payments 

provide for cardholders in Oman. The e-magazine 

is aimed at raising awareness and promoting 

the e-Payment culture in Oman by making 

payments by cards both a habit and preference. 

The underlying message of Manafea is that 

payment by cards is both convenient and secure.” 

Conceived as a family e-magazine, the excitement 

of browsing Manafea centres on attractive 

promotional campaigns by merchants 

and brands providing special value offers and 

discounts, available for BankMuscat cardholders 

only. Customers are eligible to avail these 

offers using BankMuscat debit/credit cards. 

Manafea will be released every 2 months 

consisting of advertisements and advertorials 

highlighting offers from leading merchants 

exclusive for BankMuscat cardholders only; 

DR sites, facilitating increased 

storage capacity; scalability 

and reliable data consistency 

at DC and DR; Disk to Disk 

(D2D) back-up solution, which 

will facilitate availability of 

back-up copies in the data centre 

resulting in shorter back-up 

and recovery windows for DC 

to DR back-up replication,” 

Mujahid Said al Zadjali, AGM 

and Head of IT, Bank Sohar 

said. 

information on BankMuscat cards and bank 

related news and general awareness on e-payments 

and credit cards. 

Tariq Atiq added: “Manafea will be used as 

a means of educating BankMuscat cardholders 

about the benefits of electronic payments, new 

electronic payment methods, card fraud reduction 

mechanisms etc. 

This is a long-term investment being done 

by the bank to increase awareness about cards 

and gradually convert cardholders from using 

cash to using an electronic payment method as 

a matter of choice and habit. The e-magazine is 

yet another example of the bank’s commitment 

to delivering rewards for loyal customers.”

MUSCAT SECURITIES MARKET 

23 OMAN TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2012 

Bank Nizwa appoints 

Omani national as GM 

MUSCAT — Bank Nizwa has 

appointed an Omani national, 

Tariq al Farsi (pictured), as 

General Manager for Retail 

and Private Banking. He has 

a successful and distinguished 

track record of building and 

running Islamic banks and 

brings more than eleven years’ 

experience investment, retail 

and corporate banking in various 

multinational and regional 

financial institutions. 

Al Farsi was a senior member 

of the pioneering teams behind 

the start-up of two Islamic 

banks: Noor Islamic Bank 

and Al Hilal. He has joined 

Bank Nizwa from Dubai Bank 

where he held various high 

level executive positions including 

Senior Vice-President 

— Head of Branches and 

Head of Business Development 

— Retail and Corporate 

Banking. Prior to this he was 

a General Manager in Noor 

Investment Group and was 

also a senior team member of 

Sharjah Islamic bank, RAK 

Bank and HSBC. 

Al Farsi said: “Being an 

Omani, it gives me immense 

pleasure to be part of something 

this big; launching the 

first Islamic bank for the Sultanate 

of Oman. Our team will 

go down in history as being 

the pioneers of the first Islamic 

bank of Oman. 

Until now, I’ve been pursuing 

my career in Islamic banking 

elsewhere in the region but 

with the establishment of Bank 


MUSCAT — The GCC corporate 

sector managed to achieve 

good financial results in 

FY2011. Aggregate net profit 

of all GCC listed stocks stood 

at $52.21 billion in 2011, which 

was up 29.8 per cent YoY. With 

exception of Oman and Kuwait, 

the aggregate profitability of all 

GCC countries increased. 

By country, all GCC stock 

markets managed to enhance 

their bottom lines by the end 

of 2011, barring the Omani and 

Kuwait markets, with its corporate 

profitability declining 

by 5.5 per cent and 4.7 per cent 

YoY respectively. 

By the end of 2011, the 

overall profitability of companies 

listed on the regular market 

of Muscat Securities Market 

(MSM) in 2011 (excluding 

companies with the fiscal year 

not ending on December 31) 

reported a decline of 5.47 per 

cent reaching $1.428 billion 

compared to $1.511 billion in 

2010. 

The Industrial sector posted 

the steepest decline in profitability, 

down by 29.5 per cent. 

On the other hand, net profit of 

Services and Insurance sector 

rose by 7.9 per cent YoY, being 

the only gainer for the FY 

2011. 

The Bahrain market had the 

best performance among its 

regional peers, with its corporate 

profitability increasing by 

175.3 per cent YoY. However, 

if we exclude Gulf Finance 

House profit and loss figures 

from the calculation, Bahrain’s 

corporate profitability 

increased by 36.5 per cent YoY 

in 2011. 

By sector, 2011 aggregate 

net profits for the GCC banking 

sector increased by 15.4 per 

cent YoY. The Industrial sector 

was also a notable gainer, with 

its aggregate net profit increasing 

by 47.9 per cent YoY by 

the end of 2011. 

On the negative side, the 

aggregate net profit of GCC 

Insurance stocks retreated by 

20.4 per cent YoY, as it dropped 

from $799.4 million in 2010 to 

$636.1 million in 2011. 

Corporate results for companies 

listed on the Bahrain 

Nizwa, it’s a dream come true. 

I will be working in a country 

where my heart is.” 

Ahmed Saif al Rawahi, 

Chairman of the Bank Nizwa 

Founding Committee, commented, 

“Hot on the heels of 

the announcement of our CEO 

last week it gives me great 

pleasure to bring Al Farsi on 

board. He brings a wealth of 

experience of retail, corporate 

and Islamic banking and 

has been a key member of the 

management teams behind the 

creation of two large-scale 

Islamic banks in the GCC region.” 

Al Farsi holds a BA in 

Management from AAST 

University in Alexandria and 

various certifications in Islamic 

Banking, Finance and 

Audit. 

He has completed a wide 

range of international professional 

development courses 

and is an active member of 

UAE Human Rights Organisation, 

an alumnus of the Shaikh 

Mohammad bin Rashid Lead- 

bourse had general good results 

due to the big transfer that occurred 

in Gulf Finance House 

FY2011 financial results. Otherwise, 

the political unrest in 

Bahrain during the year 2011 

negatively affected several 

sectors such as the services 

sector that witnessed cancellation 

of several big events in 

Bahrain. The Hotel and Tourism 

sector was the biggest 

loser during 2011 due to unrest 

in the country. Aggregate 

corporate profits announced 

by Bahraini companies stood 

at $2,454 million in 2011, up 

from $891.6 million in 2010 

(+175.3 per cent YoY). 

Three sectors managed to 

enhance their bottom lines 

by the end of 2011, while the 

remaining three sectors witnessed 

a drop in their net profit. 

Investment sector posted the 

highest advance, recording a 

net profit of $604.3 million 

for FY2011, compared to a net 

loss of $791.7 million for the 

year 2010. 

Gulf Finance House (GFH) 

showed an impressive improvement 

by reversing its net loss of 

$349 million occurred in 2010 

to a net profit of $0.381 million 

in 2011. Industrial sector was 

the biggest gainer, with its net 

profit growing by 52.9 per cent 

YoY. Commercial banks sector 

also posted positive results, 

with the aggregate net profit of 

listed banks growing by 17.9 

per cent YoY. On the negative 

side, the Hotel and Tourism 

sector saw its profitability dip 

by 47.9 per cent YoY. Service 

sectors followed, with the net 

ership Programme (affiliated 

with Kennedy School of Government 

— Harvard University), 

an alumnus of INSEAD, 

and is a member of the panel 

on SMEs for Mohammed bin 

Rashid al Maktoum Foundation. 

“I intend to give my fullest 

to this new venture which 

will be a pride for all the 

stakeholders including customers, 

employees and the 

people of Oman. We are going 

to build a great bank that 

will be a shining example of 

an Islamic bank. It will be a 

bank that will serve all people 

living in Oman, whether they 

are Muslim or not because Islamic 

banking is for everyone. 

I intend to build a team of professionals 

working with me to 

fulfil this dream of making the 

first Islamic bank in Oman,” 

added Al Farsi. 

Bank Nizwa is currently 

under formation. 

The bank was established 

in 2011 following a Royal directive 

to allow establishment 

of Islamic banks within Oman. 

In May 2011 the Central Bank 

of Oman granted its initial approval 

for the establishment 

of Bank Nizwa to the bank’s 

founders. 

Bank Nizwa will be 

Oman’s first dedicated Islamic 

bank and all products and 

services offered will be Sharia 

compliant. The bank is planning 

to begin operations in the 

third quarter of 2012. 

Net profits of GCC listed 

corporates rise 29.8pc 

The aggregate net 

profits for the GCC 

banking sector 

increased by 15.4 

per cent year on year 

basis. The industrial 

sector was also a 

notable gainer, with 

its aggregate net 

profit increasing by 

47.9 per cent by the 

end of 2011 

profitability retreating by 11.9 

per cent. 

The Kuwait Stock Exchange 

(KSE) concluded FY2011 with 

a negative performance reflected 

on the main market indices, 

which reported losses in 2011 

after several factors affected 

the local bourse. As a result, 

the market weighted Global 

General Index, ended 2011 

down by 19.78 per cent. 

Over 89 companies still did 

not release their FY2011 financial 

results, up till the release 

of this report. A total of 91 

Kuwaiti companies announced 

their FY2011 financial results, 

excluding 13 non-Kuwaiti 

companies, and 12 companies 

which their financial year does 

not end on December 31. Also 

excluded from the results was 

the KWD265.5 million one off 

profits of National Mobile Telecommunications 

Company 

(Wataniya Telecom) to draw a 

fair comparison. 

Aggregate net profit of 

listed Kuwaiti companies for 

FY2011 stood at $4.3 billion, 

down by 4.7 per cent YoY, 

compared to $4.5 billion net 

profit for the last year. 

Qatari companies continued 

to achieve profits during 

2011. A total of 33 companies 

listed on Qatar Exchange reported 

an aggregate net profit 

of $9,843.2 million for 2011 

compared to a net profit of 

$7,650.9 million achieved in 

2010, a growth of 28.7 per cent, 

which reflects the strength and 

rigidity of the country’s economy. 

During 2011, 27 companies 

recorded higher earnings, 

against 6 companies that have 

reported decline in profits, 

while one company incurred 

losses. It is worth mentioning 

that, Vodafone Qatar was excluded 

from this comparison, 

since the company’s fiscal year 

ends on March 31. 

Aggregate net profit of Saudi 

corporate reached $24,911.1 

million by the end of 2011, 

up by 20.1 per cent YoY. Out 

of the 144 companies that are 

covered in this report, 90 companies 

managed to improve 

their bottom lines in 2011, 

including 9 companies that 

swung from losses in 2010 to 

gains by the end of 2011.

24 

OMAN/INTERNATIONAL TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2012 

Oman Arab Bank hosts annual staff meet 

MUSCAT — The management 

of Oman Arab Bank (OAB) 

hosted the annual staff party at 

Grand Hyatt Muscat last week. 

The party was held under the 

auspices of Abdul Qader Askalan, 

Oman Arab Bank’s CEO, 

in the presence of all heads of 

departments and divisions who 

attended to share their colleagues 

the happy moments of 

their recognition. 

Welcoming the staff, the 

CEO said: “We are gathered 

here today to recognise our 

dear staff dedicated and loyal 

to their work at the Bank over 

years. I am proud of all of you 

since you are the true assets of 

the Bank. Hadn’t it been for 

you, the Bank would have not 

achieved this success we are 

celebrating today.” 

Later, 67 staff members, 

both males and females, who 

completed 25 years of service 

were recognised. Then, 63 staff 

members, both males and females, 

who completed 20 years 

of service were recognised. Finally, 

57 staff members, both 

males and females, who completed 

10 years of service were 

recognised. Certificates of recognition 

were also distributed 

to distinguished completing 

five years of service. 

Askalan along with Bishara 

Qafiti, Deputy General Manager 

for Operations and Banking 

Services, later cut a commemorative 

cake. 

Nissan Sunny’s success continues to flourish in Oman 

MUSCAT — The new Nissan Sunny 

have proved to be a sales success 

for Nissan Oman. The Nissan 

Sunny sold 325 vehicles in its first 

week on sale. 

The all-new Nissan Sunny is 

the completely revised tenth generation 

of this popular sedan which 

is a key player in the highly competitive 

C-segment market. 

Suhail Bahwan Automobiles 

(SBA), the sole distributor for 

Nissan vehicles in Oman, is currently 

getting an average of 100 

enquires of the Nissan Sunny per 

day, indicating strong favourable 

consumer response to the vehicle. 

“The outstanding success of 

the new Nissan Sunny goes far beyond 

our expectations. The Sultanate 

of Oman is a very competitive 

market, and the audience Nissan 

Sunny targets, trendy, stronglyopinionated 

youth, is challenging 

to reach,” said an official spokesperson 

of SBA. 

“The consistent high sales numbers 

prove that the car has struck 

the right balance in offering the 

best of Nissan reliability and quality 

as well as a young and dynamic 

style,” he added. 

The all-new Nissan Sunny’s design 

is distinct from most current 

compact sedans, both inside and 

out. Externally All-New Sunny 

offers a refreshing design character 

that is both sophisticated and 

highly aerodynamic while inside 

it offers five-passenger practicality 

with a high degree of comfort and 

AHMED Suhail Bahwan with first Nissan Sunny 2012 customers 

refinement. 

The all-new Nissan Sunny’s interior 

cabin volume of 2549 litres 

gives more rear legroom than some 

mid-size sedans - trumping even 

some luxury cars. 

Offered with either a four-speed 

automatic or five-speed manual to 

complement the 1.5-litre engine, 

the All-New Nissan Sunny also has 

generous levels of standard equipment 

and a broad range of choice. 

Features across the All-New Sunny 

range include drive computer and 

air conditioning along with a high 

level of safety equipment including 

twin airbags, anti-lock brakes 

and Electronic Brake Distribution 

TEL: 24601003, 24600586 • FAX: 24600736 

• WEBSITE: www.salalahport.com 

(EBD). 

At the top end of the range, 

the All-New Sunny ‘SL’ grade 

boasts parking sensors, steering 

wheel-mounted audio controls 

and a Bluetooth hands-free phone 

system, 15-inch alloys and front 

and rear electric windows and fog 

lamps. 

The Sunny, or the original Datsun 

1000, or the American Sentra, 

or the Mexican Tsuru has been an 

important model in Nissan’s lineup 

for decades. Starting its life as a 

subcompact, and graduating as a 

compact, the Sunny has always 

been one of the more popular cars 

from the Nissan stable. We shed 

Nawras adds eight 

countries to credit 


MUSCAT — Responding 

to customer feedback 

and the popularity of the 

Nawras Mousbak International 

Credit Transfer 

service, Oman’s customer 

friendly communications 

provider has added eight 

new countries to its list of 

operator partners. 

This allows customers 

to conveniently transfer 

credit to friends and family 

abroad in Indonesia, Sri 

Lanka, Jordan, Syria, Morocco, 

Tanzania, Turkey 

and Iraq in addition to India, Pakistan, Philippines, Bangladesh 

and Egypt. 

Ammar al Lawati (pictured), Nawras Payment Services 

Manager, said, “The success of Nawras Mousbak International 

Credit Transfer service is due to our pleasingly different approach 

as we strive to continuously grow our innovative range 

of services to help and delight our customers.” 

He added, “Nawras Mousbak customers can now get closer 

to more friends and family abroad by transferring airtime to 

prepaid customers of over 25 different operators in 13 countries. 

International Credit Transfers of up to 19 Omani Rials 

per month can be sent in a safe, fast, convenient, reliable and 

cost effective manner.” 

One of many Nawras firsts, the service is simple and easy 

to use by dialling *222# to view instructions in English or Arabic. 

From the menu displayed, International Credit Transfer 

should be selected and the recipient’s international mobile 

number entered. This is followed by deciding the amount of 

airtime to send from the choice of four denominations shown 

for each currency. 

When the International Credit Transfer message is sent, the 

corresponding value and charge is deducted directly from the 

sending customer’s Nawras Mousbak credit with the recipient 

receiving the credit in real time. 

Nawras customers can find more information about this 

service by sending a free SMS with the keyword int r to 1500 

or by calling 1500. Feedback on the service is welcomed and 

can be sent to InternationalTransfer@nawras.om 

some light on heritage of this historical 

car... 

Here in the Middle East, the 

Sunny continues to rake in sales 

alongside Nissan’s Tiida. Its popularity 

with fleet companies, business 

houses and end users continues 

unabated despite Tiida’s 

presence. 

European 

stocks 

diverge 

transfer service LONDON — European 

stocks firmed unsteadily yesterday, 

helped by rising German 

business confidence, 

but the Spanish market fell 

after an electoral setback for 

the government amid new 

strains over its debt. In late 

morning trading, London’s 

FTSE 100 benchmark index 

of top shares rose 0.38 per 

cent to 5,876.77 points and 

Frankfurt’s DAX 30 added 

0.36 per cent to 7,020.98, 

while in Paris the CAC 40 

was flat at 3,476.24 points. 

Frankfurt was boosted 

by news that German business 

confidence rose slightly 

in March, according to Ifo’s 

key business climate index. 

But traders remain concerned 

that the German 

economy could be losing 

some of its momentum. 

Madrid’s Ibex 35 index 

dived 1.71 per cent to 

8,310.8 points. In foreign 

exchange deals yesterday, 

the European single currency 

retreated to $1.3203 from 

$1.3268 in New York late 

on Friday, while bond yields 

remain high as a result of ongoing 

tensions over the euro 

zone debt crisis. 

“The markets are brushing 

off the stronger Ifo data 

and preferring to concentrate 

on the negative today 

— creeping euro zone bond 

yields (and) Rajoy’s failure 

to gain a majority in regional 

elections in Andalusia,” said 

research director Kathleen 

Brooks at trading site Forex. 

com. “— AFP

By M K Santhosh 

THE marine ecosystems and resources 

are vulnerable to both natural and 

anthropogenic changes in a rapidly 

developing economy like Oman. The circulation 

of ocean currents plays an important 

role in regulating air-sea interaction, 

biogeochemical nature and productivity 

of the region. As the main focus of past 

major oceanographic expeditions was the 

Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the 

Equatorial Indian Ocean, the knowledge 

about the dynamics of Arabian Gulf, Sea 

of Oman is limited till date. 

In this context, oceanographers in 

Oman put forward the idea of harnessing 

the potential of ocean modelling to benefit 

Oman. Subsequent to this, Marine Scientists 

of Sultan Qaboos University, led by 

Dr Y V B Sarma of the College of Agricultural 

and Marine Sciences, have won a 

research grant from the Research Council 

(TRC) for a project that utilises the high 

Hassan Meer’s solo show 

to feature at AB Gallery 

Page 26 

Dental bugs may trigger heart 

condition 

Page 27 

performance 

computing 

facility 

(HPCF) at 

SQU and add 

necessary resources 

to 

increase its 

capacity to 

uninterruptedly 

execute 

the Regional 

Ocean ModellingSystem 

(ROMS) Dr Y V B Sarma 

for the seas around Oman. 

The mathematical modelling of oceanic 

processes is the first of its kind attempt 

in Oman. The capability of numerical 

modelling of ocean circulation is absent 

in Oman at the moment. 

The present research aims to establish 

the numerical modelling of ocean circulation 

in Oman and forecast the marine en- 

I’m still single: 

Nargis Fakhri 

Page 28 

This chef pairs gourmet food with 

health, nutrition 

Page 27 

Fea ures 

Tuesday, March 27, 2012 

The circulation of ocean currents plays an 

important role in regulating air-sea interaction, 

biogeochemical nature and productivity of 

the region. As the main focus of past major 

oceanographic expeditions was the Arabian Sea, 

the Bay of Bengal and the Equatorial Indian Ocean, Ocean, 

the knowledge about the dynamics of Arabian Gulf, 

Sea of Oman is limited till date 

vironment. This is essential to assess the 

impacts of ocean circulation on regional 

ecosystem and marine living resources 

and to develop management strategies. 

This research will contribute significantly 

to the understanding of ocean circulation 

along Oman and its influence on coastal 

circulation, climate and fishery. 

The development of the capability in 

the area of mathematical modelling will 

highlight enormous research capabilities 

of SQU via-a-vis Oman. The innovative 

aspect of this study is the integration of 

different types of data to resolve regionspecific 

issues of the marine environment 

around Oman. The results of this study 

can be shared among different users (eg 

ministries and government institutions) to 

develop better management strategies. 

Traditionally Oman is a sea-faring 

nation and presently large population 

depends on fishing. Comprehensive and 

quantitative understanding of the ocean 

circulation is essential to achieve success 

in these traditional activities of the Omani 

society. The climate change is apparently 

bringing-in changes in the marine environment 

such as algal blooms and fish 

mortality. Protection of living resources 

is necessary for food security in Oman. 

These changes need to be studied and 

forecast to help development of integrated 

management plans. 

Several concerns regarding the impact 

of ocean circulation on the marine ecosystems 

within Sea of Oman and in the 

northwestern Arabian Sea have remained 

unresolved. The numerical modelling 

of regional ocean circulation enhances 

quantitative understanding of ocean processes 

and addresses the present and future 

concerns related to marine ecology and 

regional climate. 

An anomalous increase in sea surface 

temperature was noticed before the disastrous 

cyclones in 2007 and 2009 that 

have hit Oman. The first super cyclone 

alone inflicted a loss of about $4 billion 

besides loss of life and damages to the 

infrastructure. Massive fish kills in the 

Sea of Oman have been reported for more 

than two decades along Oman and are associated 

with algal blooms and their toxic 

effects. Oman’s fishery sector earns about 

RO 104.4 million from fish exports each 

year, which is the second highest contributor 

to the national gross domestic product 

(GDP) from natural products. 

The depletion of dissolved oxygen 

and the changes in the biogeochemistry 

of the seas around Oman are forced by 

circulation. Satellite images often show 

seasonally and inter-annually changing 

current jets and eddies which are difficult 

to explore through observations alone as 

it requires huge investments in terms of 

instruments and manpower. The emphasis 

is put on developing a regional circulation 

model to simulate the critical features 

of circulation and quantify its impact on 

coastal ecology. This can be achieved 

when the physical, biological, chemical 

and fishery data are analysed together in 

a numerical model. 

The researchers will investigate the 

ocean circulation and its impact around 

Oman using ROMS. The ROMS model 

will be customised with regionally ob- 

Singer Tulisa sues 

ex over tape 

Page 28 

served winds, heat fluxes and hydrographic 

conditions. The model will further carry 

out the biogeochemical simulations to 

understand the ecosystem changes along 

Oman. ROMS is a sigma co-ordinate numerical 

model that solves the primitive 

equations governing ocean dynamics and 

thermodynamics. The model offers several 

numerical schemes, horizontal and 

vertical mixing and there are options to 

couple the physical model with ecosystem 

models. The model can also be used for 

forecasting the physical and biological 

fields in the seas around Oman. 

The significance of this research is 

transformation from descriptive to quantitative 

assessment of the circulation. The 

model will explore the regional and global 

climatic events that are likely to force regime 

shifts in productivity in this region. 

The database developed in the process of 

modelling will meet both long and shortterm 

goals to monitor and forecast the dynamics 

of the seas around Oman. The ap- 

plications of the circulation modelling are 

of extreme economic and environmental 

importance to Oman as it helps in identifying 

the disaster prone areas along the 

coast and develop adequate management 

plans. The changes in inventory of biogeochemical 

properties of waters around 

Oman and their consequences are best 

studied and quantified by modelling the 

regional circulation as proposed. 

Recognising the importance of this 

study, The Research Council awarded 

a project for RO 131,000 in December, 

2011. Under this project, work on developing 

the mathematical model on SQU’s 

HPCF is under way. In addition to Dr Y V 

B Sarma, the research team consists of Dr 

Muataz al Barwani of College of Science, 

Dr Adnan R al Azri of College of Agricultural 

and Marine Sciences, Dr Lubna 

al Kharusi, Ministry of Agriculture and 

Fisheries, Dr P Vinayachandran, of Indian 

Institute of Science, India, and Harib al 

Habsi, of SQU.

26 SPOTLIGHT TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2012 

BMW Golf Cup event attracts 105 players 

THE past weekend saw 

some of the country’s 

best amateur golfers 

battle it out at the Muscat Hills 

Golf and Country Club in the 

first ever BMW Golf Cup — 

Oman. 

A total of 105 players took 

part in the 18-hole Individual 

Stableford Event, with golfers 

falling into one of two categories: 

Division A (Men up to 

handicap 14; and Ladies up to 

handicap 18); and Division B 

(Men with a handicap between 

15 to 28) and Ladies with a 

handicap between 19 to 36). 

HASSAN Meer’s (pictured) 

solo show Work 

Marry Remember is to 

be held at AB Gallery Zurich 

on March 28 and will run from 

March 29 to May 19. Hassan’s 

work consists of photographs, 

videos and an installation. 

While Hassan’s works are 

powerful in themselves, there 

is a strong relation between the 

artworks — altogether they create 

a Gesamtkunstwerk. Reflections 

from Memories is a series 

of photographs, inspired by the 

house of the artist’s grandfather. 

Each photograph reflects the 

artist’s memory, showing him in 

front of ruinous facades of some 

old house, the entrance or door 

being a gateway to the past. 

The fascination of memories 

and the past are also expressed 

in the site — specific installation 

being Reflection from the 

Memory. 

Comprised of suitcases and 

old boxes, which have been 

taken from the grandfather’s 

house, the installation is given 

a haptic effect which creates an 

even stronger interconnection 

THE Indian Telugu community in Oman 

celebrated the festival of Ugadi, marking 

the traditional new year, with a mega 

event at Al Falaj Hotel last week. 

Dr A B K Prasad, hailed as the doyen of vernacular 

journalism of the Indian state of Andhra 

Pradesh, was among a number of well-known 

personalities felicitated on the occasion. With 

The 18-hole 

championship 

course posed a 

real challenge 

for the players, 

providing an 

exciting day of 

golf for spectators 

The 18-hole championship 

course posed a real challenge 

for the players, providing an 

exciting day of golf for spectators. 

Peter Bell was the Division 

A winner with 40 Stableford 

points; whilst Shirley Prescott 

finished on top in Division B 

with 42 — both were awarded 

with an exclusive BMW Golf 

Cup Trophy and BMW Golfsport 

Gifts. 

Meanwhile second and 

Hassan Meer’s solo show to 

feature at AB Gallery Zurich 

between the memory and the 

object. 

As a further element the artist 

integrated video projections 

into the antique objects — one 

film being a short film, a documentation 

of the protagonist 

looking for his house of birth 

and the second one showing 

a sequence of black and white 

family photographs, flickering 

across the screen in 8mm aesthetics. 

Similarly poetic, even nostalgic 

are the photographs from 

the Wedding series. Capturing 

a young couple who have just 

married the photographs show 

their hours after marriage: from 

posing for the wedding picture 

to the first encounter in their 

wedding night. 

These photographs have a 

strong emotional power that is 

conveyed by their body postures. 

Anxiety and rejection 

seem to dominate the situation, 

a general disturbance that has 

no legitimacy within the force 

of tradition. 

Hassan Meer’s multimedia 

installation Asian Workers Play 

Cricket in their Break Time, 

comprised of a video work and 

portrait photographs, discusses 

the role of migrant workers in 

the boom cities of the Arabian 

Peninsula. This documentary 

shows migrant workers playing 

cricket in their break from 

work. 

Doing what he does best he 

gives the workers a face, and the 

right of visibility — something 

that they may lack in the reality 

of a migrant worker’s life. 

Hassan Meer was born in 

Muscat and is currently living 

and working here as an artist 

and curator. He holds a Bachelor 

and a Master from the Savannah 

College of Art and Design, 

Georgia, USA. 

After his studies in the USA 

he returned to his home country, 

being very active since then. 

Apart from his various activities 

he is also the founder of 

the Circle Show. This collective 

show organises exhibitions for 

young artists, encouraging them 

to present their works. 

Duqum Exhibition 

in November 

THE Omani Society for Fine 

Arts is participating in the 

Duqum Exhibition, which is to 

be held in the month of November. 

The exhibition will shed light 

on the port town of Duqum, its 

natural, environmental and cultural 

aspects. Interested artists 

have been urged to send their 

work by September 15. 

Categories for participation 

are: paintings, photography, 

sculpture, collage, graphic art 

(printmaking, etching and carving), 

computer graphics and 

digital art print. 

Telugu community marks traditional new year 

a journalistic career spread over five decades, 

Dr ABK, as he is called, has the singular honour 

of being the Editor of all the mainstream 

journals in the Telugu language. In addition to 

his contribution to journalism, the stalwart was 

also recognised for his lifelong work in promoting 

Telugu culture. Speaking on the occasion, 

Dr ABK highlighted the significance of Telugu 

third place in Division A were 

Amanvir Atwal and Danny 

Byrne while in Division B 

Sanjeev Nagpal and William 

Welsh were the runners up. 

The award for the nearest 

the pin went to Mukesh Sawhney, 

while Amanvir Atwal won 

the longest drive and Subba 

Rao achieved the straightest 

drive. 

Al Jenaibi International 

Automobiles, BMW Group‘s 

importer in Oman, also organ- 

and dwelt on the traditions of the ancient Telugu 

people. “Brotherhood continues to be essence 

of life; only strong relations will enable people 

to live harmoniously,” he noted. 

The programme began with a classical kuchipudi 

dance performance by Koka Vijaya 

Lashmi depicting several thematic mythological 

illustrations. This was followed by a magic 

ised a Golf Clinic for its BMW 

customers which saw great 

enthusiasm among non-golfers 

to learn the sport. 

During the tournament, Al 

Jenaibi International Automobiles 

displayed a range of 

BMW models at the Muscat 

Hills Golf and Country Club, 

among which were the BMW 

X3, X5 and X6, BMW 3 Series, 

BMW 5 Series and the 

BMW 7 Series. 

“We always aim to offer 

our customers exciting ways 

to experience the BMW brand 

beyond vehicle ownership,” 

said Rachid Zamani General 

Manager of Al Jenaibi International 

Automobiles. 

“Golf is a sport that is in 

synergy with the BMW brand 

values of strategic thinking and 

aesthetic expression. Both the 

sport and BMW are exclusive, 

elegant and stylish, a perfect 

match for the brand’s premium 

character,” added Zamani. 

McDonald’s congratulates staff 

on Customer Service Award 

THE Customer Service Excellence 

Award in the Retail Category presented 

by OITE (Oman’s leading conference 

and event management company), to 

McDonald’s Oman (Al Daud Restaurants 

LLC) was in turn dedicated to its staff in recognition 

of their unwavering commitment to 

the brand’s superior customer service standards. 

Ali K Daud, Development Licensee and 

President of McDonald’s Oman, handed over 

a trophy to the employees in acknowledgement 

of their outstanding efforts that helped 

earn the company this prestigious honour. 

At the recent 1st Customer Service Conference, 

McDonald’s Oman was named 

winner of the Customer Service Excellence 

Award 2011 in the Retail Category. The 

Award recognises McDonald’s exemplary 

performance in delivering quality amid 

a consistently high standard of service to 

customers. The brand was also cited for its 

successful strategies in improving customer 

service specifically in areas such as Research 

and Development, Innovation and Improvement, 

Customer Satisfaction, People Development 

and Organisational Philosophy. 

Ali Daud said: “The Customer Service 

Excellence Award 2011 is a reflection of 

McDonald’s customer-centric philosophy. I 

congratulate McDonald’s employees on this 

honour and proudly dedicate this Award to 

them for their unswerving adherence to our 

quality benchmarks.” 

He added: “I also thank the organiser, 

OITE, on their initiative to recognise companies 

and individuals who strive for excellence 

in customer services in Oman.” 

McDonald’s Oman regularly honours 

employees who distinguish themselves in 

meeting the brand’s high standards in quality 

service and hygiene. Outstanding employees 

of each restaurant are conferred ‘Employee 

of the Month’ and ‘Employee of the Year’ titles, 

along with other rewards, in an ongoing 

drive to promote total customer satisfaction. 

show by Altaf Ali, who is popularly known as 

Magic Ali. 

Prominent Telugu ghazal maestro Dr 

Srinivas enthralled the audience with his powerful 

renditions focusing on family and love. 

A legendary Indian classical vocalist who 

pioneered the art of Telugu ghazal singing, Dr 

Srinivas has set three Guinness World records 

and a Limca Record by singing ghazals on Gandhism 

in 125 world languages. 

The artistes were felicitated by an organising 

committee comprising Dr Rangaiah, Dr Keshav 

and Ramdas. Another dignitary feted on the occasion 

was fertility specialist Dr Rama Devi. 

The programme was co-ordinated by Prasanna 

Kumar, Rajendra Prasad, Guna Saida, 

Ramesh Babu, P V Srinivas, Bapi Raju, Madhusudhan, 

Naidu, Anil Kumar, Raja, Ganga 

Prasad, Padma Srinivas, Palepu Srinivas and 

Haribabu. Ramdas and Asma Khan were the 

emcees. The evening ended with the distribution 

of prizes to the winners of the rangoli, 

cooking, sports and elocution competitions. 

The entire programme was presented by Al 

Wiqayah Trading exclusively for members of 

the Telugu community residing in Oman. 

On the 

Lighter Side 

Clarity 

SUCCESS and happiness depends much on clarity. When 

I say clarity I mean clearness and simplicity in perception 

and understanding words that come out from one’s mouth ie 

clear of any ambiguity. Lack of clarity is responsible for all 

the frustration and underachievement than any other single 

factor. People who value clear speech are in a better position 

to accomplish more in a short period of time than others 

could ever hope for. 

But with the mother of junior I have to develop a special 

talent to gain complete clarity whenever she communicates 

with me. Unfortunately in some cases I always fail miserably 

to understand the words that come out of the mouth of the 

only mother of my children. I have become so astonished at 

my ignorance no matter how much she tries to clarify things. 

My misinterpretation of her words have become so imminent 

that it is as if we speak in different languages. But with 

some more effort and after gaining some experience, I have 

managed to accomplish some understanding whenever she 

speaks. I am told by experts that almost all women reason in 

the same lines, so fellow husbands gather around and listen 

to me, per chance you might learn one or two things about 

your wives. 

When the mother of junior uses the word “that’s OK” that 

is when I prepare myself for some trouble coming my way. 

This term is one of the most dangerous statements a woman 

can make to a man. “That’s OK” means she wants to think 

hard and long before deciding when and how you will pay 

for your mistake. When the mother of junior says “fine” — 

that’s when I understand that I need to shut-up. 

If you hear the mother of your children using the word 

“nothing”, you got to be very careful. This means ‘something’ 

and you better be on your toes. Beware that arguments that 

start with “nothing” usually ends with “fine”. In normal circumstances, 

junior’s mother does not use the word “thanks”. 

But whenever she does, I do not faint nor do I question it. I 

just say “you are welcome” and let it go because it can mean 

a lot of things. One of the few words that men and women 

find equilibrium with is “Of course”. One may take it as ‘yes’ 

or ‘certainly’ and the other as obviously but in the end they 

all mean the same. 

When a woman says than she needs ten minutes to dress, 

a man should understand that this means an hour or so. Don’t 

be mad about it. It’s the same definition all over the world. If 

your woman sighs loudly — you know that wordless statement; 

don’t misunderstand her for breathing in some oxygen. 

It means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is 

wasting her time standing in front of you arguing with you 

about “nothing”. If a woman says “go ahead” most men often 

misunderstand it as permission. It is actually a dare. Don’t do 

it. When a woman says “don’t worry about it I will do it”. 

it is the second most dangerous statement she can make. It 

means that she has asked you several times to do something 

and is now doing it herself. This will result in you asking at 

a later stage “what’s wrong?” Be cautious of “I don’t mind”. 

Many a times this means a “no”. When she says “do as you 

wish” don’t be so foolish not to understand that it means she 

is categorically and completely against the whole idea. 

Only by discovering your wife’s inner beauty, her 

strengths in clarity and understanding her words by exploiting 

them to their highest degree — can you ever fully realise 

the great amount of satisfaction and enjoyment in everything 

you do. You cannot play football if you cannot run. 

Likewise you cannot understand your wife unless you are 

well-informed of her language. Master these terms in order 

to get rid of the language problems in your house and greatly 

improve your relationship with your other half. A successful 

man is one who understands the language of his wife. A successful 

woman is one who can find such a man. 

Free blood-glucose 

testing clinic held 

LANDMARK Group, the region’s leading retail and hospitality 

conglomerate, conducted a half day free bloodglucose 

test at L&T Oman Labour Camp, Rusayl, as part of 

their ‘Beat Diabetes’ initiative. The group is working to raise 

awareness of diabetes in the Sultanate. 

Over 350 labourers from the camp turned out to complete 

the test which was conducted by Al Raffah Hospital and LifeScan, 

a Johnson & Johnson Company. As part of this clinic, Dr 

Sarfraz Ahmed, Chief Medical Co-ordinator, from Al Raffah 

Hospital held an informal question and answer session with 

the labourers and advised them of the many lifestyle changes 

which can be made to control diabetes. 

This event is part of the ‘Beat Diabetes’ campaign supported 

by Ministry of Health and Oman Diabetes Association. Awareness 

is the first step in the battle against diabetes. With this 

objective Landmark Group’s ‘Beat Diabetes’ initiative works 

towards making people alert about the growing diabetes epidemic 

across the region. 

The landmark Group has inked partnership with the International 

Diabetes Federation (IDF), an umbrella organisation 

of over 200 national diabetes associations in over 160 countries. 

Landmark Group becomes the organisation’s first retail 

corporate supporter partner. 

Across the year the Group conducts various activities, in its 

ongoing endeavour to educate people about the growing propensity 

of diabetes. The Walkathon is their champion event, 

which culminates all their efforts towards the cause. 

In 2011, the Landmark Group’s ‘Beat Diabetes’ walkathon 

in Muscat attracted over 7,000 people and over 2,000 people 

were administered free blood-glucose test across.

PEOPLE’S 

PLATFORM 

FOR the last many months we 

are hearing that the house 

rents are going to come down 

due to big supply and demand gap. 

Apparently we see many new 

buildings in almost all parts of the 

Sultanate’s capital area. 

I also see many new buildings 

lying vacant, but when we go to 

ask for rent the house owners quote 

very high rent. 

I find there is an artificial hike 

in house rents. This needs to be 

checked, as people like me, who 

come to Muscat for jobs, end up 

paying more on rent. 

— Abdul 

Editor: Prices cannot be managed 

artificially for a long time. 

Demand and supply theory applies 

everywhere. If the buildings are 

more in supply, the rents are bound 

to come down and this is what the 

real estate agents, developers and 

landlords are expecting. 

Communication woes 

WANT to raise the issue of the 

I Communication Studies students 

of Colleges of Applied Sciences 

(CAS) through your newspaper. 

Now Communication Studies is 

an internationally accepted media 

course which comprises many 

chapters like journalism, public 

relations, event management, 

digital media, radio and television 

broadcast. 

It was a great disappointment 

for me when I went to a media 

house to apply for the post of sub- 

editor and my application was not 

accepted on the grounds that I do 

not hold a journalism degree. 

I am not able to convince the 

authorities that Communication or 

Mass Communication graduates 

have better knowledge of the media 

sector than those who possess 

27 

LETTERS/HEALTH TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2012 

Rising house rents defy demand, supply principle 

a degree journalism. 

— Ali Maqbooli 

Editor: I advise you to take up the 

matter with a competent authority. 

Since you are a graduate in Communication 

Studies I hope you can 

communicate and convince them. 

My good wishes are with you. 

Do you have a word of appreciation for any services you received? Or suggestions for improvement? 

Observer is giving you an opportunity to rant or rave about anything 

and everything around you: Please write to: 

Viruses can defeat superbugs 

SCIENTISTS are 

harnessing viruses to 

beat extremely resistant 

bacterial infections, which 

are fast becoming the bane 

of public health. 

Bacteriophages are 

viruses that can infect 

bacteria and multiply within 

them and destroy them. 

Soon after their initial 

discovery in 1915, these 

viruses were investigated as 

antibacterial agents. 

"Each bacteriophage is 

highly specific to a certain 

type of bacteria and needs 

the right bacterial host 

cell in order to multiply," 

said David Harper, chief 

scientific officer at AmpliPhi 

Knee surgery 

inhibits return 

to sports 

KNEE reconstruction 

surgery is not of much 

help as around 40 per cent of 

people do not return to their 

previous level of activity 

or participation in sports, a 

study reveals. Gradually, the 

number of people actively 

participating in sports before 

being injured drops below 

50 per cent within seven 

years of surgery. 

Doctoral student Clare 

Ardern, from La Trobe University's 

Musculoskeletal 

Research Centre, followed 

over 300 people from two 

to seven years, the American 

Journal of Sports Medicine 

reported. 

Participants had either 

played football, basketball, 

netball or soccer before 

surgery, according to a university 

statement. She said 

that while most people after 

surgery get back to playing 

some kind of sport, only 

around 60 per cent returned 

to playing at their pre-injury 

level. — IANS 

Bioscience in Bedfordshire, 

Britain. 

"The more bacterial 

targets there are, the quicker 

they grow by killing the host 

cells. Therefore it seems 

very likely that infections 

harbouring high numbers of 

bacteria will benefit most 

from bacteriophage therapy 

— for example chronically 

infected ears, lungs and 

wounds," Harper was quoted 

as saying in a university 

statement. 

"For these types of 

infection, only a tiny dose 

of the virus is needed — as 

small as one thousandth of 

a millionth of a gram. This 

can usually be administered 

Badr Mohammed al Thanawi, Executive Co-ordinator, Office of the Editor-in-Chief 

Tel: 24649451, Fax: 24649469; e-mail: featuredesk@yahoo.co.in 

This chef pairs gourmet food with health, nutrition 

FOOD CORNER 

FOOD lovers who believe 

gourmet cuisine 

and weight-watching 

don't often go together must 

have an experience with acclaimed 

British chef Rob 

Rees — often referred to as 

the Cotswold chef from the 

heart of England. 

The lucky ones got to 

savour the celebratory chef 

lunch and dinner crafted by 

him, which were presented 

over several courses paired 

with the finest of beverages at 

the The Orient Express at The 

Taj Palace. 

"The evidence of good 

food reflects not only on the 

health and environment but 

actually on the performance 

and behaviour of an individual. 

Eat better and you 

will obviously do better," is 

the cornerstone of chef Rees' 

food philosophy. 

He is also committed to 

bettering the food culture in 

Britain and eventually making 

a global imprint. In that 

directly to the site of 

infection in a spray, drops 

or a cream. The major 

advantage to bacteriophages 

is that they don't infect 

human cells so seem likely 

to be very safe to use," 

Harper said. 

"The need for new 

approaches to counter 

such high resistance is 

both urgent and vital. New 

approaches will save lives," 

stressed Harper. Clinical 

trials for bacteriophage 

therapy are now under way. 

These findings were 

presented at the Society 

for General Microbiology's 

Spring Conference in 

Dublin. — IANS 

stated objective, India ranks 

high on his list of priorities. 

"English breakfasts, roast 

dinners, fish and chips are being 

replaced by some healthier 

options that will have a 

lasting impact on the health of 

Britishers," said the chef who 

was initiated into the profession 

by his mother. 

Dental bugs may trigger heart condition 

MOUTH bugs seeping 

into the bloodstream 

can cause blood clots 

and trigger endocarditis or inflammation 

of heart's inner tissues, 

which could be fatal. 

Infective endocarditis is 

treated with surgery or by 

strong antibiotics — which is 

becoming more difficult with 

growing antibiotic resistance. 

"About 30 per cent of people 

with infective endocarditis 

die and most will require surgery 

for replacement of the infected 

heart valve with a metal 

or animal valve," said Helen 

Petersen from the Royal College 

of Surgeons in Ireland 

(RCSI) who led the study. 

Streptococcus gordonii is a 

mouth bug which contributes 

Honoured with Most Excellent 

Order of the British 

Empire in 2006 for his services 

to the food industry, the 

creations of Rees focus on 

reducing salt, sugar and fat, 

which mean a lower calorie 

intake to directly impact on 

the people's health and general 

well-being. With the am- 

to plaque formation on teeth. 

If they enter the blood stream 

through bleeding gums, they 

can wreak havoc by impersonating 

as human proteins. 

Researchers from the RCSI 

and the University of Bristol 

have discovered that S. gordonii 

is able to produce a molecule 

on its surface that lets 

it mimic the human protein 

fibrinogen — a blood-clotting 

factor. 

This activates the platelets, 

causing them to clump inside 

blood vessels. 

These unwanted blood 

clots encase the bacteria, protecting 

them from the immune 

system and from antibiotics 

that might be used to treat, 

according to a Royal College 

bience of the bygone era at 

The Orient Express providing 

the perfect setting, Rees presented 

his unique dishes. 

The gratifying meal started 

of with a tartar of smoked 

salmon on a coriander biscuit 

with a sherry dressing accompanied 

by a 2006 Maison 

Louis Jadot Chablis 1er Cru 

The plats principaux, or the main course, of duck leg confit with truffle, mashed potato 

and chorizo reduction created by chef Rees (inset) 

statement. 

Platelet clumping can lead 

to growths on the heart valves 

(endocarditis), or inflammation 

of blood vessels that can 

block the blood supply to the 

heart or brain. 

"Our team has now identified 

the critical components of 

the S gordonii molecule that 

mimics fibrinogen, so we are 

getting closer to being able 

to design new compounds to 

inhibit it. This would prevent 

the stimulation of unwanted 

blood clots," said Steve Kerrigan 

from the RCSI. 

These findings were presented 

at the Society for General 

Microbiology's Spring 

Conference in Dublin this 

week. — IANS 

'Les Vaillons'. 

After a change of palate 

with a fruity sorbet, the plats 

principaux comprised duck 

leg confit with truffle mashed 

potato and chorizo reduction, 

delighting the dinners. A 2002 

Maison Louis Jadot Pommard 

1er Cru 'Epenots' provided the 

perfect accompaniment. To 

round off, he served a summer 

pudding with lemon curd 

with distinct Indian flavours. 

"There is no fusion but 

appropriate application," 

summed up Rees, who has 

had a 43-year, hugely-active 

life and a quarter of a century 

as a chef. "Healthcare systems 

round the globe cannot afford 

the consequences of bad eating 

habits." 

Recently, Rees opened 

Star Bistro, a unique, awardwinning 

eatery with challenged 

young people. The 

Cotswold Chef Food Centre 

is another hub of activity that 

delivers bespoke courses to 

motivate people to the world 

of great British food and regional 

ingredients. — IANS 

Cut in interest rate 

IT was great to hear that the 

Central Bank of Oman’s (CBO) 

Board of Governors have agreed 

to reduce the interest rate ceiling 

on new personal loans offered 

by various commercial banks 

operating in the Sultanate from 

8 per cent to 7 per cent per year 

starting from April 1 this year. I 

wonder what will happen to those 

who have already taken the loan 

last year. Will the new regulation 

be applicable on them also? — 

Majid 

Editor: It is real good news for 

those who are in need of personal 

loans. By extending such services 

the government not only helps individuals, 

who are in need but also 

keeps the money rotating in the 

market which ultimately is part of 

the country’s economy. 

Flights to Khasab 

resume 

IT is good news that Oman Air 

has announced the resumption of 

normal service to Khasab. About 

six Oman Air flights daily to and 

from Khasab had been cancelled 

as a result of the continued poor 

weather conditions causing 

inconvenience to passengers. 

— Asfaque 

Editor: We do not have control 

over weather conditions. Such 

steps are necessary for the safety 

and security of passengers. 

Ghala industrial area 

THERE is a plan to redevelop 

the Ghala Industrial Area 

in Muscat into a mixed used 

residential and commercial district. 

The plan envisages a complete 

makeover of this neighbourhood 

into one of Muscat’s vibrant new 

districts. The authorities would 

do well to allocate space for small 

and medium enterprises in the 

industrial estate. 

— Suhail 

Editor: The development of 

Ghala Industrial Area has been 

long overdue. We hope the new 

plan starts soon and taking care of 

the SMEs woes. 

World Theatre Day thoughts 

CENTURIES ago the English bard William Shakespeare 

wrote: 

All the world's a stage, 

And all the men and women merely players; 

In these memorable lines from his play As You Like It 

he succinctly brought out the intricate and inextricable link 

between life and theatre. 

Obviously, our life is packed with events and drama. 

Not just special happenings like weddings and funerals but 

even routine occurrences. We become dramatis personae 

in this perpetual story of life. Theatre is thus an integral 

part of life that is as old as human history and civilisation! 

The World Theatre Day (WTD) that falls today, is a celebration 

of this inseparable slice of human life and cultural 

heritage. Hence it is but apt that we take a brief look its 

significance. 

The Day was established in 1961 by the International 

Theatre Institute (ITI). This year, the 50th anniversary of 

its inception, is observed with great fervour by over 100 

ITI Centres across the world. ITI itself is an international 

NGO, founded in Prague in 1948 by the international theatre 

community with the active support of the Unesco. 

The lofty mission of ITI is to promote international 

exchange of knowledge and practice and encourage creative 

co-operation in theatre arts with a view to consolidate 

peace and friendship between peoples. ITI is guided by the 

principles of mutual respect of the national traditions of 

member countries. 

In order to achieve this mission, the ITI encourages activities 

and programmes in the sphere of live performing 

arts like drama, dance, music and theatre and disseminates 

relevant information. It co-ordinates the organisation of 

theatrical congresses, workshops, festivals, exhibitions and 

competitions at national and international levels. 

It also supports the great international festival of performing 

arts, the “Theatre of Nations” initiative, the first 

edition of which was organised in Paris in 1957. It continued 

to be held there annually for the next 15 years. Nowadays, 

it is held in various cities of the world in rotation. 

ITI’s key publication The World of Theatre is reckoned as 

the best available reference guide that explores the diversity 

of the current global dramatic scene. 

The ITI undertakes several performing arts projects 

with a clear social agenda like increasing gender equality, 

preserving endangered cultural heritage, developing local 

economies through art festivals and even bolsters peace efforts 

in civil war zones. 

Various national and international theatre events are organised 

to mark WTD. A key initiative is the extensive circulation 

of the World Theatre Day Message from a figure 

of world stature who shares his or her profound reflections 

on the theme of Theatre and a Culture of Peace. This year’s 

message is from American award-winning actor, director, 

producer and fashion designer John Malkovich. 

The World Theatre Day highlights the role of performing 

arts in fostering cultural interaction and instills selfconfidence 

in youth, empowers women, minority groups 

and other less privileged sections of societies and establish 

greater social harmony. 

In the context of the 50th Anniversary of World Theatre 

Day Irina Bokova, Director-General of Unesco said: Theatre 

has the power to move, inspire, transform and educate 

in ways that no other art form can. 

Years ago the well-known English playwright Oscar 

Wilde echoed similar sentiments by describing theatre as 

the greatest of all art forms, in which a human being can 

share with another the sense of what it is to be a human 

being. The World Theatre Day is indeed an appropriate 

celebration of this glorious reality. 

Quote: 

Theatre director: A person engaged by the management 

to conceal the fact that the players cannot act. — 

James Agate

I’m still single: 

Nargis Fakhri 

PAKISTANI-American actress Nargis Fakhri rubbishes 

rumours of a romantic link-up with Shahid 

Kapoor and says she is still single. 

“That was pretty interesting because I woke up in the 

morning and didn’t even know that I had moved into somebody’s 

house... Everything is a rumour. I am still single, 

unfortunately because I would love to meet someone lovely,” 

the 32-year-old said. 

Nargis attended Shahid’s birthday celebrations in Goa, 

supposedly sparking off the rumours. 

“Yeah, there were a lot many people that I know who 

went as well. So, I don’t know why I was not dating all 

of those people,” said the actress who made her debut in 

Indian films with Rockstar opposite Ranbir Kapoor. 

Her performance in her debut film met with mixed reactions 

and the actress currently has no project in hand. 

Now a film based on Osho’s ideology: After scripting 

Gandhi to Hitler, Nalin Singh is set to make a movie 

inspired by the ideologies of spiritual guru Osho. 

Co-scripted by Singh and Arunesh Ranjan, the film revolves 

around a successful rock band in search of moksha. 

“My film is all about rock and roll. It is an international 

film and the subject has been in my mind for years,” said 

Singh. 

“It was a very challenging task for us to put Osho’s ideology 

in a fictional story,” added Ranjan. 

The film will go on floors by June. 

Singer Tulisa sues 

ex over tape 

SINGER Tulisa 

Contostavlos (pictured) 

is suing her 

ex-boyfriend for allegedly 

leaking a sex tape 

of the couple onto the 

Internet. 

The X Factor judge 

was devastated when intimate 

footage appeared 

online of her and former 

lover Justin Edwards. 

She now claims he was 

the person responsible 

for it which Edwards 

denies. 

But now a lawyer 

for Contostavlos has issued 

legal papers against 

Edwards, also known as 

MC Ultra, to prevent him 

talking about the video. 

“She’s suing for up to £100,000. This latest move by Tulisa 

has really unnerved and unsettled him. It’s serious stuff and 

he’s got to take it seriously. It’s a lot of pressure for him,” contactmusic.com 

quoted a source as saying. 

‘‘This is an unusual case, in that the injunction was granted 

after the material became public, not before. It entitles Tulisa 

to seek damages,” the source added. 

Kimberley’s weighty issues: Singer Kimberley Walsh 

is worried about staying in shape once she finishes her stint 

in Shrek: The Musical. The singer who took over the role of 

Princess Fiona last October is concerned that when her time in 

London’s West End comes to an end in May she will pile on 

the pounds because she won’t be so active. 

“Being on stage is a great way of staying in shape. We do 

eight shows a week and my dressing room is up two flights of 

stairs, so I’m always working out,” she told Closer magazine 

in an interview. 

“I’m a bit worried about eating the same amount of food 

when I’m no longer doing the show. It’s been such a treat not 

worrying about what I eat,” she said. 

Weight gain is not the only worry for the 30-year-old. She 

admitted her last night in the musical will be an emotional experience, 

reports contactmusic.com. 

“I’m worried about how I’ll get through my last night. It’s 

going to be so emotional. But it’s the right time for me to go. I 

won’t be doing more theatre any time soon. I need a holiday,” 

she added. — IANS 

28 

ENTERTAINMENT TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2012 

Aditi welcomes competition 

between new, old actors 

ACTRESS Aditi Rao 

Hydari, (pictured) 

whose last film London, 

Paris, New York managed 

to pull audiences to theatres, 

believes in healthy competition 

and says the success stories 

of senior actors motivates 

new entrants. 

“I guess happy, healthy 

competition is a good thing. 

You have people who have 

been working in the industry 

for a long time, they are doing 

good work and the entire 

nation is crazy about them. It 

encourages us to work much 

harder,” she said when asked 

whether the young face stiff 

competition from the likes of 

the three Khans. 

“We have people who we 

look up to. So I think it’s a 

good thing and a good trend,” 

added the 33-year-old. She 

was speaking on the sidelines 

of Big Star Young Entertainer 

awards where young and new 

talents were honoured for their 

achievements. 

Aditi says the segregation 

between new and old is 

not necessary, but agrees that 

it helps youngsters who feel 

lost. 

“I don’t think there is a 

need for segregation. But 

maybe we are in a phase in our 

film industry where there are 

so many exciting people and 

there are lots of senior people 

who are still doing fabulous 

work. I think that’s why the 

younger ones, who are entering 

the industry, tend to get a 

little lost. 

“I think it’s a good thing 

that so many wonderful peo- 

ple from all age groups and 

generations are working under 

the same roof,” she added. 

Aditi started her Bollywood 

career with Delhi 6 and went 

on to do a small role in Yeh 

Saali Zindagi. She featured 

as a journalist in Imtiaz Ali’s 

Rockstar before landing the 

lead role in Goldie Behl’s London, 

Paris, New York opposite 

Pakistani actor Ali Zafar. 

Shaan brings Kishore’s 

melodies alive: Kishore Kumar’s 

music has lived through 

the years — and a concert by 

singer Shaan, who sang evergreen 

hits of the legendary actor-singer, 

was proof enough. 

Be it children in early 

teens or the elderly ones in 

the crowd — people across 

all ages swayed to Kishore 

da’s tunes on Sunday night as 

Shaan performed at a musical 

evening dedicated to the legendary 

singer. 

One could see the crowd 

of over 1,000 Kishore Kumar 

fans in the audience completely 

engrossed as Shaan set the 

mood for the show. — IANS 

Chief Executive Officer DR IBRAHIM BIN AHMED AL KINDI. Editor-in-Chief FAHMY BIN KHALID AL HARTHY 

Printers and Publishers OMAN ESTABLISHMENT FOR PRESS, PUBLICATION AND ADVERTISING 

ONE WORD 

AND A HALF 

Between policy 

and practice 

THERE are vast differences between policy and practice. 

These two terms move in two straight parallel 

lines that could not meet whatsoever. Idiomatically 

speaking, policy is not only the recognised political concept 

in the relations between countries, entities and international 

institutions. Rather, it is the plan or the approach 

followed by a country, government or a body in addressing 

an aspect in its respective field or a tool of its prerogatives 

In its wider sense, policy may be righteous according 

to the requirements and the visions towards an aspect. The 

evaluation of these policies is required occasionally as part 

of the reviews for the objectives and policies with the aim 

of evaluating the positive aspects and sustaining it, in addition 

to addressing the negative aspects. 

Practice may be needed for implementing a particular 

policy. It may be the routine work that are not completely 

related with policies. This practice can also be subjected 

to evaluation and review due to its potential for major errors 

because policies may in practice be prone to errors in 

application. 

If the policy or the plan set by the country or the government 

has objectives or visions to achieve a certain objective, 

the practice for applying a policy needs to consider 

the requirements of the people and be within a reasonable 

limit. For example, the application of the basic education 

plan is a policy drawn by the government to develop the 

education, thus we should respect, appreciate and co-operate 

to make this policy a great success. However, the application 

of this policy has many mistakes, including the 

issue of mixing between male and female students. There 

is no justification for this aspect as it does not contribute 

into the success of the basic education policy. Rather, there 

are some negative behaviours that have started to appear as 

a result of this admixture. 

Also, the Ministry of Health has contributed in rationalising 

the spending on the health sector as a policy or a 

plan. Yet, this does not mean that the health centres will be 

closed at 9 pm and the citizens who are in need of treatment 

will find themselves forced to move from one hospital to 

another seeking treatment and stand in queues waiting for a 

general practitioner to inspect them late at night, etc. 

French actress and model Berenice Marlohe seen at the 

Jameson Empire Film Awards held at the Grosvenor 

House Hotel, Park Lane, in London. — AFP 

Sajid praises Malaika 

DIRECTOR Sajid Khan is all praise for Munni Malaika 

Arora Khan, who has sizzled in the item song Anarkali 

Disco chali from his forthcoming Housefull 2. No wonder she 

is seen in all his films. 

“Besides Akshay Kumar, it was Malaika Arora Khan who 

has been associated with Sajid Khan’s films. Malaika’s item 

song in Housefull 2 Anarkali Disco Chali has hit the chartbusters 

big time,” the 40-year-old tweeted. 

Sajid and Malaika share a close friendship. “When she got 

married, I was her best man. Arbaaz (Khan) is my childhood 

buddy. Malaika was part of Heyy Baby’ she was part of Housefull. 

My sister Farah and Malaika also share a superb tuning 

and every time they work together, they have always given hit 

songs,” he added. — IANS 

Oman Establishment for Press, Publication and Advertising; P.O. Box 974, Postal Code 100, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman; Tel: 24649444, 24649450, 24649451, 24604563, 24699437 Fax: 24699643 Website: omanobserver.om 

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Observer & Busness 27 Mar 2012 - Oman Daily Observer

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