OmanObserver_30-06-13

World News 

P4 Ready-to-assemble shelters for refugees P7 UN peacekeepers in conlict-hit Mali 

P24 EU clears Serbia membership talks P32 The striking beauty of Al Akhdhar village 

OMAN 

Workshop on 

SMEs planned 

THE Public Authority for Small and 

Medium Enterprises Development 

will organise on Tuesday at the 

Grand Hyatt Muscat a workshop 

to follow up the implementation 

of decisions made at the Small and 

Medium Enterprises Development 

Symposium. 

INDIA 

WORLD 

Vol. 32 No. 228 | 200 baisas | 32 pages www.omanobserver.om 

Airports see rise 

in traffic, cargo 

THE passenger trafic through 

Muscat International Airport 

has increased by 10 per cent to 

3,416,394 passengers during the 

irst ive months of this year. Salalah 

Airport has also seen an increase 

in trafic by 12 per cent with a total 

number of passengers at 270,438. 

FULL REPORT ON PAGE 2 


Death toll from 

floods 10,000 

RESCUERS in India's loodhit 

Uttarakhand state worked 

yesterday to free more than 500 

people stranded in the town of 

Badrinath as efforts elsewhere 

turned to supplying cut-off villages 

as state Assembly Speaker Govind 

Singh Kunjwal told reporters the 

death toll could exceed 10,000. 


British premier 

in Pakistan 

BRITISH Prime Minister David 

Cameron arrived in Pakistan 

yesterday for talks with President 

Asif Ali Zardari focussing on the 

Afghan peace process, oficials said. 

Cameron made an unannounced 

visit to Afghanistan earlier in the 

day, backing talks with the Taliban. 


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GOLD 

Price $1,229.20 

 

 

 

 

 

The Observer’s lifestyle magazine Mazoon is 

distributed today. Collect your free copy. 

DR IBRAHIM BIN AHMED AL KINDI Chief Executive Officer 

FAHMI BIN KHALID AL HARTHY Editor-in-Chief 

Oman Establishment for Press, Publication and Advertising 

PO Box 974, Postal Code 100, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman 

Sunday JUNE 30, 2013 | SHAABAN 21, 1434 AH 

Youzhny looms for Murray, Tomic booms P27 

editor@omanobserver.om 

Long queues of vehicles at Al Wajajah border at 5.30 pm yesterday. It took hours for people returning to Oman to clear the formalities at the border. 

Serpentine queues at Wajajah border greet people returning to Sultanate 

Need better facilities at border crossing 

By A Staff Reporter 

MUSCAT — It was a nightmare for 

people who travelled to the United 

Arab Emirates (UAE) on the weekend, 

and were about to return to Oman. 

The border crossing at Al Wajajah 

Action against 

price increase 

By Samuel Kutty 

MUSCAT — As Ramadhan is set to start soon, households 

are building up their stocks of food and other essential 

supplies. At the same time, consumers from their 

past experience fear that prices of commodities will go 

up along with their rise in spending. 

Allaying any spike in the prices, Omar bin Fadhil al 

Jahdhami, Director-General of Public Authority of Consumer 

Protection (PACP), sounded tough with panel action 

against precipitators of price rise. 

“The government machinery is fully mobilised to resist 

any kind of hike in the prices”, he told the Observer. 

The authority has its squads of inspectors, which 

will make daily visits to malls and retail outlets to keep 

a close eye on prices and ensure that shop owners do 

not resort to any kind of price or stock manipulations, 

he said. 

“If anybody is found inlating the prices or resorting 

to hoarding of commodities, they will face strict actions 

including jail terms," Omar warned. 

The controls have already kicked in and they are having 

an effect in reducing the impact of high international 

food prices on the local populace, he said. 

“Ramadhan or not, our oficials are in the market. 

Consumers can lodge their complaints, if any, with the 

authority at any time," he said. 

But consumers are apprehensive and have their own 

complaints. To page 2 

was a scene of serpentine queues of 

cars and other vehicles, which were 

trying to enter the Sultanate. This 

checkpost experiences heavy trafic 

especially on weekends and holidays. 

Each vehicle was forced to wait for 

more than an hour to cross the border 

checkpost after inishing the required 

formalities. 

"Since it was a weekend and most 

of the people were returning to Oman 

to resume duties on Sunday, there 

was a heavy rush of vehicles and the 

facilities offered at the border were 

inadequate to meet the requirements 

of the travellers," said one of the passengers, 

who got stuck in the trafic 

for hours. He was returning from a 

weekend visit to Musandam. 

"Even though a number of steps 

were taken to ease the agony of people 

who travel to the UAE on weekends 

and holidays, still lot needs to 

be done to ease the low of trafic," he 

added. 

Parking woes mount at Muscat airport 

By A Staff Reporter 

OBSERVER EXCLUSIVE 

79 locations for chromite deposits 

By Conrad Prabhu 

MUSCAT — Buoyed by the discovery of dozens 

of prospective chrome ore (chromite) 

sites, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry 

is preparing to embark on the next phase 

of an extensive mineral exploration drive 

that promises to sustain the low of feedstock 

for the country’s rapidly expanding 

ferrochrome smelting industry. 

As many as 79 locations believed to 

hold potentially rich chrome ore deposits 

have been identiied by the ministry’s Directorate-General 

of Minerals along a vast 

coastal swathe spanning the wilayats of 

Shinas and Sohar. Details on page 17 

MUSCAT — Congested parking lots and the 

problem of inding a space have become a 

daily scene at Muscat International Airport 

in spite of the expansion of the parking lot 

by Oman Airports Management Company, 

the body tasked with managing and operating 

the airport’s facilities including the car 

park. This situation has left many passengers 

and others wondering when they will 

see an end to this problem. 

Oman Arabic, sister daily of the Observer, 

spoke to some people and listened to their 

opinions and complaints. 

Yusuf bin Ali al Bulushi said: “Congestion 

of parking lots has become normal at the 

airport particularly in the morning. This is 

quite annoying for the passengers and their 

relatives and also to the airport employees. 

There is a need to develop the car park to 

cater to the needs of the airport users. 

Move to revive ME talks 

AMMAN — US Secretary of State 

John Kerry extended for a third day 

yesterday his shuttle diplomacy between 

Israeli and Palestinian leaders, 

raising speculation of progress in reviving 

long dormant peace talks. 

In the morning, Kerry took a helicopter 

from Jerusalem to Amman 

where he spent two hours in talks 

with Palestinian President Mahmud 

Abbas before heading back again for 

his third meeting in under 48 hours 

with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin 

Netanyahu. 

"Working hard," Kerry told a reporter 

who asked if he was making 

progress as he and Abbas began their 

second meeting in a many days. 

In a potential sign of headway, 

Kerry cancelled a dinner he had 

scheduled for last night in Abu Dhabi, 

part of his separate tour in the past 

week through Gulf Arab states to coordinate 

support for opposition in 

Syria's civil war. 

State Department spokeswoman 

Marie Harf said Kerry would still 

head to a meeting of Asian ministers 

in Brunei starting tomorrow but 

called off the Abu Dhabi stop because 

his "meetings on the peace process 

remain ongoing". 

US oficials have said little on the 

closed-door discussions, saying public 

comments would risk the luid diplomacy. 

Kerry was expected to speak before 

leaving the region but Israeli 

public radio said his failure to hold 

an expected news conference in Amman 

last Friday suggested stumbling 

blocks in the talks. 

"(Israeli) diplomatic sources 

were... talking to me about the possibility 

of a four-way summit in Amman 

in the coming week," the radio's 

diplomatic analyst Chico Menashe 

reported. See also page 6 

"Some passengers ind no other way but 

to park their cars haphazardly as they have 

to get into the airport on time, only to ind 

that they were issued a ine.” 

Dr Khamis bin Mohammed al Kindy said: 

“I am a regular traveller and often I notice 

the disappointment on the faces of the users 

at the car park. I think the company entrusted 

with operating the car park bears part of 

the responsibility when passengers are ined 

for wrong parking.” Photos on page 2 

THRILL: Andy Jones of the US dives from the 27-metre 

platform during the third stop of the Red Bull Cliff 

Diving World Series in Ilset Vila Franca do Campo, 

Azores, Portugal. — AFP

2 

OMAN 

Congested parking 

lots and the problem 

of inding a space 

have become a daily 

scene at Muscat 

International 

Airport in spite of 

the expansion of the 

parking lot by Oman 

Airports Management 

Company, the body 

tasked with managing 

and operating the 

airport’s facilities 

including the car park 

SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2013 

Passenger traffic at 

airports up 10pc 

MUSCAT — The total passenger traf- 

ic including transit and transfer passengers 

through Muscat International 

Airport has increased by 10 per cent 

to 3,416,394 passengers during the 

irst ive months of 2013 compared 

to 3,100,706 passengers for the same 

period of 2012. 

The statistics released by the Air 

Transport Department at the Public 

Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA) 

pointed out that the number of arrival 

passengers increased by 9 per cent 

to 1,728,640 passengers at the end 

of May 2013 compared to 1,584,769 

passengers for the same period of 

2012. 

The number of departing passengers 

has also increased by 13 per cent 

to 1,662,902 passengers at the end 

of May 2013 compared to 1,472,959 

passengers for the same period last 

year. 

The increase in arrival and departure 

trafic into Muscat International 

OCCI to hold Ramadhan Nights 

MUSCAT — Oman Chamber of Commerce 

and Industry (OCCI) will organise 

during Ramadhan ive nights that will focus 

on economic sectors in the presence 

of ministers, under-secretaries, heads 

and members of the sectoral committees, 

professional associations and the 

economic committees at the State Council 

and Majlis Ash'shura. 

This came in a statement to Oman 

News Agency by Khalil bin Abdullah al 

Khonji, OCCI Chairman. He said that ive 

works have been presented to the Supervisory 

Committee for Sectoral Committees 

to be presented during Ramadhan 

nights for the private sector establishments 

and the community. 

Airport is attributed to the increase in 

the number of lights of some airlines 

operating into Muscat International 

Airport, such as Oman air, Ethiopian 

Airlines and Bangladesh United Airlines. 

In terms of air cargo trafic at Muscat 

International Airport, Aviation 

Statistics indicate an increase in the 

total unloaded and loaded freight by 

1 per cent with total shipment 49,190 

tonnes at the end of May 2013 compared 

to 48,858 tonnes in the same 

period in 2012. 

Salalah Airport has an increase by 

12 per cent in the total number of arriving 

and departing passengers to 

270,438 passengers at the end of May 

2013 compared to 241,795 passengers 

during the same period last year. 

As for the movement of Air Cargo 

at Salalah Airport, freight trafic has 

recorded a remarkable increase in 

the total unloaded and loaded freight. 

— ONA 

Tough measures against price increase 

From page 1 

“The price rise of food and other essentials 

has dented the wallets of each 

individual residing in Oman in a big 

way. Even the prices of local produce 

of vegetables, which has no connection 

with exchange rate, too has have 

gone up because of the greed of the retailers. 

The prices of chicken, mutton, 

pulses, spices, sugar, rice, wheat, fruits, 

powder milk and carbonated drinks, 

all rose in the past couple of years,” laments 

Hameed al Wahaibi, a pensioner 

in Ruwi. 

A few greedy whole sellers have 

monopolised the retail market and 

have taken the advantage of the situ- 

This aims at closely familiarising with 

major problems of each sector, their future 

challenges and the recommendations 

proposed for the ministries concerned. 

He added that those sectors represent 

electricity and water, oil and gas, 

construction, sales, transport and communications. 

He pointed out that OCCI is keen to 

develop the economic sectors through 

familiarising with the obstacles and 

major solutions that would develop 

them, in addition to paying attention to 

Omanisation and employment, as well 

as discussing SMEs development in each 

of the ive sectors. — ONA 

ation and increased the prices at their 

own whims, he says. 

“There is an immediate need of a 

strict price control act to check the 

prices”, he urges. 

At the same time hypermarket managements 

are making all-out efforts to 

ensure enough stock and supply of essentials 

at stable prices. 

“We have special dedicated teams 

that handle logistics and stocks. We 

always plan ahead to make sure that 

not only do we have the best selection 

of products but also offer them at the 

most competitive prices. During special 

months like Ramadhan, we ensure 

that supply exceeds demand to keep 

New cargo 

lights 

launched 

MUSCAT — Freight carrier 

Cargolux Airlines International 

SA yesterday 

launched cargo lights via 

Muscat International Airport 

with one light per 

week. The move is part 

of Oman Airport Management 

Company’s (OAMC) 

efforts to allure internationally 

renowned cargo 

companies to operate in 

Oman. 

prices in check,” said Ananth AV, Regional 

Firector, LuLu Hypermarket. 

According to him, the brisk low of 

goods in the months before Ramadhan 

is absolutely normal. “We on our part 

have kept a irm check on the prices 

and are monitoring it on a daily basis 

ensuring that there are no great spikes 

during the season”, he said. 

Meanwhile, the inlation rate in 

Oman recorded stood at 1.20 per cent 

in April. Historically, from 2005 until 

2013, the inlation rate averaged 5.24 

per cent reaching an all-time high of 

14.50 per cent in June of 2008 and a 

record low of 1.20 per cent in April of 

2013.


Expert panel discusses strategy 

for agriculture development 

Visual presentation explains objectives of the strategy 

MUSCAT — As part of efforts by the 

Ministry of Agriculture to prepare a 

sustainable development strategy 

for the agricultural sector till 2040, 

the national team tasked with the 

project yesterday held its irst meeting 

under the chairmanship of Dr 

Khalid bin Mansour al Zedjali, Director-General 

of Planning and Development, 

with the participation of 

experts and specialists at the Ministry 

of Agriculture and Fisheries. 

At the beginning of the meeting 

Al Zedjali explained that this was a 

preparatory meeting to agree on a 

roadmap to prepare a comprehensive 

sustainable strategy for the development 

of the agricultural sector. 

This task involves all the governmental 

agencies that are linked to 

the agricultural sector. 

The national team is supported 

in its mission by experts from the 

UN Food and Agriculture Organisa- 

SMEs workshop to examine 

implementation of decisions 

MUSCAT — The Public Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development 

(PASMED) will organise on Tuesday at the Grand Hyatt Muscat a 

workshop related to following up of implementation of decisions made at the 

Small and Medium Enterprises Development Symposium, which was held 

last January at Saih Al Shamikhat in the Wilayat of Bahla. 

The workshop will be held under the auspices of Dr Ali bin Masoud al Sunaidy, 

Minister of Commerce and Industry, Chairman of PASMED's Board in 

the presence of ministers and under-secretaries from the agencies concerned 

with implementing the decisions. 

During the workshop, visual presentations will be delivered by the governmental 

agencies concerned with implementing the decisions of the symposium. 

The door will then be opened for discussion and raising questions to 

those agencies in relation to implementation of the decisions of the symposium. 

— ONA 

tion (FAO) as the ministry signed an 

agreement in March this year with 

FAO for the preparation of the strategy. 

During the meeting, Al Zedjali 

presented a visual display and explained 

that main objective of the 

strategy is to serve as a referral 

framework for developing the agricultural 

sector and it shows how the 

sector will be like in the future. 

Al Zedjali said the ministry has 

inalised a similar strategy for the 

development of the isheries sector 

till the year 2020 which was 

approved the Council of Ministers. 

He also spoke about the futuristic 

vision in the agricultural sector in 

terms of programmes and projects 

and the importance of long-term 

planning by preparing an applicable 

investment programme concordant 

with the local, regional and international 

trends. 

CBO certiicates of 

deposit tender results 

MUSCAT — Certiicates of deposit 

tender was held at the 

Central Bank of Oman (CBO) 

this week. 

The total amount allotted for 

issue No 823 was RO 426 million. 

A bulletin issued by the CBO 

stated that the average interest 

rate of these certiicates was 

0.13 per cent while the maximum 

accepted interest rate 

was 0.13 per cent. 

The tenure of these certii- 

cates is 28 days, so their maturity 

date is on July 24. 

The certiicates of deposit 

issued to licensed banks by the 

CBO as a monetary policy instrument 

aimed at absorbing 

excess liquidity in the banking 

sector in particular and maintaining 

stability of the interest 

rate and the money market in 

general. 

The Repo rate during June 

26-July 2 is 1 per cent. — ONA 

OMAN 

3

4 

THE WORLD 

South African President Jacob Zuma (2ndR) and his wife Thobeka Madiba-Zuma (R) wave alongside US President Barack Obama (2nd L) and First 

Lady Michelle Obama as they arrive at the Union Building in Pretoria, South Africa yesterday. — AFP 

Obama meets family of Mandela 

PRETORIA — US President Barack 

Obama yesterday met the family of 

his "inspiration" Nelson Mandela but 

was unable to visit the anti-apartheid 

legend who remains critically ill in 

hospital. 

Despite tentative signs of an improvement 

in the condition of the 

father of multi-racial South Africa, 

Obama decided not to visit Mandela 

during his visit for fearing of disturbing 

his "peace and comfort". 

Instead Obama met privately with 

some relatives of the revered leader 

including two daughters and several 

grandchildren and spoke by telephone 

with Mandela's wife Graca 

Machel. 

"I expressed my hope that Madiba 

draws peace and comfort from the 

time that he is spending with loved 

ones, and also expressed my heartfelt 

support for the entire family as 

they work through this dificult time," 

Obama said, using Mandela's clan 

name. 

Machel said she had "drawn 

strength from the support" offered by 

the Obama family. 

"I am humbled by their comfort 

and messages of strength and inspiration 

which I have already conveyed to 

Madiba." 

Speaking earlier in Pretoria, where 

94-year-old Mandela lay ighting for 

his life in a nearby hospital, Obama 

praised the "moral courage" of South 

Africa's irst black president. 

"The struggle here against apartheid, 

for freedom, Madiba's moral 

courage, his country's historic transition 

to a free and democratic nation, 

has been a personal inspiration to 

me. It has been an inspiration to the 

world," Obama said after talks with 

President Jacob Zuma. 

"The outpouring of love that we've 

seen in recent days shows that the 

triumph of Nelson Mandela and this 

nation speaks to something very deep 

in the human spirit — the yearning 

for justice and dignity that transcends 

boundaries of race and class and faith 

and country," he added. 

Obama said before arriving he did 

not need "a photo-op" with Mandela, 

whom he meet briely in 2005, and 

the White House yesterday ruled out 

a meeting between the two men. 

"Out of deference to Nelson Mandela's 

peace and comfort and the family's 

wishes, they will not be visiting 

the hospital," the oficial said. 

Obama's three-nation tour is 

aimed at changing perceptions that 

he has neglected Africa since his election 

in 2008, while also countering 

China's growing economic inluence 

in the resource-rich continent. 

But it has been overshadowed by 

the illness of his fellow Nobel peace 

laureate, who has been in intensive 

care for more than three weeks. 

Zuma said Mandela remained 

in "critical but stable" condition, 

Rwanda army oficers 'aiding' 

M23 dissidents in Congo 

UNITED NATIONS — Military oficers 

from Rwanda and Democratic Republic 

of Congo are fuelling violence in 

eastern Congo despite pledges by the 

countries to foster peace, according 

to a conidential UN experts' report 

on Friday. 

A dissident group in eastern Democratic 

Republic of Congo continues 

to recruit ighters in neighbouring 

Rwanda with the aid of sympathetic 

Rwandan military oficers, the UN 

Group of Experts said in its interim 

report to the Security Council's Congo 

sanctions committee. 

The UN Group of Experts also said 

elements of the Congolese military 

have co-operated with a Rwandan 

Hutu dissident group against the 

Congolese M23 group, a Tutsi-dominated 

rebellion of former Congolese 

soldiers that has demanded political 

concessions from President Joseph 

Kabila's government. 

The allegations are likely to displease 

Kigali and Kinshasa, which 

have signed a UN-backed peace 

agreement and pledged to co-operate 

on bringing peace and stability to 

Congo, where millions of people have 

been killed and many more displaced 

in decades of conlict. 

Recruitment and other forms of 

support for the M23 dissidents have 

waned in recent months, though the 

insurgent forces still pose a security 

threat in eastern Congo, said the UN 

Group of Experts. 

"Since the outset of its current 

mandate, the group has to date found 

no indication of support to the dissidents 

from within Uganda, and has 

gathered evidence of continuous — 

but limited — support to M23 from 

within Rwanda," the report said. 

"The group sent a letter to the gov- 

ernment of Rwanda on June 14, 2013 

asking for clariication about this support 

and looks forward to a reply," the 

UN experts said in the report. 

They said current and former M23 

members reported that Rwandan 

army oficers or their representatives 

have crossed the border into Chanzu 

or Rumangabo in eastern Congo to 

meet with Makenga. 

The report said 14 former M23 

soldiers told the Group of Experts 

that Rwandans who deserted M23 

and tried to go home to Rwanda were 

"forcibly returned to M23" by Rwandan 

army oficers. 

Rwanda's deputy UN Ambassador, 

Olivier Nduhungirehe, rejected the allegations. 

"Now that the GoE report 

was leaked, can you name any single 

RDF oficer mentioned as aiding the 

M23? NONE!" he wrote on his Twitter 

feed. — Reuters 

expressing hope that he would improve. 

Welcoming the US president to 

South Africa on the second leg of his 

tour, he said Mandela and Obama 

were "bound by history" as the irst 

black leaders of their respective nations. 

"You both carry the dreams of millions 

of people in Africa," Zuma said. 

But the US leader was not greeted 

so warmly by all South Africans. Riot 

police ired stun grenades at anti- 

Obama protesters in the township of 

Soweto, once a lashpoint in the antiapartheid 

struggle. 

Mandela's condition presents 

Obama with a sensitive political challenge. 

He must balance a desire to honour 

Mandela, in perhaps his inal 

days, with a message that the United 

States wants to play a key diplomatic 

and economic role in a region on the 

rise. — AFP 


Ready-to-assemble shelters for refugees, says UN 

GENEVA — The UN's refugee agency 

has said it has turned to Swedish furniture 

giant Ikea to make more durable 

and functional shelters for refugees 

worldwide. 

The irst prototypes of the new 

shelters — which come in latpack 

boxes and which can be assembled in 

just four hours without tools — will 

soon be rolled out, said the agency. 

"We will set up 26 (ready-to-assemble 

shelters) which have already 

arrived in Ethiopia. Twelve will soon 

arrive at the Iraqi border for Syrian 

refugees and 12 in Lebanon, also 

for Syrians," head of innovation at 

UNHCR, Oliver Delarue, said. 

Refugee camps today often consist 

of overcrowded tents that can be 

sweltering hot during the day and 

freezing at night, with no electricity 

and thus no light or heat after nightfall. 

UNHCR hopes that could become a 

thing of the past, as it prepares to roll 

out 50 cottage-like shelter prototypes 

with lexible solar panels on the roofs 

Africa's future is in young 

hands, says US president 

SOWETO, South Africa — US President 

Barack Obama told Africa's 

youth yesterday that the future of 

the continent was in their hands and 

urged them to use Nelson Mandela as 

a model for political leadership. 

Obama got a rowdy welcome as 

he used a town hall style meeting in 

South Africa to announce a new fellowship 

that will initially take 500 

young African leaders to the United 

States every year for academic and 

leadership training. 

As Obama spoke at a university 

in the sprawling township of Soweto 

where opposition to apartheid 

sprung into life, police nearby ired 

stun grenades to disperse hundreds 

of people critical of his anti-terror 

policies. 

The US leader, on the second leg of 

for power and specially-made walls 

that can delect heat during the day 

and retain it at night. 

Ikea's philanthropist foundation 

has funded the project to the tune 

of $4 million, while a Sweden-based 

group called the Refugee Housing 

Unit has been working with the UN 

agency on the design. 

The prototypes, with their semihard 

plastic walls and roofs made 

from composite material and with 

room to house ive people each, have 

cost $8,000 a piece, and UNHCR 

wants to wait for feedback from refugees 

before giving a green light to 

more wide-scale production. 

Over time, the UN agency expects 

the unit price for the new shelters to 

come down to around $1,000, which 

is still double the $500 it currently 

pays for each of its refugee tents. 

The prototype shelters were all 

made by hand in Sweden, although 

not in Ikea factories, Delarue said, 

insisting that the Ikea Foundation's 

participation in the project was not 

an African tour, spoke at a University 

of Johannesburg not far from the simple 

homes in Soweto where Mandela, 

now 94 and in a critical condition in 

hospital, spent several years of his 

life. 

"The future of this continent is in 

your hands," Obama said. 

He urged young people in Soweto 

and those watching the town hall 

meeting in Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda 

to take inspiration from Mandela's 

refusal to be cowed by 27 years in 

jail. 

"Think about 27 years in prison. 

Think about hardships and the struggles 

and being away from family and 

friends," Obama said. 

"There were dark moments that 

tested his faith in humanity, but he 

refused to give up. — AFP 

Finland charges three with 

bribery in Croatian arms deal 

HELSINKI — Three former employees 

of Finnish defence company Patria 

Vehicles, including the ex-chief 

executive, have been charged with 

bribery over a multi-million-euro 

arms deal with Croatia, Finland's 

prosecution service said. 

The three are suspected of the 

"promising or giving of bribes 

through intermediaries in exchange 

for actions of the president of the 

Republic of Croatia and the general 

manager of a Croatian state-owned 

company," the prosecution service 

wrote in a statement issued late on 

Friday. 

The case involved the sale of armoured 

modular vehicles (AMVs) to 

Croatia in 2007. 

The suspects are alleged to have 

"promised and partly paid out bribes 

amounting to ive per cent of the selling 

price of the AMV vehicles," the 

prosecution said. 

In 2005, Patria Vehicles, a subsidiary 

of the state-owned Patria Group, 

offered AMVs to Croatia for more 

than 350 million euros ($455 million). 

Two years later, an agreement for 

the purchase of a limited number of 

vehicles was concluded, with Patria's 

share of the deal more than 50 million 

euros, the prosecution said. 

"Patria Vehicles paid out 1.5 million 

euros, part of the alleged bribes, 

to an intermediary in Austria," it said. 

"Further money transfers in Austria 

raised suspicion of money laundering 

and corruption." 

Former Croatian president Stipe 

Mesic has rejected the allegations. 

Investigations are also under way 

in Austria and Croatia. 

The same defendants have already 

been charged with bribery in a case 

concerning armoured vehicles Patria 

sold to Slovenia. — AFP 

Swiss air control investigators check the wreckage of a helicopter after it crashed in the southern part of 

Switzterland in Iragna yesterday. Three passengers and the pilot of the helicopter died in the crash, according 

to the cantonal police. — Reuters 

commercially motivated. 

One of the main advantages with 

the new shelters is their durability, he 

said, pointing out that UNHCR's traditional 

canvas refugee tents rarely 

last much longer than six months in 

climates like those found in countries 

like Jordan or South Sudan. 

The new shelters have been guaranteed 

to last three years and will 

likely remain standing for longer than 

that, Delarue said. 

That is a big plus considering 

that refugees on average live in their 

UNHCR shelters for 12 years. 

Transport remains a challenge, 

though, since the shelter kits weigh 

100 kilos each, compared to just 60 

kilos for the average tent. 

More than 15 million people were 

living as refugees around the world 

last year, while another nearly 29 million 

were displaced within their own 

country — the highest combined 

number in two decades, according to 

UNHCR statistics released last week. 

— AFP


By-elections to be held in 37 

constituencies on August 22 

ISLAMABAD — By-elections in as 

many as 37 constituencies of national 

and provincial assemblies will be held 

on August 22. 

Among them are the constituencies 

where elections could not be held 

on May 11 due to death of candidates, 

those which have fallen vacant because 

of resignations of the winners of 

more than one seat and those where 

elections have been declared void by 

the Election Commission of Pakistan 

(ECP). 

Although it appears to be a deviation 

from Article 224 (4) of the constitution 

which requires elections 

within 60 days after a seat falls vacant, 

a senior oficial of the ECP said that 

the decision had been taken on the request 

of political parties because Eid 

al Fitr was falling in the second week 

of August. 

The 15 National Assembly constituencies 

where by-elections are to 

be held are NA-1 (Peshawar), NA-5 

(Nowshera), NA-13 (Swabi), NA-25 

(D I Khan-cum-Tank), NA-27 (Lakki 

Marwat), NA-48 (Islamabad), NA-68 

(Sargodha), NA-71 (Mianwali), NA-83 

(Faisalabad), NA-129 (Lahore), NA- 

177 (Muzaffargarh), NA-235 (Sanghar), 

NA-237 (Thatta), NA-254 (Karachi) 

and NA-262 (Killa Abdullah). 

NA-1 and NA-71 have been vacated 

by Imran Khan, the chief of Pakistan 

Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), who has 

retained NA-56 (Rawalpindi). Imran 

Khan was perhaps the only prominent 

political leader who contested polls 

from four NA seats. He lost election on 

one seat from Lahore to NA Speaker 

Ayaz Sadiq. 

NA-68 has been vacated by Prime 

Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has retained 

NA-120 (Lahore). 

NA-129 has been vacated by Punjab 

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who 

has retained a provincial assembly 

seat. 

NA-5 and NA-13 have been vacated 

by Pervez Khattak and Asad Qaisar of 

PTI, who have retained their seats in 

the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. 

Both NA-25 and NA-27 have been 

vacated by Maulana Fazlur Rehman, 

the chief of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam- 

Fazal, who has retained NA-24. 

NA-177 has been vacated by Jamshed 

Ahmad Dasti who contested the 

election as an independent candidate. 

Pir Sadruddin Shah Rashdi of PML-F 

vacated NA-235 and retained NA-216 

(Khairpur).NA-216 has been vacated 

by Mehmood Khan Achakzai, the chief 

of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, 

who has retained NA-259 (Quetta). 

Elections on NA-83 and NA-254 

could not be held on May 11 due to 

death of candidates. 

The winning candidate of NA-237 

in May 11 elections has been declared 

disqualiied by the Supreme Court. 

Out of 22 constituencies of provincial 

assemblies, 14 are from 

Punjab, three each from Sindh and 

Balochistan, and two from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. 

— Internews 

Gas prices hiked 

by 128pc in 

eight years 

ISLAMABAD — The Sui 

Northern Gas Pipelines 

Limited (SNGPL) of Pakistan 

yesterday told the 

Senate committee on petroleum 

and natural resources 

that during the 

last ive years commercial 

consumers committed gas 

theft worth Rs 800 million 

($8.081 million). 

The senate committee, 

chaired by Mohammad 

Yousuf, was informed that 

in the last eight years, the 

cost of gas has jacked up 

by 128 per cent, which 

resulted in enhanced gas 

theft. 

During the last ive 

years, the Sui Northern 

has detected Rs 800 million 

gas theft committed 

by commercial consumers 

and Rs 10 million gas theft 

by industrial consumers. 

SNGPL line losses stood 

at 10.4 per cent and theft 

stood at four per cent. 

Ex-speaker to 

be hope for 

breast cancer 

survivors 

ISLAMABAD — After 

recently going through 

breast cancer Dr Fehmida 

Mirza, former speaker 

of Pakistan's National 

Assembly (the Lower 

House), announced that 

she was joining the Pink 

Ribbon Movement to become 

beacon of hope for 

breast cancer survivors. 

Breaking this smoke 

screen of social taboo 

associated with breast 

cancer in Pakistan, a wellknown 

igure has shown 

courage to stand upfront 

and share her story. 

Dr Mirza said breast 

cancer is one of the many 

forms of cancers so it 

should be seen as a disease 

rather than associating 

it with sexuality of 

women. And it is important 

to create awareness 

among women of early 

detection as chances of 

survival are more. 

She shared her experience 

and encouraged 

other women to support 

the cause for the good of 

everyone. 

"It means so much to 

me to be part of a breast 

cancer awareness campaign. 

I wholeheartedly 

support the efforts for the 

vital work of spreading 

awareness and engaging 

survivorship undertaken 

by Pink Ribbon Campaign," 

she said. — Internews 

PAKISTAN 

Capital punishment: policy 

on stay being reviewed 

KARACHI — As the clock ticks and the 

hours go by, some 6,000 Pakistani prisoners 

on death row await to hear the verdict 

on how much life is left. President Asif Ali 

Zardari had granted a stay on the execution 

of the death convicts till June 30 this 

year. 

Since 2008 none of the jailers across the 

country had to shed a red handkerchief, 

because President Asif Zardari granted 

a stay on executions reportedly when he 

took charge of his ofice in September 

2008. 

Article 45 of the 1973 Constitution empowers 

the president to pardon or remit 

convictions. 

The article reads, "President shall have 

the power to grant pardon, reprieve and 

respite, and to remit, suspend or commute 

any sentence passed by any court, tribunal 

5 

or other authority". 

When oficials at the presidency were 

asked, they denied knowledge about anything 

substantial being on the president's 

table regarding this. 

According to the presidency, after the 

passage of 18th amendment, once an ordinance 

is promulgated by the president, it 

needs vetting by the parliament to be endorsed, 

extended or validated. 

Once it gets proved, it goes to the presidency 

through law ministry to get promulgated 

but still it needs parliament's approval. 

Pakistan is believed to have one of the 

largest populations of condemned prisoners 

and inmates on death row in the 

world — 7,164 according to oficial prison 

records. The Human Rights Commission of 

Pakistan puts the number at 8,000.

6 

REGION 

Egyptian opposition supporters gather for a demonstration in Cairo's landmark Tahrir Square yesterday. — AFP 

Egypt braces for mass demo 

CAIRO — Egyptians were on edge yesterday ahead 

of mass rallies against President Mohamed Morsi, 

as US President Barack Obama expressed concern 

after an American was killed during clashes between 

pro- and anti-government protesters. 

Four people died and scores were hurt on Friday 

when government supporters turned out to 

challenge opponents, in what is seen as a prelude 

to possible confrontations today. 

The army, which has stayed aloof from politics 

since Morsi was elected a year ago, has warned it 

will intervene if there is major unrest. 

Speaking in South Africa, Obama said of Egypt: 

"We are all looking at the situation there with concern." 

"We would urge all parties to make sure they are 

not engaging in violence and that police and mili- 

tary are showing appropriate restraint. 

"Everybody has to denounce violence. We would 

like to see the opposition and President Morsi engage 

in a more constructive conversation about 

(how) to move their country forward." 

Andrew Pochter, 21, an intern with US cultural 

and educational group AMIDEAST, was killed as he 

photographed clashes in the Mediterranean city of 

Alexandria, Egyptian oficials said. 

One man was killed during earlier clashes there, 

and another succumbed to his injuries yesterday. 

An Egyptian journalist in the Suez Canal city 

of Port Said was also killed and several others 

wounded by a small explosive device thrown at 

anti-government protesters, a security oficial and 

witnesses said. Across the country more than 130 

people were reported wounded. 

Army launches assault on Homs 

Jets and mortars pound opposition-held areas of Homs 

State media: army making progress in Khalidiyah district 

Smoke rising from buildings following an air strike by government forces on northeastern city of Deir Ezzor. — AFP 

BEIRUT — Syrian government forces launched a major 

offensive yesterday against opposition ighters in Homs, 

a centre of the two-year-old uprising, in their latest drive 

to secure an axis connecting Damascus to the Mediterranean. 

Activists said jets and mortars had pounded opposition-held 

areas of the city that have been under siege by 

government troops for a year, and soldiers fought battles 

with opposition ighters in several districts. 

"Government forces are trying to storm (Homs) 

from all fronts," said an activist using the name Abu 

Mohammad. 

There were no immediate details of casualties but video 

footage uploaded by activists showed heavy explosions 

and white clouds of smoke rising from what they said were 

opposition-held districts. Loud, concentrated rounds of 

gunire could also be heard. 

Syrian state media said the army was "achieving great 

progress" in Khalidiyah but the Syrian Observatory for 

Human Rights, an anti-government monitoring group, 

said there were reports that opposition ighters had destroyed 

an army tank as troops tried to penetrate the Old 

City in the centre of Homs. 

The attack on Homs follows steady military gains 

by government forces in villages in Homs province and 

towns close to the Lebanese border. 

Three weeks ago government forces recapture of the 

border town of Qusair, a former opposition bridgehead 

for smuggling in guns and ighters. Last week the opposition 

ighters lost another border town, Tel Kalakh. 

Those gains have consolidated government's control 

over a corridor of territory that runs from the capital Damascus 

through Homs to the mountains overlooking the 

Mediterranean. 

They have also alarmed international supporters of the 

opposition ighters, leading the United States to announce 

that it will step up military support. Hopes of holding a 

US and Russian-backed peace conference have faded, 

with opposition ighters reluctant to negotiate while they 

are on the defensive militarily and tensions between Moscow 

and Washington exacerbating their deep differences 

over Syria. 

Despite losing ground around Damascus and Homs, 

opposition ighters registered a symbolic victory on Friday 

when they overran a major military checkpoint in Deraa, 

the southern city where the uprising irst erupted. 

Rami Abdulrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory, 

said the fall of the army post was strategically signiicant 

and could change the balance of power in Deraa, where 

opposition ighters control most of the old city. 

The province of Deraa, on the border with Jordan, has 

been a conduit for arms supplies to the opposition ighters. 

— Reuters 

The ofices of the Freedom and Justice Party 

were torched in Alexandria and at Aga in Daqahliya. 

Its ofices were stormed in Beheira. 

Washington warned Americans against travel 

to Egypt as antagonism intensiies between government's 

supporters and the opposition. Britain 

urged its citizens to "avoid all demonstrations and 

large gatherings," while France said citizens should 

"limit movements to those strictly necessary". 

Morsi met his army chief Abdel Fattah al Sisi and 

Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim "to discuss 

the inal security plans to protect vital establishments," 

the oficial MENA news agency reported. 

The government's opponents call for nationwide 

protests today, demanding snap elections, prompted 

pre-emptive demonstrations on Friday by the 

government's supporters. — AFP 

Iran’s Rouhani 

looks to detente 

with the world 

TEHRAN — Iran President-elect 

Hassan Rouhani said yesterday his 

victory opened a new path for Iran 

to engage constructively with the 

international community. 

"Moderation in foreign policy 

means neither surrender nor confrontation 

but constructive and 

eficacious interaction with the 

world," Rouhani said in his irst 

live televised speech since being 

elected on June 14 to succeed 

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. 

Under his administration, "interaction 

and dialogue will be based 

on reciprocity, respect and mutual 

interest, and seeking mutual detente," 

Rouhani said. 

Rouhani pledged "moderation" 

in which "a balance must be 

achieved between realism and idealism". 

— AFP 

10 perish in 

Iraq attacks 

BAGHDAD — Attacks in Iraq killed 

10 people yesterday, the latest in 

spiralling violence that has left more 

than 420 dead this month. 

The surge in unrest comes as the 

country grapples with a prolonged 

political deadlock. 

Analysts warn that the political 

stand-off could persist until general 

elections due next year. 

In Abu Ghraib, just west of Baghdad, 

a bomb in a market killed 

three people and wounded at least 

10 others, while in nearby Garma, 

gunmen opened ire on a group of 

policemen and killed three before 

leeing. In the main northern city of 

Mosul, meanwhile, three civilians 

were gunned down in an electronics 

shop. 

Separate attacks in Taji, Sharqat 

and Mosul left one person dead and 

13 others wounded. 

The latest attacks pushed the 

overall nationwide death toll for 

June to 428, the third successive 

month the igure has topped 400, 

according to an AFP tally based on 

reports from security and medical 

oficials. — AFP 


Kerry extends Middle 

East peace mission 

JERUSALEM — US Secretary of State 

John Kerry extended for a third day 

yesterday his shuttle diplomacy between 

Israeli and Palestinian leaders, 

raising speculation of progress in reviving 

long dormant peace talks. 

He took a helicopter from Jerusalem 

to Amman where he spent two 

hours in talks with Palestinian President 

Mahmud Abbas then lew back 

again for his third meeting in under 

48 hours with Israeli Prime Minister 

Benjamin Netanyahu. 

A US oficial said Netanyahu would 

be accompanied to the evening meeting 

by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, Israel's 

designated negotiator to talks 

with the Palestinians, and by Netanyahu's 

personal envoy Yitzhak Molcho. 

"Working hard," Kerry told a reporter 

who asked if he was making 

progress as he and Abbas began their 

second round of talks in as many 

days. 

In a potential sign of headway, 

Kerry cancelled a dinner he had 

scheduled for last night in Abu Dhabi, 

part of his separate tour in the past 

week through Gulf Arab states to 

co-ordinate support for opposition 

ighters in Syria's civil war. 

State Department spokeswoman 

Marie Harf said Kerry would still 

head to a meeting of Asian ministers 

in Brunei starting tomorrow but 

called off the Abu Dhabi stop because 

his "meetings on the peace process 

remain ongoing". 

US oficials have said little on the 

closed-door discussions, saying public 

comments would risk the luid diplomacy. 

Kerry was expected to speak before 

leaving the region but Israeli 

public radio said his failure to hold 

an expected news conference in Amman 

on Friday suggested stumbling 

blocks in the talks. 

"(Israeli) diplomatic sources were... 

talking to me about the possibility of 

a four-way summit in Amman in the 

coming week," the radio's diplomatic 

analyst Chico Menashe reported. 

"Now, with the cancellation of today's 

planned press conference, it 

appears that there is still nothing to 

announce." 

Kerry has spent seven hours since 

Thursday sounding out Netanyahu. 

Kerry's aides have played down 

expectations of an imminent breakthrough 

and instead are hoping to 

make incremental progress to set the 

stage for substantive negotiations between 

Israel and the Palestinians. 

The two sides have not formally 

met for peace talks since September 

2010 and even then the negotiations 

broke down quickly, with Abbas saying 

Israel was not serious about a 

discussion on the future. 

The Palestinian Authority wants 

Israel to freeze construction of Jewish 

settlements on occupied land and 

to promise any negotiations will be 

based on the principle of Israel withdrawing 

from land seized in the 1967 

Six-Day War. 

Netanyahu has rejected such "preconditions" 

but insists he remains 

ready to talk. 

But Kerry heard encouraging 

words from Israeli President Shimon 

Peres over a two-hour dinner on 

Friday following the meeting with 

Netanyahu. — AFP 

Tunisians protest 

against draft law 

TUNIS — Hundreds of Tunisians took 

to the streets of the capital yesterday 

to protest against a draft law aimed 

at excluding former government of- 

icials from taking part in future elections, 

an AFP journalist said. 

The government has been pushing 

for the controversial law. 

But opponents of the government 

said it is aimed at keeping them out 

of politics, and protesters gathered 

outside the National Assembly chanted 

slogans. 

"No to exclusion! No to collective 

punishment!" they chanted. 

The Ennahda party that heads the 

government and its coalition partners 

Ettakatol and Congress for the 

Republic say the draft law is aimed at 

preventing former oficials from taking 

part in parliamentary elections 

due later this year. 

"No one has the right to deprive 

Tunisian citizens from exercising 

their civil rights. Tunisia is for all 

Tunisians," said Taieb Baccouche, 

secretary of the key opposition party 

Nidaa Tounes. 

The head of the party has said that 

up to 60,000 Tunisians could be affected 

by the law on the pretext that 

they worked directly or indirectly for 

former government. 

The draft law was submitted on 

Thursday to the National Assembly 

which is due to begin a debate on a 

much-delayed constitution on July 

1. 

The adoption of a constitution 

is needed to draw up a schedule for 

elections which Prime Minister Ali 

Larayedh has promised to hold before 

the end of 2013, nearly three 

years after the uprising. — AFP 

Tunisian protesters shout slogans in front of the National Constituent 

Assembly in Tunis during a demonstration against a draft law yesterday.


AFRICA 

UN peacekeepers take over from African troops in Mali 

BAMAKO — United Nations soldiers will take 

over from African troops in conlict-scarred 

Mali from tomorrow, making up the organisation’s 

third-largest peacekeeping force by 

the end of the year. 

A 12,600-strong force will take over security 

duties from French troops who entered 

Mali in January to halt a dissident advance 

and help the government re-establish its authority 

over the vast country. 

France is winding down its deployment 

from its peak of nearly 4,500 but is to keep 

up to 1,000 troops in Mali and they will maintain 

responsibility for military strikes against 

the dissidents. 

“Security conditions are satisfactory, no 

major attack has been recorded against the 

Malian and African forces, and most important, 

despite what certain people feared, the 

political process has experienced a very positive 

evolution,” France’s UN ambassador Gerard 

Araud said, welcoming the handover. 

Rwandan General Jean-Bosco Kazura, formerly 

second in command of African Union 

troops in Sudan’s western Darfur region, will 

lead the force. The majority of his soldiers 

will be Africans already stationed in Mali but 

China has offered to supply more than 500 

troops in what would be its biggest contribution 

to UN peacekeeping. 

Sweden will send around 70 troops for 

a maximum of one year while Norway is to 

contribute 25 soldiers and police. 

Bangladesh is thought to have offered the 

largest non-African contingent of up to 1,000 

troops although no deal has yet been con- 

irmed. 

Araud said the French government would 

start reducing the 3,200 troops currently in 

Mali from the end of August. 

UN leader Ban Ki-moon has raised fears 

that the peacekeepers could face guerrilla attacks 

and has highlighted the lack of equipment 

and training among the West African 

troops already in Mali. 

Armed militias "retain the capability to 

pose a signiicant threat" and "still have support 

networks and recruitment structures in 

place", Ban said in a report published on June 

9. 

The UN mission is due to play a key role in 

Massacre charge 

against minister 

CONAKRY — Guinean 

judges have charged a minister 

in connection with 

the 2009 Conakry Stadium 

massacre in which at least 

157 protesters were killed, 

a judicial source said yesterday. 

Lieutenant-Colonel 

Claude Pivi was charged 

on Thursday with several 

counts of murder, rape, 

pillaging and arson by the 

three judges in charge of 

the case, the source said on 

condition of anonymity. 

Pivi denied the charges 

and is due to appear in 

court again next week. 

On September 28, 2009, 

tens of thousands people 

had gathered at the main 

stadium in the capital Conakry 

to protest against 

the junta led by Moussa 

Dadis Camara. 

Security forces opened 

ire and mowed protesters 

down, killing at least 

157. Women were raped, 

hundreds of people were 

wounded and dozens are 

still missing. 

Pivi was not at the stadi- 

Five killed in 

Somali city 

as leadership 

dispute rages 

MOGADISHU — At least 

ive people have been 

killed in two days of ighting 

in a strategic Somali 

port city, a group commander 

said yesterday, 

despite talks to end a 

leadership row aimed at 

stopping a slide back into 

broader clan warfare. 

The threat of the kind 

of ighting that tore Somalia 

apart over two 

decades has hung over 

the city of Kismayu since 

Ahmed Madobe, leader of 

the Ras Kamboni group, 

was chosen by a regional 

assembly in May to lead 

Jubaland and its port. 

Dozens of people have 

been killed in sporadic 

ighting since then between 

backers of Madobe 

and a rival claimant to the 

leadership, Barre Hirale. 

"From our side, ive 

have died and 20 others 

were injured," Ibrahim 

Saiid, a commander in 

a militia backing Hirale, 

said by telephone, adding 

that the Ras Kamboni militia 

behind Madobi had 

also suffered an unknown 

number of casualties. 

Other witnesses con- 

irmed the clashes which 

erupted on Friday and extended 

into yesterday, but 

there was no oficial death 

toll. Poor communications 

to the city made it dificult 

to obtain a casualty count 

on Madobe's side. 

Worried that the clashes 

could spread and undermine 

fragile security 

gains secured by African 

peacekeepers in the nation, 

the United Nations 

called for an immediate 

halt to ighting and said 

talks should resolve the 

dispute. — Reuters 

um that day but the judges 

accuse him of masterminding 

the deadly crackdown 

that continued in the 

following days. 

Claude Pivi was a leading 

igure in the junta 

and he is now in charge 

of presidential security 

for current leader Alpha 

Conde, who was elected in 

November 2010. 

Local and international 

rights groups have welcomed 

the irst indictments 

issued in recent 

weeks against senior junta 

leaders by the special panel 

of judges. 

"This is a irst victory 

for the plaintiffs and more 

general for the struggle 

against impunity in 

Guinea," senior local rights 

campaigner Thierno Sow 

said, quoted in a statement 

by the International Federation 

for Human Rights. 

The current government 

has been criticised 

for not taking suficient action 

against the suspected 

masterminds of the stadium 

massacre. — AFP 

presidential polls announced for July 28 but 

the election commission has raised doubts 

over its ability to stage a free and fair vote 

with such short notice. The commission's 

president Mamadou Diamountani said this 

week it would be "extremely dificult" to get 

up to eight million voting cards to the electorate 

in a country where 500,000 people have 

been displaced by conlict. 

He also highlighted the instability in the 

northeastern town of Kidal, which is occupied 

by Tuareg separatists and still has no army 

presence despite a ceaseire between the transitional 

government and the dissidents. 

Malian military oficers staged a coup in 

March last year, but the weak army was overpowered 

by the National Movement for the 

7 

Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), a Tuareg front 

which seized key northern cities before being 

sidelined by its allies. 

The MNLA sided with a French-led military 

intervention which reclaimed most of the lost 

territory from the opponents. But the Tuaregs 

have been reluctant to allow government 

troops into Kidal for the vote. 

An accord signed in Burkina Faso envisages 

a cessation of hostilities between the Malian 

army and the MNLA during the election 

period, with peace talks planned for after the 

vote. The UN has called on member states to 

contribute critical resources, including personnel 

and equipment, to ensure that it can 

support Mali in implementing the accord and 

preparing for the elections. — AFP

8 

Ali al Matani 

ali.matani@hotmail.com 

New work culture 

PERHAPS the title is somewhat pessimistic or exciting; or even delusory; 

is it really within reach to change work culture in Oman from pursuing a 

permanent job to establishing self-initiatives and Small and Medium Enterprises 

(SMEs)? 

This ambitious goal is the reality for which the Public Authority for Development 

of Small and Medium Enterprises, Rafd Fund and Sanad Programme 

are striving in. 

Moreover, it is a reality full of challenges for the youth for their effectiveness 

and feasibility of self-entrepreneurship and self-initiative. 

The dificulty of this mission is attributed to the fact that many dreams of 

having easy-to-catch government jobs have been fulilled. 

After the youth has experienced the sweetness of getting salaries at the end 

of every month — with less or more efforts done at work — what are the incentives 

and motives that can push our youth to consider having self-entrepreneurship 

or self-owned projects? 

A miracle is in need; big and continues efforts by all institutions, establishments, 

government agencies and ofices and private and public sectors, corporates 

and companies to form and feed mentality that has entrepreneurship 

concept and culture rooted deep and to bring up the youth since very early to 

change the way they are looking at SMEs by using whatever means to achieve 

the core aim. 

There is no doubt that the efforts for enhancing self-initiatives are great, in 

terms of regulations, frameworks or incentives or through public authorities 

or government agencies that are formed and established for the purpose. 

More and more facilities are approved to encourage youth of Oman to 

change their attitude and turn to establish their own projects and entrepreneurships. 

But it seems that there is a missing link between all these efforts, on one 

hand and the targeted youth on the other hand. 

It is the situation we are living now; and it is the reality we have to change 

by spreading awareness through whatever means available; through media 

platforms, at school, mosque and home. We have to make a turning point in 

thinking itself. 

To do that, we have to prepare, thoughtfully, all inancial, managing, training 

and rehabilitation needs for the national cadres; to give them the chance 

and the ability to step forward in the read and attitude drawn by the state and 

the government for brighter future for future generations. 

The competent bodies alone can do that; unless all governmental and civil 

bodies and establishments, as well as private sector companies and corporates, 

join hands and share the responsibility, the dream can come true. 

To choose self-entrepreneurships and self-initiatives is a strategic option. 

That is what we have to thoroughly know and recognise. Moreover, we have to 

work hard to establish this fact, in order to develop this concept at all ields. 

The whole society — local communities, civil organisations and societies, 

government apparatus and ofices, private sector companies and establishments 

should contribute to the formation and crystallisation of concrete convictions 

of the importance of this strategic option for society and the country 

to step bravely into the promising future that is crowned by will and hard 

work of our youth. 

The changes and developments our society has been witnessing all the 

years recently attributed to a reality that should be changed. 

That will be done through long and complicated processes, as well as organised 

efforts to reshape the misconceptions that ill and occupy the minds 

of most of the Omani youth regarding to the self-entrepreneurship and selfinitiative. 

Of course, the situation is not completely gloomy and dark; as there are 

great efforts done, and there will be great efforts to be done for a promising 

future for our youth. We hope that our efforts yield soon; the miracle can be 

within reach. 

DIA'S restaurant in the Lebanese 

resort village of Aley is 

deserted. Most years, he caters 

to thousands of rich Gulf Arab 

tourists and to visiting expats, but 

this year no one has come. 

"Usually, there's so many people 

here that even inding a parking 

spot is hard. Now, there's so few 

people that we let them park right 

outside the entrance," complained 

the 27-year-old. 

His neighbour, a cake shop owner, 

said sales are down by 50 per 

cent compared with June last year. 

"In other years, we had clients 

coming in every 15 minutes. Now, 

it's a miracle if someone enters," 

he said, hiding his worry behind a 

smile. Lebanon is reeling from the 

spillover of war in neighbouring 

Syria, with deadly sectarian clashes, 

elections postponed, the absence of 

a government and the inlux of half 

a million refugees. 

The Mediterranean country's 

beaches, superb Roman and Phoenician 

sites and legendary nightlife 

are barren. Early this summer, the 

some countries sounded the death 

knell for this season's tourism when 

they told their citizens to avoid Lebanon 

for security reasons. 

ANALYSIS 

Well-heeled visitors from the 

Gulf normally account for 65 per 

cent of the country's tourists, but 

the number of Saudis, Kuwaitis and 

other Gulf tourists this June is 80 

per cent lower than in June last year. 

An already bad situation grew 

even worse last weekend when 

news bulletins carried footage of a 

major 24-hour ireight in southern 

Lebanon's city of Sidon, pitting the 

Scramble for solution 

THE massive protests that 

paralysed Brazil appear to 

have peaked after sending 

the country's shaken political establishment 

a loud message that 

it needs to change its ways. 

It's now up to the politicians 

to deliver improvements to the 

country's deicient public services 

and more transparent and accountable 

government demanded 

by frustrated Brazilians, or the 

crescendo of angry protests could 

suddenly return. 

While smaller protests continue 

on a daily basis, the number 

of demonstrators last week was 

much lower than the one million 

people who took to the streets a 

week ago, due to a mix of protest 

fatigue and achievement of the 

protesters' initial aim of drawing 

attention to their grievances. 

Tens of thousands may still 

protest around Confederations 

Cup inal soccer match between 

Brazil and Spain in Rio de Janeiro, 

the locus of violence so far, but 

the end of the soccer tournament 

will deprive protesters of a highproile 

stage on which to air their 

grievances. 

"The streets are saying to the 

politicians: you have heard our 

voices, now let's see what you 

will do with this," said Marcos 

Nobre, a political philosophy professor 

at the University of Campinas 

and author of a new e-book 

on the popular revolt. 

"The protests have peaked but 

army against the opposition. Eighteen 

soldiers were killed. 

The port city of Sidon is home to 

a beautiful old district, ish restaurants, 

souks (traditional markets) 

and even a soap museum. 

"As soon as you even utter the 

word 'weapons' you've killed tourism," 

Paul Achkar, head of the Lebanese 

hotel association, said. 

"Three hundred tourism estab- 

they are not over. This is a truce 

as Brazilians wait to see how the 

political system responds," Nobre 

added. Politicians in Brasilia 

are rushing to clean up their act 

to appease the anger directed at 

them by the protesters. Congress 

is fast-tracking measures against 

corruption. 

One of its members, convicted 

of embezzling public funds, last 

Friday became the irst federal 

lawmaker to go to jail in 25 years. 

But analysts say deeper reforms 

will be needed to restore 

public credibility in a political 

class viewed as self-serving, overpaid 

and corrupt. 

The civil unrest, something 

rarely seen in recent decades in 

South America's economic powerhouse, 

was sparked by a small 

protest against higher public 

transportation fares in Sao Paulo. 

The ensuing police crackdown, 

which touched a nerve in a country 

with a history of violent political 

repression under a military 

dictatorship that ended in 1985, 

fanned demonstrations nationwide 

even after cities agreed to 

roll back the fare increases. 

The protests were fuelled by 

widespread frustration with Brazil's 

deplorable education, health 

and transportation services, rising 

crime and cost of living, as 

well as over-spending on stadiums 

that will host next year's 

World Cup soccer tournament. 

Six people died in the protests, 

including a young man who fell 

from an overpass in Belo Hori- 

zonte last Wednesday as riot police 

ired tear gas and rubber bullets 

into marchers to stop them 

from reaching a stadium where 

a Confederations Cup game was 

under way. 

The protesters used the 

Confederations Cup to tell the 

world that Brazil is not just a 

land of soccer and that their priorities 

are improved education, 

healthcare and public transportation 

rather than costly megaevents 

like the World Cup and the 

Olympic Games set for 2016 in 

Rio de Janeiro. 

The protests took Brazilian 

politicians by surprise and 

showed how out of touch they 

were with an increasingly middle-class 

nation that is more informed 

and unwilling to tolerate 

a political system long plagued by 

patronage and corruption. 

The leaderless protests expressed 

a wide array of demands, 

but one common target, Nobre 

said, was "a corrupt political system 

that does not represent this 

new democratic political culture 

that has arisen mainly through 

social networks." 

The protests sent shockwaves 

through Brazil's Congress and 

prompted frenetic activity by 

lawmakers who have rushed to 

pass legislation that had been 

sitting around for years, notably a 

bill toughening sentences for corruption. 

"The political class fears 

the consequences of this popular 

revolt. Politicians are keenly 

aware that if we do not change the 

While smaller 

protests go on, 

the number of 

demonstrators 

last week was 

much lower than 

the one million 

people who took 

to the streets a 

week ago, writes 

Anthony Boadle 

way we do things we are going 

to be trampled on in next year's 

elections," Alvaro Dias, leader of 

the opposition PSDB party in the 

Senate, said. "Congress is making 

up for lost time by rushing 

through bills." 

President Dilma Rousseff has 

received scant praise for her response, 

even within her own party, 

and elections are coming. 

Brazil's irst female president 

is expected to run for a second 

term next year and her popularity 

had already begun to slip before 

the protests on concerns about 

rising inlation and slow growth 

in the world's seventh-largest 

economy. 

Rousseff surprised Brazil last 

Monday by announcing plans to 

convene a constituent assembly 

to adopt political reforms. Within 

less than 24 hours, she had 

withdrawn the idea in the face of 

strong criticism even from within 

her ruling coalition. 

Her Workers' Party government 

is now working with its 

allies to hold a quick plebiscite 

this year that will ask Brazilians 

what political reforms they want, 

a plan that is seen as overhasty 

damage control by opposition 

leaders such as Dias. 

Even members of her unwieldy 

16-party coalition would 

rather Congress draw up the reforms 

irst and then seek the nation's 

approval in a yes-or-no referendum 

that could be added to 

the ballot in the general election 

slated for October 2014. 

Lebanon tourism pays the price for Syria's war 

The country’s beaches, superb 

Roman, Phoenician sites and 

legendary nightlife are barren 

as some countries warned their 

citizens to avoid Lebanon for 

security reasons, writes Rana 

Moussaoui 

A demonstrator shouts slogans during a protest in Rio de Janeiro downtown. — AFP 

A man walks past empty restaurants in downtown Beirut which 

was once crowded by tourists. — AFP 


lishments have closed down since 

the start of the year," he said. 

Although conident that the industry 

will recover, Tourism Minister 

Fadi Abboud said the igures for 

the start of the season were pitiable. 

"The occupancy rate at hotels 

in Beirut is barely 35 per cent this 

month, half of the usual at this time 

of year. Outside Beirut, it's catastrophic. 

We're talking about ive 

per cent compared to the usual 35 

per cent," Abboud said. 

The atmosphere in Beirut, 

dubbed party capital of the Middle 

East, is not so morose, and Christian 

areas such as Byblos or Jounieh 

have also fared better than other 

areas. But Baalbek, home to one of 

the world's most beautiful and best 

preserved Roman sites, has been hit 

hard. It has been targeted by rockets 

ired by opposition ighters ighting 

government in Syria. 

The rocket attacks only but noted 

victim was the famed international 

music festival, traditionally held in 

the temple of Bacchus, and headline 

act American soprano Renee Fleming 

cancelling her trip to Lebanon. 

The music festival is now expected 

to be held at a different venue, 

but without Fleming.


Snowden's options narrow in bid to evade arrest 

Moscow may have 

no suficient reason 

to keep Snowden 

any longer as 

its intelligence 

services have 

already questioned 

him, report Matt 

Spetalnick and 

Lidia Kelly 

NEARLY a month after Edward Snowden exposed top 

secret US surveillance programmes, the former spy 

agency contractor looks no closer to winning asylum 

to evade prosecution at home — and his options appear to be 

narrowing. Stuck in legal limbo in a Moscow airport transit 

area and facing uncertainty over whether any of the destinations 

he is said to be contemplating — Ecuador, Venezuela 

and Cuba — will let him in, Snowden seems to be at the mercy 

of geopolitical forces beyond his control. 

Unseen in public since arriving in Moscow last weekend, 

much remains unclear about Snowden's overtures to various 

countries and how they have responded behind the scenes. 

Russia may no longer have suficient reason to continue 

harbouring Snowden if, as is widely believed, its intelligence 

services have already questioned him about the classiied 

documents that he has admitted to taking from the National 

Security Agency. 

The leftist government of Ecuador, already sheltering 

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at its London Embassy, is 

reviewing Snowden's asylum request, though oficials have 

sent mixed signals, suggesting the process could drag on for 

weeks. Venezuela's new President, Nicolas Maduro, has spoken 

favourably of granting refuge to Snowden but has taken 

no action, and he may think twice about risking a setback in 

tentative steps towards post-Chavez rapprochement with 

Washington. 

And even if Ecuador or Venezuela decide to take Snowden, 

there is no guarantee that communist Cuba, the likely transit 

point for any light from Moscow to those South American 

A ile picture of Franco-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt (R) with her mother Yolanda Pulecio at Catam air base in Bogota. — AFP 

FIVE years after her rescue from Farc 

rebels, former Colombian presidential 

candidate Ingrid Betancourt says she vividly 

remembers on July 2, 2008 — the day an 

army helicopter took her to freedom. 

But now, the onetime hostage, who says 

she has taken some time to rebuild her life, is 

preaching forgiveness as the way to achieve 

peace in Colombia after decades of conlict. 

Far from the lush jungles where she spent 

six years in captivity, much of it in chains, the 

Franco-Colombian woman recalls the feeling of 

being released from the clutches of the Revolutionary 

Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc). 

"There is satisfaction to have been able to 

survive. It's quite a primal feeling, but that's the 

way it is," Betancourt said in an Internet video 

interview from London, where she is studying 

for a doctorate's degree in theology at Oxford 

University. 

During recent spring cleaning, she came 

across a box illed with her jungle belongings: A 

radio, a watch "that always shows the exact jungle 

time," her detainee uniform. 

"The feelings I got from taking out these 

mementos are completely different from those 

I felt when I put them away," the 51-year-old 

said. She still recalls the small details of her rescue 

by undercover soldiers who had duped the 

rebels into thinking they were handing 15 hostages 

— including Betancourt, three Americans 

and 11 Colombian troops and police — to a humanitarian 

mission. 

"I can still see the movement of the grass 

when the helicopter landed on the coca ield," 

she said. 

Betancourt was kidnapped in southern Colombia 

on February 23, 2002, along with her 

campaign manager Clara Rojas during her 

longshot bid for the Colombian presidency as a 

green party candidate. 

She said she emerged from her ordeal "more 

humane," though her return from captivity was 

initially tough because "you return to a world in 

which you no longer belong." 

Betancourt has given up Colombia's political 

countries, would let him pass through and further complicate 

its own thorny relations with the United States. 

Adding to Snowden's troubles, the Obama administration, 

embarrassed by his disclosures on US surveillance programmes 

and his ability to dodge extradition when he led 

Hong Kong last Sunday, is bringing heavy pressure to bear on 

any country that might consider accepting him, diplomats say. 

"Thus far, he has chosen his destinations carefully," said 

Carl Meacham, a foreign policy expert at the Center for Strategic 

and International Studies in Washington. "His time, even 

in those countries, however, may be running out." 

Another potential complication is the role of anti-secrecy 

group WikiLeaks, whose alliance with Snowden further politicizes 

his case. British legal researcher Sarah Harrison, a top 

WikiLeaks lieutenant and Assange conidante, escorted Snowden 

on the light from Hong Kong to Moscow and is believed 

to have remained with him. 

Russia remains the chief focus of the diplomatic scramble, 

and while President Vladimir Putin has clearly delighted in 

the chance to tweak Washington, there are questions whether 

he wants a prolonged saga that threatens deeper damage to 

already-chilly US-Russia relations. 

The former NSA contractor's trek took him to Moscow because 

he had little choice of any other route that would keep 

him relatively safe from American pursuers, former Russian 

intelligence oficers and political and security analysts said. 

"He has almost nowhere to go. He does not have much of 

a choice," said Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the journal Russia 

in Global Affairs and a member of an inluential foreign policy 

Preaching forgiveness for peace 

Now, the onetime 

hostage, who says she 

has taken some time 

to rebuild her life, is 

preaching forgiveness 

as the way to achieve 

peace in Colombia after 

decades of conlict, 

writes Philippe Zygel 

arena, preferring to focus her energy on her human 

rights foundation. 

But she sparked controversy and outrage 

among Colombians following her release when 

she sought compensation from the government 

over her kidnapping, accusing the state of failing 

to protect her. 

"This affair hurt me a lot. I thought that it 

was very unfair. I felt that it was very spiteful," 

said Betancourt, who eventually gave up her 

legal bid. "It prolonged the time I needed to get 

myself back together." 

Betancourt now hopes the government's 

peace talks with the Farc, which began six 

months ago, will bring an end to the conlict 

that has left 600,000 people dead and more 

than 3.7 million displaced in 50 years. 

"Forgiveness is obviously a central element, 

but not forgiveness in the form of charity," she 

said. "We are all, in Colombia, responsible for 

this horrible war. We are all part of a generation 

that, with forgiveness, must assume this 

responsibility." 

The two sides struck a irst deal last month 

related to the thorny issue of land reform, but 

other sticking points — like allowing rebels 

who repent to avoid to jail — still have to be resolved. 

Despite the misery she endured in captivity, 

Betancourt voiced support for suspending 

jail sentences. 

"We can't continue with a justice of vengeance. 

Peace will require us to accept a certain 

degree of impunity, it's inevitable," she said. 

A Gallup Colombia poll, however, showed last 

Friday that 80 per cent of people were opposed 

to amnesty for the rebels in return for their participation 

in political life. 

Betancourt remembered that the Farc commander 

who held her prisoner was quite brutal. 

He was captured during her release and has 

been in jail for the past ive years. Would she 

forgive him? 

"Life gave him the possibility to understand 

what he made us go through since he's now a 

prisoner, like we were," she said. "If I had him in 

front of me, I would simply hug him." 

council. "Considering that he came out with a serious statement 

that is seen by the United States as treasonous, he needs 

to lay out an itinerary through countries where he can feel 

more or less certain that he will not be handed over." 

Despite Putin's insistence that Russian intelligence agencies 

had not been "working with" Snowden, a Russian security 

service source said they would certainly have interviewed 

him. US authorities are already operating on a "worst case" 

assumption that all of the classiied material in Snowden's 

possession has made its way to one or more adversary intelligence 

services, US national security sources said. 

While top US oficials have warned of serious damage to 

national security interests from Snowden's leaks, Lukyanov 

suggested that in intelligence terms he was probably not a 

very valuable prize. 

"He is not some kind of special agent," he said. Putin has 

built his return to the presidency on strident nationalism. If 

he hands Snowden back to the United States, he could face a 

backlash from Russians who see the American as a whistleblowing 

hero. 

"No matter what, we should not give him back. Let him go 

somewhere, or even stay in Russia — we are a big country 

and we have room for him as well as (French actor Gerard) 

Depardieu," said Viktor, a pensioner who was at Sheremetyevo 

airport on Friday for a vacation light to Ukraine. 

However, Snowden's protracted stay at the Moscow airport 

may have more to do with his problems reaching a deal with 

Ecuador than with any Russian desire to keep the American 

fugitive from moving on, the Russian security source said. 

A double game 

By Amulya Ganguli 

ANALYSIS 

UNDER a new and as yet untested leadership, the Bhartiya Janata Party 

(BJP) is trying to formulate a fresh ideological framework for itself. 

In doing so, the party seems to have juxtaposed its standard pro-Hindu 

agenda with an attempt to reach out to minorities with a "vision document" 

for their empowerment. The endeavour may, however, lead to the party being 

caught in a situation where it will confuse and even alienate its core base of 

support — the majority — without being able to win over the minorities. 

Even if the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the BJP's mentor, reserves 

its judgement for the time being about this electoral gimmick in the belief 

that it may fetch some votes, hardcore outits like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad 

(VHP) and the Bajrang Dal are unlikely to look kindly at the BJP's version of 

"appeasement". 

For years, the BJP, the RSS and other members of the saffron brotherhood 

have lambasted the Congress for its supposedly pro-minority policies for the 

sake of cultivating the vote bank. Their latest target of attack was the Rajinder 

Sachar committee set up by the Manmohan Singh government in 2005 to look 

into minorities' socio-economic conditions. 

But, now, the BJP has decided to follow a similar path. Its reason for trying 

to reach out to the minorities is obvious. With the general election due in less 

than a year, the BJP cannot afford to let the Congress walk away with nearly 40 

per cent of the vote when the BJP secures barely ive or six per cent. The party 

is evidently trying to deny the Congress this huge advantage. 

However, the BJP's problem is that its own history is against this opportunistic 

manoeuvre. Even if the anti-minority diatribes of its guiding lights like 

Golwalkar and Savarkar are ignored for the moment, the party will ind it dif- 

icult to explain its relentless propaganda during in the 1990s. 

Apart from the targeting of places like the Babri Masjid, which was demolished 

by saffron storm-troopers on December 6, 1992, and the ones in 

Varanasi and Mathura, the brigade had some chilling anti-minority slogans. 

Both the communities among the minorities were accused of conspiring 

to reduce the majority to a minority in their only country in the world, as the 

Sangh Parivar proclaimed, via conversions, as Narendra Modi said. 

Against the backdrop of such hate-mongering, which initially paid considerable 

political dividends by raising the tally of the BJP's Lok Sabha seats from 

two in 1984 to 182 in 1998, it will be a herculean task for the party to woo 

minorities. Even if the BJP has moderated its attitude to some extent in view 

of the realisation that a community which makes up 14 per cent of the India's 

population cannot be ignored, the RSS, VHP and Bajrang Dal remain as virulent 

as ever. 

It is perhaps as a sop to these groups that the BJP has revived the call for 

scrapping Article 370 of the constitution, which confers a special status on 

Kashmir, and for introducing a uniform civil code for all religions. It has to be 

remembered that these issues, along with the construction of the Ram temple, 

were put on the backburner by the BJP in 1996 when it realised during Atal 

Bihari Vajpayee's government of 13 days that it could not attract any other 

party to support it. 

The shelving of this agenda helped Vajpayee to form an alliance of 24 parties 

in 1998 which began to fall apart after the Gujarat riots of 2002 and has 

now been reduced to a group of three members. 

Gujarat Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Narendra Modi before a 

core-committee meeting of the party in Mumbai. — AFP 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these pages are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the opinion of the Observer. 

9

10 

INDIA 

Devotees pay their respects at the Sikh Shrine, The Golden Temple in Amritsar yesterday. — AFP 

Midnight satellite launch progressing 

CHENNAI — The countdown for the 

irst midnight launch of an Indian navigation 

satellite on July 1 began yesterday 

at Sriharikota rocket launch centre 

in Andhra Pradesh and is progressing 

smoothly, a senior oficial said. 

"The 64.5 hour countdown for India's 

irst navigational satellite IRNSS- 

1A began at 7.11 am today (Saturday). 

It is progressing smoothly," a senior 

oficial at the Indian Space Research 

Organisation (ISRO) said. 

According to the ISRO oficial, this 

is the irst time India is launching a 

rocket from its soil around midnight - 

the rocket launch is ixed at 11.41 pm 

tomorrow. 

"We have had late evening and early 

morning launches. But this is the irst 

time ISRO is launching a rocket around 

midnight," the oficial said. 

Court dismisses petition to arraign Rajya 

Sabha deputy chairman in abuse case 

By Ashraf Padanna 

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM — A court 

in Kerala has dismissed a review petition 

iled by the victim of a 17-yearold 

sex racket case seeking to arraign 

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Prof P 

J Kurien. 

The District Sessions Court in 

Thodupuzha, Idukki, which held that 

there was nothing new in the petition 

seeking further investigation in 

the Suryanelli case and all aspects 

had been looked into earlier, also 

observed that the petition was iled 

with ill will. 

The victim's counsel M R Rajendran 

Nair said her client would move 

the High Court against the lower 

court verdict. 

She approached the court after her 

petition was not admitted in a lower 

court in March following a claim by 

the kingpin in the case, S S Dharmarajan, 

that he took Kurien, then a federal 

minister, to the schoolgirl housed 

in a guesthouse in the tourist town of 

Kumily on February 19, 1996. 

The scandal took place at Suryanelli 

in Idukki district in January 

1996, when the 16-year-old was allegedly 

threatened, abducted and 

He said ISRO Chairman K 

Radhakrishnan is expected to have a 

brief meeting with the media at the 

rocket port post launch which will be 

around 12.45 am on Tuesday. 

The oficial said the launch time 

has been ixed taking into account the 

orbit and inclination at which the satellite 

will be injected. Around 20 minutes 

into the launch, the rocket Polar 

Satellite Launch Vehicle-XL (PSLV-XL) 

will eject the navigational satellite at 

an altitude of 501 km. 

According to ISRO, the 1,425 kg 

navigational satellite IRNSS (Indian 

Regional Navigational Satellite 

System)-1A is intended to provide terrestrial, 

aerial and marine navigation 

services and help in disaster and leet 

management. 

The satellite with a life span of 

abused by a bus conductor and was 

later conined and assaulted for more 

than a month by 42 men. 

Kurien's name never appeared in 

the list of the accused and in the late 

1990s the trial court found more 

than 42 people guilty, who were later 

acquitted by the HC except Dharmarajan. 

The victim had initially iled a private 

complaint against Kurien in a 

court in Idukki district alleging that 

he had exploited her at Kumily guesthouse. 

Kurien then got a discharge 

over the complaint from the Supreme 

Court. 

The case was back in the spotlight 

after the apex court ordered a retrial 

in the case on January 31 this year, 

while setting aside the acquittal in 

2005 by the HC of all but one convicted 

by a special court. All of them have 

since taken bail. 

The district court pointed out that 

the case against Kurien was disposed 

of by the apex court and nothing new 

has emerged after that. 

Dharmarajan had iled an afidavit 

in the case retracting his claim 

on a television channel that he made 

from his hideout in Karnataka before 

his arrest. The victim approached the 

around 10 years is one of the seven 

satellites constituting the IRNSS space 

segment — a regional navigational 

system developed by India designed to 

provide accurate position information 

service to users within the country 

and up to 1,500 km from the nation's 

boundary line, ISRO said. 

The IRNSS will provide two types of 

services — standard positioning service 

and restricted service. The former 

is provided to all users and the latter 

is an encrypted service for authorised 

users. 

ISRO had planned to launch IRNSS- 

1A last month. But it had to put off 

after inding a problem in one of the 

electro-hydraulic control actuators in 

the second stage engine. 

The rocket was fully assembled 

with the satellite when the problem 

An LPG vendor carries cooking gas cylinders as others check their delivery receipts outside a depot in 

Hyderabad yesterday. The federal government has approved the doubling of natural gas prices, the irst hike 

in three years, in a politically sensitive decision set to take effect around election time next year. — AFP 

court for reopening the case on the 

basis of Dharmarajan's statement. 

In his afidavit Dharmarajan said 

he had seen the senior Congress party 

leader only on television and he 

made the claim as he was misled by 

the people who interviewed him that 

he can escape prosecution by dragging 

his name into it. 

The criminal revision petition was 

iled after a lower court rejected her 

petition to order the police for a fresh 

inquiry saying there was no fresh 

ground to order an inquiry into the 

case investigated by the police and 

heard by the court in 1999. 

Dharmarajan was absconding after 

jumping bail and was arrested by 

the police after his "revelations" in 

February this year. 

Kerala government had early this 

month submitted in the HC that a 

public interest litigation against Kurien 

was not maintainable and pointed 

out that the prime accused had retracted 

his statement which sought to 

implicate the Congress leader. 

Though no investigation could link 

him to the case, the victim had constantly 

been maintaining that he was 

among her tormentors at the Kumily 

guesthouse. 

was detected during checks. 

The second stage had to be dismantled 

to replace the actuator which is 

an assembly of several components. It 

weighs around 20 kg. 

Following the launch of navigational 

satellite, ISRO is planning to launch 

its communication satellite G-Sat 14 

using a heavier rocket — Geosynchronous 

Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) 

— powered with a domestic cryogenic 

engine sometime in August this year. 

Preparatory work for the G-Sat 14 

launch is going ahead at the rocket 

launch pad in Sriharikota in Andhra 

Pradesh, around 80 km from here. 

It will be followed by the mission to 

Mars later this year. The launch of one 

more remote sensing satellite is also 

being planned before the end of the 

year. — IANS 

‘Central funds 

likely to upgrade 

Shimla hospital’ 

SHIMLA — The Indira Gandhi Medical 

College and Hospital (IGMCH) 

here would be upgraded on the lines 

of New Delhi's All India Institute of 

Medical Sciences under the Pradhan 

Mantri Swasthya Sewa Yojana, 

Himachal Pradesh Health Minister 

Kaul Singh said yesterday. 

Speaking at a conference organised 

by IGMCH department of gastroenterology, 

he said he met union 

Health and Family Welfare Minister 

Ghulam Nabi Azad and the proposal 

for granting a higher status to the 

institution was under consideration. 

He said the state government 

wanted the IGMCH to provide qualitative 

and better health services. 

The minister also asked doctors 

to be ready to serve in rural areas. 

— IANS 

Statistical institute 

offers help to map 

climate change 

KOLKATA — The Indian Statistical 

Institute (ISI) has offered to help 

the government in mapping climatic 

changes in the country to develop 

a better understanding about the 

phenomena. 

"We are ready to help the government 

with the climate change 

mapping project," Bimal K Roy, 

ISI's Director said during a function 

to celebrate the 'Statistics Day' 

and the 120th birth anniversary of 

Indian scientist and applied statistician 

P C Mahalanobis here yesterday. 

Roy said the initiative would 

statistically estimate "region-wise" 

climate sensitivity across the country. 

"It will enable an enumeration 

of statistical co-relation of global 

temperature and greenhouse gases 

equivalent." 

"There is no doubt that global 

warming is taking place. It is an extremely 

complex project and we are 

talking about it. It can only be done 

statistically. We have given the suggestion 

to ISI," said R Chidambaram, 

Principal Scientiic Adviser to the 

Government. — IANS 


Cong begins preparation 

for LS polls in Karnataka 

BANGALORE — Flush from its victory 

in last month's Karnataka assembly 

polls, the Congress has seriously 

begun preparing for the Lok Sabha 

elections though there is no deinite 

indication they would be held before 

they're due next May. 

Contrary to statements by central 

Congress leaders that the polls will be 

held when due, Karnataka Congress 

chief G Parameshwara has of late 

been saying they may be advanced 

and the state unit must be prepared. 

Following up on this, he has dispatched 

teams to all 28 Lok Sabha 

constituencies in the state to sound 

out local leaders on the probable candidates. 

With the Congress returning to 

power on its own in Karnataka after 

nine years, Parameshwara wants the 

state unit to cash in on this and aim 

to bag all the 28 seats. 

He, however, acknowledged this is 

a tall order as the party had won just 

six seats in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. 

The early start to preparations is 

clearly aimed at ensuring the party 

machinery remains well-oiled and 

also keeping himself active as he 

failed to retain his seat in the assembly 

polls and thus the chance of becoming 

chief minister. 

The exercise will help the party 

remain focused on the next big task 

facing it rather than getting stuck in 

internal squabbles as many heavyweights 

in the state unit have not 

been made ministers. 

Fortunately for the Congress, the 

rumblings over denial of ministerial 

berths did not blow up in its face 

though there are calls by a section in 

the state unit for setting up a panel 

for co-ordination between the government 

and the party organisation. 

The move, initiated earlier this 

month by veteran Congressman and 

legislator M V Rajashekaran, is aimed 

at curbing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's 

alleged tendency to take unilateral 

decisions to hog the limelight. 

Rajashekaran's move, however, 

does not seem to have impressed the 

Congress High Command as there has 

been no indication of any action on it 

so far. 

Despite such problems in his 

unit, Parameshwara is conident 

that the Congress will win more Lok 

Sabha seats this time as the main rival 

Bharatiya Janata Party remains a 

troubled outit both at the national 

and at state levels. 

The BJP in Karnataka is yet to get 

out of the shock of the drubbing suffered 

in the May 5 assembly poll 

which ended its maiden rule in the 

state. 

The BJP won just 40 seats in the 

225-member assembly against 110 in 

2008. 

The BJP had won 19 of the 28 Lok 

Sabha seats in 2009 but a section in 

the state unit is not conident of repeating 

the show this time following 

the dismal performance in the assembly 

polls. 

This section, comprising loyalists 

of the BJP's irst chief minister in the 

state B S Yeddyurappa, has been actively 

lobbying for his return to the 

party to brighten its prospects in the 

Lok Sabha polls. 

Yeddyurappa now heads his own 

Karnataka Janata Party (KJP). 

His return is however being opposed 

by state BJP chief Pralhad 

Joshi, former chief minister Jagadish 

Shettar, party general secretary and 

Bangalore South Lok Sabha member 

H N Ananth Kumar, among others. 

This issue looks like keeping the 

state BJP divided, whatever be the solution. 

The other major party in the state 

is the Janata Dal-Secular which had 

bagged just three Lok Sabha seats in 

2009. Its performance in the assembly 

polls was also poor as it too got 

only 40 seats. 

A weak opposition and the state 

Congress strategy of playing the early 

mover advantage card may help the 

party perform well in the Lok Sabha 

elections too to match its victory in 

the assembly polls, when it won 122 

of the 225 seats. — IANS 

Punjab girl to represent country 

at Google Science Fair 2013 

NEW DELHI — A 15-year-old girl 

from Punjab has become the only Indian 

student to make it to the inals 

of the Google Science Fair, 2013, a 

company statement said here yesterday. 

Shrishti Asthana, a Class 11 student 

from Millenium School, Mohali, 

had presented a project on a 

solar power-assisted green technique 

for degradation of detergents 

and was chosen from among thousands 

of participants from 120 countries. 

"The inspiration for the project 

came when Shrishti went on a ield 

trip to Ludhiana and was disturbed 

by the dire state of the disposal technique 

of industrial waste... 

“She began her journey to ind a 

green solution to turn waste detergent 

water from industries into an 

eco-friendly alternative," the statement 

said. 

According to Google, Asthana 

would be competing with 14 other 

inalists from around the world who 

would be taken to the Google headquarters 

in the US on September 23 

to submit their projects to a panel of 

international scientists. 

The winner will receive a 10day 

trip to Galapagos Islands with 

National Geographic expeditions, 

$50,000 in scholarship funding and 

other prizes. 

The Google Science Fair is an online 

science competition started in 

2011. 

It is open to students of 13-18 

years of age, who formulate hypothesis, 

perform experiments, 

and present results to a panel of experts. 

— IANS 

Salman Khurshid heads to 

Brunei for Asean meetings 

NEW DELHI — External Affairs Minister 

Salman Khurshid leaves for Brunei 

today to attend three key meetings 

with Asean as relations with the 

10-member bloc are a key part of 

India's Look East policy and bilateral 

trade is slated to touch $100 billion 

in two years. 

In Brunei, Khurshid will attend the 

11th India-Asean Ministerial Meeting. 

He will also participate in the 

third East Asia Summit Ministerial 

Meeting of foreign ministers and the 

20th Asean Regional Forum meeting 

on July 1 and 2. 

As part of efforts to deepen its 

co-operation with Asean, India last 

week launched the Asean India Centre 

in New Delhi. 

Asean comprises Brunei, Cambodia, 

Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, 

the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand 

and Vietnam. 

Partnership with the Asean countries 

constitutes the "core" of India’s 

Look East policy with the combined 

population of India and the major 

Southeast Asian bloc working out to 

1.8 billion, around one-fourth of the 

global population, and the combined 

GDP of the region being around $3 

trillion, Khurshid had said at the 

launch of the centre. 

India has 25 mechanisms that 

underscore its interaction with the 

Asean, including six at the ministerial 

level — on foreign affairs, trade, agriculture, 

tourism, environment, and 

new and renewable energy. 

India is also an active participant 

in the Regional Comprehensive Economic 

Partnership (RCEP) negotiations 

between Asean and its Free 

Trade Agreement Partners - Australia, 

China, India, Japan, South Korea 

and New Zealand.


Students serve cancer survivors, raise funds 

NEW DELHI — Meher and Mansi, 

Class 11 students of a Delhi school, 

have forgone their leisure trips this 

summer vacation. Unlike most of their 

peers, they braved the capital's heat 

and volunteered to serve cancer survivors 

and patients for what they called 

an experience that has given them a 

sense of great accomplishment. 

Full of empathy for kids of their 

age who have overcome the deadly 

disease, the two are part of a group of 

volunteers who have offered succour 

to cancer survivors and taken a lead 

in planning a dance and drama concert 

to raise funds for an NGO working 

for children with cancer. 

"We are honouring the cancer survivors 

because their bravery, courage 

and spirit need to be recognised and 

lauded," said Mansi. 

The two students of Delhi Public 

School, in south Delhi's R K Puram, 

joined cancer survivors from KidsCan 

Konnect — a group promoted by NGO 

CanKids — to plan a concert featuring 

a rap session, a street play and 

screening of documentary on the life 

of a survivor made by volunteers like 

them. 

Meher said: "We have our own cre- 

ative group in DPS R K Puram — Expressions. 

It has been a real privilege 

to put together a performance for the 

cause and for the survivors." 

"We are helping KidsCan Konnect 

to raise funds, as we learnt that they 

are doing such fantastic work to give 

back and to be true cancer ambassadors," 

she said. 

Nearly 30 young volunteers, mostly 

school and college students and 

some cancer survivors, tied up with 

CanKids to spend four-ive hours daily 

for "meaningful purposes" during 

May-June. 

"Saving money was one big lesson 

we learnt. On the one hand people like 

us spend so much money for pampering 

ourselves; on the other, there 

are kids with cancer who are dying 

because they do not have money for 

treatment," said Mansi. 

Chandan Kumar, 18, who fought 

blood cancer at the age of 13, now 

serves as a volunteer as part of Kids- 

Can Konnect — also known as a group 

of childhood cancer ambassadors. 

"I joined them as I realised the importance 

of helping children who are 

going through the same trouble and 

pain as we did," said the resident of 

south Delhi, who prepares modules 

for spreading awareness among patients 

and society. 

Zenia Taluja, a student of Hindu 

College, developed a "Spare a Penny" 

campaign to raise one rupee at a time 

from people in her colony. 

"What I am learning as a volunteer 

is love, respect, humanity, sellessness 

and dedicating my services for the 

welfare of society," she said. 

Akram Bagai from British School 

and Vidushri Singhal from Welhams 

Dehradun, both 16, have composed 

a song and made an animated 

powerpoint presentation for children 

with cancer who attend workshops at 

hospitals like the All India Institute of 

Medical Sciences, where they undergo 

treatment. 

A group of volunteers even managed 

to engage partners for their concert 

and raise funds for cancer-aflicted 

children. 

Among those whom they engaged 

for the cause is Rajiv Malhotra, Executive 

Director and Chief Risk Oficer of 

PTC India Ltd, a power-trading solutions 

provider. "We are supporting the 

cause... we think this is our way of empowering 

cancer survivors." — IANS 

INDIA 

Army soldiers use a stretcher to carry an elderly person at Joshimath yesterday, after he was evacuated from Badrinath in Uttarakhand. Right: Stranded travellers wait for their turn to be evacuated yesterday. — AFP 

Flood rescue operations in Uttarakhand near end 

NEW DELHI — Rescuers in lood-hit 

Uttarakhand state worked yesterday 

to free more than 500 people stranded 

in the town of Badrinath as efforts 

elsewhere turned to supplying cut-off 

villages and recovering bodies. 

Flash loods and landslides in the 

mountainous northern state that began 

two weeks ago have left at least 

800 people conirmed dead and an 

estimated 2,000 to 3,000 missing. 

Uttarakhand state Legislative Assembly 

Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal 

told reporters the death toll could 

exceed 10,000. 

"More than 1,000 reports have 

been iled with the police about missing 

persons so far," said Puja Rawat, 

an oficial at the state's disaster management 

unit. "The process is ongoing 

and the numbers are rising fast." 

Thousands of people, including tourists 

and pilgrims, were stranded in 

the state's higher elevations as loods 

and landslides swept away roads and 

bridges and buried buildings. 

More than 100,000 people have 

been rescued so far in operations by 

More areas looded in 

Asom as rivers rise 

GUWAHATI — More areas were 

looded in Asom yesterday due to 

surging waters of Brahmaputra river 

and its tributaries, which continued 

to swell due to incessant rains 

in Arunachal Pradesh, oficials said. 

There was no report of casualties. 

Several villages in Asom’s river island 

Majuli were submerged under 

waters since Friday night. Oficials 

of the Asom State Disaster Management 

Authority (ASDMA) said that 

fresh areas in Tinsukia district have 

been inundated by lood waters since 

Friday. 

More areas of Dhemaji district 

have also been inundated by loods 

forcing the district administration to 

open three relief camps for the loodhit 

people, the ASDMA oficials said 

adding that over 700 people are taking 

shelter in the camps. 

More than 8,000 people have been 

affected by loods in Dhemaji and 

Tinsukia district taking the number 

of total lood-affected people in ive 

districts of Asom to over 19,000, AS- 

DMA oficials said. 

Although loods have damaged 

roads and houses at many places and 

breached embankments at several 

places, yet there is no human causality 

in the loods so far this year, the 

oficials said. 

However, the lood situation might 

turn worst as water level in major 

rivers like Brahmaputra and Jia Bharali 

are still showing a rising trend at 

many places in the lood-hit districts. 

The waters in the Brahmaputra 

river have already been lowing over 

the danger mark in some areas and 

are showing a rising trend. 

“Standing crops have been affected 

in over 1,200 hectares across 

the state since last few weeks,” the 

lood bulletin released by the ASDMA 

said yesterday, adding that the loods 

have also affected over 10,000 animals 

and poultry. — IANS 

air and foot over the past fortnight 

with local media reporting more than 

1,000 still stranded. 

An estimated 550 people were 

stuck in Badrinath, Rawat said. 

Rescue helicopters worked in 

spurts yesterday as bad weather 

grounded the choppers for hours at a 

stretch. 

Several roads were reopened in 

lower-lying areas, and food, drinking 

water, medicine and other supplies 

were being sent to inaccessible villages, 

oficials said. 

Delhi Metro 

prepares to run 

airport line 

NEW DELHI — Delhi Metro yesterday 

indicated that it is set to run the 

Airport Express Link by constituting 

a team of 100 employees after Reliance 

Infrastructure issued a notice 

saying it would not run the project. 

"Delhi Metro has started all the 

necessary arrangements required 

for taking over the operations of the 

Airport Express Link, if any such requirement 

arises," said a statement 

here. Reliance Infrastructure-led 

Delhi Airport Metro Express Private 

Limited (DAMEPL) had sent a notice 

on June 27 to Delhi Metro intimating 

it would stop operating the line 

from tonight. 

Delhi Metro Chairman Mangu 

Singh has also formed a core committee 

of seven oficials to handle 

extreme emergency situations. Oficers 

and staff will be deputed for all 

the strategic departments involved 

in the running of trains. — IANS 

A shortage of grain and other essentials 

was reported in more than 

600 villages in the northern districts 

of Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi, 

state-run Doordarshan television 

reported. 

Clearing debris, identifying the 

dead and conducting mass cremations 

to avoid epidemics was under way in 

the worst-hit Kedarnath region. 

Meanwhile, confusion prevailed 

over the death toll in the Uttarakhand 

tragedy with state assembly Speaker 

Govind Singh Kunjwal yesterday 

claiming over 10,000 people had perished 

while union Home Minister Sushilkumar 

Shinde said the death toll 

was 900. 

Kunjwal told reporters in Dehradun 

that during his earlier tour of the 

lood-devastated areas of the state he 

had put the death toll at 5,000-6,000. 

“But after hearing accounts of 

the devastation from people coming 

down from the mountains and that 

of people calling me up of the piles 

of bodies, I feel the toll could be well 

over 10,000.” 

11 

In New Delhi, Shinde clariied that 

the toll was 900 according to the information 

with him. He added that 

the complete igure on the deaths was 

not out yet and it would take some 

days for that. 

He said 105,000 people had been 

evacuated so far from the lood-hit 

areas. 

“We will do combing operations 

now to see if anyone is left out.. the 

roads are broken, there is no communication... 

it will take some days,” he 

added. — Agencies 

Kudankulam nuclear power 

project to be operational soon 

KOLKATA — The much-delayed Kudankulam 

nuclear power project 

will become operational soon, India's 

principal scientiic adviser said 

yesterday. 

"The decision will come anytime 

now. Reactor is a safe reactor... no 

question about it... it is designed 

with safety features. It depends on 

the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board 

(AERB) to examine the test results 

and decide," R Chidambaram told reporters 

on the sidelines of the 120th 

birth anniversary of P C Mahalanobis 

at the Indian Statistical Institute 

here. 

"The job of the regulatory board 

is to examine everything they do. 

Nuclear Power Corporation gives 

the results and regulatory board 

decides when to give the go 

ahead depending whether further 

tests are necessary or not," 

Chidambaram said. 

He also stressed on the need to 

convey to common people the statistical 

estimate of the safety of nuclear 

establishments. 

"For all practical purposes, nuclear 

power is safe. Common people 

have dificulty in understanding 

probabilistic safety assessment and 

analysis. India has an excellent safety 

record... with so many years in 

operation... absolutely clean safety 

record," the scientist added. 

Observing that there could be 

no compromise on safety, the Supreme 

Court recently lashed out 

at the Tamil Nadu government 

for being lethargic in putting in 

place a plan for the evacuation of 

people in the event of an accident 

at the Kudankulam nuclear power 

plant. 

The apex court frowned at the at- 

titude of the state government while 

hearing a petition seeking to restrain 

the central government from operationalising 

KNPP-I and II in Tamil 

Nadu's Tirunelveli district. 

The petition said that before operationalising 

the units, the safety 

measures, including 17 recommended 

by a task force set up by the 

Nuclear Power Corporation of India 

Limited (NPCIL), should be put in 

place. 

India's atomic power plant operator, 

NPCIL, is building two 1,000 

MW reactors with Russian help at 

Kudankulam since 2001. 

Villagers under the People's 

Movement Against Nuclear Energy 

banner have been opposing the 

project for the past two years, fearing 

for their safety, especially since 

the nuclear disaster at Fukushima in 

Japan in March 2011. — IANS 

Leftist party activists wear bull masks during a protest rally in Kolkata yesterday. The rally was organised to 

protest against the local government and its policies and the law and order problems in the state, while also 

demanding the quick trials of abuse accused in recent assault cases. — AFP

12 

UNITED STATES 

President Barack Obama arrives for a town hall meeting with young African leaders at the University of Johannesburg Soweto in Johannesburg, yesterday. 

‘No threat in China rivalry for Africa business’ 

PRETORIA — The United States does 

not feel threatened by the growth of 

trade and investment in Africa by 

China and other emerging powers, 

US President Barack Obama said yesterday. 

Suggestions that he has allowed 

China to steal a march over the United 

States in doing business with Africa 

have dogged Obama's three-nation 

swing through the continent, but he 

said the increased Chinese engagement 

was beneicial for all. 

"I don't feel threatened by it. I feel 

it's a good thing," Obama told a news 

conference during a visit to South Africa. 

The more countries invest in Af- 

rica, the more the world's least developed 

continent can be integrated into 

the global economy, the irst African- 

American US president said. 

"I want everybody playing in Africa. 

The more the merrier." 

China has greatly expanded its 

reach in Africa since the start of the 

new century. It overtook the United 

States as Africa's largest trading partner 

in 2009, a February report by the 

US Government Accountability Ofice 

(GAO) showed. 

China's advantage in trade stems 

mostly from how much it sells to Africa. 

Chinese exports to the continent 

in 2011 were almost triple the level 

of US exports. 

When it comes to investment 

lows, however, the picture is different. 

Data for 2007-2011 suggest 

US foreign investment lows to the 

region were larger than China's, the 

GAO said. 

"China's role as an investor, aid 

donor and inancier is not outsized," 

Johns Hopkins University China 

scholar Deborah Brautigam wrote recently. 

"Although Western countries fret 

about China's growing role in Africa, 

the United States alone disbursed 

more oficial inance to African countries 

than China did in 2010." 

Still, China's inluence looms large 

over the continent, partly because it 

US can lead climate change battle 

WASHINGTON — US President 

Barack Obama touted his new climate 

change proposal in his weekly 

address yesterday, calling for Americans 

to lead the charge against the 

warming environment. 

"Those who already feel the effects 

of a changing climate don't have 

time to deny it — they're busy dealing 

with it," said Obama in his prerecorded 

address on radio and the 

Internet. 

"The ireighters who brave longer 

wildire seasons. The farmers 

who see crops wilted one year, and 

washed away the next. Western families 

worried about water that's drying 

up. 

"The cost of these events can be 

measured in lost lives and livelihoods, 

lost homes and businesses, 

and hundreds of billions of dollars in 

emergency services and disaster relief. 

And Americans across the country 

are already paying the price of inaction 

in higher food costs, insurance 

premiums, and the tab for rebuilding. 

"The question is not whether we 

need to act. The question is whether 

we will have the courage to act be- 

fore it's too late," the president said. 

Obama laid out a broad new plan 

to ight climate change on Tuesday, 

using executive powers to get around 

deniers who have blocked action in 

Congress. 

He called for new restrictions on 

existing and new power plants to 

curb carbon emissions, pledged to 

push new generation clean energy 

sources and to lead a fresh global effort 

to stem global warming. 

"This is the ight America can and 

will lead in the 21st century. But it 

will require all of us, as citizens, to do 

our part," the president said yesterday, 

calling for scientists to develop 

biofuels and farmers to grow them, 

engineers to design clean technology 

and businesses to get them to market. 

"We will be judged — as a people, 

as a society, and as a country — on 

where we go from here," Obama said. 

Some opponents of his approach 

have warned that the plan could result 

in older coal-ired plants being 

taken ofline and may thereby raise 

electricity prices for consumers, 

which could disproportionately hurt 

the poor. Oficials counter that the 

plan will reduce the amount of electricity 

used — thereby reducing fuel 

bills. However, the speciics of much 

of his plan were unclear, and many of 

Obama's new rules could face court 

challenges that would delay their implementation. 

Meanwhile, speaking for Republicans 

on another contentious issue, 

Senator Pat Roberts from Kansas 

raised concerns over the health care 

reform package Obama championed 

in his irst term. 

The Affordable Care Act, passed 

in 2010 and upheld by the Supreme 

Court in 2012, aims to provide health 

care coverage to an additional 30 

million Americans. States are to implement 

it gradually by 2014. 

But many Republicans remain 

staunchly opposed. 

"As we celebrate the 4th (of July 

Independence Day holiday), it will be 

a mere 89 days until the October 1st 

deadline, when millions of Americans 

are forced to purchase health 

insurance in a special marketplace ... 

overseen by the federal government," 

Roberts said. — AFP 

Visitors view the space shuttle Atlantis on the opening day of its exhibit at the Kennedy Space Centre Visitor 

Complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida yesterday. The developers of the exhibit have raised the 68,000 kg spaceship 

9 metres into the air and tilted it 43 degrees over on its left side, simulating the vehicle in light. — Reuters 

has been so aggressive in its courtship. 

Obama's visit to Senegal, South 

Africa and Tanzania will bring to 

four the number of countries in sub- 

Saharan Africa that the US President 

has visited in the last four years. He 

stopped briely in Ghana in his irst 

term. 

In contrast, China's president and 

vice president have visited 30 African 

countries over the same period, said 

Mwangi Kimenyi, a senior fellow at 

the Brookings Institution in Washington. 

There is also a sense that the United 

States may be resting on its laurels. 

— Reuters 

Texas woman indicted 

for mailing ricin-laced 

letter to president 

AUSTIN — A Texas actress was indicted 

and charged with sending 

ricin-laced letters to US President 

Barack Obama and New York Mayor 

Michael Bloomberg, the US Department 

of Justice said on Friday. 

Shannon Guess Richardson, 35, 

of New Boston, Texas, was arrested 

on June 7. 

A federal grand jury accused 

her in a three-count indictment 

of mailing the letters to Obama, 

Bloomberg and Mark Glaze, the 

director of Mayors Against Illegal 

Guns, a group founded by Bloomberg 

that lobbies for stricter gun 

laws. 

She faces up to ive years in federal 

prison on each charge if convicted, 

according to an announcement 

from US Attorney John Bales 

of the Eastern District of Texas. 

The letters read, in part: "You 

will have to kill me and my family 

before you get my guns. Anyone 

wants to come to my house will 

get shot in the face," according to 

court documents. — Reuters 


Obama meets 

family of ailing 

hero Mandela 

JOHANNESBURG — US President 

Barack Obama met the family of 

his "inspiration" Nelson Mandela in 

South Africa yesterday but was unable 

to see the anti-apartheid legend 

who remains critically ill in hospital. 

Despite tentative signs of an improvement 

in the condition of the 

94-year-old icon, who has been in 

intensive care for more than three 

weeks, Obama decided not to visit 

Mandela for fearing of disturbing his 

"peace and comfort". 

Instead Obama met privately 

with relatives of his fellow Nobel 

peace laureate, including two daughters 

and several grandchildren, and 

spoke by telephone with Mandela's 

wife Graca Machel. 

"I expressed my hope that Madiba 

draws peace and comfort from the 

time that he is spending with loved 

ones, and also expressed my heartfelt 

support for the entire family 

as they work through this dificult 

time," Obama said, using Mandela's 

clan name. 

Machel said she had "drawn 

strength from the support" offered 

by the Obama family. 

"I am humbled by their comfort 

and messages of strength and inspiration 

which I have already conveyed 

to Madiba." 

Speaking earlier in Pretoria, 

where Mandela lay ighting for his 

life in a nearby hospital, Obama 

praised the "moral courage" of South 

Africa's irst black president. 

"The struggle here against apartheid, 

for freedom, Madiba's moral 

courage, his country's historic transition 

to a free and democratic nation, 

has been a personal inspiration 

to me. It has been an inspiration to 

the world," Obama said after talks 

with President Jacob Zuma. 

"The outpouring of love that 

we've seen in recent days shows 

that the triumph of Nelson Mandela 

and this nation speaks to something 

very deep in the human spirit — 

the yearning for justice and dignity 

that transcends boundaries of race 

and class and faith and country," he 

added. 

Obama said before arriving he did 

not need "a photo-op" with Mandela, 

whom he meet briely in 2005, and 

the White House yesterday ruled out 

a meeting between the two men. 

"Out of deference to Nelson Mandela's 

peace and comfort and the 

family's wishes, they will not be visiting 

the hospital," a US oficial said. 

Zuma said Mandela remained 

in "critical but stable" condition in 

hospital, where he was admitted on 

June 8 with a recurring lung infection, 

expressing hope that he would 

improve. 

Welcoming the US president to 

South Africa on the second leg of his 

tour, he said Mandela and Obama 

were "bound by history" as the irst 

black leaders of their respective nations. 

"You both carry the dreams of 

millions of people in Africa," Zuma 

said. 

But the US leader was not greeted 

so warmly by all South Africans. Riot 

police ired rubber bullets and stun 

grenades at around 300 hundred 

anti-Obama protesters in the township 

of Soweto, once a lashpoint in 

the anti-apartheid struggle. 

In Pretoria, supporters have been 

gathering outside Mandela's hospital 

to offer prayers for the man who negotiated 

an end to decades of white 

minority rule. — AFP 

Near-death saga for lung transplant girl 

WASHINGTON — A US girl whose 

public appeal for an adult lung donation 

thrust her into the media spotlight 

nearly died after her body rejected 

the organs and she has since had 

a rare second transplant, her mother 

said on Friday. 

Sarah Murnaghan, 10, suffers from 

cystic ibrosis and was said to have 

very little time left when her parents 

sued to change the rules and let her 

be on the list for adult lung donations, 

usually restricted to those 12 

and over. 

While the US health secretary refused 

to intervene, a judge took the 

unusual step of ordering that the 

child be placed on an adult waiting 

list, and US organ regulators revised 

policy to allow children higher priority. 

Sarah received an adult lung donation 

on June 12, but her body soon rejected 

the transplant, her mother said 

in a Facebook post that detailed the 

family's post-operative saga for the 

irst time. 

"After we announced the overwhelmingly 

joyful news on June 12 

US First Lady Michelle Obama waves nearby a student during a 

discussion yesterday at the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre in Johannesburg. 

that Sarah's lung transplant was 

a success, things quickly spiralled 

out of control," wrote Janet Murnaghan. 

"That evening, as we waited for 

Sarah to be transitioned back to her 

room, an emergency code blue was 

announced. Sarah's vital signs had 

begun descending rapidly as her new 

lungs started to fail. We were devastated." 

Sarah underwent emergency surgery 

and was put on a bypass machine 

that took over function of her 

heart and lungs. 

The diagnosis was primary graft 

failure, which occurs in 10 to 25 per 

cent of transplants and kills half of 

patients affected, her mother said, 

describing the problem as resulting 

from the poor condition of the donor's 

lungs. 

"Doctors told us Sarah was unlikely 

to survive more than a week 

on (bypass) given her condition and 

that her only hope for survival was a 

second lung transplant," her mother 

wrote. 

Sarah was again approved by the 

Organ Procurement and Transplantation 

Network to be on the list for an 

adult lung transplant should a donor 

become available, and based on the 

severity of her condition she was 

again given high priority. 

"Her doctors prepared us for the 

probability that Sarah would die, either 

before a second surgery could 

take place or on the operating table," 

her mother wrote. 

"Three days later, on June 15, we 

learned that new lungs were available 

for Sarah. We were warned, though, 

that the lungs were high-risk because 

they were infected with pneumonia. 

They were Sarah's best and only 

hope." 

The same surgeon performed the 

second transplant, which Murnaghan 

described as "truly a success," though 

her daughter's "little body was very 

traumatized by all she had been 

through." 

Murnaghan has been posting updates 

on Facebook but she did not 

reveal the details of the ordeal — or 

the second lung transplant — until 

Friday. — AFP


A group of pupils visit Tiananmen square in Beijing yesterday. China is now the third most visited country in the world with the number 

of overseas tourists visiting, totaling nearly 60 million annually and the number of domestic tourist visits at 1.61 billion according to the 

World Trade Organization (WTO). — AFP 

South Korea stops anti-North lealet launch 

SEOUL — South Korean police yesterday 

stopped a planned launch of 

anti-Pyongyang lealets following a 

threat of violent retaliation by the 

North. A group of defectors from 

North Korea and US human rights 

activists had said they would use 

gas-illed balloons to drop 200,000 

lealets critical of Pyongyang over 

the tense border. 

But a contingent of plain-clothed 

policemen prevented the activists 

from unloading the pamphlets and 

other materials for the launch from 

a pickup truck at Imjingak, a tourist 

site near the border. 

Hours earlier, the North's military 

warned it would ire upon the 

launch site, denouncing the activ- 

Cambodia denies ban on 

foreign radio broadcast 

PHNOM PENH — Cambodia 

yesterday denied it had banned 

foreign radio broadcasts in the 

run up to next month's election, 

after the US accused the government 

of violating freedom of expression. 

This week, local FM radio stations 

were ordered to provide 

"neutral" coverage of election 

campaigning and to temporarily 

suspend broadcasting Khmerlanguage 

programmes made by 

foreign stations. 

But Chhum Socheat, an oficial 

at the information ministry, 

said yesterday "we do not ban 

broadcast by foreign radios". 

Foreign radio stations can still 

air their programmes on short 

wave transmissions, he said. 

He added that the directive, 

asking local FM radio stations 

not to air Khmer-language programmes 

produced by foreign 

ists as "human scum" and warning 

the launch site was "within the 

range of direct sighting strike". 

A leading activist, Park Sang- 

Hak, was taken into custody briely 

after he attempted to drive the vehicle 

through a police line to get to 

the planned launch site, some 300 

metres away. 

"I'm wondering what they're so 

afraid of. Why is it illegal? Why is it 

wrong in what we are doing?" Thor 

Halvorssen, president of the New 

York-based Human Rights Foundation 

(HRF), told journalists. 

"If South Korea is going to do 

everything because of threats from 

North Korea, then South Korea is a 

hostage. South Korea is not a free 

radio until after the July 28 election, 

was to allow for "fair campaigning" 

for all political parties. 

The directive, released late on 

Friday, also barred "foreigners 

in Cambodia from campaigning 

in favour or against any political 

party" and said that "legal action" 

would be taken against local 

FM stations that did not comply. 

The move was attacked by 

the US, who said it was a "serious 

infringement on freedom 

of the press and freedom of expression" 

and by broadcasters 

including US-funded Radio Free 

Asia. 

The move is "the most sweeping 

and stunning frontal assault 

on media freedom in Cambodia 

in recent memory," RFA said in a 

statement posted on its website. 

It is "a blatant strategy to silence 

the types of disparate and 

country," he said. Police stopped 

similar launches in April and May 

this year, citing protests from local 

residents living in the area. 

Local residents oppose such action 

as the North has threatened to 

shell sites used to launch lealets 

which often carry messages such 

as calls for an uprising against the 

communist regime. 

North Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator 

will meet senior Russian 

oficials in Moscow next week, 

state media reported, amid signs of 

a new push to get Pyongyang to rejoin 

protracted talks over ending 

its atomic programme. 

Kim Kye-gwan, North Korea’s 

First Deputy Foreign Minister, will 

varied voices that characterise 

an open and free society," the 

broadcaster, which produces 

shows in the Khmer language, 

added. 

Cambodia on Thursday of- 

icially started campaigning for 

the July 28 general election, expected 

to be won by strongman 

Prime Minister Hun Sen who is 

seeking to extend his 28-year 

grip on the country. 

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy, 

his main challenger, is barred 

from running in the polls due to 

a string of convictions that the 

opposition says are politically 

motivated. 

Rainsy, who lives in exile in 

France to avoid prison, faces 11 

years in jail if he returns, after 

he was convicted in absentia for 

charges that included publishing 

a "false map" of the border with 

Vietnam. — AFP 

An aerial shot shows tens of thousands of Filipinos form a human no-smoking sign at the Bicol 

University football ield in Legazpi city, Albay province, south of Manila. According to local media, 

the project by the provincial governor aims to raise awareness on the hazards cigarette smoking 

poses to human health and the environment, and is also a Guinness World Records attempt for the 

largest human no-smoking sign. — Reuters 

meet deputy foreign ministers 

Vladimir Titov and Igor Morgulov 

on Thursday “as part of efforts to 

resume the six-party talks”, the RIA 

Novosti news agency reported. 

The reclusive Asian state walked 

out of the discussions with South 

Korea, the United States, Japan, 

Russia and its main ally China in 

2009 and has often said it will never 

abandon its nuclear weapons, 

calling them its “treasured sword”. 

But in a lurry of statements 

and visits this month, North Korea 

has offered to hold talks with the 

United States to ease tension that 

spiked this year when the North 

threatened the US and South Korea 

with nuclear war. — AFP/Reuters 

Operation halted to 

lush out gunmen 

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian authorities 

yesterday announced that an operation 

to lush out armed Filipino militants 

from an eastern state was over, four 

months after the intruders landed on 

Borneo island sparking a security crisis. 

More than 200 armed followers of a 

self-styled ruler from the southern Philippines 

landed in the state of Sabah in 

February, reviving a centuries-old land 

claim by the long-defunct Sulu sultanate. 

Fighting between the militants and 

security forces killed at least 68 Filipinos 

and 10 Malaysian security personnel. 

Musa Aman, Chief Minister of Sabah 

state, was quoted by The Star online as 

saying the operation to chase scattered 

militant remnants and their sympathisers 

who were in hiding had ended. 

But a security zone has been set up 

with troops permanently stationed along 

the coastline where the gunmen landed 

— previously known for its lawlessness 

and lax border control. For centuries, 

people have moved back and forth across 

the porous sea border separating Sabah 

and the adjacent southern Philippines. 

— AFP 

8 Thai soldiers 

killed in blast 

BANGKOK — Suspected dissidents in 

southern Thailand killed eight soldiers in 

a roadside bomb attack yesterday, days 

after the government rejected demands 

for a ceaseire next month. 

The 60-kg bomb exploded as the soldiers 

were travelling in a military truck 

along a village road in Yala, police said. 

Another two soldiers were wounded and 

two villagers on a motorcycle behind the 

truck were also hurt, police said. 

The opening of peace talks with 

groups earlier this year has done nothing 

to end violence in the south, where more 

than 5,300 people have died since January 

2004. Last week the Barisan Revolusi 

Nasional, one of the oldest groups 

operating in the south of the country 

and a participant in the talks, proposed a 

ceaseire for Ramadhan. 

In exchange they made demands including 

the release of all detainees in the 

south and the acceptance of Malaysia as 

a mediator, which the government rejected. 

Conlict monitors Deep South Watch 

said so far this year loss 240 people have 

been killed and nearly 460 wounded in 

some 800 attacks.— Reuters/AFP 

ASIA 

13 

Foreign ministers 

meet on smog crisis 

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN — The foreign 

ministers of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia 

met yesterday to discuss solutions to 

the choking smog coming from forest ires 

in Sumatra ahead of a regional security forum. 

The three ministers are in the Brunei 

capital Bandar Seri Begawan for a series 

of annual meetings under the banner of 

the Association of Southeast Asian Nations 

(Asean) that kick off today. 

Foreign ministers Marty Natalegawa of 

Indonesia, Anifah Aman of Malaysia and 

K Shanmugam of Singapore met behind 

closed doors shortly after arriving here. 

The thick smog that recently smothered 

Singapore and parts of Malaysia is 

expected to be a key issue at the Asean 

gathering, with Indonesia under pressure 

to do more to stop the setting of ires to 

clear land for agriculture on its huge island 

of Sumatra. 

Palls of smoke from such burning 

pushed pollution levels to record highs in 

Singapore earlier this month, shrouding a 

city known for its clean environment. 

The recurring smog, dubbed "the haze" 

in the region, also badly affected parts 

of Malaysia. Haze is an annual problem 

during the dry season but this year's outbreak 

has been the worst in years, raising 

temperatures between Indonesia and its 

neighbours. 

Indonesia is the only member of the 

10-country Asean bloc yet to ratify a 2002 

treaty on preventing "trans-boundary" 

haze pollution. Jakarta has said its parliament 

was in the process of ratiication. 

Singapore and Malaysia have demanded 

that Indonesia punish those behind the 

blazes. 

Jakarta has hit back, saying some ires 

are on plantations owned by Singaporean 

and Malaysian business interests. 

Indonesian Forestry Minister Zulkili 

Hasan has said 14 people were arrested 

on suspicion of starting ires, 11 of whom 

were linked to plantation companies and 

three of whom were smallholders. 

The skies in Singapore and the parts of 

Malaysia that were affected have cleared 

due to rains and favourable winds, but of- 

icials in the two countries have warned 

that the smog could return. — AFP 

Media warns of 'counterstrike' 

BEIJING — Chinese state-media accused 

the Philippines of using the Asean group 

of nations as an "accomplice" in the violation 

of its sovereignty claims in the South 

China Sea yesterday, and warned of a potential 

"counterstrike". 

The editorial in the overseas edition of 

the People's Daily, the mouthpiece of China's 

ruling Communist Party, came as the 

Association of Southeast Asian Nations 

(Asean) was due to meet in Brunei, with 

disputes in the Sea expected to dominate 

discussions. 

The Philippines, which has sought closer 

ties with Washington amid territorial 

disputes with Beijing, "calls on the United 

States as 'patron'" and uses Asean as an 

"accomplice," the editorial said. 

It added that the Phillipines was guilty 

of "seven sins," including the "illegal occupation" 

of parts of the Spratly Islands, 

strengthening control over disputed coral 

reefs, inviting foreign companies to develop 

oil and gas resources in disputed 

waters, and promoting the "internationalisation" 

of the Sea. 

"If the Philippines continues to provoke 

China... a counterstrike will be hard to 

avoid," the editorial said. 

Members of the Asean group hope to 

reach a legally binding code of conduct 

aimed at easing tensions over disputed 

areas in the Sea, which is claimed almost 

in its entirety by Beijing, leading to longrunning 

disputes. 

The Philippines this year sought UN 

arbitration over its dispute with China, a 

move condemned by Beijing. — AFP 

A farmer carries his child on his back as he walks through a rice paddy ield 

during Asar Pandra festival in Bhaktapur yesterday. Rice is considered the main 

staple for Nepalese and is planted during the Nepali month of Asar, which usually 

lies between June and July. — Reuters 

Cops investigate Philippine MP 

who shot himself in Congress 

MANILA — Police are investigating an outgoing 

Philippine politician after he shot 

himself in parliament, a spokesman said 

yesterday, in a mystery that has puzzled 

the nation. 

Benjo Benaldo is being probed after 

shooting himself in Congress, where irearms 

are banned, with a pistol whose 

permit had expired, said national police 

spokesman Senior Superintendent Reuben 

Sindac. 

"He could face charges... but let us take 

it one step at a time," Sindac said, adding 

that the police were exploring all angles. 

Police said Benaldo was alone in his of- 

ice late on Thursday when he shot himself 

in the chest, narrowly missing his heart. 

His 9 mm Sig Sauer pistol was recovered 

at the scene. 

The legislator was rushed to hospital 

where he is still admitted but out of danger, 

according to the latest news reports. 

Firearms are banned from Congress 

and Benaldo's permit to carry the pistol 

had expired in March last year, said Sindac. 

He said legislators were not searched 

or required to pass through a metal detec- 

tor when they enter parliament, making it 

easy for a congressman to bring in a gun. 

Benaldo is due to step down at the end 

of June after losing his re-election bid to 

an ally of President Benigno Aquino in 

mid-term elections last month. 

He has also been in the news in recent 

weeks over troubles with his wife, a popular 

Brazilian model and showbiz personality. 

Since the incident, the local press and 

social media have carried unveriied accounts 

of suicide notes and speculation 

on whether the legislator shot himself 

because he failed to win a seat or due to 

marital problems. 

Sindac urged the public not to speculate, 

saying the shooting could have been 

an accident or a suicide attempt. 

House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte said 

Benaldo was stable and in "good spirits" 

despite his injury, according to media reports 

on Friday. 

Benaldo's wife Daiana Menezes was 

seen accompanying him in an ambulance, 

after Thursday's incident, in pictures posted 

on Twitter by his friend Congressman 

Miro Quimbo. — AFP

14 

THE WORLD 

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron is shown a remote-controlled surveillance aircraft used in regional 

operations, during his visit to Camp Bastion in Helmand province, Afghanistan, yesterday. — Reuters 

West should have talked to Taliban: general 

KABUL — The West should have negotiated 

with the Taliban more than a 

decade ago, soon after they were toppled, 

Britain's senior general in Afghanistan 

said yesterday after recent 

efforts to start peace talks collapsed 

in ignominy. 

General Nick Carter told the 

London-based Guardian newspaper 

that an opportunity to bring peace 

to Afghanistan was missed when the 

Taliban were on the defensive in 2002 

after they were ousted following the 

9/11 attacks. 

"The Taliban were on the run," he 

said. "At that stage, if we had been 

very prescient, we might have spotted 

that a inal political solution... would 

have involved getting all Afghans to 

sit at the table and talk about their 

future." 

Carter, deputy commander of the 

Nato-led coalition, acknowledged it 

was "easy to be wise with the beneit 

of hindsight" but that Afghanistan's 

problems were political issues that 

"are only ever solved by people talking 

to each other". 

The search for a peace settlement 

with the Taliban is now a priority for 

the Afghan government and international 

powers as the insurgency still 

rages across many parts of the country 

and US-led troops prepare to exit 

next year. 

A Taliban ofice in Qatar that 

Rudd's comeback as 

PM revives Labor: poll 

SYDNEY — The dramatic return 

of Australian Prime Minister Kevin 

Rudd has delivered his lagging Labor 

party a six percentage point bounce, 

according to polls yesterday that also 

showed him as preferred leader over 

Tony Abbott. 

Rudd, popularly elected to top of- 

ice in a landslide 2007 election win, 

seized back the prime ministership 

on Wednesday in a snap party-room 

ballot which dislodged Julia Gillard, 

his former deputy. 

Gillard deposed Rudd in a ruthless 

coup shortly before the 2010 elections 

after the party lost faith in his 

ability to win Labor a second term. 

It was a fate revisited upon her 

this week, with a nervous Labor 

again switching leaders in a bid to 

boost its hopes ahead of September 

14's national elections. 

Early signs are that it may pay off, 

with a survey of 3,018 voters conducted 

by polling irm ReachTEL 

for the Seven network rating Labor 

a competitive 48 per cent to 52 per 

cent chance against the opposition, 

six percentage points ahead of Gillard's 

42 per cent in May. 

Though his party still lags the 

Liberal-National opposition, Rudd 

outpolled Abbott as preferred prime 

minister 51.6 per cent to 48.4 per 

cent, compared with Gillard's 40.6 

per cent. Those surveyed were divided 

on whether Labor had done the 

right thing by axing Gillard — 44.1 

per cent agreed, 42.4 per cent disagreed 

and 13.5 per cent were undecided. 

A majority, 56.9 per cent, said 

they still didn't think Labor could 

win with Rudd in charge. Separate 

ReachTEL surveys in four key electorates 

in Sydney and Melbourne, 

published yesterday in Fairfax newspapers, 

gave Labor a 10 percentage 

point boost from Rudd's return. 

There were 650 voters polled in each 

seat. 

"We now have a contest," said 

Fairfax journalist Tim Colebatch. 

"It is a contest the (opposition) 

coalition is still likely to win. But now 

it will have to work for it." — AFP 

Japan's Princess Kiko Akishino (L) and her husband Japan's Prince 

Fumihito Akishino (C) walk during their visit of the Island of Bled 

yesterday as part of their tour of Slovenia. — AFP 

opened on June 18 was meant to foster 

talks but instead triggered a diplomatic 

bust-up when the insurgents 

used the title of the "Islamic Emirate 

of Afghanistan" from their 1996-2001 

reign. 

President Hamid Karzai, furious 

that the ofice was being styled as an 

embassy for a government-in-exile, 

broke off separate security talks with 

the Americans and threatened to boycott 

any peace process altogether. 

US President Barack Obama recently 

said he anticipated "a lot 

of bumps in the road" during the 

peace process but that it was the only 

way to end the violence in Afghanistan. 

— AFP 

Return of rare 

bronzes marked 

BEIJING — Chinese Internet users 

celebrated the return of two rare 

bronze animal heads looted by European 

powers more than a century 

ago, underlining continued popular 

demands to redress what state-approved 

history books call colonial 

"humiliation". 

French billionaire Francois- 

Henri Pinault on Friday handed the 

bronzes, one of a rabbit and one of 

a rat, back to China after they were 

looted from Beijing's Old Summer 

Palace at the end of the Second Opium 

War. 

The bronzes shot to fame in 

2009, when a Chinese bidder offered 

14 million euros for each 

at an auction, but refused to pay 

on the grounds that the artefacts 

were part of the country's national 

heritage and had been removed illegally. 

It was a proud occasion for Chinese 

patriots, many of whom see 

the nineteenth century — when foreign 

powers occupied parts of China 

by military force — as a period of 

national humiliation still in need of 

redress. — AFP 

Gang leader held 

after 17 years 

TAIPEI — A Taiwanese gang leader 

who has been on the island's most 

wanted list since he led to China 17 

years ago was arrested on arrival 

at a Taipei airport yesterday. Chang 

An-lo, better known by his nickname 

"White Wolf", is a key member 

of the Bamboo Union — one of 

Taiwan's biggest gangs accused of 

organised crimes including blackmail, 

extortion, smuggling and money 

laundering. 

"Chang An-lo of the Bamboo Union 

has returned to the country to 

turn himself in... the Criminal Investigation 

Bureau and the airport 

police immediately handcuffed and 

arrested Chang when he stepped 

out the plane at Songshan Airport," 

police said in a statement. 

Chang, 65, was born in China and 

moved to Taiwan with his family after 

Chinese communists took over 

the mainland in 1949. He joined the 

Bamboo Union as a teenager and 

gradually climbed his way to the 

top, according to Taiwanese media. 


Cameron in Afghanistan to 

push for peace dialogue 

CAMP BASTION — British Prime 

Minister David Cameron lew into 

Afghanistan yesterday to try to reinvigorate 

stalled peace talks with the 

Taliban and reassure Afghans that 

foreign troops will not cut and run 

next year. 

Cameron's visit to British military 

bases in southern Afghanistan came 

four days after the Taliban attacked 

buildings near the presidential palace 

in Kabul and the Afghan headquarters 

of the US Central Intelligence Agency 

(CIA), setting back already shaky attempts 

to end 12 years of war. 

That attack came a week after US 

and Taliban representatives had attempted 

to meet in the Qatari capital 

of Doha, a session that was cancelled 

amid objections from the Afghan government. 

British oficials said Cameron was 

keen to boost political stability ahead 

of a presidential election next year 

which Western diplomats hope will 

result in the irst peaceful transition 

of power in Afghanistan since 1901. 

Britain, whose troops currently 

Xinjiang witnesses more violence 

BEIJING — More than a hundred people, 

riding motorobikes and wielding 

knifes, attacked a police station in 

China's ethnically divided western region 

of Xinjiang, state media said yesterday, 

in the latest unrest to hit the 

restive region in the past week. 

The attack in the remote desert 

city of Hotan, a heavily ethnic Uighur 

area, comes two days after the region's 

deadliest unrest in four years 

that resulted in the deaths of 35 people. 

China called the incident a "terrorist 

attack". 

The animosity between the majority 

Han Chinese and Muslim Uighurs 

poses a major challenge for China's 

Croatia to guard EU's longest land border 

KARASOVICI — When Croatia becomes 

the 28th member of the European 

Union, it will shoulder a major 

task — guarding the bloc's longest 

external land border in a region notorious 

for traficking. 

Croatia lies on the so-called Balkans 

route which stretches from Turkey 

across Greece, Macedonia and 

Serbia, and is used by criminal gangs 

to smuggle people, drugs or weapons. 

Croatian authorities must monitor 

a border more than 1,300 kilometres 

long — surpassing Finland's frontier 

with Russia — which besides Serbia 

touches the non-EU states of Bosnia 

and Montenegro. At the Karasovici 

crossing, nestled among pine-covered 

hills at Croatia's far south border 

with Montenegro, police oficial Stane 

Urlovic said: "Drugs and illegal immigrants 

are our main concern." 

Only last year, some 6,500 wouldbe 

migrants were caught in Croatia 

on their way to Western Europe. They 

came mainly from Afghanistan, Syria, 

Turkey and Albania, and from the African 

nations of Somalia and Algeria. 

Urlovic said illegal immigrants — 

number 7,900, is in the process of reducing 

its forces and removing equipment 

ahead of the end of the Nato-led 

International Security Assistance 

Force (ISAF) mission next year. 

"We want a political solution as 

well as making sure we have a security 

solution," Cameron told reporters. 

"What we have done in Afghanistan 

is we came here to stop it being 

used as a base for terrorist activities. 

That has been and is successful. 

"What we (now) need to do is 

build up the Afghan armed forces and 

at the same time make sure that the 

politics of Afghanistan enable everyone 

in Afghanistan to play a role 

in the future of their country. We are 

making some progress there." 

The Taliban's statement that they 

no longer wanted Afghanistan to pose 

a threat to other countries or to be a 

haven for terrorism was encouraging, 

he added. 

Separately, a senior military source 

said Western troops would need to 

remain in the country as part of a 

"follow-on mission" up until 2020. 

Communist Party leaders. Chinese 

President Xi Jinping, who took ofice 

in March, has called for the unity of 

all ethnic groups in China. 

In the latest incident, "troublemakers" 

gathered at religious venues before 

riding on motorcycles to attack 

a police station in the city's Moyu 

county, said the Global Times, owned 

by Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece, 

the People's Daily. 

Authorities are counting the 

number of casualties and are searching 

for suspects, said the Global Times. 

In a separate incident, some 200 people 

attempted to "incite trouble" at 

a major shopping area in Hotan, the 

mostly men in their late 20s, but also 

couples with babies — often try to 

sneak in only a few hundred metres 

away from the Karasovici crossing. 

"Sometimes we catch the same 

people only a few hours after we have 

caught them for the irst time and 

sent them back to Montenegro," she 

said. Once an immigrant jumped out 

of a suitcase as an oficer was opening 

it, she recalled. Another migrant 

was found rolled up in a carpet put 

under the children's feet in the backseat 

of a car. 

Trafickers charge for a trip from 

Istanbul to an EU country between 

5,000 to 6,000 euros ($6,700 to 

8,000), police say. EU border management 

agency FRONTEX said the illegal 

crossings in the region — amounting 

to about 35,000 people — rose by 33 

per cent in 2012 compared with the 

year before. 

Also last year, around 600 kilos of 

various drugs were seized at Croatian 

borders, and the smuggling of stolen 

vehicles is on the rise, police said. 

To meet the border challenges, 

Croatia has spent tens of millions 

Cameron's visit comes 11 days 

after a ceremony marking the start 

of the inal phase of the handover of 

nationwide security responsibility to 

Afghan forces. 

Dubbed "milestone 2013" by Nato, 

the event will lead to the departure of 

all Nato troops serving in Afghanistan 

at the end of next year. 

Nato and its partners are racing 

against the clock to train Afghanistan's 

350,000-strong security forces 

before then, though questions remain 

over how well the Afghans will be 

able to tackle the insurgency in the 

face of high casualty numbers. 

The source said Western troops 

would need to undertake a mission 

after 2014 that would last "three to 

ive years", while a senior diplomatic 

source conceded that some of the 

gains the West has notched up since 

2001 were "reversible". More than 

3,300 coalition personnel have been 

killed in Afghanistan since 2001, 

peaking at 711 deaths in 2010, according 

to the independent casualties.org 

website. — Reuters/AFP 

Global Times said. The newspaper 

said police diffused the situation. 

In a sign of the gravity of the situation, 

Xinjiang's top party chief Zhang 

Chunxian said: "We should be clearly 

aware of the complex and acute nature 

of the long-term struggle against 

separatism," according to the Xinjiang 

Daily, the oficial newspaper of the 

region. 

"For those who dare to defy 

the law, the criminals who engage 

in violent terrorist activities have 

to be punished. We can't tolerate 

them, we have to hold no punches," 

the People's Daily said in a front-page 

editorial. — Reuters 

Chinese paramilitary police ride in trucks during a 'show of force' ceremony in Urumqi yesterday after 

a series of terrorist attacks recently hit Xinjiang Province. —AFP 

euros of European assistance funds to 

improve border infrastructure, modernise 

equipment and train police 

oficers, said interior ministry oficial 

Gilio Toic Sintic. 

Some 6,000 police oficers are 

currently involved in the monitoring 

and control of the land borders with 

Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia, but 

another 300 are needed, he said. 

The 1,011 kilometre-long border 

with Bosnia is the most challenging 

not only for its length but also for its 

dificult terrain dotted with rivers 

and impassable mountains. 

At a police station in Metkovic — a 

southern Croatian town part of which 

lies in Bosnia — mostly young oficers 

monitor around the clock six 'suspicious 

points' on big screens. 

"This is a suitable terrain for (illegal) 

migrants, they can hide easily 

and later 'get lost' in the town," said 

the head of the regional border police 

Mato Barisic. 

Cameras cover these hot spots 

used by human or drug trafickers 

while Bosnian and Croatian oficers 

have joint patrols in the town. — AFP


A boy takes a picture of German chancellor Angela Merkel (L) as she arrives for an open house event in the Garden of the former west- 

German chancellery Palais Schaumburg in Bonn yesterday. — AFP 

Oppn leads in poll for July vote in key state 

MEXICO CITY — Mexico's main opposition 

conservatives are on track 

to retain the key electoral bastion 

of Baja California next month, according 

to a poll released on Friday, 

in a vote that could strengthen 

a fragile cross-party alliance built 

by President Enrique Pena Nieto to 

re-energise the economy. 

Falling short of a majority in 

Congress when he won ofice last 

year, Pena Nieto forged a loose pact 

with the two major opposition parties 

to work together on economic 

reforms. 

Sparring between the National 

Action Party (PAN), the opposition 

leftist Party of the Democratic 

Revolution (PRD) and Pena Nieto's 

Support for Canada's ruling 

Tories plunges amid scandals 

OTTAWA — Support for Canada's 

ruling Conservatives has 

plunged to its lowest level ever 

while in government, as a reinvigorated 

opposition presses 

them over scandals and a sluggish 

economy, a poll said. 

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's 

Tories, who swept to power 

in 2006, have the support of 29.4 

per cent of committed voters, according 

to the Nanos poll, while 

the main opposition party, the 

New Democrats, gained almost 

two percentage points to reach 

25.3 per cent. 

The Liberals, ranked third in 

Parliament in number of seats, 

held 34.2 per cent. 

The number of undecided 

voters nearly doubled to 18.4 

per cent, which pollster Nik Nanos 

said are probably disenfranchised 

or "grumpy former Conservatives." 

Nanos pointed to an 

Institutional Revolutionary Party, 

or PRI, has threatened to derail 

his plans to improve the tax take 

and overhaul state oil giant Pemex. 

The conservative PAN is seen as his 

most natural ally, especially on high 

stakes energy reform. 

Since its 2000-2012 rule of Mexico 

ended in December, the PAN has 

been rocked by inighting, and on 

July 7 voters will elect a new governor 

in Baja California, which was 

the irst state to bring PAN to power 

24 years ago. To lose it would be 

a heavy blow for the party. 

The PAN has held the state continuously 

since 1989, increasing 

the risk that voters could opt for a 

change. 

expense scandal, the election of 

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau 

and also the malaise in the economy 

for the Conservatives' weak 

showing in the mid-June survey 

of 1,000 Canadian voters. 

"Roll those three things up 

and it provides for a very dif- 

icult environment for the Conservatives 

politically," he told 

public broadcaster CBC. 

Over the past months, the 

Conservatives have faced growing 

criticism over a Senate 

spending scandal that turned 

into a criminal investigation as 

police reviewed a payment to a 

delinquent senator by the prime 

minister's chief of staff, who has 

since quit. 

Canadian Prime Minister 

Stephen Harper's right-hand 

man, Nigel Wright, resigned suddenly 

last month after revealing 

that he paid $90,000 ($87,700) 

However, the voter survey by 

polling irm Demotecnia showed 

some 53 per cent of the electorate 

favoured the candidate 

representing the unusual PAN/PRD 

coalition running in the state, while 

45 per cent backed the PRI's hopeful. 

Sharing a border with the United 

States, Baja California is one of 

14 states that will hold local elections 

next weekend. It is the only 

governorship up for grabs, and has 

become a symbol for the PAN since 

its capture from the PRI. 

Both the PAN and the PRD have 

pounced upon any hint of electoral 

fraud by the PRI, and Pena Nieto's 

reliance on the so-called Pact for 

to Senator Mike Duffy in order 

to help the lawmaker repay 

funds he had wrongly claimed 

as Senate expenses. After the 

repayment, Duffy stopped cooperating 

with an audit, leading 

to opposition cries of a cover-up 

and demands for a probe. 

Meanwhile, Trudeau, the eldest 

son of late prime minister 

Pierre Trudeau, was picked to 

lead and resurrect a party that 

held power for most of the last 

century but was relegated to 

the margins as the country's 

number three grouping in the 

last election. 

The survey is considered accurate 

within 3.5 percentage 

points. So if the numbers hold 

until the next election, expected 

in 2015, young Trudeau and his 

Liberals could form Canada's 

next government. — AFP 

Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino (C) poses for a photo with his supporters, after 

arriving from Singapore, at Quito airport. — Reuters 

Mexico he created with the opposition 

means his party has to tread 

carefully in the elections. 

A change of power in Baja California 

would increase pressure on 

national PAN chairman Gustavo 

Madero, who has faced persistent 

grumbling from internal party 

critics that the Pact for Mexico has 

undermined support for the conservatives. 

The pact has produced a major 

education reform as well as a 

landmark law aimed at curbing the 

power of Mexican telecoms tycoon 

Carlos Slim and broadcaster Televisa, 

though many of the details 

of those bills must still be thrashed 

out in Congress. — Reuters 

Far-right leader 

arrested in UK 

LONDON — The leader of the far-right 

English Defence League (EDL) was arrested 

yesterday after breaching a police 

order banning a march to the London 

site where a soldier was murdered last 

month, the group said. 

Scotland Yard had warned Tommy 

Robinson and other EDL members they 

faced arrest if they went ahead with a 

planned walk and rally at the barracks in 

Woolwich, southeast London, where Lee 

Rigby was hacked to death. 

Two people are due to stand trial over 

the murder in November. Police said the 

EDL's plans risked causing "serious public 

disorder" and told the group to hold 

their rally, timed to mark Armed Forces 

Day in Britain, near parliament in central 

London. 

The EDL campaigns against what it 

says is the spread of radical ideas in Britain. 

But it has been accused of Islamophobia 

and previous rallies have ended 

in clashes with anti-fascist groups. 

Despite the police warning, Robinson 

went ahead with a sponsored walk 

through the capital with EDL co-leader 

Kevin Carroll. — AFP 

Massive search 

for canoeist 

MONTREAL — Canadian police in Yukon 

deployed planes and boats and asked the 

participants of the world's longest canoe 

and kayak race for assistance in their 

search for a missing German canoeist. 

Michael Ludwig of Germany went 

missing while attempting a solo canoe 

trip on the Yukon River from the capital 

of Yukon Territory, Whitehorse, to Dawson 

City. 

"We have airplanes and boats scouring 

the shoreline, the creeks and the 

back-channels for any sign of him or his 

gear," said Sergeant Dave Wallace of the 

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) 

detachment in Dawson on Friday. 

Ludwig, 65, was last seen on June 10 

near Britannia Creek, having completed 

almost two-thirds of his 715-kilometre 

journey to Dawson. The trip from Whitehorse 

to Dawson takes about seven to 

ten days in a canoe or a kayak. RCMP 

were alerted on June 21 that Ludwig was 

late to his destination by a community 

safety oficer in Eagle, Alaska, about 200 

kilometres downstream from Dawson, 

Wallace said. — dpa 

EUROPE/AMERICAS 

15 

Plan to import doctors 

faces stiff resistance 

SAO PAULO — President Dilma Rousseff's 

plan to import foreign doctors to work 

in rural and poor parts of Brazil, part of 

a move to quell massive street protests 

over poor public services, has run into 

stiff opposition from the powerful medical 

lobby. 

Public dissatisfaction over the quality 

of healthcare has helped fuel nationwide 

protests over the past month and 

spurred Rousseff, a pragmatic leftist, 

to announce earlier this week the "emergency 

action" plan to bring in foreign doctors. 

Brazil's public healthcare system, 

which serves some 75 per cent of its 194 

million people, has a shortage of 54,000 

physicians, leaving it with a mere 1.8 doctors 

per 1,000 inhabitants, according to 

government data. 

The problem is particularly dire in remote 

parts of the country. In Imperatriz, 

a city of 250,000 in the poor northeastern 

state of Maranhao, the municipal hospital's 

intensive care unit has gone without 

a pediatrician for a year. 

With not enough Brazilian doctors to 

meet these needs, health oficials have 

seized upon the idea of importing doctors 

from Spain and Portugal, which have 

about double the number of doctors per 

capita but are suffering deep economic 

crises. 

Local doctors, however, are skeptical 

and angry about the plan, which they see 

as an attempt to obscure the government's 

failures in healthcare. The Federal Board 

of Medicine, which represents 400,000 

doctors, has announced a walk-out on July 

3 in protest. 

"Portuguese and Spanish won't come 

because of the work conditions," said 

Roberto D'Avila, president of the Federal 

Board of Medicine. "All this rhetoric is being 

employed to justify the arrival of Cuban 

doctors without re-training." 

Early this year, authorities loated the 

idea of bringing up to 6,000 doctors from 

Cuba. D'Avila is dubious of the skills of Cuban 

doctors, claiming that some have the 

training of one of "our nurses." 

"Bringing doctors from abroad would 

only make matters worse," Alison Soto, 

the director of the municipal hospital in 

Imperatriz, said in an interview. "It's the 

government's skewed view." 

Ex-governor gets 11-year jail 

NEW YORK CITY — A US court sentenced 

a former Mexican governor to 11 years 

in prison for conspiring to launder drug 

money. Mario Villanueva Madrid, 65, who 

headed the state of Quintana Roo from 

1994 to 1999, was accused of conspiring 

to launder millions of dollars in bribes 

from the Juarez drug cartel through accounts 

at banks in the United States and 

elsewhere. 

He pleaded guilty in August. Initially 

arrested in Mexico in 2001 and later convicted 

there on organised crime and corruption 

offenses, he was extradited to the 

United States in May 2010. 

His sentencing Friday took into account 

the six years he already spent behind bars 

in his homeland, a prosecution spokesman 

said. According to a statement from the US 

Attorney's Ofice for the Southern District 

of New York, Villanueva Madrid made a lucrative 

deal with the Juarez cartel in 1994 

that ensured its cocaine shipments travelled 

safely through Quintana Roo. 

Over the next ive years, he amassed 

millions of dollars, and by late 1995 began 

transferring the funds to accounts in the 

United States, Switzerland and elsewhere. 

His funds in US accounts totalled more 

than $17 million. 

"Mario Villanueva Madrid was entrusted 

to serve the public in Mexico, but 

instead, in return for millions of dollars in 

bribes, he provided safe passage to a brutal 

drug cartel, allowing it to move massive 

amounts of cocaine through the state he 

governed," Manhattan US Attorney Preet 

Bharara said in the statement. — AFP 

Firemen carry a painting of Henri IV of France out of the city hall of the historic 

French port of La Rochelle, southwestern France yesterday followed by the city's 

mayor Maxime Bono (L), after a ire swept through it's roof on the eve, destroying 

a part of the listed 15th-Century building. — AFP 

Tapie charged in latest twist 

of French corruption saga 

PARIS — Flamboyant tycoon Bernard 

Tapie was charged with fraud in the latest 

twist of a French corruption probe 

threatening to embroil IMF chief Christine 

Lagarde. 

After four days of interrogation in custody, 

Tapie, 70, was hauled before a magistrate 

and placed under formal investigation 

on suspicion of having committed 

fraud as part of an organised gang. 

The charge, which allowed police to 

use special detention powers normally 

reserved for suspected terrorists or ma- 

ia, relates to a 400-million-euro ($525m) 

state payout Tapie received in 2008 when 

Lagarde was France's inance minister. 

Lagarde was in charge of the arbitration 

process that led to the payout and 

investigators suspect Tapie received preferential 

treatment in return for his highproile 

support for her boss, former President 

Nicolas Sarkozy. 

Tapie's lawyer, Herve Temime, said the 

charges were completely unfounded and 

claimed his client was conident he would 

be completely cleared. 

"I can assure you there is nothing in 

the ile that shows the arbitration decision 

was the result of fraud, or of an organised 

conspiracy," the lawyer said. 

Tapie did not appear after the decision. 

"He has gone to relax, far away from Paris," 

his lawyer added. "We are completely 

calm about these charges which seem to 

us to have been decided in advance." 

The payout to Tapie related to a dispute 

between the businessman and partly 

state-owned bank Credit Lyonnais over his 

1993 sale of sportswear group adidas. 

Tapie claimed that Credit Lyonnais had 

defrauded him by intentionally undervaluing 

adidas at the time of the sale and that 

the state, as the bank's principal shareholder, 

should compensate him. 

Lagarde was responsible for referring 

the issue to a three-man arbitration panel, 

which ruled in Tapie's favour. 

Her chief of staff at the time, Stephane 

Richard, a member of the panel, Pierre Estoup, 

86, and Jean-Francois Rocchi, have 

all been recently charged on the same 

count as Tapie. — AFP

16 

PANORAMA 

A soldier wearing a costume parachutes during a performance for an international tourism festival in Fushun, Liaoning 

province in China yesterday. — Reuters 

Man dies of heart 

attack after shocking 

electric bill 

COLOMBO — A Sri Lankan man 

suffered a fatal heart attack after 

being presented with a shocking 

electricity bill, a media report said 

yesterday. 

The 61-year-old victim had 

protested at the Ceylon Electricity 

Board in Colombo on Friday that his 

bill had suddenly spiked, the Ceylon 

Today newspaper said. 

It said the man was told that the 

bill was due to a hefty tariff increase 

from last month and suffered a 

heart attack on the news, collapsing 

at the electricity board headquarters. 

The newspaper did not give the 

victim's bill amount, but said it was 

in line with the new 50 per cent 

tariff increase. 

The man identiied as S P 

Samaradasa collapsed on a chair, 

the newspaper said in a front-page 

report headlined: "Electricity tariff 

claims irst victim." 

"The cause of death was identi- 

ied as a heart attack," the paper 

added. He was dead on arrival at 

hospital. Sri Lanka is one of the 

most expensive countries in Asia for 

electricity with a kilowatt hour costing 

up to 47 rupees ($0.37). 

About two thirds of Sri Lanka's 

electricity is generated using coal or 

oil, while the balance comes from 

hydropower stations which cannot 

be used during droughts. — AFP 


Artists hanging on ropes perform at the opening 

ceremony of a yacht club, which is part of the Avaza 

resort in western Turkmenistan. — Reuters 

Dozens of mummies found in Peru 

LIMA — Polish and Peruvian archaeologists have 

discovered a royal burial chamber with 60 mummies 

and some 1,200 gold, silver and ceramic objects from 

over 1,000 years ago in Peru. The mummies — including 

three princesses — and other items date back to a pre- 

Inca culture called the Wari, who peaked between the 

seventh and 11th centuries, researchers said. 

"This is a unique ind," said archaeologist Giersz 

Milosz of the University of Warsaw on Friday. "This is 

the irst Peruvian discovery of a royal tomb from the 

Wari culture," of which little is known. The ind, in an 

area known as El Castillo, about 300 kilometres north 

of Lima, follows two earlier inds by the Polish and 

Peruvian team in 2010. The chamber was discovered 

two metres underground. — AFP 

British and Irish Lions fans pose before their rugby 

team prepares to take on the Australian Wallabies in 

the second Test match in Melbourne yesterday. — AFP 

A farmer covers himself from the rain during Asar 

Pandra festival in Bhaktapur, Nepal, yesterday. 

Miniature poodles Kobe (R) and Porsche pose for a 

picture at the grooming salon of owner Catherine 

Opson in Capistrano Beach, California. Opson, a 

professional dog groomer, has won multiple awards 

for her creative approach to dog grooming. — Reuters

Inside 

P 19 Internet overlords close to opening new domains P 24 EU clears Serbia membership talks 

P18 P19 

P24 

www.omanobserver.om 

Oman to ramp up quest 

for new chromite deposits 

By Conrad Prabhu 

MUSCAT — Buoyed by the discovery 

of dozens of prospective chrome 

ore (chromite) sites, the Ministry of 

Commerce and Industry is preparing 

to embark on the next phase of an 

extensive mineral exploration drive 

that promises to sustain the low of 

feedstock for the country’s rapidly 

expanding ferrochrome smelting industry. 

As many as 79 locations believed 

to hold potentially rich chrome ore 

deposits have been identiied by the 

Ministry’s Directorate-General of 

Minerals along a vast coastal swathe 

spanning the wilayats of Shinas and 

Sohar. These sites, according to Ministry 

oficials, were unearthed during 

a detailed survey of the area that concluded 

last November. 

“In the next stage of this effort, we 

plan to extend this survey from the 

Wilayat of Sohar south all the way to 

the Wilayat of Samayil. Based on pre- 

liminary studies conducted so far, as 

well as our understanding of the mineral 

potential of this region, the outlook 

for new and exciting discoveries 

remains good,” an oficial said. 

In the Ministry’s sights as part of 

Phase 2 of the survey is the mineralrich 

Oman Ophiolite, a mammoth 

geological outcrop believed to hold 

an abundance of metallic minerals including 

chrome ore. 

Chromite reserves have already 

been discovered and commercially 

exploited in areas of the ophiolite 

that extend into the Al Batinah North 

Governorate. 

Studies conducted by the Directorate-General, 

as well as exploration 

specialists from BRGM of France, 

have also pointed to signiicant inds 

in the wilayats of Sohar and Shinas, 

the Governorate of Muscat, as well as 

Ibra and Samad A’Shan in Sharqiyah 

North Governorate. Privately-funded 

surveys elsewhere around the Sultanate 

have also unearthed evidence 

— for the irst time — of potential 

deposits in coastal areas of the Wusta 

Governorate. 

But with the Omani government 

slowly putting the brakes on the exports 

of raw minerals — with a view 

to encouraging investments in mineral 

processing and value addition 

— the Directorate-General of Minerals 

sees the country’s chrome ore deposits 

as key to sustaining the growth 

of Sohar’s burgeoning ferrochrome 

smelting industry. Already four ferrochrome 

smelters are in various stages 

of development at Freezone Sohar 

with an investment of around RO 100 

million. To page 18 

‘Weak Indian Rupee not hurting 

demand for rough diamonds’ 

LONDON — The relentless fall of the 

Indian rupee has not dampened demand 

for rough diamonds in India, 

by far the world's largest processor 

of the stones, the chief executive of 

miner Petra Diamonds Ltd said in an 

interview. The rupee fell to a record 

low of 60.76 to the dollar last week 

and is down about 11 per cent since 

the start of May. 

"We haven't seen any effect...," Petra 

Chief Executive Johan Dippenaar 

said on Tuesday. 

"Indian companies are still strong 

buyers, but I don't want to for one 

moment say 'no' it will certainly have 

no effect." 

Petra Diamonds has been holding 

an auction in Johannesburg this 

week, its last of the inancial year. "We 

have not noticed an impact (from the 

weak rupee) on the number of Indian 

clients attending," company spokeswoman 

Cathy Malins said in an 

e-mail. 

Petra Diamonds, whose customers 

are primarily in India, the United 

States and China, gets most of its production 

from ive mines that it bought 

from Anglo American Plc's De Beers 

unit, the world's biggest diamond 

producer by value. 

India imported 31 million carats 

of rough diamonds in April-May, up 

about 26 per cent from the same period 

in 2012, according to data from 

the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion 

Council, an Indian trade body. 

India processes more than 90 per 

cent of the world's diamonds, most of 

which are exported. 

Petra Diamonds, which has seven 

producing mines in South Africa and 

one in Tanzania, is also sensitive to 

the movement of the South African 

rand, which hit a 4-year low against 

the US dollar in June. 

Like the rupee, the rand is getting 

hit by both local economic factors and 

demand for dollars as the US economy 

recovers, arousing talk that the 

US Federal Reserve will soon start to 

wind down its stimulus programme. 

Dippenaar said the weaker rand 

was good for earnings but would add 

to costs in the longer run. 

"Materials that we use are based 

on an international price, like explosives 

and diesel; that's all linked to 

oil price. (The weak rand) obviously 

drives up those costs so it's a bit of a 

double-edged sword," he said. 

However, Dippenaar said he was 

more concerned about markets overreacting 

to last week's comments by 

the Fed, which hinted that it would 

begin slowing the pace of its bondbuying 

stimulus later this year. 

"When you see the type of reaction 

that we've seen in the market it obviously 

creates concern that people's 

conidence and mood will be somewhat 

subdued," he said. 

"But we haven't made any sale 

since those announcements so we 

will monitor what happens in the 

market." 

Diamond prices have languished 

over the past few years, mainly due to 

sluggish demand in developed markets. 

Producers are hoping for sales to 

pick up as disposable incomes rise in 

populous nations like China and India. 

"We remain conident that in the 

medium term, and especially in the 

medium to longer-term, our market 

should remain robust because of the 

supply to market," Dippenaar said. 

"Effectively no new ore bodies 

have been found, so it all points to 

one thing: tight supply to the market." 

The supply of diamonds in the 

world remains constrained as no major 

deposits have been discovered in 

20 years despite billions of dollars 

spent on exploration. — Reuters 

Sunday 

JUNE 30, 2013 | SHAABAN 21, 1434 AH 

Inside 

Workshop highlights marketing chances 

China banking system ‘stable’ 

WB: No country immune from turmoil 


MSM eases downtrend, 

outlook seen positive 

By Samuel Kutty 

MUSCAT — While volatility continued to grip the global 

markets, the Muscat Securities Market showed some kind 

of ease in the inal two sessions of trading last week. 

With its better year-on-year performance, analysts are 

optimistic that the outlook of the market continues to be 

positive. 

“There are still positive catalysts for the markets to 

perform well,” says an analyst at a local brokerage house. 

Long-term investors are conident strong economic 

growth and large budget surplus in the country will help 

overcome any weakness the market, he says. 

"We are at the end of the month, quarter and half. So 

here may be an element of... holding off and recovering”, 

he says. 

Global stock, bond and commodity markets have 

been highly volatile since Federal Reserve Chairman Ben 

Bernanke had signalled that the US central bank would 

soon cut the pace of its stimulative bond buying unless 

the economic recovery slows. 

As a fall-out, the regional markets too witnessed partial 

sell-offs. 

On the inal day of trading on Thursday, the MSM30 index 

closed at 6,333.98 points, up by 0.19 per cent. Gulf Investment 

Services was the most active in terms of volume 

as well as turnover. 

Ominvest was the top gainer for the day to close up by 

8.98 per cent while Al Shurooq Investment was the top 

loser for the day and closed down by 10.00 per cent. 

A total number of 1,320 trades were executed in the 

trading session generating turnover of RO 6.31 million 

with over 24.95 million shares traded. 

Of the 45 traded stocks, 16 advanced, 14 declined and 

15 remained unchanged. At the session close, GCC & Arab 

investors were net buyers for RO 63,000 followed by 

Omani investors for RO 50,000 while foreign investors 

were net sellers for RO 113,000 worth of shares. 

With the earning season is set to kick in by the middle 

of July, the market is expected to shed the downtrend in 

view of anticipated positive results from the companies, 

Murdoch 

splits empire 

into 2 irms 

NEW YORK — Rupert 

Murdoch split his corporate 

empire into two 

parts on Friday under a 

long-promised plan to 

"unlock value" by separating 

high-lying entertainment 

operations 

from struggling publishing 

activities. 

The split became effective 

at the close of 

trade in New York, creating 

a new group called 

21st Century Fox while 

retaining the name News 

Corp for the publishing 

group. Murdoch remains 

in charge of both. 

The 21st Century Fox 

group, which includes 

the Fox Hollywood studios 

and television entities, 

"launches as a 

unique force bringing 

news and entertainment 

to more than a billion 

customers every day in 

over 100 languages," said 

Murdoch. 

"Our success will continue 

to be rooted in a 

deep belief in originality 

and a commitment 

to empowering creative 

minds and entrepreneurs 

around the world. 

"Our management 

teams are the best in 

the business and we will 

drive growth and shareholder 

value by expanding 

our existing assets 

and brands, while embracing 

new opportunities 

and technology." 

— AFP 

said the analyst, adding, “liquidity has been improving for 

small and medium-sized companies as well as large ones. 

We don’t expect to see this trend changing.” 

Except for the industrial sector index, the other two indices 

ended up on Thursday. 

Financial sector index was up by 0.80 per cent and 

closed at 7693.25 points. Ominvest, Oman United Insurance, 

National Bank of Oman, ahlibank and Bank Nizwa 

increased by 8.98 per cent, 1.26 per cent, 1.12 per cent, 

1.04 per cent and 0.91 respectively. 

Al Shurooq Investment, DBIH, ONIC Holding, Transgulf 

Holding and HSBC Bank Oman declined by 10 per cent, 

2.66 per cent, 1.91 per cent, 1.90 per cent and 1.55 per 

cent respectively. 

In the industrial sector, Oman Fisheries, Al Hassan Engineering 

and Al Anwar Ceramic increased by 1.92 per 

cent, 0.98 per cent and 0.23 per cent respectively. National 

Aluminium, Oman Cement, Galfar Engineering, Oman 

Cables and Raysut Cement declined by 1.29 per cent, 1.08 

per cent, 0.82 per cent, 0.80 per cent and 0.26 per cent 

respectively. 

Services sector index, which rose marginally by 0.06 

per cent, closed at 3302.08 points. Renaissance Services, 

OIFC and Al Maha Marketing increased by 0.50 per cent, 

0.38 per cent and 0.02 per cent respectively. 

Nawras was the only loser in the sector and was down 

by 0.20 per cent to close at 0.490.

18 OMAN/INTERNATIONAL 

Bank Muscat workshop highlights 

marketing opportunities 

MUSCAT — Offering yet another opportunity 

for aspiring entrepreneurs 

to identify the building blocks for 

establishing successful SMEs, Bank 

Muscat SME department in collaboration 

with International Finance Corporation 

(IFC) hosted a workshop on 

‘Assessing Marketing Opportunities’ 

at the bank’s head ofice. 

The workshop conducted by expert 

trainers evoked good response, 

highlighting the growing importance 

of the SME sector for the country’s 

youth. 

Ilham al Hamaid, AGM — SME 

Credit, Marketing and Regional Corporates, 

said: “Complementing the 

government efforts to promote the 

SME sector, the bank’s initiatives 

focus on creating a favourable environment 

for existing and aspiring 

entrepreneurs. The workshops and 

seminars organised by the bank impart 

the best practices worldwide, 

aimed at equipping entrepreneurs to 

successfully establish their business 

operations.” 

Hamaid added: “The issue of marketing 

opportunities is currently 

a key problem faced by SMEs. The 

workshop participants were given 

training in analysing and identifying 

marketing opportunities to successfully 

promote their SMEs. In an 

environment where competition is 

becoming tougher, understanding 

marketing opportunities is one of the 

essential factors for an SME to survive 

Europcar awarded Middle 

East’s Leading Car Hire 2013 

MUSCAT — Europcar Oman joins 

the celebrations with all the other 

regional ofices for being recognised 

as the “Middle East's Leading Car 

Hire 2013” during the World Travel 

Awards 2013, Ceremony held in 

Dubai. 

For the 9th consecutive year, this 

award recognises the commitment 

to excellence Europcar Middle East 

has demonstrated over the last 12 

months. 

The World Travel Awards were 

launched in 1993 and are the “Oscars” 

of the travel industry, with 

213,000 industry professionals voting 

for the best company in each category 

in seven regions of the world. 

World Travel Award aims at encouraging 

word-class competition, stimulating 

innovation and creativity and 

ensuring that travellers receive the 

best possible service. 

Europcar has already been rewarded 

several times throughout 

2012: World’s Leading Car Hire, 

World’s Leading Green Transport So- 

Ilham al Hamaid addressing 

the SME workshop 

and grow.” 

Over the years, Bank Muscat 

has taken several strategic steps to 

strengthen the SME sector in Oman. 

The bank provides free advisory services 

for SMEs on all business aspects. 

In line with the national objective to 

promote development of women in 

business, the bank has also launched 

several initiatives beneiting women 

entrepreneurs. 

Notably, the bank in implementation 

of the recommendations of the 

Royal symposium on SMEs, recently 

launched a unique mentoring pro- 

lution Company, World’s Leading Leisure 

Car Rental Company, Europe’s 

Leading Car Hire, Europe’s Responsible 

Tourism Award, Australasia’s 

leading Car Hire, Africa’s Leading Car 

Hire, Middle East’s Leading Car Hire, 

Mexico and Central America's leading 

Car Hire 

Close on the heels of the new recognition 

Europcar Oman has also announced 

the appointment of Industry 

veteran, Nitin Sapre as the new 

General Manager for Oman operations. 

Nitin brings with him a new company 

mission of providing affordable 

luxury and the best service in the 

Oman. With his extensive experience 

in vehicle rental, contract hire 

and asset inance, Nitin brings this 

wealth of experience from his previous 

employer in Dubai for his position 

at Europcar Oman. He intends to 

upgrade the customer service standards 

of Europcar even higher and 

aims to achieve this goal in anumber 

of ways, including a customer satis- 

gramme for SMEs under the direct 

supervision of AbdulRazak Ali Issa, 

Chief Executive. The CE mentoring 

programme is an initiative developed 

by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry 

to impart the required skills 

and guidance for SMEs. 

Aimed at strengthening the SME 

sector, Bank Muscat offers a comprehensive 

suite of tailor-made inance 

solutions. 

The bank’s irst-of-its-kind Al 

Wathbah Business Zone is a unique 

facility that addresses a long-felt 

need of entrepreneurs in Oman. The 

business zone can be used free of 

cost by Bank Muscat’s SME customers 

who do not have their own ofice 

space. The SME Credit and Marketing 

Department is available to help them 

tap the bank’s expertise developed 

over the past 30 years to deal with all 

aspects ranging from conceptualisation 

to setting up of successful SME 

units. 

Hamaid said: ”In keeping with the 

national objective, Bank Muscat remains 

committed to supporting the 

SME sector which helps boost the local 

economy, contributes to the GDP 

and creates self-employment opportunities 

for youth who constitute 

more than 50 per cent of the country’s 

population.” 

The workshop participants commended 

the initiative and thanked 

the bank for the strong support extended 

to SMEs. 

Looking for job, car, flat and 

furniture? Check out the 

Observer classified page. It’s 

where buyers meet sellers. 

faction scheme allowing him to monitor 

the effectiveness of Car rental 

services in the region. 

On his new role Nitin, General 

Manager Europcar Oman stated that 

"The direction Europcar Oman is 

envisaging over the coming months 

is represented by our new mission: 

“Moving your way” we are determined 

to evolve our services, processes 

and communication to adapt 

to customers ever changing mobility 

needs. “Moving your way” conveys 

Europcar’s total commitment to the 

customer and to shaping a better future 

for customers’ mobility”. 

"Be it for business or leisure, we 

have customised our products & 

services to match the customer’s 

needs with competitive rates and 

hassle free service. These include 

short and long-term rentals, Corporate 

Leasing programme and International 

reservations” he added 

In his new position, Nitin will be 

responsible for the positioning and 

promotion of Europcar Oman in the 

region and internationally. 

Moreover, Nitin will drive the 

marketing of Europcar products and 

services, marketing strategy planning 

and research, vertical industry, 

partner initiatives, PR and marketing 

communications, direct marketing 

and events throughout the region to 

support Europcar's business goals 

and drive incremental revenue and 

demand. 

Olivier Metairie, Franchise Zone 

Director of Europcar International 

based in Paris said: "With the steady 

growth of the Oman's logistics sector, 

Nitin’s valuable expertise in car 

rental business will play a key signiicance 

in reinforcing Europcar's 

presence in the region and boosting 

our visibility and share of voice in 

the market” 


Quest for new chromite deposits 

From page 17 

Together, they will produce annually 

an estimated 500,000 tonnes 

of ferrochrome, part of which is proposed 

to be further processed in 

downstream and ancillary units that 

will inevitably take root at the free 

zone. 

Feedstock for the smelters comprises 

a blend of Omani chrome ore 

and imported ore, along with other 

inputs which, oficials say, will be sustained 

over the long-term through the 

discovery, development and exploitation 

of the country’s relatively proliic 

reserves. 

Sites found in Samad A’Shan hold 

an estimated one million tonnes of 

ore with purity levels as high as 40 

per cent. Deposits in the Sohar area 

are pegged at around 1.6 million 

tonnes. 

The imminent launch of the 

irst ferrochrome smelter at Sohar 

— a 75,000 tonnes per annum 

capacity plant developed by an Omani-Indian 

joint venture company — 

will herald the diversion of Omani 

chrome ore concentrate, hitherto 

destined for international markets, to 

the country’s ledgling ferrochrome 

industry. 

Chrome ore production fell 10.9 

per cent to 554,800 tonnes in 2012 

versus output for the previous year. 

BlackBerry bruised by rotten sales 

SAN FRANCISCO Struggling 

smartphone maker BlackBerry reported 

weak irst-quarter sales on 

Friday despite introduction of the 

Z10, a new model deemed crucial for 

the company's turnaround. 

The Canadian-based smartphone 

pioneer said it shipped 6.8 million 

phones in the quarter, down 1 million 

from a year earlier, sending its shares 

down 29 per cent on Friday's trading. 

Revenue was up 9 per cent to $3.1 

billion, helping BlackBerry cut its 

losses to $84 million from $510 million 

a year ago. 

BlackBerry launched two all-new 

smartphones this year, the touchscreen 

Z10 device, followed by the 

Q10, with a mini keyboard favoured 

by many BlackBerry users. 

Chief Executive Thorsten Heins 

said those igures showed the company 

was on the right track, and that 

the road to recovery was a marathon 

not a sprint. 

"We are still in the early stages of 

this launch, but already the Black- 

Berry 10 platform and BlackBerry 

Enterprise Service 10 are proving 

themselves to customers to be very 

secure, lexible and dynamic mobile 

computing solutions," Heins said. 

Hit by the success of phones running 

rival operating systems from Apple 

and Samsung, BlackBerry still has 

a loyal customer base among busi- 

Karama Hypermarket opens in Bahla 

MUSCAT — Shaikh Thalal bin Saif 

al Hosni, Wali of Bahla, declared the 

largest Karama Hypermarket open 

to the people of Bahla in the presence 

of the invitees comprising top dignitaries 

in the wilayat and other select 

guests. 

The ifth outlet of the Group which 

is built in a total area of 5,800 sq 

metres, Al Karama has arranged a 

wide array of clothing, electronics, 

groceries, household, cosmetics besides 

a vast collection of kids’ items 

and other lifestyle products that 

would cater to the daily life of Bahla 

residents. 

It will also offer the freshest fruits 

and vegetables straight from the 

farm. Al Karama has been successful 

in reaching out to Omanis and residents 

at their door steps. 

A complete range of sports and 

games accessories including sportswear 

and equipment are yet another 

attraction that would make Al Karama 

a name to reckon with among the 

youth. 

Taageer Finance honours staff 

MUSCAT — Taageer Finance Company honoured its employees 

with long service awards on June 23. At Taageer, 

Long-Service Awards are considered as one of the most 

important forms of recognition. Taageer’s long service 

award is a mean to motivate its employee’s loyalty. 

ness users and in developing countries. 

By comparison, Apple shipped 

37.4 million iPhones in its last quarter, 

up slightly from a year ago. 

BlackBerry’s stock price as a result 

slumped nearly 28 per cent to $10.46 

at the end of the day’s trading in New 

York, returning to levels last year 

when the outlook for the pioneer of 

mobile computing was at its bleakest. 

“I can’t imagine anyone is happy 

with BlackBerry performance except 

maybe BlackBerry competitors,” said 

independent industry analyst Jeff 

Kagan. 

“Can BlackBerry turn things 

around with their new Q10, the 

keyboard device that just launched? 

Hopefully yes, but to tell you the truth 

hopes are dimmed by this irst quarter 

performance,” he said. 

BlackBerry Chief Executive 

Thorsten Heins said in a statement 

he planned to boost spending on 

marketing new products and services 

over the next three quarters, and has 

$3.1 billion in cash available to use as 

of June 1. 

“We are in the early stages of this 

(BlackBerry 10) launch,” he told a 

conference call. 

“I’m conident in the future of 

BlackBerry 10 but there’s lots of 

work to do,” he said. “This is a marathon. 

And with the inancials that we 

have under our belt, we are ready to 

run that marathon.” 

However, Heins also warned of 

more losses coming in the second 

quarter before BlackBerry’s fortunes 

get rosier. 

The company meanwhile noted 

that “the smartphone market remains 

highly competitive, making it dificult 

to estimate units, revenue and levels 

of proitability.” 

BlackBerry subscribers who pay 

monthly fees for data and security 

services also fell by four million to 72 

million in the quarter. In the future, 

the company said it would no longer 

share those igures as they become 

less relevant to its bottom line. — dpa 

Shaikh Thalal bin Saif al Hosni, Wali of Bahla, opens the Karama 

Hypermarket in Bahla 

CEO, Mohammed Redha said “Long Service is one of 

those recognition elements that is still very highly valued 

by employees because it is a recognition of their ongoing 

commitment to the business and the fact that they are 

somebody the business values and wants to retain”.


Wall Street 

Wall St Week ahead: Fed fears may 

be gone but brace for volatility 

A trader points at the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the start of trading in New York. — Reuters 

NEW YORK — Panic selling on 

fears of an early exit of the US Federal 

Reserve's stimulus efforts may 

be over, but the stock market may 

still face wild intra-day swings 

as investors scramble to position 

themselves for Friday's payrolls 

report. Trading volume is likely to 

be thin, with a half-day session on 

Wednesday and markets closed for 

the Independence Day holiday on 

Thursday. Both the Labour Department's 

weekly jobless claims and 

employment report for June will be 

released at 8:30 am. 

"Non-farm payrolls generally 

cause more volatility in the market, 

but how many times do you see 

weekly claims and payrolls coming 

out the same day on a shortened 

trading week? That will certainly 

cause a lot of volatility," said Randy 

Frederick, Managing Director of 

Trading and Derivatives at Charles 

Schwab & Co Austin, Texas. 

In the options market, traders 

were active in the put weekly options 

on the S&P 500. These shortterm 

options have a week-long life 

How Gazprom’s $1 trillion 

dream has fallen apart 

MOSCOW — Zoya Danilina, who owns some 

700 shares in Gazprom, says investors don't 

have to look far to understand that Russia's 

most powerful company has lost its way. 

Danilina remembers when her shares were 

worth over 300 roubles each. Now they fetch 

about 100 roubles. 

"There have been much better days, when 

tables were served with black and red caviar," 

she said on the sidelines of Gazprom's annual 

general meeting in Moscow on Friday, looking 

at a plate of boiled buckwheat, a popular staple 

food in Russia. 

In the caviar era, Gazprom head Alexei Miller, 

a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, was 

overseeing a company with the world's thirdlargest 

market value at $360 billion. In 2007, he 

promised to boost it to $1 billion. 

Fast forward several years and Gazprom, still 

the world's largest gas producer and holder of 

15 per cent of global gas reserves, is worth $77 

billion and could fall further as it faces a series 

span and expire on July 5. Put options 

are generally viewed as bearish 

bets against the market. 

"We've seen some buying pop up 

in the weeklies for next week. The 

most active ones are the 1,600 puts 

on the SPX," said JJ Kinahan, chief 

strategist at online brokerage irm 

TD Ameritrade in Chicago. 

"We will probably see more 

hedging activity early next week 

and perhaps higher intra-day 

swings as people try to igure out 

their option positions going into 

the holiday with the employment 

report due the next day." 

June's employment report could 

offer clues on the timing of the 

Fed's eventual tapering of its bond 

purchases. Non-farm payrolls are 

expected at 170,000, below the 

194,000 six-month moving average. 

The unemployment rate is seen 

dipping to 7.5 per cent from 7.6 per 

cent. 

Manufacturing will also be in 

the spotlight next week. The Institute 

for Supply Management is 

expected to report tomorrow that 

Russia's gas giant Gazprom CEO, Alexei Miller, attends the world biggest gas company's 

annual meeting in Moscow yesterday. — AFP 

factory activity expanded in June 

after a surprise contraction in May. 

While US markets are closed 

on Thursday, the Bank of England 

monetary policy meets for the irst 

time under the chairmanship Governor 

Mark Carney. 

The European Central Bank, 

which also holds its monetary 

meeting on Thursday, is not expected 

to change rates, but President 

Mario Draghi may discuss just 

how much longer the ECB will stick 

with extraordinary policy settings. 

The S&P 500 on Friday posted 

the best irst half of the year since 

1998, rising more than 13 per cent 

in the irst six months of 2013, 

fueled by US monetary stimulus. 

"I think that the market's pretty 

fairly valued, so we would be surprised 

if you saw the same kind of 

rally like you saw in the irst half of 

the year, but it doesn't seem to be 

a catastrophic environment, like 

you're going off the cliff either," 

said Steven Bafico, Chief Executive 

Oficer at Four Wood Capital Partners 

in New York. 

of setbacks. The biggest blow came from a shale 

gas revolution that has unlocked vast reserves 

in the United States. 

US prices have crashed, closing America as 

a prospective market for Gazprom, diverting 

cheaper liqueied natural gas (LNG) cargoes not 

needed in the United States to Europe, undermining 

Gazprom's position in its core market. 

Europe, tied to Gazprom by a Soviet-built 

pipeline network, has balked at its contracts 

that tie gas prices to more expensive oil. 

Last year, Miller was forced to offer billions 

of dollars in what Gazprom described as "rebates" 

to European buyers. 

On Thursday, Germany's RWE said it won an 

arbitration case against Gazprom, which further 

loosened the price link to oil and raised the 

prospect of more price concessions. 

Gazprom expects its 2013 earnings to fall by 

10 per cent, marking a second yearly decline. 

The stock market now values Gazprom — 

the world's third-biggest company by earnings 

For the quarter, the S&P 500 

was up 2.3 per cent but for the 

month, the S&P 500 fell 1.5 per 

cent on concerns of an early exit by 

the Fed's supportive measures. 

A Reuters survey of 53 investors 

across the United States, Europe 

and Japan released on Friday found 

that funds had already cut their average 

equity holdings in June to a 

nine-month low due to the recent 

volatility and had held more cash. 

The equities market took a hit 

last week after Fed Chairman Ben 

Bernanke signaled the central bank 

would begin to slow the pace of 

its bond buying later this year if 

the economy improves as forecast. 

Since then, a number of Fed speakers 

have sought to calm markets, 

giving assurances the stimulus efforts 

are going to be in place for 

awhile. 

Federal Reserve Bank of New 

York President William Dudley, 

who said markets are "quite out of 

sync" with the Fed, will speak on 

economic conditions on Tuesday. 

"I think the panic selling from 

the Fed is pretty much over. Now 

they (Fed oficials) are coming out 

and saying unanimously that 'we 

haven't changed at all, and we are 

possibly tapering in the fall depending 

on the data,'" Frederick 

said. 

"I think the market is believing 

that now, and I don't expect anything 

surprisingly different from 

the Fed speaker next week." 

Hugh Johnson of Hugh Johnson 

Advisors said the slight rise in the 

inal week of June could be described 

as “the restoration of sanity” 

after several rocky weeks. 

IPO industry expert Renaissance 

Capital said there was still 

enough strength in the markets to 

support more new issues, after the 

second quarter’s 61 companies going 

public, the most active quarter 

in nearly six years. 

“Though the Fed’s hints at a retreat 

from stimulus efforts brought 

a dose of renewed volatility to 

the markets last week, investors 

showed a willingness to continue 

putting money to work in IPOs, 

as long as valuations were adjusted.”— 

AFP 

behind ExxonMobil and Apple — at only two 

times its 2012 earnings of $38 billion. That 

makes it the cheapest large-cap stock on an already 

cheap Russian market. 

Investors could possibly forgive those setbacks 

if they were conident Gazprom could 

expand in the fast growing global LNG markets, 

while charging rising prices at home. 

"Our goal is to control around 15 per cent 

of the global market for liqueied natural gas," 

Miller, 51, told the annual general meeting on 

Friday. But such hopes were dealt heavy blows 

over the past month. 

Putin signalled last week the gradual end of 

Gazprom's monopoly on exports of LNG and 

opened the way for rivals Novatek and Rosneft 

to compete for huge new Asian markets. 

"We offer to lower restrictions gradually on 

liqueied natural gas exports," Putin said in a 

speech at an economic forum in St Petersburg, 

both his and Miller's hometown. 

Putin also said that monopolies would be 

able to raise prices only in line with inlation, 

reducing hopes for much higher returns on the 

domestic market. 

Gazprom's domestic industrial customers 

pay $114 per 1,000 cubic metres — little more 

than half of the $201 it receives for exports after 

being adjusted for transportation and duties. 

"Investors are structurally underweight 

Gazprom as they do not believe in signiicant 

change at the company," said Kingsmill Bond, 

chief strategist at Sberbank Investment Research 

in Moscow. 

Under Miller, hired by Putin in 2001, 

Gazprom often served as a Kremlin political 

tool, as described by EU oficials. 

"The Kremlin has decided that Gazprom is 

part of Russia's national security and geopolitics 

— not a commercial company," said Chris 

Weafer, founder of Macro Advisory, a Russiafocused 

consultancy. — Reuters 

Internet 

INTERNATIONAL 

19 

China banking system 

‘stable’ despite 

fund squeeze 

SHANGHAI — China's bank regulator said 

yesterday that a recent liquidity squeeze 

would not hurt the stability of the banking 

system, in the latest government effort to 

soothe concerns over the funding shortage. 

For three weeks, funds have been in 

short supply on China's interbank market, 

and the interest rates banks charge to lend 

to each other have surged to record highs. 

Head of the China Banking Regulatory 

Commission, Shang Fulin, said the overall 

banking system had adequate liquidity, 

echoing comments by the central bank 

earlier in the week. 

"These days the issue with tight liquidity 

in the interbank market has started 

to ease," Shang told a inancial forum in 

Shanghai. 

"This situation will not affect the overall 

pattern of stable operations in the domestic 

banking sector," he said, adding 

domestic inancial institutions had excess 

reserves of 1.5 trillion yuan ($244 billion) 

on Friday. 

China's central bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan, 

speaking a day earlier, offered assurances 

that the People's Bank of China 

would use multiple tools to "ensure the 

overall stability of the market". 

There are worries tight liquidity among 

banks could prompt them to tighten lending, 

which threatens to carry over into the 

real economy. 

State media has reported that banks 

are struggling to meet their payment obligations 

as around 1.5 trillion yuan worth 

of wealth management products mature 

at the end of June. 

A top oficial of one of China's big four 

banks, the Agricultural Bank of China, said 

Internet overlords close to 

opening new online domains 

SAN FRANCISCO — The agency in-charge 

of website addresses passed a major milestone 

on Friday on the path to broadening 

the world of domain names by the end of 

this year. 

The board of US-based Internet Corporation 

for Assigned Names and Numbers 

(ICANN) touted freshly-approved beneits 

and responsibilities for registrars that essentially 

act as domain name wholesalers. 

Changes to contractually enforceable 

rules include requiring registrars to 

conirm phone numbers or addresses of 

those buying domain names within 15 

days. 

"People who have stolen an identity 

or have criminal backgrounds obviously 

don't want to give you their name and address 

if their intentions are not kosher," 

said Cyrus Namazi, ICANN's Vice-President 

of industry engagement. "The intent 

here is to weed out bad actors." 

Prior to new rules outlined in the Registrar 

Accreditation Agreement, there 

were "loose checks and balances" to make 

sure aliases weren't being used by people 

buying domain names, according to 

Namazi. 

"It is a very serious and signiicant 

milestone in moving towards new gTLDs 

(generic Top-Level domains)," he said. 

ICANN is considering more than 1,800 

requests for new web address endings, 

ranging from the general such as ".shop" 

to the highly specialised like ".motorcycles." 

Many of the requests are from large 

companies such as Apple, Mitsubishi and 

IBM — with Internet giant Google alone 

applying for more than 100, including 

.google, .YouTube, and .lol — Internet 

slang for "laugh out loud." 

Cyprus ratings downgraded over debt swap 

NICOSIA — Cyprus's bond ratings have 

been downgraded by Standard & Poors 

Ratings Services and Fitch following Nicosia's 

announcement that it would swap 

one billion euros in local bonds for longer 

maturities. 

On Thursday, the inance ministry said 

that government bonds maturing in 2013 

through the irst quarter of 2016 would 

be replaced with ive new issues holding 

the same coupon rate and at ive-10 year 

maturities. 

The move was required under the 

terms of a bailout deal with the European 

Tight liquidity among 

banks could prompt 

them to tighten lending, 

which threatens to 

carry over into the real 

economy 

on Friday that lenders should step up risk 

control and allocate inancial resources to 

the right places. 

"The recent liquidity shortage in the 

market to some extent has something to 

do with overly high inancial leverage and 

rapid expansion of shadow banking," Agricultural 

Bank Deputy Chairman Zhang 

Yun told the forum. 

Shang, the banking regulator, also called 

for more attention by domestic banks for 

risk control and liquidity management. 

But he played down risks from local 

government debts, another issue which 

has sparked worries over China's economy. 

"Recently some foreign institutions 

and industry players showed concern 

about risk in areas including local government 

debts," Shang said. 

"As long as we apply the right risk-management 

measures, these risks are controllable," 

he said. 

China's top auditor recently put outstanding 

debts held by 18 of the country's 

31 provinces and major municipalities 

at 3.85 trillion yuan in 2012, the oficial 

Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday. 

— AFP 

California-based ICANN says the huge 

expansion of the Internet, with some two 

billion users around the world, half of 

them in Asia, means new names are essential. 

There are currently just 22 gTLDs, 

of which .com and .net comprise the lion's 

share of online addresses. 

"We spent a long time negotiating very 

thorny issues," Akram Atallah, ICANN's 

generic domains division head, said in an 

online video. 

"The new agreement achieves everything 

we wished for in order to roll out 

the new gTLD programme." 

The irst new website address endings 

should be available in the inal quarter of 

this year, according to Namazi. 

The revamped agreement will affect 

more than 1,000 domain name registrars 

around the world. 

ICANN has been negotiating with domain 

handlers for more than two years 

on agreement revisions, with interests of 

governments and law enforcement agencies 

among those factored into changes, 

according to Namazi. "Law enforcement 

agencies played a big role in it, because 

Internet crime is one of the biggest factors 

out there," he said. 

"Governments are actively involved because 

the Internet is one thing that connects 

all the governments of the world 

and some want to control it." 

The agreement doesn't require domain 

operators to go beyond legal limits 

regarding information that must be supplied 

to law enforcement oficials, according 

to ICANN. "This agreement is probably 

going to be somewhat invisible to 

consumers but it provides a mechanism 

to protect privacy and prevent crime," 

Namazi said. — AFP 

Union and the International Monetary 

Fund. But S&P said on Friday that the "exchange 

materially changes the terms of 

the affected debt and constitutes what we 

consider a distressed exchange". 

"We view the extension of maturities 

without what we ind to be adequate offsetting 

compensation as the exchange of 

new debt on less favourable terms to the 

existing debt." 

After the exchange, which is expected 

on July 1, S&P said liquidity strains on the 

government should be alleviated, and that 

the rating is expected to rise to CCC+.

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rent at Al Mawaleh. 

93282220. 

· · · · · 

3 BEDROOM lat in Al Hail. 

92817777. 

· · · · · 

SHOPS for rent at Sur. 

99203381. 

· · · · · 

WONDERFUL and very 

clean lat for rent in Al 

Khuwair, 3 bedrooms, 5 

sitting rooms, 2 

bathrooms in a strategic 

and peaceful place. 

99209849. 

· · · · · 

NEW lat in Al Hail. 

99443811. 

· · · · · 

SHOWROOM at MBD 

South with loor area 

110M 2 with A/C. Ideal for 

storage/cum ofice for 

electronic, any adhesive 

products. 24714625/ 

94460790. 

· · · · · 

CLASSIFIED SECTION: 

Sunday 


For Rent 

VILLA in Qantab, 50m 

from beach, (between Al 

Bustan-Shangri La) 

renovated and 

modernised, kept in 

traditional style. 3-4 BRs, 

dining room, 2 living 

rooms, kitchen, covered 

open sitting area, roof 

terrace. New bathrooms, 

A/Cs, wash, mack, dryer, 

fridge, stove, dishwasher 

new! Call: 92010246, 

hmoossen@gmail.com 

· · · · · 

SMALL lat in Wattayah. 

99443811. 

· · · · · 

HOUSE consists of 

apartments, each 

apartment 6 rooms, it for 

companies. 99323914. 

· · · · · 

FLAT for rent (Family) Al 

Khoudh, 3 bedrooms, 2 

bathrooms + kitchen, RO 

260/ Month. 

99385957. 

· · · · · 

TWIN villa for rent — 

Nizwa. Villa with 5 

bedrooms & servant 

quarters, split unit airconditioner, 

electronic car 

gates, security alarm. For 

more information: please 

contact either Mr Said on 

99203697/ 95844533 

or Ibrahim on 96500001. 

· · · · · 

VILLA for rent in Seeb at 

South Al Hail. 

99319816. 

· · · · · 

FURNISHED and 

unfurnished lats and 

shops in Ghala, Ghubra 

and Al Wadi Al Kabir. 

Good price. 92283444, 

95098103, 24494979. 

· · · · · 

A NEW building in Al 

Suwaiq for rent. Opposite 

Al Suwaiq Police Station 

on the main road. 6 loors 

of apartments and shops. 

99331110 

· · · · · 

FLATS, houses and 

annexes in Al Seeb . 

97338883. 

· · · · · 

2 SHOPS for rent at Al 

Amerat behind Sultan 

Center, 51 sq m & 45 

sq m. 94009088. 

· · · · · 

FLATS at Al Mawaleh near 

Carrefour. 92961111/ 

99240004. 

· · · · · 

FLATS for ofices near 

Carrefour. 92961111/ 

99240004. 

· · · · · 

FLATS for rent South 

Al Ghubra 2 bedroom + 

dining room, hall, 2 bath 

with AC. 99559823. 

· · · · · 

Ali al Maashari: 99639264 

Salim al Naamani: 99355675 

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

GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!! 

Available on very GOOD prices 

HP 1000 Inkjet Printer 

RO 11.500 only 

HP 1050 3 in 1 Printer 

RO 13.900 only 

HP 4620 4 in 1 Printer 


HP 1025 Colour Laser 


AII HP, Epson, Canon, Lexmark, 

Samsung Cartridges also available 

COMPUTER SUPPLIES 

Ruwi: 24792792 

JOB opportunities. 

Telesales Staff (male/ 

female). We have a 

number of positions for 

conident dedicated & 

enthusiastic individuals 

who possess: Ability 

to face challenges. 

Must be highly 

motivated and resultoriented. 

Must have 

excellent interpersonal 

communication and 

relation building skills. 

We provide excellent 

working environment 

career enhancement 

opportunity with bonus 

structure and complete 

training by professional 

team. To schedule an 

interview call today 

on 95770861 or send 

your CV at pc-oman@ 

clubhotel.com or visit 

https://www.facebook. 

com/tele.sales.37 

· · · · · 

BIG company needs 

Indian salesman with 

driving licence and 

experience in paints. 

24504021 Fax: 24504034 

· · · · · 

POSITION for Omani 

National available at 

state-of-the-art dental 

clinic as Receptionist. 

Must be female, have 

basic computer skills 

and be proicient in 

English language. 

Aspiring applicants 

can send CV to: dental. 

muscat@gmail.com 

· · · · · 

URGENTLY required 

Diesel Mechanic .g.c.c. 

exer Cman.actross 

gear box.sparts. Call 

0097455548380. 

E-mail: Fares818@ 

hotmail.com 

· · · · · 

REQUIRED: Yacht 

sailor/driver. 

Nationality: Indian or Sri 

Lankan. Having 

experience in Navigation. 

Aware of boat/yacht 

mechanical basics. 

Curriculum vitae and 

details to be sent on 

scpfsur@hotmail.com, 

Fax: +968 25544979. 

Contact us: 

968 99339448. 

· · · · · 

OMANI consulting 

engineering ofice 

require ‘BE’ Graduate 

Civil Engineers (3 Nos) 

with minimum 5 years 

experience to supervise 

government projects in 

wilayats outside Muscat. 

Contact: 97200500. 

· · · · · 

GOOD PRICE!!! GOOD PRICE!!! 

Situation Vacant 

DIRECT: 24649595 — FAX : 24649590 

e-mail: classified@omandaily.om 

PORTA CABINS / TURNKEY CAMPS 

Our Services Manufacturing, Erection, Mobilization. 

Our Products Camps, Kitchens, Offices, Ablutions 

Phone 24503725 Fax 24503723 

Mobile 95228450 Mobile 99277505 

e-mail info@speedhouseoman.com 

Web www.speedhouseoman.com 

SPEED HOUSE BUILDING CONSTRUCTION LLC 


Car Buy & Sell 

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

INDIAN Sr 

Quantity Surveyor 

(Estimator). 

Minimum 5 years 

experience in 

Muscat. Send your 

CV to Fax 

24398150 or 

e-mail: mohsen. 

amer@yahoo.com 

· · · · · 

WANTED urgently 

driver with release 

letter call at 5 pm to 

10 pm only. Contact: 

96063209. 

· · · · · 

WE are seeking a 

Marketing Manager to 

work in Salalah to be an 

effective, organised 

commercially and have a 

passion for the outdoors. 

Send your CV to 

omanhr1000@gmail. 

com 

· · · · · 

LADIES Centre needs 1 

No Lady Aerobics 

Instructor and 1 No 

Beautician, both with 

good experience. Please 

contact: 93889844. 

· · · · · 

BACHELOR in Electrical 

Engineering 5+ years 

experience in Oman or 

Gulf with Omani driving 

licence. Contact: +968 

99354594, 24557628. 

hajri.oman@gmail.com 

· · · · · 

A PRIVATE School in 

North Al Hail (Seeb) 

require female 

teachers of English, 

Mathematics and 

Science. 


· · · · · 

IF you are interested 

to sell your cars, send 

SMS, we pay cash. 

Contact: 99333088. 

· · · · · 

al-haditha 

centre 

Driving School 

MORNING STAR 

DRIVING SCHOOL — 

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 

· · · · · 

Guest House 

QURUM BEACH HOTEL 

24564070. 

· · · · · 

AHAD 2000 for rent 

car, Muscat and 

Salalah: 93204595, 

93203481, 24487827. 

· · · · · 

AUTO REPAIR 

CENTRE 

Quality Repairs & Maintenance of all 

types of Cars and Heavy vehicles 

(ROP approved Grade A Workshop) 

Best Mechanical & Electrical Repairs 

Top Class Denting & Painting with 

Quality Service at Very Reasonable cost. 

Call: 24595951/Fax: 24597979 

Workshop@ahoman.com 

www.AlHadithaOman.com 

Vehicle sale 

HYUNDAI Santa fe 2012 

model, agency’s service 

and insurance, Mileage 

: 17,000 only, price RO 

6,700. 96693937. 

· · · · · 

Car for Rent 

Umrah/Haj 

AL Hikmani for 

HAJ and UMRAH 

— With a host 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. 

· · · · · 

SIT VACANT 

Wanted an Omani 

Female Receptionist, 

English speaking, 

writing and typing 

with basic Microsoft 

Ofice skills. Send your 

CV to: hds_reception@ 

yahoo.com 

Fax: 24563342 

Classifieds 

Continued on P21

SENIOR Marketing 

Advertising & Media 

Communications, 

55 years bilingual 

(M Eastern) Arab 

national. Ex-GM, 

extensive business 

experience — 20 

years Oman & 

KSA. Looking 

for immediate 

placement. (Release 

available). E-mail: 

shoukran@live.com 

· · · · 

TUNISIAN male, 32 years 

old, IT professional, 5 

years experience, 

knowledge in networks, 

testing and validation, 

C&C++, looking for 

suitable position. 

91268931, e-mail: 

benabdissalem@yahoo.fr 

· · · · · 

OMANI seeks position 

in HSE. jeebal3000@ 

gmail.com 

· · · · · 

INDIAN female, 15 years 

of teaching experience 

in India in college 

(Business) 3 years in 

Oman in International 

school as a Business 

studies teacher (IGCSE & 

GCE) seeks placement in 

school 96040624. 

· · · · · 

INDIAN male, 18 years 

experience in sales/ 

furniture manufacturing 

seeks suitable 

placement. Contact 

94043902. 

· · · · · 

CHARTERED 

Accountant, Indian 

female having 

experience of 5 years in 

Finance and Accounts 

(payment control, 

forecasting, budgeting , 

preparation of 

standalone and 

consolidated inancial 

statements as per IFRS) 

can join immediately . 

existing labour clearance 

preferable, Contact: 

95489269, e-mail: 

prds1406@gmail.com. 

· · · · · 

INDIAN male, 25 years, 

BTech Electrical, having 

3 years experience 


placement. Contact: 

95832862. 

· · · · · 


10 YEARS in HSE in 

Oman with Nebosh & in 

logistics company 

handling operations 

and co-ordinating with 

all depts seeks suitable 

placement. Contact: 

92825053/ 

99372938/ 99339081. 

· · · · · 

INNOVATIVE and 

experienced interior 

designer seeks a 

suitable position 

proicient in Autocad, 

Photoshop and 3D. 

Holds a valid Omani 

D/L. E-mail: 

idmuscatoman@gmail. 

com 93257449. 

· · · · · 

YOUNG Indian male, 

BBA from Oman seeks 

a growth oriented and 

a challenging job 

98264570, 99668816. 

· · · · · 

INDIAN, 8 years 

teaching experience in 

Economics, Social 

Science, 5 years 

experience as Student 

Counsellor, MA, MSW 

with NET, SET seeks 

suitable placement. 

92357181. 

· · · · · 

MALE 32, MSc-HRM 

Glasgow Caledonian 

University, United 

Kingdom (UK), 

MBA-ITM, 5 years + 

experience in HR & 

Admin, looking for 

suitable position. 

Contact: 96795393. 

· · · · · 

INDIAN male, Light Duty 

Driver with 10 years 

experience in Oman. 

98411957. 

· · · · · 

INDIAN male 30 years, 6 

plus years of experience 

in Windows System 

Administration with 

valid Oman driving 

licence. Contact 

98536901 

· · · · · 

INDIAN female, 26 yrs, 

MCA, having two years 

experience in software 

testing from Wipro, 

knowledge in PHP and 

DOT Net seeks suitable 

placement. Contact 

96704824. 

· · · · · 

CHARTERED Accountant 

(female) 25 years, seeks 

suitable opportunity. 

Contact: ibrahim6546@ 

heemail.com 

92530131. 

· · · · · 

CHARTERED 

Accountant (Male) 

Omani driving 

licence holder, 

having more than 10 

years scattered 

industrial experience 

in Accounting, 

Finance, MIS, 

Budgeting and ERP 

Accounting. Out of 

10 years, having 

more than 3 years 

experience in Oman 

in well established 

group. Seeks suitable 

position in 

Accounting and 

Finance. 


· · · · · 

MBA with 3 years 

experience having good 

knowledge of Tally 

software with 1 year 

diploma in IT seeks a 

suitable placement in 

accounts/inance/ 

administration. Contact 

96962517, E-mail: 

moeez.hassan@hotmail. 

com 

· · · · · 

FILIPINA looking for job 

as a sales lady. 2 years 

experience in Oman. 

Contact 92156576 

· · · · · 

INDIAN male, B com 

MBA with 5+ years 

experience in accounts 

up to inalisation credit, 

m15 and collection in 

banking/trading 

industry, seeks suitable 

placement. 

93796422. 

· · · · · 

INDIAN male, BE-Civil 

Engineering with 3 

years hands on 

experience in 

Construction industry 

(Residential, ware 

house) working in 

Oman, have operational 

experience in Ms ofice, 

Auto Cad and primavera 

P6, seeks suitable 

position in a reputed 

Contracting/ 

Consultancy, Ready to 

join immediately. 

97403791, e-mail: b. 

murugun@gmail.com. 

· · · · · 

EPSOM, Auckland; 

2007-2008 Assistant 

Manager with Star Mart, 

Auckland; seeks suitable 

placement. Garry: 

0091+9037280175 

garrypadua@hotmail. 

com 

· · · · · 

INDIAN male, 26 

years, graduate with 

valid Omani D/L, 3 

years experience in 

sales and 3+ years 

of experience in 

IT, seeks suitable 

placement in 

sales/marketing/ 

IT/building 

materials. Contact: 

97890607, e-mail: 

ashrafambar@gmail. 

com 

· · · · · 

IRAQI Mechanical 

Engineer 22 years 

experience in MEP 

contracting & projects 

management, AC 

systems design and 

maintenance . 

0060172104430/ 

Malaysia, e-mail: 

sabahna2003@yahoo. 

com. 

· · · · · 

INDIAN male BE civil 

with 3 years exp in 

Oman and 2 years exp in 

India in the ield of 

construction with valid 

Omani D/L, seeks 


93677586/94044908. 

E-mail: skn_gtb@yahoo. 

in. 

· · · · · 


BTech in Electronics and 

Communication 

engineer with 2 years 

exp in Telecom ield. 

MCSE certiied currently 

on visit visa seeks 


93790414. E-mail: 

fadhilashraf@gmail.com 

· · · · · 

YOUNG, Indian male, 

BBM from Bangalore 

University, diploma 

in Business Major in 

Management, Auckland, 

New Zealand, QMS, 

SMART, Timekeeping, 

Code of Ethics and 

Business Conduct 

certificates from 

DynCorp Intl, worked as 

Finance specialist (2012- 

2013) with CentreScope 

Tech Inc (sub contractor 

for DynCorp Intl) in 

New Delhi; 2009-2012 

as Store Manager with 

Central Petrochem, 

· · · · · 

5 years experience as a 

ware house in-charge in 

a reputed company in 

Muscat, having valid D/L, 

Contact. 94185214. 

· · · · · 

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 

SITUATION WANTED 

CHIEF Executive Oficer 

/ General Manager, MBA 

with Engineering Back 

Ground and over twenty 

years International/GCC/ 

Oman experience in 

Multi Functional General 

Management including 

FMCG Trading, 

Automotive, Heavy 

equipment leasing, 

Business Development, 

LP Gas & Drinking water 

Marketing, Agriculture 

and Real Estate 

Management, Contact:. 


· · · · · 

SEEKING for light driving 

jobs. Jahurul Islam. 

Contact: 98123245. 

· · · · · 

IT hardware, 4 years 

experience in Oman 

with Omani driving 

licence (hardware and 

networking, CCNA, 

MCSE) 94345868 

· · · · · 

INDIAN male, 26, MBA, 

having 4+ years of 

Networking and System 

Administration 

expereince with 

implementation analysis, 

optimisation, 

troubleshooting of Lan/ 

Wan Network Systems, 

seeks a suitable 

placement. Contact: 

919847525360. E-mail: 

sankar86@gmail.com 

· · · · · 

ACCOUNTANT, Indian 

male with 9 years Oman 

experience in Accounts & 

Credit seeks suitable 

placement. 


· · · · · 

INDIAN male 10 years 

experience seeks suitable 

placement for Sales/ 

furniture manufacturing. 

Contact: 94043902 

· · · · · 

ACCOUNTANT, Indian 

male with 8 years of 

experience (5 years in 

Oman) seeks suitable 

placement. 

98034384. 

· · · · · 

PURCHASE oficer Indian 

having 9 years 

experience in Oil & Gas 

and power sector with 

driving licence , seeking 


Purchase or Logistics. 

Contact: 98610456. 

· · · · · 

INDIAN female dentist 

(BDS) with MoH licence 

and 7 years experience 

in Muscat looking for a 

job. Contact: 

96730294/ 91258909. 

· · · · · 

GRAPHIC designer 

familiar in Adobe 

Photoshop, Illustrator, 

Indesign CS5, cum 

photographer looking for 

suitable placement. 

E-mail: rockkstar@gmail. 

com 91130263/ 

99425490. 

· · · · · 

ENTHUSIASTIC Electrical 

& Electronics Engineer 

from NIT Trichy, India, 

having 1.4 years 

technical experience in 

Essar Steel (220 KV 

substation, Scada control, 

protection of traeo, 

relays) seeks suitable 

placement in technical, 

projects or sales ield. 

E-mail: jishnr@gmail. 

com 95484018, 

99469403 Madhavan 

Kutty. 

· · · · · 

EGYPTIAN professional 

lawyer well-versed in all 

forms of contracts and 

lawsuits — Primary. 

Holds a Law degree with 

a total of 6 years 

including running own 

law irm and is currently 

in Oman on visit seeks 

immediate placement in 

companies or 

government or law 

ofices. 99061715 or 

e-mail: hamadsaid806@ 

yahoo.com 

· · · · · 

QUALIFIED Finance 

professional with 20 

years of experience in Oil 

and Gas logistics 

industries in Oman seeks 


senior inance position. 

Contact e-mail id: 

aganadharshan@yahoo. 

com 91210749. 

Ready to join 

immediately. 

· · · · · 

FILIPINA female, 

university graduate, 

having 4 years 

experience in UAE 

as Receptionist in 

Hotel industry, 1 year 

experience in Oman as 

PA/Executive Secretary, 

knowledge in MS Ofice 

application, business 

correspondence and 

highly customer service 

oriented. 92272645. 

· · · · · 

BE Civil with 23 years 

experience in India and 

Gulf seeks suitable top 

level managerial 

position in reputed 

construction company. 

Contact: 95217829. 

· · · · · 

B.TECH, computer 

science Engineer, with 

knowledge in Jawa 

J2EE and experience 

in 3D Animation, seeks 


99435623. 

avaneeshasokan 

@gmail.com 

· · · · · 

SRI LANKAN male, 29 

years, AATSL, CIMA(M) 

& B Com, having 6 years 

experience of which 3 

years in Oman working 

as a chief account in a 

reputed hotel. Looking 

for suitable position. 

Contact 95220435, 

e-mail: rajfawm@gmail. 

com. 

· · · · · 

INDIAN male, 25 

years MBA (Global 

Management) from City 

University of Seattle, 

USA & BSc, Hotel 

Management, having 

3 years experience in 

India and Switzerland 

(Marketing & Service), 


placement. 95585345, 

e-mail: jobyisaac@gmail. 

com 

· · · · · 

MECHANICAL Engineer 

(UK) with valid visa and 

Omani driving licence, 

living in Oman for more 

than 15 years, seeks 

suitable post. Contact: 

96979920, 93374379. 

· · · · · 

CHIEF accountant, 

Indian male, 32 years, 

MBA and M Com, 9 years 

of experience (5 years in 

Oman) in accounts and 

inance upto inalisation 

with Oman D/L. 

Currently on visit visa. 

Contact: 94460345. 

· · · · · 

B Sc, Hotel & catering 

management /Advance 

diploma in Hospitality 

and Tourism from 

Canada with 1-2 


event mgmt, sales and 

marketing having Omani 

D/L. 99867455. 

e-mail: manu.eldo@ 

yahoo.com 

· · · · · 

FINANCE Manager/ 

Controller - Sri Lankan 

Chartered Accountant 

(CA, MBA, ISO, CMA) 

with 15 years exp (8 yrs 

in GCC) worked for top 

industries, independent, 

trustworthy, smart 

working professional 

looking for a 


Please contact: 

+96895624936, 

e-mail: ca.mohamed1@ 

gmail.com 

· · · · · 

CLASSIFIEDS 

A CIVIL Engineer 

having BSc in Civil 

and higher post 

diploma in 

construction 

management, 

experience in 

construction 7½ 

years, 5 years in 

Oman, having 

Omani driving 

licence. Seeks 

suitable position in 

construction. 

Contact: 

96081734, 

96043262. 

· · · · · 

FEMALE nurse (Indian) 

10 years experience (out 

of which 3 years in 

Oman) with MoH licence 

seeking suitable 

placement. Contact: 

92087769. 

· · · · · 

INDIAN male, light duty 

driver for part-time job. 

20 years Oman 

experience. 

99009601. 

· · · · · 

INDIAN male, 42 years 

accounts/inance, data 

entry, computer 

operating, stores 

keeping, sales and 

purchase entries. BA 

(Eco), DCA, AutoCad, 

Tally 9 Wings, Focus A/C 

packages done. 9 years 

India exp in accounts, 

currently working in a 

reputed company in 

Oman seeks suitable 

placement. Please 

contact: 

94387693. 

· · · · · 

FILIPINO male, comp 

sci graduate 2 years exp 

as document controller 

cum accounts assistant 

in contracting Company 

in UAE & 5 yrs exp as 

Team leader in Call 

centre in Phlippines, 

Expert in documentation 

commercial 

correspondence, 

standardised registration 

& archiving knowledge 

in Oracle R 12 & MS 

ofice operations, for 

immediate placement. 

Contact: 93261158, 

e-mail: cyrilreggie123@ 

yahoo.com 

· · · · · 


Architect with MSc in 

sustainable architecture, 

UK, 7 years experience 

in Oman with driving 

licence. Contact: 

96759846, e-mail: 

ashishmadhu@gmail. 

com 

· · · · · 

INDIAN, male 25, BSc 

Hotel Mgt, MBA 

marketing, HR having 2 


Business development 

marketing hospitality 

seeks suitable placement. 


· · · · · 

42 YEARS Indian 

male having 5 years 

experience in Oman as 

warehouse supervisor 

looking for a suitable 

post. Holding Oman 

driving licence. 15 years 

experience in Indian 

Army. Please contact: 

94050311, 94010578. 

· · · · · 

CHARTERED Accountant 

(M), 35 years, having 


experience in mining & 

manufacturing in India 

and having more than 

3 years experience in 

reputed PDO contracting 

company in Oman with 

valid Omani driving 

licence. Seeks suitable 

position in Accounts and 

Finance.Please 

contact: 

97728130 

· · · · · 

21 

OMANI seeks 

position in Admin, 

PRO. 

salam20man@ 

yahoo.com 

· · · · · 

32, MALE, IT professional, 

Masters in IT, ITIL v3, 8 

years of hands-on Gulf 

IT systems experience, 

having valid Omani 

driving licence, looking 

for suitable opportunity. 

Contact: 

98915874 

· · · · · 

CHARTERED accountant 

(Male), Omani driving 

licence holder, having 


scattered industrial 

experience in accounting, 

Finance, MIS, budgeting 

and ERP accounting. Out 

of 10 years having more 

than 3 years experience in 

Oman in well established 

group. Seeks immediate 

suitable position in 

accounting and inance. 

Please contact: 


· · · · · 

LOST 

FATEMA Begum has 

lost Bangladeshi 

Passport No 

AE/0458094. Finder 

please handover to ROP. 

· · · · · 

MOHAMMED Abdul 

Manan has lost 

Bangladeshi Passport 

No F0033323. Finder 


· · · · · 

KHELAGI Siddappa has 

lost Indian Passport No 

F5109932. Finder 


· · · · · 

Good News 

ANKLE, back & 

shoulder, knee pain 

or injury treatment, 

experienced 

Physiotherapist 

available. Free 

consultation, 

call Rochester. 

24691137, 

97377859 

· · · · · 

ALL Season clinic 

Ayurvedic Treatment, 

Yoga massage & 

slimming. Contact: 

92504980/24475280. 

· · · · · 

Tours 

DOLPHIN WATCHING 

Snorkelling & Sunset 

Trip 

Private Luxury Yacht 

charter 

For booking: 

94110088 

Coral Ocean Tours LLC 

E-mail: 

coraloceantours@ 

gmail.com 

Web: www. 

coraloceantours.com 

MARINE Tourism 

92808636, e-mail: 

info@alainain.com 

· · · · · 

FREE 

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 

Or visit: 

www.islamfact.com

22 

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 

06.00 am Opening, Royal Anthem, The Holy 

Quran, Preview of Morning Programme, 

Weather Forecast, Pharmacies on Duty; 06.15 

Good Morning Oman; 07.00 News Bulletin; 

07.10 Good Morning Oman (Sat-Wed); 10.00 

News Headlines; 10.02 Classical Music; 12.00 

News Headlines; 12.02 Flash Back (June); 

02.30 News Bulletin; 02.40 Words in Action 

(Judith) Repeat 02.40PM Thursday; 02.55; 

Mix Music; 03.00 Behind the Wheel (Laxmi); 

04.00 News Headlines; 04.02 Women in Focus 

(Laxmi); 06.30 News Bulletin; 06.40 Herbs 

and Health (Huda Sultan); 07.00 Premium 

League (Murtadha) Live; 08.00 News 

Headlines; 08.02 The Oasis (Frank); 10.00 

News Bulletin; 10.10 Reggae (Mubarak); 

11.00 Selector Part 1 (Repeat); 12.00 Selector 

Part 2 (Repeat); 12.40 News Summary; 12.45 

The Holy Quran; 01.00 National Anthem, Close 

Down. 

INFORMATION / LEISURE 

Flight Schedule 

ARRIVALS RIVALS — SUNDAY DEPARTURES 

Flight No Aircraft From / Via STA Flight No Aircraft To / Via STD 

WY614 

WY648 

WY682 

WY717 

WY648 

WY824 

NL771 

IX141 

PK223 

KU677 

QR170 

EY384 

EK866 

FZ041 

GF560 

RJ600 

WY662 

WY114 

FZ043 

B737-8 Dubai 

B737-8 Kuwait 

B737-8 Riyadh 

B737-8 Zanzibar-Dar-es-Salaam 

B737-8 Kuwait 

A330-200 Kuala Lumpur 

B737-2 Peshawar 

B737-8 Amritsar 

A310 Sialkot-Peshawar 

A320 Kuwait-Dubai 

A320 Doha 

A320 Abu Dhabi 

B777 Dubai 

B737-8 Dubai 

E190 Bahrain 

A319 Amman 

E175AR Doha 

A330-200 Frankfurt 

B737-8 Dubai 

0005 

0015 

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0140 



0315 

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KQ318 

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WY237 

WY223 

WY631 

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WY661 

WY241 

WY201 

9W529 

WY123 

WY141 

WY273 

B777 Abu Dhabi-London Heathrow 0001 

A321 Bombay-Ahmedabad 0005 

A330-300 Frankfurt 0045 

B737-8 Bombay 0045 

B737-8 Nairobi 0050 

B737-8 Madras 0115 

B737-7 Dubai 0115 

B737-8 Trivandrum 0115 

B737-8 Hyderabad 0120 

B737-8 Cochin 0120 

ATR42 Abu Dhabi 0120 

B737-8 Lucknow 0125 

E175AR Doha 0130 

B737-8 Delhi 0130 

B737-8 Bombay 0130 

B737-8 Trivandrum 0130 

A330-300 Munich 0200 

A330-200 Malpensa 0200 

B737-8 Jaipur 0205 

WY632 ATR42 Abu Dhabi 0800 NL668 B737-2 Sialkot 0215 

WY602 B737-7 Dubai 0800 IX816 B737-8 Abu Dhabi-Mangalore 0220 

WY914 

WY202 

NL669 

WY274 

WY238 

WY102 

WY254 

WY262 

WY218 

WY224 

EK862 

QR166 

G9113 

EY382 

9W530 

WY3302 

IX549 

WY604 

WY336 

GF562 

IX337 

WY918 


WY924 

WY324 


MP097 

WY654 

WY204 

WY638 

QR164 

B737-8 Salalah 

B737-8 Bombay 

B737-2 Sialkot 

B737-8 Jaipur 

B737-8 Hyderabad 

A330-300 London Heathrow 

B737-8 Madras 

B737-8 Lucknow 

B737-8 Trivandrum 

B737-8 Cochin 

B777 Dubai 

A321 Doha 

A320 Sharjah 



ATR42 Mukhaizna 


E175AR Dubai 

B737-8 Kathmandu 

E190 Bahrain 

B737-8 Calicut 

ATR42 Khasab 

B737-8 Dubai 


B737-8 Karachi 


B747F Amsterdam 

E175AR Bahrain 

B737-8 Bombay 

ATR42 Abu Dhabi 

A321 Doha 

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PK224 

FZ042 

EK867 

EY385 

KU678 

QR171 

GF561 


RJ601 

WY603 

FZ044 

WY315 

NL772 

WY373 

WY297 

WY815 

WY283 

WY323 

WY605 

WY917 

WY923 

G9114 

WY203 

EK863 

EY383 

QR167 


9W533 

IX554 

WY653 

A330-200 Paris 

B737-8 Kathmandu 

A310 Peshawar-Sialkot 

B737-8 Dubai 

B777 Dubai 


A320 Dubai-Kuwait 

A320 Doha 

E190 Bahrain 


A319 Amman 

E175AR Dubai 

B737-8 Dubai 

B737-8 Chittagong 

B737-2 Peshawar 

B737-8 Colombo 


A330-200 Bangkok 

B737-8 Bangalore 

B737-8 Karachi 

B737-8 Dubai 

ATR42 Khasab 


A320 Sharjah 

B737-8 Bombay 

B777 Dubai 


A321 Doha 


B737-8 Cochin 

B737-8 Cochin-Trivandrum 



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WY608 B737-8 Dubai 1740 WY823 A330-300 Kuala Lumpur 1300 

WY298 

WY664 

WY284 

GF564 


TG507 

G9117 

WY374 

WY316 

WY620 

FZ047 

WY124 

WY142 

KL449 

WY134 

AI973 

BA073 

WY616 

AI907 

B737-8 Calicut 1750 

B737-7 Doha 1800 

B737-8 Bangalore 1800 

A319 Bahrain 1810 

ATR42 Mukhaizna 1845 

A330 Bangkok-Karachi 1900 

A320 Sharjah 1905 

B737-8 Colombo 1905 

B737-8 Chittagong 1910 

E175AR Dubai 2020 

B737-8 Dubai 2020 

A330-300 Munich 2030 

A330-200 Malpensa 2040 

A330 Amsterdam-Abu Dhabi 2045 

A330-200 Paris 2045 

A320 Delhi 2125 

B777 London Heathrow-Abu Dhabi 2130 

B737-8 Dubai 2145 

A319 Madras 2200 

WY423 

WY405 

GF563 

WY663 

WY637 

IX350 

WY101 

WY607 


WY671 

WY619 

MP097 

WY615 

QR165 

GF565 

WY685 

WY647 

WY681 

WY667 

WY655 

B737-8 Beirut-Amman 

B737-8 Cairo 

E190 Bahrain 

B737-7 Doha 

ATR42 Abu Dhabi 


A330-300 London Heathrow 

B737-8 Dubai 


B737-8 Jeddah 

E175AR Dubai 

B747F Sharjah-Hong Kong 

B737-8 Dubai 

A321 Doha 

A319 Bahrain 

B737-8 Dammam 

B737-8 Kuwait 

B737-8 Riyadh 

B737-7 Doha 





1330 



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LH618 A340 Frankfurt-Abu Dhabi 2215 G9118 A320 Sharjah 1945 

QR168 

EY388 

LX242 

GF566 

WY624 

WY656 

WY668 

AI985 

WY672 

WY636 

WY686 

WY423 

9W534 

WY816 

A320 Doha 


A330 Zurich-Dubai 

B737-7 Bahrain 

ATR42 Al Ain 


B737-7 Doha 

A321 Ahmedabad-Bombay 

B737-8 Jeddah 

B737-8 Abu Dhabi 

B737-8 Dammam 

B737-8 Beirut-Amman 

B737-8 Cochin 

A330-200 Bangkok 

2235 

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WY927 

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WY623 


FZ048 

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WY817 


AI908 

AI974 

EY381 

LX243 

QR169 

GF567 

A330 Karachi-Bangkok 


B737-8 Abu Dhabi 

ATR42 Al Ain 

B737-7 Dubai 

B737-8 Dubai 

A330 Abu Dhabi-Amsterdam 

A330-300 Bangkok 


A319 Madras 

A320 Delhi 


A330 Dubai-Zurich 

A320 Doha 

B737-7 Bahrain 

2005 

2010 

2015 

2015 

2045 

2105 

2200 

2205 

2245 


2310 

2325 

2335 

2335 

2345 

9W540 B737-8 Bombay 2340 LH619 A340 Abu Dhabi-Frankfurt 2355 

Quotations for Today 

Always bear in mind that your 

own resolution to succeed is more 

important than any one thing. 

— Abraham Lincoln 

If A is success in life, then A equals 

x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; 

and z is keeping your mouth shut. 

— Albert Einstein 

CANCER 

(June 22-July 21) 

If there is trouble at 

work, which doesn’t 

concern you, don’t voice your opinion 

on the matter. It is best not to 

get involved in any way. 

LEO 

(July 22-August 21) 

You may find yourself 

called upon to undertake 

a new assignment today, don’t 

be afraid to ask for help if necessary 

rather than waste time doing 

it wrong. 

VIRGO 

(August 22- 

September 22) 

There is not point in 

looking for a new job until you 

have gained more experience and 

increased your length of service in 

your present one. 

LIBRA 

(September 23- 

October 22) 

Once you have spent 

your money on a particular article, 

it is always easy enough to ind the 

same thing a lot cheaper somewhere 

else. 

PHARMACIES 

24-HOUR SERVICE 

Al Hashar ph, Ruwi 24783334 

Muscat ph, Ruwi, 24702542 

Al Sarooj, 24695536 

Scientific ph, Qurum, 24566601 

DAY DUTY 

Muscat Al Badiya 24425024 

Badr al Samaa 

24488322 

LuLu 24818263 

Al Kawakib 24830343 

Sur Ibn Al Yafee 

25542267 

Buraimi Yaas 25653855 

Ibri Al Mukhtar 25689839 

Nizwa Basma 25410540 

Salalah Nayf 23299466 

Sohar Al Rawae 26844277 

NIGHT DUTY 

Muscat Seeb 24420294 

Muscat 24695536 

Badr al Samaa 

24799760 

Muscat 24537080 

Sur Badr al Samaa 

25546112 

Buraimi Yaas 25653855 

Ibri Sara 25689460 

Barka Barka 26882140 

Rustaq Al Murshid 26875561 

Nizwa Basma 25410540 

Samayil Al Hurriya 25351435 

Salalah Al Arabia 23294710 

Sohar Badr al Samaa 

26847033 

Saham Al Shifa 26854997 

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 

YOUR STARS 

IF IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY: Your sensitive nature may sometimes be an obstacle to forming a lasting friendship. While you 

are anxious to please those close to you, there is always the problem of clashing temperaments. You will have to try in 

the coming year to get used to changing moods and accept that there is little you can do about it. 

SCORPIO 

(October 23- 

November 21) 

Time will not hang 

heavily on your hands if you are 

busy. There is plenty of voluntary 

social work waiting to be done, so 

go and ind it. 

SAGITTARIUS 

(November 22- 

December 21) 

A friend, whose visit 

which you were not exactly looking 

forward to, will make his stay 

unexpectedly amusing and eventful. 

CAPRICORN 

(December 22- 

January 20) 

You may receive an 

unexpected gift of money from a 

surprising source. Thank the donor 

gracefully, without any hint of 

query as to the reason for it. 

AQUARIUS 

(January 21- 

February 19) 

A legal matter may 

need some further explanation 

and you must not hesitate in consulting 

a solicitor, no matter what 

the cost. 

CARTOONS 

PISCES 

(February 20- 

March 20) 

A mistake you made 

today may be overlooked this time, 

but you must be more careful in the 

future and keep your mind on the 

job. 

ARIES 

(March 21-April 20) 

You should stop being 

too modest about your 

deinite achievements. There is no 

virtue in concealing your merits and 

keeping al the pride to yourself. 

TAURUS 

(April 21-May 20) 

Before accepting a 

weekend invitation, 

make sure that it does not conlict 

with any plans your partner may 

have made without your knowledge. 

GEMINI 

(May 21-June 21) 

Your neighbour hasn’t 

been at all well and a 

little sympathy from you could do 

wonders. Try to forget the irritations 

of the pat, and show a friendly 

attitude. 

ADAM @ HOME by Brian Basset 

CALVIN AND HOBBES by Bill Watterson 

GARFIELD by Jim Davis 

STONE SOUP by Jan Eliot 

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 

Other Hospitals 

CRYPTIC PUZZLE 

ACROSS 

1 Former 1500m star 

Steve? Get away! (5) 

6 Slip smartly round the 

corner for the 

medicine (5) 

9 Imagined that one was 

well liked (7) 

10 Divided the 100 

remaining (5) 

11 Dolly, upset by old 

Harold (5) 

12 Wise, perhaps, turning 

in before going out (5) 

13 How a government 

employee may be of 

service (7) 

15 Vessel said to be 

heavy (3) 

17 Learn in the army (4) 

18 Raise a hand to an 

officer? (6) 

19 Once more, no loss (5) 

20 Being naughty, 

perhaps, fury may 

surround it (6) 

22 Sidney’s noted team 

(4) 

24 An opponent of 

backing EMU, initially 

(3) 

25 Something arresting 

in a decanter, say (7) 

26 Paper reporting 

trouble in the 

outskirts of Daventry 

(5) 

27 The god of twofacedness? 

(5) 

28 All this, to me, is 

incomprehensible (5) 

29 Margaret’s 

determined wins at 

cribbage (4,3) 

30 Some nasty results are 

simply endless! (5) 

31 Many an artistic 

fellow, nominally (5) 

DOWN 

2 The old king’s about 

51, pet (6) 

3 There’s romance in a 

very loud tune (6) 

4 The basis of 

wrestling? (3) 

5 A cry’s possibly 

ACROSS 

2 Tree (5) 

7 Permit (4) 

8 Loathsome (6) 

9 Deduct (5) 

11 Hill (3) 

13 Sorrowful (3) 

15 Particle (4) 

16 Because (3) 

18 Lake (4) 

19 Renovated (7) 

20 Provoke (4) 

22 Vehicle (4) 

23 Melodious (7) 

25 Sword (4) 

27 Decompose (3) 

28 Close (4) 

30 Performed (3) 

31 Parched (3) 

33 Tumbler (5) 

36 Discount (6) 

37 Sea-eagle (4) 

38 Ridge (5) 

DOWN 

1 Dogmatist (5) 

2 Youth (3) 

3 Steal (3) 

4 Heated (3) 

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 

frightening (5) 

6 Should such a crossing 

be a flyover? (7) 

7 I had to go over half a 

mile, doing nothing 

(4) 

8 Pay for an 

arrangement (6) 

12 Poem written by a 

noted member on the 

3rd of May? (5) 

13 Husky banter? (5) 

14 Against an illness 

that’s not specific (5) 

15 It’s bulbous, like some 

wine glasses (5) 

16 In one version, land of 

Peter Pan (5) 

18 Nine in a pen - or 

scores! (5) 

19 Geographical guides 

to the distribution of 

sea salt (7) 

21 Traveller using some 

roads a lot (6) 

22 Where anciently a 

strap broke (6) 

23 Fair on December ten, 

possibly (6) 

25 Cut a piece of cloth for 

about a pound (5) 

26 In Urdu, perhaps, it 

means ‘fool’ (4) 

28 Stick a broken mug (3) 


Museums in Oman 

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 PLANETARIUM, 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. 

CROSSWORD 

EASY PUZZLE 

ACROSS 

1 Defects (5) 

6 Frighten (5) 

9 Nursing home (7) 

10 Gem weight unit (5) 

11 Foe (5) 

12 Explode (5) 

13 Spear (7) 

15 Beer (3) 

17 Employs (4) 

18 Rowed (6) 

19 Beautiful girl (5) 

20 Wobble (6) 

22 Just (4) 

24 Military leader (3) 

25 Lasts (7) 

26 Extent (5) 

27 Warehouse (5) 

28 Fiasco (5) 

29 Sake (7) 

30 Enquired (5) 

31 Anxious (5) 

DOWN 

2 Beasts of burden (6) 

3 Aquatic mammals (6) 

4 Drunkard (3) 

5 Reject (5) 

6 Ceremonial staff (7) 

7 US coin (4) 

8 Hike (6) 

12 Type of duck (5) 

13 Military rulers (5) 

QUICK CROSSWORD 

5 Hog (3) 

6 Sweeten (5) 

10 Press (4) 

11 Twisted (7) 

12 Turned (7) 

13 Calmed (7) 

14 Mischief (7) 

16 Disease (5) 

17 Refute (5) 

18 Encountered (3) 

21 Owing (3) 

24 Horse (4) 

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, 


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, 


Khasab Division, 26731502 

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

ropoman.net and 

e-mail: ropnet@omantel.net.om 

14 Match (5) 

15 Hand tool (5) 

16 Borders (5) 

18 Single (5) 

19 Overdue (7) 

21 Monster (6) 

22 Change (6) 

23 Responds (6) 

25 Encouraged (5) 

26 Dress (4) 

28 Suitable (3) 

THURSDAY’S CRYPTIC 

SOLUTIONS 

ACROSS: 3, C-h-aps 8, 

C-abot 10, R-aces 11, Sir 

12, Croon 13, Winkles 15, 

P-egg-y 18, Pen 19, Seren-e 

21, Pigtail 22, Hal-E 

23, Moor 24, Fu-stian 26, 

Eraser 29, Elk 31, Pedal 

32, Orleans 34, Links 35, 

Orb 36, Melon 37, Mu-te-d 

38, Nerys. 

DOWN: 1, Ba-si-c 2, Pork 

pie 4, Hers 5, Propel 6, 

Saner 7, Reign 9, Bin 12, 

Centa-U-r 14, Leg 16, G-Et 

on 17, Yearn 19, Sisters 

20, Sheep 21, P-lead 23, 

Make out 24, Feline 25, 

I-LL 27, Re-V-el 28, Salon 

30, In bed 32, O-Kay 33, 

Art. 

THURSDAY’S EASY 

SOLUTIONS 

ACROSS: 3, Brood 8, 

Natal 10, Round 11, Fir 

12, Clean 13, Decimal 15, 

Tower 18, Tap 19, Morose 

21, Mariner 22, Peal 23, 

Mail 24, Caravan 26, 

Animal 29, Nag 31, Laces 

32, Minimum 34, Liken 

35, Cur 36, Heron 37, 

Pagan 38, No-one. 

DOWN: 1, Wafer 2, Marital 

4, Roll 5, Orator 6, Donor 

7, Andes 9, Tic 12, Capital 

14, Mar 16, Woman 17, 

Reply 19, Melanin 20, 

Appal 21, Manic 23, 

Magical 24, Casino 25, 

Van 27, Named 28, Melon 

30, Mural 32, Mean 33, 

Mug. 

26 Heaped (5) 

29 Stadium (5) 

32 Prohibit (3) 

33 Solidify (3) 

34 Append (3) 

35 Observe (3) 

THURSDAY’S QUICK 

SOLUTIONS 

ACROSS: 1, Harsh 5, Easing 

8, Tower 10, Breath 

11, Ogre 14, Seeded 15, 

Ecstasy 18, Leg 19, Tom 

21, Near 23, Glued 24, 

Peas 27, End 29, May 31, 

Gingham 32, Driver 34, 

Data 35, Tenant 38, Yield 

39, Excess 40, Maids. 

DOWN: 2, Air 3, Starts 

4, Hot 5, Eros 6, Screen 

7, Glider 9, Whistle 12, 

Gel 13, Edge 16, Cave 17, 

Young 20, Mediate 22, 

Area 24, Paddle 25, Amid 

26, Savage 28, Agenda 30, 

Yet 33, Rays 36, Elm 37, 

Nod.


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engine and a maximum output of 268 HP, delivering top-class level fuel economy 

and a powerful driving experience. A newly adopted ECO meter allows 

drivers to recognise when they are driving in a fuel eficient and economical 

manner. 

And this is the best time to own this wonderful Toyota. The currently running 

‘Biggest Excitement’ promotion presents every customer with golden opportunities: 

A rafle coupon to try their luck at winning one of the 25 Corolla 

cars. To enjoy Free Service up to 2-years/40,000 kms (whichever is earlier). 

To be secured by Free Insurance (One Year Comprehensive). And to walk away 

with a free gift voucher that can be used in one of the prominent shopping 

malls of Oman. Also on offer is Free Painting and Light with every Toyota Taxi. 

For Toyota Driving School vehicles, Free Painting is being offered. However, 

the offer is subject to conditions. Full details are available at any Toyota showroom. 

The Aurion has also been designed to signiicantly reduce road and wind 

noise, resulting in a quieter cabin experience expected from prestige sedans. 

And its looks the part. The stately headlamps and the grille have thin, long 

headlamps on either side of the impressive front grille. An elevated hood expresses 

a majestic and powerful presence. From the lanks, the Aurion is accented 

for a stronger appearance — a result of its lared bottom section and 

accented door-cross section. 

The Aurion’s 17-inch wheels enhance the character of the vehicle and provide 

a feeling of advanced luxury. The rear of the Aurion has also been redesigned, 

blending into the rear combination lamps for a greater emphasis on 

width, with the bumper corners protruding outwards, creating a wide stable 

feeling and a ground hugging stance. 

The interior of the Aurion is made with an emphasis on luxury and quality, 

creating a unique personalised appearance. The cabin of the Aurion offers 

roomy occupant space and the dashboard has an exclusive horizontal Tshaped 

design, which signiicantly enhances the feeling of prestige. A thicker 

meter hood gives a solid feel that adds a modern beauty to the interior. The 

feeling of quality is enhanced with leather stitching, and curved woodgrain 

and silver accents create a sense of functional beauty and high-quality. Chrome 

accenting on the air-conditioning vents and audio controls complete the sense 

of prestige that extends even to the smallest of details. Luxury features inside 

the Aurion include audio switches on the steering wheel and a two seat position 

memory system. 

The Toyota Aurion has been equipped with some local accessories to enhance 

its look, feel and functionality. Customers are welcome to get the full details 

of these local itments, by visiting a Toyota showroom. 

On the one hand, Toyota offers enduring quality. On the other, nothing 

comes close to it in terms of value-retention. It is no surprise; therefore, that 

Toyota soars far above the rest, with a dominant market share and ever-expanding 

customer base. 

Ford wins ‘Engine of the Year’ award 

FORD Motor Company’s ultra-fuel eficient and spirited 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrol 

engine was recently named ‘2013 International Engine of the Year’, marking 

the second straight year Ford’s acclaimed three-cylinder engine has captured 

the award. 

The 1.0-litre EcoBoost — which combines direct fuel injection, turbocharging 

and variable valve timing to lower fuel consumption without sacriicing 

power — received the highest score in the history of the awards. The engine 

also won the “Best Engine Under 1.0-litre” category at the annual awards presented 

by Engine Technology International magazine. Ford also conirmed 

plans to double production of the engine at its Cologne (Germany) Engine 

Plant to more than 1,000 engines a day from mid-August to meet demand. 

“With a technology as mature as the internal combustion engine, it’s very rare 

to achieve a true breakthrough, but that is exactly what the team accomplished 

with this engine,” said Joe Bakaj, Ford Vice-President, Global Powertrain. 

“You have to drive it to believe a small three-cylinder engine can deliver 

such performance and fuel economy.” 

A panel of 87 automotive journalists from 35 countries around the world 

judged the awards on drivability, performance, economy, reinement and the 

successful application of advanced engine technology. Ford is one of three car 

makers to record back-to-back victories in the 15-year history of the awards. 

The Ford 1.0-litre EcoBoost also has won the International Paul Pietsch Award 

2013 for technological innovation at German magazine Auto Motor und Sport 

Best Cars Awards and the Dewar Trophy from the Royal Automobile Club in 

Great Britain, a Breakthrough Award from Popular Mechanics magazine in the 

US. 

“Who'd have believed it? A 1.0-litre engine that has it all, powerful, fuel ef- 

icient, clean and lightweight,” 

said Peter Lyon, UK Juror and 

freelance journalist. “This is a 

masterpiece.” 

The 1.0-litre EcoBoost was 

designed at Ford’s research and 

development centres in Aachen 

and Merkenich, Germany, and 

Dunton, UK, and is built in Cologne 

and Craiova, Romania. 

Dean Slavnich, Co-Chairman of 

the 15th International Engine 

of the Year awards and Editor 

of Engine Technology International 

Magazine, said, “Baby 

EcoBoost — Ford’s irst-ever 

three-cylinder design — is still 

the engine to beat across the board. It’s economical in real-world conditions 

while the compact turbo helps ensure that the entire package can power larger 

vehicles like the Grand C-MAX with ease.” 

The 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine is currently offered in small cars such as Fiesta 

and B-MAX and compact offerings including Focus, C-MAX and Grand 

C-MAX. In the near future it will power larger cars including the new Ford 

Mondeo. It will also be offered in Transit Connect and Transit Courier commercial 

vehicles and Tourneo Connect and Tourneo Courier people movers. 

The engine is being rolled out throughout the world. It is now available for 

customers buying the new EcoSport in India and China and later this year will 

be offered with Fiesta in North America. Small enough to it in the overhead 

luggage compartment of an airplane, the engine delivers best-in-class petrol 

fuel economy for Europe in such vehicles as Fiesta, Focus, C-MAX and Grand 

C-MAX. 

Ford’s Cologne and Craiova Engine Plants were upgraded to facilitate 1.0litre 

EcoBoost production and introduced advanced manufacturing techniques 

that reduce the volume of coolant required when machining aluminium engine 

parts to just ive millilitres per component from two litres previously, contributing 

to a reduced environmental footprint from manufacturing. New “cold 

testing” technology was also introduced, allowing engines to be tested without 

being started — reducing fuel usage and CO 2 emissions from the process by 

66 per cent. All remaining energy required to run the Cologne plant comes 

from renewable sources, including three hydro-power plants in Norway and 

Sweden. 

In Oman, Ford vehicles are brought to you by Arabian Car Marketing Co, a 

part of the renowned Saud Bahwan Group. They come with 6 years unlimited 

mileage protection (except Mustang, E/F Series vehicles), service and parts 

network that stretches across the Sultanate, over 98 per cent parts availability 

— and Ford Privilege Card — which provides 24 hours on-road assistance 

from AAA. 

Make it fun in the Lexus LX 

WHEN you think of the Lexus LX, the irst thing that could come to your mind 

is its bold and superior proile. That’s just the image the LX has created for 

itself. Once you take control of the LX, you will have no doubt of its unique 

strengths and its ability to do almost everything you desire. The Lexus LX is 

one of the few luxury 4WDs that is built around its driver, to reward them with 

some of the inest and memorable times on road, and off it too. 

The LX570 carries a host of features including, Multi-Terrain Select and Display, 

Crawl Control, Adaptive Variable Suspension, Cool-box, Dual-screen rear 

seat entertainment, 20-inch alloy wheels, Reversing camera, Smart start and 

entry with smart key, 4-zone air-conditioning, Daytime running lamps, 10 airbags, 

Mark Levinson 19-speaker audio, Front and rear clearance sonar, Bluetooth 

capabilities, and a host of other luxury features. 

New LED daytime running lights complement a new headlamp design and 

larger fog lamp surrounds. Revised front and rear bumpers, tail lamps and 

a new discreet tow hitch cover add to the upgraded aesthetic package. The 

LX570 has an addition of comfort, convenience and safety features. These are 

headlined by a new off-road Turn Assist feature that tightens the turning circle 

by adding more brake force to the inside rear wheel. 

A new multimedia display, housed between the speedometer and tachometer, 

displays the front wheel angles (steering), digital speed readout, turn-byturn 

navigation and information relating to the Multi-Terrain Select function. 

LX570's drivability has been improved, with the adoption of steering 

wheel-mounted paddle shifters, which work in unison with LX570's six-speed 

sequential automatic transmission. 

Off-road assistance is provided by a new selectable Multi-Terrain Select 

function, which delivers the ideal combination of stability and traction control 

assistance over different surfaces. Off-road and city driving is also made easier 

with the new Multi-Terrain Monitor, which uses four external wide-angle cameras 

to monitor blind spots or areas of the vehicle obscured from view. The 

cameras' vision is projected on the 8" LCD centre console display. 

The Crawl Control feature has been upgraded, with the number of preset 

speeds from three to ive steps, for greater off-road control. 

Inside, the already highly speciied eight-seat LX570 includes a number of 

updates. The centre cluster has been redesigned, reducing the number of buttons 

for simpler operation. 

The instrument panel has been updated and a new, full colour, multi-information 

display is added, as well as one touch turn indicators. A new dual rear 

seat entertainment system also increases appeal for back seat occupants. 

Toyota service: ‘Winning announcement’ 

WITH scores of beneits and hi-value prizes, the recently concluded 'Al Ardh 

Al Mumaiz' promotion from Toyota Service created quite a stir in Oman. And 

now, the promotion winners were announced from a rafle held at Wattayah 

Toyota service in the presence of Saeed bin Sulayem al Kindy from the Ministry 

of Commerce and Industry. 

Fifteen lucky rafle winners were selected for the prizes like Apple iPhone 

5, Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab 2. The winners, delighted with the prizes, 

expressed that their win afirmed their trust in Toyota Service, “With Toyota 

Service, I win all the way,” one of them said, “Not only do they ensure that my 

Toyota keeps running at its peak, their timely promotions get more beneits 

for me. I am happy to be a regular here, and would encourage all other Toyota 

owners to do the same,” he added. 

The campaign was yet another offering from the customer-oriented Toyota 

Service and Parts operations. According to a spokesperson, “The objective of 

the 'Al Ardh al Mumaiz' campaign was to provide a superior visit experience 

to customers and strengthen bonds with them through unique offerings that 

included an elaborate 35 point check-up with report, hi-value rafle gifts and 

discount vouchers, 

special service rates, 

to name a few. Special 

pre-paid service 

contracts at Special 

prices were on offer, 

as well.” 

Also available 

was the special offer 

for the 1,20,000 and 

above customers 

who enrolled in the 

Toyota Thiqah Programme. 

All of them 

were offered multiple 

beneits, which 

included Free 5,000 

kms Service — with 

very attractive priced select Prepaid Service Packages and Car Care Products. 

“Toyota Thiqah is a unique idea from Saud Bahwan Automotive for the beneit 

of individual Toyota customers. This programme has been greeted with 

remarkable customer enthusiasm and approval because it allows them to accumulate 

points during any purchase at Toyota Service or Toyota Parts. These 

points can then be availed during future visits to Toyota Service,” remarked a 

spokesperson. 

Internationally recognised and award-winning Toyota Service continues 

to serve customers all across Oman, creating a rewarding ownership experience 

with the very best of equipment and experts. The world-class facility at 

Wattayah is an integrated set-up extending over 30,000 sqm with a 4-level 

workshop and a hi-tech diagnostic centre. It features a drive-through air-conditioned 

receiving area with 8-express lanes and 24-hours service, round-theyear. 

OMAN 

23 

The ‘Al Ardh al Mumaiz' promotion was a matchless opportunity for Toyota 

and Daihatsu customers to avail multiple beneits, at locations across Oman. 

We will be coming again to our valued patrons with such promotions in future 

so they can get maximum beneits," he adds. 

Nissan Oman opens Maabela showroom 

SUHAIL Bahwan Automobiles (SBA) inaugurated their state-of-the-art Sales, 

Service and Parts (3S) facility in Maabela recently. The opening of the new 

facility in Maabela will be an addition to an already existing line up of other 

prestigious Nissan facilities located across the Sultanate. Along with a full- 

ledged service and parts facility and trained professionals the Maabela facility 

will be a complete sales, service and parts outlet for all Nissan customers in 

the region. 

A senior SBA Oficial commented that, “Maabela is a busy commercial hub 

in the region with its proximity to industrial belt of Rusayil and the bustling 

Seeb town. With aggressive activities picking pace in the region, we felt it necessary 

to augment our existing facility in Maabela to cater to people’s automotive 

needs in this area. This new facility will not only help Nissan patrons in 

the area to evaluate their favourite model but also ensure a faster and eficient 

service for their existing vehicles.” 

The new outlet in Maabela is yet another relection of Nissan’s spirit and 

style. The showroom displays a variety of Nissan cars and the service centre 

is equipped with the most up to date technology according to Nissan global 

standards. The Nissan genuine parts counter put in place will ensure reliable 

all-time availability for Nissan genuine spare parts. 

Currently the service centre offers periodic maintenance services and all 

mechanical repair jobs. It can facilitate a turnover of around 100 cars per day. 

Our 25 bay state of the art service facility is equipped with the all the latest 

diagnostic equipments like Consult III and highly skilled Nissan trained technicians. 

In addition to the above, repair warranty is also offered on all repairs 

carried out at this facility. With the 98 per cent of Nissan Genuine Spare parts 

availability it will be one of its kind in the region. 

“We had Maabela Showroom in our plans for later part , but seeing the rapid 

growth of Nissan vehicles on Maabela roads, we inaugurated the showroom 

ahead of schedule catering to Nissan customers needs in all aspects coming 

from in and around of Maabela Sanaya, Al Khoudh and Seeb”, stated a senior 

spokesperson from SBA. 

The senior spokesperson added that, “With more number of vehicle repair 

bays and state-of-the-art infrastructure, this 3S facility will reduce time in both 

vehicle receiving and vehicle delivery, making it almost as good as an Express 

Service Centre. The Nissan promise of high-quality, reliable, after-sales services 

will always be maintained”. 

SBA have their Nissan facilities spread across the Sultanate located strategically 

all across the country in Muscat, Sohar, Sur, Salalah, Shinas, Sumayil, Ibra, 

Ibri, Nizwa, Buraimi, Barka, Bahla, Jalan Bani Bu Ali, Seeb, Sinaw, Wudam and 

Bidiya. This goes to show that Nissan Oman has been successfully growing in 

operations and is consistently spreading its network throughout the Sultanate 

of Oman. 

Nissan has built up its reputation, for more than 100 years, through innovative 

technology, a broad product line-up and racing wins. In Oman, people 

have increasingly opted for Nissan models because they come with class leading 

features, great performance, ideally suited to the local conditions and offer 

great value for money besides being among the safest cars on the road. Moreover, 

Suhail Bahwan Automobiles’ relentless pursuit towards value creation and 

attractive consumer schemes drawn from incisive insights of local consumer 

behaviour has contributed to this stupendous growth. 

Performance of a vehicle has always been of key importance to a discerning 

customer. Nissan boasts high performance parameters for each model in any 

class. The ‘enriching people's lives’ philosophy goes with Nissan’s aim of encouraging 

new, reliable, high-performance models at a reasonable price. 

The Nissan warehouse in Oman is one of the largest in the GCC, ensuring 98 

per cent parts availability at all times. SBA has successfully spearheaded Nissan’s 

growth in Oman with 18 showrooms, 22 service centre and 35 parts centres. 

They have been awarded the Nissan Champion Distributor Award three 

consecutive years in a row (2009, 2010 & 2011). 

This award is a true relection of SBA’s commitment to provide cutting 

edge solution to the automobile needs of the people of the Sultanate. SBA has 

achieved laurels for excellence in Sales, Service and Parts and Operations making 

them one of the pioneering leaders in customer satisfaction among automobile 

companies. 

Elevation Burger serves up organic burgers 

ELEVATION Burger, the latest fast-casual restaurant to join Muscat’s 

growing dining scene, opened its irst location in Muscat Grand Mall (MGM) 

in Al Khuwair. Internationally acclaimed for its tasty, high quality organic 

burgers and patented fresh cut fries cooked in olive oil, the chain brought to 

Oman by Kuwaiti-based Tabco Food Group and Omani enterprise Al Qema 

Food Catering, is set to redeine the fast casual gestalt with its focus on constantly 

offering quality food that is better for customers and for the environment. 

“Elevation Burger strives to ‘elevate’ the fast casual experience with a more 

pleasant atmosphere and service, better menu options and health-conscious 

food made with only the inest and freshest ingredients,” said Ali Ashkanani, 

Managing Director of Tabco Food Group. 

Ashkanani explained, “To us, ingredients matter. We use only 100 per cent 

USDA-certiied organic, grass fed, free range halal beef in addition to sophisticated 

and heart-friendly ingredients. We grind our beef on our premises to 

offer customers a lavourful and nutritionally superior product.” 

In addition to signature organic burgers, Elevation Burger offers fresh fries 

cooked in heart-healthy olive oil and hand-scooped shakes. 

The restaurant’s warm, welcoming, and well-appointed staff provide an exceptional 

dining experience for families and kids, health-conscious consumers 

and die-hard burger lovers.

24 

INTERNATIONAL 

Activists from the Mortgage Victims Platform who are in support of the indebted Jose Antonio (unseen), throw pieces of paper during a protest 

occupying a Banco Popular ofice bank as a bank employee watches in Barcelona. Antonio said he took out a Banco Popular multi-currency 

mortgage for the amount of 390,000 euros in 2007 and his current debt is 588,000 euros. — Reuters 

EU clears Serbia membership talks 

BRUSSELS — EU leaders agreed they 

would soon open talks with Serbia on 

joining the bloc, as they wrapped up 

a two-day summit on Friday that also 

freed up billions of euros to battle 

youth unemployment. 

In what EU President Herman Van 

Rompuy hailed as a "productive" two 

days, leaders from the 27-country 

union said they would open accession 

talks with Serbia "by January at 

the latest." 

At the same time, they adopted a 

mandate to start talks on a Stabilisation 

and Association Agreement with 

Kosovo, which may eventually pave 

the way for membership negotiations 

of its own. 

The decision to start accession 

talks with Serbia was made possible 

after Belgrade made a pledge to 

normalise relations with its former 

breakaway province Kosovo. 

In Belgrade, Serbian premier Ivica 

Dacic welcomed the decision as "inal 

and historic", but said he wished talks 

would begin earlier than January. 

Dacic aims to bring his country 

into the EU fold within four to ive 

years, an ambitious target given the 

complexity of negotiations required 

to join the bloc. 

More than 1,000 nationalists 

marched in the Serbian capital to 

protest against the government's 

"concessions" over Kosovo in order 

to win Brussels support. 

"Serbian leaders are so spellbound 

with the European Union that they 

are betraying Kosovo for it," conservative 

opposition leader Vojislav Kostunica 

told the protesters. 

In spite of Europe's long and debilitating 

crisis, eastern European states 

continue to bid to join the bloc of 500 

million people. 

Croatia will oficially join at midnight 

on Sunday, becoming the irst 

new arrival to the club since Bulgaria 

and Romania in 2007, and only the 

second member after Slovenia of the 

former Yugoslavia since its bloody 

break-up in the 1990s. 

Van Rompuy described Croatia's 

impending accession as "truly an historic 

moment... for your government, 

for the citizens of your country" as 

well as "a milestone for the region as 

a whole." 

Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic 

said his country's journey to 

EU membership had been a long one, 

"with a lot of scrutiny, a lot of checks 

and balances, a lot of chapters." 

But he vowed that Zagreb "will do 

anything and everything and beyond 

that to help and assist (...) our neighbours 

who are not members of the 

club yet," in a reference to Serbia. 

Analysts said the EU's opening to 

Serbia and the accession of Croatia 

are key milestones for the once wartorn 

Balkans but Brussels is pursuing 

a more cautious strategy than in past 

enlargements. 

British Prime Minister David Cameron 

saw it as "remarkable progress" 

that Balkan countries, which had 

been embroiled in a bloody war years 

ago, should now be lining up to join 

the EU. 

"I think when we look across the 

Balkans and remember the terrible 

things that happened there not so 

long ago, it is remarkable progress 

that countries are now joining the 

European Union or are preparing to 

join the European Union with a sense 

of peace and stability," the British 

leader told reporters. 

On the irst day of the meeting 

on Thursday, the summit had freed 

up 8.0 billion euros ($10.4 billion) 

in a drive to bring down high unemployment 

among the continent's 

youths. 

EU Commission President Jose 

Manuel Barroso said the decisions 

"will make a difference for our economies," 

insisting that the situation in 

Europe was "much better than a year 

ago." 

But the summit was not all plain 

sailing as leaders had to scramble to 

prevent Cameron from derailing the 

meeting over the tricky subject of the 

bloc's seven-year budget. 

Cameron rufled feathers going 

into the summit with sabre-rattling 

on the £3.1 billion annual UK rebate 

from the budget won in 1984 by Margaret 

Thatcher. 

Diplomats even accused Cameron 

of taking the summit hostage. 

But the British leader painted it in 

a very different light, arguing he had 

fended off attempts to whittle down 

part of the rebate. 

"In this town you have to be ready 

for an ambush at any minute," Cameron 

said, adding that accounting 

changes in how the rebate is calculated 

could have cost Britain £1.5 billion 

($2.3 billion). 

By contrast, EU diplomats insisted 

it was only a technical issue at the 

summit and the changes affected only 

50 million euros at most. — AFP 

From right: European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and Irish Prime Minister Enda 

Kenny attend a press conference after the European Union leaders summit at the EU headquarters in Brussels. — Reuters 


World Bank chief says no 

country immune from 

turmoil over inequality 

WASHINGTON — No country in the 

world is immune from unrest arising 

from poverty and inequality, 

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim 

(pictured below) said in an exclusive 

interview. 

The protests in Brazil, Turkey, 

and elsewhere show that even governments 

that have made signiicant 

efforts already cannot let up in programmes 

to help the poor, he said. 

"There's no country in the world 

that is immune from having this 

kind of citizen's movement rise up 

to demand even more," he said. 

"It shows that the power of civil 

society and the power of citizens to 

rise up is unlike anything we've seen 

in history. 

"We saw the Arab Spring, we're 

seeing it in Turkey, even in governments 

that have done so well in 

terms of paying attention to the 

needs of the poorest," he said. 

Kim, a South Korea-born American 

who took the lead of the World 

Bank one year ago, has made ighting 

extreme poverty the development 

institution's primary goal. 

He said the recent turmoil in Brazil 

and Turkey shows why governments 

cannot let up in their efforts 

to overcome inequality and boost 

the living standards of the poorest. 

In Brazil, protests started over a 

hike in bus fares but quickly snowballed 

into a larger movement 

against corruption, with demonstrators 

criticising the billions of dollars 

the government is spending to host 

the football World Cup next year. 

"We have to recognise how much 

Brazil has done for the poorest," 

Kim said on Thursday in the Bank's 

Washington headquarters. 

"Brazil has done a lot but there's 

still a lot of inequality left... Brazil really 

has to think hard about what it 

needs to do next for the next stage of 

economic growth." 

Kim, a 53-year-old medical doctor, 

announced earlier this year an 

ambitious goal to reduce extreme 

poverty to three per cent or less of 

the world's population by 2030. 

He was adamant about setting 

such a challenge. 

"There are still 1.2 billion people 

Fitch keeps US rating at 

AAA, outlook negative 

WASHINGTON — Ratings agency 

Fitch kept its AAA credit rating for 

the United States on a negative outlook, 

despite improvements in Washington's 

iscal picture. 

Fitch said the country still merited 

the top-level triple-A rating due 

to its "strong economic and credit 

fundamentals", underpinned by the 

US dollar's role as the world's leading 

reserve currency. 

But the negative outlook — which 

raises the chance of a near-term 

downgrade — was merited due to 

what Fitch called "continuing uncertainty" 

over whether the government 

would act to reduce its debt over the 

medium and long term. 

Fitch also cited near-term risks in 

the looming, simultaneous political 

battle over raising the country's debt 

ceiling and passing a federal budget. 

It said the US economic recovery 

is gaining traction, helped by deleveraging 

in the private sector, a rebound 

in housing and a slow fall in 

unemployment. 

The economy "remains more dynamic 

and resilient to shocks than its 

high-grade rating peers." 

At the same time, it warned, the 

country remains the most heavily 

indebted country with an AAA credit 

grade. 

living in the world with less than 

$1.25 a day, and this is a stain on our 

collective conscience," he said. 

"I think high expectations is exactly 

what we should have." 

"We cannot leave anyone behind. 

We have to think about fragile and 

conlict-affected areas like Mali and 

the entire Sahel region," he said. 

"That goal is going to give us the 

sense of urgency that we didn't have 

before." 

Despite recent turmoil, he said 

emerging economies have been very 

important for the global economy, 

propping up world growth while Europe 

contracts. 

"It's important not to overreact to 

ups and downs in the growth numbers 

for countries like China and 

Turkey." 

For instance, he said, "Turkey 

has done a great job in terms of distributing 

the beneits of economic 

growth over the years." 

"Every country now has to sit 

back and think about what it needs 

to do to set the foundations for 

boosting the long-term growth." 

The World Bank itself needs to 

change the way it works, and act 

more boldly, to take up the ight to 

end poverty, Kim said. 

An internal document seen by 

AFP cited a "culture of fear" within 

the massive organisation, with close 

to 10,000 employees around the 

world. 

The bank has over the years developed 

"a culture of extreme risk 

aversion," Kim admitted. 

"I'm trying to change the culture... 

The bottom line is that development 

is a risky business," he said. 

"We're focusing on encouraging 

risk-taking." 

Under Kim the bank has also 

stepped up its efforts to combat global 

warming and its far-ranging effects. 

That creates a challenge, as many 

people believe that economic growth 

would be held back by restrictions 

on carbon emissions, claims rejected 

by Kim. "Leaders all over the world 

are saying: we have to ind ways to 

boost growth and reduce our carbon 

footprints." — AFP 

Even if public debt has been stabilised, 

it said, the high debt burden 

"still render(s) the US economy and 

public inances vulnerable to adverse 

shocks." 

"In the absence of additional 

spending reform and revenue measures, 

deicits and debt will begin to 

rise again at the end of the decade," 

Fitch said. 

It said that it would review the 

rating by the end of the year, warning 

that failure to raise the debt ceiling 

in a timely manner — before fresh 

spending cutbacks would be forced 

to keep up payments — would "Likely 

lead to a downgrade." 

The Treasury has said it can function 

under the current $16.7 billion 

ceiling through at least the beginning 

of September. — AFP

RUGBY P26 Halfpenny miss hands Wallabies victory >> FOOTBALL 

P28 Spain seek supremacy in Brazil’s backyard 

P26 

Hamilton storms 

to pole position 

at British GP 

Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel (left), Mercedes’ 

Lewis Hamilton (centre) and Nico Rosberg celebrate 

after the British Formula One Grand Prix qualifying 

session at the Silverstone circuit yesterday. — AFP 


SILVERSTONE, England — Lewis Hamilton stormed to 

pole position for his home British Formula One Grand 

Prix yesterday with German team-mate Nico Rosberg 

qualifying alongside him in an all-Mercedes front row. 

The 2008 world champion, chasing his irst win for 

Mercedes after leaving McLaren last year, started the 

session with a wave for the crowd from the pit wall and 

ended it with the fans saluting him. 

"Storming job there, Lewis, storming job," the team 

told him over the radio. 

The pole was the 28th of Hamilton's career and Mercedes' 

ifth in eight races. 

"The crowd do make a huge difference... I come here 

with an extra boost of energy. I just want to pay them 

back," said Hamilton, who also qualiied on pole at Silverstone 

in his debut 2007 season and won in 2008. 

Red Bull's triple world champion Sebastian Vettel 

qualiied third and will share the second row with teammate 

Mark Webber, in what will be the Australian's last 

British race before quitting Formula One at the end of 

the year. 

Britain's Paul Di Resta for Force India and young Australian 

Daniel Ricciardo, the Toro Rosso driver bidding 

for Webber's drive next year, will line up together on the 

third row. 

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, 36 points behind Vettel in 

the championship, qualiied 10th in a disappointing performance 

from the Italian team, who had Brazilian Felipe 

Massa in 12th place. 

McLaren had another miserable qualifying, with 2009 

world champion Jenson Button 11th on the grid and 

Mexican team-mate Sergio Perez 14th. 

Former champions Williams, who have made their 

home race a celebration of their 600 grands prix in the 

sport, fared even more dismally. 

Finland's Valtteri Bottas failed to make it through the 

irst phase and qualiied 17th behind Venezuelan teammate 

Pastor Maldonado in 16th. — Reuters 

Rossi triumphs in Assen 

ASSEN, Netherlands — Yamaha's Valentino Rossi 

claimed his irst victory since 2010 at the Dutch Grand 

Prix yesterday and world champion Jorge Lorenzo inished 

ifth two days after breaking his collarbone. 

Italian seven-time world champion Rossi took the 

lead on the sixth lap at Assen and was never overtaken, 

sealing maximum points ahead of Spain's Marc Marquez 

and Cal Crutchlow, the irst Briton to start from pole position 

since 2002. 

Lorenzo made a remarkable return to action 

following his high-speed crash in wet conditions in practice 

on Thursday. The Spaniard underwent surgery on 

Friday and started 12th on the grid. 

World championship leader Dani Pedrosa was fourth 

to extend his advantage over Lorenzo to nine points after 

seven of 18 rounds. — Reuters 

P27 P28 

Sunday 


Inside 

Kittel wins carsh-marred Tour opener 

India wary of confident Windies 

Park two ahead at US Women’s Open 


Looking for car, flat and furniture? Check out the Observer classified pages. It’s where buyers meet sellers.

26 

SPORT 

Oman begin Asian Indoor Games campaign 

Oman delegation (left) pictured during the opening ceremony of the Asian Indoor Games in Incheon, South Korea, yesterday. 

MUSCAT — Omani teams will begin 

their campaign today at the Asian 

Indoor Games, which were oficially 

inaugurated in Incheon, South Korea 

yesterday. 

During the Games, which run till 

July 5, Oman will be participating in 

three competitions, bowling, swimming 

and billiard and snooker. 

According to information received 

Kittel wins chaotic Tour opener 

BASTIA, France — Germany's Marcel 

Kittel of the Argos-Shimano team 

won the opening stage of the Tour 

de France yesterday, a 213-kilometre 

ride from Porto-Vecchio to Bastia in 

Corsica. 

Kittel stole in front of Norwegian 

rider Alexander Kristoff right on the 

line to win a Tour stage for the irst 

time in his career, while Danny van 

Poppel of the Vacansoleil team came 

in third as all riders were awarded 

the same time. 

Kittel became the irst rider to 

wear the yellow jersey in the 100th 

Tour, which continues today with a 

156km second stage across Corsica 

from Bastia to Ajaccio. 

The German, 25, also took the 

green jersey for the best sprinter and 

the white jersey for the best young 

rider. 

For long spells of the opening 

day’s action, the irst stage was largely 

uneventful, but there was chaos in 

a closing 30kms marked by a series 

of crashes on the narrow roads leading 

in to Bastia and a bizarre incident 

involving one of the team buses at the 

inish line. 

The bus of the Orica-GreenEdge 

team got stuck when it hit the gantry 

over the inish line as the riders approached, 

leading to suggestions that 

the line may be brought forward by 

three kilometres. 

The bus was moved out of the way 

just in time to allow the irst stage to 

conclude as planned, but not before a 

clutch of riders were hampered by a 

from Oman Olympic Committee 

(OOC), the Sultanate’s delegation to 

Incheon is led by OOC Secretary-General 

Taha bin Sulaiman al Kishry. The 

team also comprises Kazim al Balushi 

as Chef de Mission and Eshaq bin 

Ahmed al Balushi as mission administrator. 

The bowling team consists of 

Abdallah bin Yaaqub al Aghbari as 

series of crashes. 

Spain's Alberto Contador, considered 

by many to be the main challenger 

to race favourite Chris Froome 

of Britain, was the highest-proile 

name to fall on the way in to Bastia, 

as he went to ground in a mass crash 

that also took out Slovakia's promising 

sprinter Peter Sagan. 

Froome came through the in- 

team director, coach Lideo accompanied 

by his assistant Nasser bin Mohammed 

al Hatali and the four players 

are Hassan bin Salim al Alawi, Hasan 

bin Ali al Kharusi, Ghalib bin Rashid 

al Busaidi and Moosa bin Waleed al 

Maymani. The Oman swimming team 

consists of coach Kamal and two 

swimmers Ayman bin Hamad Al Kulaibi 

and Nawaf bin Muneer al Qasimi. 

ish unscathed, but did suffer an 

inauspicious start to the day when 

he fell from his bike and appeared 

to take a knock to the knee as the 

peloton paraded through Porto- 

Vecchio at the start of the opening 

stage. 

He was then forced to change 

bike for the remainder of the day's 

racing. — AFP 

The billiard and snooker team consists 

of Hamad bin Abdallah al Aysari 

(team director), Ahmed bin Nasser 

Al Hady (administrator), Shihab bin 

Hamad al Alawi (coach) and players 

Omer bin Sultan al Busaidi, Ahmed 

bin Basheer al Khusaibi, Jalal bin Mohammed 

al Lawati, Humood bin Hamdan 

al Harthy and Faisal bin Rashid al 

Balushi. 


All to play for as Oman Air-Musandam face inal test in Route des Princes 

MUSCAT — Oman Air Musandam’s 

tussle with Edmond de Rothschild 

continued in Plymouth on Friday 

raising the stakes for the last day’s 

inshore racing and the inal leg of the 

Route des Princes. 

According to a press release received 

from Oman Sail yesterday, in 

the three races staged outside the 

harbour walls in Plymouth, Sidney 

Gavignet’s crew, who bridge all experience 

levels from novice to seasoned 

campaigner, recorded two second 

places and a third. 

With up to three races remaining, 

they need to make up four points on 

Edmond de Rothschild, a margin that 

could be reduced with an outstanding 

performance in the inal races. 

“It is frustrating because I know 

we can win these inshore races 

— it is strange, something doesn’t 

quite click in inshore racing,” said 

Gavignet. 

“It would be nice to inish these 

inshores on a better note but we have 

to eliminate the small mistakes and 

focus hard tomorrow. Even if we are 

Argos-Shimano’s Marcel Kittel celebrates as he wins the 213km irst stage 

of the centenary Tour de France cycling race from Porto-Vecchio to Bastia, 

on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica yesterday. — Reuters 

third here inshore, we are not compromised.” 

“It would be better to be in front of 

Gitana for the overall result of course 

but it is not over yet,” Gavignet said. 

British sailor Neal McDonald spent 

a year in Plymouth at the Royal Naval 

Engineering College but his local 

knowledge paid only limited dividends 

in such a ‘tricky’ contest, he 

said. 

“Gitana had the better of everybody 

today though I didn’t place the 

boat well upwind. Sidney was doing 

some good starts but I never felt like 

I was putting the boat in the right 

place. Made it too complicated perhaps. 

We will look at the points tonight 

and see what the options are 

but tomorrow will be pretty important,” 

he said. 

The eight strong inshore race 

crew, which features two Omani sailors 

Fahad al Hasni and Oman Sail’s 

emerging talent Ahmed al Hassani, 

remain optimistic going in to the inal 

day of inshore racing of the Route des 

Princes. 

Conidence in their ability to ight 

to the end and win the event remained 

high, said Al Hasni. 

“It wasn’t a great result today but 

the atmosphere on the boat is good 

because we sailed well,” he said. 

“We are trying hard not to be nervous 

because you don’t sail well if you 

are stressed and we will be doing our 

very best tomorrow “ 

As they came alongside at the end 

of racing, the talk inevitably revolved 

around the points situation and what 

Oman Air-Musandam need to do in 

the remaining races to secure victory. 

“If Edmond de Rothschild win the 

inshores here then we would need to 

win the offshore and the points from 

the two scoring gates. If they win the 

inshores and either the points or the 

inshore then they would beat us overall,” 

explained Damian Foxall. 

The inal activities of the Route des 

Princes have been made part of Plymouth’s 

famous Festival of Sail which 

is expected to attract crowds over the 

weekend. 

Mercurial Carter lifts 

Crusaders to win 

over Highlanders 

DUNEDIN All Blacks lyhalf Daniel 

Carter responded to the challenge 

from young pretenders Aaron 

Cruden and Beauden Barrett to 

guide the Canterbury Crusaders to a 

40-12 victory over the 14-man Otago 

Highlanders in their Super Rugby 

match here yesterday. 

Carter slotted 20 points with the 

boot, scored a try and set up the 

other three as the seven-time champions 

ensured they remained in the 

hunt for the play-offs with the win. 

They moved to 51 points and 

established a gap over the seventhplaced 

New South Wales Waratahs 

(44), who have played an extra 

match. The Cheetahs are in sixth on 

46 points. 

Sharks edge Blues 

DURBAN — Riaan Viljoen's lastgasp 

try has gave the Sharks a 22- 

20 victory over the play-off-chasing 

Auckland Blues in a luctuating Super 

Rugby clash yesterday. 

It was the proverbial game of two 

halves with the Sharks dominating 

the opening 40 minutes. The Blues 

hit back in the second period, scoring 

15 unanswered points. 

Trailing by three points, the 

Sharks were rewarded with a try in 

the corner from fullback Viljoen just 

before the inal whistle. 

Oman Air-Musandam, an excellent performance 

Halfpenny penalty miss 

hands Wallabies 

series-levelling victory 

MELBOURNE — Leigh Halfpenny 

missed a last minute penalty from 

halfway to hand Australia a 16-15 victory 

over the British and Irish Lions 

in the second Test yesterday, sending 

the series to a mouthwatering decider 

in Sydney next week. 

A scrappy match lacking in quality 

burst into life in a frenzied inal ive 

minutes when Adam Ashley-Cooper 

crashed over for a try and Christian 

Leali'ifano slotted the conversion to 

give the Wallabies a one-point lead in 

front of a record 56,771 crowd at the 

Docklands Stadium. 

The Lions were chasing a irst Test 

series win since 1997 after their 23- 

21 victory in the irst Test last week 

— a win secured when Kurtley Beale 

also missed a last minute kick — and 

they came storming back, pushing 

close to the home line and looking to 

catch and drive from a lineout. 

However, in echoes of Australia 

lock Justin Harrison's decisive intervention 

in the third Test of the 2001 

series, lanker Liam Gill snared Lions 

ball and looked to have sealed the 

Wallabies win. 

The tourists, and referee Craig Joubert, 

were not done yet and the South 

African oficial blew for yet another 

penalty that would give Halfpenny the 

chance to win the match and earn a 

place in Lions' history. 

The Welsh fullback, who had been 

virtually lawless in his kicking on 

tour, approached the ball with his usual 

calm but his strike did not have the 

legs to carry and Australian celebrations 

broke out around the stadium. 

Wallabies captain James Horwill, 

who could yet miss the decider because 

of a citing from the irst Test, acknowledged 

the game had not been of 

the highest quality but was delighted 

to get the result. 

"Sometimes it's not pretty, but 

we found a way to win and that's the 

most important part," he said. "It's 

square now. It's sort of, you don't 

worry about the last two, it's now one 

game to win it. It's like a grand inal." 

Lions captain Sam Warburton, 

who put in his best performance of 

the tour so far, could also miss the 

Sydney Test after departing the pitch 

with a hamstring problem in the 68th 

minute. 

"With Australia ... unless you are a 

couple of scores with a few minutes 

to go, you never settle down," the 

lanker said. "That's something that 

we learned tonight, which was tough. 

"But I thought Australia did well, 

to be fair, it was going to be whoever 

scored the irst try who won the 

game, because both defences were so 

good, and Australia were the ones to 

ind it." 

"Very proud," said Australia coach 

Robbie Deans. "It doesn't get any bigger 

than that. They knew the context. 

They knew that if they weren't successful 

in scoring a try and converting, 

the series would be done. But 

they had enough composure to get it 

done. So, very proud." — Reuters 

British and Irish Lions Leigh Halfpenny (centre) is consoled by teammates 

after he missed a crucial penalty shot during their second rugby 

Test against the Australian Wallabies in Melbourne yesterday. — AFP


SPORT 

Youzhny looms for Murray, Tomic booms 

British teenager Robson keeps home flag flying, Seppi ends Nishikori’s run 

LONDON — Russian Mikhail Youzhny 

loomed on Andy Murray's horizon 

and Australian Bernard Tomic hurtled 

back on to the Grand Slam radar as an 

unpredictable Wimbledon neared its 

halfway point yesterday. 

Youzhny, the 20th seed, beat Viktor 

Troicki in straight sets to reach the 

last 16 while bad-boy Tomic continued 

his impressive form to knock out 

French ninth seed Richard Gasquet. 

Tipped as his country's next big 

thing the 20-year-old Tomic has instead 

gained a reputation as a sports 

car-driving playboy and was left out 

of Australia's Davis Cup team last year 

for what oficials considered a lack of 

effort. 

A quarterinalist here in 2011, 

Tomic had lost his last 11 matches 

against top-10 opponents but produced 

a display of maturity and skill 

to win 7-6 (7), 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (5). 

Youzhny's clash with Serb Troicki at 

a sun-drenched All England Club was 

one of four men's third round matches 

in the lower half that had been held 

over from a rain-hit on Friday. 

In the other matches, Spain's Fernando 

Verdasco, Poland's Lukasz Kubot 

and Frenchman Kenny De Schepper 

also reached the last 16. 

Yet another injury blighted the 

tournament with Dutchman Igor Sijsling's 

retirement from his third round 

match with Croatia's Ivan Dodig taking 

the tally of withdrawals to 13 — 

already equalling the previous worst 

toll in 2008. 

OLYMPIC PARADE 

Apart from appearing on Centre 

Court in a parade of Britain's Olympians, 

Murray enjoyed a day of leisure 

having seen off Spain's Tommy Robredo 

under the Centre Court roof on 

Friday. 

With the hype beginning to boil 

as he tries to go one better than last 

year and become Britain's irst male 

Wimbledon champion for 77 years, 

the world No 2 would have enjoyed 

seeing Laura Robson win to keep him 

company in the second week. 

The unseeded 19-year-old rallied 

from the brink of defeat against New 

Zealander Marina Erakovic to win 

Gayle powers Windies past Sri Lanka 

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Chris Gayle 

notched his irst one-day hundred 

against Sri Lanka as he led West Indies 

to a crushing six-wicket victory 

with more than 12 overs to spare in 

the opening match of the three-nation 

international series at Sabina Park on 

Friday. 

Replying to the visitors' modest 

total of 208 all out off 48.3 overs, the 

hard-hitting opening batsman delighted 

his fellow Jamaicans with another 

dominant effort on the way to 

his 21st one-day international (ODI) 

century. 

His 109 came off 100 deliveries 

and was embellished with seven sixes 

and nine fours. 

That pushed his team on to 209 for 

four off 37.5 overs and they earned a 

bonus point as well for reaching their 

target before the conclusion of the 

40th over. 

Any anxiety that home fans may 

have had about the target facing them 

were erased by the conidence of 

Gayle's start. 

The former captain dominated an 

opening partnership of 115 by the 

21st over with Johnson Charles, who 

rode his luck for a supporting but 

struggling 29 before he fell off the 

bowling of left-arm spinner Rangana 

Herath. 

Ajantha Mendis eventually accounted 

for Gayle via a miscued swing 

to leg, but the clever slow bowler, 

making a return to the Sri Lankan 

1-6, 7-5, 6-3, sparking wild celebrations 

on Court Two and on the slope 

known as Henman Hill where thousands 

watched on a huge screen. 

There was disappointment, though, 

for a legion of Japanese fans watching 

12th seed Kei Nishikori as he went 

down in ive sets to Italian Andreas 

Seppi after twice being in front. 

Number 23 seed Seppi has now 

prevailed in his last seven ive-set 

matches. 

Former women's champion Petra 

Kvitova avoided becoming yet another 

high seed to perish as she completed a 

third round victory against Ekaterina 

Makarova over two days. The eighthseeded 

Czech, champion in 2011, returned 

to court 2-1 down in the inal 

set after bad light and drizzle stopped 

play on Friday and revelled in yesterday's 

warmer temperatures to take 

the deciding set 6-3. 

STEPHENS RECOVERS 

American Sloane Stephens moved 

away from the abyss against lowlyranked 

Czech Petra Cetkovska to 

reach the fourth round at Wimbledon 

for the irst time where she will face 

another last 16 debutant in Puerto Ri- 

can Monica Puig. In a match that was 

also completed over two days, the 

17th seed lost eight games in a row 

after winning the irst set on Thursday 

in a tiebreak, but from 2-0 down 

in the deciding set she pulled herself 

together to win it 6-4. 

Another American tipped for 

a bright future, teenager Madison 

Keys, was also seeking a last 16 berth 

but lost out in three sets to Poland's 

fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, 

who faces Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova 

in the last 16. 

Youzhny served notice that Mur- 

ray's expected charge into the inal 

for a second consecutive year will not 

be the cakewalk some predict in the 

wake of a rash of irst-week retirements 

and withdrawals that decimated 

the bottom half of the draw. 

The burly Russian won 6-3, 6-4, 

7-5 but inevitably most of the questions 

in his news conference revolved 

around his impending battle with 

home favourite Murray. 

"Don't worry, I will sleep normal," 

Youzhny said, when asked if he was 

concerned about being public enemy 

No 1 tomorrow. 

World champions India wary of conident West Indies 

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Exactly one 

week after clinching the Champions 

Trophy in a dramatic, rain-affected 

inale in Birmingham, undisputed 

world one-day champions India take 

on a conident West Indies team today 

at Sabina Park in the second match of 

the Tri-Nation Series. 

Fresh from a convincing tournament-opening 

victory over Sri Lanka 

at the same venue on Friday, home 

Australia’s Bernard Tomic returns against France’s Richard Gasquet during their third-round match at the All England Club yesterday. — AFP 

Chris Gayle of West Indies celebrates after scoring a century against Sri 

Lanka at the Sabina Park in Kingston on Friday. — AFP 

side, did not materialise as the threat 

his teammates would have hoped. 

Darren Bravo was run out near the 

end for 27 and Kieron Pollard was 

unlucky to be adjudged lbw to Nuwan 

Kulasekara, but by then the match 

was over as a contest and Marlon 

Samuels, with skipper Dwayne Bravo 

at the other end, ensured that victory 

was complete. 

Earlier, Sunil Narine returned to 

his miserly, wicket-taking best, snaring 

four for 40 as Sri Lanka faltered 

after a deceptively bright start to be 

dismissed for 208. 

He had an instant impact on the 

captain Dwayne Bravo is nevertheless 

mindful that Mahendra Singh 

Dhoni's side are an altogether different 

proposition given their considerable 

strengths in all departments of 

the game. 

India trounced the West Indies by 

eight wickets at the group stage of 

the Champions Trophy, yet Dhoni has 

been publicly advising caution over 

the expectation of continuous success, 

match when he came on in the 18th 

over, removing the proliic and experienced 

pair of Mahela Jayawardene 

(52) and Kumar Sangakkara (17) in 

his irst three overs to immediately 

put the brake on what had been a 

promising start by the Sri Lankans. 

Jayawardene was at his luent best, 

dominating an opening partnership 

of 62 with Upul Tharanga before they 

were separated by Bravo. 

In contrast, Sangakkara never really 

got going and the West Indies 

were understandably delighted when 

he pushed a straightforward catch to 

Pollard at cover. 

given the different context and different 

conditions presented by each succeeding 

competition. 

"What is very important for us is 

not to look too far ahead," he said on 

the eve of this series. "The demands 

(of the fans) remain the same. The 

expectation when it comes to the Indian 

cricket team has always been the 

same." 

In conditions quite similar to what 

Ravi Rampaul backed up the 

frontline spinner's effort with three 

wickets and it was left to Sri Lankan 

captain Angelo Mathews to hold the 

innings together following the demise 

of the two big hitters, his unbeaten 55 

being the top score as he capitalised 

on an early bit of luck when put down 

by Gayle off the bowling of pacer Kemar 

Roach. 

SCOREBOARD 

Sri Lanka 

U Tharanga c Ramdin b D J Bravo .........................25 

M Jayawardene c Ramdin b Narine ......................52 

K Sangakkara c Pollard b Narine ...........................17 

D Chandimal c D J Bravo b Samuels .....................21 

A Mathews (not out) ....................................................55 

L Thirimanne c Charles b Rampaul .........................6 

N Kulasekara c Pollard b Rampaul ..........................2 

J Mendis c Samuels b Narine .......................................5 

R Herath c Sammy b Rampaul ...................................4 

L Malinga lbw Narine .....................................................8 

A Mendis c Charles b D J Bravo ..................................2 

Extras: (b-5, lb-2, w-4) ...............................................11 

Total: (all out, 48.3 overs) .....................................208 

Fall of wickets: 1-62, 2-85, 3-104, 4-140, 5-151, 

6-159, 7-176, 8-190, 9-205. 

Bowling: Roach 7-1-41-0, Rampaul 10-0-38-3, 

Sammy 10-0-34-0, D J Bravo 7.3-0-37-2, Narine 

10-0-40-4, Samuels 4-1-11-1. 

West Indies 

C Gayle c Chandimal b A Mendis .........................109 

J Charles c Jayawardene b Herath .........................29 

D M Bravo run out .........................................................27 

M Samuels (not out) .....................................................15 

K Pollard lbw Kulasekara .............................................0 

D J Bravo (not out) ...........................................................8 

Extras: (b-4, lb-7, w-10) ............................................21 

Total: (4 wkts, 37.5 overs) ....................................209 

Fall of wickets: 1-115, 2-181, 3-190, 4-193. 

Bowling: Malinga 7-0-34-0, Kulasekara 8-1- 

39-1, A Mendis 10-0-53-1, Mathews 5-0-28-0, 

Herath 6-0-37-1, J Mendis 1.5-1-7-0. 

they are accustomed to at home, the 

Indians are not expected to tinker too 

much with a combination that proved 

so successful in England. 

They will obviously be conscious 

of the ever-present threat of rain at 

this time of the year in the Caribbean 

in determining their inal eleven, although 

the inclement weather thankfully 

stayed away for the West Indies' 

six-wicket whipping of Sri Lanka, a 

result that also brought them a potentially 

crucial bonus point. 

Bravo effectively set the stage for 

this impending showdown immediately 

after the win on Friday in urging 

Jamaican fans to turn up in huge numbers 

for a clash that offers the prospect 

of a number of appetising possibilities, 

not least the continuation 

of the match-winning form shown by 

hometown hero Chris Gayle. 

27 

ROBSON BANS MUM 

Meanwhile, Laura Robson admitted 

she is ready to ban her mum from 

watching her at Wimbledon after 

the teenager became the irst British 

woman to reach the fourth round in 

15 years. 

The Australia-born youngster, who 

won junior Wimbledon in 2008, has 

made her historic run without the 

support of her mother Kathy, who has 

remained at home in Greece, because 

she couldn’t get a sitter for the family’s 

dogs. 

Asked if her mum would ly into 

London for the second week of Wimbledon, 

Robson said she would prefer 

to maintain her current routine without 

any family interruptions. 

“I don’t think so. I’m doing okay 

without her here,” she said. 

“Because then like it’s a whole other 

situation and it breaks your rhythm 

a little bit. So you need to have the exact 

same thing all the time.” 

Robson underlined her potential 

at the US Open last year, when she 

defeated Kim Clijsters and Li Na en 

route to the last 16, but she claimed 

her presence in the second week at 

Wimbledon felt like the real deal. 

Results (x denotes seeding): Men's 

singles: 3rd round: Bernard Tomic (AUS) 

bt Richard Gasquet (FRA x9) 7-6 (9/7), 5-7, 

7-5, 7-6 (7/5); Tomas Berdych (CZE x7) bt 

Kevin Anderson (RSA x27) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 

7-5; Ivan Dodig (CRO) bt Igor Sijsling (NED) 

6-0, 6-1, 1-0 - retired; Andreas Seppi (ITA 

x23) bt Kei Nishikori (JPN x12) 3-6, 6-2, 6-7 

(4/7), 6-1, 6-4; Juan Martı́n Del Potro (ARG 

x8) bt Grega Zemlja (SLO) 7-5, 7-6 (7/3), 

6-0; Lukasz Kubot (POL) bt Benoı̂t Paire 

(FRA x25) 6-1, 6-3, 6-4; Fernando Verdasco 

(ESP) bt Ernests Gulbis (LAT) 6-2, 6-4, 6-4; 

Kenny De Schepper (FRA) bt Juan Monaco 

(ARG x22) 6-4, 7-6 (10/8), 6-4; Mikhail 

Youzhny (RUS x20) bt Viktor Troicki (SRB) 

6-3, 6-4, 7-5. 

Women's singles: 3rd round: Laura 

Robson (GBR) bt Marina Erakovic (NZL) 

1-6, 7-5, 6-3; Agnieszka Radwanska (POL 

x4) bt Madison Keys (USA) 7-5, 4-6, 6-3; 

Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) bt Petra Martic 

(CRO) 6-1, 4-6, 6-2; Roberta Vinci (ITA x11) 

bt Dominika Cibulkova (SVK x18) 6-1, 6-4; 

Monica Puig (PUR) bt Eva Birnerova (CZE) 

4-6, 6-3, 6-4; Sloane Stephens (USA x17) 

bt Petra Cetkovska (CZE) 7-6 (7/3), 0-6, 

6-4; Petra Kvitova (CZE x8) bt Ekaterina 

Makarova (RUS x25) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. 

Watson denies forcing 

Warner issue 

LONDON — Shane Watson has 

denied any role in forcing Australia 

cricket chiefs to take action 

against David Warner for the 

opener's attack on England's Joe 

Root. 

Earlier this month, Warner 

was ined A$11,500 ($11,000) 

and suspended until the start of 

the Ashes in Nottingham on July 

10 by Cricket Australia. The sanctions 

were for punching Root in 

a Birmingham bar following Australia's 

Champions Trophy loss to 

their arch-rivals. 

The fall-out from the saga then 

took a shock turn when coach 

Mickey Arthur was sacked on 

Monday, just 16 days out from the 

Ashes. 

Following Warner's suspension, 

there were reports in the 

Australian media that oficials 

had only decided to discipline 

Warner after Watson had complained 

about double standards. 

Watson was one of four players 

dropped from the Test side during 

a 4-0 series loss in India earlier 

this year for failing to hand in 

a written feedback requested by 

team management. 

Watson told the Cricinfo 

website on Friday that Arthur's 

actions in India had set a 'dangerous 

precedent' and lauded new 

coach Darren Lehmann. 

But he insisted he had not done 

anything to make oficials suspend 

Warner. 

"Absolutely not," Watson said 

when asked if he had informed 

Arthur of events at the Walkabout 

bar in Birmingham. 

"In the end, the coaching staff 

and Mickey and the leadership 

group found out about Dave's incident 

off their own bat. 

"It had absolutely nothing to do 

with me in any way shape or form 

and I'm not sure why that was 

brought out in the media because 

it certainly wasn't the truth. 

"They obviously found out, 

there were some people who 

were in and around the incident 

at the time who had relayed the 

information, so it certainly had 

nothing to do with me." 

Watson has been told by 

former Australia batsman Lehmann 

he will be one of Australia's 

openers in the Ashes and scored 

90 in the ongoing tour match 

against Somerset in Taunton. 

"The way Darren operates is 

a more light-hearted way (than 

Arthur)," Watson said. 

England begin their defence of 

the Ashes against arch-rivals Australia 

in the irst of a ive-Test series 

at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, 

on July 10. — AFP 

His 109 turned a potentially tricky 

target against the Sri Lankans into a 

canter. Yet the West Indies are acutely 

aware that in the likes of Virat Kohli 

and rising star Shikhar Dhawan, the 

Indians have the sort of irepower to 

respond in kind, suggesting that the 

often overlooked bowlers on both 

sides may be the ones making the 

critical inputs in this eagerly anticipated 

duel. — AFP

28 

SPORT 

Park moves two ahead at US Women's Open 

Scherzer improves to 12-0 as Tigers feast on Rays 


Spain seek supremacy in Brazil's backyard 

RIO DE JANEIRO — World and European 

champions Spain seek to win 

the Confederations Cup for the irst 

time while Brazil are out for a third 

straight title in the inal in Rio de Janeiro's 

Maracana Stadium today. 

For next year's World Cup hosts, it 

could not be a more ideal test of the 

national team's progress since Luiz 

Felipe Scolari was appointed late last 

year. 

"We achieved our goal of getting to 

the inal and giving the players a sense 

of unity and the fans an idea that we 

have a good team that can get to the 

inal of the World Cup," Sc olari said. 

Spain are out to show the ive-time 

world champions that the balance of 

power has truly shifted since Vicente 

del Bosque's side became European 

champions in 2008. 

"It is going to be a dificult match. 

Brazil have won ive World Cups and 

we have won one, and Brazil have 

won the Confederations Cup repeatedly, 

so we are really, really motivated," 

Del Bosque said. 

Spain would not be the irst team 

with world, European and Confederations 

Cup titles at the same time: 

France achieved the feat by winning 

the Confed Cup in 2001 as 1998 

world champions and 2000 European 

champions. Del Bosque feels his side 

can stay at the top for some years 

to come. The nucleus of the side remains, 

new players are gradually being 

introduced, and the hunger to win 

is still high, he said. 

Brazil have not lost a competitive 

home game since 1975. They have 

met Spain just once in the last 23 

years, in a 1999 friendly which ended 

goalless. Their last competitive match 

was at the 1986 World Cup when Brazil 

won 1-0. 

SOUTHAMPTON, New York — South 

Korea's Park In-Bee moved a step 

closer to her third Major victory this 

year when she seized a two-shot lead 

in the weather-interrupted second 

round of the US Women's Open in 

Southampton, New York on Friday. 

Shortly before play was suspended 

for the day as thick fog enveloped the 

challenging Sebonack Country Club 

layout, the in-form Park rolled in a 

12-foot birdie putt on the 18th green 

to complete a four-under-par 68. 

That left the Korean world No 1 at 

nine-under 135, two ahead of compatriot 

Kim In-Kyung, who had played 

well for a 69 earlier in the day despite 

gusting winds and several tough pin 

positions. 

"We got very lucky that we inished 

today," Park told reporters after 

ending a wildly luctuating day of 

weather conditions with a haul of six 

birdies and two bogeys. "I played very 

good golf today. 

"I gave myself a lot of good opportunities, 

a very good ball-striking day. 

The long putts seemed to be going 

well today. I left a couple out (of birdie 

putts) there, but I am very satisied 

with today's score." 

American Lizette Salas was at 

four under after shooting an even 

72, level with England's Jodi Ewart 

Shadoff, who was two under for the 

round with three holes to complete 

when the siren sounded to halt the 

action. 

Angela Stanford (68) and fellow 

American Jessica Korda (71) were a 

further stroke back at three under 

while overnight leader Kim Ha-Neul 

of South Korea was eight off the pace 

after battling to a 77. 

Most eyes, however, will be on the 

24-year-old Park whose all-round 

TAMPA BAY — Detroit pitcher Max 

Scherzer became the irst man to begin 

a season of Major League Baseball 

(MLB) 12-0 in 27 years as the Tigers 

took down the Tampa Bay Rays 6-3 

on Friday. 

Miguel Cabrera also starred in 

the win, belting two home runs in a 

4-for-4 display, but Scherzer stole the 

show by striking out nine and claiming 

another win. 

The 28-year-old becomes Major 

League Baseball's irst 12-0 starter 

since Roger Clemens opened the 

1986 season with 14 straight wins for 

the Boston Red Sox. 

The win moved the Tigers to 43- 

35, maintaining their place at the 

top of the American League Central, 

while the Rays dropped to 41-39 to sit 

Brazil’s coach Luiz Felipe Scolari (second left) gives instructions to forward Jo during a training session at the Sao Januario Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. 

PICTURE RIGHT: Spain’s coach Vicente del Bosque (left) and player Xavi (second left) watch a soccer training in Rio de Janeiro. — AFP/Reuters 

They have met once before at the 

old Maracana when Brazil won 6-1 in 

the inal round of the 1950 World Cup 

inals. 

Spain have conceded just one goal 

in the group stage, in an opening 2-1 

win over Uruguay, and Del Bosque 

lauded the defensive effort as an important 

addition to the skill and power 

up front. 

"I think we have more punch maybe 

than in other years. But it is important 

in these short tournaments to be 

strong in defence," he told dpa this 

week. 

Del Bosque likes the balance of the 

Brazil side he has seen at the tournament, 

saying Scolari has strong play- 

game was once again in dazzling form 

despite the challenging conditions as 

she continued her bid for a fourth ca- 

fourth in the tight American League 

East. 

Elsewhere, the Atlanta Braves won 

the battle of National League division 

leaders, shutting out the Arizona Diamondbacks 

3-0. 

Julio Teheran struck out 10 over 

six innings, allowing just four hits and 

one walk, and Andrelton Simmons 

homered to push the East leading 

Braves (46-34) past the West pacesetters, 

who fell to 42-37. 

Washington left it late but rallied 

past the New York Mets for a 6-4 win. 

Ryan Zimmerman tied the game 

with a three-run double in the eighth 

before Ian Desmond drove in the goahead 

run in the ninth to improve the 

Nationals to 40-39 and drop the Mets 

to 32-44. Baltimore's Nate McLouth 

ers, not only Barcelona-bound attacking 

midielder Neymar, who has shone 

in the Selecao's four wins. 

The Spain coach could have mid- 

ielder Cesc Fabregas and striker Roberto 

Soldado back from injury. Fernando 

Torres, who started against Italy, 

may have to make way again if Soldado 

returns or Del Bosque decides to 

play Fabregas as a withdrawn striker. 

Scolari meanwhile has kept a consistent 

starting line-up, apart from enforced 

changes, and could start with 

the team that beat Uruguay 2-1 in the 

semiinals. 

The spotlight will be on Neymar, 

who is leaving Santos to join Barcelona 

for 57 million euros ($74 million) 

Park In-Bee of South Korea putts on the 14th green during the second 

round of the US Women’s Open at Sebonack Golf Club on Friday. — AFP 

reer Major title, and a sixth LPGA win 

this season. 

"I had hit the ball so good today," 

broke a tie with a solo homer in the 

seventh to give the Orioles (45-36) a 

4-3 win over the New York Yankees 

(42-37). Pittsburgh's (49-30) winning 

streak extended to seven games with 

a 10-3 triumph over the Milwaukee 

Brewers (32-46). 

Michael Cuddyer hammered a tworun 

homer to lift his hitting streak to 

25 games and help Colorado (40-41) 

to a 4-1 result over the San Francisco 

Giants (38-41). 

The Cleveland Indians took care of 

the Chicago White Sox 19-10 in the 

irst game of a double-header before 

backing up to win the night game 9-8, 

thanks to a four-run ninth inning. 

The two wins pushed the Indians 

to 42-38 while the White Sox fell to 

32-45. Oakland were 6-1 winners 

and will be up against around a half 

dozen of his new team-mates. 

"I wished them luck for every 

match, but not for this one. I hope we 

play a great game and we become the 

champions," he said. 

The match is certainly the one the 

neutrals were hoping for, and a possible 

inal at next year's World Cup, 

although the likes of Germany, Argentina, 

Italy and a few more will have 

other ideas. 

"It will be a great match," Neymar 

said. "Everyone here expected 

that match — these are two national 

teams with great tradition. I hope 

the match can please all, anyone who 

likes football." 

the Korean smiled after recording 

birdies on each of the last three par- 

ives at Sebonack — the 13th, the 

15th and the 18th. 

"I didn't miss many shots out there. 

Very tough conditions out there to 

play in. With the wind and fog, it just 

really made me think that is what the 

US Open is all about." 

Having already won this year's 

Kraft Nabisco Championship and 

LPGA Championship, Park is oozing 

self-belief as she seeks to emulate 

Babe Zaharias (1950), Mickey Wright 

(1961) and Pat Bradley (1986) by 

clinching three Major titles in one 

season. 

However, Park said she was doing 

her level best to maintain her focus 

on golf, and not on the prospect of 

carving out another slice of LPGA history. 

"It's tough not to think about it, but 

I just try to think that's not a big deal," 

she added. "If I want to do it so much, 

it's just so tough and it puts too much 

pressure on you. Try to not think 

about so much." 

Kim, seeking her irst Major victory 

and a fourth win on the LPGA 

Tour, was delighted with her own position 

after mixing ive birdies with 

two bogeys at the picturesque venue 

hugging Peconic Bay in eastern Long 

Island. 

"I felt good out there," said the 

25-year-old Korean, who has posted 

six top-10s in 12 starts on the 2013 

LPGA Tour. 

"I did a lot of preparation this winter 

and all the hard work kind of pays 

off but still there's a lot of golf to play. 

"I feel conident because I feel I 

have been in contention a few times 

this year. I have come a long way the 

last two days." — Reuters 

over St Louis as the A's rode Bartolo 

Colon's eighth straight win to move 

half a game behind Texas in the AL 

West at 47-34, leaving the Cardinals a 

game behind Pittsburgh at 48-31. 

Finally, the Los Angeles Dodgers 

(36-43) were embarrassed on home 

turf, falling 16-1 to Philadelphia (39- 

42), who pounded out 21 hits. 

Results: Cleveland Indians bt Chicago White 

Sox 19-10; Baltimore Orioles bt NY Yankees 4-3; 

Pittsburgh Pirates bt Milwaukee Brewers 10-3; 

Boston Red Sox bt Toronto Blue Jays 7-5; Washington 

Nationals bt NY Mets 6-4; San Diego 

Padres bt Miami Marlins 9-2; Detroit Tigers bt 

Tampa Bay Rays 6-3; Atlanta Braves bt Arizona 

Diamondbacks 3-0; Texas Rangers bt Cincinnati 

Reds 4-0; Cleveland bt Chicago White Sox 9-8; 

Kansas City Royals bt Minnesota Twins 9-3; LA 

Angels bt Houston Astros 4-2; Colorado Rockies 

bt San Francisco Giants 4-1; Oakland Athletics 

bt St Louis Cardinals 6-1; Seattle Mariners bt 

Chicago Cubs 5-4 (10 innings). 

ITALY, URUGUAY SEEK 

CUP CONSOLATION 

After each suffering late heartbreak 

in the semiinals, Italy and Uruguay, 

meanwhile, will attempt to rouse their 

weary bodies for today’s third-place 

play-off in steamy Salvador. 

Uruguay will start with a distinct 

physical advantage, their 2-1 loss to 

Brazil having taken place a full 24 

hours before Italy’s stamina-sapping 

7-6 penalty shoot-out defeat by Spain 

in Fortaleza on Thursday. 

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli was 

particularly concerned about the lack 

of recovery time available to his players 

following a 120-minute slog amid 

the cloying humidity of Estadio Cas- 

telao. He even proposed a change to 

the format of the tournament, to allow 

teams more time to recover, while 

centreback Giorgio Chiellini told Rai 

Sport he was ‘struggling to breathe’ at 

the end of the game. 

To compound matters, Sunday’s 

match at Arena Fonte Nova will start 

at 13:00 local time (1600GMT), when 

temperatures in tropical Salvador are 

forecast to hit 26 degrees Celsius with 

75 per cent humidity. 

Given their exertions against Spain, 

captain Gianluigi Buffon has admitted 

that the quick turnaround before the 

Uruguay encounter represents a dif- 

icult challenge. 

“The inal would have been nice. 

You don’t get to play at the Maracana 

every day. But if we had got there, we 

might have had to play on all fours,” 

said the Juventus goalkeeper. 

“Now we will give our all against 

Uruguay, because our holidays have 

not started yet.” 

The Spain game appears to have 

taken a heavy toll on Prandelli’s 

squad, with reports in the Italian media 

suggesting Chiellini, Andrea Pirlo, 

Claudio Marchisio, Daniele De Rossi 

and Andrea Barzagli could all miss 

Sunday’s match due to either injury 

or fatigue. 

Striker Mario Balotelli and rightback 

Ignazio Abate had already been 

ruled out of the tournament by injury, 

but Uruguay striker Luis Suarez believes 

the Azzurri are still an intimidating 

prospect. 

“Even without Balotelli they are 

dangerous,” the Liverpool striker told 

Brazilian website Globoesporte. 

“They have a lot of quality players, 

like (Sebastian) Giovinco. We will 

have to take our chances because they 

can punish us.” 

Spieth, Castro share lead at 

weather-hit Congressional 

Bethesda, Maryland — American 

teenager Jordan Spieth surged into 

an early tie for the second-round lead 

at the weather-interrupted AT&T 

National before play was suspended 

for the day at Congressional Country 

Club in Bethesda, Maryland on Friday. 

The 19-year-old Spieth, playing 

on a sponsor's exemption this week, 

ired a ive-under-par 66 in relatively 

calm conditions on a challenging 

layout to inish at seven-under 135, 

alongside overnight leader Roberto 

Castro, who carded a 69. 

South Korea's Lee Dong-Hwan 

was at ive under after shooting a 

seven-birdie 66, level with Argentina's 

Andres Romero, who still had 

ive holes to complete. 

Play was suspended at 2:44 pm 

ET (1844 GMT) due to the threat of 

lightning and an attempt late in the 

day for the action to resume had to 

be aborted as storm clouds once 

again swept across the area. 

Spieth, competing on a limited 

PGA Tour schedule this year as a 

special temporary member, was delighted 

with his bogey-free display, 

highlighted by ive birdies in his irst 

nine holes. 

"I hit 18 greens ... I was very solid 

from tee to green," the former University 

of Texas standout told Golf 

Channel. "I put myself in great positions 

off the tee and was able to hit 

my mid-irons a little better than yesterday. 

"Every opportunity I get (being) 

in contention, I learn a little bit each 

time," said Spieth, who has posted 

four top-10s in 13 starts on the 2013 

PGA Tour, his best inish a tie for second 

at the Puerto Rico Open. 

Jordan Spieth Roberto Castro 

"I felt the nerves on the back nine 

but was able to still strike the ball 

well." 

Spieth, who turned professional 

in December, has yet to win his irst 

PGA Tour title but hoped to draw 

on memories of his college success 

while bidding for victory at Congressional 

over the weekend. 

"I just need to approach it like the 

last tournament that I won, and I am 

thinking back to college and just the 

way that I was able to win out there," 

the 19-year-old recalled. 

"Obviously I don't know what it's 

like to win on the tour yet, but I just 

can't really think about that. I am 

only halfway through the tournament." 

Castro, like Spieth seeking a 

maiden victory on the PGA Tour, was 

happy to remain in contention after 

following his opening 66 with a 69. 

"Just got to keep going, and I was 

able to do that today," the lamehaired 

28-year-old told reporters. "It 

feels good to play two rounds under 

par. It's a very hard golf course." 

Americans Cameron Tringale (67) 

and James Driscoll (69) were at four 

under, a stroke better than Swede 

David Lingmerth, who was among 

a group of four players after iring a 

best-of-the-day 65. 

Australian world No 4 and Masters 

champion Adam Scott, the highest-ranked 

player in the ield, was a 

distant nine strokes off the pace after 

returning a 71. 

The cut was projected to fall at 

two-over 144 with former PGA Tour 

winners Charley Hoffman, Aaron 

Baddeley, K J Choi and Hunter Mahan 

among those in danger of missing 

out. — Reuters


Bollywood actress Neetu Chandra poses during a cancer screening 

camp organised by the Cancer Patient Aid Association in Mumbai 

Kavita Kaushik back on F.I.R. 

ACTRESS Kavita Kaushik is coming 

back to work her magic as 

Inspector Chandramukhi Chautala 

in popular show F.I.R. and she is 

mighty excited to experiment with interesting 

stunts and action scenes. 

The actress, known for her bindaas 

style and excellent comic timing 

as the Haryanvi police oficer, had left 

the show earlier this year after being 

a key part of it for seven years. 

Speaking of her comeback, Kavita 

said: "I feel like I've come back to my 

friends. In fact, everyone around me 

is so excited and kicked. My entry 

into the show has also been planned 

really well, with action sequences 

and stunts." 

Kavita is "certain that the viewers 

are going to thoroughly enjoy watching 

the show as I continue to entertain 

them in a dhamakedaar andaaz." 

During her time away from F.I.R., 

she was seen in Tota Weds Maina, another 

comic show on the same channel, 

SAB TV. 

Kavita was replaced by Chitrashi 

Rawat of Chak De! India fame. The 

show took a 20-year leap and Chitrashi 

played Jwalamukhi Chautala, 

daughter of Chandramukhi Chautala. 

Kavita received Zee Gold Awards 

for Best Comic Actor (Female). Later 

she won Indian Telly Award for Best 

Actor In A Comic Role 

Kannan Iyer gears up for period 

drama: After showcasing a unique 

spooky ilm like Ek Thi Daayan, ilmmaker 

Kannan Iyer is in no mood for 

any supernatural drama. — IANS 

Would never run after 

a guy, says Roop 

ROOP Durgapal, (pictured) 

seen as aggressive 

Sanchi in Balika 

Vadhu, may be running after 

Jagya in the show, but in real 

life she is not in favour of 

chasing guys. 

"I am not in the favour of 

a girl running after a guy. My 

traditional thinking is that 

a guy should pursue irst," 

Roop said on the set of the 

show. 

"Personally also I would 

never run after a guy. A guy 

should always pursue the 

girl," she added. 

Balika Vadhu, which 

comes on Colors, is currently 

focusing on Sanchi's love life. She has told her 

family that she loves Jagya (played by Shashank 

Vyas), Anandi's (Toral Rasputra) ex-husband, 

which has heightened the drama in the popular 

show. 

Meanwhile, Jagya is unaware of Sanchi's feelings 

for him. 

"If I would have been the writer of the show, 

I would have never written that because as a 

girl I myself feel awkward that I am running 

after a guy," said Roop, who has been part of 

shows like Shama, C.I.D. and Babosa — Mere 

Bhagwan and Baalveer. 

Vir to add 'madness' to IIFA: Stand-up comedian 

and actor Vir Das is looking forward to 

"Punjabify" the forthcoming International Indian 

Film Academy (IIFA) weekend and awards 

in Macau, along with his Santa Banta co-star 

Boman Irani. 

Vir and Boman will host the Grey Goose IIFA 

Rocks, a music and fashion event, on day two of 

the Bollywood extravaganza, which starts on 

July 4. They will also host a media brieing on 

the irst day of the event. 

Vir is excited about the whole affair. 

"I think that IIFA is a great and sophisticated 

institution. That all needs to change. I'm looking 

forward to bringing some madness, misbehav- 

iour and eventual apologies 

to this glorious institution. 

Sorry in advance, but IIFA is 

about the get Punjabiied," 

said Vir. 

The IIFA Rocks event will 

have ace fashion designers 

Shantanu and Nikhil pay 

tribute to 100 years of Indian 

cinema, while Dia Mirza, 

Sophie Choudry, Jacqueline 

Fernandes, Gauhar Khan 

and Hussain will take to the 

stage to perform. 

The main awards extravaganza 

will be held on July 6 

at the Venetian Macao. The 

weekend is organised by 

Wizcraft International Entertainment. 

Salman his own man: Arbaaz: Salman 

Khan, one of Hindi ilm industry’s commercially 

most successful actor, completes his silver jubilee 

in Bollywood this year. His younger brother, 

actor-ilm-maker Arbaaz Khan says Salman’s 

own decisions have helped his career to lourish 

all through the years. 

“Salman has had a lourishing career by 

making his own decisions,” Arbaaz told reporters 

at the launch of Gillete Fusion Power. 

Arbaaz says it’s not wise to pinpoint the failures 

in one’s career. 

“Normally, most decisions you take may be 

right, but sometimes, you take the decisions 

that fail, like in between you do the ilms that 

don’t work. But that doesn’t matter! The average 

matters.” 

“Like in cricket, you have the average score. 

So, same way in ilms, if you have done 10 ilms, 

it matters depending how many of them have 

been liked by the audiences, and have been successful,” 

he added. 

Talking about Salman’s career in speciic, the 

45-year-old said: “If you see Salman’s career 

graph, you will see that most of his ilms have 

worked, done well and that’s why he is at this 

position today.” — IANS 

Rati to play mum to son on-screen 

ACTRESS Rati Agnihotri (pictured) will be 

seen playing mother to her real life son 

Tanuj Virwani in his Bollywood debut 

Luv U Soniyo. The newcomer calls her his "lucky 

charm". 

Luv U Soniyo, directed by Joe Rajan, also features 

Neha Hinge. 

Tanuj says when he had signed the movie, his 

mother had no idea, but when he told her about 

it and handed over the cheque of the signing 

amount to her, the gleam in her eyes relected 

The Heat — a lukewarm frothy potboiler movie 

CONVENTIONALLY speaking, 

the buddy cop movie is the 

domain of men. The formula 

here is nothing new. You have seen 

it many times before, but the pairing 

of Sandra Bullock and Melissa 

McCarthy is what makes you warm 

up to The Heat. 

While hedging for a promotion, 

the prudish FBI Special Agent from 

New York, Sarah Ashburn (Sandra 

Bullock), a methodical investigator 

with a reputation for showmanship 

and arrogance, is forced to partner 

Boston street-level oficer Shannon 

Mullins (Melisa McCarthy) to track 

down a drug lord before his next 

big shipment comes in. 

What keeps you amused is to 

see how the straight-laced Ashburn 

deals with a foul-mouthed, uncouth 

Mullins, especially when they start 

off on the wrong foot. What follows 

is that Ashburn gets a directive to 

allow Mullins' involvement in her 

case and neither is initially pleased. 

However, Ashburn's buttonedup 

tactics paired with Mullins' penchant 

for gun waving unite the two 

in a reluctant mutual respect. Then 

slowly, in a formulaic process, they 

bond over drinks, family matters, 

passion and commitment towards 

their job. 

With a variation in the plot 

points and set-ups, there is nothing 

that you've never witnessed 

before, but it's how it is presented 

that makes you chuckle. It's the ine 

moments of slapstick comedy that 

sticks out in phases. And one such 

moment is how Shannon deals with 

her undertrials and plays Russian 

roulette to extract information. 

The stake is high, and the moment 

priceless. It keeps you in splits. 

The chemistry between Bullock 

and McCarthy is what brings the 

her happiness. 

"Later, when Joe and I were discussing about 

who should play the mother's character, we both 

took mum's name. It's as if we were thinking on 

the same wavelength. My mother is my lucky 

charm and I'm happy she is part of my irst 

Bollywood ilm," Tanuj said in a statement. 

Distributed by Viacom 18 Media, and co-produced 

by Harvey India Productions and Odyssey 

Corporation India, the ilm will release on July 

26. 

Dolly scouts for characters: After doing 

Vicky Donor and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Dolly 

Ahluwalia is keen to play real characters on the 

screen as she cannot be artiicial. 

“As an actor I can’t draw lines. I take up every 

project as a challenge, but the character has to 

be real. I enjoy doing real characters. I cannot be 

artiicial. When I speak of being real, the script 

has to touch me deep inside,” Ahluwalia said. 

After her role, she gives importance to the director 

and co-actors. 

“Once the script is there, then the director 

matters and co-actors too... if I am giving the best, 

then the other person should be able to receive 

it well. It is a give and take relationship,” she explained. 

Her next is Bajatey Raho. The ilm is directed 

by Shashant A Shah and it also stars Vinay 

Pathak, Ranvir Shorey, Tusshar, Vishakha Singh 

and Ravi Kishan and is coming out on July 26. 

screen to life. McCarthy steals the 

show and gets the maximum laughs 

for her shrewd performance. Bullock 

on the other hand, with her 

restrained onscreen personality, 

is used as a foil character that ups 

McCarthy's presence. All the others 

in the cast, though they performed 

well, were only doing their part. 

None had "their" moment of glory. 

Kattie Dippold's script is lukewarm 

and does not gather momentum 

to give a boiling point. 

The dialogues are staid. The gags, 

especially the Mullins' family gettogether 

scene seemed very obligatory 

and forced, so did the escapade 

hungama. 

Coming from director Paul Feig, 

who had previously given us the 

fabulous Oscar nominated Bridesmaids, 

The Heat, with its odd-couple-cops 

and a vague drug-bust 

plot, is a big let-down. — IANS 

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Julianne Moore offered 

The Hunger Games 

ACTRESS Julianne Moore has been reportedly 

approached to be part of The Hunger 

Games: Mockingjay, the inal, two-part 

ilm in the Hunger Games franchise. 

The 52-year-old is offered to play manipulative 

President Alma Coin in the big screen adaptation 

of author Suzanne Collins' novel Mockingjay, 

reports deadline.com. If Moore agrees 

to play the offered role, she will share screen 

space with Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth 

and Jennifer Lawrence among others. 

Julianne made her ilm debut in 1990, and 

continued to play supporting roles throughout 

the early 1990s. She made her breakthrough 

with Robert Altman’s Short Cuts, followed by 

critically acclaimed performances in Vanya 

on 42nd Street and Safe. Starring roles in the 

blockbusters Nine Months and The Lost World: 

Jurassic Park subsequently established her as a 

leading actress in Hollywood. 

Selena, Austin 'just friends' 

SINGER Selena Gomez and Austin Mahone 

have been linked romantically, but a source 

says they are merely good friends, who "have a 

lot of fun together". 

Selena, 20, has been linked to the 17-yearold 

singer following her split from Justin Bieber. 

But sources close to them insist the duo are 

simply close friends, reports contactmusic.com. 

"They're really good friends and have a lot of 

fun together,” said a source. 

Gomez recently ended her on-and-off relationship 

with Bieber once and for all after he 

was spotted hanging out with Miley Cyrus, who 

is engaged to Liam Hemsworth. 

Gomez irst made her debut appearing as 

Gianna in Barney & Friends, lasting from 2002 

to 2004. Following this, Gomez had cameo roles 

in ilms such as Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over and 

Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire. 

In 2006, Gomez appeared as a guest star 

on an episode of the Disney Channel series 

The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, as well as Hannah 

Montana. Following this, Gomez starred in 

the Disney Channel television series Wizards 

of Waverly Place. The series was a critical and 

commercial success, earning Gomez numerous 

awards and nominations. 

Adele gets 'Paradise' tattoo 

SINGER Adele has had the word 'Paradise' 

tattooed on her left hand. She has got herself 

inked by renowned tattooist Bang Bang, reports 

contactmusic.com. 

Bang Bang posted a photograph of the 

Grammy Award winner launting the new body 

art, on social networking site Facebook, with 

the caption: "The lovely Adele came in to get 

tattooed today." 

The Skyfall hitmaker already has the letter 

'A' inked behind her right ear. It is said to be a 

mark of tribute to her baby boy Angelo, whom 

she gave birth to last year. 

Adele was offered a recording contract from 

XL Recordings after a friend posted her demo 

on Myspace in 2006. — IANS 

Printers and Publishers 

Oman Establishment for Press, 

Publication and Advertising 

29

30 

PEOPLE’S 

PLATFORM 

FINALLY we have a zoo in Oman! 

My children always asked me 

why there wasn’t a zoo here 

and I never knew what to tell them, 

so now I’m glad I can take them 

there to see the various animals and 

birds, even though it is all the way 

in Barka. I think it is very generous 

that Ahmed al Bulooshi “decided to 

turn his own farm to a public park.” 

Many children here in Oman will 

have the chance to see these “exotic 

animals” live in their own country 

instead of merely in books or on TV. 

I hope that Ahmed al Bulooshi gets 

all the success in his life and on the 

behalf of all mothers here in Oman, I 

would like to thank him for sharing 

his passion with the public. 

— Katharine 

Editor: The facility that Ahmed 

has brought to Oman is certainly a 

great thing for the country and its 

people. These animals are not native 

to Oman so he has certainly taken 

upon himself a big task and with 

that great responsibility to keep the 

animals cool during the summer and 

also well-fed so that they can live a 

full and graceful life while entertaining 

the schoolchildren and families 

that come to visit them. 

Road safety 

THE campaign that looks to 

promote road safety for children 

is something that everyone should 

get involved in! This is not a light 

issue at all! I have seen many 

parents drive around with their 

children not in children’s seats, 

without their seat belts, or even 

worse they are sitting in the front 

LETTERS 

Setting up of a much needed zoo a credible effort 

seat with their parents and all the 

time moving around while the car 

is in motion. It is great that they are 

giving out free seats for parents but 

it is also the responsibility of the 

parents to make sure that the seats 

are replaced when the children get 

old. 

— Hanan 

Editor: That is very true, the parents 

should make sure that the seats 

that they get or buy are the right size 

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I Care distributes 10,000 bottles of drinking water 

By Kabeer Yousuf 

I CARE, 

a voluntary charitable association 

of like-minded people 

from various parts of the country, 

distributed 10,000 PET bottles 

of water among the people working 

under the sun in different parts of 

the capital city yesterday. 

Organised in association with 

Radisson Blu Hotel Muscat, several 

young men and women of different 

nationalities took part in the noble 

cause that is just one in the series of 

similar ones. 

“This is an ongoing campaign for 

those who are working in the open 

areas, construction and maintenance 

employees and we see a great response 

from the increasing number 

of volunteers comprising various 

nationalities”, Shurooq Abdunnaser, 

Founder of ‘I Care’ told the Observer. 

The hotel premises was abuzz 

with cars coming in and carrying water 

bottles out and they reached as 

far as Al Ansab to interior Bausher. 

They visited various construction 

sites at Muttrah, Qurum, Al Khuwair, 

Madinat Qaboos, Ghala, Bausher, 

Athaiba, Wadi Kabir, Darsait, Hamariya 

and Al Seeb. 

“We received SMSs and Facebook 

alerts and we are here to be a part 

of the great cause”, Eman and Zahra, 

two Omani school students who 

were piling water in a car said, adding, 

“We wish if we can have similar 

projects throughout summer, at 

least”. 

For the Radisson, which recently 

held a blood donation camp in aid 

of the Central Blood Bank, initiatives 

such as this is of great importance. 

“It is our privilege and pride to be 

a part of such a fantastic initiative 

whereby some of the less-privileged 

are beneited”, Marius Walmarans, 

General Manager, and Adel Madkour, 

Chief Engineer, Radisson Blu Hotel 

said. They added that such initiatives 

are a part of their CSR activities 

and more are on the anvil. 

I Care has distributed some 9,000 

bottles of water and juices against 

some four to ive thousand last year 

in the recent campaign held in association 

with the Bank Muscat. 

“We are planning iftar distribution 

during Ramadhan every day”, 

Shurooq added. 

She said ‘I Care’ is all about caring 

for the workers against their 

work hazards during the sweltering 

summer months. We receive people 

from all walks of life who are willing 

to make a difference in the lives 

of these less-fortunate expatriate 

workers. 


for their children and is in very car 

that they have. This is something that 

everyone, even if they do not have 

children of their own, should pledge 

for as it is also their responsibility to 

make sure that their nephews, nieces, 

godchildren and all children alike are 

safe while being on the road. 

RO 10 for filing a 

complaint? 

GRIEVANCE and Redressal 

Forums are set up to, as I know 

it, doing the task of letting the 

complainant have his or her due 

justice and let them know where 

they stand in terms of an issue, 

across the world. But here in the 

case of the Public Authority for 

Water and Electricity (PAWE), one 

shouldn’t dare to complain of a 

faulty metre or of any service — if 

you dare to do so then you will have 

to pay RO 10 — which is not a small 

amount for an ordinary person. 

Recently I went to lodge a complaint 

about a faulty water metre at their 

ofice in Hamariya roundabout and 

was shocked to learn that I needed 

to pay RO10 just to ile a complaint. I 

don’t understand the logic behind it 

and I refused to do so until I’m able 

to bring this matter to the attention 

of the concerned authorities. 

— Suresh Peter 

Editor: We got in touch with the 

PAWE who informed us that this 

practice is just to reduce unwanted 

complaints as in most cases, the 

plaintiff turned out to be at fault and 

he later apologised. Nevertheless, the 

authorities might look into the applicability 

of such a fee for complaints. 

‘Kids Read’ concludes 

as volunteers share 

the joy of reading 

HSBC Bank Oman volunteers have visited 12 government primary 

schools as part of the ‘Kids Read’ programme, a unique 

schools project run in partnership with the British Council 

and Ministry of Education, to teach children in Oman the beneits 

and enjoyment that reading for pleasure can bring. 

Minister of Education Dr Madeeha al Shaibaniyah said, “This 

project has been an incredible example of raising further awareness 

of the importance of reading both in and out of the classroom, 

for teachers and parents alike. The power of a book, the interaction 

with the characters, the ways the words and pictures combine to 

bring a story to life; nothing can replace the pleasure and enjoyment 

that a book creates. A book is something you nestle into and, for a 

period of time, become lost in the words and the wonder.” 

During ‘Kids Read’ closing ceremony, children took part in a storytelling 

competition in which they were videoed retelling a traditional 

Omani story or an original story. In addition to prizes of 

books and electronic dictionaries that were presented by the British 

Council, HSBC Bank Oman volunteers presented 18 children with 

copies of popular children’s picture book Omar’s Goats by Kathy 

Hoopmann to ensure the legacy of the project continues to inspire 

each child. 

Ewan Stirling, CEO, HSBC Bank Oman said “Education is the 

fundamental building block to a thriving society and reading helps 

spark creativity, imagination and teach invaluable language and critical 

thinking skills that will beneit each child in the future. The programme 

also offers our employees the opportunity to give back to 

the community by teaching kids how enjoyable reading can be. Kids 

Read is far more than just a reading project, the project encourages 

parents and the community to take an active role in schools and we 

strongly encourage our staff to take part and help children discover 

the joys of reading.” 

Paul Doubleday, Director of the British Council Oman said, “The 

British Council is thrilled to have been involved, along with HSBC 

Bank Oman and the Ministry of Education, in bringing to life the importance 

of reading as a pleasurable activity for children, parents, 

teachers and a wider community. In a world where learning Apps 

are becoming so popular and where everything is being converted 

into a piece of digital data, it is still reassuring to know that one can 

still get lost in a story, in pages and pictures, in words and wonder… 

in a book.” 

Through the efforts of the British Council and exclusive sponsorship 

by HSBC Bank Middle East Limited, the programme aims 

to reach 35,000 children across 13 countries in the Mena region 

throughout the academic year.


Lessons at home and homework at school 

WHEN April Burton explains the intricacies of 

French grammar to her American classroom, 

the students are at home, in front of their 

computer or smartphone. 

As for the homework, they will do it the following 

day, at school, thanks to the "lipped" classrooms approach 

made possible thanks to new technologies that 

are transforming education. 

Burton, who teaches at Francis Howell Central High 

School in Cottleville, Missouri, decided last year to use 

the approach made popular in the United States since 

the Khan Academy began offering thousands of lessons 

and exercises online. 

"We really have to change the way things used to be 

done," said Burton, a Southeast Missouri State University 

graduate in French education who has 14 years of 

teaching experience. 

"There were so many things I wanted to do with my 

students but didn't have the time, so many days I was 

spending lecturing." 

"Madame" Burton, as she is known by students, now 

explains grammar rules or vocabulary in a ive-minute 

video to be watched at home. Students do exercises in 

class. 

"It allows us to have more work class time where 

I'm not standing in front of them, where they can work 

in groups on projects," Burton said. 

"It allows me to walk around the room and to talk to 

every student on a daily basis... see if they have questions. 

I actually feel that I know my students better because 

I'm not standing in front of them lecturing." 

Burton had to learn new skills quickly, like building 

a website, using a new type of PowerPoint presentation 

and tweaking software. 

In a video explaining how to conjugate the verb pouvoir 

("can"), students can hear her voice, see her pencil 

writing words, connecting them, underlining them. In 

one for demonstrative adjectives, she added drawings 

and photographs. 

"Basically you talk through the PowerPoint that in 

a traditional classroom I would have shown in front of 

the class," Burton explained. 

At home, students watching videos on their computer, 

tablet or smartphone can listen to the lesson as 

Say goodbye to monsoon hair woes 

RAINDROPS are lovely to 

look at, but stepping out 

when it's pouring may not 

be the best idea for your hair. 

Rainwater may spoil your 

locks and make them look 

rough and greasy. But fret 

not! 

Beauty experts Ishika 

Taneja and Blossom Kochchar 

suggest use of good 

serums and conditioners to 

keep your hair nourished 

and hydrated during monsoon. 

Always use a hair protective 

styling mousse before 

styling your hair, says Taneja. 

"It will protect your mane 

from excess heat from the 

dryers, straighteners and 

curling tong. One can also use 

an anti-humidity ine spray as it helps ix and keep your hairstyle in 

place for long hours. Use shine spray in the end as it provides additional 

sheen to your hair," she added. Kochchar says home-made 

hair care remedies can be handy too. Sharing some, she said: 

Add two tablespoons of curd (or more depending on your hair 

length) to gram lour (besan). Add little olive oil. Apply it to your 

hair and leave it for 15 to 20 minutes. Wash it later. 

You can also use mixture of water and vinegar as an after-shampoo 

serum to help calm your hair down. 

Prepare a mixture of one banana and one tablespoon honey. Put 

in your hair for 15 minutes and then wash it off. It helps make hair 

soft and smooth.— IANS 

Malnutrition must take political centre-stage: Experts 

INDIA needs to bring the malnutrition 

debate on the political centre-stage, 

experts noted at the India launch of 

the Lancet 2013 series on maternal and 

child nutrition. 

Economic growth is not relected in 

the indicators for malnutrition in the 

country, Srinath Reddy, President of the 

Public Health Foundation of India told 

reporters. 

Reddy advocated nutrition-speciic 

interventions, and community-led initiatives. 

Purnima Menon, senior research fellow 

at the Washington-based International 

Food Policy Research Institute, 

pointed to the huge lack of research on 

nutrition in India, and the problem with 

data-gathering on the subject: "The last 

family health survey was in 2005. There 

is a very big research lacuna in India," 

she said. 

The new Lancet series says that 3.1 

million children younger than ive years 

die every year across the world from 

under-nutrition, which is a staggering 45 

per cent of total child deaths in 2011. 

Most children with stunted growth 

(69 million) are in south central Asia. 

The series outlines ten key nutritionspeciic 

interventions that, if scaled up to 

90 per cent in 34 high nutrition-burden 

countries, could reduce the global prevalence 

of stunting and wasting by 20 per 

cent and 60 per cent respectively. 

many times as necessary and at his or her own pace 

while taking notes. 

And students can address any questions they had 

about the videos to the teacher in class the next day. 

"In theory, we should have told students a long time 

ago to take their books home, read a chapter and do exercises 

in school," said Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, founder 

of market research irm Noosphere. 

"If this had worked, practically speaking, we would 

have done that a long time ago. Video is much easier." 

Increasingly sophisticated tablets, media players 

and smartphones can host thousands of applications 

However, several nutrition experts 

and members of the Indian Academy 

of Paediatrics, the largest association 

of paediatricians in India, have warned 

that the new set of papers on malnutrition 

published in Lancet, "should not be 

allowed to become an opportunity for 

commercial exploitation of malnutrition". 

"The call for engaging with the "pri- 

and images now available for teachers and students, 

products of both e-learning and brick and mortar institutions. 

New technologies have "changed education in ways 

that the Industrial Revolution changed society from an 

agrarian one," said National Education Association senior 

policy analyst Mike Kaspar. 

"That may be philosophical, but new technologies 

are changing culture overall: the way we think about 

the school day, the need for 'brick and mortar' schools, 

the use of a hard copy materials versus e-books and 

other e-resources like videos, games." — AFP 

Which children will grow out of asthma? 

A 

GENE scorecard may one day help 

predict which youngsters are likely 

to grow out of childhood asthma and 

which will have the disease in adulthood, a 

study said. 

Asthma is one of the commonest disorders 

among children in developed countries 

and is spreading fast in emerging 

economies. 

Roughly half of children with asthma 

will emerge from it by the time they become 

young adults — but until now, noone 

knows how to determine who will be 

the lucky ones. 

The new research, published in The Lancet 

Respiratory Medicine Journal, marks a 

irst step towards a predictive test. 

Researchers in the United States put together 

a risk score derived from 15 genetic 

variants that are closely associated with 

asthma. 

They tested this model on data from 

a highly-regarded, long-running study in 

New Zealand, in which 880 people have 

been tracked for health since their birth 40 

years ago. 

Those whose DNA carried most risk 

variants were more than a third likelier to 

develop asthma earlier in life and to have 

asthma that persisted into adulthood than 

those at low genetic risk. 

A higher score also meant they were 

likelier to be prone to asthma-related allergic 

reactions and impaired lung function. 

They were also likelier to miss school or 

work than counterparts with a lower genetic 

risk. 

vate sector" and unregulated marketing 

of commercial foods for preventing 

malnutrition in children raises serious 

concerns. The inherent conlict of interest 

will ensure that commercial considerations 

override sustainable nutritional 

goals," said a joint statement issued by 

leading nutrition experts and paediatricians. 

Sanitation has major effect on mal- 

The test is an initial foray into a complex 

disease believed to have environmental 

and genetic factors, and for which more 

risk variants are likely to emerge. 

It could unlock better understanding of 

the biology of asthma, notably how pollution 

and genes interact. 

But it would have to be reined and widened 

to make it useable in routine medical 

practice. 

"As additional risk genes are discovered, 

the value of genetic assessments is likely to 

improve. But our predictions are not suficiently 

sensitive or speciic to support their 

use in routine clinical practice," said study 

leader Daniel Belsky from Duke University, 

at Durham, North Carolina. — AFP 

nutrition: Singling out malnutrition as 

India’s central developmental problem, 

Rural Development Minister Jairam 

Ramesh said sanitation was one aspect 

of the nutrition debate which has been 

neglected in the country. 

“You have rapid economic growth on 

the one hand and better health indicators, 

better education indicators, better 

indicators on water supply but you don’t 

have them relected in nutrition indicators,” 

Ramesh said. 

India, he said, was on a very sticky 

rate of malnutrition, which was neither 

going up nor down. 

The minister said in his view the single 

most signiicant nutrition-sensitive 

information that the country had neglected 

was sanitation. 

“There is a link between malnutrition 

and sanitation. Sanitation has profound 

implications on malnutrition but we 

have not laid much stress on sanitation. 

It has not been brought into the national 

agenda though nutrition is brought,” he 

said. 

He added that sanitation should be 

given a central place. “We should make 

sure that in 10 years, we should be free 

from open defecation.” 

“I found the distinction that can be 

made between nutrition at speciic interventions 

and nutrition sensitive intervention 

a useful way of looking at this 

problem,” he said. — IANS 

SPOTLIGHT 

Majid Al Suleimany 

www.majidall.com 

31 

A question of payments! 

I PROPOSE that we abandon our relations entirely. I 

shall lose nothing by it, for my own emotional tie with 

you has long been a thin thread — the lingering effects 

of past disappointments. 

— Letter from Dr Freud to discipline Jung in association 

with relationships breakup in 1913. 

I 

HAVE been watching now with increasing alarm the 

situation vis-à-vis due payments to people: customers, 

clients and others — and sadly from even wellestablished 

and supposed to be high proile places, to 

the extent that the situation just stinks of malaise and 

decadence! It is so pathetic, disheartening and disappointing 

that words can no longer describe the situation 

anymore. 

A long time ago when the rumours were spreading 

that our consultancy was closing down we saw the 

true picture of people and what they really were 'when 

the issue of money' came in, and they showed us their 

true colours that they were hiding so long as the situation 

was rosy and good and business was still going their 

way! 

You may not believe this but in a way we have to be 

contended with the Arab expression: 'From evil came 

great tidings' or as the Brits say: 'There is a rainbow after 

the rains'. It is a matter of shock and dismay how nasty 

people can turn when money issues come in! There are 

no borders and all the red lines are crossed, quite easily 

too! 

In one of the situations that the East Africans call 

carving your face kuchonga uso, a good friend of mine 

took me to one VIP business man with a lot of companies 

under him! He is surrounded by expatriate managers in 

his family business. We were at his place one day — me 

and my lady assistant. 

We were put in the waiting room and asked politely 

if we wanted any soft drinks, tea or coffee? My assistant 

as usual just asked for a glass of water which she hardly 

drank but that is a different story. The parting remark of 

the attendant was 'boss and family' were having dinner 

and with my usual foot-in-my-mouth style I started joking 

'Why did the boss did not invite us for dinner, especially 

as he knew we were coming? The poor attendant 

idgeted quite intensively not used to such cracks and 

what to answer instead! Anyway, this great expatriate 

assistant came out with him after the dinner and hopefully 

there were vegetarian food there too or the person 

was not observing anymore! 

The person from the beginning was against 'helping 

us out' though he had admitted years later that he could 

if he really had wanted! I reiterated to him that it was 

God's mysterious ways of working because that is how I 

had ended and moved to writing and became an author 

of eight books, columnist and writer instead — something 

that I had always aspired to and wanted as a kid 

but knew my 'father would have killed me' metaphorically 

speaking if he knew what was in the mind of his 

son then! For the rest of my life what he said to me I can 

never forget though forgiven: Why should I help you? Tomorrow 

you will live in a posh area, drive a big posh car 

and what will I get in return? You will be mocking and 

making fun of me? 

Some years later, I never learn my lesson, a friend took 

me to his ofice for 'inding me a job to pay off my bills' 

and as soon as I had entered and here the appointment 

was made in advance, he picked up the phone and was 

telling the person at end of the other line “He is here now 

he is looking for a job but I will not help him!” I guess he 

was so excited to 'ix me' that he did not know what he 

was really doing or the evil side of him got better of him! 

What hurt me more is not his words but knowing whom 

he was talking with at the other end. Though I too have 

forgiven — the wound will never heal — and it is best to 

leave these things to God only! 

We are again talking of SMEs! But SMEs cannot stand 

late and delayed business payments, especially when it 

comes to postdated cheques! PDC — even the guys that 

do not speak any English know what it means! Including 

delayed car instalments payments. Again it is Ramadhan 

and great offers are coming up but the person who was 

expecting his payments and did not receive them in time 

is exposed and in great danger of losing his personal 

freedom, movement and liberty if he has taken a car on 

instalments and he did not get paid in time! 

The delay in some especially public places can go over 

six to nine months but the PDCs cannot wait that long. 

Like I had said in my last week article The Land Rover 

story we have great ideas but lousy implementation systems! 

Unless these things really change on the grounds 

we can all be given a copy of Animal Farm by George Orwell 

as standard business manual to read and keep! 

When I was working in my last company there was 

a standard regulation that suppliers and invoices must 

be settled within 40 days and it was implemented in the 

system as a follow-up and counter check in the systems 

to follow. Yet in some of the places, even public places, 

you get excuses like 'we are very busy but we will pay! 

Or the more annoying ones: the person in charge is away 

— for whatever reason — and we will follow-up when 

he returns! Does this mean that if the person is away 

no payments gets done? Why not recruit more Omanis? 

There are a lot of Omanis qualiied out there still looking 

for jobs or for changes and better prospects! 

The sad and tragic part is that if payments are due to 

them are delayed, especially the expatriates, get hit most! 

No wonder they prefer expatriates to these jobs but even 

they are now resisting because the situation has simply 

gone overboard and no one is accepting this anymore! 

I always believe this it is far easier to destroy and one 

smart aleck can destroy all the good work done by many 

for many years! 

What more can I say now? Take Care!

P29 

>> Entertainment 

Walking Dead 

actress indicted 

AN actress who appeared 

on TV shows including 

The Walking Dead and 

Vampire Diaries was indicted on 

federal charges of threatening 

the president of the United States 

and two other people, the US 

Department of Justice said. 

Shannon Richardson, 35, of New 

Boston, Texas, allegedly posted 

three letters containing toxic ricin 

on May 20, addressed to Barack 

Obama, New York Mayor Michael 

Bloomberg and Mark Glaze, head 

of a gun-control advocacy group. 

She has been in custody since 

her arrest in early June in Mount 

Pleasant, Texas, authorities said. 

The local newspaper, The 

Texarkana Gazette, reported online 

that Richardson is pregnant. 

It cited a criminal complaint 

iled earlier this month as alleging 

that she had concocted the poison 

at the home she shared with her 

husband and four children, using 

castor beans ordered on the 

Internet. 

If convicted, she faces up to ive 

years in federal prison on each 

charge. 

Richardson had initially called 

the FBI to report that her husband 

might have sent the letters, but 

investigators concluded that 

she had sent the letters herself, 

according to earlier reports. — dpa 

Movie planned 

on Snowden 

FOUR Hong Kong friends have 

beaten Hollywood to the draw 

by producing the irst ilm on 

former US intelligence technician 

Edward Snowden, the makers of the 

movie said yesterday. 

"To be the irst one to really do 

anything about it... it was quite 

invigorating," cinematographer 

and editor Edwin Lee said of the 

ive-minute YouTube video entitled 

Verax. 

The ilm imagines the drama 

which unfolded in Hong Kong 

leading up to Snowden's bombshell 

interview with British newspaper 

The Guardian, using local actors and 

shaky camera work reminiscent of 

the Bourne movie series. 

The Guardian, along with 

the Washington Post, published 

information provided by Snowden 

about vast surveillance programmes 

run by the National Security 

Agency to gather Internet data and 

phone logs. "This is a spy movie 

that's developing," Lee said of the 

inspiration behind the idea. 

The expats from Ireland, 

Australia, the US and Canada, of 

which Lee was the only ilm-maker 

by trade, made the ilm "to catch 

onto the interest on Snowden and 

the attention on Hong Kong," Lee 

said. Production for the ilm took 

place at breakneck pace as drama, 

diplomatic intrigue and tensions 

around Snowden unfolded in the 

southern Chinese city. 

Snowden lew last Sunday from 

Hong Kong, where he had been 

holed up since May 20, bound 

for Moscow, despite Washington 

having requested his arrest and 

extradition. — AFP 

P29 Would never run after a guy: Roop 


The Heat — a lukewarm frothy potboiler movie 

P30 P31 

Sunday 


Inside 

‘Kids Read’ ends as volunteers share reading joy 

Which children will grow out of asthma? 

Rati to play mum to son on-screen 


The striking beauty of Al Akhdhar village 

WILAYAT Al Mudhaibi is one 

of the biggest wilayats of 

the Sultanate of Oman. The 

remains of different pre-Islamic periods 

can be seen at Samad. It is a 

desert niyabat which is characterised 

by its high and rugged mountains 

with breathtaking beauty. It is constituted 

of 95 small villages with a large 

number of people residing in these 

communities. The most famous of 

them are Al Rawdhah, Al Akhdhar, Al 

Shareah, Al Khbayb, Al Ma’amorah, Al 

Maysar, Lazq and Al Swiridj. 

The wilayat has a great historical 

and ancient heritage landmarks. Almost 

every village in this wilayat is 

unique with a different kind of nature 

that distinguishes it from the other 

wilayats. Some villages have desert; 

others have mountains and hills. 

The niyabat of Samad A’Shan 

(Wilayat of Al Mudhaibi) has a rustic 

appeal that is strikingly beautiful compared 

with the bleakness of the surrounding 

mountainous countryside. 

Sprawling date palm groves dotted 

with fruit orchards, all nourished 

by bountiful streams, add a rich verdancy 

to an otherwise lacklustre 

landscape. 

Indeed, a stroll through its tranquil, 

canopied gardens can be assuredly 

therapeutic. Natural splendour 

apart, the niyabat’s many villages are 

also rich in antiquity. These villages 

lie along the fringes of the mighty 

wadi Samad that runs several hundred 

kilometres before emptying into 

the Arabian Sea at Mahawt. 

Perhaps, the best known of the niyabat’s 

towns is Al Akhdhar, so called 

because of the luxuriant date palm 

growth around it. It has the ambience 

of a tranquil oasis hamlet, yet it 

harbours a rich history evident in the 

number of picturesque mud houses 

and crumbling fortiied mansions 

scattered through the town. 

Standing forlorn in the midst of 

the old quarter of the village lies what 

remains of the famous Al Akhdhar 

Fort. It was once a splendid ediice, 

with a formidable tower of stone and 

limestone plaster, having a total of 

17 rooms. Local residents who have 

studied the fort’s antiquity say it was 

The wilayat has 

great historical and 

ancient heritage 

landmarks. Almost 

every village in this 

wilayat is unique 

with a different 

kind of nature 

that distinguishes 

it from the other 

wilayats. Some 

villages have 

desert; others have 

mountains and 

hills 

built by Khalfan bin Mohammed bin 

Abdullah al Busaidy, one of two brothers 

who came from Adam, some 261 

years ago. Over the decades, control 

of the fort passed into the hands of a 

succession of tribal chieftains. 

It continued to be in use until 1975 

when the ravages of time and nature 

began to take their toll. Agriculture is 

the main occupation practised by the 

people in Samad A’Shan. The most 

famous crops that grow in Samad 

A’Shan are date palm, lemon, cloves, 

and vegetables like pepper, cucumber, 

eggplant and tomatoes and fruits such 

as grapes, bananas and pomegranate. 

Some farmers rely on these crops for 

an annual income. 

Besides agriculture, people also 

practise animal husbandry like livestock 

rearing and breeding camels. 

— Pictures by Ali al Habsi

OmanObserver_30-06-13

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