insideoman oman 4 OMANDAILYOBSERVER TUESDAY l DECEMBER 13 l 2016 HM hosts dinner for Armed Forces MANAH: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, on Monday evening hosted a dinner party on the occasion of the Armed Forces Day <strong>at</strong> Hisn Al Shomoukh in the Wilay<strong>at</strong> of Manah. The event was <strong>at</strong>tended by Their Highnesses, Their Excellencies, commanders of the Sultan’s Armed Forces and Royal Oman Police. The ceremony comes as honouring from His Majesty Sultan Qaboos, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, to his courageous armed forces for performing its gre<strong>at</strong> n<strong>at</strong>ional and sacred duty in safeguarding the n<strong>at</strong>ion and protecting its security and achievements which resulted, by virtue of Allah Almighty, in the Sultan<strong>at</strong>e enjoying peace and stability. — ONA — PICTURES BY MOHAMMED MUSTAFA AND SALIM AL HASHLY
QATAR EMBASSY MARKS NATIONAL DAY oman/l<strong>at</strong>enews oman OMANDAILYOBSERVER TUESDAY l DECEMBER 13 l 2016 5 Oman, Saudi Arabia explore investment opportunities MUSCAT: Q<strong>at</strong>ar Embassy in Oman hosted a reception <strong>at</strong> Grand Hy<strong>at</strong>t on Sunday evening to mark the Q<strong>at</strong>ar N<strong>at</strong>ional Day. The reception was <strong>at</strong>tended by ministers, officials, as well as heads of diplom<strong>at</strong>ic missions accredited to the Sultan<strong>at</strong>e. — ONA <strong>Crude</strong> <strong>at</strong> <strong>$45</strong> <strong>may</strong> <strong>cut</strong> <strong>deficit</strong> FROM PAGE 1 Oman’s oil production averaged one million barrels per day for the first time in history in 2016. The new agreement calls for a 4.5- per cent reduction in Oman’s total oil output, valued <strong>at</strong> almost RO 900 million, and will begin in January 2017. “The Omani economy which has been experiencing challenges of low oil prices, has undertaken policy measures to expedite economic diversific<strong>at</strong>ion and to augment non-oil revenues,” the analyst said. However, the <strong>deficit</strong> has come in higher than projected, totalling RO 4.4 billion in the first nine months. The Ninth-Five-Year Plan envisages average oil production to be 990,000 barrels a day. Now with the new agreement reached among non-Opec countries, Oman will <strong>cut</strong> oil production by 45,000 barrels a day. While plan targets growth of not less than 3 per cent per annum, the same as in the Eighth-Five-Year Plan, it projects an average annual <strong>deficit</strong> of RO 2.96 billion. As a percentage of total revenue, the <strong>deficit</strong> is expected gradually to reduce from 38 per cent in 2016 to 25 per cent in 2020. RIYADH: As part of the Invest in Oman campaign, a deleg<strong>at</strong>ion from the Public Authority for Investment Promotion and Export Development (Ithraa) visited the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) and reviewed investment opportunities available in the Sultan<strong>at</strong>e with a view to arriving <strong>at</strong> str<strong>at</strong>egic agreements with Saudi companies. His Highness Sayyid Faisal bin Turki al Said, Director-General of Ithraa, led the Omani side <strong>at</strong> a meeting with the Saudi deleg<strong>at</strong>ion led by engineer Mansour bin Abdullah al Sh<strong>at</strong>hri, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI). The meeting discussed ways of finding a mechanism to facilit<strong>at</strong>e trade cooper<strong>at</strong>ion between Omani and Saudi investors as well as promoting the Sultan<strong>at</strong>e as a promising market and an <strong>at</strong>tractive investment hub. — ONA Kenya giving ‘serious thought’ to quitting ICC NAIROBI: Kenyan President Uhuru Keny<strong>at</strong>ta (pictured) said on Monday his country was seriously thinking of quitting the Intern<strong>at</strong>ional Criminal Court, after three other African n<strong>at</strong>ions moved to pull out of the tribunal. Kenya has been one of the most vocal critics of the court based in The Hague, which put Keny<strong>at</strong>ta and his Vice-President William Ruto on trial for orchestr<strong>at</strong>ing political violence th<strong>at</strong> left over 1,200 dead after 2007 elections. Charges were dropped against both leaders, with ICC chief prose<strong>cut</strong>or F<strong>at</strong>ou Bensouda blaming a relentless campaign of victim intimid<strong>at</strong>ion, but bitterness remains in Kenya where the b<strong>at</strong>tle against “imperialism” became a cornerstone of Keny<strong>at</strong>ta and Ruto’s successful 2013 election bid. “Our experience <strong>at</strong> the ICC demonstr<strong>at</strong>ed a glaring lack of impartiality in this institution,” Keny<strong>at</strong>ta said in a speech on Monday. “We have sought the changes th<strong>at</strong> will align the ICC to respect for n<strong>at</strong>ional sovereignty. Those changes have not been forthcoming. We will therefore need to give serious thought to our membership.” African n<strong>at</strong>ions have long felt they are unfairly targeted by the ICC. Currently nine out of the 10 ICC investig<strong>at</strong>ions are in African countries. The other is in Georgia. Numerous countries have failed in their duty to arrest Sudanese President Omar al Bashir, who was indicted by the ICC in 2009 for alleged genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Darfur conflict. — AFP John Kelly, the Marine General to head US Homeland Security WASHINGTON: John Kelly, the retired Marine Corps general picked on Monday by Donald Trump to be Homeland Security Secretary, will take the lead in the new administr<strong>at</strong>ion’s promised fight against extremists and illegal immigr<strong>at</strong>ion. The third former general chosen for President-elect Trump’s cabinet, Kelly capped a 45-year military career as head of the US Southern Command, an assignment th<strong>at</strong> immersed him in border security issues, migrant flows and counter-drug oper<strong>at</strong>ions in the Caribbean and Central and South America. Th<strong>at</strong> experience — and his record running large organis<strong>at</strong>ions — will be useful if he is confirmed by Congress to take charge of the Department of Homeland Security, a sprawling bureaucracy responsible for border protection and internal security. With 240,000 civil servants, Homeland Security includes the Secret Service, the Coast Guard, immigr<strong>at</strong>ion and customs enforcement, and the BEATING THE SOARING HEAT agency th<strong>at</strong> protects airports. It also has an intelligence arm and an office dedic<strong>at</strong>ed to preventing nuclear terrorism. Those functions would make Kelly a pivotal figure in carrying out Trump’s election promises to build a wall on the Mexican border, deport undocumented immigrants and tighten legal immigr<strong>at</strong>ion processes to screen out potential extremists. The blunt-talking Kelly is close to retired general James M<strong>at</strong>tis, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defence. Kelly served as M<strong>at</strong>tis’s top aide in the 2003 assault on Baghdad th<strong>at</strong> crushed Saddam Hussein’s army. He is also shaped by the experience of having his own son, also a Marine, die in b<strong>at</strong>tle. First Lieutenant Robert Michael Kelly was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2010. A n<strong>at</strong>ive of Boston, Kelly, 66, enlisted in the Marines when he was 20, spent two years in an infantry company, and then left to go to university. After gradu<strong>at</strong>ing he rejoined the Corps as a second lieutenant and rose steadily through a number of positions, including company and b<strong>at</strong>talion commands. In the l<strong>at</strong>e 1990s, he was the Marine Corps commandant’s liaison to Congress, the first of two such stints th<strong>at</strong> exposed him to the political giveand-take between the military and legisl<strong>at</strong>ors. In 1999, he began a two-year stint as special assistant to the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, in Mons, Belgium. — AFP Children leap into a tidal pool as temper<strong>at</strong>ures soar <strong>at</strong> Camps Bay beach in Cape Town, South Africa, on Monday. — Reuters Gambia’s President to challenge election loss <strong>at</strong> Supreme Court President-elect Adama Barrow BANJUL: Gambia’s President Yahya Jammeh will challenge the results of a December 1 election <strong>at</strong> the Supreme Court, the ruling party said, raising the prospect th<strong>at</strong> a shock opposition victory th<strong>at</strong> was poised to end 22 years of autocr<strong>at</strong>ic rule will be overturned. Celebr<strong>at</strong>ions erupted across the tiny West African n<strong>at</strong>ion last week when Jammeh unexpectedly conceded defe<strong>at</strong> after the elections commission announced the victory of opposition candid<strong>at</strong>e Adama Barrow. However, in a dram<strong>at</strong>ic about-face th<strong>at</strong> drew intern<strong>at</strong>ional condemn<strong>at</strong>ion, the mercurial former coup leader on Friday decried “serious and unacceptable abnormalities” and called for fresh polls. In a st<strong>at</strong>ement broadcast on st<strong>at</strong>e television l<strong>at</strong>e on S<strong>at</strong>urday, the Alliance for P<strong>at</strong>riotic Reorient<strong>at</strong>ion and Construction (APRC) said it was preparing a petition “against the flawed decision of the Independent Elections Commission”. The deadline for submitting a challenge to the court is Tuesday. There is no sitting Supreme Court in Gambia, though there is currently a chief justice, who is Nigerian. In order to hear Jammeh’s complaint, legal experts believe <strong>at</strong> least four other judges must be hired. Rights groups say Jammeh exerts strong influence over the court. Three chief justices served between President Yahya Jammeh 2013 and 2015. The first, a Nigerian, was fired five weeks after his appointment then arrested and jailed. His Ghanaian successor lasted six months before his dismissal. Ali Nawaz Chowhan from Pakistan served for three months before abruptly leaving Gambia after acquitting the former navy chief in a treason case. He l<strong>at</strong>er told a Pakistani newspaper th<strong>at</strong> he left because the decision displeased the government. The last two Gambian judges left the court a year and a half ago. “Either you do wh<strong>at</strong> Jammeh wants you to, or you lose your job or even go to jail,” said Bubacarr Drammeh, a former st<strong>at</strong>e prose<strong>cut</strong>or who fled into exile in the United St<strong>at</strong>es earlier this year. “The election results were correct, nothing will change th<strong>at</strong>,” elections commission head Alieu Momarr Njai said on Sunday. “If it goes to court, we can prove every vote cast. The results are there for everyone to see.” Barrow, who has pledged to serve as a transitional leader and step down after three years, said on S<strong>at</strong>urday th<strong>at</strong> Jammeh had no constitutional authority to reject the poll results. The residence in the capital Banjul where Barrow was staying on Sunday was surrounded by around 30 unarmed supporters who said they were providing security after the police and military declined to protect him. — Reuters
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