CR IP TI ON BS SU 40 PAGES NO: 16422 150 FILS TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015 www.kuwaittimes.net RABI ALTHANI 14, 1436 AH Syrians throng embassy after it resumes services 12,000 passports need renewal • Tight security around mission Min 10º Max 25º High Tide 12:52 & 23:25 Low Tide 06:33 & 18:03 By Faten Omar Activist’s jail term upheld as tweeters freed Domestics’ law studied By B Izzak KUWAIT: The public prosecutor yesterday freed two online activists on bail after questioning them along with others over accusations of insulting Saudi King Abdullah, who died less than two weeks ago. The prosecutor freed Mohammad Khaled Al-Ajmi on a KD 1,000 bail pending trial after detaining him for five days for allegedly writing comments on his Twitter account deemed offensive to King Abdullah and endangering diplomatic ties between Kuwait and the kingdom. The prosecutor also freed Flaih Al-Azemi, a journalist with an Arabic daily, after several days of detention after facing similar accusations. No date has been yet set for their trial. The decisions come one day after a judge ordered the detention of two other tweeters for 10 days pending investigation over similar charges. Arrest warrants have also been issued against a number of other activists for making similar charges. Continued on Page 13 KUWAIT: Syrians living in Kuwait wait to renew their passports at their embassy yesterday after the diplomatic mission resumed consular services. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat KUWAIT: The Syrian Embassy resumed operations yesterday after being closed for nine months, with long lines forming outside as Syrians rushed to complete pending paperwork. An official source at the embassy, who chose to remain anonymous, denied reports that the embassy was closed to put pressure on Kuwait to send back the Kuwaiti ambassador to Syria. “The reason behind the closure of the embassy was because the visas of the ambassador and some diplomats at the embassy were not renewed, so they had to go back to Syria,” he told Kuwait Times. “Kuwait recalled its ambassador and diplomatic staff for safety reasons, but Syria kept its embassy open in Kuwait more than two years after the withdrawal of the Kuwaiti ambassador from Syria,” the source said. “The passports of approximately 12,000 Syrians need to be renewed, according to the Ministry of Interior, but the number was higher, as many Syrians renewed their passport in Syrian embassies in the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Because of the difficulty of entry for some people into the UAE, they sent it via mail,” he added. The source assured that Kuwait “warmly welcomed” the opening of the embassy, with a tight security presence around the mission. He added that the charge d’affaires at the embassy is the de facto ambassador. The Syrian embassy in Kuwait reopened last month after a diplomatic team consisting of the charge d’affaires and two aides arrived in Kuwait. Alarab off air hours after launch UN: 2014 ‘hottest year on record’ BRISBANE: Juris Greste, the father of Australian journalist Peter Greste (pictured below), Peter’s brother Andrew Greste and his mother Lois Greste smile after holding a press conference yesterday. — AP Greste speaks of ‘angst’ over colleagues in jail NICOSIA: Australian journalist Peter Greste yesterday urged Egypt to free his jailed colleagues at Al-Jazeera, describing his “angst” at having to leave them behind after being released. Greste, 49, was arrested for allegedly aiding the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood, along with colleagues Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed of Egypt, in moves that sparked worldwide condemnation. The award-winning correspondent was freed and deported on Sunday after more than 400 days behind bars in Cairo, and he immediately flew with his brother Michael to Cyprus, where he has been resting before returning to Australia. “This is a massive step forward... I just hope that Egypt keeps going down this path with the others,” Greste told AlJazeera in his first interview since leaving prison. Greste said he felt a “real mix of emotions boiling inside” upon hearing the unexpected news that he was to be released because it meant leaving behind “my brothers” Fahmy and Mohamed. “I Egyptian PM woos Kuwaiti investors 5 went for a run and the prison warden called me over and said: ‘It is time... to get your stuff and go,’” he told the pan-Arab television network. “I feel incredible angst about my colleagues, leaving them behind,” he said. “Amidst all this relief, I still feel a sense of concern. If it’s appropriate for me to be free, it’s right for all of them to be freed.” Greste said he was overwhelmed by the level of support for the campaign for his release, and that he now looked forward to “watching a few sunsets” and “feeling sand under my toes”. “This has been like a rebirth and you realise that it is those little beautiful moments in life... that’s what’s important.” Fahmy’s relatives expect him to also be deported under a decree passed by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi that allows for the transfer of foreigners on trial. His fiancee, Marwa Omara, told AFP in Cairo: “We are expecting Mohamed to be released in the coming days.” Continued on Page 13 Obama unveils $4 trillion budget 21 GENEVA: The year 2014 was the hottest on record, part of a “warming trend” that appeared set to continue, the UN’s weather agency said yesterday. Average global air temperatures in 2014 were 0.57 degrees Celsius higher than the long-term average of 14 C for a 1961-1990 reference period, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in a statement. “Fourteen of the 15 hottest years have all been this century,” said WMO secretary general Michel Jarraud. “In 2014, record-breaking heat combined with torrential rainfall and floods in many countries and drought in some others - consistent with the expectation of a changing climate,” he added. Global sea-surface temperatures also reached record levels. United Nations members will meet in Geneva next week for talks on a global climate pact that must be signed in Paris in December for curbing greenhouse gas emissions. The UN seeks to limit warming to no more than 2 C over pre-Industrial Revolution levels, but scientists warn the Earth is on target for double that target - a scenario that could be catastrophic. “We expect global warming to continue, given that rising levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and the increasing heat content of the oceans are committing us to a warmer future,” said Jarraud. The WMO said that only a few hundredths of a degree separated the warmest years. Average global air temperatures in 2010 were 0.55 C above average, compared to 2014’s 0.57 C, and 0.54 C in 2005. Continued on Page 13 MANAMA: A new pan-Arab news channel backed by a billionaire Saudi prince was suspended from broadcasting from its home in Bahrain yesterday, just hours after it went on air and carried an interview with a prominent opposition activist. The Alarab television station said on its official Twitter feed that coverage was halted for “technical and administrative reasons”, and that it hopes to be back on the air soon. It went live on Sunday afternoon. The unexpected stoppage, apparently on the order of Bahraini authorities, came just hours after Alarab surprised many viewers by featuring Bahraini opposition activist Khalil Al-Marzouq as one of its first guests. Yusuf Mohammed, the media director at Bahrain’s Information Affairs Authority, cited similar reasons as the channel for its being “temporarily suspended” in comments to the official Bahrain News Agency. He did not give further details. He said the authorities are working with Alarab management “to swiftly resolve the matter”, and he expected the channel will resume broadcasting soon. Continued on Page 13 MANAMA: Advertising on the side of a skyscraper shows news anchors of the newly launched Alarab TV network yesterday. — AP Iran launches first satellite since 2012 TEHRAN: Iran launched an observation satellite yesterday its first since 2012 - with President Hassan Rouhani declaring it safely entered orbit and that he had personally ordered the mission. The Fajr (Dawn) satellite was successfully placed 450 km above Earth, said Al-Alam television, an Arabic-language station owned by the Islamic republic. It is the fourth such satellite launch by Iran, after three others between 2009 and 2012. The satellite was locally made, said the official IRNA news agency, as was its launcher, according to Rouhani who noted Iran’s aim is to have no reliance on foreign space technology. “Our sci- ‘Spewing buffalos’: Uganda’s ‘Uglish’ entists have entered a new phase for conquering space. We will continue on this path,” Rouhani said in a short statement on state television. Al-Alam said the Fajr satellite, weighing 52 kilos, would be able to take accurate pictures from space. It took eight minutes to reach orbit and is now linked with its ground-based controllers, state media said. The launch came as Iran started 10 days of celebrations for the 36th anniversary of the Islamic revolution, culminating on February 11, “Victory Day”, when the USbacked shah’s reign officially ended in 1979. Defence Minister General Hossein Dehgan 40 echoed Rouhani’s comments, stating that the 21-m and 26 tonne launcher, named Safir-Fajr, shows “the ability of Iran to build satellite launchers”. In February 2010, Iran launched a satellite containing a rat, turtles and insects. Separate missions under Iran’s space programme have seen two capsules launched. One, in January 2013, included a monkey that was recovered alive. Iran’s space activities, however, have sent alarm bells ringing in the international community amid concern over Tehran’s development of technology that could have military purposes. — AFP Patriots win Super Bowl thriller over Seahawks 20
© Copyright 2024 ExpyDoc
