Emir says Qatar committed to 'stable' Egypt

27

February

2015

HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and HE the Foreign Minister Dr Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah with Georgetown University president John J DeGioia in Washington on Thursday.

AFP/Washington
HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani said he was committed to "stability" in Egypt, despite a recent row between the two nations over Cairo's air strikes against IS militants in Libya.
Islamic State jihadists released a video this month showing the beheading of 21 Coptic Christians in Libya, most of them Egyptian, prompting Cairo to launch air strikes on IS targets in the eastern city of Derna.
Qatar reportedly expressed reservations over the strikes, recalling its ambassador to Cairo for consultations.
But HH the Emir said on Thursday he was committed to seeing a stable Egypt.
"My policy is to make sure that if there is anything that I can help to stabilise the situation in Egypt I will do so," the Emir said during a trip to Washington.
"Now there is a government there, we have differences with them but we all agree that this government has to be stable," he added, speaking at Georgetown University.
The Gulf Cooperation Council initially sided with Qatar in its criticism of Egypt. But the GCC later said it fully backed Egypt's air strikes in Libya.
"We had differences between Qatar and some GCC countries concerning our approach to Egypt, but what we did is when a government was elected we stood by the government," HH the Emir said.
Most Gulf Arab nations, including Qatar, have joined the US-led coalition waging air strikes on the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, where the extremists have taken over swathes of territory.
Egypt is also an ally of Washington, and a rift with Qatar and other Gulf states would complicate efforts to forge a united front against IS jihadists and its affiliates across the region.
This is HH the Emir’s first visit to the US capital, where he met with President Barack Obama.

2022 World Cup final no later than Dec. 18, says Blatter

27

February

2015

FIFA President Sepp Blatter announces Qatar as the host nation for the FIFA World Cup 2022, in Zurich in this December 2, 2010 file photo. Reuters
Reuters/Belfast
The World Cup final in Qatar in 2022 should be played no later than December 18, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said on Friday.
Blatter said when he arrived in Northern Ireland for this weekend's International Football Association Board meeting that he would propose that idea to the FIFA executive committee when it meets next month.
"The World Cup will not go on until the 23rd, definitely not, we have to stop at the 18th," Blatter told reporters. "I am against going to the 23rd."
FIFA's Task Force looking into the time of year the World Cup can be held in Qatar proposed on Tuesday holding the 2022 tournament in November and December due to the extreme heat in June and July when soccer's showpiece event usually takes place.

Jazeera journalist case: Amal Clooney slams Canada

27

February

2015

Amal Clooney says Canadian diplomats have made only "sheepish whimpers" to Cairo. 

AFP/Montreal
Prominent human rights lawyer Amal Clooney lashed out at the Canadian government on Thursday, accusing Ottawa of "woefully inadequate" efforts to secure the repatriation of Al-Jazeera journalist Mohamed Fahmyfrom Egypt.
In a scathing rebuke of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government, Clooney said diplomats had made only "sheepish whimpers" to Cairo instead of the required concerted efforts to secure her client's return.
Canadian reporter Fahmy faces a fresh trial in Egypt over accusations that he supported the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood movement in his news coverage with colleagues, a charge he has rejected as absurd.
A court freed Fahmy, Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed and other defendants on bail earlier this month after they spent more than 400 days in prison.
One of the defendants, Australian Peter Greste, was deported under a recent law that allows the transfer of foreigners on trial to their home countries.
Clooney, who is married to Hollywood star George Clooney, said she had expected Canada to negotiate a similar repatriation deal with Egypt for her client.
Canada had previously indicated that Fahmy's release and return was "imminent" but it had not happened, Clooney said in a statement.
"So what did Canado do? It published a short written statement by a junior minister calling the situation 'unacceptable' and asking for Fahmy's 'full and immediate release' and 'consideration of a general amnesty'," Clooney wrote.
"Such sheepish whimpers are woefully inadequate when it comes to enforcing an agreement reached with a sovereign state regarding a citizen's release from detention," she added.
"Canada should now begin real advocacy to ensure that Egypt honours its agreement to release Mr Fahmy from Egypt. There is no legal impediment to his immediate transfer to Canada.
"Yet calls from Canadian society and politicians for Prime Minister Harper to pick up the phone to personally intervene in the case have so far fallen on deaf ears."
Fahmy, Greste and the other defendants had initially been sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.
An appeals court ordered a retrial in January, saying the verdicts had not been supported by evidence.
The journalists were arrested in December 2013 during a crackdown on supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

UAE to reopen embassy in Yemen's south, backing Hadi

27

February

2015

Protesters shout slogans during a demonstration to show support for Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in the central city of Ibb February 27, 2015. Hadi fled to Aden last week after the newly dominant Shia Houthi faction forced him to step down and held him under house arrest in Sanaa for a month.
 
Reuters/Dubai

The United Arab Emirates will reopen its Yemeni embassy in the southern port city of Aden, the state news agency WAM said on Friday, where Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has set up a seat of power since being driven from the capital.
Sanaa was captured in September by the Shia Muslim Houthi militia, which placed Hadi under house arrest and forced him to announce his resignation. However, parliament never approved the resignation, and on Sunday Hadi fled to Aden.
An aide to Hadi said on Thursday that Yemen's neighbour Saudi Arabia, the Sunni-ruled main Gulf Arab power, was moving its ambassador to Aden.
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said the UAE had made its decision "in order to entrench constitutional legitimacy in Yemen, embodied by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government", according to WAM.
Arab countries and Western states this month evacuated their embassies in Sanaa following a power grab by the Iranian-backed Houthis, viewed with suspicion by the Gulf's mostly Sunni Muslim rulers.
The prospect of rival centres of power competing for control of Yemen has raised fears that the impoverished and heavily-armed country may be headed for civil war.

Iraq statue-smashing sparks outrage, heritage fears

7:49 PM

27

February

2015

Men use sledgehammers on a toppled statue in a museum at a location said to be Mosul in this still image taken from an undated video

AFP/Baghdad
A video of jihadists in Iraq gleefully smashing ancient statues to pieces with sledgehammers sparked global outrage and fears Friday that more of the world's oldest heritage will be destroyed.
The destruction of priceless Assyrian and other artefacts from the main museum and an archeological site in the northern city of Mosul drew comparisons with the 2001 dynamiting of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan.
Archaeologists and heritage experts called for urgent action to protect the remains of some of oldest civilisations in the world.
After demanding an emergency meeting of the Security Council, the head of the United Nations' cultural body said the International Criminal Court should also take action.
UNESCO chief Irinia Bokova described the destruction as "cultural cleansing".
French President Francois Hollande joined the chorus of condemnation, saying: "What the terrorists want to do is destroy all of humanity."
The Islamic State group has controlled Iraq's second city since June and has destroyed several historical and cultural sites across the country, including Muslim shrines.
"The artefacts and statues in the Mosul museum are not idols of gods, but statues of kings, animals, and birds," said Radwan al-Sayyed, professor of Islamic sciences at the Lebanese University.
"Even if they were statues of gods, they are in a museum, and the Koran calls on drawing lessons from them because they were for people who have long passed and that teach you that life is finite."
The Egyptian body which rules on Islamic law condemned the destruction of the Iraqi artefacts.
"Such antiquities are to be found in all of the countries conquered by Muslims, but the prophet's companions did not order their destruction or even authorise anything approaching it," said Dar al-Ifta, whose rulings are sought by Muslims from around the world.
Some of the statues destroyed in the video were likely replicas of pieces that had been moved to safety or are kept in museums in the West, experts say.
But several were originals, including the colossal granite Assyrian winged bull at Nergal gate in central Mosul which jihadists armed with a jackhammer can be seen defacing.
After wrecking the giant statue, IS militants reportedly told the guards of the vast archaeological site that the ancient city of Nimrud, south of Mosul, was next on their list.

Bourse closes week in negative trajectory despite robust corporate results

7:57 PM

27

February

2015

By Santhosh V Perumal/Business Reporter
A string of robust corporate results notwithstanding, the Qatar Stock Exchange closed the week in the negative trajectory with its key index losing 51 points and capitalisation melting more than QR2bn.
Although the market witnessed sporadic buying interests in the first two days, profit booking in the remaining three days finally rested the 20-stock Qatar Index 0.41% lower during the week that saw Al Khaliji get approval from shareholders to raise as much as $2.5bn through debt capital markets.
In comparison, Muscat plunged 1.19% and Kuwait 0.59%; while Bahrain surged 1.01%, Abu Dhabi (0.37%), Dubai (0.18%) and Saudi Arabia (0.14%) during the week.
Qatari bourse has so far (year-to-date) made 1.3% gains against 11.76% in Saudi Arabia, 3.47% in Abu Dhabi, 3.41% in Muscat, 3.38% in Bahrain, 2.4% in Dubai and 1.01% in Kuwait.
Selling pressure, especially in the consumer goods and real estate stocks, was instrumental in dragging the Qatari bourse during the week that saw Nebras Power — a joint venture among Qatar Electricity and Water, Qatar Petroleum International and Qatar Holding — is planning to invest in the broader Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe.
However, Islamic stocks stole the limelight as its index was seen gaining amidst an overall bearish overhang in the market, where realty, telecom and banking stocks dominate the trading ring in terms of volumes during the week.
Domestic institutions were seen intense in net selling, non-Qatari retail investors turned net profit takers and Qatari individual investors continued to be net sellers but with lesser intensity during the week that witnessed the banking and industrial sectors report improvement in their net earnings in 2014; even as insurance witnessed contraction.
Consumer goods stocks plummeted 3.53%, realty (1.81%) and transport (0.12%); whereas telecom gained 1.14%, insurance (0.46%), industrials (0.35%) and banks and financial services (0.35%) during the week.
The 20-stock Total Return Index was down 0.08% and All Share Index (comprising wider constituents) by 0.18%; while Al Rayan Islamic Index rose 0.76% during the week.
Of the 43 stocks, 19 gained, while 23 declined and one was unchanged. Eight of the 12 banks and financial services, four each of the eight consumer goods and the nine industrials, three of the five insurers, and two each of the four real estate and the three transport stocks closed lower during the week.
Major losers included Qatar Islamic Bank, International Islamic, Masraf Al Rayan, Alijarah Holding, Dlala, Salam International Investment, Woqod, Widam Food, Gulf International Services, Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding, Qatar Insurance, Al Khaleej Takaful, Ezdan and Mazaya Qatar during the week.
However, QNB, Industries Qatar, Commercial Bank, Islamic Holding Group, Qatari Investors Group, Doha Insurance, Barwa, United Development Company and Vodafone Qatar bucked the trend.
Market capitalisation eroded 0.33% to QR675.34bn with mid and large cap equities falling 0.52% and 0.42%; while micro and small caps gained 0.74% and 0.11% respectively during the week that saw Vodafone Qatar and Barwa dominate the trading ring in terms of both volume and value.
Micro, mid and small cap scrips have gained year-to-date 8.75%, 5.45% and 2.37% respectively; whereas large caps slumped 1.66%.
Domestic institutions’ net selling strengthened to QR41.81mn compared to QR14.39mn the week ended February 19.
Local retail investors turned net profit booking fell to QR32.95mn against QR57.56mn the previous week.
Non-Qatari retail investors turned net sellers to the tune of QR7.95mn compared with net buyers of QR43.17mn the week ended February 19.
Foreign institutions’ net buying soared to QR82.48mn against QR28.78mn the previous week.
A total of 48.73mn shares valued at QR2.27bn changed hands across 26,135 transactions during the week.
The telecom sector saw 13.36mn stocks worth QR257.05mn trade in 3,310 deals and the real estate sector saw a total of 12.99mn equities worth QR379.72mn change hands across 4,871 transactions.
As many as 10.45mn banks and financial shares valued at QR734.9mn trade across 6,154 deals.
The industrials sector saw a total of 6.02mn stocks worth QR471.53mn changed hands across 7,089 transactions.
The market saw a total of 3.09mn consumer goods equities valued at QR280.94mn trade in 2,976 deals.
The transport segment recorded 1.12mn shares valued at QR47.6mn changed hands across 629 transactions and the insurance saw a total of 1.71mn equities worth QR100.43mn trade across 1,106 deals.
In the debt market, there was no trading of treasury bills and government bonds during the week.

DOHA: Now that the new labour law is out, the much-awaited new sponsorship and exit permit rules can be expected soon, say lawyers.

The two laws are closely interlinked so it was necessary to amend the labour legislation first — to make way for the new sponsorship law to be issued, according to lawyers.

The amended labour law makes it mandatory for the companies covered under it to electronically transfer the salary of their workers. A new format of job contract is expected to be issued by the authorities concerned to accommodate the above changes.

The format is expected to provide guidelines for clauses to be included in the job contracts on conditions for sponsorship change and entitlement to exit permit waiver or otherwise. For this, all companies might be required to change the job contracts of all their workers and follow the new format.

It is, thus, likely that the new labour law issued last week may be implemented together with the new sponsorship law, “which is anyway expected soon”, said Yusuf Al Zaman.

Al Zaman, a prominent lawyer, recalled in remarks to this newspaper that the new labour law (No 1 of 2015) is to be published in the official gazette and then implemented. “Although the official gazette is out every month, there is no information if the new labour law will be published in its next issue,” he said.