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Neither I, nor any President can promise the total defeat of terror ... what we must do -- is dismantle networks that pose a direct danger.

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Deputy Emir receives Iraqi defence minister

The Deputy Emir and Heir Apparent H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met Iraqi Defence Minister Dr Saadoun Al Dulaimi and his delegation at the Emiri Diwan yesterday.

Ministers to look into shortage of shops

DOHA: The government has hinted it might try to acquire land in neighbourhoods in Doha and other towns to build commercial complexes to help meet a severe shortage of shops and push down their demand-driven high rent prices. The Qatar Chamber, representative body of the private sector, yesterday raised the issue with two key ministers of acute shortage of shops particularly in Doha due to large-scale demolitions of old buildings for development projects. The ministers said they will try their level best on behalf of their ministries to acquire plots of land in busy neighbourhoods, especially in Greater Doha, where shopping complexes could be built by the government so shops could be allotted on affordable rent. The issue of shop shortages was taken up by Qatar Chamber officials at a meeting attended by the Minister of Business and Trade, HE Sheikh Jassim bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, and the Minister of Municipality and Urban Planning, HE Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Khalifa Al Thani. The meeting was held at a hotel here on the sidelines of a signing ceremony where the first phase of a government-initiated project to build major shopping complexes (Furjan markets) in remote and sparsely populated areas of the country, was awarded to a local company. Present at the meeting were the chairman of the Chamber, Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim Al Thani, and board member of the Chamber and its contracting committee head, Nasser Al Meer. Emerging from the meeting, Al Meer told reporters the Chamber asked the two ministers why the government was not building such shopping complexes in neighbourhoods particularly in Doha for allotment since there was a huge shortage due to large-scale demolitions of old buildings. The ministers, according to Al Meer, explained that the government did not own land in these busy neighbourhoods, whereas in remote areas it did, so it was building commercial complexes there. “The ministers, however, assured that they would do their best to locate plots of land in some busy neighbourhoods to build shopping complexes,” Al Meer said. “We have to first find big plots of land and only then can we build shopping complexes so shops could be allotted on affordable rent,” Al Meer quoted the ministers as saying. About the Furjan project, the trade minister said that it was being launched in three phases and on completion of the last phase there will be some 200 ‘Furjan’ shopping complexes in different parts of the country. Chamber officials also said that Qatari contracting companies had little business since there were no projects in the market. The trade minister said that tenders were expected to be floated for some development projects over the next few weeks. And tenders for a slew of projects could be expected to be floated in the second half of this year, Al Meer said citing the trade minister. The Peninsula

Obama acts on Gitmo, drones

President Barack Obama speaks on counterterrorism during a speech at the National Defense University on May 23, 2013 at Ft. McNair in Washington, D.C. WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama outlined plans yesterday to limit the use of drone strikes against extremists abroad and took steps to break a deadlock on closing the Guantanamo Bay military prison. In a major foreign policy speech after two weeks of fending off domestic scandals, Obama limited the scope of what his predecessor, George W Bush, had called a global war on terror after the 9/11 attacks. “Our nation is still threatened by terrorists,” Obama said at Washington’s National Defence University. “We must recognise however, that the threat has shifted and evolved from the one that came to our shores on 9/11.” He said the US will only use drone strikes when a threat is imminent, a change of the policy of launching strikes against a significant threat. He said the Defence Department will take the lead in launching drones, as opposed to the practice of the CIA taking charge. Any drone strike will be launched only when a terror suspect cannot be captured. The US will respect state sovereignty and limit strikes to Al Qaeda or associated targets, he said. “And before any strike is taken, there must be near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured — the highest standard we can set.” Faced with congressional opposition, he has been frustrated by his inability to carry out a 2008 campaign pledge to close the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. A hunger strike by 103 of the 166 detainees has put pressure on him to take action. “There is no justification beyond politics for Congress to prevent us from closing a facility that should never have been opened,” he said. He announced steps to get some prisoners out. He lifted a moratorium on detainee transfers to Yemen out of respect for that country’s reforming government. He called on Congress to lift restrictions on the transfer of terror suspects from Guantanamo and asked the Defence Department to identify a site to hold military tribunals for Guantanamo detainees. “Where appropriate, we will bring terrorists to justice in our courts and military justice system,” he said. He said he would pick a senior envoy to handle detainee transfers, a position vacant since January. Reuters

Neighbourhood markets planned

Minister of Business and Trade H E Sheikh Jassim bin AbdulAziz bin Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani looks at scale models of the buildings to be constructed, as part of the signing ceremony for the first phase of a project to launch Furjan markets, at the Renaissance Hotel, yesterday. Shaival Dalal By Mohamed Osman DOHA: Remote and sparsely populated areas of the country will soon have large commercial complexes so that people don’t have to travel long distances to access commodities and services of daily need. The proposed shopping centres are being built by the government and the shops will be rented out through allotment to citizens of those areas on moderate rentals. The complexes, to be known as Furjan (neighbourhood) markets, will house provision stores, bakeries, butcheries, pharmacies, ATM kiosks, laundries, barber shops, fruits and vegetables vending areas and eateries, among other facilities. A highlight of these shopping centres will be that they will have utility services outlets as well, such as those manned by Kahramaa (electricity and water distributors) and telecom service providers. The project is being launched in three phases. The first phase will see a dozen complexes coming up in different areas. They will together have 122 shops with each complex admeasuring a built-up area of between 2,500 and 3,000 square metres. In the second phase, some 18 complexes will be built in various localities and will together have 176 shops. Each complex will be spread over an area of 700 to 2,000sqm. The remaining 14 complexes will be built in the third phase and their sizes will each vary from 3,000sqm to 7,000sqm. They will together have 290 shops. By the end of all phases, about 200 buildings will be ready. The project is being launched by the Ministry of Business and Trade, in coordination with the Qatar Development Bank (QDB) and the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning. The first phase was yesterday awarded to Qatar Power Company by the QDB vide an agreement signed between both sides. Mansoor bin Ibrahim Al Mahmoud, CEO of the QDB, and Sheikh Jassim bin Ahmed bin Khalifa Al Thani, from the Qatar Power Company, inked the deal. Present at the signing ceremony were the Minister of Business and Trade H E Sheikh Jassim bin Abdulaziz bin Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, and the Minister of Municipality and Urban Planning, H E Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Khalifa Al Thani. The Governor of Qatar Central Bank, H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Soud Al Thani, and Qatar Chamber Chairman, Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassem Al Thani also attended. The first phase is expected to be ready by June next year. In reply to questions during a news briefing, the trade minister said the shop allotment process will be decided later. The cost of the project was also not shared with the media. The complexes are being built on government land. After the signing ceremony, the ministers, QCB and Qatar Chamber chiefs as well as some board members of the Chamber, along with the Qatar Power Company official, were closeted in a meeting. Emerging from the meeting, Nasser Al Meer, the Chamber’s board member and head of its contracting committee, told this newspaper that Qatari companies will be accorded priority in the award of contract for the proposed complexes in the second and third phases. The Peninsula

Opposition chief offers ‘safe exit’ to Assad

Former leader of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) Moaz Alkhatib speaks during a meeting in Istanbul yesterday. BEIRUT: Syria’s outgoing opposition chief published an initiative yesterday that would grant President Bashar Al Assad a safe exit, and urged dissident factions to adopt his plan. Ahmed Moaz Al Khatib published his initiative on Facebook, as the main National Coalition he headed until March gathered in Istanbul to choose a new leader and discuss a US-Russian peace initiative dubbed Geneva 2. Under his initiative, Assad would have 20 days from yesterday to give “his acceptance of a peaceful transition of authority”. After accepting, Assad would have one month to hand over power to either Prime Minister Wael Al Halqi or Vice President Faruq Al Sharaa, who would then govern Syria for a transitional period of 100 days. As part of the transition Al Khatib envisages, Assad would “leave the country along with five hundred people whom he will select, along with their families and children, to any other country that may choose to host them”. This is the first time one of Syria’s opposition chiefs has made an offer of political immunity to Assad and key members of his regime. Reuters

Doping horses to be criminal offence in UAE

Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamadan Bin Rashid al-Maktoum pats Cavalryman at the Meydan race track on March 30, 2013 (AFP/File, Marwan Naamani) DUBAI: Giving anabolic steroids to horses will become a criminal offence in the UAE, Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who also owns the Godolphin stables where 18 horses have failed tests for the drugs this year, said yesterday. “I have always believed in the integrity of horse racing and all other horse sports,” Sheikh Mohammed, also ruler of Dubai, said in a statement. “I have, in light of the unfortunate recent event, directed that a decree be issued making, with immediate effect, the import, sale, purchase or use of anabolic steroids in horse sports a criminal offence under the UAE penal laws.” Reuters

Fire at scrap shop

Fire broke out in a scrap shop in the Industrial Area yesterday. Firefighters rushed to the site and put out the blaze. There were no casualties. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

Saudi confirms another death from coronavirus

Saudi Deputy Health Minister Ziad Memish looks on prior to a meeting on the SARS-like virus coronavirus (nCoV) situation yesterday at the World Health Assembly in Geneva. DUBAI: Saudi Arabia has announced another death from the SARS-like novel coronavirus (nCoV) in its central Al Qassim region, bringing the total number of deaths in the kingdom to 17. A non-Saudi, whose nationality and age were not given, died on Tuesday, the Health Ministry said on its website late on Wednesday. It said he had been admitted to a hospital in Al Qassim several days ago with an “acute respiratory syndrome”. “Most cases recorded so far are among elderly patients and people with multiple chronic diseases,” it added. A World Health Organization (WHO) spokesman confirmed it had been notified of the death from the disease, which it plans to call Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). “It is in a different area and doesn’t appear to be linked to the recent outbreak and cluster in the eastern part of the country,” Glenn Thomas said in Geneva. The WHO’s tally of deaths in the kingdom from nCoV/MERS since it surfaced last year is 18, including one who died in Britain last year after arriving from Saudi Arabia. The WHO says 44 cases of the new virus have been recorded so far, 22 of them fatal. Saudi Arabia has had 33 of the cases. WHO officials say the new virus appears to be transmissible between humans, but only after prolonged, close contact. Reuters