LOCALARAB TIMES, MONDAY, JULY 15, 2019

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A DIGEST OF PUBLIC OPINION

DIWANIYA‘Elaborate probe on cell arrests needed’

‘Who’s conspiring against country?’“THE Kuwaiti security authorities have arrested mem-bers of a terrorist cell affi liated to the Muslim Brother-hood Group,” columnist, general manager of Scope Sat-ellite TV Channel and former MP Talal Al-Saeed wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.

“These members have been sentenced to prison terms by the Egyptian judiciary but somehow they managed to fl ee to Kuwait – an ideal haven for them – because we have powerful, infl uential people here who belong to this group who can protect and shelter them. Their whole expenditure would be borne by these peo-ple until they are appointed as advisors at some of the most vital and strategic government departments or organizations.

“However, the offi cial authorities have so far not re-vealed the names of the members of the cell, but certain-ly they are not acting alone, but there are indeed some people here who would have provided the necessary support for them.

“In other words, it is not the matter of this cell only, because there are as many as 200,000 Egyptians who have managed to escape to our country (Kuwait) during either the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt or post the downfall of this regime.

“Given the above, I think, it will not be diffi cult for the State Security to specify the entry date of these peo-ple as to when they arrived in the country and identify if they fl ed Egypt after verdicts were issued against these convicts or they were on the ‘wanted list’ of the Egyp-tian authorities because Kuwait has never been or never will harbor terrorists even if some people were trying to do so for partisan interests, something which is no longer a secret.

“Likewise, it is no longer a secret that an ‘air link’ has been established by the members of this group be-tween Kuwait and Cairo and vice versa, but God alone knows what the aircraft was loaded with, but it is needless to say that what was unknown in the past, can be revealed at the moment fol-lowing the arrests as to how they managed to enter Kuwait in ad-dition to revealing the names of sponsors and those who sheltered them from the time they entered the country until now.

“In this context, I believe the appetite of the concerned offi cials will increase following the arrests of the members of the cell and as such the arrests of eight persons will not satisfy the authorities because the number exceeds far more than that.

“However, some people may say that those arrested mean no harm or cause devilish acts against Kuwait par-ticularly because they have found a safe harbor in this country, but it is needless to say this logic may be right but the purpose is illegal.

“In other words, the members of this group since the foiling of their last attempt which they called a ‘popu-lar move’ they preferred to stay remain underground (as sleeper cells), because for them ‘sleeper’ cells mean resumption of secret activities in the basements and agi-tate the street at a given opportunity and I think the re-cent escalation is a suffi cient proof.

“In this connection, we suggest if the concerned au-thority goes through precisely with this escalation, it will discover that the Muslim Brotherhood group is be-hind this escalation.

“However, the other signifi cant thing in this respect is that this is not benefi cial for the homeland and the citi-zens in terms of harboring them because they are wanted by the security authorities in their home country.

“Meanwhile, we wonder if there is any expatriate, who can enter any country without a work or visit visa. In other words, who is the sponsor, and why the latter had sponsored the suspects.

“Certainly, the concerned authority in the country, will fi nd obvious answers to all the above questions dur-ing the interrogation process.

“In conclusion, we would like to put on record here our thanks and appreciation for the great efforts exerted by the concerned security authorities by arresting the members of the cell but it is needless to say that all the pertinent details must be published so that every citi-zen knows who is conspiring against the security of the homeland and what will happen post the arrest of these cell members.”

Also:“First Deputy Premier and the Minister of Defense

Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad has called for boosting mutual understanding and integration among members of the international coalition that was formed to fi ght the ‘DAESH’ terrorist organization and take necessary decisions to deal a fi nal blow to this organization not only at a military level but also at intellectual and ideo-logical levels,” columnist Dr. Adel Behbehani wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“However, we believe that Sheikh Nasser through his reference to the importance of defeating DAESH at both the intellectual and ideological levels has actually man-aged to diagnose the basis and source of the problem because from the solution to the problem begins.

“As a matter of fact, a study of the phenomena of terrorism under religious garb and from cultural and intellectual angles is needed to understand the motive and the purpose that push the terrorists who are infl u-enced by Islam and eventually commit terrorist acts; this shall constitute the fi rst step to encounter such phenomena.

“In the meantime, we must keep in mind that the religious terms that inherit terrorist ideas has nothing to do with the teachings and values of the sublime Is-lam because this inheritance has undermined the ex-planations of some verses from the Holy Quran and the honorable Hadiths that were adopted by some clerics to serve their selfi sh interests by turning a blind eye the others who are intellectually at loggerheads with them and justify their thought of ex-Communication and practice of violence.

“Notwithstanding, the practices of the extremist re-ligious groups are evident when they call others infi -del and kill them and violate their rights and loot their money and property. This actually embodies their con-taminated teachings and this is proven in their extremist speeches given in certain mosques delivered by some fake clerics who are promoting the devilish actions and sedition motivated by their closed thought and blind fa-naticism.

“However, today, all of us need to fi ght this closed thought with an enlightened thought and this means everybody must shoulder his/her responsibility irrespec-tive of his/her own position to derail the catastrophic schemes of the extremists and fake preachers and refute all their allegations through which they justify their no-torious crimes.

“In this context, we say DAESH and other terrorist groups actually represent a set of organizations and cells which are spread all over the place to commit crimes in all parts of our planet, but we must keep in mind that these organizations are committed to their closed thought which obliges them to carry out their notorious and brutal crimes.

“Anyway, based on such vision, we suggest that fi ght-

ing terrorism entails that all political, social and cultural institutions in the community must be allowed to prac-tice their enlightened role to curb the real danger from the extremist groups which currently threaten us.”

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“I believe real art has moved unto the mercy of God after the death of great artistes such as Abdul-Hussein Abdul-Redha, Khaled Al-Nafi si, Ghanem Al-Saleh and Ali Mufi di, Ahmed Al-Saleh,” Yaqoub Yousef Al-Omar wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“After their departure, beautiful art has gone and has no effect, but their wonderful works of art are still alive with us and will not die. The high-end works will always remain immortal, and the works descending like smoke. We want to ask here about most of the work that was produced last year. Does anyone remember it?

“I think a lot do not remember it, and most of this year produced a downfall, which is at the level of the past year itself. What we see now in most of these works is just screaming, crying and wailing in a story that is not purposeful and does not represent anything with a very superfi cial dialogue. These acts are far from the reality of our modern or old society. Most of these works are aimed purely for fi nancial gain.

“Unfortunately, such works have a popular market for most of the region’s television channels. Most of them were produced by Kuwait TV. But one can only watch one episode of the work in order to get an idea of the entire work like the saying – ‘The book is read from its title’.

“Sometimes the title of the series has nothing to do with their content. It is a distant title of meaning and all those works integrated into the landing; story, dialogue and representation.

“I write about art because I am not a stranger to it. I was once a member of the board of directors in the National Theater. I have worked with the great pioneer artistes of Kuwaiti theater Muhammad Al-Nashmi and Abdul Rahman Al-Dowaihi. We drank art from them.

“Another thing I would like to mention here is the information many people do not know about Dr Mu-hammad Al-Ojairi. He was a pioneer artiste who played comic roles and was wonderful at it.

“Finally, we ask Ministry of Information to tighten censorship on all works of art, especially on the story and dialogue, and restore Kuwaiti art to its past status – this is its responsibility.”

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“The beautiful thought of American President Don-ald Trump that North Korean President Kim Jong-un is from the Arabs and his roots belong to the tribes of the Arab Peninsula made him deal with the latter on this ba-sis. Unfortunately, it was too late when Trump realized otherwise,” columnist Mohammad Al-Washihi wrote for Al-Jarida daily.

“The beautiful American wrote to Kim Jong-un de-manding for the transfer of his nuclear weapons to America. The latter got angry so he did not attend the luncheon prepared for him.

“Trump’s advisers should have warned him about something very simple, yet very important: ‘The heads of states should not be dealt with as some Arab presi-dents are dealt with.’ Trump, may God protect him, is lightheaded and reckless with limited culture and knowledge, such that he believes the planet consists of Americans, Europeans, Israelis and Arabs only.

“If Trump thought a little, he would have discovered that Kim Jong-un is not Arab. He did not raise the slogan ‘combat terrorism’ to kill his people, yet he kills them without slogans or masks.”

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“We have said before and we still say – It is unfor-tunate that the golden era of the Public Institution for Social Security has passed. The institution has reached a miserable stage to the extent of using police to call out for people on the street to go into the institution,” Talal Al-Saeed wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.

“The story begins with the suffering of the retirees who went to the institution in response to an announce-ment about getting a good loan equivalent to seven-month salaries. The obvious question then is – If the institution is not ready to receive such high number of retirees, why make such an announcement and invite them?

“We are not aware of the shortcomings of the institu-tion. We imagined that it is the best service institution in Kuwait, and can complete all the transactions of the visitors, irrespective of their numbers, without compli-cation and without the need to use police service as seen in communist countries.

“Instead of all this, the institution could arrange ap-pointments online and the retiree can fi x an appointment from home without the need for any police involvement or any manifestation of police states, something that we do not want Kuwait to become.”

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“In a situation where the country transforms from a clannish state governed by conventional tribalism into a constitutional state governed by the rule of law, the role played by conventional tribe, clan, phratry, moiety and other names that no longer exist in the modern day and contradict the path of the rule of law fades away naturally,” columnist Hassan Ali Karam wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.

“The constitutional State basically operates on the civil rule and political system built on independence of the authorities. Despite the people of Kuwait are proud of the constitutional system and state governance, the infl uence of tribe, clan, phratry, moiety, families, elites and sects still exists, and they are in some instances stronger than the constituted authorities. This means that some people are still trying to escape the constitution in which they might have found restrictions after several decades of practicing the constitutional and parliamen-tary system.That’s why they try to escape in every pos-sible manner as if the constitution is meant for a section of the society only.”

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“Gulf oil companies tend to borrow from foreign fi -nancial markets. We talk about GCC companies, such as Saudi Aramco, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and Qatargas. They borrow from banks and offshore fi -nancial institutions. They borrow large amounts such as Aramco -- estimated at $100 billion to fi nance its projects including the acquisition of assets owned by SABIC Petrochemicals valued at $70 billion, as well as external partnerships in the refi ning and refi neries sec-tor,” columnist Kamel Al-Harami wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“Meanwhile, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation an-nounced recently the signing of a memorandum of understanding with British Export Finance Authority worth $3 billion, including loans and credit facilities for British export of goods and services to the Kuwaiti oil sector.

“This is an appropriate decision to encourage foreign companies, with appropriate funding for other options available to KPC and a new experience that may result in different management experiences which we lack.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb

Al-Saeed

KRCS distributes food parcels to Rohingya refugees in B’desh

Kuwait pledges millions in Yemen aid

KUWAIT CITY, July 14, (KUNA): Kuwait Red Cres-cent Society announced on Saturday distribution of 2,300 food parcels to Roh-ingya refugees in Bangla-desh in coordination with Bangladesh Red Crescent Society.

Each portion, handed over to a fi ve-member family, is suffi cient for two weeks, said Anwar Al-Ha-sawi, the KRCS Deputy Chairman and head of the society fi eld team in Bangladesh.

Talking to KUNA, he says the KRCS is continuing relief operations for the Rohingya either in coordina-tion with local and international asso-ciations or directly by volunteers who have been doing their best to make sure that the aid supplies are delivered to those in need.

The KRCS team has inspected refugees’ conditions in the region of Cox’s Bazar and a makeshift hos-pital built with contributions by the Kuwaiti, Bangladeshi and Qatari red crescents.

He has underlined necessity of the mission to asses needs of the refugees in general, the children, elderly and those of special needs in particular.

More than 700,000 Muslim Ro-hingya have fled persecution in Myan-mar to neighboring Bangladesh since 2016.

Kuwait has dispatched batches of aid to the refugees, bulk of whom live in squalid conditions.

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Kuwaiti relief aid bodies operating in Yemen pledged to provide con-tinuing assistance across the country worth a total USD 2.3 million amid talks with other assistance-providing Gulf countries on Thursday.

The attending bodies at the meeting,

held at the Riyadh-based King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, were Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry, Ku-wait Red Crescent Society and the Ku-wait Relief Society.

In the first half of 2019, some 309,000 Yemenis benefited from cam-paigns launched by Kuwait Red Cres-cent, according to Abdulsalam Ba-aboud, member of the Yemeni Higher Relief Committee.

These campaigns, worth a collec-tive USD 3.3 million, have targeted sectors, such as food, education and water, he said.

‘Expats appointed in senior posts’KUWAIT CITY, July 14: State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Anas Al-Saleh revealed that an expatriate was appointed in the General Secretariat of Cabinet and another in Kuwait Fire Ser-vice Directorate on short term basis from January 1 to May 31, reports Al-Rai daily.

In response to a parliamen-tary question submitted by MP Safaa Al-Hashim, the minister explained that the expatriate ap-pointed in General Secretariat of Cabinet works on the govern-mental performance follow-up

system in the Information Tech-nology Department.

The other positions occupied by expatriates in the General Secretariat of Cabinet is limited to service positions such as office boy, tea boy and driver.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Jus-tice will deposit the bonuses of the jurists and others who worked during the National As-sembly by-elections in the Sec-ond and Third constituencies on March 16, reports Al-Anba daily quoting informed sources.

KUNA photoKuwait Red Crescent Society team after the distribution of relief aid.