Habib Toumi

David Miliband - Daily Mail

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband has demanded Israel’s full cooperation in investigating the fraudulent use of British passports by the killers of a Hamas leader in Dubai last month, describing their misuse as an “outrage”.

“What the Permanent Secretary made clear is that we wanted Israel to co-operate fully with the investigation (that has been launched by Gordon Brown and is being undertaken by the Serious and Organised Crime Agency), and to send back to his government the seriousness with which we are addressing this situation,” said Miliband, according to the Times. “There has obviously been a very serious incident involving British passports and British passport holders who woke up yesterday morning extremely worried.”

He said he hoped to discuss the issue further with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman when both men were in Brussels on Monday, according to a report in Israeli daily Haaretz.

Israel’s ambassador to Britain, Ron Prosor, met Ricketts on Thursday after London summoned him to clarify what it called an “identity theft” in which the passports of six British Israelis were used by assassins.

As he left Whitehall, Prosor said that he had been “invited” to the meeting, stressing that he had not been “summoned” in a clear signal that there was no diplomatic dressing down.

However, Prosor said that while he was “happy to cooperate with Sir Peter’s request”, he was “unable to shed any further light on the events.” continue reading…

Dahi Tamim

The two Palestinians held by Dubai police in connection with the murder of Hamas leader Mahmoud Al Mbahouh last month have been identified by an Israeli daily as an intelligence operative and a Palestinian Authority employee.

“A Palestinian intelligence and an employee of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah were arrested in the Jordanian capital Amman. Jordan on Tuesday confirmed it had extradited the two to Dubai,” Haaretz reported on Thursday, giving the names of the two Palestinians.

The two lived in Gaza until Hamas seized control of the Strip in 2007 and later moved to Dubai, where they were employed by a real estate company belonging to a Palestinian, the paper said.

The Gardian in London reported that a Hamas security operative is under arrest in Syria on suspicion of having assisted the hit squad. continue reading…

Fahad Al Ajmi

A Kuwaiti lawyer is suing Toyota Motor Corp, Kuwait’s commerce ministry and the chamber of commerce and industry over compromising drivers’ safety on the road.

Fahad Nasser Al Ajmi said that the international company had admitted the existence of defects and recalled millions of cars in Europe and Asia, but not in Kuwait, Al Aan newsportal reported on Thursday.

Al Ajmi said that he was lodging the suit against the commerce ministry and the chamber for commerce and industry for their responsibilities in protecting consumers from defects in all products sold in Kuwait.

The court will consider the case on March 15.

Bahrain’s parliament should move forward towards amending a press draft law to ensure the decriminalisation of all press offences and the establishment of an effective self-regulatory body, an international watchdog has said.

The Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said that it was backing demands by its affiliate, the Bahrain Journalists Association (BJA), to address concerns the draft may allow for journalists to be charged under the terrorism law.

“Press freedom in Bahrain will be meaningless if journalists can still be sent to prison for their work,” Jim Boumelha, IFJ President, said. “The king has already endorsed calls for abolishing the imprisonment of journalists and it is time for the parliament to follow suit,” he said in a statement.

According to Boumelha, “journalism and press freedom are the cornerstone of democracy.”

“Neither members of the parliament nor the broader public can make informed decisions without accurate information provided to them by the media”, he said.

Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary, called for consultations with the Bahrain media community over the press law and proposals for self-regulation. continue reading…

Finance ministers of Bahrain and Turkey sign bilateral agreement in Manama- BNA

A free trade agreement between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Turkey will be signed before the end of this year, Turkey’s Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek, said.

The minister told reporters in Manama that negotiations on the free trade agreement have been going on for almost four years and expressed confidence that trade in the region would benefit from the deal.

Şimşek who arrived on Monday in Manama to co-chair the meeting of Joint Economic Commission (JEC) has been discussing with Bahraini leaders business issues, global economic developments as well as ways to boost trade and investments between the two countries.

According to Turkish media, trade volume between Turkey and Bahrain increased to $404 million in 2008, up from $72 million in 2004.

Şimşek has also stressed the significance of the development of a preferential trade system for Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) member countries, Turkish daily Today’s Zaman reported on Thursday. continue reading…

Al Afassi - Al Watan

Kuwait has a plan to boost its native population to at least 50 per cent of the total number of people living in the northern Arabian Gulf emirate, a Kuwaiti minister said. The plan includes further reducing the number of foreigners staying illegally in the country.

“Under the recently approved development plan, there will be greater opportunities for Kuwaiti nationals to contribute to the growth of their country,” Mohammad Al Afassi, the social affairs and labour minister, said. “Kuwaitis now make up between 25 and 30 per cent of the total population, but the government wants to use the development plan to boost their number to 50 per cent of the total population,” the minister told Kuwaiti daily Al Rai. 

Part of the plan includes reducing the number of foreigners staying illegally in the country, he said.

“We have succeeded in bringing down the number of foreigners staying illegally in the country in 2009 by 10 per cent or around 200,000 people. We have resorted to deportation and to a better management of work permits,” the minister said. continue reading…