Habib Toumi

Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized the assassination of Hamas leader Mahmoud Al Mabhouh in early January, the Sunday Times has reported. Quoting sources with knowledge of Mossad, the paper said that Netanyahu told Mossad chief Meir Dagan to go ahead with the Dubai killing during a meeting at the Midrasha, the intelligence agency’s headquarters, in the northern suburbs of Tel Aviv. “The people of Israel trust you. Good luck,” the Israeli prime minister, the man who gives final authorisation for such operations, reportedly told Dagan, in the presence of some members of a hit squad.

Mossad and Netanyahu apparently did not regard the mission as unduly complicated or risky. According to the report, Mossad had received intelligence that Al Mabhouh was planning a trip to Dubai and prepared an operation to assassinate him off-guard in a luxury hotel there. The team rehearsed the assassination, using a hotel in Tel Aviv as a training ground without alerting its owners. However, the assassination was eventually revealed thanks mainly to Dubai’s extensive system of CCTV cameras and outstanding police work.

MP Waleed Al Tabtabai

The body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran should be called the American Gulf, and not the Arabian or Persian Gulf, a Kuwaiti lawmaker has said.

“The fact is that the Gulf today is not Arabian or Persian, but rather American thanks to the blessings of the rulers of Tehran and those of Saddam Hussein before them,” Waleed Al Tabtabai said. “Western ships and armies have today covered its waters and shores,” the MP said in a statement published by the Kuwaiti daily Al Watan on Sunday.

The Salafi lawmaker made the sarcastic remarks as he commented on a statement last week by Kuwait’s ambassador to Iran Majdi Al Dhufairi.

The envoy said that the name of the Gulf should not be an issue between Iran and the Arabs. “The name should not be a cause for sensitivities between us. We do not want to approach it with an excessive sensitivity, especially that several international conferences use both the Arabian Gulf and the Persian Gulf,” he said.

However, Al Tabtabai said that the issue goes beyond simple differences over what to call the body of water. continue reading…

Eerie sight as work on Bahrain's main road interchange project is suspended

Bahrain is set to appoint a new company to continue work on the country’s largest road interchange project.

The decision follows the suspension of work by Korea’s Sungwon Corporation which was awarded in 2007 the contract to construct a massive flyover aimed at removing traffic bottlenecks at the busy Isa Town Gate Intersection.

Works minister Fahmy Al Jowder said that Bahrain would notify the bank of the decision this week and appoint other companies to continue the work, expected to be completed in September with a three-month delay.

“Bahrain has provided Sungwon with all financial guarantees, but the company is facing financial difficulties in Korea and Dubai and we are not ready to stop this vital project for such reasons,” Al Jowder is quoted as saying. “We will talk to other companies this week in order to go ahead with the work. This decision was based on an agreement signed between both parties, and the company failed to honour its commitments in continuing the work despite chances given by the government,” the minister said. continue reading…

MP Abdul Halim Murad

Al Asala, Bahrain’s second largest parliamentary bloc, has rejected the resignation of one of its most influential members in the lower chamber.

“The political bureau of Al Asala flatly rejects the resignation of MP Abdul Halim Murad and wants him to continue his laudable work in the lower chamber,” Al Asala said in a statement. “Resignation cannot be a solution to any problem in the relationship between the legislative and executive branches. What is needed is that he remains as a member in the parliament, and that we coordinate with the other blocs and use the constitutional and political means available to reach solutions to problems.”

Abdul Halim stormed out of the lower chamber two weeks ago following a “disparaging” remark from Speaker Khalifa Al Dhahrani over the merit of addressing alleged financial and management irregularities in Gulf Air, the national airline.

The MP has been spearheading a drive to probe the struggling company amid claims that several forces were working together to procrastinate discussion of the financial losses, estimated at $500 million, by the lower chamber. continue reading…

School girls in Bahrain

Around two thirds of Bahraini parents prefer to send their children to schools where the curriculum is taught in English, a survey indicates.

The study found that only 14 per cent of the parents who responded to the questionnaire want their children to learn mainly Arabic at school, while 64 per cent put English as the preferred instruction medium. The remaining 22 per cent think that both languages should be given equal attention at school and outside.

The survey was conducted by a local media group ahead of the International Mother Language Day observed on February 21 since 2000. The day was proclaimed by UNESCO’s General Conference in November 1999 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. continue reading…