Globe in quandary over rift
‘GCC must hasten to end differences’
“FOLLOWING the meeting last Tuesday, Sept 5, 2017 between the Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Adel Al-Jubair and the British Prime Minister Theresa May, a statement issued by the Premier’s office on discussions with the visiting Saudi minister centred on topics of mutual interest and issues related to the Gulf region including the isolation of Qatar,” columnist, the State of Kuwait former envoy to the United Nations (from 1971 to 1980), the former secretary general of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the current Chairman of the Diplomatic Centre for Strategic Studies Abdullah Bishara wrote for Al-Qabas daily.
“The statement said the Prime Minister has renewed her call to the GCC parties to the conflict to take all necessary measures to restore unity of the Gulf Cooperation Council as swiftly as possible.
“Paris has appointed France’s former ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a special envoy to the Gulf region to discuss France’s prospective contribution to the solution of the current crisis between Qatar and some neighbors.
“In this context, we would like to refer to the significance of HH the Amir’s recent visit to Washington for the annual strategic dialogue between the State of Kuwait and the United States of America which projected the situation in the Gulf region as one of the important topics on the agenda.
“This global concern, mixed with fear for the life of the Council, is not a compliment to the leaders of the Gulf or its peoples, but a clear certainty in the belief in the Council’s role in stability, not only in the region but as an influential global contributor to global security and economic prosperity.
“The dissemination of the virtues of dialogue and understanding and the peaceful resolution of issues are in accordance with conventions, customs and the Charter of the United Nations.
“I am writing these lines on the basis of knowledge and realistic practices that I have witnessed since the foundation of the Gulf Cooperation Council when all countries of the world actually competed to support this Council.
“I remember when the GCC work started the premises were located in the building near the old airport of Riyadh, the Foreign Minister of Germany, Kirshner, insisted to visit this premises to meet me and familiarize himself with the ‘intellectual content’ of the GCC.
“Apart from the above, we recall how the then British Foreign Office Sir Geoffrey Howe requested to have a meeting with me at the GCC Secretariat General premises where a lot of meetings were held with foreign officials from various countries.
“This reflected the international belief of the role to be played by the GCC towards cementing global stability and peace, particularly in the wake of the unreasonable Iraq/Iran relations.
“Frankly, the reader of the Statute of the Council will not find the beauty of expression but the simplicity of intentions and will not stop at the philosophical depth similar to that provided by the Charter of the United Nations, but will find simple words filled with the sincerity of the intentions.
“In this context, we say that the founders of the GCC had not read the social contract of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and they knew nothing about the intentions of Jefferson who had wrote the Constitution of the United States of America, rather these founders were determined to remain committed to the Gulf values — the values of their forefathers to transform the same into a written constitution to govern the Gulf region.
“This Constitution was derived from a tribal ethos and the latter actually constituted statecraft for the Gulf region whose simplicity was derived from the Islamic principles and the inherited and humanitarian conventions of the member states and this was evident through the GCC dealing with the Iraq-Iran war and Saddam Hussein’s invasion and occupation of the State of Kuwait.
“It is here the GCC managed to gain international support for its successful dealing of various issues in addition to its contribution to boosting international peace.
“In conclusion, we say we are in a rare strategic place that touches the interests in all corners of the earth. The world will not forgive us our sins and the international community will not accept any divisions among us and this means we must evoke all the might with the inherited capacity to overcome this impasse through tolerance.”
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“As a matter of fact, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) would be in a position to perform its duties in a more effective and strong manner with more resilience and evolution, if it had stuck to the principles of its first secretary-general Abdullah Yaqoub Bishara of the State of Kuwait,” columnist Hesham Al-Diwan wrote for Al-Shahed daily.
“This man, Bishara, was actually a researcher, a diplomat and a thinker. Add to this his significant knowledge about historical facts. He is one of the Arab diplomats who have left behind their footprints on the history of the United Nations.
“However, I had earlier written on this issue and as such, I don’t like to repeat the same, rather I would like to rightfully say that the State of Kuwait was behind the idea of the foundation of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) at the beginning of 1980s.
“During this time the Council managed to protect the member states from the repercussions and the associations of the then cursed and destructive Iraq/ Iran war — the war in which Saddam Hussein got his country involved and this war resulted in the destruction of Iraq and it became a war of attrition for Iraq and the entire Gulf region.
“In this context, we recall how the State of Kuwait had proposed sound solutions to halt the Iraq/Iran war, but unfortunately, the warring parties remained committed to their ideologies until their infrastructures were devastated and destroyed as the Arab proverb say ‘Only after the devastation of Basra’.
“But it is needless to say the idea of founding the Gulf Cooperation Council, was not just a coincidence, but it was the initiative of HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad. Hence, he chose Abdullah Bishara as the first secretary-general of GCC.
“It is needless to say Sheikh Sabah was and still precedes his age and this is evident through his ability to handle various issues from all aspects and his ability to read between the lines to reach the intact outcomes after holding consultations with the people concerned.
“Such being the case, we infer that when Sheikh Sabah chose Abdullah Bishara for the position of GCC first secretary-general, he was positive that he was the best man for the Council’s secretariat general. This was the vision of the man who was responsible for the foundation of the GCC.
“Not just that, we found, how the late King Fahd Bin Abdulaziz of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, realized that Bishara was the right man in the right place and was the best man for the position of the GCC secretary-general and this was evident when King Fahd nominated Bishara for the second term as the GCC secretary-general, but the State of Kuwait, in turn, preferred to not to commit to this position.
“In conclusion, however, we suggest that the people need to realize what was said by Sheikh Sabah recently at the White House.
“In the meantime, we say the GCC secretariat general has spared no efforts to perform its duties. Moreover, this secretariat groups a galaxy of efficient people, but it is needless to say that its current position is different. The context of the issues is no longer like that which Sheikh Sabah and Bishara were striving to consecrate.”
“Scientists and other experts are suspicious about the truth of the US story regarding the Sept 11, 2001 incident,” columnist Hisham Al-Diwan wrote for Al-Shahed daily.
“They are suspicious about the footage of the first hijacked aircraft hitting the north tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 am, the second aircraft hitting the south tower at 9:03 am, and the third plane hitting the Pentagon, which is supposed to be the second most secure place in the world after the White House.
“The story says a fourth plane was destroyed before it could reach its target—and despite the repeated tales and films about the incident, nobody actually witnessed the alleged planes hitting the towers with their own eyes or found debris of the supposed planes, while investigation report about certain explosives found at the site and their sources have yet to be revealed.
“Yes, some TV channels showed some members of a terrorist cell affiliated to al-Qaeda arriving at US airports. However, there was no evidence that people seen in the footage — including Muhammad Ataa and his alleged assistants, Abdulaziz Al-Umari and brothers Wael and Walid Al-Saqami were involved in the incident.
“Report of the investigation committee indicated Muhammad Ataa and Abdulaziz Al-Umari had a quarrel with Israeli officer Daniel Luien on the airplane in the course of which Al-Saqami stabbed Luien in the back. The same report indicated Al-Saqami, irritated by additional security search procedures he underwent, flew the airplane that crashed into the tower.
“Needless to say, experts and other specialists I’ve interviewed on my talk show at ANN London eight years after the incident consider the incident a miracle, looking at the manner in which the aircrafts hit the towers accurately without missing their target. The mission required enormous calculations and complex procedures, in addition to an enormous quantity of fuel to create the horrible explosion that caused the towers to fall down in such a dramatic way.
“Report added the computer system had detected nine suspicious objects just before boarding, so passengers and their luggage were searched carefully to ensure they were free of explosives. The truth of the matter is: the incident prompted an enormous change in US strategy that led to the declaration of the so-called war against terrorism, according to CIA terminology.
“Change of American strategy brought about the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, the invasion and destruction of Iraq that ended the regime of Saddam Hussein, and ended the Taleban regime.”
“According to a report published in a newspaper on Tuesday, a total of KD 2 billion has been paid as socalled “rent allowance” in the last 25 years,” Ali Mahmoud Khaja wrote for Aljarida daily.
“So, a total of KD 2 billion has been paid to those who are waiting for their right to receive a house, even though the rent allowance covers only 30 percent of the actual rent paid by citizens.
“Immediately after reading the news report, I browsed through a website which specializes in real-estate sale. On that website, I saw an advertisement about a residential building that is on sale for KD 2,100,000. The 1000-square-meter building has a total of 43 flats, ten floors excluding the ground floor and a basement. The ad also mentioned that the deal is negotiable.
“Let me estimate the real cost of that building. It should be about KD 1,700,000 or even up to KD 2 million as per the prices of 2017 and not as per the prices of 1900s when the building was constructed.
“KD 2 billion would cover the cost of building 1,000 residential buildings similar to the one advertised which has 43 flats in total. If we consider the monthly rent of each three-bedroom flat in those residential buildings as KD 230, the total revenue will be KD 10 million per month. This is enough to construct four new buildings and saving KD 2 million as costs of maintenance, security and cleaning.
“This is a suggestion that requires no infrastructure and establishment of new cities as the buildings that I referred to are located in residential areas which have services such as roads, electricity and water. All what we need from the senior officials is to think outside the box in order to reach creative solutions for the issues.”
“The half-cooked irrational decision of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to introduce mandatory fingerprint attendance system for teachers just like in other ministries spells bad signs. It is a decision that indicates that we are not rightfully guided about where we are going,” Basel Al-Zeir wrote for Al-Nahar daily.
“The repercussions of the decision can be seen in most of the ministries which have implemented the fingerprint attendance system. Employees come in and leave, after registering their fingerprints, to Godknows-where, turning the offices into deserted rooms. In fact the decision does not oblige employees to work. It does not yield the required objectives except benefiting the companies that sell these fingerprint devices. These companies, considering there are hundreds of schools which are expected to have the devices installed, are smiling in anticipation to having their bank accounts full.
“This stems from the deep problem of the decision makers. Work should be measured based on the needs of the employer as well as performance and achievement of the employees, without obliging employees to adhere to the fingerprint system in the mornings and evenings, as nothing can be achieved that way.”