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2 Gulf Daily News Saturday, 16th May 2009 Jordan calls for 57-state solution SWEIMEH, Jordan: Jordan’s King Abdullah yesterday pushed the idea of expanding an Arab initiative for peace with Israel to include the entire Muslim world. The king told the Times of London earlier that US President Barack Obama wanted to promote a peace plan involving all Muslim countries and not just Arab nations. The 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference is due to meet in Syria on May 23. “The Arab peace initiative has offered Israel a place in the neighbourhood and more — acceptance by ■Egyptian boy hit by bird flu CAIRO: A three-year-old Egyptian boy has contracted the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus, the 71st case in the populous Arab country, said a Health Ministry spokesman. The boy, from Mahalla in the Nile Delta north of Cairo, was in a stable condition in hospital and being treated with Tamiflu, he said. It is the second case in as many days in Egypt, which has seen a surge in infections this year. ■Inquest curbs backed LONDON: The British government abandoned plans yesterday to exclude the public from inquests into controversial deaths. Justice Secretary Jack Straw said in a written statement to lawmakers that the proposals did not have enough support in parliament and would be scrapped. The decision was welcomed by military veteran groups and human rights campaigners. ■Head bullet removed ■The Crown Prince with King Abdullah, Mr Nazif and Mr Schwab 57 nations, the one-third of the UN members,” King Abdullah told a World Economic Forum meeting in Jordan. “This is true security that barriers and armed forces cannot bring,” he said. The new American commitment has now opened a new opportunity, he added. The Arab peace initiative offers Israel normal relations with the 22 countries of the Arab League in return for returning lands to Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinians. Kuwait to boost stake – 21 OUT NOW AT ALL BOOKSHOPS & SUPERMARKETS Crown Prince in key talks AMMAN: Crown Prince and Economic Development Board chair- man Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa yesterday hailed the World Economic Forum (WEF) for focusing on economic issues from a Mideast perspective this year. His comments came as he held talks with political leaders and captains of industry on the sidelines of the forum. The Crown Prince is heading Bahrain’s delegation to the conference. At a meeting with WEF founder and executive chairman Klaus Schwab, he hoped the forum would come up with concrete ideas to help the region tailor its response to the global financial crisis. The Crown Prince discussed regional development during a meeting with forum host, King Abdullah of Jordan. He also held talks with Egyptian Prime Minister Dr Ahmed Mohammed Nazif and Egyptian National Democratic Party assistant secretary-general and policies secretary Jamal Mubarak. The Crown Prince later attended a dinner banquet hosted by King Abdullah in honour of the leaders and officials taking part in the forum. ●Finance Minister and Mumtalakat chairman Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa will outline today the measures Middle East nations must take to make their economies resilient during the current global financial crisis. Economic Development Board chief executive Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa will take part in a forum on the rightful place of the region in the global economic structure. Tigers ‘giving up’ Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse vowed to end the decades-old war against the Tamil Tiger rebels by tomorrow morning as the military battled last night to take complete control of the country’s coastline. The rebels are “slowly giving up” their fight against advancing government troops, the military said. A military spokesman said 10,000 civilians had managed to flee to government areas yesterday, and that there was COLOMBO: now “hardly anybody left” in the rebel zone. The military claimed that navy stopped a suspicious boat off the northeastern coast and arrested the wife, son and daughter of the rebels’ sea wing leader. As the fighting raged, top UN official Vijay Nambiar headed on an urgent mission to safeguard civilians. Meanwhile France and Britain joined forces to urge Sri Lanka to live up to its commitments and avoid using heavy artillery. BEIJING: Doctors in southwest China have successfully removed a bullet from a woman’s head 42 years after she was shot, putting an end to decades of increasingly unbearable pain, said a report. Staff at a hospital in Chongqing municipality extracted the 2.5cm-long bullet from the right temple of He Wenying, 65. She was hit by the ricocheting bullet during a gun battle at the start of the Cultural Revolution, which lasted from 1966 to 1976. ■Spacewalk success CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida: Spacewalking astronauts had to install a refurbished pair of gyroscopes in the Hubble Space Telescope yesterday after one of the brand new ones refused to go in. The struggle had Nasa on edge for about two hours. The gyroscopes are needed to point the 19-year-old observatory, and getting them in was the top priority of the repair mission. ■Waterboarding row WASHINGTON: US Congressional Republicans yesterday defended the CIA after the leader of the US House of Representatives, Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused the spy agency of misleading her and other legislators about its use of waterboarding during the administration of George W Bush. The top Republican on the Senate, Intelligence Committee, Senator Kit Bond, yesterday questioned her criticism of the spy operations. ■‘Pink Panthers’ held PARIS: Two key members of the “Pink Panthers” international gang of jewel thieves were arrested in Paris this week, Interpol said yesterday. It said the men arrested were “dangerous individuals” whom it named as Nicolai Ivanovic, 36, and Zoran Kostic, 38. Probe as UK minister quits Hundreds of properties for rent & sale in this month’s Arabian Homes Distributed by Al Hilal Corp for location & availability call Tel: +973 17480800, Fax: +973 17480818 LONDON: The scandal over the expenses of British MPs claimed its first ministerial victim yesterday and the police said senior officers and lawyers would examine allegations as public anger grew. Prime Minister Gordon Brown suspended junior justice minister Shahid Malik while his expenses claims are investigated, in the latest escalation of the embarrassing row. The announcement came after The Daily Telegraph revealed that Malik claimed tens of thousands of pounds from public funds for a second home while paying below-market rent for his main house. The allowances claims is a new blow to Brown as he grapples with dismal poll ratings.. A new survey put his Labour party on 22 per cent, against 41pc for the Conservatives. The potential implications of the scandal were laid bare when London police announced that a panel of officers and lawyers would examine complaints about the claims to see if they merited a criminal investigation. ■Malik ... row