CANBERRA, Australia: A senior Qatar Airways executive told an Australian Senate inquiry on Wednesday there would be no repeat of an incident at Doha’s international airport in 2020 in which female passengers were subjected to invasive gynecological examinations.
Australian Transport Minister Catherine King said three weeks ago that the examinations of 13 Australian women who had boarded a Qatar Airways plane to Sydney were a factor in her decision in July to refuse the Qatar government-owned airline additional flights to Australia.
Qatar Airways Senior Vice President for Global Sales Matt Raos described the incident, which occurred when authorities were looking for the mother of a newborn baby found abandoned in a Hamad International Airport trash can, as “a one-off incident, a very extreme incident.”
“We’ve had nothing like it previously in our history and we’re completely committed to ensuring nothing like this ever happens again,” Raos told the committee.
Raos was responding to government Sen. Tony Sheldon, who had asked for a guarantee on behalf of female passengers who feared they would be subjected to such treatment.
The Doha-based executive declined to detail the incident because five women are suing the airline in Australian Federal Court.
“We are participating in that process. We think it’s a very important process and we need to honor it and respect it. It does preclude us from going further into this topic today,” Raos said.
“The outcome of that Federal Court case is something that we will honor and abide,” Raos added.
The five Australian women, whose names are suppressed by a court gag order, say they were taken off the flight to Sydney at Doha at gunpoint by guards and were searched without consent.
Qatar Airways provided no response to their complaints and offered no apology, the women said.
They wrote to Catherine King through their lawyer in June urging that Qatar Airways not be allowed to double its number of Australian services from the current 28 flights per week.
“It is our strong belief that Qatar Airways is not fit to carry passengers around the globe let alone to major Australian airports,” they wrote.
“When you are considering Qatar Airways’ bid for extra landing rights, we beg you to consider its insensitive and irresponsible treatment of us and its failure to ensure the safety and dignity of its passengers,” they said.
Raos said Qatar was “surprised and shocked” that Australia had rejected without explanation its application for additional services to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth which was made on Aug. 22, 2022.
Qatar Senior Vice President Fathi Atti told the inquiry that the airline learned of the decision through the news media on July 10 and did not receive official notification from the Australian government until 10 days later.
The airline said it calculated that the additional services would have provided Australia with 3 billion Australian dollars ($1.9 billion) in economic benefits over five years.
Earlier this month, King said her decision was made in the “context” of women’s complaints about their treatment.
“There is no one factor that I would point to that swayed my decision one way or the other,” King told reporters.
The committee is examining a number of Australia’s bilateral air service agreements.
Qatar Airways executive says invasive gynecological examinations of passengers won’t be repeated
https://arab.news/zp2ck
Qatar Airways executive says invasive gynecological examinations of passengers won’t be repeated
- Qatar Airways Senior Vice President for Global Sales Matt Raos described the incident as “a one-off incident, a very extreme incident.”
Libyan rivals resume talks in Morocco to break political deadlock
Libya has undergone a turbulent decade since it split in 2014 between two administrations in its east and west following the NATO-backed uprising that toppled Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.
The talks in Bouznika, near the Moroccan capital Rabat, were between rival legislative bodies known as the High Council of State based in Tripoli in the west and the House of Representatives based in Benghazi in the east.
Speaking at the opening of consultations between the institutions, Moroccan foreign minister Nasser Bourita urged participants to work together to preserve Libya’s unity and prepare for “credible elections.”
“The numerous international and regional conferences on Libya will not replace the inter-Libyan dialogue which has credibility and ownership,” he said.
A political process to end years of institutional division, outright warfare and unstable peace has been stalled since an election scheduled for December 2021 collapsed, amid disputes over the eligibility of the main candidates.
The House of Representatives was elected in 2014 as the national parliament with a four-year mandate to oversee a political transition.
Under a 2015 Libyan Political Agreement, reached in Morocco’s Skhirate near Rabat, the High State Council was formed as a consultative second chamber with an advisory role.
But the House of Representatives then appointed its own rival government, saying the mandate of the prime minister of a government of national unity had expired. The eastern-appointed government has had little clout, but its appointment revived Libya’s east-west division.
Israeli troops remove Israeli settler group who crossed into Lebanon
JERUSALEM: Israeli soldiers removed a small far-right group of Israeli civilians who had crossed into Lebanon, appearing to put up a tent settlement, in what the military said on Wednesday was a serious incident now under investigation.
The Times of Israel reported 10 days ago that the group, advocating the annexation and settlement of southern Lebanon, said they had crossed the border and established an outpost.
On Wednesday, the Israeli military said they had been promptly removed.
“The preliminary investigation indicates that the civilians indeed crossed the blue line by a few meters, and after being identified by IDF forces, they were removed from the area,” said a statement by the IDF, Israel’s military.
Israeli settlers from the far-right organisation, Uri Tzafon, crossed the border into southern Lebanon, breaching the blue line into Maroun al-Ras, and set up tents.
— Naks Bilal (@NaksBilal) December 18, 2024
The organisation has been advocating for annexation and settlement of southern Lebanon.
Settler-colonialism. pic.twitter.com/JopHbHVP41
“Any attempt to approach or cross the border into Lebanese territory without coordination poses a life-threatening risk and interferes with the IDF’s ability to operate in the area and carry out its mission,” the statement said.
The Times of Israel said the area the group claimed to have entered was under Israeli military control as part of a ceasefire deal signed last month between Israel and the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group.
Under the terms of the Nov. 26 ceasefire, Israeli forces may remain in Lebanon for 60 days. Israel has not established settlements in southern Lebanon, including when its military occupied the area from 1982-2000.
Syrian opposition leader Al-Bahra calls for national support in Syria’s transition
DUBAI: Hadi Al-Bahra, head of the Syrian National Coalition, called on Wednesday for Syrians to unite behind a shared vision for the country’s recovery, urging national support for the current caretaker government until a transitional body can be established in March 2025.
Al-Bahra outlined a comprehensive roadmap for political transition, emphasizing the need to form a credible and inclusive transitional government.
He stressed that this government must avoid sectarianism and ensure that no political factions are excluded, reflecting a commitment to fairness and unity.
Al-Bahra called for the creation of a national conference and a constitutional assembly tasked with drafting a new constitution. This process, he said, would pave the way for a nationwide referendum and free elections, enabling the Syrian people to shape their future through democratic means.
“The transitional government must represent all Syrians,” Al-Bahra said, highlighting the importance of inclusivity as the cornerstone of Syria’s recovery.
While denying direct meetings with former regime leader Farouk Al-Sharaa, Al-Bahra confirmed indirect communications with individuals close to Al-Sharaa and members of the caretaker government.
Iran executes man for attacks on dozens of women
TEHRAN: Iranian authorities executed on Wednesday a man convicted of “corruption of earth” for attacking dozens of women on the capital’s streets, the judiciary said.
Rastgooei Kandolaj has attacked at least 59 women using an awl, causing injuries and sowing “terror in Tehran,” the judiciary’s Mizen Online news website said.
Multiple women had reported that the assailant was was riding a motorcycle when he carried out the attacks, Mizan said.
The report did not specify when Kandolaj was arrested.
He was handed down a death sentence after being convicted of the capital offense “corruption on earth,” Mizan said.
“The death sentence of... Rastgooei Kandolaj, who injured women and girls with an awl and created terror in Tehran, was carried out,” it said.
Iran uses capital punishment for major crimes including murder and drug trafficking, as well as rape and sexual assault.
The Islamic republic executes more people per year than any other nation except China, for which no reliable figures are available, according to human rights groups including Amnesty International.
Iran lawmakers request changes to strict hijab bill: media
TEHRAN: Iranian lawmakers have asked to amend a bill that would impose tougher penalties on women who refuse to wear the mandatory hijab, local media reported on Wednesday.
The bill, already approved in parliament but not yet submitted to the government for final confirmation, has stirred a heated debate in Iran more than two years since nationwide protests erupted in part over the Islamic republic’s dress code for women.
Shahram Dabiri, Iran’s vice president for parliamentary affairs, has requested to hold off on sending the bill for approval, according to news agency ISNA.
“We requested that the law of chastity and hijab not be referred to the government,” Dabiri was quoted by ISNA as saying, adding that “the parliament speaker requested an amendment to the bill.”
Dabiri did not specify the nature of the amendment or provide a timeline for the process.
Lawmakers in September 2023 had approved the bill, officially the “Law on Supporting the Family through the Promotion of the Culture of Chastity and Hijab.”
It has since won the approval of the Guardian Council, a body empowered to vet legislation.
The bill was initially meant to be referred to President Masoud Pezeshkian in December.
Pezeshkian, who could sign it into law, has expressed “reservations” about the text, citing numerous “ambiguities.”
The 74-article bill tightens restrictions over women’s public attire and threatens action against businesses who fail to enforce the dress code, according to the text carried by local media.
It also imposes hefty penalities of up to 10 years in prison or fines equivalent to more than $6,000 for promoting “nudity” or “indecency.”
Since the early years of the republic following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, women in Iran have been required by law to cover their head and neck.
In late 2022, a wave of protests erupted following the death in custody of 22-year-old Iranian-Kurd Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating the Islamic dress code.
The months-long unrest saw hundreds of people, including dozens of security personnel, killed. Thousands of demonstrators were arrested.
