The Malaysian Insider :: Breaking Views
The Malaysian Insider :: Breaking Views |
| Minister dismisses Turkey GP funding hopes Posted: 06 Dec 2012 07:56 AM PST ISTANBUL, Dec 6 — Turkey's sports minister has poured cold water on race organisers' hopes that the government would provide funds to secure the return of the Turkish Grand Prix to the Formula One calendar next season. The sport's governing body announced yesterday that an unidentified European race had been pencilled in for July 21, subject to the agreement of national bodies, to bring the calendar up to 20 races. Turkish race organisers have said staging the grand prix would depend on whether the government made funds available. Local media reported the Istanbul track operator as saying the government would provide US$13.5 million (RM41 million) in funding. But Sports Minister Suat Kilic told reporters today the race was purely a matter for the private sector. "If it wants to, the private sector can bring Formula One," Kilic was quoted as saying by the Dogan news agency. "But there is no question of us paying the cost of the rights which have been proposed to a private company to bring Formula One." The Turkish Automobile Sports Federation (TOSFED) said on its website (http://www.tosfed.org) that the grand prix — last held in 2011 before being dropped after a disagreement over hosting fees — had been discussed at a meeting of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) in Istanbul. "We in TOSFED are making every effort so that Formula One races, which have been held seven times in our country until now, can be held at our Istanbul Park track...(in 2013) and in future years," chairman Demire Berberoglu said in a statement. Berberoglu said an agreement had been reached between circuit operator Vural Ak and Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone, but the government also had to play a part. "Everybody knows that what is needed for its presence in the Formula One race calendar for 2013 and following years is a guarantee and approval of the required budget at the government level," said Berberoglu. "This will develop according to the prime minister's decision." Kilic said the government had previously assisted in bringing Formula One to Turkey, making a "sacrifice" in order to boost the sport. "Our government paid US$13.5 million a year to the organisers for five years for the rights. In exchange for that, all the income went to the organisers, so the state did not get any benefit from it," he said. The Istanbul Circuit, on the Asian side of the city, was highly regarded by teams and drivers for its challenging layout but the race failed to attract much local interest. Its reinstatement next season would plug a gap left by the postponement to 2014 of a Grand Prix of America that was due to be held in New Jersey. — Reuters |
| Bosnia gives Islamist 18 years for gun attack on US embassy Posted: 06 Dec 2012 07:48 AM PST SARAJEVO, Dec 6 — Bosnia's state court sentenced an Islamist radical to 18 years in prison today for a gun attack on the US embassy and said the country faced a growing terrorist threat. The court found Mevlid Jasarevic, a 24-year-old originally from neighbouring Serbia, guilty of organising and committing a terrorist act, said judge Branko Peric, who presided over the panel of judges. Emrah Fojnica and Munib Ahmetspahic, indicted with helping Jasarevic organise a terrorist group in northeast Bosnia, were freed for lack of evidence, Peric said. "Never before in its history has Bosnia faced such forms of terrorism," Peric said, explaining the lengthy prison term given Jasarevic. The maximum sentence for acts of terrorism in the former Yugoslav republic is 20 years. Jasarevic spent 50 minutes in plain sight firing from an automatic rifle at the US embassy in Sarajevo in October last year, seriously wounding a police officer before he was hit by a police sharpshooter and arrested. The court said Jasarevic had plotted the attack in Gornja Maoca village, known for its adherence to the strict Wahhabi branch of Islam, and had got hold of a large amount of weapons, ammunition and other military equipment. In a homemade video filmed just before the attack, Jasarevic said he would target the US embassy because Americans "have launched a fight against Islam and Muslims across the world". "If there was no Gornja Maoca, there would be no Jasarevic," Peric said, warning that terrorism has become a serious problem in the Balkan country. The sentence given Jasarevic was the heaviest handed down by the state court, which has convicted 12 people of conspiring or organising terrorist attacks since it was created in 2002. The wars of the 1990s, when federal Yugoslavia fell apart, sharpened the sense of religious identity of some in the Balkans, fuelled since by poverty. The majority of the 100,000 people killed in Bosnia's 1992-95 war were Muslims. Gunman boycotts trial verdict Neither Jasarevic nor other two defendants attended the pronouncement of the verdict. His lawyer said he would appeal against the sentence, while the prosecutor announced an appeal against the court's ruling to release the two other men. Throughout the trial, the three defendants, dressed in long Wahhabi robes and caps, refused to stand when the judges entered the courtroom. Jasarevic described the court as "worthless before Allah" and said last week his conviction would do nothing to stop anyone from launching similar attacks. "This is not the message only to the court but also to the state, and must be taken seriously," Peric said. Most Bosnian Muslims, also known as Bosniaks, practice a moderate form of Islam. But analysts say recent years have seen a rise in the number of home-grown Islamists, many raised abroad and radicalised to fight for global causes unrelated to Bosnia. Jasarevic was born in the southwest Serbian town of Novi Pazar but lived for a number of years in Austria, where he spent time in prison for robbery. — Reuters |
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