Rape attempt ends in death

Ras Al Khaimah: An Asian tailor died of heart attack while he was trying to molest an Asian housemaid in her sponsor's home in Ras Al Khaimah, a police source said Wednesday.

The source told Gulf News that the 26-year-old tailor died last Friday as he attempted to rape the housemaid at her employer's house in Ras Al Khaimah.

"The incident took place around 1.00am, when the 28-year-old housemaid was sleeping in her room. She woke up terrified after seeing a stranger near her bed," the source added.

He said the tailor was working in a nearby shop in Al Ghab area in Ras Al Khaimah. The tailor had somehow managed to sneak into the housemaid's room.

"The maid felt a stranger next to her so she pushed him and ran, she was very afraid and hid in the bathroom for one hour," added the source.

Intruder

She was afraid she would be raped, the maid told investigators. She said she left the bathroom only after she felt the intruder had left the room, but to her surprise she found the man lying on the ground near her bed. The man was not moving, said the police source.

The maid promptly informed her sponsor about the incident who went to her room to find the intruder lying on the ground. He then informed the police.

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A limit on 'No-Limits' freediving

Dubai: Freedivers, keen to continue the sport in the UAE with hopes of holding international competitions in the Arabian Gulf, are planning to stop deep dives after the first professional Emirati diver was feared dead earlier this month during a 70-metre deep-dive attempt in Greece.

Breath-hold dives or apnea, known as freediving, involves reaching depths or travelling distances under water on just a lungful of air, without artificial breathing equipment.

"The 100-strong apnea community wants stricter measures applied to deep No-Limits freedives, which tarnishes the relaxing aspect of freediving and taints it as an extreme sport," said Sara-Lise Haith, 42, a freediving British instructor in the UAE.

During a No-Limits attempt, divers are dragged to a pre-defined target depth by means of a sled at a speed of around 2.5 metres per second. They come back up to the surface using a self-inflating balloon. Alternatively, in a Variable Weight dive, divers can choose to return to the surface using their own strength, with fins or by pulling themselves up a rope.

Pushing divers

"No-Limits is banned in competitions by the world federation for breath-hold diving, known as Aida [Association Internationale pour le Developpement de l'Apnee], but still open to record attempts, pushing divers to go deeper and deeper," said Haith.

"We teach people to freedive safely. But No-Limits is not freediving, it's a stunt," she said. "You should only dive to a depth you can swim up from."

Adel Abu Haliqa, 40, an Emirati from Abu Dhabi, did not resurface from a 70-metre No-Limits attempt in Greece on June 7, and is feared dead after search and rescue operations failed to recover his body.

Ratification

According to Haith, the continued ratification and recognition of No-Limits is severely hindering the development of more important sporting disciplines.

"Adel was a hero. He was much respected. I believe his death was unnecessary and could have been avoided," she said.

Marco Rettig, 36, a Dubai-based freediver from Germany, said he was very sceptical of sled-diving. "It puts you in utter dependency on a technology that, in the past, has more than once failed due to technical or human error or simply bad luck. Second, it allows you to overcome limits that your body and mind would otherwise not allow you to break," he said.

The idea to build a sled here was shelved based on the underwater conditions in the UAE such as currents and bad visibility.

Things can go wrong

"I can mention half a dozen things that can go wrong due the conditions here," Rettig added.

Secondly only a few people in the UAE would be capable of accompanying students on a sled on their way down.

"Going down on your own or being led by an instructor is a totally different thing — both mentally and with regard to safety," he said.

Investigation is still on — Aida president

Kimmo Lahtinen, president of Aida (Association Internationale pour le Developpement de l'Apnee), answers some questions on the recent freediving accident which involved a UAE national.

Adel Abu Haliqa, 40, from Abu Dhabi is feared dead during No-Limits training in Greece. Abu Haliqa, founder of Freediving UAE, worked hard to include the UAE as a member of Aida and hoped to conduct freediving competitions here in the future. The UAE was recently approved as an observer member.

Do you have a clear idea of what happened to Adel Abu Haliqa underwater?

Greece's coast guard has done their investigation on the accident already and Aida will do its own when the search is over. After this we may be able to estimate this accident better.

Was Adel prone to disconnecting from his safety lanyard? Is this an usual No-Limits behaviour?

Nowadays in deep No-Limits dives the lanyard is used. It will be attached above the sledge, connecting the diver to the dive rope where the sledge moves, and it should be kept there during the dive. This time it was not connected to the dive rope when the sledge came back to the surface. And we do not know the reason for that at the moment.

Who was his diving buddy?

Sled diving is often done alone.

What is the general procedure during such accidents?

Deep water searches are done normally with the help of the side-scan sonars and Remotely Operated Vehicles.

What training does Aida offer for No-Limits diving?

AidaA has sled diving safety guidelines and some divers use sledges regularly for deep training. Aida's sled diving safety guidelines can be found on the Aida website.

Should No-Limits be stopped?

There are no competitions in sled-assisted freediving in Aida. Some top freedivers have been setting records which have been validated by Aida.

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Gulf News readers offer to help a stranded mother and her children

Dubai: A Filipino mother and her four children, who have been living on charity after their Lebanese father was deported over failure to repay a loan, will fly back home today after several Gulf News readers helped them with the airfare to the Philippines.

Readers rushed to help the mother and her children, who landed in trouble after her husband was jailed for defaulting on a loan repayment and deported to Lebanon, after Gulf News wrote about them.

"This is a heart-breaking story," a reader said yesterday. "We need to help the mother and her little kids to go back home in the hope that they will join the father soon."

Mary, the mother, and her children have been surviving mainly on charity for the past year. The mother and a relative, who was staying with them, were earning a meagre income as part-time housemaids.

Children's visa

The children's visas also got cancelled because they were on their father's sponsorship. Mary said her children — Joyce, 8, Jasmine, 7, Fatima, 3, and Ali, 1, — have Philippine passports and are eagerly waiting to go back home in the hope they will some day be able to rejoin their father.

"I'm very thankful to all those who helped me. I was suffering and I had no clue what to do," she said. "Readers even came to my house to bring food and medicine for my children," she said with tears in her eyes.

Husband fell ill

She said her ordeal started when her husband fell ill about three years ago. "My husband was very sick and he took the loan to pay for his heart surgery," she said. "When he failed to pay back the loan he was sent to jail and lost his job as well.

"My children do not go to school and sometimes we even stay without food," she said. "I never thought that my problems would be solved. I was helpless and I was not able to help my children," she said.

Several readers said they were touched by the story of the family. "This is very sad and we hope that the family will join the father soon," said a reader.

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Dubai foils 44 attempts to smuggle in drugs

Dubai: Dubai Customs foiled 44 attempts to smuggle drugs in the first quarter of this year.

The announcement comes as Dubai Customs observes International Day against Drug Abuse Sunday.

As part of the Dubai Customs Department's strategy, the security and safety of the community is a priority, hence all the entry points into the emirate are protected to prevent the inflow of illicit substances, such as drugs and narcotics.

Ahmad Butti, Director General of Dubai Customs and CEO of the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCFC), said celebrating the day represents a chance to stress the graveness and dangers of illicit drug abuse, and the necessity of international cooperation to combat this problem which casts its shadows on people's health, the community structure, and the economic fate of countries all around the globe.

Trade hub

He added that the emirate has a strategic geographic location and is considered an important trade and finance hub in the region. Hence it is targeted by smugglers who falsely believe that the heavy trade traffic in the emirate will make it easier for them to smuggle in illicit substances through Dubai's airports and other entry checkpoints.

He said the Customs Department was successful in foiling 414 smuggling attempts in 2010 at the 19 air, sea and land entry points.

The narcotics seized included heroin, cocaine, marijuana, crystal, hashish and opium.

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Afghan President Hamid Karzai received in Kabul Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Foreign Min

Shaikh Abdullah conveyed to the Afghan President the greetings of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. He also conveyed their wishes for the progress and prosperity of the people of Afghanistan.

Shaikh Abdullah reiterated the need for concerted international efforts to support the development programmes in Afghanistan for the welfare of the Afghan people.

Shaikh Abdullah had arrived in Kabul on Wednesday, along with his British counterpart William Hague to discuss with the Afghan government, the progress made in reinforcing the efforts of the international coalition in Afghanistan.

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Prisoners plead for repairs to phone link from jail

Dubai: Around 4,000 prisoners at Dubai central jail cannot contact their families and loved ones due to a technical fault in etisalat phone lines operating inside the jail.

Prisoners said they are facing problems in using phone line connection for more than 10 days.

"We are facing difficulties in using phones in the jail and we cannot contact our families and loved ones outside the jail," a prisoner told Gulf News.

Prisoners said they use Dh20 prepaid etisalat phone cards for phones inside the jail.

"When we follow the process which is required to make phone calls, it is answered by Customer Service [101]," said a prisoner.

Outside world

He said many were very frustrated and upset. "We need to contact our families. Phones are our only connection with the world outside the jail," said the prisoner.

An Etisalat official said there was a technical problem with the 133 number used for prepaid cards. "We are trying to repair the service as soon as possible," said the official.

Prisoners said there are around 100 phones in different wards and buildings. Each of them gets about two hours every week to use the phone and when the time is finished they wait until the next week.

Prisoners jailed on financial charges are given more time to be able to sort their issues outside the jail.

"We urge etisalat to repair the phones inside the jail as soon as possible because it is our window to the outside world," they said.

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