Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 17, 2012, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A4 For this and other great offers visit winnipegfreepress. com/ A& L Cinematheque Enjoy one complimentary admission when a second admission is purchased. NEWS CANADA I WORLD A4 SUNDAY, JUNE 17, 2012 M ONTREAL - The two Quebec sisters found dead Thursday night in a Thailand hotel room were well- known and popular in their hometown of Poh�n�gamook, Que., a rural area of 3,000 near the Maine border, the local mayor said. Sisters Audrey and Noemi Belanger, 20 and 26, were victims of an apparent poisoning at the southern Thai resort of Phi Phi Island, Thai police say. " They were two brilliant young girls, very involved in the community," Mayor Louise Labonte said Saturday. She said they were always active in town events and worked in a grocery store owned by their father, Carl. She said the sisters attended the local high school, �cole secondaire du Transcontinental, where Labonte was a librarian. The school has about 250 students. The young women were studying at Universit� Laval. Claudette Levasseur, a waitress at Restaurant du Moulin, said Noemi had worked for her when she was in charge of the municipal beach. " She was always smiling, in good humour. They were both energetic, helpful. Everyone here is shaken. It's given us all a chill." The Belanger sisters were found in their room by a hotel maid. Both had a mysterious rash and discoloured nails. The deaths evoke two similar and unsolved deaths three years ago on the same resort island where two women, an American and a Norwegian, were found poisoned in their adjoining rooms. There were signs of vomiting. Their companions also became ill but survived. The island is a popular holiday spot for young people where bars stay open until dawn and binge drinking out of " buckets" is said to be a popular pastime. Claude Rochon of the foreign affairs media office in Ottawa refused to disclose any information other than to say, " Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the Canadian citizens who passed away in Thailand." She added, " Canadian consular officials in Bangkok are providing consular assistance to the family and are in contact with local authorities." According to the Thai newspaper Phuket Gazette , the sisters checked into the hotel Tuesday. They planned to stay only one night but later asked to extend their visit through Wednesday night. The paper quotes one Thai police officer saying the sisters arrived at the hotel Tuesday and " went out and came back to their room that same night, but stayed in their room all day on Wednesday." The sisters were found Thursday after a maid became concerned they were not responding to her knocks. " A maid knocked on the door to clean the room on Thursday, but there was no response, so the maid thought the women needed more rest and left," a police officer said. Thursday evening the maid tried again. When she got no response, she grew concerned and used a master key to enter the room where she discovered the bodies. The hotel alerted police at 9 p. m. " We rushed to the hotel with medical officers from Koh Phi Phi Hospital and a rescue team," police told the newspaper. Police also said the young women had skin lesions, had been bleeding from the gums and their fingernails and toenails were blue. Police told the newspaper the women died 12 to 20 hours before their bodies were found. - Postmedia News Canadians dead in Thailand Poisoning suspected in deaths of Quebec sisters By Paul Delean RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - The death of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul- Aziz on Saturday means - for the second time in less than a year - the key western ally must pick an heir to the 88- year- old King Abdullah, who has already outlived two designated successors. Nayef, who was named the kingin- waiting in November, had been out of the country since late May, when he went on a trip described as a " personal vacation" that would include medical tests. He travelled abroad frequently in recent years for tests, but authorities have never given details on any ailments. Who was the crown prince? Prince Nayef was the interior minister who spearheaded Saudi Arabia's fierce crackdown that crushed al- Qaida's branch in the country after the 9/ 11 attacks. He was in his late 70s. He had a reputation for being a hard- liner and was seen as close to the powerful Wahhabi religious establishment that gives legitimacy to the royal family. His elevation to crown prince after the death of his brother, Prince Sultan, had raised worries among liberals he could roll back the modest reforms of King Abdullah if he reached the throne. Nayef had expressed reservations about some of the reforms by Abdullah, who made incremental steps to bring more democracy to the country through municipal elections and increase women's rights. Nayef said he saw no need for elections in the kingdom or for women to sit on the Shura Council, an unelected advisory body to the king that is the closest thing to a parliament. In 2009, Nayef promptly shut down a film festival in the Red Sea port city of Jiddah, apparently because of conservatives' worry about the possibility of gender mixing in theatres and a general distaste toward film as immoral. The anti- militant campaign also boosted Nayef's ties to the religious establishment, which he saw as a major tool in keeping stability and preventing the spread of violent al- Qaida- style " jihadi" theology. The Wahhabi ideology that is the official law in Saudi Arabia is deeply conservative - including strict segregation of the sexes, capital punishments such as beheadings and enforced prayer times - but it also advocates against al- Qaida's calls for holy war against leaders seen as infidels. His top concern was security in the kingdom and maintaining a fierce bulwark against Shiite powerhouse Iran, according to U. S. Embassy assessments of Nayef. " A firm authoritarian at heart," was the description of Nayef in a 2009 embassy report on him, leaked by the whistleblower site WikiLeaks. " He harbours anti- Shia biases and his world view is coloured by deep suspicion of Iran," it said. " Nayef promotes a vision for Saudi society under the slogan of ' intellectual security,' which he advocates as needed to ' purge aberrant ideas' " and combat extremism, it added, noting his was in contrast to Abdullah's strategy emphasizing " dialogue, tolerance of differences and knowledge- based education that is objectionable to many conservatives." Who is the likely successor as crown prince? Nayef's brother, the 76- year- old Prince Salman, is widely expected to be selected as crown prince by Saudi Arabia's Allegiance Council, an assembly of sons and grandsons of the country's first monarch, the late King Abdul- Aziz. Salman is the current defence minister and, like Nayef, a son of the country's founding monarch. For more than four decades, Salman was governor of Riyadh, the country's capital. Analysts believe he shares many of Nayef's conservative views and is unlikely to challenge the religious establishment if made king. But he also has played more of a mediator role in Saudi politics while in charge of the Riyadh region. There has been an impression that Nayef is more conservative because he was the guy dealing with threats and terrorism as interior minister and Salman was meeting with businessman and intellectuals as governor of Riyadh," said Sami al- Faraj, director of the Kuwait Center for Strategic Studies. " The reality is there is very little difference. Both are conservative and won't rock the boat," he added. " Nayef was just a behind- thescenes guy and Salman is more public. One was implicit; the other explicit." What does this mean for the future? Until now, the successor has been chosen from the sons of King Abdul- Aziz, but the deaths of two crown princes mean the Saudi leadership can turn to a younger generation, his grandsons, and put them in positions to groom them as potential rulers. This would mark an important shift in Saudi affairs by acknowledging the country is moving toward a new era under the stewardship of a generation raised with deeper western connections and understandings. It's still unclear, however, whether Nayef's death will bring about the shift to put a younger member of the royal family in a traditional role as No. 3 in line for the throne. Among the possible contenders mentioned include King Abdullah's son, Mitab, the head of the National Guard, and Nayef's son, Mohammad, a senior official in the interior ministry. What are the issues ahead for Saudi Arabia? Saudi Arabia is the main Arab rival to Iran and is deeply worried about Tehran's nuclear program. Iran insists it does not seek nuclear weapons, but Saudi officials and their western allies fear the country could develop a nuclear arsenal and significantly shift the balance of power in the region. One possible outcome could be a regional nuclear arms race with Saudi Arabia also seeking atomic weapons. Saudi Arabia is also facing Arab Spring- inspired internal pressures for political reforms and greater openness. King Abdullah has pledged billions of dollars to create more state jobs and offer other government- backed programs to try to appease calls for change. Neighbouring Bahrain, meanwhile, has become a central issue for Saudi Arabia since a Shiite- led uprising last year against the ruling Sunni monarchy. Saudi forces led a Gulf military intervention to help prop up the dynasty in the strategic island nation, which is home to the U. S. Navy's Fifth Fleet. Saudi Arabia is now leading efforts for closer union with the country that would effectively unify key policies such as security and foreign relations. More than 50 people have died in Bahrain's unrest since February 2011. - The Associated Press Saudi Arabia faces questions after death of its crown prince By Abdullah Al- Shihri SAKCHAI LALIT / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES A photo of Phi Phi Island in Thailand, where two Quebec sisters were found dead in their hotel room by a maid on Thursday. HASSAN AMMAR / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul- Aziz AN RCMP officer's gun was stolen in Winnipeg and later recovered by the Winnipeg Police Service. " Public safety is the RCMP's primary concern. I can confirm an RCMP firearm was stolen in the City of Winnipeg and the matter was promptly reported to the Winnipeg Police Service," said RCMP Sgt. Line Karpish. " Since the offence occurred in Winnipeg and the WPS is the police of jurisdiction, we are not in a position to comment to maintain the integrity of their investigation," Karpish said. " The RCMP is fully collaborating with the WPS," she said. " An internal review - unrelated to the WPS investigation - into the matter has been initiated to ensure that our policies were followed." WPS said Saturday city police had recovered the weapon, but did not have any other details. - staff Gun recovered; police not talking A_ 04_ Jun- 17- 12_ FP_ 01. indd A4 6/ 16/ 12 10: 17: 11 PM ;