The terror attacks in Paris have been perceived with great sadness throughout the Arab region, leaving France in grief and the world mourning.
In the Abu Dhabi-based Al Ittihad, the sister newspaper of The National, Abdullah bin Bajjad Al Otaibi said responsibility for the terrorist attacks was wide-ranging.
“Politically speaking, it includes international sluggishness in solving the sizeable political setbacks in the region and, above all other problems, ISIL in Syria and Iraq, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt – and branches of each of those – and narrow political interests in dealing with Iran. This includes closing their eyes to Tehran’s continued and persistent support to all terrorist groups in the region and in the world,” he wrote.
“Following Russia’s intervention in Syria and as the West prepares for efficient intervention, ISIL is starting to see its illusions shattered, realising that it should reconsider its strategy and alliances.
“The targeting of Sinjar by Kurdish forces, with air support from the West, and the targeting of oil refineries under ISIL control has given it a deep sense of fear and an overwhelming sense that the legend it strived to build has been forcefully and brutally crushed.
“There is nothing more dangerous than a blind ideologist who sees his illusions shattering before him.”
The Paris attacks were planned and it was certain there are similar operations planned in more than one other country, to be rolled out at a time deemed propitious by ISIL, he concluded.
In L’Orient Le Jour, the Beirut-based daily, Issa Goraieb wrote that “in the assaulted, humiliated and bereaved tricolour”, one colour stood out.
“It is the red that tragically steals the spotlight. Red, like the pools of blood ruthlessly shed by the terrorists. A red which calls for justice, wishing to understand this surreal night that Paris has undergone, asking to know what tomorrow will bring,” he wrote.
“These attacks perpetrated by suicide bombers are the first of their kind in France. They follow the crash of the Russian Metrojet plane and the twin explosions in the southern suburbs of Beirut. They also announce an era of mass terrorism that aims to kill the largest number of civilians: a barbaric war that deserts the theatres of the Levant, spreading here and there, into the privacy of others.”
Writing in the pan-Arab daily Al Hayat, Ghassan Charbel said he believed the attacks in Paris were far more dangerous than the equivalent events in New York and Washington.
“Killing people while blankly staring into their petrified gaze is far more terrifying than a plane crashing into a tower. The massacres of Paris were more horrifying than September 11,” he wrote.
“These were brutal and cold-blooded executions that could be replicated in any given capital, for which no planes or pilots were necessary. It is sufficient to have the presence of a handful of wolves, lurking in the dark and drinking from the river of absolute hatred.
“The ‘invasion of Paris’ is the most dangerous of all, for it builds upon the wounds caused by previous attacks and drags the Arab and Muslim communities into conflict with the countries that are hosting them. It is another stone in the project of awakening religious wars – wars of annihilation between civilisations.”
Charbel’s conclusion was to call for a comprehensive ideological approach.
“We must restore universities, schools, mosques, television stations and websites out of the grip of those promoting these ideologies and the annihilation of others. The world must engage in this war sooner rather than later.”
Writing in the Sharjah-based daily Al Khaleej, Meftah Choueib said what happened in Paris 10 months ago, with the attacks on Charlie Hebdo and the subsequent global solidarity with the French, is repeating itself after the terror attacks on Friday night.
“The big difference is that the French and European consciences were shot to their core and they are now convinced that new approaches, unprecedented initiatives and painful concessions are necessary in facing the terrorist threat,” he wrote.
The attacks reopened wounds that were already bleeding from cross-border strikes. The repeated attacks in Paris show that there is “no longer any region in the world immune from this evil and others must stay alert”.
Translated by Carla Mirza
CMirza@thenational.ae
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
THE BIO
Favourite car: Koenigsegg Agera RS or Renault Trezor concept car.
Favourite book: I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes or Red Notice by Bill Browder.
Biggest inspiration: My husband Nik. He really got me through a lot with his positivity.
Favourite holiday destination: Being at home in Australia, as I travel all over the world for work. It’s great to just hang out with my husband and family.
'Spies in Disguise'
Director: Nick Bruno and Troy Quane
Stars: Will Smith, Tom Holland, Karen Gillan and Roshida Jones
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Uefa Nations League: How it Works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
