BLIDA // Mohammed Zermane remembers one night in 1997 when he and his squad of militia volunteers "hunted terrorists" among the now blossoming orange groves between the village of Soumaa and the town of Blida, about 45 kilometres south of Algeria's capital.
"We were called in from Soumaa because the terrorists had taken a family hostage in a house nearby," recalled Mr Zermane. "We killed three terrorists, two right away and one the next day after we tracked the blood through the grove. That is what we did, the Patriots."
Algerian Spotlight
Ferry Biedermann delivers a series of exclusive reports:
Wednesday As the opposition demands reform, the Algerian government resists with the claim that the country is already free and that any change could reopen the door to fundamentalism and renewed violence.
Tuesday Algeria's young poor sing of a better life in Europe - the government has tackled protests with its usual mixture of repression and buying off the demonstrators, but in the impoverished district of Bab el Oued the only hope for improvement is seen to be illegal emigration.
The violence of Algeria's recent past, which is continuing at a lower level today, is offered up most often as the explanation for why the country has remained relatively calm at a time when unrest is rocking the Arab world. From 1991 to 2001 a vicious fight between the state and several militant fundamentalist groups tore apart society.
Often called a civil war but, in reality, more like a series of tit-for-tat massacres, assassinations and bombings, the violence cost the lives of up to 200,000 people and left deep scars in the memories of Mr Zermane and other Algerians. It has bequeathed to the country a stark warning of where renewed unrest could lead but it also left a lingering resentment.
"We are glad that the fighting is over but we want peace with justice," said Mr Zermane. The loosely organised militia that he served in, the Patriots, claims to have played an important role in the eventual defeat of the fundamentalists, providing local knowledge and support to the army and police.
Recently the Patriots as well as another militia, the Communal Guards, have been demanding benefits and pensions that they consider due them from the state. In March and early April they were among the most vocal and numerous of the many social groups that were out in the street clamouring for handouts.
In Algeria, the Arab spring has translated itself mostly into a push for economic and social demands. Those waiting for government housing are demonstrating at the ministry of housing, teaching assistants demanding contracts are herded together on a corner opposite the president's office and the Patriots used to mass in downtown's Martyr's Square, until it was fenced off mid-April, ostensibly for renovations.
"Many social groups think the state is weak and will give in easily," acknowledges Seddik Chihheb, vice-president of the lower house of parliament and a senior official in the prime minister's RND party. "Thank God that we can afford to meet the demands at the moment, thanks to our comfortable economic position and the high petrol prices. We say social peace knows no price."
The Communal Guards, who mainly protested against their sacking by the ministry of interior, suspended their demonstrations mid-April after a secret deal with the government. But the Patriots, who were a much less regulated militia and who only received intermittent compensation, are keeping up their protests.
The government is caught in a somewhat awkward bind in dealing with the former militias.
It still uses the memories of the violence and the fear of another fundamentalist attempt at power to justify its rule. But it can hardly claim that the militias, which it presents as heroes of that fight, want to undermine the position of the state.
Mr Chihheb is circumspect in discussing their case, saying that he supports the militias' demands. "Algeria will never forget them and has already given a lot." But he cannot completely hide his irritation. "Among us it's normal always to feel hard done by, like we are the damned of the earth. But that's crazy in this case," he said.
Someone else who may feel slightly hard done by is Aboudjerra Soltani, the leader of the Islamic HMP party in parliament and a loyal coalition partner of Mr Chihheb's RND and the large independence party, the FLN.
The HMP, popularly referred to as Hamas, is aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood and was opposed to the violent campaign by the much more radical Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), which won the 1991 elections that were then annulled by the state, sparking the civil war.
The HMP, despite its deeply Islamic roots, remained a legal political party throughout and even ended up as part of the governing coalition since 1997. Yet, it recognises that the deck is stacked against it because of the association by voters, pushed by the authorities, between Islam and violence.
Rather than forever being a small coalition partner, the HMP, possibly joined by other Islamic parties, might do better in totally free elections, Mr Soltani said. "If they don't scare the people with Islamism and terrorism, et cetera, we may have quite a good outcome, maybe not the majority but it will be interesting," he said.
Such talk is still anathema to the large swath of Algerian society that fought to keep out the fundamentalists, including the militias and the many victims of the conflict. Many see themselves as having lost out when the state and the fundamentalists effectively came to an understanding.
"A lot of people would like to promote amnesia," said Cherifa Kheddar, chairwoman of the victims' association in Blida. She lost a brother and a sister when what she says was a band of fundamentalists attacked their home in 1996.
Blida and the surrounding countryside are dotted with the reminders of loss, often entire farmsteads such as the shell of Mohammed Ferhah's ancestral home in Bouinan forest. Its fire-streaked remains testify to that one night in September 1997 when 15 members of his family were killed. Because property and insurance papers also went up in flames, he has never received compensation.
The victims and their families are now mostly regarded as "an inconvenience" by all concerned, she said. Mrs Kheddar does not doubt that the militias such as the Patriots deserve some benefits but she has limited sympathy for their demands.
"They did it mostly for themselves. They defended their homes," she insisted. At the very least, the victims too deserve compensation and especially government support for their physical and psychological problems, she said. "But we are not as organised. Nobody even knows how many victims there are. We are much easier to ignore."
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Kill%20
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Cry Macho
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Dwight Yoakam
Rating:**
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.”
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Squad for first two ODIs
Kohli (c), Rohit, Dhawan, Rayudu, Pandey, Dhoni (wk), Pant, Jadeja, Chahal, Kuldeep, Khaleel, Shami, Thakur, Rahul.
The permutations for UAE going to the 2018 World Cup finals
To qualify automatically
UAE must beat Iraq.
Australia must lose in Japan and at home to Thailand, with their losing margins and the UAE's winning margin over Iraq being enough to overturn a goal difference gap of eight.
Saudi Arabia must lose to Japan, with their losing margin and the UAE's winning margin over Iraq being enough to overturn a goal difference gap of eight.
To finish third and go into a play-off with the other third-placed AFC side for a chance to reach the inter-confederation play-off match
UAE must beat Iraq.
Saudi Arabia must lose to Japan, with their losing margin and the UAE's winning margin over Iraq being enough to overturn a goal difference gap of eight.
The Dictionary of Animal Languages
Heidi Sopinka
Scribe
RESULTS
Bantamweight title:
Vinicius de Oliveira (BRA) bt Xavier Alaoui (MAR)
(KO round 2)
Catchweight 68kg:
Sean Soriano (USA) bt Noad Lahat (ISR)
(TKO round 1)
Middleweight:
Denis Tiuliulin (RUS) bt Juscelino Ferreira (BRA)
(TKO round 1)
Lightweight:
Anas Siraj Mounir (MAR) bt Joachim Tollefsen (DEN)
(Unanimous decision)
Catchweight 68kg:
Austin Arnett (USA) bt Daniel Vega (MEX)
(TKO round 3)
Lightweight:
Carrington Banks (USA) bt Marcio Andrade (BRA)
(Unanimous decision)
Catchweight 58kg:
Corinne Laframboise (CAN) bt Malin Hermansson (SWE)
(Submission round 2)
Bantamweight:
Jalal Al Daaja (CAN) bt Juares Dea (CMR)
(Split decision)
Middleweight:
Mohamad Osseili (LEB) bt Ivan Slynko (UKR)
(TKO round 1)
Featherweight:
Tarun Grigoryan (ARM) bt Islam Makhamadjanov (UZB)
(Unanimous decision)
Catchweight 54kg:
Mariagiovanna Vai (ITA) bt Daniella Shutov (ISR)
(Submission round 1)
Middleweight:
Joan Arastey (ESP) bt Omran Chaaban (LEB)
(Unanimous decision)
Welterweight:
Bruno Carvalho (POR) bt Souhil Tahiri (ALG)
(TKO)
Director: Shady Ali
Cast: Boumi Fouad , Mohamed Tharout and Hisham Ismael
Rating: 3/5
Company%20Profile
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