A Bahraini court on Sunday ordered the kingdom’s main opposition group Al Wefaq to be dissolved, after authorities accused it of “harbouring terrorism”.
The administrative court in Manama also ordered the Shiite movement’s funds to be seized by the government, a judicial source said.
The justice ministry, which had requested dissolving Al Wefaq, accused the bloc of providing a haven for “terrorism, radicalisation and violence” and opening the way for “foreign interference” in the kingdom’s affairs.
It was an allusion to Iran, which Bahrain accuses of fomenting unrest among its Shiite majority.
Al Wefaq was the largest bloc in parliament before its lawmakers resigned in protest at the crushing of 2011 protests calling for an elected government.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE helped Bahrain quell the uprising, but low-level and occasionally violent unrest continues to roil the kingdom despite reforms put in place following the Arab Spring-inspired uprising.
The ruling comes despite appeals by the United Nations and United States for the legal process against the bloc to be dropped.
Authorities suspended Al Wefaq’s activities and froze its funds and assets on June 14, ordering its offices closed after accusing the group of creating “a new generation that carries the spirit of hatred” and having links with “sectarian and extremist political parties that adopt terrorism”.
On June 28, its defence lawyers withdrew from court proceedings in protest at the government’s push to accelerate the process, which was initially set for October 6.
Abdullah Al Shamlawi, a lawyer who had been defending Al Wefaq, said at the time that the order came “out of the blue”. He has denied all the allegations.
He and other members of the defence team pulled out of the case after the judge refused to allow them access to Al Wefaq’s offices to prepare their defence.
Al Wefaq draws most of its support from the Shiite majority in Bahrain.
Its chief, Shiite cleric Ali Salman, is serving a nine-year jail term for inciting violence after a court in May more than doubled his sentence.
His arrest in December 2014 sparked protests in Bahrain.
The order for Al Wefaq to be dissolved comes as the government cracks down on opponents.
Prominent human rights advocate Nabeel Rajab was detained last month and is now facing trial on charges of insulting a state institution, insulting a foreign country and disseminating false rumours in time of war.
Activist Zainab Al Khawaja, meanwhile, left Bahrain for Denmark last month after being released from prison on humanitarian grounds. Her activist father, Abdulhadi Al Khawaja, remains jailed on a life sentence for his role in the 2011 protests.
Also last month, authorities stripped the citizenship of the country’s leading Shiite cleric, Sheikh Isa Qassim, prompting protests by his supporters. Officials accuse him of creating a sectarian atmosphere and of forming groups that “follow foreign religious ideologies and political entities”.
Al Wefaq, also known as the Islamic National Accord Association, is heir to the Bahrain Freedom Movement which played a key role in Shiite-led anti-government protests of the 1990s that sought the restoration of the elected parliament scrapped in 1975.
The situation in Bahrain is raising alarm in Washington, while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed concern about the move against Al Wefaq.
* Agence France-Presse and Associated Press
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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.”
Australia squads
ODI: Tim Paine (capt), Aaron Finch (vice-capt), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye.
T20: Aaron Finch (capt), Alex Carey (vice-capt), Ashton Agar, Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Jack Wildermuth.
HWJN
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Primera Liga fixtures (all times UAE: 4 GMT)
Friday
Real Sociedad v Villarreal (10.15pm)
Real Betis v Celta Vigo (midnight)
Saturday
Alaves v Barcelona (8.15pm)
Levante v Deportivo La Coruna (10.15pm)
Girona v Malaga (10.15pm)
Las Palmas v Atletico Madrid (12.15am)
Sunday
Espanyol v Leganes (8.15pm)
Eibar v Athletic Bilbao (8.15pm)
Getafe v Sevilla (10.15pm)
Real Madrid v Valencia (10.15pm)
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
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