TRIPOLI // As the poet nears a southern gate to the old city of Tripoli, he pauses and watches people pouring in and out of the opening.
"I think it is best to see the medina," says Ashur Etwebi, a physician, poet and translator, wearing a floppy hat with a wraparound brim to protect himself from the sun. "Here is a smaller version of the whole city."
A quick jaunt up the stairs to the wall encircling the old city reveals a decaying river of rubbish. Dr Etwebi nudges a used, yellow syringe casing with his shoe. "You see," he says. "First you must know that this place is our history, and it has been neglected. Qaddafi wanted all the young people on drugs, so they wouldn't rise up."
Descending to the streets, he deftly navigates the alleyways of the medina. The new flag of liberated Libya hangs everywhere. Walls are freshly painted with the stripes of the flag, which is actually an old flag from the time of King Idriss: red, black and green.
Old doors with plants snaking up along the wall remind him of his childhood. He was born in 1952 in this part of Tripoli. A whiff of mint from a kitchen window, a bag of bread hanging from a door trigger memories of running around as a child. His father made his way to Tripoli from a village with one idea in mind: that his children would grow up educated.
Dr Etwebi is a pulmonary specialist and lecturer in the village of Twebia, 25 kilometres to the East. Of his own eight children, four are doctors or in training to become doctors. "His dream has come true," he says.
"Assalamu alaykum," he says to every passer-by. "How are you?"
People now respond differently to his greeting.
"There is something important here. It is like a weight has been lifted off of everyone's shoulders. If we had come here one month ago, we would have seen something different in the way people walked. They would be afraid. They walked like they had something heavy on their backs. And they would be suspicious, wondering who is this man and his foreign companion."
Rifle shots ring out in the distance. The newly named Martyr's Square is nearby, where trucks of anti-Qaddafi fighters do the rounds. Young men in fatigues preen as children ask to touch their guns and women wave and take pictures. Popcorn vendors do a steady business there late into the night.
Walking through little streets, with the sun dappled by hanging grape plants and flowering trees, he remarks: "Where is Qaddafi?" then smiling. "He is not here."
Here is a Sufi shrine dating back to the 17th century and the old French embassy, now a cultural centre. Nearby is a Roman-era monument to Marcus Aurelius, overgrown with weeds.
The old city of Tripoli is the scene of Dr Etwebi's novel Dardanin, which is told in the form of one long sentence that goes for 113 pages.
This is also the way he walks, pointing out details as he wanders without a concise narrative. The observations are of what is there and what is not. This storefront is where he worked as a silversmith after school; this door once led to his "first love" at the age of 10. This spot is where a policeman no longer stands; this famous restaurant serving simple food with ancient recipes is not open today.
But there is a new restaurant, serving a fish dish called harami, which means "the illegitimate".
"You can also have couscous, but this is better," Dr Etwebi says. "It takes a very long time to make, six hours. It is spicy, but I love it."
The walk continues, now in its fifth hour, out of the old city, across Martyr's Square with its bullet riddled façades and ubiquitous flags, to an old cafe. A non-alcoholic beer for the poet in the shade of trees. Apple-scented smoke wafts.
Lately, Dr Etwebi says, he has been reading more than writing. It feels like the time to soak things up. Now is an era of non-fiction, of reporting from battle lines, chronicles of torture, and political debate. In Algeria Square - recently renamed both Libya Square and Qatar Square, depending who you ask - young students are gathering for a public protest against an Islamist leader, Ali Salabi.
It, too, is new. There haven't been protests like that for decades.
"We cannot know what all this means yet," he says. "Even now, I think of the past. I don't think it is time for writers to write just yet. We can watch and observe. It is not the time yet to deal with what has happened."
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Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
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Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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.
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The specs
Price: From Dh529,000
Engine: 5-litre V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 520hp
Torque: 625Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.8L/100km
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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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.”
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
