DAMASCUS // President Bashar Al Assad yesterday ordered a new general amnesty, a day after an offer of "national dialogue" to end Syria's unrest, even as activists said four people were killed in anti-government protests.
Video: Mass protests continue in Syria
Last Updated: June 22, 2011 UAE
Mass demonstrations continue in Syria after Assad's pledged reforms have yet to yield change. Deborah Lutterbeck reports.
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Two people were killed in the central city of Homs and another two in the northeastern province of Deir Ezzor, the activists said, quoting residents, as both the pro and anti-Assad camps took to the streets.
On the humanitarian front, the oresident of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Jakob Kellenberger, said after talks with Syrian authorities that the ICRC has been granted access to areas and people affected by the unrest.
Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which took part in a mission organised by the government to Jisr al Shughur, near the border with Turkey, said that villages in the flashpoint area were mostly deserted.
"A UNHCR staff member reported that villages were increasingly empty from around 40 kilometres from Jisr al Shughur," said UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards. "There was no evidence of people working in the fields."
At the forefront of criticism of the Syrian authorities, France called for UN Security Council intervention.
"The UN Security Council cannot remain silent for much longer," the French prime minister, Francois Fillon, said at a joint news conference in Paris with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
But Mr Putin said: "We believe that interference in the sovereign matters of independent states shows little promise."
Western governments have been circulating a draft Security Council resolution that would condemn Mr Assad's crackdown but Russia has warned it would veto any such move.
Following up on a keynote speech he delivered on Monday, the state news agency Sana said Mr Al Assad had "issued a decree granting a general amnesty for crimes committed before the date of June 20, 2011."
The president had already ordered a general amnesty on May 31 for all political prisoners, including Muslim Brotherhood members. Hundreds of detainees were released, according to human rights groups.
"I sensed that amnesty was not satisfactory so we are going to extend it to include others, without endangering the security of the state," Mr Al Assad said in his televised speech.
Tens of thousands of people, meanwhile, rallied in central Damascus.
Omeyyades Square was turned into a sea of pro-Assad demonstrators, waving Syrian flags and the president's portrait, chanting: "We will sacrifice ourselves for you, Bashar!"
State television said a huge pro-Assad demonstration was also held in Homs, a flashpoint city north of Damascus. "Millions of Syrians" flocked to squares around the country to hail his speech, it said.
In the address, three months into anti-regime protests and a crackdown by security forces that has cost hundreds of lives, Mr Al Assad said a national dialogue could lead to a new constitution but refused to reform Syria under "chaos."
Pro-democracy activists, however, condemned the speech and insisted the "revolution", now in its fourth month, would carry on, while the US State Department called for "action, not words".
Mr Al Assad acknowledged in his speech that Syria had reached a "turning point", but he said dialogue could lead to a new constitution and end nearly five decades of his Baath party's monopoly on power, a key opposition demand.
"We can say that national dialogue is the slogan of the next stage," the president said. "The national dialogue could lead to amendments of the constitution or to a new constitution."
Witnesses and opposition activists said Mr Al Assad's speech was followed by protests in many parts of Syria, including the northern city of Aleppo, the central regions of Homs and Hama, and in Damascus suburbs.
"The protesters condemned the speech, which branded them as saboteurs, extremists," the head of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP.
Sixty demonstrators were arrested in Aleppo in 24 hours, said Abdel Rahman, whose group says the violence has so far killed 1,310 civilians and 341 security force members since the protests erupted in mid-March.
Opposition activists said Mr Assad's speech failed to specify concrete steps such as the pullout of troops from besieged cities and only deepened the crisis.
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Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
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Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
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.”
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If you’re going to go grey, a great style, well-cared for hair (in a sleek, classy style, like a bob), and a young spirit and attitude go a long way, says Maria Dowling, founder of the Maria Dowling Salon in Dubai.
It’s easier to go grey from a lighter colour, so you may want to do that first. And this is the time to try a shorter style, she advises. Then a stylist can introduce highlights, start lightening up the roots, and let it fade out. Once it’s entirely grey, a purple shampoo will prevent yellowing.
“Get professional help – there’s no other way to go around it,” she says. “And don’t just let it grow out because that looks really bad. Put effort into it: properly condition, straighten, get regular trims, make sure it’s glossy.”
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Name: Salvador Toriano Jr
Age: 59
From: Laguna, The Philippines
Favourite dish: Seabass or Fish and Chips
Hobbies: When he’s not in the restaurant, he still likes to cook, along with walking and meeting up with friends.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
