ISTANBUL // Members of the Syrian opposition in exile yesterday supported a demand by US presidential hopeful Mitt Romney that countries such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia send arms to rebels fighting the regime of Bashar Al Assad.
"In the absence of international intervention in Syria to protect the Syrian people, the only alternative left is to have the Syrian people defend themselves, and they need arms to do that," Molham Aldrobi, a member of the Syrian National Council (SNC), an umbrella group, said in an interview yesterday. "We need the innocent people to be protected."
Mahmut Osman, Turkey representative of the SNC, also said the international community should "either do something against Assad or give weapons to people fighting him". He said the Free Syrian Army (FSA), a rebel force fighting government troops, was running out of weapons and ammunition. "If he said this, he said the right thing," Mr Osman said about Mr Romney.
On Saturday, Mr Romney said that, as president, he would be "leading in Syria by encouraging our friends there like the Turks and the Saudis to provide weapons to the insurgents", according to news reports. The administration of Barack Obama, the US president, has rejected demands to arm Syrian rebels.
Like the US, Turkey's government has given strong political support to the SNC, but last week denied news reports saying it was allowing arms, including anti-tank weapons, to be transported to rebel forces across its border with Syria. "Turkey does not send armed elements to any neighbouring country, including Syria," a Turkish diplomat said. There was no comment by Ankara on Mr Romney's suggestion.
Mr Aldrobi said statements like Mr Romney's and recent demands by France that a military intervention should not be excluded were responses to the worsening violence in Syria itself.
"You cannot keep watching innocent people being slaughtered," he said. More than 14,000 people have been killed since the start of an uprising against Mr Assad in March last year, according to activists. "What is the international community waiting for?" Mr Aldrobi asked.
He said armed peacekeepers or other forms of international intervention were preferable to arms shipments to Syrian rebels. "It would be more efficient and save more lives."
Remarks by opposition members showed a growing sense of frustration with the West. Mr Osman of the SNC in Turkey pointed to Nato's repeated insistence that it would not intervene militarily in Syria. "This is like telling Assad: 'Carry on'" with massacres against civilians, Mr Osman said.
But even as it is trying to convince the international community to intervene with the aim to topple the Assad government, the opposition is struggling to overcome internal differences about what the new Syria should look like after the fall of the regime.
At a two-day meeting in Istanbul last weekend, the SNC and other opposition groups formed a committee to work out a common vision for the post-Assad Syria. Abdulbasit Sayda, the SNC leader, told the Turkish news agency Anadolu the committee would consist of 10 members and reflect all parts of the opposition. Mr Sayda did not respond to several telephone calls yesterday.
The idea behind the committee is to create joint positions ahead of a meeting of the opposition with the Arab League in Cairo later this month. Mr Osman of the SNC in Turkey said the committee's job was to work out principles describing "what kind of Syria we want".
tseibert@thenational.ae
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Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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- 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
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- 600-seat auditorium
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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.”
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How to turn your property into a holiday home
- Ensure decoration and styling – and portal photography – quality is high to achieve maximum rates.
- Research equivalent Airbnb homes in your location to ensure competitiveness.
- Post on all relevant platforms to reach the widest audience; whether you let personally or via an agency know your potential guest profile – aiming for the wrong demographic may leave your property empty.
- Factor in costs when working out if holiday letting is beneficial. The annual DCTM fee runs from Dh370 for a one-bedroom flat to Dh1,200. Tourism tax is Dh10-15 per bedroom, per night.
- Check your management company has a physical office, a valid DTCM licence and is licencing your property and paying tourism taxes. For transparency, regularly view your booking calendar.
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Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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