BAGHDAD // Iraq's parliament is due to meet today for the first time since the disputed March elections, with politicians yet to agree on a new government and with the country suffering a recent surge of violence, including an audacious assault on the heavily defended central bank yesterday.
At least 15 people were killed and 22 wounded in the attack, which involved a series of bomb blasts followed by rooftop gun battles inside the bank compound between the assailants and security forces.
The Iraqi authorities said it was unclear if the raid was an attempted robbery or an effort by insurgents to demolish buildings and kill bank employees.
The siege began shortly before 3pm, as workers were beginning to leave their offices, with fighting apparently still underway hours later, gunfire still sounding across the city and the area around the bank sealed off by government troops. Most of the casualties were reportedly bank staff.
Coming less than 24 hours ahead of today's parliamentary meeting, the attack served as a bloody reminder that security in Iraq remains fragile, even in the capital, which is defended by thousands of soldiers, police and the intelligence services.
Although violence is down from its peak four years ago, it has risen since the March 7 ballot. According to government figures 337 people were killed nationwide in unrest during May, the fourth month this year in which casualty rates have exceeded their 2009 level.
Today's parliamentary session, ordered last week by President Jalal Talabani following the delayed confirmation of national election results, is likely to be dominated by routine procedural motions.
Those who won seats in the council of representatives said they expected no immediate progress on key decisions such as selection of a parliamentary speaker.
Iraq's principle political blocs remain deadlocked, still disputing the basic issue of which party should form the next government. No group achieved an outright majority, necessitating complex cross-party coalition building.
The secular Iraqiyya list, led by Ayad Allawi, narrowly won the most parliamentary seats and insists it retains the constitutional right to form the government.
The State of Law alliance, headed by the incumbent prime minister, Nouri al Maliki, came in second place but says it should form the government, having agreed a post-election coalition with another major sectarian Shiite bloc.
Together the two Shiite groups, now combined as the National Alliance (NA), command 159 seats, just four short of a working majority in the 325-member parliament. Despite uniting however, the Shiite groups in the NA have failed to resolve who should be selected as their candidate for prime minister. Mr Maliki's supporters - and Mr Maliki - are adamant he get the job while the powerful Sadr bloc and influential Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) have been opposed.
The divisions, which have left Iraq with no clear political direction for the last three months and fuelled fears of a security vacuum, make it impossible to know when a government will be formed. Some of Mr Maliki's supporters suggest it will take little more than a month for him to seal the deal. Others, including international diplomats, continue to warn that fundamental differences mean a drawn out process is more likely.
"I believe the big blocs [the NA] are going to create the next government and the other parties are going to have to accept that," said Wail Abdul Latif, of the National Alliance.
He predicted it would take two months at most for the matter to be resolved. On that schedule, the new government would be in place before the Ramadan holiday and, perhaps crucially, before US troop numbers are cut back to 50,000, due to take place by September.
Satah al Sheikh, an MP with Iraqiyya, said the government should be formed as soon as possible but warned the process would extend for "months" because "many problems" remained.
"It is Iraqiyya's right to create the government because we won the election, but we have yet to conclude our meetings with the various other parties, it will take time for us to forge an agreement," he said. Those three posts make up the main centre of power in Iraq's system of governance. Mr Allawi and Mr Maliki, the two major claimants for the post of prime minister, held their first face-to-face meeting on Saturday.
In advance of today's parliamentary opening, Sadrist MPs said they would boycott the session if US ambassador to Iraq, Christopher Hill, were in attendance.
He has been adamant that Washington has not been inappropriately involved in discussions over formation of the next Iraqi government, but suggestions of meddling persist, particularly in the anti-US Sadr movement.
"We will not attend the parliament if the American officials attend," said Zeynab al Kenarni, a Sadrist MP. "The goal is to eliminate the occupation of Iraq and if the US ambassador is at the parliament it will be as if Iraq is under US control."
* Phil Sands contributed to this report from Damascus
nlatif@thenational.ae
psands@thenational.ae
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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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Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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Have a white front-light and a back red-light on their bike
They must place a number plate with reflective light to the back of the bike to alert road-users
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They must cycle on designated lanes and areas and ride safe on pavements to avoid bumping into pedestrians
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