Salafists clash with Jordan police

A police spokesman says authorities were forced to intervene to prevent clashes between several hundred government loyalists and about 400 Salafists demanding the release of Salafist prisoners and the implementation of its ultraconservative interpretation of Sunni Islam.

Suha Philip Ma'ayeh

April 16, 2011

AMMAN // Jordanian police yesterday fired tear gas to disperse a demonstration by Salafists in the city of Zarqa after four policemen were stabbed and more than 80 others injured, a police spokesman said.

Col Mohammad Khatib said authorities were forced to intervene to prevent clashes between several hundred government loyalists and about 400 Salafists demanding the release of Salafist prisoners and the implementation of its ultraconservative interpretation of Sunni Islam.

"Several people tried to break up their rally, and there have been skirmishes with the two sides hurling stones at each other," Col Khatib said, adding that eight civilians were injured.

The Salafi movement is banned in Jordan, but has grown in strength in recent years. Salafists have held rallies across the country in recent weeks to demand the release of 90 Islamist prisoners, including Abu Mohammed al Maqdessi, the mentor of the former leader of al Qa'eda in Iraq, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, who was killed in an air strike north-east of Baghdad in 2006.

The Salafist rallies are separate from the wave of anti-government protests calling for democratic reforms over the past three months. The group has also called for the release of Mohammad Shalabi, better known as Abu Sayyaf, who is in prison after being convicted on terrorism charges following riots in the southern city of Maan in 2002.

More than 2,000 demonstrators protested across Jordan yesterday to demand a greater political freedoms. About 1,000 protested outside Amman's municipal building after Friday prayers.

"The reform steps taken by the government are very slow if non-existent. We are still pressing with our demands to see reforms," said Jamil Abu Baker, a Muslim Brotherhood spokesman. "We do not think the government is qualified. We think the way it is cracking down on corruption is a farce."

The government has appointed a national dialogue committee on reforms to draft new laws pertaining to elections and political parties.

"We will present them to the government by the end of this month," said Musa Barhouma, a member of the committee.

But Muath Khawaldeh, 27, a youth leader, said protests would go on until the protesters' demands were met.

"Jordanians are fed up from the dishonest pledges regarding reforms," he said.

* With reporting from Agence France-Presse and Associated Press

Tuesday's fixtures
Group A
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
Iran v Uzbekistan, 8pm
N Korea v UAE, 10.15pm
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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.”

At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

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Australia tour of Pakistan

March 4-8: First Test, Rawalpindi  

March 12-16: Second Test, Karachi 

March 21-25: Third Test, Lahore

March 29: First ODI, Rawalpindi

March 31: Second ODI, Rawalpindi

April 2: Third ODI, Rawalpindi

April 5: T20I, Rawalpindi