Qatar, a major supporter of Syrian rebels, yesterday urged them not to kill Iranians abducted two months ago near Damascus, after the captors threatened to start executing their 48 prisoners.
The Qatari prime minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, made the appeal following a request from Iran, an ally of the Syrian president, Bashar Al Assad, to secure a release of the captives.
The Syrian rebel Al Baraa brigade said on Thursday it would start killing the Iranians unless Mr Al Assad, who is battling an 18-month-old uprising, freed Syrian opposition detainees and stopped shelling civilian areas.
A statement on the brigade's Facebook page yesterday said it had extended its deadline by 24 hours at the request of mediators. "As a general policy in the state of Qatar, we don't accept the killing of prisoners," said Sheikh Hamad. "We also don't accept further escalation of the situation in Syria. We agree that all parties have their demands but the basic principle is not to kill prisoners."
The Baraa Brigade, which initially threatened to kill the Iranians after seizing them in early August, said in a video that was released on Thursday that negotiations over their fate had "failed as a result of the betrayal of the Iranian and Syrian regimes".
"We give the Syrian and Iranian regimes 48 hours to release prisoners, stop the shelling against unarmed civilians and the random killing of innocents or we will kill an Iranian prisoner for each martyr," said a rebel wearing camouflage fatigues.
The rebels said the captives were members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
Tehran denied the accusation and said the men were pilgrims who had been planning to visit a Shiite Muslim shrine on the outskirts of Damascus. Iranian media later quoted the foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, as saying some were retired soldiers or Revolutionary Guards.
Sheikh Hamad also urged Arab states to take action in Syria, given the impasse between major powers at the United Nations Security Council.
"The situation in the Arab world generally should move and something clear should be done," he said.
Yesterday, Turkish artillery fired toward Syria for the fifth day in a row, minutes after a Syrian shell landed in Turkish territory.
The shell landed some 200 metres inside the border, near the town of Akcakale, the site of a similar strike on Wednesday.
The mortar round hit the grounds of a public building without causing casualties, Turkey's NTV news channel reported. It added that the building had been evacuated beforehand.
A short time later, eight mortars were heard being fired from Turkey.
The town's mayor, Abdulhakim Ayhan, confirmed that Turkish artillery had immediately returned fire. He said shrapnel from the Syrian mortar had caused some damage to a grain depot, but no one had been injured.
The Anadolu Agency, Turkey's state news agency, reported that Mr Al Assad's forces had been shelling the town of Tal Abyad, just across from Akcakale, which is controlled by Syrian rebels.
"Thank God there were no victims," said Mr Ayhan. "Turkish artillery immediately responded to the shots that came from Syria."
The Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, called for Mr Al Assad to be replaced by the vice president, Faruq Al Shara.
Meanwhile, fierce fighting continued to rock the key city of Aleppo yesterday and rebels lost ground in Damascus.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said some of the heaviest fighting yesterday was in Aleppo province, where at least three people were killed and scores were wounded when the army pounded the town of Manbaj in Aleppo's suburbs.
And in central Damascus, one person was killed in a car-bomb attack on Khaled bin Al Walid Avenue, the street in which the police headquarters is located, the state media reported.
Syria's defence minister said on Saturday that the government was ready to give amnesty to rebels who repent but those who don't "will be crushed under the feet of our soldiers".
Gen Fahd Jassem Al Freij, who became defence minister in July after his predecessor was assassinated, also claimed that the regime was gaining the upper hand.
"The most dangerous parts of the conspiracy have been passed and the killing is on its way to decline," he said.
* Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse
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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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.”
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
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The biog
Hobby: Playing piano and drawing patterns
Best book: Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins
Food of choice: Sushi
Favourite colour: Orange
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
BULKWHIZ PROFILE
Date started: February 2017
Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce
Size: 50 employees
Funding: approximately $6m
Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait
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