Shiite worshipers are frisked by members of security as they make their way to a hussainiya – a Shiite hall used for commemorations – in the Saudi Arabian town of Qatif, on October 16, 2015. Hussein Radwan/AFP Photo
Shiite worshipers are frisked by members of security as they make their way to a hussainiya – a Shiite hall used for commemorations – in the Saudi Arabian town of Qatif, on October 16, 2015. Hussein RShow more

World

New ISIL affiliate claims Saudi attack

The announcement brings the number of groups professing to be offshoots of the extremist group in the Arabian Gulf to at least five, reports Justin Vela.

Justin Vela

October 18, 2015

ABU DHABI // A new ISIL affiliate has claimed responsibly for an attack that killed five Shiite worshippers in Saudi Arabia.

The attack took place outside Al Haidaria hussainiya on Friday at about 7pm in Saihat, a city in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern province.

The attacker was killed by security forces after “randomly firing at passers-by,” according to the official Saudi Press Agency.

In a statement, a group calling itself Bahrain Province, a previously unheard of ISIL affiliate, said it had carried out the attack and named the gunman as Shughaa Al Dosari. The claim of responsibility brings the number of groups professing to be offshoots from ISIL in the Arabian Gulf to at least five.

Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry spokesman General Mansour Al Turki said on Saturday that the attacker was Saudi.

Along with the five dead, which included four men and one woman, nine people were also injured.

Riad Kahwaji, head of the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, said the announcement of Bahrain Province was an attempt by ISIL to portray itself as battling Iranian and Shiite influence in the Arabian Gulf.

There are heightened concerns about attacks on Shiites around the holy day of Ashura. Extremist groups like ISIL and Al Qaeda view Shiites as heretics. Last year, seven people, including children, died in an ISIL attack as Shiites gathered to commemorate Ashura in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.

“Security measures in all regions and cities in the kingdom are taking into consideration all terrorist-related attempts to target security and stability of the kingdom,” Gen Al Turki said.

He praised the police for their “fast response” to Friday’s attack which he said saved many lives.

The shooting was the latest in a series of attacks in Saudi Arabia by groups claiming to be ISIL affiliates.

In August, 15 people were killed in Asir province in a suicide bombing at a mosque inside a police compound. In May, two ISIL suicide attacks on separate Shiite mosques in Eastern province killed 25 people.

Attacks on Shiite targets by groups claiming to be ISIL, have also taken place in Kuwait and Yemen.

In June, 27 people were killed when an ISIL suicide bomber detonated explosives at the Imam Al Sadeq mosque in Kuwait city. The attack, which wounded more than 200, was the worst in Kuwait’s history.

Ahead of the holy month of Muharram, which includes Ashura, Kuwait authorities asked Shiites to avoid gathering outside hussainiyas as a security precaution.

ISIL offshoots in the Arabian Gulf – including Sanaa Province, Aden and Abyan Province, Najd Province and Hijaz Province – have claimed attacks in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Yemen.

ISIL in Syria has also announced affiliates in Egypt, Algeria and Libya. Other terror groups, such as Boko Haram in Nigeria, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and the Pakistani Taliban, have also sworn allegiance to ISIL, but their connection is unclear.

“They are showing themselves to be all over the Islamic world, challenging the establishment. At the same they are asserting themselves as a replacement to Al Qaeda,” Mr Kahwaji said.

While ISIL has captured vast expanses of territory in Syria and Iraq, Mr Kahwaji cast down on its strength in the Arabian Gulf. He said the number of ISIL affiliates and attacks increase the “perceptions” of its power.

“What is a group? It could be five people, it could be ten people. A group doesn’t mean that you have hundreds of followers.”

Saudi Arabia and other Arabian Gulf countries have taken part in a United States-led military coalition against ISIL since last year.

jvela@thenational.ae

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.”