UNITED NATIONS // The UN Security Council has imposed an arms embargo on the leaders of Yemen’s Shiite Houthi rebels, as well as the country’s former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, and his son.
The resolution, approved in a 14-0 vote on Tuesday, is aimed at ending Houthi military action against supporters of the current president, Abdrabu Mansur Hadi, who was forced to flee to Saudi Arabia.
Shortly after the vote, the US Treasury put Houthi leader Abdul Malik Al Houthi and Mr Saleh’s son, Ahmed, on its sanctions blacklist, freezing any assets they have on US property and banning Americans from dealing with them.
Russia abstained from the security council vote, saying that some of its proposals for the resolution, which was drafted by council member Jordan and Gulf states, were not included.
“The co-sponsors refused to include the requirements insisted upon by Russia [for] all sides [in] the conflict to swiftly halt fire and ... begin peace talks,” Russian UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin told the council after the vote.
It comes after a Saudi-led coalition last month launched air strikes against the Iran-allied Houthis. The United States said last week that it is speeding up arms supplies to the coalition.
“We insisted that the arms embargo needs to be comprehensive. It’s well known that Yemen is awash in weapons,” Mr Churkin said. “The adopted resolution should not be used for further escalation of the armed conflict.”
The resolution imposes the arms embargo on five men: Houthi leader Abdul-Malik Al Houthi, second-in-command Abdullah Yahya Al Hakim, military commander Abd Al Khaliq Al Houthi, former president Mr Saleh and his eldest son, Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The council called on all countries to inspect cargo headed to the country if there are “reasonable grounds” to believe it contains weapons.
In addition, the council imposed an asset freeze and travel ban on the Houthi leader and Mr Saleh’s son. The same sanctions had already been imposed on the other three men last November.
The resolution demands that all Yemeni parties, especially the Houthis, end violence and quickly resume UN-brokered negotiations aimed at a political transition.
The council asked UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon to intensify efforts to deliver humanitarian aid and evacuate foreigners, including establishing “humanitarian pauses” in coordination with the government of Yemen.
The vote came as UN rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein called for investigations into the high level of civilian casualties that account for almost half of the 736 deaths recorded in the Yemen conflict.
“Such a heavy civilian death toll ought to be a clear indication to all parties to this conflict that there may be serious problems in the conduct of hostilities,” he said.
Mr Al Hussein said attacks on hospitals and on civilians unconnected to the fighting were war crimes.
Iran’s television channel Press TV said on Tuesday that Tehran will submit a four-point peace plan to the UN on Wednesday, but gave no further details.
Speaking in Madrid the same day, Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif proposed a peace plan that calls for a ceasefire followed by talks with all sides that would be mediated by foreigners.
Meanwhile, operations were suspended at Yemen’s only gas export terminal on Tuesday after armed tribesmen drove out soldiers guarding the site, accusing them of having links to the Houthis.
The tribesmen pledged not to interfere in operations at the Balhaf plant in the southern province of Shabwa. France’s Total has a stake of almost 40 per cent in the terminal, which is operated by Yemen LNG.
“We have taken control of the security side ... and positioned members of the tribes in points evacuated by the army,” said local tribal chief Nasser Bahaj.
“On the administrative side, employees are still there and we do not interfere in their business.”
Yemen LNG said it had stopped operations at the plant and would start evacuating personnel due to “further degradation of the security situation in the vicinity of Balhaf”.
However, Total stressed that security at the site itself had been maintained.
Also on Tuesday, Yemen’s Al Qaeda affiliate said its ideological leader had been killed in an alleged US drone strike.
Ibrahim Al Rubaish, who in January accused France of surpassing the US as the top enemy of Islam, was killed with several other militants in a “crusade raid” on Monday, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said, apparently referring to a drone attack that killed six people in south-east Yemen.
* Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters
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Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
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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.”
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
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
