This Wednesday marks 40 days since the killing of Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps' Quds Force leader, General Qassem Suleimani in Baghdad. A war between the US and Iran might have been averted but the battle for the future of Iraq will only intensify in the coming months.
General Suleimani was the embodiment of Iranian military expansionism in the Middle East – especially Iraq – and was instrumental in forming and developing several Iraqi militias, primarily loyal to Tehran, under the umbrella of People’s Mobilisation Units. Over the past few years, Iraqi militia leaders would clamber to appear close to Suleimani and flaunt their allegiance to him and the Revolutionary Guards.
The American drone strike that killed Suleimani also killed Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis, the founder of Kataib Hezbollah, one of the most powerful of the Iraqi Shiite militias backed by and loyal to Tehran. With both gone, various Iraqi Shiite leaders seek to become the leading man for Iran. Moqtada Al Sadr, who was traditionally known as a “nationalist” leader, now seems keen to fill that vacuum.
In a dramatic turn of events, Mr Al Sadr has turned on the protesters who took to the streets since last October demanding change in Iraq, including ending Iran’s domineering role in the country. In the last two weeks, Mr Al Sadr’s men stormed Tahrir Square, where Iraq’s protesters had been demanding change and calling for a strong nationalist government that would end foreign meddling and corruption. Proving he can take charge and control the streets is Mr Al Sadr’s surest way to get Tehran’s support. In return, he would seek to undercut rivals from Shiite militia groups and most significantly Qais Al Khazali, the leader of Asa'ib Ahl Al Haq who has largely gone underground in the last month, fearing a similar fate to Al Muhandis.
The Iranian envoy to the United Nations Majid Takht Ravanchi has said that his country is not responsible for what the Iraqi militias – its proxies – may do. Mr Takht Ravanchi is continuing with the long-held Iranian policy of showing a “diplomatic” face to the West, while its proxies under the direction of the IRGC conduct militant operations. For example, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif does not handle the Syria, Iraq, Yemen or Lebanon files, as this is left to the IRGC.
Last October, security officials in Baghdad gathered for a meeting with then Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, who is also the commander in chief of the Iraqi forces. Instead of Mr Abdul Mahdi chairing the meeting, Suleimani walked into the room and gave them directives to quell Iraqi protests. More than 600 peaceful protesters were killed over the subsequent four months. Mr Al Sadr’s armed men, known as the “blue caps”, attacked protesters in Baghdad and Najaf, killing eight and wounding dozens.
The protests, which are largely in Baghdad and predominantly Shia-majority provinces, have been post-sectarian, focusing on curbing foreign interference, militia rule and corruption. There is a vocal push back against Iran’s presence in Iraq. The people Iran claimed to represent, young Shiites, are rejecting the very system it has promoted in Iraq. Protests have entered their fifth month, despite violent responses from the militias.
The most urgent question in the aftermath of the assassination of Suleimani is whether Iran's influence will be weaker in Iraq. While Suleimani and Al Muhandis are survived by militia structures and militia leaders loyal to Tehran, their deaths are a significant loss and have undermined the sense of invincibility the Iran-backed militias have enjoyed in Iraq. The credibility of Iran has further been weakened by their botched attempt to cover up their responsibility for the downing of the Ukrainian jetliner in Tehran, which killed 176 people.
Iran’s relations with Iraqi officials and militias are based on a variety of interests – and sometimes ideology. Some, like American-designated terrorist and militia leader Qais Al Khazali, are firm believers in the Iranian doctrine of Wilayat Al Faqeeh.. Others rely on Iranian pressure to ensure they are included in political party lists during elections. Iraqi militias and their patrons in Tehran will do everything they can to re-impose their image of indomitability.
Mr Al Sadr is trying to play a significant role in trying to appear as an “Iraqi nationalist”, yet his men’s attacks on the popular protesters will undermine that narrative.
There are Shiite Islamists who believe that Iraq must follow the path of Iran, embrace religious doctrine and espouse an official hatred toward the US, encapsulated in the chants of “Death to America.” These Iraqi factions are among the ultra-conservative Shiite leaders who wanted to change Iraq’s name from the Republic of Iraq to the Islamic Republic of Iraq in 2003 but lost the argument at the time.
And then there are those in Iraq who are calling for a secular state that respects civic rights, building on the modern history of Iraq. This is a battle particularly of significance for women. Iraq has a tradition of strong women in the public sphere, from having Naziha Al Dulaimi as the first female minister for the Arab world in 1958 to Sabiha Al Sheikh Dawood appointed as the first female judge. Iraq’s young protesters want to see it regain its rightful place as a leader in the region. Mr Al Sadr’s call this week for protesters to be segregated by gender and his criticism of young women on the streets was met by anger by the protesters who mock his call both on the streets and online.
The internal battle between various Iraqi sides is a microcosm of struggle in the region – a battle of competing interests, a battle of those rejecting religion as the political organising force in the state and those who want to impose it. It is equally a battle of citizens wanting to reinforce their nations’ sovereignty and non-state actors wanting to impose foreign agendas.
For four months, young Iraqis have been demonstrating against incompetent and corrupt leaders. They have lost some of their finest, including popular Iraqi journalist Ahmed Abdul Samad and his cameraman Safaa Ghali, who were killed by armed militias in Basra last month after repeatedly uncovering the atrocities of these militias.
They succeeded in getting a new Prime Minister designated, Mohammed Allawi, who at the very least, is not beholden to militias and is not known to be corrupt or controlled by Tehran. But their aspirations are rightly much higher than that.
While the might of Iranian militias, willing to kill, kidnap and torture, is evident, the strength of passionate youth in Iraq can yet tip the balance in the region. The world should not abandon them.
Mina Al-Oraibi is editor-in-chief of The National
Citizenship-by-investment programmes
United Kingdom
The UK offers three programmes for residency. The UK Overseas Business Representative Visa lets you open an overseas branch office of your existing company in the country at no extra investment. For the UK Tier 1 Innovator Visa, you are required to invest £50,000 (Dh238,000) into a business. You can also get a UK Tier 1 Investor Visa if you invest £2 million, £5m or £10m (the higher the investment, the sooner you obtain your permanent residency).
All UK residency visas get approved in 90 to 120 days and are valid for 3 years. After 3 years, the applicant can apply for extension of another 2 years. Once they have lived in the UK for a minimum of 6 months every year, they are eligible to apply for permanent residency (called Indefinite Leave to Remain). After one year of ILR, the applicant can apply for UK passport.
The Caribbean
Depending on the country, the investment amount starts from $100,000 (Dh367,250) and can go up to $400,000 in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take between four to five months to receive a passport.
Portugal
The investment amount ranges from €350,000 to €500,000 (Dh1.5m to Dh2.16m) in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take a maximum of six months to receive a Golden Visa. Applicants can apply for permanent residency after five years and Portuguese citizenship after six years.
“Among European countries with residency programmes, Portugal has been the most popular because it offers the most cost-effective programme to eventually acquire citizenship of the European Union without ever residing in Portugal,” states Veronica Cotdemiey of Citizenship Invest.
Greece
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Greece is €250,000, making it the cheapest real estate residency visa scheme in Europe. You can apply for residency in four months and citizenship after seven years.
Spain
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Spain is €500,000. You can apply for permanent residency after five years and citizenship after 10 years. It is not necessary to live in Spain to retain and renew the residency visa permit.
Cyprus
Cyprus offers the quickest route to citizenship of a European country in only six months. An investment of €2m in real estate is required, making it the highest priced programme in Europe.
Malta
The Malta citizenship by investment programme is lengthy and investors are required to contribute sums as donations to the Maltese government. The applicant must either contribute at least €650,000 to the National Development & Social Fund. Spouses and children are required to contribute €25,000; unmarried children between 18 and 25 and dependent parents must contribute €50,000 each.
The second step is to make an investment in property of at least €350,000 or enter a property rental contract for at least €16,000 per annum for five years. The third step is to invest at least €150,000 in bonds or shares approved by the Maltese government to be kept for at least five years.
Candidates must commit to a minimum physical presence in Malta before citizenship is granted. While you get residency in two months, you can apply for citizenship after a year.
Egypt
A one-year residency permit can be bought if you purchase property in Egypt worth $100,000. A three-year residency is available for those who invest $200,000 in property, and five years for those who purchase property worth $400,000.
Source: Citizenship Invest and Aqua Properties
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In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
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MATCH INFO
Syria v Australia
2018 World Cup qualifying: Asia fourth round play-off first leg
Venue: Hang Jebat Stadium (Malacca, Malayisa)
Kick-off: Thursday, 4.30pm (UAE)
Watch: beIN Sports HD
* Second leg in Australia scheduled for October 10
Types of bank fraud
1) Phishing
Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
2) Smishing
The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
3) Vishing
The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
4) SIM swap
Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
5) Identity theft
Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
6) Prize scams
Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
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.”
Crazy Rich Asians
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeon, Gemma Chan
Four stars
Profile
Company name: Jaib
Started: January 2018
Co-founders: Fouad Jeryes and Sinan Taifour
Based: Jordan
Sector: FinTech
Total transactions: over $800,000 since January, 2018
Investors in Jaib's mother company Alpha Apps: Aramex and 500 Startups
Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
WWE Super ShowDown results
Seth Rollins beat Baron Corbin to retain his WWE Universal title
Finn Balor defeated Andrade to stay WWE Intercontinental Championship
Shane McMahon defeated Roman Reigns
Lars Sullivan won by disqualification against Lucha House Party
Randy Orton beats Triple H
Braun Strowman beats Bobby Lashley
Kofi Kingston wins against Dolph Zigggler to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Mansoor Al Shehail won the 50-man Battle Royal
The Undertaker beat Goldberg
PROFILE OF INVYGO
Started: 2018
Founders: Eslam Hussein and Pulkit Ganjoo
Based: Dubai
Sector: Transport
Size: 9 employees
Investment: $1,275,000
Investors: Class 5 Global, Equitrust, Gulf Islamic Investments, Kairos K50 and William Zeqiri
The Cairo Statement
1: Commit to countering all types of terrorism and extremism in all their manifestations
2: Denounce violence and the rhetoric of hatred
3: Adhere to the full compliance with the Riyadh accord of 2014 and the subsequent meeting and executive procedures approved in 2014 by the GCC
4: Comply with all recommendations of the Summit between the US and Muslim countries held in May 2017 in Saudi Arabia.
5: Refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of countries and of supporting rogue entities.
6: Carry out the responsibility of all the countries with the international community to counter all manifestations of extremism and terrorism that threaten international peace and security
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
How Beautiful this world is!
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
AIR
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Juliet, Naked
Dir: Jesse Peretz
Starring: Chris O'Dowd, Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke
Two stars
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The 12 Syrian entities delisted by UK
Ministry of Interior
Ministry of Defence
General Intelligence Directorate
Air Force Intelligence Agency
Political Security Directorate
Syrian National Security Bureau
Military Intelligence Directorate
Army Supply Bureau
General Organisation of Radio and TV
Al Watan newspaper
Cham Press TV
Sama TV
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Sunday's games
Liverpool v West Ham United, 4.30pm (UAE)
Southampton v Burnley, 4.30pm
Arsenal v Manchester City, 7pm
First Person
Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
UAE%20PREMIERSHIP
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HOW DO SIM CARD SCAMS WORK?
Sim swap frauds are a form of identity theft.
They involve criminals conning mobile phone operators into issuing them with replacement Sim cards, often by claiming their phone has been lost or stolen
They use the victim's personal details - obtained through criminal methods - to convince such companies of their identity.
The criminal can then access any online service that requires security codes to be sent to a user's mobile phone, such as banking services.
UAE v Ireland
1st ODI, UAE win by 6 wickets
2nd ODI, January 12
3rd ODI, January 14
4th ODI, January 16
