On Tuesday, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon issued its judgment in the case of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination. It took a little over 15 years of investigations, delays and hearings since the bombing that devastated downtown Beirut on Valentine's Day 2005 for the court to reach a decision. It found one member of Hezbollah guilty.
Full disclosure: I worked for the court for two years between 2011 and 2013.
The prosecution had indicted five members of the militant group in the case, which was built on a vast trove of telecommunications evidence and “co-location” to identify the suspects by tracking their mobile phones for days as they carried out surveillance of the Lebanese prime minister, bought the lorry that was laden with explosives and carried out the bombing.
The telecommunications evidence was built on the earlier work of Wissam Eid, a heroic Lebanese security officer who was murdered for his role in uncovering it.
The trial took place in absentia because Hezbollah refused to hand over the suspects, after carrying a broad propaganda campaign to discredit it as a tool of American and Israeli imperialism.
One of the suspects was Mustafa Badreddine, who was the overall military commander of Hezbollah at the time of his death under mysterious circumstances in Syria in 2016. I covered Badreddine's funeral in Beirut, which was carried out with great pomp and ceremony.
In addition to leading the party's campaign in support of Bashar Al Assad, he was also the brother-in-law of Imad Mughniyeh, his predecessor and the notorious Hezbollah commander who led the militia in its war with Israel in 2006, and was later assassinated in the heart of Damascus in a joint CIA and Mossad operation. It doesn't get much higher than this in the party's top echelons where its leader Hassan Nasrallah resides.
The other key suspect was Salim Ayyash, a Hezbollah member who led the assassination cell and was the main conduit to Badreddine, in addition to buying the truck that was used to attack Hariri's convoy. The three other suspects were allegedly involved in preparing a false claim of responsibility for the assassination.
The court found Ayyash guilty on all counts and refrained from making a detailed statement on Badreddine’s role, because he was dead and therefore no longer an accused. The other three suspects were declared not guilty due to lack of evidence. These decisions are of course all subject to appeal.
The court said it did not find evidence implicating Hezbollah as an organisation in the killing. It is, however, hard to conceive of an operation of such magnitude, sophistication, and with these political ramifications – and with the involvement of one of the party’s most senior and well-connected cadres – taking place without the knowledge of Hezbollah’s leaders and the party’s foreign sponsors.
The prosecution's biggest sin is perhaps that it never did figure out a motive for the assassination of Hariri
Many questions remain unanswered though. Who worked with Ayyash to carry out the assassination (most of the cell that carried out the murder on the day itself have not been identified)? Who did he and Badreddine answer to? Who ordered the assassination? Who made the false claim of responsibility? Were the same people involved in all the other political assassinations that took place in Lebanon around that time? Preparations for a trial in those connected cases are under way. What evidence existed to implicate Syria in the killing of Hariri and others within his political bloc? Who assassinated Eid and what were they worried about him revealing?
But the prosecution's biggest sin is perhaps that it never did figure out a motive for the killing. Hariri's assassination was not an isolated event. It came amid extremely high tensions with Bashar Al Assad, with pressure from foreign powers and Hariri's political bloc and growing popular demand for the departure of Syrian forces from Lebanon, which was under the tutelage of Damascus since the end of its civil war. Even after the Syrian army withdrew, a series of assassinations targeted politicians and thinkers from Hariri's political bloc in the aftermath of his death.
Syria initially co-operated with the UN’s Hariri probe, and senior security officials were implicated in the initial phase of the investigation. It is unclear whether that evidence was up to the standards of an international tribunal. Prosecutors and investigators since then dithered and delayed, slowing down the pace of the investigation, perhaps in the hopes that more direct evidence would materialise, perhaps to retain their cushy UN jobs.
But justice delayed is justice denied. Hariri’s killers and the murderers of two dozen Lebanese who died in the blast deserve justice and accountability.
But Lebanon and the region have seen great atrocities since that political earthquake: all the subsequent political assassinations and bombings in Lebanon, the war in Syria, the brutality with which the region's strongmen suppressed dissent and protests during the uprisings. And of course, the explosion in Beirut on August 4, a result of sheer criminal negligence, which killed at least 177 people, wounded thousands and levelled an entire city.
The Tribunal’s goal was to put an end to impunity in Lebanon, to put an end to the use of political assassinations as a tool for regional powers and local militias to impose their will. That desire for justice permeates and underlines much of the region’s suffering. At least somebody tried to find out who was responsible and somebody was found responsible, even if he may never face justice.
But perhaps the surest sign of the Tribunal’s failure is that 15 years after Hariri’s death, the perpetrators of the explosion in Beirut are not in the slightest danger of being held accountable. After hundreds of millions of dollars and 15 years of pain, impunity still reigns supreme in Lebanon.
Kareem Shaheen is a former Middle East correspondent based in Canada
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THE BIO
Favourite car: Koenigsegg Agera RS or Renault Trezor concept car.
Favourite book: I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes or Red Notice by Bill Browder.
Biggest inspiration: My husband Nik. He really got me through a lot with his positivity.
Favourite holiday destination: Being at home in Australia, as I travel all over the world for work. It’s great to just hang out with my husband and family.
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
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A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
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The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen
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Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser
Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages
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The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device
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Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
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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.”
