TRIPOLI // Libyan rebels claimed victory over a suburb near Tripoli's airport Saturday after an overnight battle as the opposition moves to solidify its hold on the capital while fighting Moammar Qaddafi loyalists in other parts of the country.
Residents of Qasr bin Ghashir, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) south of the capital, celebrated by firing guns and anti-aircraft weapons into the air and beating portraits of the toppled leader with their shoes. Regime troops had been shelling the airport from the area.
"You can say that bin Ghashir has been liberated from Qaddafi soldiers," said Omar al-Ghuzayl, a 45-year-old rebel field commander now in charge of forces at Tripoli's airport. "We've been able to push them completely outside Tripoli."
The celebration reflected the rebels' optimism after days of fierce fighting in the capital, which now appears to be largely under rebel control.
Qaddafi's whereabouts remain unknown. NATO and rebel fighters are focusing on his hometown of Sirte, his last major bastion of support.
But while fighting has died down, much of the capital remained without electricity and water. Streets are strewn with torched cars and stinking garbage. Corpses crowd abandoned hospitals. Stores are closed. Bombed planes sit on the Tripoli's airport runway.
"We have a huge shortage of gas," Tripoli resident Osama Shallouf said.
The shortages have made it difficult to bake the traditional pastries and buy new clothes to prepare for next week's Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that caps the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
"People will start celebrating when Qaddafi is caught," he said. "That will be our Eid."
Rebel leaders said Friday they'll establish a new interim government in the capital within 30 days, moving their headquarters from the eastern city of Benghazi, which fell into opposition hands early in the six-month civil war.
Mahmoud Jibril, the head of Libya's rebel National Transitional Council, said Friday the interim government needs about $5 billion in frozen assets to pay state salaries and maintain essential services, including the army and police force.
A British official, who would only discuss the details on condition of anonymity, said Friday that his government hopes to release about 1 billion pounds worth ($1.6 billion) of Libyan dinars printed in the U.K. to help the rebels. In March, Britain blocked the export of the bank notes, manufactured by a British currency printer.
The United States won approval on Thursday to release $1.5 billion in frozen Libyan assets held in American banks. And U.N. diplomats are working on lifting a freeze on tens of billions of dollars for Libya.
The rebels' information minister, Mahmoud Shammam, has said some who worked in the Qaddafi regime, but were sympathetic to the rebels, will be welcome in the interim government, which could make the transition smoother.
"The only people we are going to exclude are the people who killed others and stole money," Shammam said.
Healing rifts won't be easy.
In the parking lot of an abandoned, bombed out fire station in Tripoli, Associated Press reporters saw rebels guarding four injured men they said were Qaddafi loyalists. Eventually, a rebel agreed to take as many wounded as he could fit in his pickup truck to a hospital, but was stopped repeatedly at checkpoints, where some kicked the prisoners, spat on them and tried to stop their transfer to the hospital.
Mohammed al-Egely, the rebels' justice minister, said he has visited detained Qaddafi fighters and that they were being treated according to international humanitarian law. He said the rebels are doing the best they can under the circumstances.
"We are in a state of war ," he said. "Do you expect the fighters to bring them (prisoners) flowers? They are all fighting - and so there will be victims from each side."
International organizations have expressed concern about treatment of detainees on both sides.
Simran
Director Hansal Mehta
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Soham Shah, Esha Tiwari Pandey
Three stars
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.”
The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.
Five films to watch
Castle in the Sky (1986)
Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Only Yesterday (1991)
Pom Poki (1994)
The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013)
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
MIDWAY
Produced: Lionsgate Films, Shanghai Ryui Entertainment, Street Light Entertainment
Directed: Roland Emmerich
Cast: Ed Skrein, Woody Harrelson, Dennis Quaid, Aaron Eckhart, Luke Evans, Nick Jonas, Mandy Moore, Darren Criss
Rating: 3.5/5 stars