The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs appeared to close the door on mediation efforts to resolve the Doha crisis on Wednesday, saying “we have to go on without Qatar”.
Dr Anwar Gargash said the crisis was no longer temporary and that looking beyond Qatar was now the UAE’s permanent policy towards its neighbour, which Abu Dhabi, along with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt, accuses of sponsoring terrorism and promoting extremism.
“Now that [the] Qatar crisis has taken so long, important to look beyond ‘crisis’ & think of it as [a] new set of relations in [the] Gulf replacing old ones,” Dr Gargash said in a series of tweets addressing the crisis.
He added that “barring Qatar’s review of past policies, [the] current state will continue for a while. New regional relationship will emerge & strengthen”.
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Qatar-linked terror list figures 'arrested in Yemen'
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Dr Gargash’s remarks came just hours before US secretary of state Rex Tillerson was scheduled to meet Qatari foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani for talks at the state department.
The quartet of countries last month imposed measures to isolate and pressure Qatar, which they say supports terrorist groups in Syria and Libya, meddles in their internal affairs through media outlets and by supporting opposition figures, and more broadly backs political Islamist forces across the Arab region which undermine stability and spread extremism.
Qatar denies the charges and says the dispute is political and seeks to violate its sovereignty.
“The 4 states emerging from [the] crisis representing core policies of confronting extremism & terrorism & working for Arab security & stability,” Mr Gargash added on Twitter.
“We have to go on without Qatar; a conservative monarchy, in [a] totally anachronistic place. Promoting policies & values it does not practice.”
There had been mounting optimism in recent days that the two sides might engage in direct negotiations and begin to resolve the dispute. Qatar and the United States signed an understanding on Tuesday last week on an enhanced role for US officials in monitoring Qatari efforts to clamp down on terrorist fund-raising — one of the quartet’s key initial demands.
On Friday, US secretary of state Mr Tillerson said Qatar had made significant progress and called on the quartet to begin lifting some of the measures as a sign of good faith. Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim Al Thani, meanwhile said he was willing to begin talks.
Despite this, however, there have been no signs that Sheikh Tamim is willing to accede to any demands that would reorient his country’s policies of supporting political Islamist groups or aligning more closely with the Saudi-led quartet.
The four countries are apparently prepared for the isolation measures to be left in place and for a de facto or formal severing of ties with GCC member Doha — an outcome US officials have been working to avoid as they say it undermines both the fight against ISIL and co-ordinated efforts to contain Iran.
“Dr Gargash's tweets suggest that the quartet is attempting to strike a balance between maintaining the pressure on Qatar and watering down any hopes for successful mediation of the crisis, while not escalating further in the absence of international support for formal new measures against Qatar,” said Kristian Ulrichsen, a fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute and the author of The United Arab Emirates: Power, Politics and Policymaking.
It is unclear what a permanent break with Qatar would look like, but Mr Ulrichsen added that Doha’s membership in the GCC “may simply fall into a state of informal suspension, at least until the annual GCC Summit in December, which buys four months to figure out how a new regional rearrangement might work”.
Dr Gargash's tweets came ahead of a meeting in Manama between the foreign ministers of the quartet, where the countries will discuss what their next steps will be.
Earlier on Wednesday, Bloomberg reported a Gulf official as saying that mediation efforts aimed at starting direct talks had reached an impasse, and that the quartet countries had not responded to proposals by Washington and London intended to start talks.
It came after the quartet on Tuesday added 18 additional individuals and entities it claims are backed by Qatar to a terrorist blacklist. In a joint statement, the four countries said Doha was continuing to fall short of its promises on ending support for extremists.
The UAE Central Bank said on Wednesday it had issued a memo to all banks and financial institutions operating in the country to begin an immediate search for, and freezing of, all bank accounts, investments and deposits that may be held by any of the 18 individual and entities.
Also on Wednesday, a number of lawyers from the quartet came together in Cairo to form a committee charged with suing countries funding terrorist attacks in order to compensate the families of victims, according to UAE state news agency Wam.
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
NBA Finals so far
(Toronto lead 3-1 in best-of-seven series_
Game 1 Raptors 118 Warriors 109
Game 2 Raptors 104 Warriors 109
Game 3 Warriors 109 Raptors 123
Game 4 Warriors 92 Raptors 105
The finalists
Player of the Century, 2001-2020: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Ronaldinho
Coach of the Century, 2001-2020: Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Jose Mourinho (Tottenham Hotspur), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid), Sir Alex Ferguson
Club of the Century, 2001-2020: Al Ahly (Egypt), Bayern Munich (Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Real Madrid (Spain)
Player of the Year: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Club of the Year: Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Real Madrid
Coach of the Year: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta), Hans-Dieter Flick (Bayern Munich), Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Agent of the Century, 2001-2020: Giovanni Branchini, Jorge Mendes, Mino Raiola
A Dog's Journey
Directed by: Gail Mancuso
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Josh Gad, Marg Helgenberger, Betty Gilpin, Kathryn Prescott
3 out of 5 stars
PRISCILLA
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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.”
Section 375
Cast: Akshaye Khanna, Richa Chadha, Meera Chopra & Rahul Bhat
Director: Ajay Bahl
Producers: Kumar Mangat Pathak, Abhishek Pathak & SCIPL
Rating: 3.5/5
The biog
Hometown: Birchgrove, Sydney Australia
Age: 59
Favourite TV series: Outlander Netflix series
Favourite place in the UAE: Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque / desert / Louvre Abu Dhabi
Favourite book: Father of our Nation: Collected Quotes of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
Thing you will miss most about the UAE: My friends and family, Formula 1, having Friday's off, desert adventures, and Arabic culture and people
Januzaj's club record
Manchester United 50 appearances, 5 goals
Borussia Dortmund (loan) 6 appearances, 0 goals
Sunderland (loan) 25 appearances, 0 goals
The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
A Bad Moms Christmas
Dir: John Lucas and Scott Moore
Starring: Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn, Kristen Bell, Susan Sarandon, Christine Baranski, Cheryl Hines
Two stars
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
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
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Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
