MANAMA // Bahrain's military prosecutor accused 21 political activists yesterday of seeking to overthrow the monarchy with the help of a foreign terrorist group, an apparent reference to Iranian-backed militants, in a widening crackdown on an uprising by the nation's Shiite majority.
The charges are part of fast-moving efforts by Bahrain's authorities to prosecute opposition leaders and others after months of clashes and protests in the kingdom.
Meanwhile, Bahrain's king has ordered the lifting on June 1 of a state of emergency that was imposed after weeks of protests, the state news agency said yesterday.
Last month, a special security court set up under martial law sentenced four people to death for killing two policemen.
The latest cases were tried by the same court, according to the state-run Bahrain News Agency. Among those charged yesterday are opposition leaders such as Hassan Mushaima, the leader of Al Haq movement, and some of its senior members including Abdul Jalil al Sangaece.
Mr Mushaima and Mr al-Sangaece were among the first political leaders taken into custody after emergency rule was declared in March to quell weeks of anti-government protests that began February 14 and were inspired by revolts in Tunisia and Egypt.
The two men were among 25 Shiite activists on trial last year on charges of trying to overthrow the nation's Sunni rulers.
The case was dropped in March to calm tensions in the kingdom, and Mr Mushaima, who was tried in absentia, returned from a self-imposed exile in London to support the uprising.
Fourteen members of the group charged yesterday are in custody. The others are charged in absentia.
The allegations include seeking to topple the 200-year-old Sunni monarchy and having links to "a terrorist organisation abroad working for a foreign country." No additional details were made public, but Bahrain's leaders have claimed that the Iranian-backed Shiite militant group Hizbollah in Lebanon has sought to make inroads in Bahrain with the protests.
Bahrain also is locked in a deepening quarrel with Iran, which has sharply criticised the arrests and the dispatch of a 1,500-strong Saudi-led force in March to prop up the monarchy.
Shiites have long been demanding a greater political voice and rights, equal to those of the Sunni members of the nation. Shiites comprise about 70 per cent of Bahrain's population, but are excluded from top government and security posts.
Abdulhadi al Khawaja, the kingdom's leading human rights activist, is also among those charged yesterday. Mr Al Khawaja was beaten unconscious by police before being taken from his house in the outskirts of Manama along with his two sons-in-law last month, according to relatives who witnessed the raid.
Mr Al Khawaja is the former Middle East and North Africa director of Frontline Defenders, a rights organisation. He also documented human rights abuses in Bahrain for Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
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.”
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