SANAA // A suicide bomber detonated himself at a funeral ceremony for pro-government fighters in Yemen's Abyan province killing at least 45, the Yemen defence ministry said yesterday. Forty others were injured in Saturday's attack in the town of Jaar.
The victims were attending the funeral of the uncle of Abdul Latif Al Sayed, leader of local fighters who fought alongside the army against Al Qaeda, which is being blamed for the attack, but has not claimed responsibility. Mr Al Sayed was among the injured and two of his brothers were killed in the attack.
“An Al Qaeda suicide bomber detonated his explosive belt during a mourning ceremony in the town of Jaar organised by the resistance committees,” said Abyan governor Jamal Al Aqal.
Jaar was one of the towns in Abyan province that were retaken by government troops in June after being held by Al Qaeda loyalists for more than a year.
The attacker gained entry to the gathering by proclaiming to be a family friend. Upon his reaching the centre of the proceedings a powerful explosion took place, security officials and eyewitnesses said.
"Security was very tight at the funeral. This attack is a warning that anyone who supports the government will be killed," said Sulieman Abdulrahman, a Jaar resident who attended the funeral.
"The government will lose its allies and tribes will choose to step aside if such attacks against them continue," he added.
Nasser Mansari, the deputy head of Jaar’s municipal authority, held the the defence and interior ministries responsible for the attack blaming it for the lack of security.
“There is no presence of police in Jaar and other towns of Abyan, while Al Qaeda militants remain underground,” Mr Mansari said
The dead were taken to the local Al Razi hospital while the injured were rushed to Al Naqeeb Hospital in neighbouring Aden province. The death toll gradually rose from 15 to 45 after many of the injured died.
The attack was the second by Al Qaeda in Jaar in less than a week. Four soldiers were ambushed at a security checkpoint on Thursday.
Clashes broke out yesterday between government forces and suspected Al Qaeda fighters in four fronts in Abyan, mainly in the own of Batais, hours after the suicide attack.
Since the government announced victory in Abyan, Al-Qaeda appears to be fighting a guerrilla war resorting to suicide bombings rather than controlling towns.
"Al-Qaeda is choosing their targets carefully. They are attacking anyone who supports the government's efforts in war on terror," a senior defence ministry official told The National on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to talk to media.
Ahmed Al Bahri, spokesperson for the Joint Meeting Parties, the country’s largest political bloc, said that the Yemeni government was slacking in its fight against Al Qaeda and warned that militants could be regrouping and planning for a series of attacks in major Yemeni cities. “We celebrated too early on the defeat of Al Qaeda. We need to take this more seriously or risk the death of hundreds of innocent citizens.”
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
* With additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
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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.”
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Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
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United States beat UAE by three wickets
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United States beat UAE by 98 runs
Scotland beat United States by four wickets
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Sunday, 10am, ICC Academy, Dubai - UAE v Scotland
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