A Yemeni government military committee said it is halting talks with the Houthi rebel group in Amman “until further notice” after an attack killed 10 members of its forces and injured seven others in Taez early on Monday.
State news agency Saba said the committee is in the Jordanian capital for talks with the Iran-backed group that aimed to create a joint operation room to monitor ceasefire violations.
In a statement, Yemen's foreign ministry said the attack, which took place in Taez's Al Dhabab area, is a “flagrant challenge” by the Houthis to peace efforts aimed at ending the war in the country, and shows the Houthis are making efforts to “tighten the siege on the already besieged city of Taez”.
On Monday, a “large-scale attack” by the Houthi militia was repelled by Yemeni armed forces, killing 23 members of the armed group and wounding 30 others in Taez's west, Saba reported.
“The Houthi militia heavily shelled army positions and villages in Al Dhabab,” it said.
Foreign minister Ahmad Awad Bin Mubarak said the attack came while a military team was in Amman “to discuss ensuring the adherence to the ceasefire”.
The UN-brokered truce, which began in April and has been renewed twice for two months each time, is set to expire at the end of September.
Spokesman for the Yemeni armed forces Gen Abdu Mjalli said Houthi violations of the truce are “ongoing”.
Since August, Gen Mjalli said the Houthis had committed 1,436 breaches, in Marib, Taez, Al Jawf, Hajjah, Hodeidah and other areas of the country.
By the end of September, the government and the UN hoped to have resolved one of the main sticking points for reaching an agreement through peaceful dialogue; that is, the Houthi reopening of the roads around Taez.
The overnight attack on Yemen's military positions “came in an attempt to seize control of Al Dhabab area and cut the only lifeline route connecting the city of Taez to Aden,” the foreign ministry's statement said.
Since the attack, officials in Yemen's ruling Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) have been making a flurry of calls to members of the international community, including the US Special Envoy to Yemen Tim Lenderking, to rally support against Houthi violations of the truce.
Yemeni government officials also called on the international community to expressly condemn the Houthi moves.
In a conversation with the EU ambassador to Yemen, Foreign Minister Ahmad Awad bin Mubarak said: “A clear position needs to be taken against these violations and Houthi aggressions, as well as the exertion of maximum pressure on the Houthis to cease their criminal activities”, Saba reported.
Yemen is in its eighth year of conflict since the Houthis took over the capital Sanaa in 2014. A Saudi-led coalition began fighting against the militia on behalf of the government a year later.
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
LEAGUE CUP QUARTER-FINAL DRAW
Stoke City v Tottenham
Brentford v Newcastle United
Arsenal v Manchester City
Everton v Manchester United
All ties are to be played the week commencing December 21.
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Sreesanth's India bowling career
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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.”
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final (first-leg score):
Juventus (1) v Ajax (1), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Match will be shown on BeIN Sports
