• (FILES) In this file photo taken on November 23, 2020 former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei speaks at his office in the West Bank town of Abu Dis. - Qurei died at the age of 86 late on February 22 at in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the Palestinian president announced. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
    (FILES) In this file photo taken on November 23, 2020 former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei speaks at his office in the West Bank town of Abu Dis. - Qurei died at the age of 86 late on February 22 at in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the Palestinian president announced. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
  • Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas (L) pays his respects during the funeral of Mr Qurei in Ramallah on February 22. AFP
    Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas (L) pays his respects during the funeral of Mr Qurei in Ramallah on February 22. AFP
  • An honour guard carries Mr Qurei's coffin, draped in the Palestinian flag. AFP
    An honour guard carries Mr Qurei's coffin, draped in the Palestinian flag. AFP
  • The funeral took place in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. AFP
    The funeral took place in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. AFP
  • Palestinian Authority official Hussein Al Sheikh, right, said of Mr Qurei's death: 'We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return.' Reuters
    Palestinian Authority official Hussein Al Sheikh, right, said of Mr Qurei's death: 'We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return.' Reuters
  • Mr Qurei at a press conference in Abu Dis in the West Bank, near Jerusalem, in January 2011. Reuters
    Mr Qurei at a press conference in Abu Dis in the West Bank, near Jerusalem, in January 2011. Reuters
  • Chief Palestinian negotiator Mr Qurei reads out a statement during a news conference in Cairo in February 2009. Reuters
    Chief Palestinian negotiator Mr Qurei reads out a statement during a news conference in Cairo in February 2009. Reuters
  • Mr Qurei at Amman Airport in December 2007. Reuters
    Mr Qurei at Amman Airport in December 2007. Reuters
  • Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak (L) talks to Mr Qurei at the White House in Washington in November 2007. Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice are in the background. Reuters
    Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak (L) talks to Mr Qurei at the White House in Washington in November 2007. Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice are in the background. Reuters
  • Mr Qurei with Condoleeza Rice in November 2007. Getty
    Mr Qurei with Condoleeza Rice in November 2007. Getty
  • Prime minister Qurei talks to reporters while painting a wall in Gaza in August 2005. Reuters
    Prime minister Qurei talks to reporters while painting a wall in Gaza in August 2005. Reuters
  • The Palestinian PM is flanked by bodyguards as he arrives to attend weekly cabinet meeting in Gaza city in July 2005. Reuters
    The Palestinian PM is flanked by bodyguards as he arrives to attend weekly cabinet meeting in Gaza city in July 2005. Reuters
  • British PM Tony Blair (L), Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (R) and Mr Qurei in Ramallah, December 2004. Reuters
    British PM Tony Blair (L), Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (R) and Mr Qurei in Ramallah, December 2004. Reuters
  • Palestinian president Yasser Arafat with Mr Qurei in Ramallah in July 2004, after the latter had withdrawn his resignation as prime minister. Reuters
    Palestinian president Yasser Arafat with Mr Qurei in Ramallah in July 2004, after the latter had withdrawn his resignation as prime minister. Reuters
  • Mr Arafat watches as Mr Qurei swears allegiance on the Quran in November 2003. Getty
    Mr Arafat watches as Mr Qurei swears allegiance on the Quran in November 2003. Getty
  • Mr Qurei sits prepares for a meeting at the Palestinian Legislative Council in September 2003 in Gaza city. Getty
    Mr Qurei sits prepares for a meeting at the Palestinian Legislative Council in September 2003 in Gaza city. Getty
  • Mr Arafat and Mr Qurei, September 2003. Getty
    Mr Arafat and Mr Qurei, September 2003. Getty

Former Palestinian PM and negotiator Ahmed Qurei dies aged 85


Ismaeel Naar
  • English
  • Arabic

Former Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qurei, also known as Abu Al Alaa, died on Wednesday. He was 85.

Sources close to Mr Qurei's family said he recently suffered from infections that required hospital treatment. He received intravenous antibiotics, but his condition deteriorated overnight.

“With great sadness, we mourn the death of the national leader, Ahmed Qurei, ‘Abu Al Alaa’, who passed away. We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return. May his soul RIP,” Palestinian Authority official Hussein Al Sheikh said on Twitter.

Mr Qurei held positions in the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the Fatah movement, serving on the PLO Executive Committee, and led the Palestinian Authority team that negotiated with Israel.

As a member of the Fatah Central Committee, Mr Qurei played an important role in the negotiations leading to the 1993 Oslo Accords.

From 1994 to 1996, he served as Minister of Economy and Trade and Minister of Industry in the first Palestinian government.

In 2000, he took part in negotiations at Camp David in the US with Ehud Barak, Israeli prime minister at the time.

Ahmed Qurei, bottom right, sits alongside senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and opposite Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni, during peace talks in May 2008.
Ahmed Qurei, bottom right, sits alongside senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and opposite Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni, during peace talks in May 2008.

Mr Qurei served as prime minister of the Palestinian Authority for two terms between 2003 and 2006.

In 2010, Israel revoked his diplomatic privileges after he suggested the PA would have to use violence if the peace talks failed.

Israeli police arrested him in 2013 at the entrance to the Maaleh Adumim settlement in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas described Mr Qurei as a "great patriotic fighter" before a ceremony to honour him at the presidential headquarters in Ramallah.

"Abu Al Alaa spent his life as a solid fighter defending Palestine, its cause, its people and its independent national decision," Mr Abbas said.

Mr Qurei's body will be taken from Ramallah to his home village of Abu Dis, east of Jerusalem, where he will be laid to rest after the asr prayer.

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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FTO designations impose immigration restrictions on members of the organisation simply by virtue of their membership and triggers a criminal prohibition on knowingly providing material support or resources to the designated organisation as well as asset freezes. 

It is a crime for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide “material support or resources” to or receive military-type training from or on behalf of a designated FTO.

Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to and, in certain circumstances removable from, the United States.

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Updated: February 23, 2023, 4:41 PM