Entire Iraqi cities will be locked down this weekend with the military out in force to ensure the safety of Pope Francis when he arrives on Friday for a three-day visit, security and Church officials told The National.
The leader of the Roman Catholic faith will meet officials and make public appearances in Baghdad, the southern cities of Najaf and Nasiriyah and the northern cities of Erbil, Mosul and Qaraqosh.
Given ongoing security issues – including an ISIS double suicide bombing in Baghdad in January – the military is taking no chances.
"There will be a solid security plan ... in all cities the Pope will visit," said an Iraqi official in the team preparing the visit.
At the request of the Vatican, an Iraqi Airways flight will bring Pope Francis and his delegation from Rome. The Iraqi security forces will provide protection at all his stops, the source said.
US-trained special forces, known as the Golden or Special Division, will be in charge of protecting the Pope in all areas.
The federal police and army will form security perimeters around the elite forces.
Main streets will be blocked and only authorised persons will be able to move freely.
Unlike the nearly 50 countries Francis has visited since becoming Pope in March 2013, the security situation throughout Iraq is still fragile. Successive governments have struggled to maintain stability since the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein's regime 12 years ago.
ISIS cells are still able to launch lethal attacks more than three years after the group was driven from the areas it once controlled. Shiite militias regularly attack US bases and the Green Zone, home to government offices and diplomatic missions.
The Pope is not expected to visit downtown Nasiriyah, where anti-government protesters have clashed repeatedly with the security forces since October 2019.
It is unclear if the bloody uprising against corruption, nepotism, poor governance and unemployment will overshadow the pontiff's visit to Iraq's south when he visits the ancient Mesopotamian city of Ur, the birthplace of Abraham – the patriarch of the three great monotheistic religions.
Iraq's current stay-at-home measures to contain the Covid-19 virus are likely to be extended, officials said.
“That lockdown is expected to be extended to the end of the visit with a smaller number of exempted people in order to ensure security for the motorcade while it travels inside the cities,” one official said.
Because Iraq has been experiencing a surge in daily coronavirus infections since late January, the authorities reimposed strict national measures including a full lockdown on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
For the rest of the week, lockdown begins at 8pm and ends at 5am.
But owing to the added risk in Iraq, Pope Francis might not undertake some of his more customary practices when visiting countries.
Papal visits to the Middle East - in pictures
The pontiff usually uses a specially designed bulletproof vehicle with a raised viewing area allowing him to see and be seen by crowds. This, however, might not be allowed in Iraq.
Three officials – two from the church and one at Baghdad International Airport – have ruled out using the so-called Popemobile.
Instead, he will greet crowds from inside an armoured vehicle.
The Pope usually stays at the residence of the Vatican's envoy to the country but officials have not said where the pontiff will reside.
Although the residence of Archbishop Mitja Leskovar is just outside the eastern edge of the heavily fortified Green Zone, the Vatican’s ambassador is currently in isolation within after testing positive for Covid-19.
Officials organising the visit could invite the Pope to stay inside the Green Zone or, possibly, at the presidential palace.
The 84-year-old pontiff has long expressed a desire to visit Iraq, the traditional home to many different Catholic, Orthodox and Eastern Rite churches.
The late Pope John Paul II wanted to visit Iraq in 2000, but was unable to go after negotiations with the government of Saddam Hussein broke down.
For decades, Iraq was home to a vibrant Christian community, where different faiths lived in peace among the country's Muslim majority and enjoyed government protection.
But their number started to dwindle after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam and unleased extremism and violence in the country.
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.”
Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: 2018 Jaguar E-Pace First Edition
Price, base / as tested: Dh186,480 / Dh252,735
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 246hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 365Nm @ 1,200rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.7L / 100km
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Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
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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.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
