BEIRUT // The Syrian government yesterday vehemently denied claims by a senior United Nations official that the country was in the grip of a full-scale civil war.
The Syrian ministry of foreign affairs expressed its "astonishment" about the claims and said the country was facing a war against "armed groups" using terrorism "to achieve their objectives".
On Tuesday, the UN under-secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, Herve Ladsous, said the conflict in Syria could now be termed as civil war.
It was the first time a senior UN official had described the 15-month conflict in those terms.
In a statement that was issued through the Syrian state news agency, Sana, the foreign ministry said that it expected the UN to deal with the situation in Syria "evenhandedly, accurately and objectively", particularly given that the international monitors were inside the country as part of the UN-brokered peace plan.
“Syria is not witnessing a ‘civil war’, but a struggle to uproot the plague of terrorism and encounter the killing, abduction and payment of ransoms, aggressions and explosions,” the statement read.
However, Laurent Fabius, France’s new foreign minister, yesterday echoed Mr Ladsous’s comments, saying that “if you can’t call it a civil war, then there are no words to describe it”.
Colin Powell, a former US secretary of state, has also described the country as being in a state of civil war, but said he remained against direct US military intervention in Syria.
“I don’t know that there is much the United States can do except work with the international community,” Mr Powell, a retired US army general, told the CBS television network.
“The question always comes down to: is someone going to intervene? I don’t think we can do this ... I don’t sense any energy to do that.”
The US earlier this week warned of a “potential massacre” in the area of Haffah, where attack helicopters and tanks are reported to have been used by government forces in fierce fighting against rebels in recent days.
United Nations monitors tried to gain access to the area on Tuesday but were forced to turn back after they were attacked by a mob.
In a video posted online, purporting to show the attack on the observers’ convoy, a man is seen jumping on the top of one of the UN vehicles, while others crowd around the cars, some kicking and hitting them with sticks. It is not clear who the individuals were.
Sausan Ghosheh, a spokeswoman for the UN observers, said they had been trying to reach Haffah since June 7.
Syrian forces reportedly forced rebel fighters from the Haffah region yesterday.
State television said the army had taken control of the area and “cleansed” Haffah of the “armed terrorist groups”.
The Syrian government has continued to frame the conflict as a fight against foreign-backed terrorist groups.
Meanwhile, three aid workers suffered minor injuries after an explosion damaged their convoy travelling between Aleppo and Idlib yesterday, the International Committee for the Red Cross said.
It was not clear if the aid workers had been directly targeted or who was responsible for the attack.
The violence continued across other parts of the country yesterday, with the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reporting at least 43 people killed, including 20 in Homs province. Estimates place the number of people who have been killed in the conflict so far at about 13,000.
In Homs, government forces reportedly shelled the neighbourhoods of Khaldiyeh, Jouret Al Shayyah and the old city.
North of Homs in Rastan, at least six people were killed after the town came under heavy shelling, according to activists.
zconstantine@thenational.ae
* With additional reporting by Reuters and Associated Press
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How Voiss turns words to speech
The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen
The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser
This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen
A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB
The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free
Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards
Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser
Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages
At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness
More than 90 per cent live in developing countries
The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device
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.”
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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