A prominent Bahraini human rights activist defended 23 Shiite men yesterday who are accused by the government of belonging to a "terrorist network" intent on overthrowing the country's Sunni royal family.
The official news agency, BNA, reported on Saturday that the men are members of a "sophisticated terrorist network with international support". The men, in custody since mid-August, include academics, taxi drivers, civil servants and several unemployed men. Two are Bahrainis who live in London and many are members of the political group called the Haq Movement for Liberty and Democracy, including its leader, Abd al Jalil Singace.
"The leaders of the network have been accused of several crimes, including the planning and instigation of violence, conducting a wide-ranging propaganda campaign against the kingdom and seeking to overthrow the regime by force," Abdulrahman al Sayed, a Bahraini public prosecution official, said in a statement at the weekend.
The statement said the group's funds came through the misappropriation of charity donations and overseas funds supported by "foreign entities".
Nabeel Rajab, the president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, said the 23 men were not guilty of either terrorism or sedition. "I don't think this is a terrorist network. They are political activists and human rights defenders. It is an opposition group," Mr Rajab said. "There are no groups in Bahrain that want to overthrow the government; they want a parliament with power, fair elections, and to stop a policy of discrimination against Shia.
"They have legitimate demands; they are respected people," Mr Rajab added. He said he believes the government is trying to antagonize the country's Shiite majority into supporting hardline political groups that boycott polls in the run-up to next month's general election.
"Working for human rights in Bahrain today is considered to be a terrorist act," Mr Rajab said.
"Hundreds" of websites have been blocked by the government in the past week, including that of Al Wefaq, the country's main Shiite political group that usually does not boycott elections, he said. "That shows how much the government respects freedom of expression in Bahrain."
The arrests have led to increased tension and violence across the country in the run-up to the October 23 election, he said. "On every street corner of every village there are thousands of police with machine-guns."
Mr Rajab said the failure to deal with discrimination against Shiites, gerrymandering in elections and the Sunnis' domination of top government jobs has led him to believe that the parliament "is not functioning properly".
Sheikh Khalid al Khalifa, the minister of foreign affairs, defended his government against accusations of curbing democratic freedoms in the name of fighting terrorism.
"The kingdom of Bahrain is proud of its open society and ongoing democratic reforms that allow for freedom of expression and peaceful protest. However, no democracy can allow freedoms to extend to the perpetration, planning and instigation of violence," Sheikh Khalifa said in a statement.
Riad Kahwaji, the chief executive officer of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis (Inegma), said he believes there is a regional dimension to the government's crackdown, although "we don't have any independent reports telling us the full picture". He said that even though Bahrain has not named the foreign countries it believes to be funding dissidents, "there could be an Iranian involvement".
"The way it has been branded [by the Bahraini government] is to suggest there is a wider regional perspective," he said. Suspected Iranian terrorist cells have been discovered in other Gulf countries such as Kuwait and they could also be involved in Bahrain.
"Iran has unprecedented influence on Shiite communities worldwide, especially in the Arab world," Mr Kahwaji said. "Bahrain hosts the US 5th Fleet; there's a lot of history here that would lead us to point the finger at Iran.
"Iran's main issue with the Gulf countries is their relationship with the US and allowing it to have bases in the region."
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
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.”
Explainer: Tanween Design Programme
Non-profit arts studio Tashkeel launched this annual initiative with the intention of supporting budding designers in the UAE. This year, three talents were chosen from hundreds of applicants to be a part of the sixth creative development programme. These are architect Abdulla Al Mulla, interior designer Lana El Samman and graphic designer Yara Habib.
The trio have been guided by experts from the industry over the course of nine months, as they developed their own products that merge their unique styles with traditional elements of Emirati design. This includes laboratory sessions, experimental and collaborative practice, investigation of new business models and evaluation.
It is led by British contemporary design project specialist Helen Voce and mentor Kevin Badni, and offers participants access to experts from across the world, including the likes of UK designer Gareth Neal and multidisciplinary designer and entrepreneur, Sheikh Salem Al Qassimi.
The final pieces are being revealed in a worldwide limited-edition release on the first day of Downtown Designs at Dubai Design Week 2019. Tashkeel will be at stand E31 at the exhibition.
Lisa Ball-Lechgar, deputy director of Tashkeel, said: “The diversity and calibre of the applicants this year … is reflective of the dynamic change that the UAE art and design industry is witnessing, with young creators resolute in making their bold design ideas a reality.”
