An image grab taken from a video reportedly showing a picture of Yazid Mubarak, also known as Abu Ubaida Yusuf Al Annabi, the new leader of Al Qaeda in North Africa. AFP
An image grab taken from a video reportedly showing a picture of Yazid Mubarak, also known as Abu Ubaida Yusuf Al Annabi, the new leader of Al Qaeda in North Africa. AFP
An image grab taken from a video reportedly showing a picture of Yazid Mubarak, also known as Abu Ubaida Yusuf Al Annabi, the new leader of Al Qaeda in North Africa. AFP
An image grab taken from a video reportedly showing a picture of Yazid Mubarak, also known as Abu Ubaida Yusuf Al Annabi, the new leader of Al Qaeda in North Africa. AFP

World

Al Qaeda North Africa names Algerian as new leader

Yazid Mubarak, also known as Abu Ubaida Yusuf Al Annabi, takes over after French forces killed Abdelmalek Droukdel in June

The National

November 23, 2020

  • English
  • Arabic

Al Qaeda's North African branch said it appointed a new leader after confirming the death of its former chief, who was killed in June by French forces.

According to the Washington-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist sites, the appointment of Algerian Yazid Mubarak, also known as Abu Ubaida Yusuf Al Annabi, was announced in a video published on Saturday, waiting more than five months to publicly name Droukdel’s successor.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, known as AQIM, also showed the dead body of its former leader, Abdelmalek Droukdel, for the first time.

Droukdel was killed in Mali by French forces who had been hunting him in the sub-Sahara region for years.

AQIM also confirmed the death of Swiss missionary Beatrice Stockly, who was captured in January 2016 in Mali’s northern city of Timbuktu. The group attributed her death to a failed attempt by “French crusaders” to free her, and also held the Swiss government responsible for “delaying the issue and making futile efforts”, according to SITE.

Al Qaeda's North Africa branch has made millions of dollars from abducting foreigners for ransom over the years and has made large parts of West Africa too dangerous for aid groups to access.

Rita Katz, SITE director, said that Mubarak’s appointment as AQIM's new leader was not surprising given that he featured in the group's propaganda over the past few years, was involved in its core operations and is also the head of the media branch of AQIM.

Mubarak is a major ideologue in Al Qaeda’s global network, and has been on the American international terrorist blacklist since September 2015, according to the Counter Extremism Project.

In 2013, Mubarak famously demanded that Muslims retaliate against France's intervention in Mali, and after Osama bin Laden was killed in May 2011,Mubark pledged allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahiri on AQIM’s behalf.

Earlier this month, France's anti-extremist force in Mali announced that they had killed the military commander of an Al Qaeda-aligned group linked to attacks in the region.

The killing of Ba Ag Moussa was a positive step for the thousands-strong French Barkhane force that have been stationed in the Sahel region of Africa for over half a decade, in a grinding fight against numerous extremist militant groups who are often also fighting each other.

Key findings of Jenkins report
  • Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
  • Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
  • Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
  • Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."

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.”

Islamophobia definition

A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.

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