BEIRUT // General Qassem Suleimani, commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ foreign operations wing, has been injured in fighting against Syrian rebels near Aleppo.
Gen Suleimani “was injured a few days ago” in an offensive in the south-west of Aleppo province, a security source on the ground said on Wednesday.
The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, also said the general had been hurt.
He was “lightly injured three days ago in the Al Eis area in the south of Aleppo province,” said Rami Abdel Rahman.
Reports claiming that the powerful commander had been wounded or even killed in Syria had been circulating on social media for several days.
In response, a spokesman for the Revolutionary Guards, Rameza Sharif, said on Tuesday that Gen Suleimani was “in perfect health and full of energy”.
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“He helps the Islamic resistance in Syria and Iraq,” Mr Sharif added, according to SepahNews, the official site of the Revolutionary Guards.
Iran has not officially acknowledged sending troops to Syria, but says it has “advisers” on the ground assisting regime forces.
Tehran backs president Bashar Al Assad in the conflict.
The Observatory’s Mr Abdel Rahman said Gen Suleimani was wounded while “leading military operations on the outskirts of Al Eis, which is under the control of pro-regime forces”.
“Many Iranian fighters are present in the area,” he added.
Mr Abdel Rahman said rebel groups launched a counteroffensive on Sunday in a bid to push regime forces from several areas in south Aleppo. Regime forces had captured these areas with support from Iranian and Hizbollah ground forces and Russian air strikes, he added.
Russia, another key ally of Mr Al Assad, began air strikes in support of the government on September 30.
Last month, a US official said some 2,000 Iranian or Iranian-backed forces were participating in the regime’s Aleppo operations.
Iran-backed Hizbollah acknowledges its forces are fighting on the ground, while the presence of Iranian, Iraqi and Afghan “volunteer” fighters has been documented.
* Agence France-Presse
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Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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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.
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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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