JEDDAH // Saudi Arabia tried yesterday to play down the attempted assassination of a key figure in the country's war on terror, saying there was no lapse of security, but warned there was still concern in the kingdom about a sleeper cell of militants.
The attack on Prince Mohammed bin Naif on Thursday night, in which a suicide bomber blew himself up next to the security chief, was the first assassination attempt against a member of the royal family in decades and was also the first significant attack by militants in the kingdom since 2006.
But Major Gen Mansour al Turki, the spokesman for the interior ministry, said the bomber did not breach the security around Prince Mohammed, who is also the son of the man thought likely to be the next crown prince.
"It was the prince who allowed the militant to enter his palace and gave orders not to search him," Major Gen al Turki said.
Prince Mohammed, the deputy interior minister, was only slightly injured in the attack that took place at his palace in Jeddah by a militant who had told the prince he wanted to turn himself in as he was on the list of most wanted men in the country.
"The situation is dangerous; however, it is under control. The militants have been targeting key people in the country including top officials and leading scholars, but we stopped many of their plots," Major Gen al Turki said.
The official said there was no need for the government to increase its security measures and that it would continue its war against terror with the same pace.
"What happened was exceptional and it would have never happened if the prince didn't allow that man to enter without a security check," Major Gen al Turki said.
King Abdullah visited Price Mohammed in hospital yesterday and state television showed him with a bandage around two fingers of his left hand.
"I did not want him to be searched, but he surprised me by blowing himself up," said Prince Mohammed.
"However, this will only increase my determination" to fight terrorism in the kingdom, he said.
It is customary for senior members of the royal family to hold regular open gatherings during Ramadan where citizens can air grievances, seek settlement of financial or other disputes or offer congratulations.
Samir al Saadi, a Saudi journalist and researcher on terrorism, said it would have been difficult for the bomber to launch an attack if it was not for the openness of Prince Mohammed.
"Prince Mohammed is very tolerant with terrorists. He met many of them personally to bring them closer to the government as he believes that many of them went astray at some point and can go back to being normal people," he said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing, but al Qa'eda is believed to have been behind almost all attacks in the kingdom since 2003. The country is the birthplace of the al Qa'eda leader, Osama bin Laden, and was home to 15 of the 19 September 11 hijackers.
Major Gen al Turki refused to give any details about the militant who blew himself up, saying that an investigation was still on going and revealing his identity might jeopardise the country's crackdown on militants.
"There is a sleeper cell of terrorists in the country but I can't link the militant to the cell at the moment," he said.
Saudi Arabia has waged a fierce battle against al Qa'eda militants in the country that has succeeded in killing or capturing most of its leaders. Last month, Saudi officials said a criminal court had convicted and sentenced 330 al Qa'eda militants to jail terms, fines and travel bans in the country's first known trials for suspected members of the terror group.
The 330 are believed to be among the 991 suspected militants that the interior minister has said have been charged with participating in terrorist attacks over the past five years.
Since then, al Qa'eda's Saudi branch has largely moved its operations to neighbouring Yemen, where instability and poverty have enabled it to take root. Saudi officials have repeatedly expressed concerns that turmoil in Yemen, where the government lacks control of large areas outside the capital, could allow al Qa'eda to carry out cross-border attacks in its territory.
Al Qa'eda militants, including fighters returning from Afghanistan and Iraq, have established sanctuaries in Yemen, particularly in three provinces bordering Saudi Arabia known as the "triangle of evil" because of the heavy militant presence.
In January, militants announced the creation of al Qa'eda in the Arabian Peninsula, a merger between the terror network's Yemeni and Saudi branches, led by Naser Abdel-Karim al Wahishi, a Yemeni who was once a close aide to bin Laden.
wmahdi@thenational.ae
* With additional reporting by Associated Press
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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.
“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.”
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Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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