BAGHDAD // President Jalal Talabani, a Kurdish former rebel who has been a major player in Iraq's politics for decades and worked to bridge its sectarian divide was in hospital yesterday after suffering a stroke, officials said.
"Due to fatigue and tiredness, (Talabani) had a health emergency and was transported... to the hospital in Baghdad" on Monday night, a statement posted on the president's official website said.
Iraqi state TV and several officials, including the prime minister's spokesman and Deputy prime minister Saleh Al Mutlaq, confirmed the nature of Mr Talabani's illness. The seriousness of the stroke is unclear.
Although his political powers are limited, Mr Talabani, 79, is respected by many Iraqis as a rare unifying figure able to rise above the ethnic and sectarian rifts that still divide the country. Known for his joking manner and walrus-like moustache, Mr Talabani has been actively involved in trying to mediate an ongoing crisis between Iraq's central government and the country's Kurdish minority, from which he hails.
Prime minister Nouri Al Maliki has visited the hospital to check on Mr Talabani's condition, said his spokesman, Ali Al Moussawi.
Rifle-toting soldiers assigned to the presidential guard were deployed around Medical City, Baghdad's largest medical complex, where the president is being treated.
Medical teams from Germany and Britain were expected to arrive at the hospital and will decide whether the president's condition is serious enough for him to be sent abroad for treatment, Mr Al Mutlaq said.
Word of Mr Talabani's illness trickled out exactly a year after the last US troops rolled out of Iraq. Their departure on December 18, 2011, ended a nearly nine-year war that left more than 100,000 Iraqis and nearly 4,500 Americans dead.
Mr Talabani is overweight but little else is known publicly about his health. Over the summer, he underwent knee-replacement surgery in Germany.
The Iraqi presidency is seen as a largely ceremonial post, though it does retain some powers under Iraq's constitution. The president must sign off on laws approved by parliament and has the power to block executions.
Since becoming president in 2005, he has won praise for attempting to bridge divisions between Sunni and Shiite, and Arab and Kurdish factions.
During the past year, he has repeatedly sought to convene a national conference aimed at bridging sharp political differences in the country, and has worked to reduce tensions among Iraqi leaders.
Mr Talabani has also sought to smooth strained relations with neighbouring Syria and Iran.
A married father of two, he has dominated Iraqi Kurdish political life for more than four decades, along with his long-time rival, Kurdistan regional president Massud Barzani, and his family.
In his native Sulaimaniyah province, Mr Talabani is known simply as Mam (Uncle) Jalal, although his once-ubiquitous political support has dropped off considerably as his Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) has been accused of corruption and stagnation.
Born in 1933 in the village of Kalkan in the mountains, as a young man he was quickly seduced by the Kurdish struggle for a homeland to unite a people scattered across Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria.
After studying law at Baghdad University and a stint in the army, Talabani joined the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Mullah Mustafa Barzani, father of Massud, and took to the hills in a first uprising against the Iraqi government in 1961.
But he famously fell out with Mr Barzani, who sued for peace with Baghdad -- the start of a long and costly internecine feud among Iraqi Kurds.
Mr Talabani joined a KDP splinter faction in 1964, and 11 years later established the PUK.
*With Agence-France Presse
Scores:
Day 4
England 290 & 346
Sri Lanka 336 & 226-7 (target 301)
Sri Lanka require another 75 runs with three wickets remaining
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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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UK's plans to cut net migration
Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.
Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.
But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.
Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.
Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.
The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.
