ISIS ‘Beatle’ in US custody wants to return to Britain

One of the British ISIS fighters known as "The Beatles", who was moved to US custody after Turkey launched its assault on Kurdish-held territory in Syria, said just before his transfer that he wanted to return to the UK.

President Donald Trump stunned many by tweeting on Wednesday that two of the men were now in a "secure location controlled by the US".

The four extremists, nicknamed because of their British accents, were said to be notorious even among fellow ISIS members for sadistic torture methods and execution videos.

Their list of beheading victims included US reporter James Foley and UK aid worker David Haines.

They were among other Europeans who joined ISIS as the terror network began capturing large areas of Syrian and Iraqi territory in 2014.

The US State Department identified one of the four as El Shafee Elsheikh, a Sudanese-born Briton whose UK citizenship has since been revoked.

Mr Elsheikh, while he was still being held by Kurdish fighters in a northern Syrian prison camp last week, told a team from ITV television that he felt unsafe and wanted to stand trial in Britain.

"It's very unstable," he said of the security situation around the Kurdish camp.

"If the UK wants to put me on trial then I will defend myself with what I can. I will admit to what I admit to, and defend myself on what I defend myself on."

Mr Elsheikh said he had "never committed a crime in the United States".

The State Department said he worked as a mechanic in London before joining ISIS. He was captured by the mostly Kurdish Syrian Defence Forces in January 2018.

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Mr Trump is demanding that European countries take back their own fighters.

Overstretched Kurdish forces now have the fight against Turkish soldiers to focus on, instead of keeping watch over thousands of ISIS captives.

But Britain remains uncertain about how to handle the potential return of hardened warriors who denounced western culture and fought for its demise.

Mr Haines' daughter Beth said she heard of the two men's transfer to US custody with relief.

Her father was executed by "Beatles" member known in the British press as "Jihadi John", who was killed in a US drone strike.

"Justice is what we are waiting for, that's the end of the story," Bethany Haines told ITV. "It is hugely important and it is such a relief that the chances of them escaping are very much lessened now.

"But if he thinks that for one minute he's going to have an easy time of it in that courtroom ... when he sees me, he's got another thing coming."

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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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The 12 Syrian entities delisted by UK

Ministry of Interior
Ministry of Defence
General Intelligence Directorate
Air Force Intelligence Agency
Political Security Directorate
Syrian National Security Bureau
Military Intelligence Directorate
Army Supply Bureau
General Organisation of Radio and TV
Al Watan newspaper
Cham Press TV
Sama TV