Yemeni forces loyal to the internationally recognised government engage in fighting with Houthi militiamen in the port city of Hodeidah, October 2020. EPA
Yemeni forces loyal to the internationally recognised government engage in fighting with Houthi militiamen in the port city of Hodeidah, October 2020. EPA
Yemeni forces loyal to the internationally recognised government engage in fighting with Houthi militiamen in the port city of Hodeidah, October 2020. EPA
Yemeni forces loyal to the internationally recognised government engage in fighting with Houthi militiamen in the port city of Hodeidah, October 2020. EPA

US hostages freed in exchange involving more than 200 Houthis in Yemen

Sandra Loli and Mikael Gidada were flown out of Yemen on a Royal Air Force of Oman plane with the remains of a third American

Ali Mahmood
Simon Rushton

October 15, 2020

  • English
  • Arabic

Two American hostages held in Yemen were freed in a prisoner swap involving more than 200 Houthis.

Aid worker Sandra Loli was held for three years and businessman Mikael Gidada for about one year, Kash Patel, a deputy assistant to US President Donald Trump, told The Wall Street Journal.

They were flown out of Sanaa, the Yemeni capital held by the Iran-backed Houthis, on a Royal Air Force of Oman plane. The body of a third American, Bilal Fateen, was also on board.

The US gave no details about how the freed hostages were captured or what they had been doing in Yemen.

Mr Patel said the US was ensuring that the released Houthis did not return to fighting.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo thanked American officials, Saudi Arabia's King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Sultan Haitham of Oman for their diplomatic efforts.

"My deepest condolences go out to the family of a third American who died while in captivity but whose remains are being repatriated," Mr Pompeo said.

A source in Sanaa told The National  that two Omani jets landed in Sanaa airport on Wednesday afternoon carrying 283 Houthis from Muscat.

The source said the Omani planes took off from Sanaa airport back to Muscat transferring Houthis and the freed American hostages.

“One of the Omani planes evacuated American detainees released from the Houthi prisons in Sanaa and the other plane flew Houthi loyalists from Sanaa back to Oman,” the source said.

The source did not give details about the Houthis who were taken to Muscat.

A member in the Yemen government prisoner swap team told The National  that the release of the American hostages from the Houthi prisons was part of a deal struck by the Arab Coalition and the US with the rebels.

The prisoner swap committee convened in Geneva in September and reached a deal to swap 1,081 detainees, including Saudi Arabians and Sudanese.

“We didn’t discuss topics related to foreign prisoners during the last negotiation round in Geneva,” Yaser Al Haddi, a member in the Yemen government team, said on Wednesday

“We have no idea about this deal. I think it was struck by the coalition and the Americans with the Houthis.

Mr Al Haddi said the prisoner swap agreed to with the Houthis would begin on October 16 led by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Saudi officials were said to be reluctantly supportive of the swap.

For months, UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths has been pushing all sides to agree to a ceasefire that would pave the way for broader peace talks.

The conflict erupted in 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of the country’s north.

A Saudi-led Arab Coalition intervened the following year in an effort to restore the government of President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi to power.

Yemen’s internationally recognised government said that at least 1,000 Houthi fighters were killed in September as the Arab Coalition thwarted a rebel attack.

The rebels have been pushing on several fronts towards the last government-controlled major northern city, Marib, and other towns.

  • Yemeni physician Sami Yahya Al Hajj provides free medical service from his car in the capital Sanaa. AFP
    Yemeni physician Sami Yahya Al Hajj provides free medical service from his car in the capital Sanaa. AFP
  • 'Stop me if you need a medical consultation', reads a sticker on the rear window of Sami Yahya Al Hajj's car, alongside a cartoon figure of the bearded doctor wearing his square spectacles. AFP
    'Stop me if you need a medical consultation', reads a sticker on the rear window of Sami Yahya Al Hajj's car, alongside a cartoon figure of the bearded doctor wearing his square spectacles. AFP
  • In a war-ravaged country now battling coronavirus, the Yemeni doctor has hit the road to dispense medical advice from his car, gathering a large social media following along the way. AFP
    In a war-ravaged country now battling coronavirus, the Yemeni doctor has hit the road to dispense medical advice from his car, gathering a large social media following along the way. AFP
  • Women make protective face masks to be used to help curb the spread of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, at a textile factory in Sanaa. EPA
    Women make protective face masks to be used to help curb the spread of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, at a textile factory in Sanaa. EPA
  • A Yemeni volunteer wearing a protective suit sprays disinfectant at a neighbourhood amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic in Sanaa. EPA
    A Yemeni volunteer wearing a protective suit sprays disinfectant at a neighbourhood amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic in Sanaa. EPA
  • More than 160 Yemeni women work in a revitalised textile factory in Sanaa to make nearly 15,000 protective face masks per day amid a severe shortage of surgical masks. EPA
    More than 160 Yemeni women work in a revitalised textile factory in Sanaa to make nearly 15,000 protective face masks per day amid a severe shortage of surgical masks. EPA
  • A worker disinfects a shopper's hands as a preventive measure against the spread of the new coronavirus before they enter a mall in Sanaa. AP
    A worker disinfects a shopper's hands as a preventive measure against the spread of the new coronavirus before they enter a mall in Sanaa. AP
  • Yemenis walk past historic buildings amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic in the old quarter of Sanaa. EPA
    Yemenis walk past historic buildings amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic in the old quarter of Sanaa. EPA
  • A nurse and a trainer during a lesson on how to operate ventilators recently provided by the World Health Organisation, in an intensive care ward for coronavirus patients in Sanaa. Reuters, file
    A nurse and a trainer during a lesson on how to operate ventilators recently provided by the World Health Organisation, in an intensive care ward for coronavirus patients in Sanaa. Reuters, file
  • Yemenis fill their jerrycans carried by donkeys with water from a cistern at a make-shift camp for the internally displaced in the northern Hajjah province. AFP
    Yemenis fill their jerrycans carried by donkeys with water from a cistern at a make-shift camp for the internally displaced in the northern Hajjah province. AFP
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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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