WASHINGTON // The US-led coalition has carried out around 1,000 airstrikes against ISIL, preventing it from gaining ground in Syria and allowing a patchwork of ground forces in Iraq to push the extremists back, the top US diplomat said on Wednesday.
Despite the military successes, US secretary of state John Kerry warned that the fight against the Islamist group could still last for years.
“Our commitment will be measured most likely in years, but our efforts are already having a significant impact,” Mr Kerry said in Brussels before a summit of ministers from the coalition of countries working with Washington to fight ISIL.
“The roughly 1,000 coalition air missions we have flown have reduced Daesh’s leadership and inflicted damage on its logistical and operational capabilities,” he added.
Mr Kerry’s comments came as Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed said the UAE will remain committed to its fight against terrorism, and after the US commander of the war effort, General Lloyd Austin, praised the country’s key role in the anti-ISIL coalition’s progress.
"Our position in the fight against terrorism, by standing against terrorist acts and organisations of all forms and types, has remained clear and consistent for decades and is reflected in our cooperation and coordination with the international community, facing it [terrorism] at the level of security and ideology, by providing necessary support in the fight against it," Sheikh Abdullah said in an interview with the London-based newspaper Al Hayat.
Speaking at a National Day event at the UAE Embassy in Washington, Gen Austin said that due to the “joint efforts” of the two countries, “we are very rapidly gaining the tactical and operational advantage” as well as strategic superiority over ISIL.
Gen Austin said the history of military cooperation between the US and the UAE – unique among its Arab allies – allowed Washington to “form a coalition as quickly as we did”.
The general hinted that the military and security cooperation was a long-term shared strategic interest. “Through our efforts, we will do what is required to make sure that what we’re seeing happening now in Iraq and Syria does not happen again in the future,” he said.
The ambassador to Washington, Yousef Al Otaiba, highlighted the economic and military ties underlying the bilateral relationship. “The UAE has participated in six coalitions with the US over the last 25 years. Proudly the only Arab country to do so.”
The US has carried out the bulk of the airstrikes against ISIL targets that began in Iraq in August and were then expanded to Syria in September. The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Bahrain joined the bombing missions in Syria. Countries including Australia, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Canada and the Netherlands have joined the strikes on ISIL in Iraq.
Observers say the momentum of an estimated 30,000 ISIL fighters has been blunted in Syria, where they are only able to hold territory, not expand. They are now losing ground in Iraq to the military, Shiite militias and their Iranian advisers, Kurdish peshmerga forces and some Sunni tribal militias, who are all backed by airstrikes from coalition forces and Iran.
So far there have been no large-scale and sustained uprisings by Sunni tribes in ISIL-controlled territory in Iraq, both because the group’s brutal rule has involved the mass execution of tribal members who oppose them, and because the political discontent with Baghdad and Damascus has still not shifted in the coalition’s favour.
In his remarks in Brussels, Mr Kerry said that Sunni tribal fighters are “beginning to come on board”.
“It is much harder now than when we started for Daesh to assemble forces in strength, to travel in convoys and to launch concerted attacks,” he added. “No large Daesh unit can move forward aggressively without worrying what will come down on it from the skies.”
The Pentagon confirmed on Tuesday that Iranian F-4 Phantom jets – sold to Tehran by the US before the 1979 revolution – had struck ISIL targets in Iraq’s eastern Diyala province over the past week.
“We have indications that they did indeed fly air strikes with F-4 Phantoms in the past several days,” Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told Agence France-Presse.
But he reiterated Washington’s position that there is no direct military coordination between Iran and the US.
The suggestion of some level of coordination between Washington and Tehran, which the US president reportedly said in a letter to Iran’s supreme leader could become more robust if a final accord over Iran’s nuclear programme is reached, may add to fears among regional US allies about Washington’s intentions toward Tehran.
On Wednesday, Mr Kerry described any Iranian action against ISIL as “positive”.
“If Iran is taking on ISIL in some particular place... and it has an impact, then it’s going to be net effect [that] is positive,” he said.
Frustration with the lack of a coherent strategy against ISIL in Syria, which Arabian Gulf states and Turkey say will only be possible if Bashar Al Assad’s regime is also put under military pressure to end its brutal war against Syrians, was likely also building after reports in recent days raised expectations for a protected buffer zone along Syria’s border with Turkey.
Turkey has reportedly premised its opening of a key airbase to coalition planes on the creation of the zone, which would allow western- and Arab-backed rebels to regroup, provide safe space for refugees and allow the political opposition to build institutions, according to proponents of the idea.
But on Tuesday, key Obama adviser Susan Rice threw cold water on the idea, telling a Wall Street Journal forum, “We are not moving in the direction of a no-fly zone or a safe haven at this point,” she said.
“We think the establishment of a no-fly zone or a safe zone, at this point, is at best premature, and would be a major investment of resources that would be something, frankly, of a diversion from the primary task at hand” in Iraq.
tkhan@thenational.ae
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
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.
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
THE BIO
Age: 30
Favourite book: The Power of Habit
Favourite quote: "The world is full of good people, if you cannot find one, be one"
Favourite exercise: The snatch
Favourite colour: Blue
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
In numbers
Number of Chinese tourists coming to UAE in 2017 was... 1.3m
Alibaba’s new ‘Tech Town’ in Dubai is worth... $600m
China’s investment in the MIddle East in 2016 was... $29.5bn
The world’s most valuable start-up in 2018, TikTok, is valued at... $75bn
Boost to the UAE economy of 5G connectivity will be... $269bn
Sonchiriya
Director: Abhishek Chaubey
Producer: RSVP Movies, Azure Entertainment
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Manoj Bajpayee, Ashutosh Rana, Bhumi Pednekar, Ranvir Shorey
Rating: 3/5
Specs%3A%202024%20McLaren%20Artura%20Spider
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SPECS
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World Test Championship table
1 India 71 per cent
2 New Zealand 70 per cent
3 Australia 69.2 per cent
4 England 64.1 per cent
5 Pakistan 43.3 per cent
6 West Indies 33.3 per cent
7 South Africa 30 per cent
8 Sri Lanka 16.7 per cent
9 Bangladesh 0
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.”
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
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MATCH DETAILS
Chelsea 4
Jorginho (4 pen, 71 pen), Azpilicueta (63), James (74)
Ajax 4
Abraham (2 og), Promes (20). Kepa (35 og), van de Beek (55)
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The biog
Hometown: Birchgrove, Sydney Australia
Age: 59
Favourite TV series: Outlander Netflix series
Favourite place in the UAE: Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque / desert / Louvre Abu Dhabi
Favourite book: Father of our Nation: Collected Quotes of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
Thing you will miss most about the UAE: My friends and family, Formula 1, having Friday's off, desert adventures, and Arabic culture and people
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg
Roma 4
Milner (15' OG), Dzeko (52'), Nainggolan (86', 90 4')
Liverpool 2
Mane (9'), Wijnaldum (25')
Company%20Profile
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