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Saudi investors 'could withdraw US funds'
bbc ^ | 8/19/02

Posted on 08/19/2002 3:31:29 PM PDT by Ranger

Monday, 19 August, 2002, 11:36 GMT 12:36 UK

Saudi investors 'could withdraw US funds'
 
Saudi Arabia's 2000 riyal note
Saudis deny they have funded terrorists
 
Saudi investors have threatened to withdraw some of the $750bn (£487bn; 766bn euros) they have invested in the US after families of 11 September victims filed a lawsuit against Saudi banks and charities for damages.

alt
 
Assuming the court proceeds with this lawsuit, the Saudi investment community, already in shock, will start withdrawing their money

alt
 

Bishr Bakheet
Bakheet Financial Consultancy

"This is an act to extort Saudi money deposited in the US and a way of meddling in the region," an official at Al-Rajhi Investment and Development Corp, one of the Saudi banks named in the lawsuit, told the Reuters news agency.

Relatives of about 900 people killed in the attacks filed a civil suit in a Washington court last Thursday seeking damages of over $1 trillion.

It accused three senior Saudi princes - including Defence Minister Prince Sultan, the kingdom's third highest official - several Saudi and other foreign banks, and Sudan's government of funding Osama bin Laden.

Pull-out threat

"Naming Prince Sultan is the equivalent of saying J. Edgar Hoover was a communist spy," said economist Bishr Bakheet of the Bakheet Financial Consultancy.

"Assuming the court proceeds with this lawsuit, the Saudi investment community, already in shock, will start withdrawing their money. People are really going to walk out," he said.

Dr Abd-al-Rahman al-Zamil, chairman of Al-Zamil Group, has urged Saudi investors to repatriate their funds to the kingdom, Saudi newspaper Arab News reported.

Riyadh has yet to officially comment on the lawsuit.

A Sudanese government minister also dismissed allegations that Khartoum had funded Osama bin Laden, the Saudi-born dissident Washington says masterminded the 11 September attacks.

Zero error

The lawsuit originally sought $100 trillion in damages but the lawyer for the victims late on Friday amend the suit to $1 trillion.

"I don't know how $100 trillion got in there. Somebody probably typed it at four o'clock in the morning," lawyer Ron Motley told the AP.

Mr Motley said the $1 trillion plus damages claim was calculated by multiplying the number of plaintiffs by the average award of $30m in such cases and then again by three.

He cited a federal law which says that damages can be tripled for victims of terrorist crimes.

Saudi-US strains

Fifteen of the 19 September 11 hijackers have been identified as Saudi, but the country's government has repeatedly stressed they were not involved in the attacks.

The lawsuit alleges Saudi money has "for years been funnelled to encourage radical anti-Americanism as well as to fund the al Qaeda terrorists".

Riyadh's refusal to allow the US to use its territory to attack Iraq and repeated criticism of pro-Israel US bias have strained relations between the oil superpower and Washington.



TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: saudiarabia
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"this is a new kind of war, and will be fought differently.."

The world has a choice "you are either with us, or you are with the terrorists"

Tick..tick..tick

21 posted on 08/19/2002 5:19:13 PM PDT by sarasmom
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To: singletrack
But what will they do with it then? Invest in Euros? Asian markets? The damage they do by pulling out of the modern world is less than the damage from allowing them to stay in the 21 century.

It will all end up back in the US. Funds go to where the opportunites are.

22 posted on 08/19/2002 5:23:00 PM PDT by Mad_Tom_Rackham
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To: Ranger
Saudi investors have threatened to withdraw some of the $750bn (£487bn; 766bn euros) they have invested in the US after families of 11 September victims filed a lawsuit against Saudi banks and charities for damages.

Let them. They're bluffing: They don't have any other place to invest.
23 posted on 08/19/2002 5:29:58 PM PDT by Bush2000
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To: Mad_Tom_Rackham
The United States has to freeze the assets of Saudi Arabia until this is settled according to US and international law. This is going to get real interesting. The Saudis do have the right to withold oil which would be their logical move.
24 posted on 08/19/2002 5:33:09 PM PDT by meenie
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To: meenie
The United States has to freeze the assets of Saudi Arabia until this is settled according to US and international law. This is going to get real interesting. The Saudis do have the right to withold oil which would be their logical move.

It may well be a theoretical move but the fact of the matter is that it's the only natural resource that they have. For practical reasons, the house of Saud can't afford to cut off the flow of oil. Without military support, it cannot survive.
25 posted on 08/19/2002 5:53:46 PM PDT by Bush2000
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To: Bush2000
Memo for King Fahd: you're either with us, or you're with the terrorists.

To quote the knight from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: "Choose wisely."

26 posted on 08/19/2002 5:56:44 PM PDT by Poohbah
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To: Ranger
Dr Abd-al-Rahman al-Zamil, chairman of Al-Zamil Group, has urged Saudi investors to repatriate their funds to the kingdom, Saudi newspaper Arab News reported.

This would be the equivalent of leaving your Beemer in the south Bronx with the keys in it. These guys know that it is just a matter of time before they are ousted and when they are any money in the kingdom is gone. The US has always propped up these fat bastards and that looks to be changing.

27 posted on 08/19/2002 5:57:05 PM PDT by Straight Vermonter
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To: BillinDenver
Does this mean another $1 trillion in stock market losses as the Saudi's dump stocks?

Let's hope so. Consider who will be losing the $1 trillion if the Saudis have to have a fire sale to get rid of their assets.

28 posted on 08/19/2002 6:00:27 PM PDT by Henk
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To: Ranger
Money chases the best investments. If they indeed have this type of money invested in the US, and they all pull it out, then there'll be a short term spike down. But then European hedge funds and investors will see that US assets are comparatively underpriced, and they'll shift more of their assets in to the US. Especially if the Saudis shift their money to Europe.

The Saudis need to put their money somewhere. There's nothing in their own country to invest in. And if they decide to build more highways, water desalinization plants, mosques, skyscrapers, or government buildings, then they'll take their money back to Saudi Arabia, and promptly spend that money. Since there are no companies in Saudi Arabia, they'll have to hire foreign, mainly American, companies.

There are a few local companies, all staffed with foreigners, so if they hire those companies, most of the money will leave SA anyway.

In conclusion, the money is going to end up here, somehow. There's nothing to buy in SA except sand and oil, and after a certain point, you don't need oil anymore.

29 posted on 08/19/2002 6:04:34 PM PDT by Koblenz
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To: Ranger
We could sieze all Saudi bank accounts, realestate investments etc., too. All your money now belong to US.
30 posted on 08/19/2002 6:38:17 PM PDT by wingnuts'nbolts
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To: GovernmentShrinker
Where the heck else are they going to invest that kind of money and get any sort of decent return?

Zurich, Geneva, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, Milan, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Shanghai, Seoul, Moscow?

31 posted on 08/19/2002 7:29:20 PM PDT by Lessismore
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To: babygene
"Does this mean another $1 trillion in stock market losses as the Saudi's dump stocks?"

No, because the victims who get the money have to invest it somewhere...

That assuming they get anything and that it coincides precisely with Saudi divestments in the stock market, which is highly unlikely.

32 posted on 08/19/2002 7:36:11 PM PDT by Jorge
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To: Real Cynic No More
Well, if the U.S. is freezing the assets of terrorists, the answer is fairly simple.

So the U.S. is going to declare all Saudi investors to be terrorists? You're kidding right?

33 posted on 08/19/2002 7:38:13 PM PDT by Jorge
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To: Ranger
Well, we may have to be at war with them as well if they choose the wrong side.
34 posted on 08/19/2002 7:39:34 PM PDT by A CA Guy
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To: Ranger
how about we counter-threaten to buy NONE of their oil?
35 posted on 08/19/2002 7:50:04 PM PDT by Republican Wildcat
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To: Paul Ross
Thanks for the heads up!
36 posted on 08/19/2002 8:01:22 PM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: Ranger
It accused three senior Saudi princes - including Defence Minister Prince Sultan, the kingdom's third highest official - several Saudi and other foreign banks, and Sudan's government of funding Osama bin Laden.

The lawsuit alleges Saudi money has "for years been funnelled to encourage radical anti-Americanism as well as to fund the al Qaeda terrorists".

I don't think he has a case -- prove me wrong Ron Motley.

37 posted on 08/19/2002 8:18:21 PM PDT by FreeReign
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To: meenie
Your such a meenie! But I agree. We have absolutely no obligation to the Saudis.We do have an obligation to ourselves. We should be preparing for the eventuality that Saidi Arabia will cut us off. Drilling in ANWR, as well as in the Gulf of Mexico and the Coast of California are among the "sacrifices" that ust be made. We should also purchase oil from Russia, and virtually everyone else except for Saudi Arabia. This situation should be maintained until SA gets their socio-political affairs in order -- e.g they do everything within their power to end terrorism. Until then, it's not so much about THEM cutting the oil flow and pulling investment, but more about US cutting the oil flow and confiscating thier investments.
38 posted on 08/19/2002 9:42:47 PM PDT by Mad_Tom_Rackham
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To: Ranger
The House of Saud is the diseased whore that gave birth to and sustains radical/militant Islam...

The treacherous two faced lying bitch has earned our hatred, and deserves to feel the wrath of a brutal American vengence.
Semper Fi

39 posted on 08/19/2002 10:39:47 PM PDT by river rat
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To: BillinDenver
I'm not sure the Saudis are going to be all that interested in selling low right now. But if they want to bail out at the bottom..........more power to them. Somebody will get some good buys.
40 posted on 08/19/2002 10:52:10 PM PDT by Arkinsaw
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