[SNIP]
In losing Sunshine, the Hunts lost the great silver mine they had lusted for. But their most sensational silver play was only beginning. In the summer of 1979, just after the dust settled from the shootout over Sunshine Mining, Bunker and Herbert completed negotiations for their silver-buying partnership with the Saudis. On July first, the partners incorporated a Bermuda-based trading company called International Metals Investment Company, Ltd. The firm’s registration listed four principals: Nelson Bunker Hunt, William Herbert Hunt, Sheik Mohammed Aboud Al-Amoudi and Sheik Ali Bin Mussalem. International Metals’ purpose was to invest in gold, platinum and, most of all, silver.
The participation of the two sheiks apparently resulted from Bunker’s Connally connection. Like their mutual friend Mahfouz, both Al-Amoudi and Mussalem were nouveau riche Arabs from Jidda. Both men had made their money in real estate when the late King Faisal parceled out some of the land in the kingdom to allow sheiks outside the royal family to share in Saudi Arabia’s prosperity. Sources familiar with the two sheiks indicate that Al-Amoudi was worth about $300,000,000, while Mussalem was worth about $100,000,000. Although such wealth made them rich men by most standards, it hardly put them in a league with the Hunts. What’s more, by investing in silver, Al-Amoudi and Mussalem were defying conventional Saudi business wisdom, which held that investing in precious metals put petrodollars back in the hands of the West.
The equalizer, according to several accounts, was the sheiks’ connection to the Saudi royal family. Known by conservative Arab financial men as high fliers, the two sheiks were not among the king’s top advisors. However, both Al-Amoudi and Mussalem did know fellow Jidda resident Prince Faisal ben Abdallah al Saoud. Prince Faisal happened to be the son of Prince Abdallah, the commander of the Saudi National Guard and a member of the kingdom’s ruling triumvirate. Like Bunker Hunt, Abdallah was a lover of fine horses and a billionaire many times over. He could definitely afford to play in the same game with the Hunts. But, like other highly placed Saudis, Abdallah did not like having his name openly connected with business ventures, especially controversial ones. Although neither Abdallah’s nor Faisal’s name at any time appeared on the registry of International Metals, several sources have suggested that they were the real money behind Al-Amoudi and Mussalem.
* Joseph Wilson IV : Rock Creek Corporation, an investment company controlled by Al Amoudi and chaired since 1997 by a Lebanese businessman very connected into the power circles of Washington, Elias Aburdene. Former adviser of the Franklin Bank National in Washington DC, Aburdene at the start of his accession to the head (position) of Rock Creek Corporation hired the ex - adviser to Bill Clinton for African affairs, Joseph Wilson IV. The latter had already met Mohamed Al Amoudi in 1997 at the time of a reception organized for the World Bank by Westar Group (LAW n.794). --- via Shermy
Several companies controlled by the Saudi-Ethiopic billionaire Mohamed Hussein Al Amoudi helped with the organisation of the voyage: Westar Group, which manages the interests dof Al Amoudi in Washington and which is chaired by Derige Mekonen after being directed a long time by the banker Jeff Wilson; Sheraton of Addis-Abeba whose council of administration includes the ex - American ambassador in Ethiopia Irvin Hicks and group MIDROC Ethiopia; but also the Rock Creek Corporation, an investment company controlled by Al Amoudi and chaired since 1997 by a Lebanese businessman very connected into the power circles of Washington, Elias Aburdene. Former adviser of the Franklin Bank National in Washington DC, Aburdene at the start of his accession to the head (position) of Rock Creek Corporation hired the ex - adviser to Bill Clinton for African affairs, Joseph Wilson IV. The latter had already met Mohamed Al Amoudi in 1997 at the time of a reception organized for the World Bank by Westar Group (LAW n.794). In addition to his responsibilities with the Rock Creek Corporation, Elias Aburdene is the executive chairman very influential National Association of Arab Americans. Alumnus of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, he is also very active in the old networks of the university, where teaches the ex-under-secretary of State for African Affairs Chester A. Crocker and the American mediator between Ethiopia and Eritrea, former National Security Advisor of Bill Clinton Anthony Lake. 100 posted on 06/26/2004 6:42:46 PM PDT by Shermy