"according to the Chronicle story, Bath said he represented four prominent Saudis as a trustee (one of whom was Saudi Sheik Salem M. bin Laden) and that he would use his name on their investments. In return, he said, he would receive a 5 percent interest in their deals. Tax documents and personal financial records show that Bath personally had a 5 percent interest in Arbusto '79 Ltd., and Arbusto '80 Ltd., limited partnerships controlled by George W. Bush, who now finds himself directing a war against terrorism and the No. 1 enemy of Osama bin Laden, of the same Saudi family.
Arbusto actually means "bush" in Spanish. Bath invested $50,000 in the limited partnerships, according to the documents. There is no available evidence to show whether the money came from Saudi interests.
But the financial links between the bin Laden family and Bush family get even more curious.
According to a 1976 trust agreement, drawn shortly after George Bush senior was appointed director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Saudi Sheik bin Laden appointed Bath as his business representative in Houston. Bin Laden, along with his brothers, owns Bin Laden Brothers Construction, one of the largest construction companies in the Middle East. According to White, Bath told him that he had assisted the CIA in a liaison role with Saudi Arabia since 1976.
[end of partial transcript]
Chinese oil giant buys into Iraq, stock market - Sinopec slips on New York Stock Exchange amid scandals, market jitters
"As the Dow Jones bottomed out below the 10,000 mark, Chinese oil giant Sinopec slipped on its initial public stock offer during trading on the New York Stock Exchange, just as news broke that the second largest Chinese state oil company had also signed an exclusive deal to drill oil in Iraq.
According to a Dow Jones report yesterday, Shengli Petroleum Corp, a unit of Sinopec, has been granted a contract from Iraq to drill 24 oil wells. Sinopec officials stated the contract wouldn't become effective until it is approved by the United Nations, which has imposed sanctions on Iraq for its invasion of Kuwait 10 years ago.
The news that Sinopec was in business with Iraq broke just after Sinopec subsidiary, Zhongyuan Petroleum Corp., had previously come under fire for business ties in war-torn Sudan. According to Sinopec officials, Zhongyuan invested $30 million in the Sudan 6 oilfield, conducting surveys and drilling four wells. In July, Sinopec elected to sell all Zhongyuan's investments in Sudan to the largest Chinese oil company PetroChina in order to clear the way for its stock offering in the United States.
...More recently, Texas-based Exxon, backer of yesterday's Sinopec offering, has made several large donations to George W. Bush. According to records compiled by the Federal Election Commission, Exxon Mobil Corp. donated over $1.5 million dollars directly to the Republican presidential candidate."
[end of partial transcript]
AUDITORS REPORT
"We have audited the accompanying balance sheets of Sinopec Beijing Yanhua Petrochemical Company Limited (the "Company") as of 31st December, 2000 and 1999, and the related statements of income, changes in equity and cash flows for the years then ended. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with International Standards on Auditing issued by the International Federation of Accountants. Those Standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of 31st December, 2000 and 1999, and of the results of its operations and its cash flows for the years then ended in accordance with International Accounting Standards issued by the International Accounting Standards Committee.
ARTHUR ANDERSEN & CO
Certified Public Accountants
Hong Kong, 12th April, 2001
Beijing produces videos glorifying terrorist attacks on 'arrogant' US