Posted on 02/17/2006 5:46:27 PM PST by Dane
UPDATE 3-US Democrats plan bill to block Dubai port deal Fri Feb 17, 2006 5:57 PM EST
(Recasts paragraph 1, adds UAE government, Rice, analyst)
By Jeremy Pelofsky and Caroline Drees
WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Two U.S. senators, citing national security concerns, said on Friday they would try to block a company backed by the United Arab Emirates government from acquiring a British firm that runs several U.S. ports.
Sens. Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Hillary Clinton of New York, both Democrats, said they would offer legislation to ban companies owned or controlled by foreign governments from acquiring U.S. port operations, targeting the $6.8 billion purchase of P&O (PO.L: Quote, Profile, Research) by Dubai Ports World.
"We wouldn't turn the border patrol or the customs service over to a foreign government, and we can't afford to turn our ports over to one either," Menendez said in a statement. The Senate Banking Committee also plans to hold a hearing on the issue later this month.
P&O (PO.L: Quote, Profile, Research) is already owned by a foreign company, but is not state-owned, and the concern is that the purchaser is owned by the Dubai government, which is part of the UAE. The Bush administration considers Dubai and the UAE a solid ally in its campaign against terrorism.
The UAE company would control management of major ports in New York and New Jersey, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Miami.
U.S. seaports handle 2 billion tons of freight each year. Only about 5 percent of containers are examined on arrival.
It was unclear whether there was broad support for the new legislation. But objections in Congress to the deal could complicate ties between the United States and the UAE.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she supported the U.S. government decision to approve the deal and that the administration may need to better explain its reasons to Congress.
"There was a thorough review. It was decided that this could be done and done safely," she said in an interview with Middle East-based media.
Rice plans to meet with some Gulf foreign ministers next week in Abu Dhabi, where the subject could come up.
"I understand the debate in the U.S. on the issue of P&O and Dubai Ports but we would like to emphasize that we have been a strong ally of the U.S. in combating terrorism and will remain so," UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan told Reuters.
A Dubai Ports World spokesman said ports the company managed met international security standards and that it had received all the U.S. regulatory approvals for the deal.
"All Dubai Ports World ports are ISPS (International Ship and Port Facility Security) certified as are the P&O ports in the U.S.," the spokesman told Reuters in Dubai.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a U.S. inter-agency panel that reviews security implications of foreign takeovers of strategic assets, reviewed the transaction and did not object.
But both Republicans and Democrats in Congress urged the administration to conduct a more rigorous review. Some expressed fears that the UAE was used as a conduit for parts used for nuclear proliferation and that the local banking system had been abused by financiers with possible links to terrorist organizations.
The Senate Banking Committee plans to hold a hearing the week of Feb. 27 to examine concerns about the P&O sale and the U.S. government review process, a panel spokesman said.
"This does not create a train wreck," said Jon Alterman, head of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "But it's not helpful for a huge number of things we do with the UAE, everything from cooperation on money laundering and trafficking to counterterrorism to defense issues and on and on."
U.S. officials have praised the UAE for steps to protect its booming financial sector against abuse by terrorism financiers. Money for the Sept. 11 attacks was wired through the UAE's banking system, according to U.S. officials. Two of the Sept. 11 hijackers were UAE citizens. (Additional reporting by Saul Hudson in Washington, Dayan Candappa and Firouz Sedarat in Dubai)
I never addressed that issue in my post. I addressed your feeble statement " Then where was your, hillary's, schumer's, and savage's outrage when a British(foreign) company was operting port terminals.". If you cannot offer proof that Brits are a danger to us the same as Arabs then you might want to use a better analogy.
Uh dj maccy wowwow, the point has already been made, the P&O shareholders approved the selling of control of their company to DPWorld, don't get mad at me, you should be directing your animus at the shareholders.
Oh that's right, that would actually make you look at facts, rather than spinning records(according to your moniker) nevermind.
There may have been "points made" but I see nothing that settles this issue. And this should give everyone pause:
The committee earlier agreed to consider concerns about the deal as expressed by a Miami-based company, Eller & Co., according to Eller's lawyer, Michael Kreitzer. Eller is a business partner with the British shipping giant but was not in the running to buy the ports company.
Dubai firm set to take charge of 6 U.S. ports
Why would Eller be concerned? They work with the British company. Are you going to try to tell me that THEY don't know what goes on in a port?
You must be a kid. DJ stands for Deborah Jo, my name.
the point has already been made, the P&O shareholders approved the selling of control of their company to DPWorld,
Again, that has nothing to do with the point that I made. You infered that the Brits were "foreign" and a danger in the same manner as Arabs. They're not.
Uh when did "one" persons comments become a "they" in the English language.
I must have missed that memo.
"Now you may not like it that DPWorld won the bidding and you can debate that, but the talking points that the Bush administration was behind this is untrue."
Maybe so, but they approve of it:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1579951/posts
Uh Deborah Jo, the point "I" was making(not using the new English singular that I seemed to have missed the memo on) is that where was hillary/schumer/michael savage's outrage of a foreign company operating from some part of port operations before this.
There were crickets, but all of the sudden, outrage.
He said that was all pre 9/11. He doesn't want there to be another attack and they point at him and say you knew about this and did nothing.
He said he thought it would be stopped. UAE is contacting high profile lobbyists. So he thinks their getting nervous.
He had much more to say. I wish there was a transcript.
He did say talk radio listeners could affect this.
*sigh*
concerns about the deal as expressed by a Miami-based company, Eller & Co.,
Eller is a COMPANY.
And your point was moot as Brits haven't attacked us since 1812.
But still he(singular) as titular head of his(singular) own company, is speaking, IMO for himself and not "they".
The grammar semantics aside, the points have been stated quite clearly. The UAE is not taking over US ports as reported by the MSM, hillary/schumer/michael savage, yourself etc.
Eller didn't speak. The company attorney did, Michael Kreitzer, and he spoke for the company. Did you even really READ what was posted.
The UAE is not taking over US ports as reported by the MSM, hillary/schumer/michael savage, yourself etc.
I never said they were taking over ports. You can keep trying to deflect the point but it won't work.
I posted Eller Companys concern as they have been involved in the operations.
"The UAE is not taking over US ports as reported by the MSM,"
What are they doing then?
That is a non-issue. Aliens are blocked from working on most defense projects.
BUMP
They have bought a contract to operate some(not all as reported in the press) of diffferently owned port container transfers at US ports, whose security is overseen by the Department of Homeland Security.
Again, P&O(now bought out by DPWorld) operated some of the port container facilites, not all as reported by the press. And those local(municipal) govt. owned ports can also not renogiate those contracts if they wish.
Especially when we block the Chinese from buying Occidental Petroleum ?
Any rational American (especially Freepers) would be highly suspect of foreign nationals, especially Islamics, in our ports. We know that the ports are our most vulnerable Achilles heel.
Total insanity !!
In fact this whole matter stinks - it appears to me that some rich Dubai Arabs are greasing Congressional palms.
BUMP
UAE, Palestine to set up a joint investment firm
DUBAI — The UAE and Palestine have agreed to the establishment of a new joint investment company, to be announced within a few weeks, according to Mazen Sinokrot, the Palestinian Minister of Economy, who has recently visited the UAE.
Speaking exclusively to Khaleej Times, Sinokrot said, "The purpose of establishing such venture is to explore the investment opportunities in Palestine, and to boost the economic ties with the UAE. Further we are planning as well an Initial Public Offering for the company in the UAE."
"We have already started with the first step towards establishing this company by talking to a large number of investors, that are expected to be the seed for the new entity, including Palestinian as well as Emirati investors, and we expect that this company will see the light within the coming few weeks," he added.
Opportunities: Palestine, according to Sinokrot, offers a variety of opportunities for investors, as there are "several strategic mega-projects on the table," he said.
"We seek to benefit from the UAE's expertise in the field of building and developing marine ports, to develop the Gaza port, not only that, we are also in critical need of management expertise," he added while referring to the successes of Dubai Ports World, paving the way for yet a new venture for the world's number three ports operator.
Total insanity !!
In fact this whole matter stinks - it appears to me that some rich Dubai Arabs are greasing Congressional palms
Uh did you read the first reply of this thread where it was pointed out that the UAE group will be running the port container operation with a Danish concern(how is that for irony).
Hmm, do you read? It states in the next few weeks, not today. Hmm, maybe wishfull thinking from Mr. sinokrot.
There is a thread on FR where Sec. of State Condi Rice, has stated that there should not be any financial gain for Hamas.
But what the hey you don't read, why should I be surprised.
as of last summer, CFIUS had, since its creation in 1988, formally rejected only one of 1,530 transactions submitted for its review.
Such a record is hardly surprising given that the committee is chaired by the Treasury Department, whose institutional responsibilities include promoting foreign investment in the United States. Treasury has rarely seen a foreign purchase of American assets that it did not like. And this bias on the part of the chairman of CFIUS has consistently skewed the results of the panel's deliberations in favor of approving deals, even those opposed by other, more national security-minded departments. Thanks to the secrecy with which CFIUS operates, it is not clear at this writing whether any such objection was heard with respect to the idea of contracting out management of six of our country's most important ports to a UAE company.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.