Saudis deny they have funded terrorists
Posted on 08/19/2002 3:31:29 PM PDT by Ranger
Monday, 19 August, 2002, 11:36 GMT 12:36 UK
 Assuming the court proceeds with this lawsuit, the Saudi investment community, already in shock, will start withdrawing their money
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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.
The world has a choice "you are either with us, or you are with the terrorists"
Tick..tick..tick
It will all end up back in the US. Funds go to where the opportunites are.
To quote the knight from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: "Choose wisely."
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.
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.
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.
Zurich, Geneva, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, Milan, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Shanghai, Seoul, Moscow?
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.
So the U.S. is going to declare all Saudi investors to be terrorists? You're kidding right?
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.
The treacherous two faced lying bitch has earned our hatred, and deserves to feel the wrath of a brutal American vengence.
Semper Fi
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