From The New York Post, 6/13/04:
http://www.nypost.com/business/25492.htm
IN BAD COMPANY
By JENNIFER GOULD KEIL
Dozens of U.S. firms continue to do business with the Saudi Binladen
Group despite American companies' passionate vows to cut all ties with
the group, or at least re-examine them, in the wake of 9/11.
And some of that U.S. money could be making its way into the hands of
al Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden, foreign affairs experts say.
Today, the Saudi Binladen Group, owned by terrorist mastermind Osama's
54 siblings, has quietly changed its name -- at least when dealing
with one U.S. company -- perhaps to fly under the radar of U.S. public
opinion.
General Electric Co. said it works with the bin Laden family through
Beemco Enterprises -- an insulation and pipes subsidiary based in
Oman.
"It's essentially the Binladen Group operating under a different name,
with a different ownership structure," said GE spokesman Peter Stack.
Stack said GE has "lots of different projects" with the Binladen
Group.
"Sometimes they contract us or we act as a subcontractor for them.
It's collaborative."
Stack stressed that GE only does business with companies that comply
with U.S. law, and that it "continues to monitor" the business
relationship.
GE isn't the only U.S. company to stick with the Binladen Group after
9/11.
"There are at least a dozen firms on Wall Street with SBG money," said
a representative of another U.S. firm that deals with them.
The Fremont Group, a San Francisco-based private equity firm founded
by Bechtel, said the bin Laden family still invests with it.
Other firms cited include Citigroup Private Banking, Goldman Sachs and
Deutsche Bank.
Goldman Sachs told The Post it doesn't comment on investors, while
Citigroup did not return repeated phone calls -- although it has said
in the past that it performs "typical banking services" for the
Binladen Group.
"Bechtel, Halliburton, the Carlyle Group and all the big oil companies
? the whole crew that does business in that part of the world -- has
ties to the bin Ladens," another expert in the region added.
Most of the companies, however, refused to comment.
After 9/11, the Carlyle Group, which includes President Bush's dad and
ex-members of his cabinet, said it cut ties with the bin Ladens.
Now, that transparency has vanished like Osama himself.
"We've reverted back to our normal stance of not discussing our
investors," Chris Ullman, a spokesman, said.
The Binladen Group, estimated to be worth $5 billion, is the largest
construction company in Saudi Arabia.
It was founded by Osama's father, Mohammed, and has built Saudi royal
palaces, restored Islamic holy sites and even built barracks for U.S.
troops in Saudi Arabia.
It was run by Mohammed's eldest son, Salem, until he died in a private
plane crash in Texas in 1988.
Osama inherited more than $50 million from the family when his father
died in the 1970s.
The family said it disowned Osama when he was kicked out of Saudi
Arabia and stripped of his citizenship in 1994 for his terrorist
activities.
But U.S. intelligence has evidence that Osama continued to talk to his
mother and see other family members.
"The family has said they've cut him off, but that's a fiction," said
Steven A. Cook, an Arab policy expert at the Council on Foreign
Relations.
"He's been in constant touch with some family members ? their
situation is very murky. You can't separate the family from the family
business," Cook noted.
The National Security Agency once monitored Osama's calls, while an
unnamed "foreign intelligence agency" said he phoned his mom two days
before 9/11.
Arab TV broadcast footage of relatives at his son's wedding in
Afghanistan, while another brother, speaking favorably of Osama, told
CNN -- on camera -- that he was alive and well in March 2002.
After 9/11, the FBI swore it would investigate U.S. banks and
investment firms that did business with the Binladen Group to see if
money that flowed through U.S. channels helped fund terrorism.
But now the FBI won't comment on whether the investigations exist, let
alone on their status.
Cook believes U.S. intelligence agencies should take a closer look at
where the money goes.
"Members of the family benefit from the Saudi Binladen Group and have
contact with Osama," Cook said.
"Money is possibly finding its way to him. It would be very
interesting to follow that money trail. There have been quite a few
revelations since 9/11. From an emotional and personal level, it's
disturbing."
Adil Najam, a bin Laden family expert and associate professor at Tuft
University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, agreed.
Osama "has bad corporate relations with the family, but it's entirely
possible that he has contacts within the family who sympathize with
him and might be channeling money to him," Najam said.
More than 600 family members of 9/11 victims are suing the Binladen
Group.
In a complaint filed in U.S. court, the families charged, "While
publicly denying a relationship with Osama, a number of the bin Laden
brothers and brothers-in-law personally and privately support his
cause and contribute to Jihad."
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These whores'll do anything for a buck, eh?
Harry
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