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HOMELAND SECURITY
Dubai deal on ports draws fire
Lawmakers are beginning to question the deal giving a United Arab Emirates company control of terminals at six ports, including Miami-Dade's, citing concerns about security.
BY STEVE HARRISON AND LESLEY CLARK
sharrison@herald.com
Lawmakers are concerned that a recent sale giving a United Arab Emirates company control over terminals at six American ports, including the Port of Miami-Dade, will jeopardize national security.
Some U.S. lawmakers have called for the White House to reconsider approving the sale of venerable British firm P&O Ports to the government-owned Dubai Port World. P&O Ports owns 50 percent of the Port of Miami Terminal Operating Co., which handles half the cargo containers that come through the port.
The Treasury Department's Committee on Foreign Investment, which includes officials from the departments of Defense, Commerce and Homeland Security, reviewed the $6.8 billion deal for security risks and did not object.
U.S. Rep Mark Foley, R-West Palm Beach, called the committee ''secretive'' and took his concerns to the Bush Administration.
Foley asked Treasury Secretary John Snow, who chairs the committee, to explain the wisdom of allowing a Middle Eastern country control over parts of six American ports -- Miami, New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New Orleans.
''Six of our largest commercial ports are being handed over to a country that is seeking to be Iran's free trade partner and has been linked to the funding and planning of 9/11,'' Foley said. ``If our ports are the most vulnerable targets for terrorism and if we are at war, as the president says, we should be overly critical of handing over management of our ports to any foreign countries, post 9/11. Instead, this was done in the dead of night.''
U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Miami Republican who chairs a subcommittee on the Middle East, called for a ''full investigation'' to ensure there are no security concerns.
The security of America's seaports is seen as critical to protecting the nation from a devastating terrorist attack.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection only screen about 5 percent of containerized cargo entering the country for weapons of mass destruction, though it says all containers are reviewed for their threat potential, with containers with unusual manifests being singled out for scrutiny.
The U.S. government considers the United Arab Emirates an ally in the war on terrorism, but some critics cite the country's history as an operational and financial base for some 9/11 hijackers.
This isn't Dubai Port World's first venture into U.S. business. The deep-pocketed firm's bought CSX World Terminals from Jacksonville-based CSX Corp. for $1.4 billion. That purchase gave the firm terminals worldwide, including a presence at ports in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.
Questions about DPW's entry into U.S. ports were first raised by Eller & Co., a Miami stevedoring firm that owns a 25 percent share in POMTOC. Eller asked the U.S. government to stop the sale, approved by British shareholders Monday.
''Our big issue is: 95 percent of our cargo enters through our ports, and only 5 percent is inspected by Customs,'' said Miami attorney Michael Kreitzer, who represents Eller.
A DPW spokesman did not return telephone messages or e-mails from the Associated Press.
The Port of Miami-Dade would still handle overall port security, as would the governments at the five other impacted ports. But DPW would own and operate their terminals, which transfer cargo from ships to trucks or trains.
New York Republican Rep. Peter King, the chairman of the House Homeland Security committee, said he urged the White House on to review the case.
''Our ports are so vast, so complicated, they're going to be vulnerable in any event,'' King said. ``Then to have a company from Dubai managing the ports, it just raises a lot of red flags.''
King said he's concerned the review process for foreign companies was put in place ``pre-9/11.''
''I don't know if the Treasury Department is the one that should be making the decision after Sept. 11,'' he said.
miami.com
United Arab Emirates Firm May Oversee 6 U.S. Ports
By Ted Bridis
Associated Press
Sunday, February 12, 2006; Page A17
A company in the United Arab Emirates is poised to take over significant operations at six American ports as part of a corporate sale, leaving a country with ties to the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers with influence over a maritime industry considered vulnerable to terrorism.
The Bush administration considers the UAE an important ally in the fight against terrorism since the suicide hijackings and is not objecting to Dubai Ports World's purchase of London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co.
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The $6.8 billion sale could be approved Monday and would affect commercial port operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia.
DP World said it won approval from a secretive U.S. government panel that considers security risks of foreign companies buying or investing in American industry. The U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States "thoroughly reviewed the potential transaction and concluded they had no objection," the company said in a statement.
The committee, which could have recommended that President Bush block the purchase, includes representatives from the departments of Treasury, Defense, Justice, Commerce, State and Homeland Security.
The committee action followed concerns 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.
The State Department describes the UAE as a vital partner in the fight against terrorism. But the UAE, a loose federation of seven emirates on the Saudi peninsula, was an important operational and financial base for the hijackers who carried out the attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the FBI concluded.
Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) urged the administration to consider the sale carefully. "America's busiest ports are vital to our economy and to the international economy, and that is why they remain top terrorist targets," Schumer said. "Just as we would not outsource military operations or law enforcement duties, we should be very careful before we outsource such sensitive homeland security duties."
Shipping experts noted that many of the world's largest port companies are not based in the United States, and they pointed to DP World's strong economic interest in operating ports securely and efficiently.
"It's in Dubai's interest to make sure this runs well," said James Lewis, who worked with the U.S. committee at the State and Commerce departments.
Stephen E. Flynn, who studies maritime security at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations, said even under foreign control, U.S. ports will continue to be run by unionized American employees. "You're not going to have a bunch of UAE citizens working the docks," Flynn said. "They're longshoremen, vested in high-paying jobs."
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