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Strategies & Market Trends : Anthony @ Equity Investigations, Dear Anthony, -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Edscharp who wrote (80111)9/12/2002 8:31:39 PM
From: StockDung  Respond to of 122087
 
Well Ed, they where interested in this one. Many had to be translated which took much time to find. There are many that I do not wish to discuss which involve Bin Lauden and other notable terrorists. The only thing I wish is I could spend my full time tracking down information on the den of theives and terrorists. Someone out there better be connecting the dots.

"Like Al-Kassar, Khashoggi owns a magnificent residence in Marbella, where a branch of Barclay's Bank is a frequent site of dubious dealings."

"Another acquaintance of Khashoggi is the Syrian dealer Monzer Al-Kassar,"

B>"TRANSLATED:Traffic of arms: another scandal of Al-Kassar The Syria dealer tried to sell arms to Osama Bin Laden, the Islamic terrorist more looked for by the U.S.A.. · And he would have used as screen the purchase of a gold mine in Tucumán"

ogd.org Monzer Al-Kassar, the Syrian drug trafficker accused of complicity in the terrorist bombing of a Pan Am Boeing jet over Lockerbie (Scotland) and in the hijacking of the Achille Lauro ocean liner was recently released from a Spanish jail. His release coincides with the capping of the career of Baltasar Garzon, the judge who had Al-Kassar arrested last year and who has now been named head of Spain's war on drugs. Meanwhile, Al-Kassar's fate has attracted the attention of justice officials in Geneva who are currently conducting several investigations into the laundering of drug money. Al-Kassar's release required a string of luck. First he managed to get his former partner and main accuser, Abu Merced, to deny the original allegations. Merced no longer says it was Al-Kassar who gave him the Sig Sauer pistol used in the 1984 Madrid shooting of Joseph Elias Awad, a Mossad agent left paralyzed by the incident. A second "lucky" development involved Ahmed Al Assadi, the Palestinian terrorist spending time in Italy's Vercelli prison for his role in the Achille Lauro hijacking, who has also changed his story and now refuses to go to Spain to formally identify Al-Kassar as the person who supplied weapons to the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) organization headed by Abu Abbas. It was PLF terrorists who hijacked the Achille Lauro on 7 October 1985, held 600 passengers hostage and killed a US citizen with Kalashnikovs reportedly supplied by Al-Kassar who, for that matter, shares a joint bank account with Abu Abbas at the Bilbao-Vizcay Bank (no. 4135). Meanwhile, another Al-Kassar accuser, Ismail Jalid, died after falling from the fifth floor of a building in Marbella, Spain, on 28 September 1992. the autopsy reported that he was in an alcoholic coma at the time. Finally, Al-Kassar managed to come up with the two billion pesetas (US $15 million) required for his release on bail pending trial. Al-Kassar faces eventual extradition to Argentina on charges of committing perjury when obtaining Argentinean nationality. Meanwhile, the investigation by the American newsweekly Time into Al-Kassar's role in placing a bomb-laden suitcase on Pan Am flight 103 on 21 December 1988 (resulting in 270 deaths) has not led to an indictment. Al-Kassar was thus free to return to the marble mansion in Marbella that he has owned for the past 17 years. As soon as Al-Kassar was arrested in Madrid on 3 June 1992, a Swiss prosecutor in Geneva, Laurent Kasper Ansermet, launched his own investigation and turned up some disturbing evidence. According to Ansermet, Al-Kassar is linked to organized crime via various bank accounts - some $5 million of assets have now been frozen. Al-Kassar is apparently part of a shady network which is being very closely studied, even though no indictments have been issued as yet. The network list includes the name of Joseph Saba, a Lebanese boss currently incarcerated in France and cited in the 1985 "Paccots affair" involving the largest heroin factory ever uncovered in Switzerland. Saba was also linked to the "Lebanese Connection" and to the adventures of the Magharian brothers, which resulted in the 1989 downfall of Swiss Minister of Justice and Police Elizabeth Kopp. Also on the list is Adnan Khashoggi, the famous Saudi weapons merchant who was arrested and extradited from Switzerland in 1989 only to be acquitted by a New York court. Like Al-Kassar, Khashoggi owns a magnificent residence in Marbella, where a branch of Barclay's Bank is a frequent site of dubious dealings. This web of contacts also includes Albert Shammah, a Frenchman who has been based in Geneva since 1977 and who heads a firm named Mazalcor. Italian justice officials initially suspected Shammah of involvement in a lire-laundering scheme on behalf of Turkish drug traffickers, but the case was later dismissed. Finally, there is a Swiss connection in the form of the Cultrera-Meninno scandal, which only leads back to Marbella, a beach resort for the "jet set" now emerging as the hub for every mafia connection in Spain. Felice Cultrera and Gianni Meninno are under investigation in Geneva for fraud and money laundering. They are also under investigation in Marbella by Judge Blanca Esther Diez, who has uncovered a group of attorneys and judges protecting them. Cultrera and Meninno, who are currently at large, set up corporate fronts in Gibraltar and then made a fortune by selling property that did not belong to them. Using forged documents, and protected by the Santapaola family of the Italian mafia, they sold the Marbella casino to Italian financier Gioachino del Din, as well as hotels and other real estate on the Costa del Sol. When Spanish police seized Cultrera's address book, they found not only the names of Al-Kassar and Khashoggi, but also that of Philippe Junot, ex-husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco. Junot's former lawyer, the Argentinean Alberto Mondino, has now become one of Al-Kassar's attorneys. Also in the address book is the name of Marc Rich, a wealthy Hispanic-American businessman living in Switzerland and sought by the US Internal Revenue Service for tax evasion. Rich, too, has a villa in Marbella. Prosecutor Ansermet would like to know whether he can confiscate the frozen funds belonging to Al-Kassar in Switzerland, but neither Spanish judge Garzon, nor his colleague Carlos Bueren, has ever responded to Ansermet's legal query as to whether the Syrian's money is the fruit of drug trafficking. Ansermet would also like to coordinate his investigations into Cultrera and Meninno with the Spanish judge handling that affair, but has yet to receive a response from Spain. This silence may point to problems with the Spanish investigation, or to a lack of confidence in Genevan investigators. In which case the Swiss will have to go it alone (OGD correspondent in Switzerland). © The Geopolitical Drug Dispatch n° 23, September 1993
---------------------------------------------

TRANSLATED:Traffic of arms: another scandal of Al-Kassar The Syria dealer tried to sell arms to Osama Bin Laden, the Islamic terrorist more looked for by the U.S.A.. · And he would have used as screen the purchase of a gold mine in Tucumán
JUAN CARLOS ALGAÑARAZ. Madrid. Correspondent. Or sama Bin Laden, the looked for terrorist head more of the world, wants to buy arms in Spain and to conduct the operation it has contacted with Monzer To the Kassar, a personage who has had problems with justice of Argentina and Spain. Since intermediary Imperial Consolidated would have acted the British company and as cover works a millionaire contract to operate gold mines in Tucumán , Argentina. All this plot this being investigated by the secret services and the Spanish police in coordination with other western ones. These facts are denounced by the influential newspaper the World of Madrid that titles its edition of yesterday: "Bin Landen tries to buy arms in Spain through A the Kassar". In charge of the investigation this Red Alfonso, one of the directors of the Madrilenian newspaper and his more sent well-known special, that also is a success writer. The note remembers that Bin Laden is accused of some of the bloodiest attacks of the last years like the blast of the embassies of the United States in Kenya and Tanzania. The relations of Bin Laden with A the Kassar go back "to last September and in the middle of which it was outlined like a lucrative and spectacular gold business", it indicates the newspaper alluding to the mining operations of Tucumán. The newspaper identifies like source of the information "a South American who works stops To the Kassar", to that the newspaper alludes like "dealer of arms". Kassar advanced months ago "hundreds of thousands of dollars to a veteran and afflicted seeking Argentinean, who counted on 19 mining concessions in the zone of Tucumán, but lacked bottoms to put them in operation", says the newspaper. It adds the report that "in exchange for his modest financial aid, To the Kassar it had demanded and received a power that authorized it to negotiate with the deposits". But, the Argentinean who yielded the mining rights considers now that To the Kassar Imperial Consolidated would have signed a contract with the British company in which their economic rights are not recognized to him. Here a conflict arises that will have its judicial repercussions , according to informed a source to Bugler . The amount of the operation is millionaire in dollars stops To the Kassar, and the British industralists speak of a final investment that goes up to around the 400 million dollars . As far as the contract by gold, Lincoln Fraser, the president of Imperial Consolidated, explains that in the summer "a group of Argentine Indians approached who had rich mineral earth in the $andes and needed financing by value 40 million dollars for machinery". For that reason, he added, put in contact with A the Kassar "that had very good relations with Argentina". The history of the bonds between the Syrian and the British begins because To the Kassar, that lives in Marbella, it was in relation to the Greek industralist Eduard Stamatiov that acts like intermediary with the British company Imperial Consolidated, proprietor of 26 companies, specialist in investments off Shore, and owner of a bank in the Caribbean island of Granada, explains the World . The industralist David Marchant, publisher of the magazine Offshore Bussiness alludes to Imperial Consolidated like a company that attracts capitals by means of "amazing" interests. "the commission to launder money of the drug traffic or the businesses of sale of arms is of 25% and that gives for much", declares Marchant. Imperial Consolidated and To the Kassar signs a contract to operate the gold mines of Tucumán. "To the Argentine miner the Kassar is assigned to him to a small percentage of the part corresponding to A, that receives at that same moment four million dollars" , it says the newspaper. The conflict begins when To the Kassar demands, 7 of September the last, "powers in the new company". The British refuse indicating that they represent "very important personages" and had to maintain the control. According to the World "it was then when the name of the Saudi terrorist Bin Laden was pronounced", looked for by the U.S.A.. The assistant of A the Kassar, source of the information, "confesses to have received until a warlike bill of material". Apparently these arms would be destined to talibanes, the force of integrist Muslims supported by Pakistan whom they control most of Afghanistan, surrounded in a bloody civil war. Bin Laden is sheltered in zones controlled by talibanes. Raging Bull Advertisements Quote.com: Powerful tools for serious investors.
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Another acquaintance of Khashoggi is the Syrian dealer Monzer Al-Kassar, described by the US Drug Enforcement Administration as one of the most important figures in the international drug trade. The US Senate investigation on the BCCI Affairs refers to Al-Kassar as a ‘Syrian drug trafficker, terrorist and arms trafficker’.9Al-Kassar was under investigation in Switzerland for violating the arms embargo on Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. 10 He was involved in the ‘Irangate’ affair 11 and in the sale of weapons to Libya in 1983, was sought by Interpol for swapping weapons supplied by the Italian mafia for drugs in 1977, and was suspected of supplying weapons to the commando group that hijacked the Achille Lauro in 1985. 12 He was also named as a suspect in the terrorist attack on the passenger jet over Lockerbie. 13 Recently, he was named in political scandals involving the president of Argentina 14 and the mayor of the coastal resort of Marbella in Spain, where Al-Kassar – the ‘Prince of Marbella’–owned a large residence. 15 Searched the web for "Monzer Al-Kassar" "Bin Laden". Results 1 - 10 of about 63. Search took 0.24 seconds. google.com. Clarin.com - Tráfico de armas: otro escándalo de Al Kassar - [ Translate this page ]
... Osama Bin Laden, el jefe terrorista más buscado del mundo, quiere comprar armas
en Españay para realizar la operación ha contactado con Monzer Al Kassar, un ...
ar.clarin.com/diario/2001-01-15/i-01801.htm - 48k - Cached - Similar pages Clarin.com - Armas: denuncia de Al Kassar ante la Justicia ... - [ Translate this page ]
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... enviados de Bin Laden ALFONSO ROJO Monzer Al Kassar admite que representantes del
terrorista Osama Bin Laden le han propuesto un millonario negocio de armas. ...
www.el-mundo.es/2001/01/15/mundo/e000126.html - 48k - Cached - Similar pages MUNDO | Una empresa bajo sospecha: Imperial Consolidated - [ Translate this page ]
... entrado en tratos con Monzer Al Kassar desconociendo que ... cientos de millones a Al
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... agendo per conto di Bin Laden, ha cercato di acquistare armi attraverso un noto
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www.oedv.at/News/2001/03/kurz.htm - 8k - Cached - Similar pages Yahoo! Groups : alaskagreenparty Messages :Message 490 of 671
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To: Edscharp who wrote (80111)9/12/2002 9:47:13 PM
From: StockDung  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 122087
 
Where has Khashoggi the GENI swindler been? Businessweek seems to know where he is.
------------------------------------

"The more the Saudis see this pressure from the American media, the more anti-American they become," says former Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi.

SEPTEMBER 9, 2002

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

A Saudi-U.S. Divorce?

Probably not, but relations are deteriorating fast


President George W. Bush doesn't normally stoop to meeting with mere foreign ambassadors when he's down tending the ranch in Crawford, Tex. But the high-profile tête-à-tête on Aug. 27 with Prince Bandar bin Sultan, Saudi Arabia's influential man in Washington, was a big exception. And both the Saudis and the Americans made sure everyone was aware of that. After his hour-long meeting with the President and a Texas barbecue for family members of the President and the Prince--nephew of King Fahd and son of the powerful Saudi defense minister--officials on both sides praised the "strong friendship" between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.

But one back-slapping Texas get-together is unlikely to reverse an unprecedented worsening in what has been one of the most stable, long-lived, and mutually beneficial alliances the U.S. has going. The hastily arranged meeting is a sign that both sides are sufficiently worried about the deterioration to try doing something about it. The bad feelings, however, keep leaking out (table). In recent days, even Saudi Arabia's tightly controlled press has been openly talking about the need to "reconsider Saudi-U.S. strategic relations," as the Saudi daily Al-Riyadh put it on Aug. 16. That's a clear signal that the traditionally pro-American House of Saud is unable to contain growing anti-American sentiment in the Kingdom. "I think we're heading for a divorce," says Youssef Ibrahim, a Middle East expert coordinating a task force on the U.S.-Saudi relationship at New York's Council on Foreign Relations.

That is probably an overstatement. But it is no longer unthinkable. Even before September 11, Saudi Arabia had begun diversifying its weapons purchases away from the U.S., while Crown Prince Abdullah, the effective ruler of the country, has been busy forging stronger relationships with Russia, China, and the European Union. Within the royal family, there is talk of turning to neighboring powers such as Pakistan to provide the kind of strategic umbrella now offered by the Americans. "It would be cheaper and a lot less of a problem," says one adviser in the Saudi Foreign Ministry. Even India is mentioned as a possible ally and protector, despite the fact that Delhi has been working more closely with Israel and the U.S. since September 11.

The unprecedented tremors in the U.S.-Saudi relationship are already having far-reaching consequences. Saudi opposition to military action to remove Iraq's Saddam Hussein is complicating Pentagon war plans. And Saudi intransigence makes it difficult, if not impossible, for other traditionally pro-U.S. states in the area to support moves against Iraq. Indeed, the strategically important gulf state of Qatar, where the Pentagon has been setting up staging facilities at the Al Udeid Air Base partly as a way to rely less on Saudi facilities, has followed the Sau-dis' lead in publicly opposing action against Iraq. Even as Vice-President Dick Cheney laid out the case on Aug. 26 for a U.S. strike, Qatari Foreign Minister Hamed bin Jassim was embracing Saddam Hussein in Baghdad.

The economic consequences of fraying U.S.-Saudi ties are already starting to be felt. American private bankers in Europe concede that the traditional preference of many Saudi investors for U.S. assets is being reassessed because of the increasing political estrangement between the two countries--and by fears among Saudis that a punitive Washington may one day freeze such holdings, which some estimates put at $600 billion. Although politically motivated withdrawals are probably insignificant compared with portfolio diversification for financial reasons, one mid-August press report suggesting that Saudis had pulled as much as $200 billion out of the U.S. caused a brief run on the greenback.

The estrangement also has had an impact on the world oil industry, in which Saudi Arabia is the most influential player and has traditionally supported oil-price moderation. With anti-American feelings running high in Saudi Arabia, its rulers may be in no position to be seen as doing favors for the West when OPEC meets on Sept. 19 to discuss hiking oil production--even though Riyadh has promised to keep oil flowing if there is a conflict with Iraq. "The price of oil is much higher than anybody was expecting at the beginning of the year, and OPEC and the Saudis will probably opt to keep the status quo," says Peter Gignoux, chief oil trader at Salomon Smith Barney.

Those same pressures are also one reason for the recent collapse of negotiations between Saudi Arabia and a handful of big oil groups such as Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch/Shell Group, and Total Fina Elf over $25 billion in investments to develop the country's huge natural gas resources. The eagerly awaited projects would have been the first real move to open Saudi Arabia's lucrative oil-and-gas sector to foreign investment since the country moved to nationalize oil production in the 1970s. "But it's now a politically impossible situation since Riyadh can't oppose the U.S. on things like Iraq and then say yes to Exxon--and that means we are stuck," says a frustrated executive at one European oil group involved in negotiating with the Saudis over the gas projects.

Why have ties continued to deteriorate? Many Americans, including senior policymakers, believe the Saudis have yet to acknowledge a degree of responsibility for the events of September 11, in which 15 of the 19 hijackers were found to be Saudi citizens. There's also a feeling that the Saudis haven't moved fast enough to reform a backward educational system that helps breed intolerance. "The feeling in Washington toward the Saudis is, `You are part of the problem,"' says Vahan Zanoyan, president of Washington consultant Petroleum Finance Co. and an expert on the region.

In Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, anti-American sentiment has been rising, not receding. Worsening Israeli-Palestinian confrontations, which are relentlessly broadcast by pan-Arab satellite television, are only pouring gasoline on the fire. Saudis and other Arabs believe that Washington is now all but uncritically backing Israeli policies. Bush's references to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as a "man of peace" seem to confirm Saudi fears that Washington can no longer be an honest power broker in the turbulent Middle East.

Signs of the growing anger are everywhere in Saudi Arabia. A grassroots boycott of American goods organized through the Internet, newspapers, and mobile-phone text messages has helped drive U.S. exports to Saudi Arabia down 30% this year, to a 12-year low. Sales of products such as Marlboro cigarettes and Coca-Cola soft drinks, which are easily identifiable as American, have plunged by more than half this year. "The more the Saudis see this pressure from the American media, the more anti-American they become," says former Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi.

Saudis are also angered by what they perceive as the neoconservative and fundamentalist Christian influence in Washington. Many Saudis can readily cite examples, from conservative columnist William Kristol suggesting that U.S. troops seize gulf oil fields to the Reverend Billy Graham's son Franklin, a leading evangelist in his own right, describing Islam as "an evil and hateful religion." Such declarations may receive little notice in the U.S. but are immediately picked up by mass media in the gulf. "What is said about Islam and Saudi Arabia on outfits like Fox News is sick," says a prominent Saudi businessman. "If it weren't for September 11, they would have been sued. It's like Nazi propaganda against the Jews."

There's still much that binds the two countries. Saudi Arabia remains the biggest source of crude oil imports into the U.S., even if its overall share has gone down in recent years. Generations of Saudi professionals have been educated at leading American universities. And the royal family, at least for now, still looks to the U.S. as protector of last resort. But September 11 set in motion a damaging dynamic that just might break up these old friends. It will take more than a Presidential powwow to reverse that.

By John Rossant in Paris