New Chairman of 9/11 Commission had business ties with Osama
01/01/2003
- Opinión
Now you would think that being a business partner of the brother in
law and alleged financier of "Enemy No. 1" would be considered a bona
fide "conflict of interest", particularly when your mandate --as part
of the 9/11 Commission's work-- is to investigate "Enemy No. 1".
Unknown to most, UNOCAL's partner in the Cent-Gas trans-Afghan
pipeline consortium, the Saudi Company Delta Oil is owned by the bin
Mahfouz and Al-Amoudi clans which allegedly have ties to bin Laden's
Al Qaeda.
According to a 1998 Senate testimony of former CIA director James
Woolsey, powerful financier Khalid bin Mahfouz' younger sister is
married to Osama bin Laden,. (US Senate, Senate Judiciary Committee,
Federal News Service, 3 Sept. 1998, See also Wayne Madsen,
Questionable Ties, In These Times,12 Nov. 2001 ) Bin Mahfouz is
suspected to have funnelled millions of dollars to the Al Qaeda
network.(See Tom Flocco, Scoop.co.nz 28 Aug. 2002)
Now, "by sheer coincidence", former New Jersey governor Thomas Kean,
the man chosen by President Bush to lead the 9/11 commission also has
business ties with bin Mahfouz and Al-Amoudi.
Thomas Kean is a director (and shareholder) of Amerada Hess
Corporation , which is involved in the Hess-Delta joint venture with
Delta Oil of Saudi Arabia (owned by the bin Mahfouz and Al-Amoudi
clans).
Delta-Hess "was established in 1998 for the development and
exploration of oil fields in the Caspian region...In Azerbaijan Delta
Hess is involved in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli PSA (2.72%) and the
Garabaghli-Kursangi PSA (20%). It is also an equity holder in the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline":
"An air of mystery hangs over Delta- Hess, which... is registered in
the Cayman Islands. Hess is in no hurry to reveal the terms of the
alliance, which it says are subject to confidentiality clauses.
'There's no reason why this should be public information,' a Hess
spokesman says." (Energy Compass, 15 Nov. 2002)
Coincidentally, the former Governor of New Jersey is also a member of
the Council on Foreign Relations, together with another prominent
member of the board of directors of Amerada Hess, former Secretary of
the Treasury Nicholas Brady.
In other words, Delta Oil Ltd. of Saudi Arabia --which is a partner
in the Hess-Delta Alliance--is in part controlled by Khalid bin
Mafhouz, Osama's brother in law.
And former Governor Thomas Kean not only sits on the board of
directors of a company which has business dealings with Khalid bin
Mahfouz, he also heads the 9/11 Commission, which has a mandate to
investigate Khalid's brother in law, Osama bin Laden.
Dr. Kissinger had a conflict of interest and resigned! The vice
chairman of the Commission, former Sen. George Mitchell of Maine,
resigned for the same reason. (See Xymphora, 19 Dec 2002 )
Now you would think that being a business partner of the brother in
law and alleged financier of "Enemy No. 1" would also be considered a
bona fide "conflict of interest", particularly when your mandate --as
part of the 9/11 Commission's work-- is to investigate "Enemy No. 1".
And the corporate media applauds. Without acknowledging his Saudi
business connections, Thomas Kean is heralded as "a man of
extraordinary integrity, decency and intellect." In the words of the
Baltimore Sun: "he lacks obvious conflicts of interest" (26
Dec.2002). To which I respond: "how more obvious can you get"!
It is also worth mentioning that Thomas Kean also sits as co-chairman
of the Homeland Security Project (HSP) under the auspices of the
Century Foundation. In this capacity, Kean has played a key role in
the draft recommendations of the Century Foundation, which laid the
groundwork of the Office of Homeland Security legislation.
The Saudi Connection
Thomas Kean, described as a "moderate Republican" is not alone in
this Saudi business relationship.
Extensively documented, other prominent members of the Republican
party including the Bush family have had business dealings with the
bin Laden family. (See George W. Bush Financial Scams: CRG selection
of articles)
Moreover, it would appear that Delta officials (involved in the
UNOCAL trans-Afghan pipeline consortium) played a key role in
negotiations with the Taliban. In turn, Enron, the infamous energy
giant — whose former CEO, Ken Lay, had close connections to the Bush
family — had been contracted in a cozy relationship to undertake
feasibility studies for the Unocal-Delta consortium. Enron
Corporation had also been entrusted --in liaison with Delta-- with
pipeline negotiations with the Taliban government
Carefully documented by Wayne Madsen, George W. Bush also had
dealings with Osama's brother in law Khalid bin Mafhouz, when he was
in the Texas oil business. Both George W. Bush and Khalid bin-Mahfouz
were implicated in the Bank of Commerce International (BCCI) scandal:
"Other links between Bush and Mahfouz can be found through
investments in the Carlyle Group, an American investment firm managed
by a board on which former president George Bush himself sat. The
younger [George W.] Bush personally held shares in one of the
components of the Carlyle group, the Caterair company, between 1990-
94. And Carlyle today ranks as a leading contributor to Bush's
electoral campaign. On Carlyle's advisory board is found the name of
Sami Baarma, director of the Pakistani financial establishment Prime
Commercial Bank that is based in Lahore and owned by Mahfouz. (See
Maggie Mulvihill, Jonathan Wells and Jack Meyers: Slick deals; the
White House connection; Saudi 'agents' close Bush Friends, Boston
Herald, 11 December 2001).
In the wake of 9/11
In the wake of 9/11, Khalid bin Mahfouz (Osama's brother in law) was
carefully exempted from the Treasury investigations (another "sheer
coincidence") which led to the freezing of the financial assets of
some 150 Saudi businesses, charities and individuals:
"The US Treasury has frozen the assets of 150 Saudi individuals,
companies and charities suspected of financing terrorism. It has
named Blessed Relief, a Saudi "charity" as a front organisation
providing funds to Osama bin Laden. "Saudi businessmen have been
transferring millions of dollars to Bin Laden through Blessed
Relief," the agency said.
One rich Saudi patriarch under suspicion is Khaled bin Mahfouz, owner
of the National Commercial Bank, banker to the Saudi royal family,
... US and British authorities have also investigated Mohammed
Hussein Al-Amoudi, another billionaire Saudi, for possible financial
ties to Bin Laden. Al -Amoudi, who oversees a vast network of
companies involved in construction, mining, banking and oil, has also
denied any involvement with Bin Laden. His Washington lawyers said he
"was unalterably opposed to terrorism and had no knowledge of any
money transfers by Saudi businesses to Bin Laden.
Both Al-Amoudi and Bin Mahfouz have been left untouched by the US
Treasury Department. The case against them, let alone against the
government itself, is unproven. But the post-September 11 spotlight
on Saudi Arabia has brought into sharp focus the fundamental question
facing the country's rulers." (Scotland on Sunday, 11 August 2002)
The 9/11 Victims Families Law Suit
According to one press report, Thomas Kean --in contrast to Dr. Henry
Kissinger-- was selected to head the 9/11 Commission because he was
"close to the families of the 9/11 victims, an important credential
to the White House, which was coming under increasing criticism from
those families" (Scripps Howard News Service, 17 December 2002)
Yet in a cruel irony, the $1 trillion lawsuit filed last August by
the families of the victims of the September 11 attacks , lists two
of Thomas Kean's business partners in the Hess-Delta joint-venture,
among the accused: Khalid Bin Mahfouz (Osama's brother in law), and
Mohammed Hussein al Amoudi. Both individuals have been tagged in the
lawsuit as alleged "financiers" of Al Qaeda. Now, how will Thomas
Kean deal with that in the context of the 9/11 Commission?
Mystery Surrounding the 1998 Embassy Bombings
Former CIA director James Woolsey's testimony confirms that the Sudan
pharmaceutical company bombed in 1998 on the orders of President
Clinton was owned by Salah Idris, a business associate and protegé of
Khalid bin Mahfouz, The bombing was in retribution for the alleged Al
Qaeda African Embassy bombings.
The Mahfouz conglomerate, which owns the largest bank in Saudi
Arabia, the National Commercial Bank, was preparing to pump money
into the trans-Afghan pipeline deal. (For further details, see Michel
Chossudovsky, 2002, Chapter VI) Delta-Hess was also set up in 1998 to
explore and develop oil and gas resources in the Caspian Sea basin.
Now why would the Clinton administration order the bombing of a
factory which was controlled by a business crony of Unocal
Corporation and Amerada-Hess?
* Michel Chossudovsky is the author of "War and Globalisation, The
Truth behind September 11" . He is Professor of Economics at the
University of Ottawa and Director of the Centre for Research on
Globalisation (CRG).
https://www.alainet.org/en/active/2970
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