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Saudis Fear For Their Money in the U.S., Fleeing Assets Figures Unclear
CAIRO,
Aug 23 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A report on Saudi investors
withdrawing their assets in the United States fearing they might be
frozen was the main business news item this week in the Middle East.
There
were mixed reactions to the report, in Wednesday's Financial Times,
August 21, that Saudi investments worth 200 billion dollars fled the
United States, reported the Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Saudi
billionaire Prince Al-Walid bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz on Thursday,
August 22, said "there may be some withdrawals, but not of the
magnitude mentioned in the FT."
Al-Walid,
a nephew of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd, said that as far he was
concerned, he was increasing his investments in some U.S. companies,
including Citigroup.
Bankers
in several Arab countries confirmed that Arab funds were searching for
new investment opportunities, but unable to say how much or whether
they were fleeing the United States.
Lebanon's
Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh said in comments published by
Thursday's An-Nahar newspaper that Lebanese banks were
"attracting deposits of capital that are being withdrawn from
some places.
"I
cannot give figures because of the banking secrecy principle, but I
can say that contacts that have been engaged with us and the
activities of Arab bankers show an interest in our banking
sector," he told the Lebanese daily.
Last
week, the Saudi central bank said deposits in local banks rose 6.4
percent to 78 billion dollars on June 30, from 73.3 billion dollars a
year ago, partly because of repatriation of funds from overseas, AFP
reported.
The
FT has quoted Youssef Ibrahim, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based
Council on Foreign Relations, saying the fund withdrawal was fueled by
calls from some U.S. hardliners for freezing Saudi assets.
Ibrahim
said the outflows could pick up responding to the suit filed in the
United States last week against three members of the Saudi royal
family, Sudan and several Gulf banks and charities by relatives of
victims of the September 11 attacks, accused of financing the al-Qaeda
network.
Other
major developments in the Middle East came from Moscow, as Russia on
Monday, August 19, confirmed it was close to striking a massive
economic deal with Iraq, but denied it was worth 40 billion dollars as
reported by Baghdad.
The
news prompted Washington to remind Russia of its obligation to respect
UN sanctions against Iraq.
Iraq's
Ambassador to Moscow, Abbas Khalaf, said the five-year agreement
covers cooperation in various industries, including oil, electrical
energy, chemical products, irrigation, railroad construction and
transport.
Russia
also signed a deal with Kuwait to jointly develop oil fields and
projects on their respective territories, Kuwait's acting Oil
Minister, Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, said Monday during a visit to
Moscow.
Russia's
giant oil producer Sibneft had already applied to participate in a
tender for the future development of Kuwait's northern oil fields,
bordering Iraq, whose reserves are estimated at 10 billion dollars,
AFP said.
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