The September 11th attack | America strikes back
Attacks take toll on bin Laden company
Associated Press
MANAMA, Bahrain — Respected across the Middle East, the Saudi Bin Laden Group renovated Islam's holiest sites, helped build the skyline in Saudi Arabia's capital — and forged ties with the kingdom and royal family that are critical to its business.
Associated Press
Since Sept. 11, these carefully nurtured business connections have been threatened.
The Al Faisaliah Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was built by the bin Laden family. The family also uses its wealth to renovate sites that are holy to Muslims.
The family has disowned Osama bin Laden, the main suspect behind the Sept. 11 assault, and there is no evidence of financial links between the suspected terrorist and the business conglomerate. Yet, some of the Bin Laden Group's international bankers and business associates said they are reconsidering or even cutting their ties.
Some global businesses aren't taking any chances on the possibility of having their images damaged.
Cadbury Schweppes, the London-based beverage and candy maker, has severed ties with a Saudi distributor owned by a Lebanese holding company in which the bin Ladens have a minority stake.
Michael Walker, chief executive of Multitone wireless networking of Britain, suspended dealings with Baud Telecommunications, a Bin Laden Group subsidiary, after the attacks.
Citigroup, which provides banking services to the Bin Laden Group, would not discuss specific banking ties. But spokeswoman Susan Weeks said: "Given the events of the past two weeks, we will be monitoring the situation closely."
The Saudi Bin Laden Group did not respond to requests for comment. About a dozen of Osama bin Laden's 53 siblings work in the conglomerate, which has $3 billion to $5 billion in annual revenue and businesses including mining and telecommunications.
However, the Dutch ABN Amro bank, which owns 40 percent of a Saudi bank that has counted the Bin Laden Group among its clients for seven decades, says it has no evidence of wrongdoing.
Chas W. Freeman, Jr., a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, attributed what he called a run for "public relations cover" to ignorance and noted that the bin Laden name remains "a very honored name" in the kingdom.
Freeman, now board chairman of Projects International Inc., a Washington company that helps arrange global business deals, says he's discussing proposals with the Bin Laden Group — and that won't change.
