Looks like the Bush family and the Bin Ladens have known each other for a while. This smells rotten, kiddies, make no mistake. The Saudis have just said that they won't be letting soldiers set foot in Saudi Arabia, but they can use the airspace if they like.

The following article, from June `92, mentions a few key names: like Bush Jr., and one character named "Saudi Sheik Salem M. Binladen" ...

--- begin forwarded text

Status: U
Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 11:09:29 -0700
To: "The Eristocracy"
From: Jon Callas
Subject: Coincidence Department

[Editor's note: Make sure you pay attention to the date of the article
(June 1992), and some of the names. -- jdcc]

HOUSTON CHRONICLE ARCHIVES

Paper: HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Date: THU 06/04/92
Section: A
Page: 21
Edition: 2 STAR
Feds investigate entrepreneur allegedly tied to Saudis
By JERRY URBAN
Staff



Federal authorities are investigating the activities of a Houston
businessman -- a past investor in companies controlled by a son of
President Bush -- who has been accused of illegally representing Saudi
interests in the United States.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network -- known as FinCEN -- and the
FBI are reviewing accusations that entrepreneur James R. Bath guided
money to Houston from Saudi investors who wanted to influence U.S.
policy under the Reagan and Bush administrations, sources close to the
investigations say.

FinCEN, a division of the U.S. Department of Treasury, investigates
money laundering. Special agents and analysts from various law
enforcement agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service and the
U.S. Customs Service, are assigned to work with the FinCEN staff.

The federal review stems in part from court documents obtained through
litigation by Bill White, a former real estate business associate of
Bath.

White contends the documents indicate that the Saudis were using Bath
and their huge financial resources to influence U.S. policy.

Such representation by Bath would require that he be registered as a
foreign agent with the U.S. Department of Justice. In general, people
required by law to be registered are those who represent a foreign
entity seeking to influence governmental action or policy.

An Annapolis graduate and former Navy fighter pilot, White, 46, claims
that Bath and the judicial system, under the veil of national
security, have blackballed him professionally and financially because
he has refused to keep quiet about what he regards as a conspiracy to
secretly funnel Saudi dollars to the United States.

White became entangled in a series of lawsuits and countersuits with
Bath, who for some six years has prevailed in the courts. White says
the legal action has financially devasted him and Venturcorp Inc., the
real estate development company in which he and Bath were partners.

In sworn depositions, Bath said he represented four prominent Saudis as
a trustee and that he would use his name on their investments. In
return, he said, he would receive a 5 percent interest in their deals.

Tax documents and personal financial records show that Bath personally
had a 5 percent interest in Arbusto '79 Ltd., and Arbusto '80 Ltd.,
limited partnerships controlled by George W . Bush , President Bush 's
eldest son. Arbusto means bush in Spanish.

Bath invested $50,000 in the limited partnerships, according to the
documents. There is no available evidence to show whether the money
came from Saudi interests.

George W . Bush 's company, Bush Exploration Co., general partner in
the limited partnerships, went through several mergers, eventually
evolving into Harken Energy Corp., a suburban Dallas-based company.

Bush , known informally as George Jr., is a shareholder and director of
Harken, which has been granted lucrative offshore drilling rights off
the coast of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. One of the top shareholders
of Harken, a public company, is Saudi businessman Abdullah Taha
Bakhsh.

Bush said that to his knowledge, Bath's investment was from personal
funds, and no Saudi money was invested in Arbusto.

Bath, 55, a former U.S. Air Force pilot, declined to comment for the
record. Spokesmen for FinCEN and the FBI also declined to comment.

According to a 1976 trust agreement, drawn shortly after Bush was
appointed director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Saudi Sheik
Salem M. Binladen appointed Bath as his business representative in
Houston. Binladen , along with his brothers, owns Binladen Brothers
Construction, one of the largest construction companies in the Middle
East.

According to White, Bath told him that he had assisted the CIA in a
liaison role with Saudi Arabia since 1976. Bath has previously denied
having worked for the CIA.

In a sworn deposition, Bath said he was the sole director of Skyway
Aircraft Leasing Ltd., a company that a court document shows is owned
by Khaled bin Mahfouz. Bin Mahfouz had been a major shareholder in the
Bank of Credit and Commerce International, a banking empire that has
been accused of money laundering and of using Mideast oil money to
seek ties to political leaders in several countries. Mahfouz and his
family own the National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia.

In 1990, Bath bought the Express Auto Park garage at Hobby Airport for
$8.4 million, which included a $1.4 million loan provided by Mahfouz,
according to transaction documents. Bath received a 5 percent interest
in the companies that own and operate Houston Gulf Airport after
purchasing it on behalf of Binladen in 1977. After Binladen died in
1988, his interests in the airport were taken over by Mahfouz,
according to court documents.
--- end forwarded text
------------------
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The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
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experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'