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  • WMR July 18-19, 2011 -- Sarkozy involved in offering bribes to Saudi official for Airbus deal   ...   In what may prove to be an old scandal but one that could come back to further tarnish his already poor image, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been heavily implicated in a bribery scandal from the 1990s involving an Airbus deal to supply Saudia Airlines with commercial passenger planes.    ...   The French government, then led by Prime Minister Edouard Balladur, a political mentor of Sarkozy offered to pay a bribe to a major Saudi official in return for a $6 billion contract with the Saudi Ministry of Defense and Aviation (MODA) to re-supply Saudia with aircraft. WMR has learned from a source involved with the Saudi contract negotiations that Sarkozy, France's Budget Minister at the time, was Balladur's "right-hand man" in offering the bribe to the Saudi official, said to be a high-level prince in the Saudi government.    ...   Balladur traveled to Saudi Arabia in January 1994 to personally lobby King Fahd for the contract with Airbus. However, President George H. W. Bush had sealed a deal with the Saudis in 1992 for McDonnell-Douglas to supply 72 F-15 fighter jets to the Saudis in a $4 billion deal, with $600 million to Pratt and Whitney for jet engines and an additional $1 billion in "commissions" paid to the same top Saudi prince through a MODA account maintained at Riggs Bank. George H. W. Bush's brother Jonathan Bush became the President of Riggs Investment after the bank bought his J. Bush & Co. in 1997.    ...   In the McDonnell-Douglas "deal" with the Saudis, a package that totaled $5.6 billion, Bush believed he could deliver his promise of election year jobs to the people of St. Louis, where the planes would be built. Bush made the promise to McDonnell-Douglas workers and their families in a speech at Lambert Field on September 11, 1992. Missouri was a key battleground state between Bush and Bill Clinton. In the end, the bribe paid to the Saudi prince, a noted friend of the Bush family, had no impact on Missouri. Clinton won the state's 11 electoral votes.    ...   In detailed information provided to WMR by an aviation industry top executive who was involved with the sensitive negotiations, we learned that the original jet fighter deal worked out between Bush and King Fahd had an additional sweetener: the Saudia commercial plane deal was to go to Boeing to the tune of $4 billion for Boeing, $1.2 billion for General Electric engines, $420 million for Pratt and Whitney/International Aero Engines (IAE) engines, $1.6 billion for McDonnell-Douglas to help it keep it from curtailing production at its Long Beach, California commercial aircraft plant. The total contract was worth $7.2 billion. In addition, our source reports that a "commission" (bribe) equalling $250 million, was paid to Saudi banker Khalid bin Mahfouz, the brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden and the owner of the National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia. Bin Mahfouz, who died of a sudden heart attack in 2009, threatened to sue major publications who reported that he was the brother-in-law of Bin Laden, even after CIA director testified in 1998 that Bin Mahfouz was Bin Laden's brother-in-law. Woolsey and major publications, including the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, later retracted the report on the brother-in-law link between the two Saudis.    ...    In 1997 Boeing and McDonnell-Douglas merged, strengthening the combined company's influence in Saudi Arabia.    ...    In 1995, when the Saudia airline contract was being considered, Balladur had no way of knowing that the Clinton administration had been apprised of the Boeing deal with the Saudis and that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) had intercepted communications between Balladur and his Budget Minister Sarkozy offering the Saudis bribes in return for Saudia awarding its contract for new planes to Airbus. In the end, the Saudis nixed the deal with Balladur and Sarkozy. Sarkozy's involvement with the Saudi bribery scandal mirrors similar allegations of receiving kickbacks in return for French defense contracts with Taiwan and Pakistan.    ...    However, WMR has learned that the French bribery involvement with the Saudis pales in comparison with bribes and kickbacks involving top Saudis and U.S. politicians, particularly George H. W. and George W. Bush. WMR has learned that violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by U.S. corporations in deals with the Saudis have totalled $350 billion. $83 billion from U.S. bribes have been placed in special Saudi fund devoted to squelching civil dissent in Saudi Arabia. The CIA is fully supportive of the "arrangement."  
  • WMR  October 13-14, 2008 -- Carnaby testified to DC Grand Jury on information about WTC 93 bombing   ...   WMR has obtained further information on the suppression of evidence in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. WMR has reported the bombing was carried out as the result of a fatwa issued by top Saudi clerics in response to the January 1993 "Mecca Incident" in which 18 U.S. military personnel assigned to Saudi Arabia were shot to death by Pakistani guards at the Islamic holy shrine in Mecca after the Americans attempted to storm into Kabaa Square while drunk and disorderly.   ...   WMR reported that the incident and the Saudi connection was known to chief FBI counter-terrorism agent John O'Neill, killed in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. WMR has now learned from a knowledgeable source in Houston that Roland "Tony" Carnaby, O'Neill's friend and CIA clandestine services agent who was gunned down on April 29 this year by the Houston police, testified, along with his father, Vincent S. Carnaby, before a federal grand jury at the U.S. Courthouse for the District of Columbia on June 3, 1994 in a case dealing with the World Trade Center bombing the previous year. The Carnabys had been subpoenaed by the grand jury in the case.  
  • Notes: Omar bin Laden file  CAIRO, Egypt - Omar Osama bin Laden bears a striking resemblance to his notorious father — except for the dreadlocks that dangle halfway down his back. Then there's the black leather biker jacket.  The 26-year-old does not renounce his father, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, but in an interview with The Associated Press, he said there is better way to defend Islam than militancy: Omar wants to be an "ambassador for peace" between Muslims and the West.  Omar — one of bin Laden's 19 children — raised a tabloid storm last year when he married a 52-year-old British woman, Jane Felix-Browne, who took the name Zaina Alsabah. Now the couple say they want to be advocates, planning a 3,000-mile horse race across North Africa to draw attention to the cause of peace.
  • WMR April 7, 2008 -- The Fellowship and its guest speakers  The secretive and cult-like Fellowship, which recently attracted the attention of NBC news because of its links to Hillary Clinton, maintains that it is spreading the word of Jesus through its prayer breakfasts. However, the Fellowship is more like a K Street super-lobbying firm with tentacles into the highest echelons of governments everywhere.    ....   WMR's Lebanese contacts have provided some additional information about Safi Kaskas, who, while originally hailing from Beirut, is a well-connected businessman in America. In addition to owning four oriental rug stores -- one of which is in Austin, Texas -- Kaskas is also chairman of Mid-America Holding Company and founder of the New Orleans Polo Club. Kaskas also co-founded a mosque. Information was included in an article published in the September/October 1986 print edition of Saudi Aramco World. on Oriental rugs, lectures, special functions by the Fellowship ...etc ... WMR  From  our Lebanese sources: "Saudis are financing much more than oil, oil lobbies, and military hardware . . . they are at the heart of PNAC [Project for the New American Century]."  other search terms: Hosts: Hon. And Mrs. Don Bonker [former Democratic Representative from State of Washington], 'shadow Billy Graham', links to Muslim Suadis, Raytheon

 
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  • CNN LONDON, England (CNN) -- The former Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, may have received up to $2 billion in confidential payments from a British defense firm, BAE Systems, over a period of nearly 20 years, according to two British media reports.  CNN has been unable to independently confirm the allegations, but is working to do so.

    Through a statement by his lawyer, given to the British Press Association, Prince Bandar "categorically denied" receiving any "backhanders" -- secret payments -- and called the the reports "serious allegations."  According to the Guardian newspaper and the BBC, the payments were channeled to at least one Saudi embassy account at a now-defunct Riggs Bank in Washington.  The reports said the payments were tied to the prince's role in negotiating an $85 billion deal to sell British warplanes to Saudi Arabia in 1985. The agreement -- known as the al-Yamamah arms deal -- is the largest in British defense history. Prince Bandar, a close friend of U.S. President George W. Bush, was described as the chief negotiator in the deal.

    In the statement provided to Britain's Press Association, Prince Bandar acknowledged being an "authorized signatory" to accounts payable by BAE "pursuant to the al-Yamamah contracts," but said that "any monies paid out of those accounts were exclusively for purposes approved by the Saudi MODA (Ministry of Defense and Aviation)."  CNN efforts to obtain additional comment from Saudi government officials in Riyadh, London and Washington were unsuccessful.  CNN and other news organizations have previously reported that in 2004, the UK's Serious Fraud Office began an investigation into allegations that BAE Systems paid off Saudi government officials in order to secure contracts in the 1980s. But in December of last year, British Prime Minister Tony Blair advised the UK's Attorney General Lord Goldsmith to halt proceedings and abandon the investigation.

    Thursday, at the G8 Summit in Heiligendamm, Germany, Blair, standing side-by-side with Bush, was asked by a reporter whether he was aware that his government was approving payments to "a friend of President Bush's," a clear reference to British media reports about the alleged payments to Prince Bandar.

    Blair said he would not comment on "individual allegations," but said that if the investigation had gone ahead it "would have involved the most serious allegations and investigations being made of the Saudi royal family." Blair also said that he didn't "believe the investigation would have led anywhere, except the complete wreckage of the vital strategic relationship for our country in terms of fighting terrorism, in terms of the Middle East, in terms of British interests there." He added that as a result of the investigation, "thousands of British jobs" would have been lost, suggesting the Saudis would have taken aerospace business elsewhere.

    The British Ministry of Defense was part-owner of BAE Systems throughout much of the period when the alleged payments to Prince Bandar were made.  The Guardian cited unnamed legal sources as saying the alleged payments were unearthed during a British probe when investigators discovered "highly classified documents at the MOD."

    Contacted by CNN, the MOD issued a statement, saying the ministry "is unable to comment on these allegations since to do so would involve disclosing confidential information about al-Yamamah, and that would cause the damage that ending the investigation was designed to prevent."  BAE Systems acknowledged making payments, but denied any wrongdoing. The firm's statement said that "the al-Yamamah program is a government-to-government agreement" and all payments were made "with express approval of both the Saudi and the UK government."

    According to British law, any payments to Prince Bandar made before 2002 would not be considered illegal. After 2002, the British government prohibited secret commissions on overseas business transactions.  The Guardian reported the alleged payments to Prince Bandar continued after 2002, but CNN has not been able to verify the claim. Also, it is unclear whether the passage of the 2002 law would effect an already existing contract, since no British court has yet been asked to decide that point.

    The al-Yamamah deal, Britain's largest ever arms deal, was signed in 1985 when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister and provided for the sale to Saudi Arabia of 72 Tornado and 30 Hawk military aircraft made by BAE in partial exchange for Saudi oil at below-market prices. At the time, the sale was considered critical to BAE's financial health.  CNN staffers Terence Burke, Nic Robertson, Cynde Strand, Jonathan Wald, Roger Clark, James Partington, and Samson Desta contributed to this report

  • June 20, 2007 -- Mystery U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia raises suspicions 

    WMR has been told by informed sources that there is plenty of suspicions concerning the Bush administration's new ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Ford M. Fraker.  As the BAE Systems bribery scandal continues to circle around top Saudi officials, including the last two Saudi ambassadors to Washington, Princes Bandar and Turki bin Faisal, the Tony Blair government, and possibly, Bush administration officials aware of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations by BAE Systems, a major Pentagon contractor but failing to take action, the selection of Fraker, who has spent much of his career in London, the focal point of the BAE scandal, has taken on greater significance.

    There is a widespread suspicion in the U.S. State Department and intelligence community that Fraker, a fluent Arabic speaker, is in Riyadh as a "clean up man" to stifle an expanding investigation of BAE and its "payments" to Saudi officials and also possibly to assist in covering up Saudi financing of terrorist groups, including Al Qaeda.

    Saudi Arabia's new ambassador in Washington is the suave Adel Al Jubeir, the Saudi embassy's information officr during the time of the 9/11 attacks.  Fraker was confirmed by a compliant and unquestioning Democratic U.S. Senate on March 29, 2007, and sworn in as ambassador on April 11, 2007. Fraker had been serving as the Chairman of Trinity Group, Ltd., a private investment banking firm in London. From 1972 to 1979, Fraker served as a representative for Chemical Bank in the Middle East, specifically, in Lebanon, and the then-newly independent United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.  Bush's new ambassador to Saudi Arabia once worked for -- Saudi Arabia. Conflict of interests? Not for Team Bush.  MORE at WMR search terms: Fraker & Co, London-based Saudi Investment Bank (SIB), J. P. Morgan affiliate, management,  Mujaheddin, Osama Bin Laden, Al Queda,  MeesPierson Investment Finance, London. Flagship Ventures, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Intercontinental Real Estate Corp, Boston, Thomas P. O'Neill, son of "Tip".

  • CNN WASHINGTON (CNN) -- As many as 60 percent of the foreign fighters who entered Iraq in the past year have come from Saudi Arabia and Libya,   The official said the number of foreign fighters has dropped off since the Sinjar raid. The U.S. military believes both Syria and Saudi Arabia in recent months have taken a number of actions to reduce the flow of foreign fighters.
ARAB REVOLT, from GoldSeek and,  By: Jim Willie CB, GoldenJackass.com
The Western press seems to have attributed almost no importance to the death of King Fahd, the long ailing monarch from Saudi Arabia. Not me. It marked a sea change in the Persian Gulf. The newly anointed King Abdullah is much more a friend to Europe than to the United States, and maintains a quiet deep distrust for USGovt leaders and American culture generally. Abdullah has a stronger backbone, more willing to oppose the West. Within weeks he announced a desire to balance favor between Europe and the US, in commerce and in currency reserves management. The OPEC nations surrounding the Persian Gulf have been the beneficiary of doubled income since 2003 when crude oil sold for half the price. They have not materially changed in production output, hence revenues. They have gone nuts with a construction boom, have gone nuts with a boom and (in progress) mini-bust with their stock markets. As Saudi Arabia goes, so will many nations follow, like Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman. These guys are close friends. Since the EuroBond offers 1% less in yield versus the USTBond, money is directed toward gold purchase.

Arabs have a longstanding love of and trust in gold. The United States, England, and Europe have not acted like saints toward Arabs over the past century. Arab royals don’t exactly trust the paper they are given in exchange for all the wonderful oil, lifeblood to our economies. Arabs take two steps to avert the long arm of the Western dominance. They purchase gold in Turkey. This eludes some detection, some formal accounting, and the clear snub to London and New York. They also handle brokered purchases of USTBond in London. This sidesteps any politically awkward gestures and reactions from neighbors Arab states. They can support the USTBond or not, with some measure of privacy. The London USTreasury data becomes thoroughly mixed with hedge funds and illicit USFed agency operations. If and when the permanent war spreads in the Persian Gulf region, if and when the Iraqi Civil War intensifies, if and when the Iran nation is attacked pre-emptively, if and when the Saudi gigantic oil operation facilities are attacked, look for gold to be purchased by Arabs, and their USTBonds to be sold, and even some of their EuroBonds to be sold. Gold held in the secure confines of Turkish bullion banks is far safer than London or New York in their eyes. War favors gold. 

Whether you do or don’t believe the war against radical Islam is for real and justified and managed with a deft hand in a capable manner, gold is an excellent hedge in an uncertain time of growing conflict. Whether you do or don’t believe the USGovt leaders resemble the Three Stooges, incapable of wiring or plumbing your 2-bedroom home, gold is an excellent hedge in a time of unprecedented waste, record deficits, and horrendous management.

 
below: WayneMadsenReport
April 21, 2006 -- SPECIAL REPORT. Porter Goss's Cocaine Import Agency (CIA) has links to "Al Qaeda" and Saudis. Last year, WMR reported on links between the Saudi Royal Family and CIA proprietary airline companies involved in cocaine smuggling. On April 10, Mexican police, acting on a tip from INTERPOL, seized a DC-9 aircraft carrying 5.5 tons of cocaine with an estimated street value of $100 million. The U.S.-registered plane was en route from Caracas, Venezuela, which, according to French intelligence, is a known hub for cocaine shipments from Colombia to Saudi Arabia (see article below). The DC-9 (registration number N900SA) made an emergency landing at Ciudad del Carmen in Campeche state. A Falcon aircraft that arrived at Ciudad del Carmen from Toluca airport in Mexico state in advance of the arrival of the DC-9 was also seized. The cocaine was contained in 128 suitcases. The Mexican police later claimed the unidentified DC-9's pilot managed to escape. However, the police did arrest the co-pilot.  

The DC-9 was painted in the familiar blue and white colors of the U.S. Transportation Security Administration with am official-looking seal with an American eagle bearing the inscription: "Sky Way Aircraft - Protection of America's Skies." The registered owner of the aircraft is: Royal Sons Inc., 15875 Fairchild Drive, Clearwater, Florida. On April 5, 2006, the plane flew from St. Petersburg/Clearwater International to Simon Bolivar International in Caracas. "Sky Ways" (see article below) has also been linked to the Saudi government and Bush family/CIA activities. Royal Sons, the name of which may indicate the involvement of Saudi princes, such as the cocaine-transporting Prince Nayif, cited below, also maintained an office at 224 East Airport Ave., Venice, Florida, at the same time lead hijacker Mohammad Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi were training at Huffman Aviation, which was located near by at 400 East Airport Avenue. Two years before 911, Venice was also the subject of intensive intelligence operations by Israeli intelligence agents masquerading as "art students." Not surprisingly in light of Saudi involvement with cocaine smuggling, the activities of the Israelis drew the particular attention of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which had Venice airport under surveillance and later prepared a lengthy report on the activities of the Israelis. Atta and al Shehhi also used Clearwater airport for practice take-off and landings during off-peak hours.  

Official-looking TSA plane busted for hauling cocaine in Mexico.

In 2004 a Sky Way Aircraft Beechcraft BE-200, registration N391SA, flying under the false registration of N168D, was confiscated by the Venezuelan government after flying from Caracas Charallave airport to Santiago Marino airport on Margarita island. FAA records indicate that Sky Way's office of record was 341 8th Ave. SE # 3C, St. Petersburg, Florida. The FAA registration database also states, "N391SA has multiple records" in addition to its status as being "exported" to Venezuela and, thus, "de-registered" with the FAA. After the revelations about CIA rendition flights and proprietary companies, it was discovered that N168D was the tail number for a Casa CN-235-300 registered to Devon Holding and Leasing of Lexington, North Carolina.

Sky Way Beechcraft that was held by Venezuela after it used a false registration number N168D, the same tail number used by one of the CIA's rendition planes.

The DC-9 seized by Mexico was previously owned by a partnership of Royal Sons and Skyway Communications Holding Corp. (Symbol: SWYCQ) of 6021, 142nd Avenue North Clearwater, Florida. SWYCQ's web site states, "SWYC was founded in 2000 by Mr. Brent Kovar. SWYC’s focus includes in-flight wireless Homeland Security and In-flight Entertainment (IFE) service." In 2003, then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay appointed Kovar as Honorary Chairman of the Business Advisory Council of the National Republican Congressional Committee. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission's EDGAR database, "Kovar has been President and Director of Sky Way Aircraft since inception. In addition, as president and director of research and development and engineering, Mr. Kovar founded Sky Way Global in 2000, a high speed broadband wireless service company. From 1996 to 2000, Mr. Kovar served as the executive vice president and director of research and development for Satellite Access Systems, a satellite services company. In 1990, Mr. Kovar founded PC, Ltd., a company that produced specialty-designed remote controlled arm and RF/communications related products, and until 1996, he served as president and director of new product engineering. From 1987 to 1989, he was associated with Jacobs Engineering, an national engineering company in Pasadena, California. From 1986 to 1987, Mr. Kovar worked with Falcon Communications as a wireless communications engineer.

Also, EDGAR provides details on SWYCQ's CEO and CFO Jim Kent, "Mr. Kent has been CEO and Director of Sky Way Aircraft since July 2002 and its CFO since February 2003. He has been director of business operations for Sky Way Global since 2000. From 1998 to 1999, Mr. Kent served as director of operations for Satellite Access Systems, Inc., a satellite services company where he was responsible for the day-to-day operations. From 1997 to 1998 he served as a senior management consultant for Booz, Allen & Hamilton, a government contractor and national/international business consulting firm providing program and financial management services to the U. S. Government. From 1980 to 1997, Mr. Kent served in various government contract management positions providing financial and program management services supporting national communications and intelligence projects for the Department of Defense, National Security Agency, and Department of the Navy." Also, according to the SEC, Kovar is affiliated with Net Command Tech Inc. (a St. Petersburg, Florida-based corporation formerly known as Acunet Corporation and Corsaire, Inc.). The company primarily markets video surveillance systems. According to SEC records, Banque Francaise De L'Orient has a significant financial stake in Net Command Tech. According to SEC filings, one of the significant shareholders is Fever Holdings Limited, c/o Banque Francaise de L'Orient, with an office listed at50 Curzon Street, London, England. Satellite Access Systems of Nevada is a Net Command Tech subsidiary.

Banque Francaise de l'Orient was originally Banque Al Saoudi, which was under the financial control of the Bin Laden family and other top Saudi royals and businessmen. In 1989, Banque Indosuez partly assumed control of the near bankrupt Bank Al Saoudi and it became Banque Francaise de l'Orient. The bank then merged with the late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's Mediterranee Group. Banque Francaise de L'Orient maintains an office in Geneva. Bank Indosuez (now Credit Agricole Suez) maintains an address in Sana'a, Yemen. Bank Indosuez was used by the CIA for the establishment of secret accounts held by top Kazakhstan officials in return for lucrative Tengiz oil field contracts for Amoco, Mobil, Phillips Petroleum, Texaco, and Halliburton (scandal that became known as "Kazakhgate"). Previously, WMR also reported on the use of Christian missionary aircraft linked to the CIA to smuggle high-grade heroin out of Afghanistan.

Intelligence insiders report that CIA Director Porter Goss has authorized the CIA to resume Iran-contra-era networks that is permitting former agency contractors to renew their illicit trade in drugs.

The sudden in flow of cocaine and heroin into the United States is an early warning sign that covert operators are attempting to earn large amounts of cash for one or more "special projects." On April 20, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that security guards at the Beaver Valley Power Station in Pennsylvania stopped a truck containing $504,230 in cash wrapped in ten bundles with clear plastic and duct tape. The bundles were locked in a duffel bag. A drug sniffing dog reacted positively to the bag. The driver of the truck and a passenger came from Texas and said they were en route from Chicago and were to deliver tools from the power plant to Youngstown, Ohio. Police in Shippingport, Beaver County stopped the truck after the power plant security guards notified them. The guards grew suspicious when they cut the lock off the duffel bag and saw the cash. The truck occupants said the cash belonged to their boss in Houston. The trucking company was reportedly a contractor for San Francisco-based Bechtel Corporation, which was doing construction work at the power plant. When the guards called the boss in Houston he denied the cash was his. The truck quickly left the power plant, which is owned by First Energy Nuclear Operating Company. Shippingport Police and Pennsylvania state troopers later stopped the truck near the Shippingport Bridge and confiscated the cash. The passenger in the truck claimed his identification had been stolen from the truck the previous night. Shippingport Police Sgt. R. N. Davis, Jr., scoffed at that explanation in remarks to the Post-Gazette. "Your ID is stolen but not that bag of cash? Red flags were popping up all over," Davis said. The incident is highly reminiscent of cases involving Israeli "movers" picked up around the United States after 9-11 who had similarly unconvincing stories. The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force was notified about the Pennsylvania incident and are said to be "investigating."

In 1999, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) broke open a major conspiracy involving a Saudi prince’s Colombian cocaine smuggling from Venezuela to support some “future intention” involving Koranic prophecy. The DEA operations were contained in a “Declassification of a Secret DEA 6 Paris Country Office” memorandum dated June 26, 2000, a date which coincided with the height of Israeli art student and 911 hijacker activity in the United States. In June 1999, 808 kilograms of cocaine were seized in Paris. At the same time, the DEA was conducting a major investigation of the Medellin drug cartel called Operation Millennium.

Through an intercepted fax, the Bogota Country Office of the DEA learned of the Paris cocaine seizure and linked the drug smuggling operation to the Saudis. The DEA investigation centered around Saudi Prince Nayif al Saud, whose alias was El Principe (the Prince). Nayif's full name is Nayif (or Nayef) bin Fawwaz al-Shaalan al-Saud. In pursuit of his international drug deals, Nayif traveled in his own Boeing 727 and used his diplomatic status to avoid customs checks. The DEA report stated Nayif studied at the University of Miami, Florida, owned a bank in Switzerland, speaks eight languages, was heavily invested in Venezuela’s petroleum industry, regularly visited the United States, and traveled with millions of dollars of U.S. currency. Nayif is also invested in Colombia's petroleum industry.

Nayif was also reported to have met with drug cartel members in Marbella, Spain, where the late Saudi King Fahd and the Saudi royal family maintained a huge palatial residence. The report states that when a group of cartel members traveled to Riyadh to meet Nayif, “they were picked up in a Rolls Royce automobile belonging to Nayif, and driven to the Riyadh Holiday Inn hotel. The next day they were met by Nayif and his brother [believed to be named Saul [sic] [His twin brother is Prince Saud. Nayif's older brother, Prince Nawaf, is married to King Abdullah's daughter].)… The second day they all traveled to the desert in terrain vehicles [hummers]. During this desert trip they discussed narcotics trafficking. UN [The DEA informant] and Nayif agreed to conduct the 2,000 kilogram cocaine shipment, which would be delivered to Caracas, VZ, by UN’s people, where Nayif would facilitate the cocaine’s transport to Paris, France. Nayif explained he would utilize his 727 jet airliner, under Diplomatic cover, to transport the cocaine. The Boeing 727 was operated by Skyways International,a Saudi-owned airline with past connections to the mysterious James Bath, George W. Bush's Texas Air National Guard friend and later Arbusto and Harken Energy investment pass-through between the Saudis and Bush. These investors included Salem Bin Laden, Osama Bin Laden's late older brother who was killed in a 1988 plane crash in Texas. Bath was the registered agent for Salem Bin Laden.

Nayif told "UN" that he could transport up to 20,000 kilograms of cocaine in his jet airliner, and propositioned "UN" “to conduct 10-20,000 kilogram shipments in the future.” "UN" wondered why Nayif, supposedly a devout Muslim, would be involved with drugs. Nayif’s response in light of what is now known about Saudi funding of terrorism, is worth a close perusal. During the Riyadh meeting, Nayif responded to "UN’s" question by stating that “he is a strict advocate of the Muslim Corran [sic].” "UN" stated, “Nayif does not drink, smoke, or violate any of the Corran’s [sic] teachings. "UN" asked Nayif why he [Nayif] wanted to sell cocaine and Nayif stated that the world is already doomed and that he has been authorized by God to sell drugs. Nayif stated that "UN" would later learn of Nayif’s true intentions for trafficking narcotics although Nayif would not comment further.” The Saudi prince’s drug smuggling operation was smashed by the DEA and French police in October 1999.[1]

On May 16, 1999, Prince Nayif's Skyways Boeing 727 touched down at LeBourget Airport outside of Paris ( this is the same airport that received the Bin Laden family flight from the United States following the 911 attacks). Also on board the plane were a number of Saudi princes and princesses. Two tons of cocaine, smuggled on to the aircraft in Caracas, were transported as one large diplomatic pouch by two waiting Saudi vans. The cocaine was transported to Noissy-le-Sec, a Paris suburb. A French-US law enforcement case against Nayif and his entourage, complete with evidence and confidential informants soon collapsed.

Wayne Madsen Report.com has come into possession of a "Confidential Diplomatic" cable from the French embassy in Saudi Arabia to Paris warning that Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef had warned that if France pursued the case against the Saudi prince, a lucrative $7 billion radar defense contract, Project SBGDP (Garde Frontiere), with the French firm Thales would be canceled. The embassy cable sought pressure against the French Interior Ministry to drop its investigation of Nayif. The cable also indicated that Saudi Interior Minister Nayef's irritation at the French investigation was shared by his brothers Abdullah (then-Crown Prince) and Sultan (Defense Minister) as well as the Governor of Riyadh Province Prince Salman. Saudi informers have revealed that Al Qaeda members routinely traveled through Riyadh on their way to Pakistan and then to Taliban Afghanistan. These insiders report that Salman's office arranged for cash payments, hotels, and air fares for the Al Qaeda members.

The French cable also states that the Saudis reiterated that it was merciless to drug traffickers for which Saudi youth were often the victims. The Saudis also told the French that unlike Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon, Saudi Arabia was not a base for drug trafficking. The reaction by the Saudi government's key principals to the French drug investigation indicates they had something to hide. Perhaps similar to the Bush family, they had an off-the-books operation to generate hundreds of millions of dollars for their Wahhabi compatriots in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The French cable draws attention to intelligence rumors that the cocaine transported by Nayif from Venezuela originated in Colombia -- the same country where George H. W. Bush and his Iran-contra co-conspirators arranged for cocaine-for-cash-for-weapons transfers involving Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega as a middleman. CIA sources have recently reported that lead hijacker Mohammed Atta was known to U.S., British, and Saudi intelligence as a heroin courier from Mujaheddin-controlled Afghanistan as early as 1991. Atta was also identified as a cocaine user. Hence, what the French and U.S. law enforcement investigators discovered in 1999 may have been a major financial source for Al Qaeda's terrorist attacks. Recent revelations that a Top Secret U.S. Special Operations Command/Defense Intelligence Agency unit code named Able Danger was shadowing Al Qaeda operatives in 1999, the same year that Nayif and his courier activities were discovered, indicates high level collusion inside the United States Defense and Justice Departments with elements that did not want to embarrass the Saudis. As with the DEA investigation of Nayif, Able Danger was shut down on orders by Pentagon lawyers.

It is quite possible that the massive amounts of Able Danger data reported to have been destroyed on the Atta team may have included gigabytes of financial data on Prince Nayif's drug money laundering activities. Wayne Madsen Report.com has obtained a European intelligence agency flow chart titled "Operation Palme," illustrating the connections of Nayif's brother Nawwaf's financial operations to a myriad of other entities, a large number of them based in Geneva, a city where Wayne Madsen Report.com has previously reported the presence of a number of Bush-connected entities tied to the 911 attacks, including a money transfer to at least one of the hijackers.

According to the Operation Palme chart, Nawwaf bin Fawwaz al-Shaalan is Vice President of Kanz Bank located at 65 rue du Rhone in Geneva. This bank is linked to Bammer Financial Trade Organization at 7 rue Versonnex in Geneva, Virgin Corporation LLC in Vessy (Geneva Canton), Maison Virgin Corporation also in Vessy, Degroof Luxembourg SA of Genf, Geneva Canton, and Capital Trust SA, 640 Avenida Diagonal, Barcelona, Spain.

The most interesting document passed to Wayne Madsen Report is a business card that shows a clear link between Skyways International, the firm tied to the Bush family and the Saudis, and the National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia. The business card for a flight engineer named Keith Monroe indicates that Skyways International is a subsidiary of the National Commercial Bank.

In 1992, according to The Houston Chronicle, George W. Bush's friend James Bath was investigated by the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN) and the FBI. Investigators suspected Saudi investors who worked with Bath of illegally trying to influence U.S. policy during the Reagan and Bush I administrations. Bath invested Saudi money in Arbusto '70 Ltd., Arbusto '80 Ltd., and Bush Exploration Co. (which later morphed into Harken Energy Corp., which included George W. Bush as its director). After Desert Storm, Harken was granted lucrative off-shore drilling rights by Bahrain, a Desert Storm coalition partner. One of the other shareholders of Harken, along with Bush, was Saudi businessman Abdullah Taha Bakhsh. According to the Chronicle, Bath, who was a sole agent of Salem Bin Laden, was also the sole director of Skyway Aircraft Leasing Corp., one of the affiliates of Skyways International. Bath established four corporate entities with the name "Skyway" and the firm that incorporated the corporate contrivances in the Cayman Islands for Bath was the same one that established a Cayman-based money laundering front company for Oliver North in the Iran-contra scandal. In 1977, Bath bought Houston Gulf Airport on behalf of Salem Bin Laden. Skyway Aircraft Leasing Corporation was, according to the Chronicle, owned by Khalid Bin Mahfouz, a major shareholder in the defunct Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), a major money laundering activity for George H. W. Bush's Iran-contra caper. Bin Mahfouz was also the owner of the National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia.

There has never been any explanation by the Saudis of what Prince Nayif’s ultimate intentions were and what he was planning to do with the cash from the illegal cocaine shipments. In light of the funding for 911 and other terrorist incidents, the DEA report on Operation Millenium takes on greater significance. Did Saudi drug smuggling proceeds help pay for the 911 attack? Why was this possible connection overlooked by the 911 Commission? What did the Able Danger team stumble across while Nayif was smuggling drugs? Was Atta a part of this Saudi drug network? If so, why was Atta, a drug courier, permitted to enter the United States on numerous occasions?

It would appear that the Saudis, in connection with people closely associated with George W. Bush (perhaps including Bush himself as well as his father), have been giving a "wink and a nod" to illicit airline smuggling businesses involving drugs and money laundering for a number of years. There are American citizens currently sitting in prisons under mandatory harsh drug-related sentences for doing much less than what the Bush crime family, their Saudi partners, and their network of drug mules and couriers (including Mohammed Atta and Saudi Prince Nayif) have been getting away with for decades. The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) statutes cry out for an accounting by these individuals before a court of law.

[1] Drug Enforcement Administration, Memorandum, Declassification of Secret DEA 6 for Paris Country Office, June 26, 2000.

 

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