Billionaire Saudi Prince Al-Walid Bin Talal Bin Abdul Aziz, who has major investments in the United States, is seeking to contain the damage there to the kingdom's image following the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Financial Times reported Tuesday, October 2.
Interviewed in his Riyadh office, Prince Walid said the attacks had not affected his own investment relationship with US companies, but that things are no longer the same. "It hasn't affected me and I don't anticipate that it will in the future," he said. However, "business is not as usual ... the perception of Americans of Saudis can never be the same.
"Our job, as politicians and businessmen, is to minimize the effects by showing solidarity with the Western world, condemning terrorism and ... not letting security hinder our operations and movements."
The British newspaper noted that Saudis are now looked upon with suspicion in the United States and that some have been harassed. It said Saudis are likely to limit their travel, and that some investors may want to repatriate their funds.
But it quoted Prince Walid as saying his investment priorities would not change, and that he has been accumulating US stocks since September 11. He said the tragedy should serve as a wake-up call to Americans and Arabs, and that it must spur more cooperation.
Prince Walid said he is an "ally of the Americans, politically, economically, financially; all my investments are there, but I'm also pro-Arab and pro-Islam." The newspaper, citing analysts in Riyadh, said strong anti-American feelings in Saudi Arabia were primarily driven by US support for Israel. That, it said, has left some people "at best ambivalent about the attacks, if not satisfied."
Prince Walid commented: "America is seen as being anti-Islamic and anti-Arab; it's wrong because it's not true, but that is the perception. What took place is the crime of the millennium. "Still, we have to look at the causes and the perceptions that the US is the main backer of Israel."
Prince Walid, a nephew of King Fahd, has amassed a personal fortune of $20.3 billion and is ranked as the world's fifth wealthiest entrepreneur by the US magazine Forbes. He built his global financial empire by investing in major companies experiencing hard times. ― (AFP, London)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
