JEDDAH, 24 January Yasin Al-Qadi, the Saudi businessman whose assets were frozen on Tuesday by the Albanian authorities, said no arrest warrant had been issued against him and described the decision to freeze his money as politically motivated. He vowed to fight a legal battle until the freeze is lifted, saying the Albanians were pressured by the Americans to take their action.
Al-Qadi told Arab News that he was surprised at the way the local papers handled the news, quoting verbatim the Albanian media. The news first circulated in the Albanian news agency, which erroneously reported that a warrant was issued for Al-Qadi’s arrest. He said the news about the warrant were totally baseless, although he was not surprised at the row over the freeze.
"There was no arrest warrant and the decision to freeze the assets was politically motivated. It is not backed by any legal evidence and runs contrary to international law. How can a government put its hand on the assets owned by a group of investors when only acting on the basis of unsubstantiated charges against one of those investors?" he asked.
Officials at the Albanian General Prosecutor’s Office said millions of dollars in Al-Qadi’s accounts in 13 Albanian banks were frozen as part of the investigation. Al-Qadi headed the Saudi-based Muwafaq Foundation, which American investigators allege is linked to Al-Qaeda organization, a charge denied by Al-Qadi lawyers.
Al-Qadi said he has instructed his lawyers to initiate legal action against the decision and is now awaiting official clarifications from Albanian authorities as to what happened and on what basis such an action was taken.
More than 25 Saudi businessmen and firms have invested in a twin tower project, costing less than $4 million, in the center of Tirana. Several Albanian companies hold the rest of the shares.
Al-Qadi is a partner in the construction company set up by a group of Saudi, Arab and Albanian businessmen to build various projects in the Central European country. The
The company, capitalized at $20 million, is 28 percent Saudi-owned and was set up following a business forum organized in Tirana by the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank to encourage Muslim businessmen to help in the development of the former communist state.
The bank held similar forums in several ex-Soviet republics of Central Asia which have a large Muslim population.
"The company and the projects it is undertaking helped employ hundreds of Albanian nationals. From the beginning, the Albanian authorities welcomed our investments, with encouragement coming from the president, senior government officials and the local chambers. Our company is the only one of its kind with investments in the country. Such action would reflect negatively on future Saudi investments in Albania," said Al-Qadi.
