RIYADH, 22 July 2003 — The deputy president of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry told Arab News yesterday that members of the chamber asked US officials to request they refrain from hasty inclusion of Saudi businessmen in a list of those associated with funding terrorist activities.
In a telephone interview with Arab News, Ghassan Al-Suleiman said the chamber, like many other Saudi institutions and government bodies, was concerned about the names of Saudi businessmen on the US list of those accused of financing or donating funds for terrorist acts.
The Saudi side brought up the point in a wide-ranging discussion with visiting US treasury officials, he said.
He said that though Saudis in general understood the measures the US took to defend its national security after Sept. 11, they felt that as Saudi Arabia had sided with the US in its war on terror they would like to see a thorough investigation before the US included Saudi businessmen on the list.
The US government’s haste to add Saudi businessmen to its security list was based on mere suspicion and could damage the business community in Saudi Arabia, he said.
Al-Suleiman said that currently there were only two Saudi businessmen on the US list: Yaseen Al-Qadi and Wael Al-Jelaidan. Saudi businessman Al-Qadi started judicial procedures in the United States, before the British Supreme Court and before the European Court of Justice to remove his name from the list and has won his case in the European Court, Arab News has learned.
