Author: Nicholas Rufford
Publication: The Times of India
Date: June 12, 2003
Yousef Jameel, whose family firm
bought the British business Hartwell in 1990, is named in papers claiming
more than $1 trillion damages from defendants accused of helping to fund
Osama Bin Laden and his Al-Qaida network.
Lawyers acting for the families
say Jameel was one of the rich Saudi individuals and businesses, targeted
by fund-raisers acting for Muslim causes, including rebel fanatics, called
'The Golden Chain" because their net worth totalled more than pounds 51
billion.
Money from Saudi Arabia is said
in court documents to have financed Al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan where
the hijackers trained. Jameel, whose family is one of the wealthiest in
Saudi Arabia, is among 225 defendants named in papers filed in a Washington
DC court.
Hartwell turns over more than pounds
600 million and employs 3,500 people in Britain. Its 48 outlets sell Audi,
Volkswagen, Jaguar and Ford cars. Its other interests include property,
financial services and computer software.
It was bought by the Saudi-based
Abdul Latif Jameel Group (ALJ).
The Jameel family first made its
money through a Toyota franchise in Saudi, along with oil, shipping and
real estate.
Jameel's lawyers argue that there
is no case to answer. They say he has severed links with Hartwell and never
supported or made donations, either directly or indirectly, to Bin Laden.
They add that he has not been contacted by the lawyers for the September
11 case or served with papers, although he knew that a Yousef Jameel was
cited as a defendant.
They also point out that other wealthy
Arab donors have been defrauded into giving money for humanitarian causes
which was used to fund Jihad fighters.
"Jameel recognises that because
of his standing and prominence as a businessman in Saudi Arabia and his
well known generosity it is understood, rightly or wrongly, that he is
(the person named in the writ)" Jameel's lawyers said.
ALJ made a substantial donation
for "the rescue and help" of Muslims in Kosovo. In 1999, ALJ gave the Saudi
Red Crescent about pounds 1.3 million. The Saudi Red Crescent, a charitable
organisation modelled on the Red Cross and based in Riyadh, is also named
as a defendant in the September 11 action. Jameel's lawyer said his client
was unaware of the donation.
Jameel was at the centre of a legal
row in 1988 when he was accused by Carole Bailey, his British former wife,
of kidnapping their daughter and holding her in Saudi Arabia. He had indicated
in court that he would not prevent the girl's return to Britain and had
persuaded the court to remove a pounds 1m bond that would have been forfeit.
It is understood that the row with Bailey has been resolved. After their
acrimonious divorce, Jameel, who is in his late fifties, married Linda
Richards, a former model with whom he has three daughters.
Jameel's name was added to the list
of defendants after the name "Yousef Jameel" was found on a computer disk
seized by Bosnian police during searches of the offices of a charity known
as the Benevolence International Foundation in Sarajevo in March last year.
