From right-wing source, New York Post, but interesting article in Sunday business section, 6/13:
IN BAD COMPANY
By JENNIFER GOULD KEIL
June 13, 2004 -- Dozens of U.S. firms continue to do business with the Saudi Binladen Group despite American companies' passionate vows to cut all ties with the group, or at least re-examine them, in the wake of 9/11.
And some of that U.S. money could be making its way into the hands of al Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden, foreign affairs experts say.
Today, the Saudi Binladen Group, owned by terrorist mastermind Osama's 54 siblings, has quietly changed its name — at least when dealing with one U.S. company — perhaps to fly under the radar of U.S. public opinion.
General Electric Co. said it works with the bin Laden family through Beemco Enterprises — an insulation and pipes subsidiary based in Oman....
(Firms mentioned in the article as doing business with the Binladen Group include The Fremont Group, a San Francisco-based private equity firm founded by Bechtel, Citigroup Private Banking, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Halliburton and the Carlyle Group.
About the Carlyle Group, the article states: "After 9/11, the Carlyle Group, which includes President Bush's dad and ex-members of his cabinet, said it cut ties with the bin Ladens. Now, that transparency has vanished like Osama himself. 'We've reverted back to our normal stance of not discussing our investors,' Chris Ullman, a spokesman, said." Note -- According to a Google search, GHW Bush resigned from Carlyle in the fall of 2003.
The article states: "After 9/11, the FBI swore it would investigate U.S. banks and investment firms that did business with the Binladen Group to see if money that flowed through U.S. channels helped fund terrorism. But now the FBI won't comment on whether the investigations exist, let alone on their status." Some experts quoted believe that some members of the Bin Laden family could be in touch with Osama Bin Laden and sympathetic to his cause, and might even be channeling money to him.)
http://www.nypost.com/business/25492.htm
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