Anwar Ibrahim's friends: Connections to the case of British mercenary Simon Mann?

by Ganesh Sahathevan
I have previously written about the links between terrorist or jihadist organisations and friends and associates of Anwar Ibrahim who have put their names to an open letter protesting the most recent charges of sodomy against him (See http://www.terrorfinance.org/the_terror_finance_blog/2008/07/anwar-ibrahim-a.html).

One of the petitioners who has put his name to that letter is Prof. Dr. H.R.H. Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal; Chairman of the Board of the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, Jordan( see http://www.islamicamagazine.com/general/Open-Letter-Concerning-Anwar-Ibrahim.html).

His wife Princess Ghida Talal, a former press secretary to the late King Hussein of Jordan, has been recently reported to be interested in the case of British mercenary Simon Mann, who has been sentenced to 34 years in prison by a court in Equatorial Guinea for leading an attempted coup against the government of Teodoro Obiang Nguemo (see http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23989897-2703,00.html).

Princess Ghida’s interest in the case is reported to be as follows:
For the past few weeks, three wealthy Lebanese women, with their driver and bodyguard, have been in residence. Journalists covering the Mann trial last week believed they were on business.
But the Guardian can reveal that one of the women was Princess Ghida Talal, a former press secretary to the late King Hussein of Jordan. She is married to Prince Talal bin Muhammad, a national security adviser to Hussein and now a special adviser to King Abdullah.
The 44-year-old is a well-known figure on the international charity social scene. But she was in Malabo because her brother, Mohamed Salaam, 40, was a defendant in Mann's trial.
The other two women were his other sister, Dalia, and his mother, Rajaa.
Sources close to the family say the princess has been allowed personally to plead for clemency with the president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, through the offices of the King of Morocco, who provides Obiang with his special bodyguard.
Ghida and Mohamed's father, Hany, is a friend and business partner of Ely Calil, alleged to be the main backer of the coup. He has denied the allegation.
Both men have had controversial dealings in the African oil business, and both had a commercial interest in tapping into the new wealth of Equatorial Guinea when oil was discovered in the late 90s.
They are equally well-connected. While Calil hobnobs with Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Archer, Hany gives money to Georgetown University and presents to President Carter.
Last year, (Mohamed) took an 18% stake in the new National Bank through a Philippine company.
He was made honorary consul to the Philippines and even won the approval of President Obiang, who gave him a lucrative contract to report on any subversive activities he came across. That was his downfall.
Mohamed admitted he had known Calil through his father since he was a boy.
Mann handed him a 10-page proposal for a fisheries protection project, which Mohammed took back to show the fisheries minister. But he didn't tell the president.
During the trial, Mohamed, who suffers from a bipolar disorder, claimed he had no idea that the project was, in fact, connected to the coup. Mann's advance party of mercenaries, led by the South African arms dealer Nick du Toit, had set up a fishing business in Malabo as a front activity.
It would appear that, when Mann was extradited to Malabo from Zimbabwe in February, he told the authorities about Mohamed's peripheral role. That led to Mohamed's arrest in March.
Mohamed's father, meanwhile, continues to do business from London, where he lives with diplomatic protection as the energy counsellor at the embassy of the west African state of Gabon.
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/08/equatorialguinea3)
The above report is of interest for the links it exposes between the various parties named. Also, there is again here evidence of an interest in the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country, from wealthy members of the Middle Eastern ruling elite. As reported:
Last year, (Mohamed) took an 18% stake in the new National Bank through a Philippine company.
He was made honorary consul to the Philippines and even won the approval of President Obiang…….

Coming back to HRH Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal, it is interesting to note that a man with all of the above in his background is also national security advisor, and leader of the group of 138 Muslim leaders seeking peaceful, inter-faith dialogue with
the Vatican:

Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal, the president of the Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought in Jordan, has indicated that he would like to meet with Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) early in the new year. The Jordanian prince has been the most prominent figure associated the "Common Word" initiative, in which 138 Islamic leaders signed a public statement, issued in October, calling for broader dialogue between Christians and Muslims. More recently the Common Word participants joined in a Christmas greeting to the world's Christians, renewing their call for dialogue and cooperation.
(http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=55626)

Comments

[Erik]

Hi Ganesh,
Very interesting articles about Anwar. The things is that I fail to see the connection between people who sign an open petition and Anwars involvement with terrorists or terrorist financing. If I use the same reasoning you use, the pope is involved in terrorist financing because Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal would like to meet him! No doubt there's a lot of interconnection and fraternization between prominent political figures, especially if they share a religion but your headings are highly suggestive and lack substance. Could you expand with real facts instead of hear-say and innuendo? I read this blog for professional purposes and like my information supported by facts.

[Factchecker Jordan]

In fact there is some mistake here. Prince Ghazi is not Princess Ghida's husband; nor has he ever been National Security Advisor. That is his brother, Prince Talal, which you got right later on in the blog. Prince Ghazi is a former Cultural Secretary and a professor in Islamic philiosophy, has a Phd from Cambridge in England, and a BA from Princeton in Comparative lit. The two brothers are quite different in character and career. Anwar Ibrahim does not know Prince Ghazi's brother let alone the latter's brother-in-law, let alone the brother-in-law's accused co-consparator Simon Mann. THE PROPOSED LINK IS VERY TENUOUS. Everyone is 6 degrees of sepreartion from someone. 5 degrees is quite distant!