Saudi Prince threatened to aid terrorists against the UK

This is absolutely shocking, if true, and I'm floored as to why it hasn't received more widespread coverage:

Saudi Arabia's rulers threatened to make it easier for terrorists to attack London unless corruption investigations into their arms deals were halted, according to court documents revealed yesterday.

Previously secret files describe how investigators were told they faced "another 7/7" and the loss of "British lives on British streets" if they pressed on with their inquiries and the Saudis carried out their threat to cut off intelligence.

Prince Bandar, the head of the Saudi national security council, and son of the crown prince, was alleged in court to be the man behind the threats to hold back information about suicide bombers and terrorists. He faces accusations that he himself took more than £1bn in secret payments from the arms company BAE.

He was accused in yesterday's high court hearings of flying to London in December 2006 and uttering threats which made the prime minister, Tony Blair, force an end to the Serious Fraud Office investigation into bribery allegations involving Bandar and his family.

The threats halted the fraud inquiry, but triggered an international outcry, with allegations that Britain had broken international anti-bribery treaties.

"BAE" is BAE Systems, a British defence and aerospace company.

More info on this obstruction of justice:

The SFO is investigating allegations that Britain's biggest arms company, then known as British Aerospace (BAe), made corrupt payments in the £43bn Al Yamamah sales. The NAO report was suppressed because the MoD feared it would anger the Saudis. Requests for publication have been denied
...
The Guardian has obtained documents on similar Saudi deals signed in the 1970s which disclose covert commissions of almost £100m paid by BAe's precursor, the British Aircraft Corporation, with government collusion.

The Al Yamamah deals were administered on a similar government-to-government basis, with the MoD paid about £45m a year by the Saudis to organise the sales, and certify to the Saudi authorities that the bills were legitimate.

The MoD said last night: "The report remains sensitive. Disclosure would harm both international relations and the UK's commercial interests."

The "Al Yamamah sales" refer to a huge contract to upgrade Saudi Arabia's air defense systems.

Keeping your country safe is important, but giving in to such blackmail doesn't help you in the long run. If you compromise once, you will do it again, and it only strengthens your opponents.

This case is also under scrutiny in the United States, and the US has not given in to these threats (yet). Due to a related lawsuit, a federal Judge has temporarily blocked Prince Bandar from removing real-estate proceeds outside the United States. The reason is because they believe that proceeds from the illegal bribes at BAE were used to make extensive real-estate purchases in the US. The small Michigan city of Harper Woods (pop 14,200) has filed a class-action lawsuit over the issue.

Only in the US. They have some nerve suing a Saudi Prince who could by their entire town several times over! I wish them the best of luck.




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