I didn’t agree £6.5m cut for Gaddafi jet broker, Saudi prince tells court

 
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Rupert Hartley / Rex Features (1244228b) Princess Amira of Saudi Arabia, Prince Charles and Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal Prince Charles reopens the Savoy Hotel, London, Britain - 02 Nov 2010
Paul Cheston1 July 2013
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The first Saudi royal to be cross-examined at the High Court today denied he reneged on a $10 million (£6.5 million) commission in a deal to sell a private plane to Colonel Gaddafi.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the world’s richest men and nephew of King Fahd, is being sued by aJordanian consultant in the $120 million deal.

Daad Sharab says the commission was agreed verbally over dinner with the prince’s personal representative at a restaurant near Oxford Street in August 2001 — and that the prince was so pleased with her efforts he even asked her to marry him.

But the prince, who owns the Savoy hotel and has major stakes in Citigroup and News International, said no binding agreement was ever made. He described himself as “not happy” with and “irritated” by her attitude and accused her of working more for the Libyan leader than for him.

The prince, estimated to be worth up to £19 billion, told the court he was a “businessman and international investor”. In the summer of 2001 he wanted to sell an Airbus A340 and Col Gaddafi was interested in buying.

Mrs Sharab was approached as broker because of her close ties with the Libyan authorities. She met Fouad Alaeddin at the Ayoush restaurant to discuss the deal.

She told the court that Mr Alaeddin was the prince’s personal representative but the prince today insisted he was only an accountant and had no authority to act on his behalf.

Mrs Sharab says she made a verbal agreement with Mr Alaeddin to receive anything she negotiated above $110 million for the plane. The final price was $120 million.

Giving evidence today, the prince said his relationship with Mrs Sharab deteriorated as the negotiations continued.

“I was gaining the impression that her true allegiances in connection with this transaction were increasingly to the Libyans rather than to me,” he said. “In a letter to me in April 2006 she stated that she had been ‘officially entrusted by the highest Libyan authorities’ to discuss the ongoing dispute with the Airbus with me. I found this a very surprising statement as she was supposed to be taking instructions from me and acting in my best interests.

“She was, in my eyes, becoming overwhelmingly concerned with her own position and relationship with the Libyans.

“I was irritated by her attitude and her apparent attempt to play both sides against each other.”

The prince accepted Mrs Sharab had played an important part in arranging meetings with Col Gaddafi but said her effectiveness became limited.

The case continues.

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