SURPRISE APPOINTMENTS AT JEDDAH CHAMBER OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L JEDDAH 000453 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP, EEB/ESC, DRL, NEA/PPD E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/23/2019 TAGS: ECON ETRD KWMN PGOV SA SOCI SUBJECT: SURPRISE APPOINTMENTS AT JEDDAH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE END SUSPENSE OVER HOTLY-CONTESTED ELECTION REF: A. JEDDAH 391 ¶B. JEDDAH 381 ¶C. JEDDAH 297 Classified By: Consul General Martin R. Quinn for reasons 1.4 (b) and ( d) ¶1. (C) Summary. Almost a month after the hotly-contested election for 12 of the 18 seats on the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) board of directors (ref A), Minister of Commerce and Industry, Abdullah Zainal Alireza, appointed four men and two women (including Mohammed Bin Laden and women's rights activist Fatin Bundagji) to the remaining six seats. None of the appointees were contestants in the election. Alireza's long-awaited announcement followed his unsuccessful lobbying for the power to appoint half the board members of Saudi chambers of commerce and select the board chairman. End summary. ¶2. (C) On November 18 Al-Madinah newspaper reported that Abdullah Zainal Alireza, Minister of Commerce and Industry, had appointed Saleh Abdullah Kamel (major businessman/land developer and President of the Islamic Chamber),Majed Al-Qasbi (former Secretary General of the JCCI and head of the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Humanitarian City), construction magnate Mohammed Bin Laden, Mousa Al-Omran (Savola Group Board member),Mrs. Aisha Natto (successful businesswoman and social activist),and Fatin Bundagji (founder of the JCCI's women's empowerment center and unsuccessful candidate for the Jeddah City Council in 2005). Bundagji's husband, Hassan Omar Attar, a member of a Jeddah merchant family reputed to be close to the Al Saud and with major interests in shipping, travel and Rolex watches, is the Honorary Consul of Canada; Attar said his wife was pleasantly surprised by her appointment which came to her by SMS early in the morning, confirmed around 11 a.m. by delivery of a formal letter from the Ministry. ¶3. (C) Alireza's choices also surprised members of the Jeddah business community who expected the unsuccessful candidates with the next highest numbers of votes to be appointed. The night before the announcement, for example, at a dinner party hosted by outgoing JCCI board member Neshwa Taher and attended by JCCI board members, guests congratulated Taher on her likely appointment to the board, since she barely missed re-election. (Note: Early newspaper accounts reported that she had won, as did a friend working at the polls. Her husband attributes the reversal to "election rigging.") ¶4. (C) Local media predict Saleh Kamel, billionaire founder of Dallah Albaraka Group, and developer of Durat Al Arous seaside resort community of Jeddah, to be voted chairman as a sign of respect when the board meets to elect its leaders. Kamel, age 68, is reported to be seriously ill at a hospital in Germany, and not expected to recover full capacity. Earlier in the fall he had requested a visa appointment at ConGen Jeddah to go to the U.S. for medical treatment, but was so ill he needed to fly immediately to Germany for treatment. Members of the business community suggest Alireza's appointment of Kamel -- who would be unable to challenge Alireza -- to the JCCI board is a cynical attempt to weaken the organization. Outgoing board member Sami Bahrawi -- who lost re-election by just two votes -- agreed that Alireza did not like opposition from the JCCI, and stated flatly that the JCCI exists to represent the private sector, not to operate as an arm of the government. ¶5. (C) Comment: The selection of two female activists and 42-year-old Mohammed Bin Laden (youngest son of Saudi Bin Ladin Group founder the late Mohammed Awaf Bin Ladin and half-brother of Osama Bin Laden),who anonymously financed the globally-publicized "Rahma" (Mercy) advertising campaign against Saudi mistreatment of migrant workers, suggests Alireza -- a former JCCI chairman -- is not necessarily opposed to the progressive initiatives of the JCCI, which has led the Kingdom in supporting women's economic rights. At the same time, Alireza's push to name half the board members and the chairmen of the chambers of commerce suggests he wants to eliminate opposition to his ministry's policies. End comment. QUINN