AMMAN: Sabih al-Masri, Jordan’s most influential businessman
and the chairman of its largest lender Arab Bank, was detained in Saudi
Arabia for questioning after a business trip to Riyadh, family sources
and friends said on Saturday.
Masri’s detention, which
follows the biggest purge of the Saudi kingdom’s affluent elite in its
modern history, has sent shockwaves through business circles in Jordan
and the Palestinian territories, where the billionaire has major
investments.
A Saudi citizen of Palestinian origin, Masri
was detained last Tuesday hours before he was planning to leave after
he chaired meetings of companies he owns, according to the sources.
He
is the founder of Saudi Astra Group, which has wide interests in
diversified industries ranging from agro-industry to telecommunications,
construction and mining across the region.
“Masri was
heading to the airport and they told him to stay where you are and they
picked him up,” said a source familiar with the matter who asked not to
be named.
He cancelled a dinner in Amman on Wednesday
that he had invited board members of Arab Bank and business associates
to attend on his return.
Masri could not be reached for comment. The Saudi authorities did not respond to requests for comment.
Confidants
said Masri had been warned not to travel to the Saudi capital after
mass arrests of Saudi royals, ministers and businessmen in early
November.
“He has been answering questions about his
business and partners,” said a source familiar with the matter who did
not elaborate nor confirm he was held.
Reasons for
Masri’s detention were not clear but political sources said the Saudis
might have used him to put pressure on Jordan’s King Abdullah not to
attend a Muslim summit last week to discuss US President Donald Trump’s
decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The
Jordanian monarch attended the Istanbul summit, however. He is a
custodian of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem and has been vocal in
criticising Trump over his decision on Jerusalem.
Saudi
Arabia, whose relations with the United States have warmed with Trump
taking a harder line against its arch-rival Iran than his predecessor,
appears to have taken a softer line on the decision on Jerusalem,
according to analysts. Riyadh sent a junior minister to the Istanbul
meeting.
Masri, who comes from a prominent merchant
family from Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, amassed a fortune
from partnering with influential Saudis in a major catering business to
supply troops during the US-led military operation to retake Kuwait from
Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War.
Reports of his detention
surfaced on Thursday in the local media in Jordan where Masri’s
multi-billion dollar investments in hotels and banking are a cornerstone
of the economy.
He was elected chairman of Arab Bank in
2012 after the resignation of Abdel Hamid Shoman whose family had
founded the bank in Jerusalem in 1930.
The bank, which
has earned a reputation of resilience in the face of political upheaval,
played a prominent role in supporting former Palestinian leader, the
late Yasser Arafat during past Middle East turmoil.
Arab
Bank, which operates in 30 countries and five continents, has an
extensive network in Palestinian territories where it is the largest
bank. It also owns 40 per cent of Saudi Arabia’s Arab National Bank ANB.
Masri
led consortium of Arab and Jordanian investors who bought a 20 per cent
stake in Arab Bank Group from Lebanon’s Hariri family business empire
for $1.12 billion last February.
He was also instrumental
in agreeing in 2015 to settle litigation brought by hundreds of
Americans who accused Arab Bank of providing financial services in the
West Bank that facilitated militant attacks in Israel.
