RE: Mr Alamoudi

Submitted by Yonathan Negash (United Kingdom), Sep 15, 2004 at 08:34

Dr Pipes,

Having read your article with regard to Mr Alamoudi, founder of American Muslim Council, I suspect he is the same person who is investing millions of dollars in Ethiopia from building luxurious five star hotel (Sheraton Addis) to buying several factories from the government during privatisation. Nobody heard of him during the old regime but after the Marxist goverment was ousted, he sprung out of nowhere claiming to be Ethiopian with buckets of money to spend! He made himself famous, initially by donating money to famous Ethiopian singers and involving himself with different sorts of philanthropic activities. The hotel he built, Sheraton Addis, is apparently the most luxurious one in Africa, and it is widely believed it has not made any profit since it opened five or six years ago. -- which doesn't come as a surprise since Ethiopia has very little tourism infrastructure and has more urgent issues to tackle at the present such as famine.

Are we witnessing an Islamist money laundering scheme?

Regards,

Yonathan

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