Post by ferryfast admin on Feb 16, 2006 22:09:35 GMT -5
US lawmakers urge review of Dubai Ports deal
Thu Feb 16, 2006 4:42 PM ET
By Caroline Drees, Security Correspondent
www.reuters.com/
WASHINGTON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. government should urgently review the security implications of a $6.8 billion deal granting a Dubai-based company management over key ports including New York, U.S. lawmakers said on Thursday, citing terrorism concerns.
Analysts and port sources doubted the takeover of British company P&O <PO.L> by Dubai Ports World would have any impact on security. They cited multiple layers of screening and protection involved in global shipping, particularly among such major operators.
P&O shareholders voted on Monday in favor of the multibillion-dollar bid, giving the United Arab Emirates-backed firm control over the management of P&O's global operations, including in the major U.S. ports of New York and New Jersey, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Miami.
The deal makes Dubai Ports World the world's third largest ports group.
"Outsourcing the operations of our largest ports to a country with a dubious record on terrorism is a homeland security and commerce accident waiting to happen," said Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat.
Treasury spokeswoman Brookly McLaughlin said the 12-agency Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States, chaired by Treasury Secretary John Snow, had reviewed the transaction and did not object.
Snow is a former chairman of freight rail company CSX Corp. <CSX.N>, which sold its global port assets to Dubai Ports World for $1.15 billion in 2004 -- the year after Snow had left the company for the Bush administration.
Stewart Baker, assistant secretary of policy at the Department of Homeland Security, said Dubai Ports World had a solid security record.
"We could not find anything concrete that led us to believe that the transaction ought to be stopped for national security reasons," Baker told Reuters.
LAWMAKERS WORRIED
A number of Republican and Democratic members of Congress urged the government to review the deal more carefully and scrutinize all security issues before Dubai Ports assumes management of U.S. ports.
The lawmakers voiced concern that the UAE served as a conduit for parts used for nuclear proliferation and that the local banking system had been abused by terrorist financiers.
U.S. officials have said money for the Sept. 11 attacks was wired through the United Arab Emirates' banking system. Two of the Sept. 11 hijackers were UAE citizens.
"Six of our largest commercial ports are being handed over to a country that is seeking to be Iran's free-trade partner and has been linked to the funding and planning of 9/11," said Rep. Mark Foley, a Florida Republican.
Foley and Schumer were among seven lawmakers who wrote to Snow expressing concern that the Bush administration was not giving the case appropriate attention and urging him to make the Committee on Foreign Investments undertake a full 45-day investigation.
"Our ports are our most vulnerable targets for terrorist attack," the letter said.
Homeland Security's Baker said that while these issues could not be ignored, "there's no country that hasn't had terrorists or other problems inside its borders and it would be very difficult to operate economically in this world if you said we're not going to do business with people who come from countries that have had transshipment or other issues."
A number of port analysts and port authority officials shrugged off the lawmakers' concerns.
"This does appear to be a very paranoid and knee-jerk reaction and lacks any real understanding of how ports operate on the ground," said Neil Davidson a ports analyst with Drewry Shipping Consultants in London.
"These are businessmen. They're not here to insert terrorists into the country. They're about making a profit on their investment," said Brooks Royster, executive director of the Port of Baltimore. "I don't have a concern in that regard."
U.S. seaports handle 2 billion tons of freight each year but only about 5 percent of containers entering the United States are examined on arrival. (additional reporting by Stefano Ambrogi in London and John Crawley in Washington)
Thu Feb 16, 2006 4:42 PM ET
By Caroline Drees, Security Correspondent
www.reuters.com/
WASHINGTON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. government should urgently review the security implications of a $6.8 billion deal granting a Dubai-based company management over key ports including New York, U.S. lawmakers said on Thursday, citing terrorism concerns.
Analysts and port sources doubted the takeover of British company P&O <PO.L> by Dubai Ports World would have any impact on security. They cited multiple layers of screening and protection involved in global shipping, particularly among such major operators.
P&O shareholders voted on Monday in favor of the multibillion-dollar bid, giving the United Arab Emirates-backed firm control over the management of P&O's global operations, including in the major U.S. ports of New York and New Jersey, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Miami.
The deal makes Dubai Ports World the world's third largest ports group.
"Outsourcing the operations of our largest ports to a country with a dubious record on terrorism is a homeland security and commerce accident waiting to happen," said Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat.
Treasury spokeswoman Brookly McLaughlin said the 12-agency Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States, chaired by Treasury Secretary John Snow, had reviewed the transaction and did not object.
Snow is a former chairman of freight rail company CSX Corp. <CSX.N>, which sold its global port assets to Dubai Ports World for $1.15 billion in 2004 -- the year after Snow had left the company for the Bush administration.
Stewart Baker, assistant secretary of policy at the Department of Homeland Security, said Dubai Ports World had a solid security record.
"We could not find anything concrete that led us to believe that the transaction ought to be stopped for national security reasons," Baker told Reuters.
LAWMAKERS WORRIED
A number of Republican and Democratic members of Congress urged the government to review the deal more carefully and scrutinize all security issues before Dubai Ports assumes management of U.S. ports.
The lawmakers voiced concern that the UAE served as a conduit for parts used for nuclear proliferation and that the local banking system had been abused by terrorist financiers.
U.S. officials have said money for the Sept. 11 attacks was wired through the United Arab Emirates' banking system. Two of the Sept. 11 hijackers were UAE citizens.
"Six of our largest commercial ports are being handed over to a country that is seeking to be Iran's free-trade partner and has been linked to the funding and planning of 9/11," said Rep. Mark Foley, a Florida Republican.
Foley and Schumer were among seven lawmakers who wrote to Snow expressing concern that the Bush administration was not giving the case appropriate attention and urging him to make the Committee on Foreign Investments undertake a full 45-day investigation.
"Our ports are our most vulnerable targets for terrorist attack," the letter said.
Homeland Security's Baker said that while these issues could not be ignored, "there's no country that hasn't had terrorists or other problems inside its borders and it would be very difficult to operate economically in this world if you said we're not going to do business with people who come from countries that have had transshipment or other issues."
A number of port analysts and port authority officials shrugged off the lawmakers' concerns.
"This does appear to be a very paranoid and knee-jerk reaction and lacks any real understanding of how ports operate on the ground," said Neil Davidson a ports analyst with Drewry Shipping Consultants in London.
"These are businessmen. They're not here to insert terrorists into the country. They're about making a profit on their investment," said Brooks Royster, executive director of the Port of Baltimore. "I don't have a concern in that regard."
U.S. seaports handle 2 billion tons of freight each year but only about 5 percent of containers entering the United States are examined on arrival. (additional reporting by Stefano Ambrogi in London and John Crawley in Washington)