Re: DP World pulls out of US ports, rescuing Bush from firestorm

arsedeedee just wanted to "po lampa" of DP world.

boraha wrote:
Who do you think new buyer US entity will sell to after it dies down?. It is
unlikely they will do anything at all.

"ardeedee" <ardeedee1@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:44119605$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
How naive Americans are - DP World will sell the six US Ports to a US
entity
and when everything dies down they will buy out the entity.

"kilometric" <katami@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:durdac$2jh$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/060309/1/3z9jh.html

A Dubai government-owned company said it will sell its US port
operations
in
a move that spared President George W. Bush a showdown with Congress.

Dubai Ports World (DP World) made the announcement after leading
Republicans
told Bush that Congress would block the takeover.

"Because of the strong relations between the United Arab Emirates and
the
United States and to preserve that relationship, DP World has decided to
transfer fully the US operations of P and O Ports North America to a
United
States entity," said a company statement read by Republican Senator John
Warner.

"This decision is based on an understanding that DP World will have time
to
effect the transfer in an orderly fashion and that DP World will not
suffer
economic loss," the statement said.

The company said it was looking forward to working with the US Treasury
"to
implement that decision."

The White House signaled relief at the move.

Asked if the sale announced by DP World would end the rift with the
Republican-controlled Congress, White House spokesman Scott McClellan
said:
"I think so."

The divestment "provides a way forward and allows us to continue working
on
other important priorities," he said.

McClellan said the White House had nothing to do with the sale. "This
was
their decision," he said.

Details of the transfer were not immediately disclosed.

Warner read the company statement as the Senate began debating
legislation
on blocking the deal, which would have given DP World operational
control
of
ports in Baltimore, New York, Miami, New Jersey, New Orleans and
Philadelphia.

DP World said that the UAE prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
al-Maktoum, had advised the company that the assets disposal was "the
appropriate course to take" in the interest of the UAE and the US.

The company previously had agreed to a new 45-day review of the deal by
US
authorities.

The announcement was made as DP World earlier said it had completed the
6.9
billion dollar takeover of British firm Peninsular and Oriental Steam
Navigation Company (P and O).

Before the statement was issued it became clear the Senate would back
fierce
and widespread Republican and Democratic opposition to the deal, over
security concerns.

The White House had threatened to veto any legislation that stopped the
deal. But the administration's hand was forced after the House of
Representatives Appropriations Committee voted 62-2 Wednesday to prevent
DP
World from acquiring control of the port operations.

Commentators warned the affair risked hurting US businesses overseas,
especially in the Middle East.

Speaking on the CNBC network, Hussein Ibish of the Foundation for
Arab-American Leadership said the UAE government and DP World had been
forced to submit to "demagogues and populists".

"We do have a concern about the potential for retaliation in the trade
space," Bruce Josten, the US Chamber of Commerce's executive vice
president
for government affairs, told AFP.

Stressing that 30 percent of the US economy is driven by international
trade, he said: "The concern from where I sit is glaringly obvious: the
US
on a worldwide basis has the most to lose.

"Retaliation precipitated by Congress will not only harm US employers
but
employees as well. If we start losing markets, you're going to see
shuttering of plants. People are going to lose their jobs."

Boeing Co. is one of the US companies with most to lose should
governments
in the Middle East react adversely to the DP World imbroglio.

In November, the aviation giant won a mammoth order worth nearly 10
billion
dollars from the UAE's flagship airline Emirates for 42 777 long-haul
aircraft.

Last year US companies exported goods worth 8.5 billion dollars to the
UAE,
making the small country of 2.5 million people a bigger export market
for
the United States than India or Spain.

But Representative Peter King, one of the Republican lawmakers who went
to
see Bush on Thursday, rejected the concerns.

King highlighted the UAE's previous recognition of the Taliban
government
in
Afghanistan and insisted there was a difference between allowing a
British
company and a UAE company to control US ports.

"We have to deal with different countries based on different
perspectives,"
he said.

US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales defended the administration's
stance,
calling the United Arab Emirates a "terrific ally" that had provided the
US
military access to its airfields and ports.

He cited the case of Richard Reid, a British national convicted of
trying
to
bomb a US airline with explosives hidden in his shoes. "That doesn't
mean
that we're not going to do business with British companies," Gonzales
said
in an interview on CNN.

In Wednesday's House committee vote, Republicans voted en masse to
oppose
the deal, citing national security concerns over an Arab company
controlling
key US facilities.

With midterm congressional elections looming in November, many
Republicans
fear they are losing their advantage over opposition Democrats on the
issue
of national security.

The company's announcement nevertheless failed to satisfy Democrats, who
said security at US ports remained in jeopardy.

Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, a prominent deal critic, said despite
the
"scent of victory," the Dubai company's move would have to be closely
examined.

"The devil is in the details," he said.

In a related development Time magazine said on its website another
Dubai-owned company has since January provided services in 12 US ports
and
to the US Navy.

The British company Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) was sold in January
to
a "Dubai government investment vehicle for 285 million dollars," Time
said.
ISS has more than 200 offices around the world, including more than a
dozen
US port cities including Houston, Miami and New Orleans, where it
engages
in
"arranging pilots, tugs, linesmen and stevedores, among other things,"
said
the magazine.

The US Navy in June of last year signed a 50 million dollar contract
making
ISS its "Husbanding Agent for vessels in most Southwest Asia ports,
including those in the Middle East," said Time quoting from an
unclassified
Navy logistics manual.

As husbanding agent, ISS is responsible for arranging everything from
fuel
to spare parts to fresh vegetables for vessels at ports of call.

"More critically," said Time.com, "they often provide security, like
erecting concrete barriers and what the military calls force
protection."
The company also knows ships' schedules weeks in advance.

An ISS spokesman contacted by Time refused to comment on the report, but
a
statement issued by the company said ISS had undergone rigorous external
security checks and has comprehensive internal policies on security,
adding
that all port staff are fully vetted and undergo a background check.

The Washington Post said Friday the ISS was purchased by a Dubai company
whose executive, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, also heads DP World





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