Re: The politics of Gum

See the following:

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blgum-arabic.htm
http://www.snopes.com/rumors/arabic.htm
http://www.nsda.org/About/news/2001%20Releases/gumarabic.html
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/08/25/ap/gum.arabic/

If you do a Google search for '"Osama bin laden" "gum arabic"', you will get
405 listings. These are just some of the first ones. Largely put down to urban
legend.

--
Bill Leigh
wrleigh@att.net
> Time to switch to casein bichromate printing.
> 
> Joe
> 
> >>> gws1@columbia.edu 11/07/03 11:23 AM >>>
> 
> I knew there might be a way to get politics legitimately on to the
> alt-photo list :*)
> 
> I heard an interview on the BBC this morning with an author who
> claimed that "Gum Arabic, Ltd." the largest exporter of gum in the
> world is in fact owned by Osama Bin Laden (I'm sorry I didn't have a
> pencil handy to write down her name).  The BBC interviewer sounded
> skeptical and referred to the authors claims as "alleged claims."  So
> I did a Google search and came up with this story from 1999.  It seems
> that things stand pretty much now where they did then - some claim Bin
> Laden has no stake in the company while others claim he owns it.  I'd
> be curious if any one on the list could add to the topic.  Thanks.
> 
> Best to all -greg schmitz
> 
> 
> 
> Gum Arabic Defenders Dispute Reports Of Terrorist Ties To Industry
> 
> By LAURENCE ARNOLD
> Associated Press Writer
> 
> WASHINGTON (AP) -- Legislators and businessmen who import a tree
> product widely used by U.S. candy, cosmetics and medical industries
> are scrambling to respond to press reports that an accused terrorist
> leader and multimillionaire has a big interest in Sudan's gum arabic
> industry.
> 
> For more than a year, legislators and lobbyists have fought to protect
> gum arabic from the effects of economic sanctions imposed on Sudan.
> 
> Now supporters and users of gum arabic confront a painful question: In
> advocating for an obscure but extremely useful import, do they
> inadvertently help Osama bin Laden, the Saudi Arabian businessman now
> portrayed as America's No. 1 enemy?
> 
> Bin Laden's alleged terrorist base in Afghanistan and and chemical
> plant in Sudan were hit by hit by U.S. missiles last week after
> officials accused him of masterminding U.S. embassy bombings in
> Africa.
> 
> Rep. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., who has pursued import exemptions for two
> companies in his district that import gum arabic, said he would
> withdraw his support for exemptions if he sees proof that bin Laden,
> whose fortune is estimated at more than $200 million, is associated
> with the industry.
> 
> The three major importers of gum arabic in the United States --
> Importers Service Co. of Jersey City, N.J., TIC Gums of Belcamp, Md.,
> and Frutaron Meer of North Bergen, N.J. -- do business with Sudan's
> Gum Arabic Co. through P.L. Thomas & Co. of Morristown, N.J.
> 
> P.L. Thomas' president, Paul Flowerman, said he is convinced there is
> no terrorist connection.
> 
> "I've been going to the Sudan for the last 20 years. I spend about a
> week there, both in the capital city and in the bush. My family has
> been involved in that gum arabic business for the last 50 years,"
> Flowerman said. "I have never seen the slightest indication of any
> participation of outside interests in gum arabic."
> 
> Chris Berliner, plant engineer for Importers Service Co., said he
> spoke Monday to the chairman of the Gum Arabic Co. in Khartoum, the
> Sudanese company that controls exports of the product, and asked if
> bin Laden is connected with Sudan's gum arabic business.
> 
> "He reiterated his flat denial of any association with any company
> owned by bin Laden, any land used by bin Laden, or bin Laden himself,"
> Berliner said.
> 
> Sudan produces much of world's gum arabic
> 
> Sudan produces 70 percent to 90 percent of the world's gum arabic, a
> sap from the acacia tree that is used in a wide variety of products
> including candy, medicines and cosmetics. Working as an emulsifier,
> gum arabic helps prevent fruit particles in soft drinks from falling
> to the bottom, seals the inner portion of candies and maintains
> consistency in shampoo.
> 
> A two-year-old State Department "fact sheet" says bin Laden held a
> "near monopoly" over gum, corn, sunflower and sesame products in Sudan
> through companies he controlled, according to Kenneth Katzman, a
> senior analyst and terrorism expert at the Congressional Research
> Service.
> 
> But industry representatives strongly dispute any bin Laden link. And
> a State Department official said Monday there is "no indication" of a
> connection between bin Laden and Gum Arabic Co.
> 
> Still, suspicions remain.
> 
> "Bin Laden has a foot in virtually everything that is profitable and
> not so profitable in Sudan," said Yossef Bodansky, director of the
> House Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare.
> 
> When the possibility of economic sanctions against Sudan's pro-Iranian
> regime arose in 1997, many interest groups lobbied for unfettered
> access to Sudan's gum arabic, which they consider unrivaled in
> quality.
> 
> When President Clinton imposed the sanctions, he created a loophole
> for the product, advising the Congress that the U.S. government "may
> consider" granting licenses for the importation of "certain products
> unavailable from other sources, such as gum arabic."
> 
> That wording has allowed companies to continue importing gum arabic
> under existing contracts. But once those contracts expire, companies
> that import and use gum arabic may lose their access to the Sudanese
> market.
> 
> Menendez has introduced legislation that would save gum arabic from
> import prohibitions. But he said in a statement Monday that his
> efforts came "prior to any press reports of allegations linking the
> Sudanese gum arabic industry to Mr. Osama bin Laden."
>