Palestinian billionaire released after being held in Saudi Arabia
Palestinian billionaire Sabih Al Masri, the chairman of Arab Bank – Jordan’s largest lender – was reportedly detained after heading to the Saudi capital last week to chair meetings of his companies.
Reports suggested he returned to Amman yesterday morning but these could not be confirmed.
Mr Al Masri, who is a Saudi citizen, was being questioned because of information he had about a continuing investigation in Saudi Arabia.
Mohammed Daoudia, chairman of Jordan’s Ad Dustour daily and a former minister, said Mr Al Masri was back in Jordan.
He had been warned not to travel to Saudi Arabia after mass arrests last month of Saudi princes, officials and businessmen in an anti-corruption crackdown, sources told Reuters.
“He has been answering questions about his business and partners,” said one source.
Mr Al Masri had cancelled a dinner on Tuesday to which he had invited friends and leading businessmen on his return.
Reports that he was detained since Thursday sent shockwaves across Jordan where Mr Al Masri’s multibillion-dollar investments are a cornerstone of the economy and employ thousands.
He was elected chairman of Arab Bank in 2012 after the resignation of Abdel Hamid Shoman, whose family founded it in Jerusalem in 1930.
Mr Al Masri is also the leading investor in the Palestinian territories with a large stake in Paltel, a public shareholding company, which is the largest private sector firm in the West Bank.
His family ranks among the wealthiest of Palestinian families, with majority holdings in property, hotels and telecommunications companies set up in the territories after a self-rule agreement with Israel in 1993.
He originally comes from a prominent merchant family from Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Mr Al Masri amassed a fortune from a catering business set up with Saudi partners to supply troops during the USled military operation to retake Kuwait from Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War.