CAIRO: Saudi Arabia's Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal made clear on Saturday that his Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) has not given up contested land in southern Egypt and had contacted Egyptian public prosecutors hoping to reach a settlement. “Kingdom Holding did not give up the land in the Toshka project and still owns it. It has not been confiscated by any party,” declared the firm in a formal statements. This announcement comes four days after Egyptian authorities froze all of Bin Talal's estate near Toshka in the Western Desert. Local newspapers reported that Alwaleed had given up a claim to the land. KHC suggested three options to the public prosecutor. According to the first, KHC is ready to give back the whole land in exchange for compensation for all relative expenses spent since land was purchased. The second option is to give up half of the land at the same price of purchase – LE50 per feddan – and keep the other half for the company. Normal land prices in Egypt float at around LE3,000-5,000 per feddan. The third option is to offer the company at an initial public offering (IPO) in order to allow the Egyptian people to invest in the project. The contested land amounts to 100,000 feddans (420 millions square meters). It was acquired in 1998 following plans to carry out a main development project to convert 540,000 feddans (220 millions square meters) of desert land into arable areas. “Investigations revealed that the contract contained unknown provisions that violated the law and gave the company unjustified benefits,” public prosecutor's spokesman Adel al-Saeed wrote in a statement. The contract entitled Bin Talal to outright ownership of land, “in violation of rules stipulating that the land must be completely reclaimed and planted within five years,” added Saeed. The actual land-size amount turned out to double the measure allowed by rules on private ownership. Moreover, the contract sanctioned Bin Talal's property rights to a thorough exemption from taxes and fees. Former Agriculture Minister Wali availed the contract on the government's side. He is now being persecuted for corruption and mismanagement, and his assets have been frozen. The Saudi billionaire tops Forbes' list of the wealthiest Arabs with a fortune amounting to $19.6 billion. He recently met Egyptian government representatives and offered to pay $4 billion for the dismissal of charges against Mubarak and his family, published newspaper al-Watan online. BM
