Saudi
Importers Alerted to Egyptian Firms With Links to Israel
Tehran Times
July 14, 2002
RIYADH -- saudi Arabia's commerce minister has warned importers
in the kingdom to be cautious in dealing with 15 Egyptian firms
which have strong trade links with Israel, a newspaper reported
Saturday.
Osama al-Faqih warned the saudi agents of the Egyptian companies
to make sure that no Israeli products were smuggled into the saudi
market under the guise of Egyptian goods, *** Al-Jazira *** said.
The Damascus-based Arab Office for Boycott of Israel (OBI) recently
warned the Egyptian firms, active in agriculture and tourism, against
any attempt to smuggle Israeli products into Arab markets, the paper
said as cited by AFP.
The minister warned that the saudi importers and Egyptian companies
risked being banned and blacklisted by the kingdom.
saudi Arabia earlier this month launched an investigation into
a bid by local companies to import mobile phones suspected of being
made in Israel through foreign firms.
Faqih also appealed to his Jordanian counterpart, Salah Bashir,
during a meeting of the saudi-Jordanian Cooperation Committee in
Riyadh Wednesday to help curb the entry of Israeli products into
saudi Arabia.
saudi Arabia tightened up its trade boycott against Israel after
the Palestinian Intifada against Israeli occupation broke out 22
months ago.
The Council of saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry recently
asked its members not to import any goods suspected of being of
Israeli origin.
After the 1991 Persian Gulf War and launch of the U.S.-sponsored
Arab-Israeli peace process, most Arab states had bowed to U.S. pressure
and lifted a longstanding boycott of firms dealing with Israel.
But the OBI last year reinstated the indirect boycott of Israel
by blacklisting about 15 foreign companies that deal with the Zionist
regime.
The Arab League set up the OBI on May 19, 1951.
The executive office's main job is to update every six months a
"blacklist" of Israeli companies (direct boycott) and
foreign companies dealing with Israel (indirect boycott).
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