left to right – Tarek Obaid, Prince Turki and Najib Razak – the three named Shareholders of the 1MDB PetroSaudi Joint Venture meeting a month before the deal on the yacht Tatoosh.
There was no need for Deputy Foreign Minister Reezal Merican to have made these comments against Saudi Arabia,and in support of Qatar:
"Malaysia will ensure good relationships with any country. After ties soured between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, we remain in good contact with both. If there are allegations that because of Malaysia's good relationship with Saudi Arabia we are not allowed to have a healthy relationship with Qatar ... that's not the policy that we practice.
It does look as if the Najib administration is taking measures to ensure the elephant that is the 1MDB theft remains somewhat hidden, even despite all this that has just occurred:
Christopher Pyne’s Twitter headache has once again laid bare the perils of social media for people in positions of power. The Defence Industry Minister accuses hackers of hijacking his official Twitter account and blames them for the “like” on an explicit gay porn tweet. However, that claim in itself raises some red flags.
For a senior cabinet member, especially one in charge of the defence industry, to have his Twitter account compromised shows a glaring lack of knowledge about staying secure on social media. If the account was indeed hacked then it shouldn’t have happened so easily, says Nigel Phair from the University of Canberra’s Centre for Internet Safety.
“What makes it worse is how dismissive (Pyne) was about the thing in his tweets, saying that he was asleep at 2am when it happened, making it out as if it wasn’t his fault,” Phair told The Australian. “It was quite a throwaway remark.”
A Twitter account, like most things on the internet, is relatively simple to hack. More often than not, the number one culprit is an easy-to-guess password and our tendency to use it to access multiple services.
An investigation into the alleged hack will reveal the password Pyne and his staffers have been using to access the account. It’s unlikely to be a robust one. Passwords are routinely stolen using phishing attacks, where a user clicks on a malicious attachment or an email. Hackers then use the passwords to target accounts. They also rely on sophisticated code breakers to break passwords.
In fact, passwords by themselves are no longer sufficient to stay safe on the internet.
Security experts point to two-factor authentication (2FA) as a default deterrent.
The technology, now widely offered by most internet platforms, requires the account holder to type in a code that’s different every time they login. The code is usually sent to the user by SMS or generated by a special app on the user’s phone.
Twitter introduced 2FA in 2013 but it’s unclear whether Pyne and his staffers were using the technology. Two-factor authentication is being increasingly used in corporate circles but its use in public agencies remains limited.
Labor and Australian Conservatives senator Cory Bernardi have called for an investigation but there’s no word on whether the Australian Signals Directorate or the special adviser to the Prime Minister on cyber security, Alastair MacGibbon, will be brought in for the job.
And whether the hacker can be caught is doubtful.
Phair says this should be a wake-up call for Canberra and the Turnbull government, which has been banging the cybersecurity drum rather loudly over the past year.
“They need to learn the absolute basics of information security,” Phair says. “They have a greater responsibility as an elected politician. There are no briefings given to politicians with regards to their personal social media accounts. It’s not so much about the tweet; it’s the fact that an account of a senior politician can be so easily compromised.”
Malaysia's PM Najib and other Malaysian Government officials have been more than happy to confirm this report,and to confirm that the money is from various Saudi royals:
LINTON BESSER: The Malaysian government says Najib Razak has returned more than US$600 million dollars he received in 2013and closed two of his accounts.
But Four Corners has established that three new accounts were opened in the prime minister's name and the money just kept on pouring in.
In June 2014, for example, the bank was notified of another 50 million British pounds that was to be wired into the prime minister's name. There were also a series of cash deposits that raised money laundering alerts here inside the bank.
A high-level source has shown Four Corners the Malaysian prime minister's bank accounts. The banking documents reveal an extraordinary and steady flow of money between 2011 and 2014.
By June 26, 2012, the bank records show deposits worth US$75 million from a Saudi prince, US$80 million from the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Finance and another US$120 million from a shell company in the British Virgin Islands.
On the 21st of March, 2013, the prime minister received US$620 million from a different company registered there. Four days later, the same donor deposited another US$61 million.
By the 10th of April, 2013, the prime minister had received more than US$1 billion.
Money from Saudi royals ,and apparently the Finance Ministry, all into Najib's private accounts at AMBAnk-ANZ ,and now this , reported on this blog yesterday:
left to right – Tarek Obaid, Prince Turki and Najib Razak – the three named Shareholders of the 1MDB PetroSaudi Joint Venture meeting a month before the deal on the yacht Tatoosh.
left to right – Tarek Obaid, Prince Turki and Najib Razak – the three named Shareholders of the 1MDB PetroSaudi Joint Venture meeting a month before the deal on the yacht Tatoosh.
THE LIST OF PRINCES, BUSINESSMEN, CURRENT AND FORMER MINISTERS DETAINED IN A PROBE BY SAUDI ARABIA'S NEW ANTI-CORRUPTION BODY INCLUDES:
* Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, chairman of Kingdom Holding
* Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, minister of the National Guard
* Prince Turki bin Abdullah, former governor of Riyadh province
* Khalid al-Tuwaijri, former chief of the Royal Court
* Adel Fakeih, Minister of Economy and Planning
* Ibrahim al-Assaf, former finance minister
* Abdullah al-Sultan, commander of the Saudi navy
* Bakr bin Laden, chairman of Saudi Binladin Group
* Mohammad al-Tobaishi, former head of protocol at the royal court
* Amr al-Dabbagh, former governor of Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority
* Alwaleed al-Ibrahim, owner of television network MBC
* Khalid al-Mulheim, former director-general at Saudi Arabian Airlines
* Saoud al-Daweesh, former chief executive of Saudi Telecom
* Prince Turki bin Nasser, former head of the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment
* Prince Fahad bin Abdullah bin Mohammad al-Saud, former deputy defence minister
* Saleh Kamel, businessman
* Mohammad al-Amoudi, businessman
EN D
by Ganesh Sahathevan The New York Times and others have reported:
Saudi Arabia announced the arrest on Saturday night of the prominent billionaire investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, plus at least 10 other princes, four ministers and tens of former ministers.
The announcement of the arrests was made over Al Arabiya, the Saudi-owned
satellite network whose broadcasts are officially approved.
The king (Salman) had decreed the creation of a powerful new anti-corruption
committee, headed by the crown prince(Mohamad Bin Salman), only hours before
the committee ordered the arrests.
Al Arabiya said that the anticorruption committee has the right to investigate,
arrest, ban from travel, or freeze the assets of anyone it deems corrupt. It is hard to imagine how ,or why, the Saudis would not freeze assets at home and abroad connected to the 1MDB theft, especially when the Kingdom and at least one prince are said to be central to the theft.
left to right – Tarek Obaid, Prince Turki and Najib Razak – the three named Shareholders of the 1MDB PetroSaudi Joint Venture meeting a month before the deal on the yacht Tatoosh.
(PHOTOS FROM SARAWAK REPORT-SEE STORY BELOW)
END
References
Saudi Arabia Arrests 11 Princes, Including Billionaire Alwaleed bin Talal
Photo
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the world’s richest men, was reportedly arrested in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.CreditIshara S.Kodikara/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
LONDON — Saudi Arabia announced the arrest on Saturday night of the prominent billionaire investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, plus at least 10 other princes, four ministers and tens of former ministers.
The announcement of the arrests was made over Al Arabiya, the Saudi-owned satellite network whose broadcasts are officially approved.
The reports in Al Arabiya and from other sources that Prince Alwaleed was among those arrested were sure to send shock waves both through the Kingdom and the world’s major financial centers.
Prince Alwaleed, who controls the investment firm Kingdom Holding and is one of the world’s richest men, has major stakes in News Corp, Time Warner, Citigroup, Twitter, Apple, Motorola and many other well-known companies. He also controls satellite television networks watched across the Arab world.
The sweeping campaign of arrests appears to be the latest move to consolidate the power of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the favorite son and top adviser of King Salman.
At 32, the crown prince is already the dominant voice in Saudi military, foreign, economic and social policies, stirring murmurs of discontent in the royal family that he has amassed too much personal power, and at a remarkably young age.
The king had decreed the creation of a powerful new anti-corruption committee, headed by the crown prince, only hours before the committee ordered the arrests.
Al Arabiya said that the anticorruption committee has the right to investigate, arrest, ban from travel, or freeze the assets of anyone it deems corrupt.
The Ritz Carlton hotel in Riyadh, the de facto royal hotel, was evacuated on Saturday, stirring rumors that it would be used to house detained royals. The airport for private planes was closed, arousing speculation that the crown prince was seeking to block rich businessmen from fleeing before more arrests.
Prince Alwaleed was giving interviews to the Western news media as recently as late last month about subjects like so-called crypto currencies and Saudi Arabia’s plans for a public offering of shares in its state oil company, Aramco.
Photo
At 32, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is already the dominant voice in Saudi military, foreign, economic and social policies.CreditFayez Nureldine/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
He has also recently sparred publicly with President Donald J. Trump. The prince was part of a group of investors who bought control of the Plaza Hotel in New York from Mr. Trump, and he also bought an expensive yacht from him as well. But in a twitter message in 2015 the prince called Mr. Trump “a disgrace not only to the GOP but to all America.”
As president, Mr. Trump has developed a warm, mutually supportive relationship with the ascendant crown prince.
At least three senior White House officials, including the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, were reportedly in Saudi Arabia last month for meetings that were undisclosed at the time.
Before sparring with Mr. Trump, Prince Alwaleed was publicly rebuffed by Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who rejected his $10 million donation for the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York because the prince had also criticized American foreign policy.
As powerful as the billionaire is, he is something of an outsider within the royal family — not a dissident, but an unusually outspoken figure on a variety of issues. He openly supported women driving long before the kingdom said it would grant them the right to do so, and he has long employed women in his orbit.
In 2015 he pledged to donate his fortune of $32 billion to charity after his death. It was unclear Saturday whether Saudi Arabia’s corruption committee might seek to confiscate any of his assets.
Saudi Arabia is an executive monarchy without a written Constitution or independent government institutions like a Parliament or courts, so accusations of corruption are difficult to evaluate. The boundaries between the public funds and the wealth of the royal family are murky at best, and corruption, as other countries would describe it, is believed to be widespread.
The arrests came a few hours after the king replaced the minister in charge of the Saudi national guard, Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah, who controlled the last of the three Saudi armed forces not yet considered to be under control of Crown Prince Mohammed.
The king named Crown Prince Mohammed the minister of defense in 2015. Earlier this year, the king removed Prince Mohammed bin Nayef as head of the interior ministry, placing him under house arrest and extending the crown prince’s influence over the interior ministry’s troops, which act as a second armed force.
Rumors have swirled since then that King Salman and his favorite son would soon move against Prince Mutaib, commander of the third armed force and himself a former contender for the crown.
