Following his recent decision to leave most of his wealth to charity, Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al Saud, the businessman billionaire who owns shares in Raffles Hotel and Four Seasons Resorts in Seychelles, has today taken the world by surprise by his intention to pay a seven-day visit to Israel in order to mark the new age of peace and fraternity in the Middle East. This breaking news announcement was reported by Saudi media outlets a few days ago and has made headlines worldwide.
Who is Prince Alwaleed? And how did he get interested in the Seychelles?
Last year, he came on a two-day visit to Seychelles and hosted Sir James R. Mancham for a tête-à-tête dinner at the Four Seasons Resorts. The founding President of our Republic has known Alwaleed since the time he was studying Economics in California and regularly vacationed in the South of France, where his father, Prince Talal bin Abdulaziz al-Saud kept a sumptuous yacht for his family’s enjoyment within the Mediterranean.
Following this visit, Prince Alwaleed dedicated a copy of the book which was authored by Riz Khan and was published by William Morrow of Harpers Collins Publishers in 2005 with the following words: “I present this book to my friend Sir James R. Mancham. Hoping you will read it. Signed Alwaleed.”
The Editor of The Independent is grateful to Sir James for granting this exclusive interview concerning his friendship with Prince Alwaleed and what he, the “Seychelles Global Citizen,” thinks of the vision and the global dimension of his billionaire friend and the Prince’s chances of brokering peace between Israel and Palestine.
We note that in the book that he dedicated to you that Prince Alwaleed refers to you as a “friend.” How did this friendship start?
SIR JAMES: Soon after our independence in June 1976, I hosted Prince Alwaleed’s father on a visit to Seychelles in the company of Mr. Adnan Khashoggi. Prince Alwaleed’s father is none other than Prince Talal bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud, who was for many years the Minister for Finance of Saudi Arabia and reputed to be one of the favorite sons of Saudi Arabia’s founder, King Abdulaziz bin Abd al-Rahman al-Saud.
Prince Talal fell in love with the Seychelles and wanted to help us develop our tourism potential. The first project he had in mind was to turn Port Launay into a modern resort with a modern yacht club. This project was abandoned after the coup d’etat of June 1977 and whilst in exile in Europe, I often vacationed in the South of France where both Mr. Khashoggi and Prince Talal kept their sumptuous yachts. At that time, the young Alwaleed who was studying Economics at a college in California, regularly visited his father in Cannes. That is where we met and socialized together on several occasions.
What did you think of him at that time?
SIR JAMES: It did not take me long to realize that the young man was brilliant, charming, full of wisdom, business-minded, and very ambitious.
How did you get him interested in the Seychelles?
SIR JAMES: Well, the moment I met him, I realized that the story concerning his father’s visit when I was President, had greatly impacted on his mind as to the beauty of our country and the friendliness of our people. I was not therefore surprised when following my return to Seychelles in April 1992 after years in exile to read that Prince Alwaleed and his Kingdom Holding Company was constantly making headline news all over the world.
His success clearly indicated that he was somewhat of a financial wizard. He was able to see an opportunity positively when others were looking at it negatively. It also indicated that whilst he was a bit of a gambler, he finally relied in his own instinct and wisdom when he decided how the game was to be played. He exuberated a high sense of bravado and would squarely face situations from which others would keep away.
Thus, one started reading about his successful and lucrative involvement in the banking world, his acquisition of hotels – his involvement with Canary Wharf, with News Corporation, Disney Land, Citigroup, Apple Computer, Pepsi Cola and more and more and more. The man never stood still. He was always on the move with one success following another.
Unexpectedly, one day I got a call from an executive of his office in Riyadh, informing me that the Prince would be arriving in Seychelles on a visit and that he wanted to meet with me on arrival. This was to be his first visit to Seychelles.
Can you tell us a bit more about this visit?
SIR JAMES: Well, Prince Alwaleed had not given me much notice. However, I was quick to get in touch with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to organize VIP facilities. Of course, Prince Alwaleed would not visit any country where he feels he would not be welcomed and his office had already been in communication with the Seychelles Government. I was not surprised when I got to the VIP Lounge at the airport in the morning to meet President James Michel who was then Minister for Finance, awaiting to welcome the Prince. The Prince’s plane arrived on time for the visit that was to last from 9.00am to 6.00pm. Sadly, it was one of those days of torrential downpour with the whole of Mahé affected by El Nino conditions. There was nothing “beautiful” about Mahé that day. Both Minister Michel and I were sad that Seychelles was not blessed with a glorious sunshine to welcome the great investor from the Middle-East.
The Prince who had arrived with a second plane carrying secretaries assistants and photographers, sticked to his schedule and returned home disenchanted with this visit. However, Alwaleed was not a person to give up an interest easily specially as he could sense the potential behind it.
Following that visit, he made it a point to get some of his agents to come scouting around. Ultimately, he invested millions of dollars in the construction of The Raffles Hotel in Praslin and also later became involved with the Four Seasons Resorts development in Baie Lazare, Mahé.
Last time Prince Alwaleed visited the Seychelles, you had dinner with him at the Four Seasons Resorts. I understand it was a tête-à-tête dinner. What did you two speak about?
SIR JAMES: As an investor, the Prince was of course interested in how I viewed the political situation in Seychelles. He had also followed the news concerning my involvement on matters of peace and reconciliation at various international forums and was deeply interested with my experience and opinion concerning different aspects of international development and the search for peace. Wealth and money was important to him but he always had “peace” in mind.
After the September 9-11 attacks in 2001 on the World Trade Centre in New York, Prince Alwaleed was one of the first personalities to arrive in New York.
SIR JAMES: Yes, he brought in a check for US$10 million which he presented to Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Being a man who speaks his mind, Prince Alwaleed said at that time that he hoped that the US would pursue a more balanced Middle-East policy in future. But Mayor Giuliani considered this to be politically controversial and returned the check. Of course, New York has always been a strong Jewish stronghold.
What do you think are the chances of Prince Alwaleed being able to broker peace between Israel and Palestine?
SIR JAMES: Alwaleed, as he is known to most in the Middle East, happens to be the largest single foreign investor in the US economy with interest in almost everything that touches the American lifestyle. He has built an empire that embraces the best known brands from Citigroup and Disney Land to Apple Computers and the Four Season Hotels. The Jewish people are the most prominent community and successful business personalities in the United States with great influence within the State of Israel. Against this background, Alwaleed must have had many business dealings and engagements with some of the most influential Jewish people in the world. Considering the importance of the Jewish lobby in US politics, I believe he is in a unique position to play a bridge building role between Israel and Palestine. He has in fact personally succeeded to bridge the cultures of the East and the West.
Moreover, according to what I am reading, Prince Alwaleed initiative has the total backing of King Salman who today stands for a policy of dialogue with Israel with a view of building amicable ties with their Israelite neighbors. Taking into account the endorsement of the King of Saudi Arabia, I would think that Prince Alwaleed has the full backing of such moderate and visionary government in the region as that of the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf States.
In my recent book “SEYCHELLES – The saga of a small nation navigating the cross-currents of a big world,” I wrote about a recent visit to Israel where I was able to meet with Simon Shoval who was the Israeli Ambassador to the United States in the year 1972-1973 and 1998-2000 who is today not only prominently involved in Israel’s economic life but also a special advisor to President Benjamin Netanyahu.
This is what I wrote: “My knowledge of the historical events that have shaped the history of modern Israel since the time of the Balfour Declaration which founded the State of Israel is too fragmented to allow me to make categorical statements concerning the issues that are the basis of the division, distrust, and mistrust that exist today between the Jews of Israel and the Arabs of Palestine and other surrounding States.
“I am not interested in putting salt in old wounds and speak as an arbitrator over the complex issues which categorize today’s divide, but there are certainly some observations that can be commented upon if the goodwill for peace is to prevail.
“It is not difficult to fall in love with the geography of the area that comprises Israel and Palestine. There is more volume of history written about this area than there is time to go through it in one humane life. My objective as a self-proclaimed statesman is to promote peace and harmony as much as possible in a sadly divided world against my conviction that there is no victory in war anymore and that war does not lead to a lasting and sustainable reconciliation.
“The ongoing conflict between the Shiite and the Sunni of the Islam faith deeply disturbs and saddens me when one realizes the cost of the ongoing confrontation and the resulting hatred and bitterness between people who supposedly share the same faith. Likewise, while the Jews appear united vis-à-vis any attempt towards prejudicing their survival and their well-being, it does seem that within the Jewish community there are differing sentiments about Israel’s governance and its overall policy and social conscience.”
Well, I have always believed like Winston Churchill said that “talk talk is better than war war.” The stalemate situation today is most disturbing. We need a man with the conviction, stature and qualities of Prince Alwaleed to bring the confronting parties back to the table. The people of the area and indeed the people of the world must put their religious differences aside and work together for peace. I therefore fully endorse Prince Alwaleed’s initiative and I do not think there are many around who has the clout and position to embark on such an initiative.
