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Article: Obituaries
- Article from:
- The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
- Article date:
- November 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright American Educational Trust Nov 2009. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Khalid bin Mahfouz, 60, a Saudi banker and billionaire, died Aug. 16 of a heart attack in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Perhaps best known since 9/11 for the unjustified lawsuits against him for supporting terrorism, he was born as the heir to National Commercial Bank (NCB), Saudi Arabia's largest financial institution. A key figure in the banking industry, Mahfouz helped guide his company through countless crises from the oil shock of the 1970s to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. In 1988, Mahfouz donated about $270,000 to help empower the U.S.-sponsored resistance against the Soviets in Afghanistan-a group later known as al-Qaeda. Post-9/11, undercover journalists and lawyers descended upon Mahfouz, ...