ONASSIS IN CAIRO FOR OIL CASE TALK

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000600090069-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 17, 1999
• Sequence Number: 69
• Publication Date: January 20, 1955
• Content Type: NSPR

N,kwN ? 0 1955
eUNAS~~IN CAIRO ase 2000/05/24: CIA-RDP75-00149ROO0600090
STATI NTL
FUR O'll, CASE TALK
Comers With Lawyers Over
Aramco Protest on Tanker
" ea1 With Saudi Arabia
CAIRO, Jan. 15 (FP)-Aristotl
Onassis
one-time immigrant bo
,
whose oil tanker deal with Sau
world's biggest oil companies
flew to Cairo today.
His first business was to con
fer with some of the best lawyer
of Britain aknd Egypt over th
protest of the Arabian America
Oil Company (Aramco) agains
his contract with Saudi Arabia t
give Onassis tankers preferenc
in shipping Arabian oil.
Mr. Onassis said he estpecte
to floy to Jidda, Saudi Arabia, i
a few days to talk over the of
tanker dispute with King Saud
He brushed off the dispute wit
the oil companies ' as "just
matter of business."
Aramco asserts the- Onassi
tanker deal is a violation of it
concession exploit Saudi Arabia
oil. Saudi Arabia, which would
gain -a tanker fleet under its flag
maintains it is not. The disput
now goes to arbitration.
Mr. Onassis said Aramco an
he Saudi - Arabians. were each
upposed to have named an arbi-
rator by Jan. 15, but that
ramco had asked a few days'
xtension.
Mr. Onassis conferred this after-
noon with two Britigh lawyers,
Sir Lionel Heald and Norman Fox
Andrews,, who are his con-
sultants. He. said arbitration was
the concern- of the Saudi Arabian
'Government, "but I'm certainly
an interested party."
He added that . the Egyptian
Government gate approval today
for.. Dr. Helmyibahgat Badaoui,
a leading Egyptian lawyer and
chairman of the Egyptian com-
mittee supervising the take-over
of the Suez Canal area from the
British, to serve as chief lawyer
for Saudi Arabia in the arbitra-
tion.
The big question was whether
King Saud would go through with
litigation. Aramco has said it will
not compromise because the
principle involved would damage
the entire oil world. Some of-
ficials have hinted they might
give up the oil concession if King
Saud insists on giving Onassis
Asked what he would do if the
1 companies -refused to charter
s present tankers as a retalia-
ry move, Mr. Onassis said:
ust what I'm doing now. We'll
lways find oil to ship.
Approved For Release 2000/05/24: CIA-RDP75-00149R000600090069-5