Ashraf Marwan, 62; suspected double agent in Yom Kippur War

[seemslikeadream]

Source: Los Angeles Times

Ashraf Marwan, 62; suspected double agent in Yom Kippur War
From Times Wire Services
June 30, 2007


Ashraf Marwan, 62, the controversial son-in-law of Egypt's late President Gamal Abdel Nasser, was found dead early Wednesday after falling from his apartment balcony in the St. James's Park neighborhood of London, the Middle East News Agency reported.

The death of Marwan, suspected of being a double agent during the 1973 war with Israel, comes amid a controversy in Egypt about his role in the intelligence and business worlds.

Some opposition lawmakers recently demanded an investigation after Egyptian newspapers carried reports from Israeli media about Marwan's possible role as a double agent during the war, when Egypt and Syria waged a joint attack against Israel on Yom Kippur. The Egyptian government has never commented on those allegations.

Maj. Gen Eli Zeira, who was fired from his position as head of military intelligence over Israel's failure to predict the 1973 Arab attack, said in a 1993 book that Israel was caught by surprise because it was led astray by a double agent, whom he did not identify.


Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-passings30jun30,1,242987.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california&ctrack=2&cset=true

[seemslikeadream]

1. Ashraf Marwan

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2007377.ece

Inquest opens into 'spy' billionaire's death
Ashraf Marwan - the son-in-law of the former Egyptian leader Gamel Abdel Nasser - was found dead outside his Mayfair flat
Rajeev Syal and Issandr El Amrani in Cairo
An inquest was opened yesterday into the mysterious death of an Egyptian billionaire who feared for his life after being named as a Mossad spy.

Ashraf Marwan, 63, is thought to have fallen from the balcony of his fourth-floor apartment in St James’s Park, Central London.

Scotland Yard described his death as “suspicious” and “unexplained”. No suicide note was found. Investigators are exploring three possibilities: that he was murdered, that he jumped or that he accidentally fell.

Opening the inquest, the coroner, Paul Knapman, did not give a probable cause of death and adjourned it until August 15.


http://egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com/search/label/Egyptian%20X-files



Really I don’t know how to start this chapter because this is a mine area and the part that causes all the controversy that may turn him to a hero and in the same time it may turn him to a traitor and this is the simplest way to describe it. Seriously I don’t know how to start writing in this area of that man’s life as it seems to me to be more complicated than any other cold war literature novel I read “I love so much this literature, the serious realistic one”

To understand the story well I will start from the end

London, 45 Carlton house trace

1:40 PM London local time on the 27th of June 2007


Suddenly the fancy high class street silence was broken by the fall of man from the 5th floor to the ground causing his death, a man in his sixties, for sure the people in the street didn’t recognized that man at the first instance

Surely the police identified later when it came the identity of the dead man and surely they knew they were dealing with another special Egyptian case, in fact the most dangerous Egyptian death case, Soad Hosni ,Lathy Nasaf and Ali Shafik could be nothing compared with it, they can be considered as more domestic cases compared to Marwan’s case , after all the man knew many secrets , many dirty secrets then the actress , the head of the presidential Guards and the secretary of Abd El Hakim Amar , all those didn’t play or have the access of information he had , they played one role in one time , Hosni and Shafik roles were in the Nasserite era and Nasaf role was in the early Sadaat era , yet Marwan played different roles in different era , he was there in the Nasserite era , he was there is in the Sadaat era and he left Egypt in Mubarak’s era to play another role in not less dangerous arena than the decision making that was arms dealing.

The third Egyptian with an enigmatic history to die in London from falling off the balcony, it must draw question mark, sorry question marks in the case of Marwan

From the initial reports we knew that the multi billionaire was alone in his luxury apartment, only the house keeper and the cook were in the kitchen, strange loneliness for a man that was said to be very sick , his wife was in a visit in Lebanon , his son was in Egypt and is said that he couldn’t leave it before the shocking news arrived to Cairo as there was a general attorney ‘S order to restrict him from leaving the country and the second son seemed to be some where , well may be he was in work. I don’t know if he had body guards or not but even if he had, they were useless as they were not there either.

[Fridays Child]

2. Suspected double agents can die a lot of ways but by accident is probably never one of them.

[seemslikeadream]

3. third Egyptian with an enigmatic history to die in London from falling off the balcony

:shrug:

He seems to have something to do with BAE, tracking that down now :hi:

[Fridays Child]

4. Wouldn't be surprised.

In the end, ideologies fall away and it always comes down to money.

[dEMOK]

9. More like...

...idealists get corrupted by the money they receive and ask no questions about -- then they evolve into unwitting slaves to the ideology of their benefactors/corruptors.

[seemslikeadream]

5. Khashoggi and Ashraf Marwan

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199798/cmselect/cmstnprv/030ii/sp0161.htm
APPENDIX 33 - Continued


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



APPENDIX 5



The Khashoggi Affidavit and the Fayed Bribe





Letter from Cameron Markby Hewitt, Solicitors, to Sir Gordon Downey<31>

Our client Mr R W Rowland has passed to us your letter of 31 October 1996 and has asked us to reply to it on his behalf.


Mr Rowland's instructions are that there is no truth whatsoever in the allegation made by Mr Fayed that Mr Michael Howard accepted payments from Lonrho, or agents acting on its behalf, in connection with the appointment in 1987 of Inspectors under the Companies Act 1985 to examine the circumstances surrounding the acquisition of the House of Fraser by the Mr Fayed family.


Mr Rowland is aware that Mr Fayed has been making these allegations for some time and we are enclosing copies of correspondence exchanged between him and Mr Fayed about the allegations. You will see that copies of the correspondence have previously been supplied both to the Home Office and to the Cabinet Office. At Mr Rowland's request we are also sending you a copy of a draft affidavit which Fayed apparently attempted to persuade Mr Adnan Khashoggi to depose to. The affidavit bears in Mr Rowland's handwriting a note of the circumstances in which the draft was handed to him. We are also enclosing a statement prepared by Dr Marquand de Villiers of what was said to him at a meeting he had with Mr Khashoggi.


8 November 1996



Note handwritten by Mr R W Rowland upon the draft Affidavit (below) dated 1 May 1996

AK called to see me today and gave me this copy of this affidavit which Fayed asked him to sign against a cheque for $2 million.


AK told me that he had extricated himself as politely as possible by saying that he would send for his lawyer, Sam Evans, to join the discussion with Fayed, Macnamara and Royston Webb and a lady lawyer.


AK advised Fayed that he saw no benefit at all in it for either of them, as AK would be branding himself as a liar and an unreliable witness.


AK was given this document by Fayed, but AK had not in any way . . . .

1 May 1996



Text of draft Affidavit

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199798/cmselect/cmstnprv/030ii/sp0161.htm



IN THE MATTER OF A REPORT INTO HOUSE OF FRASER HOLDINGS PLC PURSUANT TO AN INVESTIGATION UNDER SECTION 432(2) OF THE COMPANIES ACT 1985
1. The contents of this Affidavit are based on my personal knowledge of events described and are true. I make this Affidavit in order to help correct certain findings made by the Inspectors appointed by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in 1987 to investigate House of Fraser Holdings plc. I believe their findings were based upon certain incorrect or false information or documentation produced to them. I make this Affidavit voluntarily and without benefit to me.


2. I gave inaccurate information to the Inspectors. I also failed to give them information of which I was aware which would have benefited the Fayeds and shown them to be honest. I did this at the request of Mr R W Rowland ("Mr Rowland") and because he agreed to pay me a very substantial sum of money. I have now volunteered to make this Affidavit because I have been ashamed of the part I played in damaging the Fayeds' reputation.


3. I have known Mr Rowland since about 1980. From time to time prior to 1985 we did business together. He knew that I had been related by marriage to Mohamed Al Fayed, had been in business with him, and had known the Fayeds from school days.


4. I cannot now remember exactly when and where my first discussion with him took place on the subject of the Fayeds, but I think it was during early 1985 that he spoke with me and told me that he wanted to discredit the Fayeds. He asked me to help. He made clear that I would be very well paid if I was able to assist him by giving or organising information which would make it appear that the Fayeds came from a poor background and did not have sufficient wealth to finance the purchase of House of Fraser from their own resources. Mr Rowland told me that he was also organising other people to create or give this impression. I do not know the full details but from what he told me it was apparent that he was paying large sums of money to other people to do this and that much of what was being said was untrue.


5. As a result when in due course Inspectors were appointed to investigate the acquisition of House of Fraser by the Fayeds, Mr Rowland was able to organise matters so that the Inspectors received a lot of false information and documentation from a large number of different sources. In Egypt it is fairly easy to achieve anything in return for money and therefore even official records can be made to show false information.


6. I do not have time to go through in a great deal of detail what I have done to the Fayeds. I will therefore give some brief examples of false evidence or information which I know, or very strongly suspect, was given to the Inspectors. These examples are:


(a) I am told that the Inspectors heard evidence from Mr Peter Wickman who described himself as an independent journalist, working for Stern magazine, and as initially having no contact or dealings with Mr Rowland. I have also read Appendix 7 of the Inspectors Report. His evidence was untrue. On or about 25 May 1985 I was present with Mr Rowland and Dr A Marwan in the Sheraton Heliopolis Cairo when Mr Wickman joined us for a discussion with Mr Rowland. It was clear to me that Mr Wickman was working for Mr Rowland and acting in accordance with his instructions. When Mr Wickman joined us at our table, Mr Rowland received a report from him, and gave further instructions, regarding the contents of an article which Mr Wickman was preparing as part of Mr Rowland's attack on the Fayeds.



(b) I also confirm that Mr Rowland procured a payment by Lonrho into my bank account of the sum of US$3 million in respect of documents prepared by my associate, Shri Chandra Swamiji Maharej (the "Swami") implicating the Sultan of Brunei in the purchase of Harrods. It was subsequently revealed in English High Court proceedings, and I confirm, that these documents had been fabricated. Copies of the two documents involved, both of which were produced to the Inspectors, are now produced and shown to me marked "AK 1". As will be seen, they purport to be an Acknowledgement of Indebtedness, and a promissory note relating to a sum of US$200 million. The documents produced to the Inspectors were not originals. Once the revelation that they were false had occurred, Mr Rowland then demanded that I return the money. A copy of the demand from Lonrho is now produced and shown to be marked "AK 2". I was unable to do so and Mr Rowland later abandoned his claim because of other assistance I was able to provide to him.




(c) Mr Rowland further arranged for me to receive loans from Lonrho amounting to US$10 million in return for me providing him with assistance for his campaign against the Fayeds. This included me providing to the Inspectors certain documentary evidence, and attending before the Inspectors in order to give evidence adverse to the Fayeds. Mr Rowland told me the nature of the evidence he wanted me to give to the Inspectors. I would not have received the loans had I not agreed to assist Mr Rowland in this way. The information I provided to the Inspectors did not give an accurate picture of the Fayeds' history and business affairs, none of the documents I produced to the Inspectors were originals, and many of them had been fabricated so as to accord with Mr Rowland's wishes and instructions.




(d) I personally know that the Fayeds did in fact live as children in the house in Victoria, Alexandria, which they referred to in their evidence to the Inspectors. I visited them there when Mohamed was still at school. It is clear to me that Mr Rowland must have organised a campaign to make it appear that they were lying about this, and that they came from a poor background.




(e) During and prior to 1989, Mr Rowland, Ashraf Marwan and I were actively involved in numerous business dealings. During the course of conversations with both Mr Rowland and Ashraf Marwan I was told by them that Mr Rowland had advanced approximately £4 million to Ashraf Marwan to enable him to purchase a block of shares in House of Fraser plc at the same time that Lonrho had a 29.9 per cent shareholding. I was told by Mr Rowland and Ashraf Marwan that, because of the assistance provided by Ashraf Marwan to Mr Rowland in his campaign against the Fayeds, Mr Rowland did not seek the repayment of that sum when Ashraf Marwan subsequently sold the shares. I should explain that Ashraf Marwan was the son-in-law of the late President Nasser, and had been head of security, intelligence and information in Egypt. He had been trained by the KGB. He was therefore a man of great skill in intelligence, counter-intelligence and disinformation techniques, and of the utmost influence and power; this influence and power continued after President Nasser's death. He remained in a position to produce or obtain whatever false documents or information he wished or to arrange for the destruction of any documentation. I know that he used that power and influence to assist Mr Rowland in his attack on the Fayeds by manipulating information and evidence so as to ensure that false and damaging material was produced to the Inspectors.



30 April 1996

http://www.scallywag.org/diana/chapter-ix.html
He operated under the parent company, Cabra, and within a decade he would buy and sell among much else (and sometimes as a broker for other Arabs), the Playboy Club, Chelsea and Fulham football grounds (Fulham is now owned by al-Fayed). He purchased significant sections of Mayfair, Bloomsbury and the West End of London, including a theatre. If he had kept to property alone he could have become a billionaire in his own right, but he met Adnan Khashoggi, whom he had known in Saudi. Despite the fact that Adnan was al-Fayed’s former brother-in-law and therefore an uncle of Dodi, Khashoggi did not seem to have the slightest allegiance to the Fayeds. In turn, Khashoggi introduced Marwan to the Muktoum brothers, of racehorse fame, who subsequently introduced him to Tiny Rowland.

[emad]

12. Bandar suspected over baffling London 'suicide' of Mossad spook

Mayfair, London - (Ass Mess): London's inexplicable suicide season is in full swing today with the news that Saudi Arabian slush fund libertine Prince Bandar may be a relieved man after the Mossad son-in-law of former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser was found dead outside his London flat in unexplained circumstances.

Ashraf Marwan, a 62 year old financier, wheeler-dealer and former Chelsea Football Club shareholder was found crumpled on the road under his Carlton House Terrace fourth floor flat.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

"He had that classic depressed look of a typical suicider when we found him," a police spokesman said from the scene today, "but then, he was already dead."

Marwarn had lead a colorful life ever since being accused of being an Egyptian/Israeli/Soviet triple agent who had been suspected of tipping off the Israelis about the start of the Yom Kippur war in 1973.
http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s1i21127

[seemslikeadream]

6. I am not saying it was Aegis or BAE.

http://www.craigmurray.co.uk/archives/2007/06/bombs_and_the_g.html

Let me be quite clear again: Islamic extremists may very well be responsible. I am not saying they are not. But let me expand a bit on my Cui Bono theme.

There are plenty of companies - and wealthy individuals - making huge amounts of money from both the War on Terror and its equally ugly sister, the War in Iraq. There has been much speculation that Brown will edge away from both of these. If British troops were to withdraw from Iraq, for example, that could reduce the access currently enjoyed by companies, for example Aegis and BAE, to billions of dollars of US government contracts for arms and mercenaries. These companies make money out of killing. Death is their business. Today's car bomb - and the immediate media presumption it is Islamic terrorism - certainly forces Brown further into the War on Terror. The fact that the Iraq war is the root cause of an upsurge of terror in the UK, strangely does not negate the surge of political support for the War that this sort of incident brings as a reflex reaction from our leaders.

I am not saying it was Aegis or BAE. I am saying don't be one-eyed about the possibilities. Look at the list of amazing things in London above. Do I really believe that there are wealthy people in London who would stage this sort of thing to protect or further their financial interests? Yes, I do.

[seemslikeadream]

7. Marwan's relationship with Kamal Adham--the Saudi intelligence

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2007/06/i-find-something-very-fishy-about.html

I find something very fishy about the coverage of Ashraf Marwan's death. First, you find this sudden sympathy in the Israeli press for this Arab. Secondly, there is something very suspicious: none of the articles in the Arabic or Western press have talked about Marwan's relationship with Kamal Adham--the Saudi intelligence chief during King Faysal's reign. Those two constituted an influential team playing a role similar to that played by Bandar these days (prior to the bribery scandal. I heard that the US Justice Department is investigating the scandal. Let me guess. No evidence of wrongdoing will be found. And Bandar will be officially declared the most honest and transparent official on the face of the glob). Also, Ashraf Marwan's son, Jamal, owns the Melody Arabic music channel.

[TexasLawyer]

8. kick

[robertpaulsen]

10. Kick to the top!

:kick:

:hi:

[emad]

11. Mossad suicide spook linked to London terror gang

Glasgow - (Ass Mess): Marwan Ashraf, the billionaire ex-Mossad/KGB spook who mysteriously fell to his death from the ground floor balcony of his London flat last week in a typical double agent-style suicide, may have been the recruitment brains behind the bombers seized by UK police this weekend.

Anti-terror cops combing through evidence seized in the London car bombs say everything points to suspicious circumstances and they are not ruling out the obvious.

Ashraf's brillian espionage career is the stuff of global security and intelligence industry legends.

His ability to blackmail high-powered oil industry financiers was second only to the UK's Lord Levy who was a long standing business associate from their fledgeling career days at inductions in KGB training camps in Havana.

http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s1i21312


EDIT:

JOKING APART....

Ashraf Marwan was a former business consultant partner of Lord Levy, Tony Blair's former blind trust portfolio bagman, Middle East envoy for the Iraq war and main WMD fantasist.

Marwan and Levy were reported in the Sunday Times in 2003 to have been paid consultancy fees by Australian mall developer Frank Lowy during his advisory role to Larry Sliverstein's bid to purchase leases on the World Trade Center in the months immediately before 9/11.

Silverstein notably made a killing in his insurance claims which paid out double compensation after lawyers argued 9/11 was two separate attacks and not one.

Levy was arrested a year ago in the cash-for-peerages investigation that says Blair took undisclosed loans of approx £15 million and then made the donors life peers in the House of Lords.