Thread: 2nd Dubai Firm Bids on US Aircraft & Tank Precision Part

http://customwire.ap.org/
Mar 2, 11:08 AM EST

U.S. reviewing second Dubai-based company

By LIZ SIDOTI
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A second Dubai-owned company confirmed Thursday the Bush administration has launched an unusual investigation over the potential security risks of its business moves in the United States.

Dubai International Capital LLC plans to buy a British company with plants in Georgia and Connecticut that make precision parts used in engines for military aircraft and tanks.

The company said in a statement it is confident the U.S. government will approve its $1.2 billion offer to buy Doncasters Group Ltd., a British precision-engineering company. It said it was pursuing all U.S. regulatory approvals "as is customary for international business transactions of this nature."

The disclosure of a second U.S. review involving an investment by a Dubai-owned company came just before a Senate hearing Thursday to investigate the administration's earlier approval of Dubai Ports World's plans to take over significant operations at major U.S. seaports.

The Washington Post first reported the second Dubai investigation on Thursday.

"It's become clear that Dubai Ports World isn't a single incident," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., a leading critic of the ports deal. "We not only need a thorough review of this new proposed takeover, but we need an examination of the role foreign countries - particularly those that have had a past nexus with terrorism - play in areas with vital national security interests."

The Committee of Foreign Investments in the United States has faced broad criticism in Congress over its scrutiny of the ports deal, which it approved Jan. 17 after a routine, 30-day review.

In a highly unusual move, DP World offered earlier this week to submit to a broader 45-day investigation to avert an impending political showdown between President Bush and Congress. That formal investigation has not yet started.

I thought hell would have to freeze over before I ever agreed with anything Chuck Schumer has to say.