THE GUARDIAN: Royals try to stop 'outrageous' and 'wholly false' allegations about business deals surfacing in London trial
Relations between the UK and Saudi Arabia will suffer if what are said to be highly damaging allegations about business deals surface during a London trial, lawyers for two Saudi princes have warned the high court.
The resort to political justifications – among other reasons – for suppressing the disputed claims is revealed in a ruling delivered on Wednesday by Mr Justice Morgan. The judgment upholds, in principle, requests by the Guardian and Financial Times to be given documents detailing the disputed transactions involving Saudi interests in Beirut and Nairobi.
The allegations are said to be so serious that if published they would upset relations not only between the oil-rich kingdom and the UK but also have an "adverse effect" on Saudi links with the US. The Saudis have dismissed them as untrue, "outrageous" and "scandalous".
The companies court judge has given the Saudis time to appeal against his decision. A confidential annex to the judgment is, therefore, not yet being made public; it remains temporarily closed pending an appeal.
The dispute, which has erupted over the sale of $6.7m (£4.3m) worth of shares, has "thrown up a nuclear mushroom cloud" of litigation, Mr Justice Morgan said.
Lawyers for Prince Mishal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, his son, Prince Abdulaziz, and others have indicated they will go to the court of appeal to challenge the decision and prevent details of the allegations being released. » | Owen Bowcott, legal affairs correspondent | Wednesday, February 13, 2013
