September 11 Commission Report - Gnostic Liberation Front

to have played a part in organising some of Kazakhstan's oil deals with both Russian and Western
companies”. [Country Profile: Kazakhstan, Economist On-Line Store]
“The Mahfouz and Al-Amoudi families are not coincidentally involved in oil field development
projects in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.” [Part 1: Big Oil, the United States and
corruption in Kazakhstan, Larry Chin, Online Journal Contributing Editor May 12, 2002]
As the Soviet Union faded into history in 1991, the region struggled - as it still does –
with different groups competing for control of the resources. Those historic struggles of
area ethnic groups were re-surfaced, and added to that mix were elements of
Russian/Israeli organized crime, US covert intelligence and Saudi investors. These latter
two groups were simply “buying” their way into a territory opening itself up to market
forces – much like one buys distribution access to retail in New York City by paying
tribute to the Mafia.
While US and Saudi oil companies were “buying” access to Caspian oil, many other
western companies were being forced out of the region. It was reported that 35 Canadian
businesses had been forced to evacuate Russia as a result of Mafiya pressures during the
late 1990s. Two companies managed to establish a rapprochement with the Mafiya: one
of them was Barrick Gold. Also, from Barrick’s Annual Report, one discovers that
Barrick had leveraged for itself a significant position in Kazakhstan, in a partnership with
Celtic Resources Holdings Limited PLC:
“We have an equity position in Celtic and have back-in rights to participate on an exclusive basis for
up to 50% in any assets acquired in Kazakhstan and to certain other assets including the
Nezhdaninskoye project.”
In connection with Barrick’s plan to develop a business unit in Russia and Central Asia, Barrick
acquired a 10% equity interest in Highland Gold Mining Ltd. (“Highland”) in October 2003. In
January 2004, Barrick acquired an additional equity interest, bringing its total equity interest to
approximately 14% at December 31, 2004, in Highland and certain participation and other rights with
respect to properties in Russia. In January 2005, Barrick acquired a 9% equity interest in Celtic
Resources Holdings PLC (“Celtic”). In addition, Barrick acquired additional subscription rights for
shares in Celtic and certain rights with respect to a property in Russia and certain participation rights
with respect to properties in Kazakhstan.” [Barrick Annual Information Form, December, 2004]
Barrick’s singular ability to maintain a presence in Russia and Central Asia, when all
legitimate companies are being forced out, or taken over, suggests they have a special
relationship with the ex-KGB Russian/Israeli Mafiya. This relationship is best explained
by the earlier hypotheses of this report that Barrick may be a major gold laundering
operation used to launder thousands of tons of gold stolen from various treasuries,
including those of the former Soviet Union. It can be further explained by the
“partnership” between Barrick and Nelson Gold, noted in the Barrick annual report.
Nelson Gold is a subsidiary of Nelson Resources – run by Nazarbayev’s son-in-law, and
probably successor to Nazarbayev, President of Kazakhstan. Nazarbayev will later be
shown to be extensively involved in money laundering and illegal oil deals, with this
same cast of suspicious characters. This relationship does not bring any new evidence to
this report other than to validate that the individuals being investigated for Central Asian
activities are the same as those involved in the probable Barrick’s gold operation.
THE SEPTEMBER 11 COMMISSION REPORT Page 70