TE24 International Desk:
The Prince of Wales has received a £1m donation from Osama bin Laden’s relatives for his charity work, with Bakr bin Laden – the patriarch of the Saudi family – and his brother Shafiq reportedly giving the money to the future king.
Reports claim that on October 30, 2013 – two years after Osama bin Laden was killed by US special forces at a compound near Islamabad, Pakistan – Prince Charles, 73, met privately.
Bakr (76) at Clarence House, London Many of the allegations are strongly disputed by Clarence House, which maintains that the trustees alone decide whether to accept donations for its charity, the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund (PWCF). Shafiq bin Laden, the half-brother of Bakr and Osama, is related to the al-Qaeda founder, the Yemeni-born billionaire, through their father, Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden.
However, there is no evidence that either Bakar or Shafiq bin Laden supported or participated in terrorist activities. PWCF chairman Sir Ian Cheshire said in a statement: “Sheikh Bakar bin Laden’s donation in 2013 was carefully considered by the PWCF trustees at the time.
Due diligence was conducted, including seeking information from a wide range of sources, and the decision to accept government grants was taken entirely by the trustees. “Any attempt to suggest otherwise is misleading and incorrect,” the report quoted the PWCF chairman as saying. After examining the matter thoroughly, a source close to the charity said, the trustees report, the actions of one member of the Laden family should not tarnish the entire family.
A spokesman for Clarence House said: “The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund has assured us that full due diligence has been undertaken in accepting this donation. The decision to be made will be made solely by the charity’s trustees. The source claimed that Charles brokered the deal personally, despite objections from advisers. The donation was agreed to and several advisers asked him personally to return the money, the report noted. It comes a month after it was revealed that the Prince of Wales had received a bag containing millions of euros in cash during a meeting with Qatar’s former prime minister.
