Dubai's withdrawal from port ownership a fraud

The IRIS Blog points to an AP article on Breitbart that reports about an e-mail obtained from a senoir DPW executive confirming the earlier analysis that Dubai's pullout from the port ownership is really just a fraud, certainly in Miami:

DP World: No Plan to Sell Miami Port Ops

The Dubai-owned company that promised to surrender its U.S. port operations has no immediate plans to sell its U.S. subsidiary's interests at Miami's seaport, a senior executive wrote Monday in a private e-mail to business associates.

Even if DP World were to sell its Miami operations to quell the congressional furor over an Arab-owned company managing major U.S. ports, "that would probably take a while," wrote Robert Scavone, a vice president for DP World's U.S. subsidiary....

Last week, DP World backed away from the deal further. It pledged to "transfer fully" its U.S. operations to an unspecified American company and said DP World will not suffer economic loss.

The company has steadfastly declined to clarify its statement or the timing of any possible sale....

Scavone told AP in an interview that his e-mail was intended to reassure officials at the Port of Miami Terminal Operating Co. which manages operations there and is half-owned by a DP World subsidiary that uncertainty surrounding the Dubai ports deal would not affect its work in Miami....

Scavone told the AP that under U.S. corporate laws, P&O's ownership in the Miami port company would not change even under DP World's planned divestiture.

"Just because a shareholder owns the top company of an elaborate network of corporations worldwide, it does not mean that what those corporations own changes hands," Scavone said.

And while Scavone may have denied so far that he sent the e-mail, the following should help tell that it's legitimate:

[Scavone] contacted a reporter less than one hour after AP's inquiry to explain the message's meaning. Another P&O executive, Frank Fogarty, said he received Scavone's e-mail and did not doubt Scavone sent it.

This is something that Congress would be advised to pay attention to, since we can't let the UAE trick us or pull the wool over our eyes.