Bin Laden’s son eyes Qatar World Cup deals

A Qatari construction firm, founded by a son of former al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, has bolstered its bid to win contracts ahead of the 2022 soccer World Cup by forming a joint venture with Spain’s Coprosa.

Osama bin Laden

Qatar Bin Laden Group will hold 51 per cent of the new company, BC Group – to be based in Doha – and Coprosa 49 per cent, chief executive Omar bin Laden told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.

 Qatar Bin Laden Group was founded two years ago by Omar bin Laden, son of Osama bin Laden.

 “We want to be involved in the Doha Metro and other high-speed rail projects in Qatar, as well as hydraulics and water treatment plants. Coprosa has particular experience with high-speed rail projects, and we want to make use of that. We hope to be submitting proposals by the end of June,” bin Laden said.

“There is a limited timeframe for projects in Qatar. It’s all happening in the next 10 years, and we want to be involved as much as we can.”

The Doha Metro project will include four rail lines and link stadiums for the 2022 World Cup which Qatar will host, with an underground component in the centre of the Qatari capital.

It is expected to employ more than 20,000 workers during the peak of construction.

In 2009 Deutsche Bahn and state-owned Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Co signed an agreement to design the project. Requests for proposals for the project are expected this month.

It is not connected to Saudi Arabian construction giant Binladen Group, appointed last year to construct the $20 billion Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, slated to be the world’s tallest building.

Qatar, the world’s top liquefied natural gas exporter, has allocated 40 per cent of its budget between now and 2016 to infrastructure projects.

It plans to spend $11 billion on a new international airport, $5.5 billion on a deepwater seaport and $1 billion for a transport corridor in Doha. It will spend an additional $20 billion on roads.