Billionaire Saudi Banking Tycoon Saleh Abdullah Kamel Passes Away

Billionaire Saudi businessman Saleh Abdullah Kamel.
Billionaire Saudi businessman Saleh Abdullah Kamel.
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Billionaire Saudi Banking Tycoon Saleh Abdullah Kamel Passes Away

Billionaire Saudi businessman Saleh Abdullah Kamel.
Billionaire Saudi businessman Saleh Abdullah Kamel.

Billionaire Saudi businessman Saleh Abdullah Kamel, who founded the banking and real estate conglomerate Dallah Albaraka Group, has died, according to relatives quoted in the Kingdom’s media. He was 79.

People close to Kamel told The Associated Press he died at the Dr. Samir Abbas Hospital in the city of Jeddah, where he was taken after suffering a heart attack early on Tuesday.

Kamel’s business empire grew from its humble beginnings in the late 1960′s — at the same time that the Kingdom was using its oil wealth to rapidly develop and in need of homegrown companies to build roads, highways and cities.

Over the years, the business expanded to tens of thousands of employees and today includes subsidiaries and stakes in a range of businesses, such as the operation and maintenance of airports and roads, tourism, trade, trucking and transportation, telecommunications, media, agriculture, poultry and health care.

Kamel’s son and the CEO of Dallah Albaraka Group, Abdullah Kamel, was quoted in the state-linked Okaz newspaper that he oversees as saying that funeral prayers will be held Tuesday afternoon in Makkah’s Grand Mosque, which has been closed to visitors amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV network said Kamel, who was born in Makkah but based in Jeddah, was instrumental in helping build many of the Kingdom’s ports and major projects. He served on numerous boards and was the chairman of the General Council for Islamic Banks and the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce. He once owned a significant stake in Saudi broadcaster MBC, which owns and operates Al-Arabiya.

Al-Arabiya dubbed him “the father of contemporary Islamic finance”.

Across Muslim countries and at home, Kamel was heavily involved in philanthropy and charity.

A multi-million-dollar donation in 2010 established the Abdallah S. Kamel Center for the Study of Islamic Law and Civilization at Yale Law School in the US.



Saudi Arabia Praises Jordan for Thwarting Plots to Undermine its Security

Jordanian Government spokesperson Mohammad Al Momani speaks during a press conference in Amman, Jordan, April 15, 2025, in this screen grab taken from a handout video. (JTV/Handout via Reuters)
Jordanian Government spokesperson Mohammad Al Momani speaks during a press conference in Amman, Jordan, April 15, 2025, in this screen grab taken from a handout video. (JTV/Handout via Reuters)
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Saudi Arabia Praises Jordan for Thwarting Plots to Undermine its Security

Jordanian Government spokesperson Mohammad Al Momani speaks during a press conference in Amman, Jordan, April 15, 2025, in this screen grab taken from a handout video. (JTV/Handout via Reuters)
Jordanian Government spokesperson Mohammad Al Momani speaks during a press conference in Amman, Jordan, April 15, 2025, in this screen grab taken from a handout video. (JTV/Handout via Reuters)

The Saudi Foreign Ministry praised on Wednesday the measures Jordan has taken to thwart plots aimed at undermining its security.

The Kingdom expressed its support for the steps the Jordanian government will take to consolidate its security.

Saudi Arabia stands in solidarity with Jordan against anything that may harm its security and stability, added the ministry.

Jordan arrested 16 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood who were trained and financed in Lebanon and had plotted attacks on targets inside the kingdom involving rockets and drones, authorities said on Tuesday.

The authorities said at least one rocket was ready to be launched as part of an operation that had been under surveillance by security forces since 2021.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm in Jordan the Islamic Action Front became the largest political grouping in the parliament after last September's parliamentary elections, although most seats are still held by government supporters.

Security forces found a rocket manufacturing facility alongside a drone factory, according to a statement by the General Intelligence Department released on state media.

"The plot aimed at harming national security, sowing chaos and causing material destruction inside the kingdom," the statement said.

The suspects were referred to the state security court for trial.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam told his Jordanian counterpart in a phone call his country was ready to cooperate with Jordanian authorities, shortly after suspects shown in a video aired by Amman said they had been trained in Lebanon.