Trying to free Americans from prison, get gigantic investment from two hostile camps: Unique Oman and Qatar Role in Middle East

For my cousin, former sous chef for a Hotel in Oman, passed away 10 years ago

(UPDATED Aug 10th, 2023, 12.41pm DC / 8.11pm Tehran:

Four Americans wrongfully detained in Iran have been released on house arrest, a significant step in securing their freedom)

Muscat 3.03pm / DC 7.03am / London 12.03pm

This is a long investigation-long story about the “multiple roles” of Oman: replace Russia for energy supply, try to release US citizens from prison, and how (Oman try balancing) two sides (actually) hate each other but want to invest in Oman to build two cities: China and Trump.

(Andrea DiCenzo just celebrating 4 years weddingversary today)

For decades, Lefortovo prison has been a symbol of oppression and control in Russia, especially for those who dare to challenge power. It is within these walls that American journalist Evan Gershkovich, arrested in March, remains detained, awaiting trial on espionage charges — which he, the White House and Gershkovich’s employer, the Wall Street Journal, strongly deny. Evan lost his appeal against the extension of pre-trial detention in Moscow on Thursday (June 22th, 2023) on spying charges, which he denies. Gershkovich’s detention, at the notorious Lefortovo prison in Moscow, was extended last month to August 30. He faces up to 20 years in jail on espionage charges, which he and his employer vehemently contest.

Gershkovich was in court for the decision, in a glass cage, wearing a dark t-shirt and jeans. The US ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, was also at the hearing at Moscow City Court, as were his parents, Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich.

April 12nd, 2023 (2.5 months ago), a top Russian diplomat said Moscow may be willing to discuss a potential prisoner swap involving jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich after a court delivers its verdict. When Evan got WSJ gig, not only was he thrilled about dream job, but it also meant a lot to his finances & family:

"I teared up. Can pay off student loans, help parents. I made it."

Lefortovo serves as a pretrial detention center. Still, prisoners can spend years there. Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, was at the prison for two years before being convicted on charges of espionage and is now serving a 16-year sentence at a penal colony. In December 2022, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, the official who brought Brittney Griner back to the U.S., says that he spoke to Paul Whelan just hours after landing in Texas with Griner.

"I landed at 4:30 in the morning, and at 9:30, Paul called from the penal colony in Russia. I explained to him, I said, 'Paul, it was one or nothing, we were not going to be able to get you out. We're going to keep working on it, but I understand you're a little frustrated with that,"

One of Biden’s most challenging relationships will be with Saudi Arabia. The oil kingdom and ally against Iran has a dismal record on human rights even in the United States. Case in point, 15-year-old Fallon Smart of Portland, Oregon.

(Exclusive Netflix Series “The Diplomat”)

She was killed in a hit and run by a Saudi student who vanished before trial. He's among many Saudis accused of serious crimes in the U.S. who mysteriously disappear. Their victims include Fawn Lengvenis, the mother of Fallon Smart. She told us about the day in 2016 that she drove to pick up her daughter at a shop. Fallon only had to cross two-lane Hawthorne Street to reach her mother and two siblings in their car.

19 hours ago (June 21, 2023), Secretary Blinken Blinken announced a visa ban policy for foreign officials who assist fugitives evade the U.S. justice system. This policy is named for Oregon teen Fallon Smart. The Saudi national responsible for the hit-and-run that killed her in 2016 fled the U.S. to escape prosecution.

So, the US government is really sensitive with prison, or several cases when US citizens are in prison abroad. So for another case, Austin Bennett Tice (born August 11, 1981), US set “whatever things” to free him: asking Oman help. Also try to free Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi, Morad Tahbaz, and Majd Kamalmaz.

Another American, Majd Kamalmaz, was detained at a checkpoint in Damascus in February 2017 and has not been heard from since. Biden met with Austin Tice’s parents, Marc and Debra, in early May 2022. Following that meeting, Marc Tice says Biden told them “he supported the efforts that are underway and other efforts that may create positive movement” to get Austin home.

“One of the efforts underway is pushing to get engagement and engagement that sustained,” between the US and Syria, Marc Tice said at the time. The two nations do not have diplomatic relations.

Oil executive Siamak Namazi, who has dual US-Iranian citizenship, was jailed for 10 years on charges of spying and cooperating with the US government in 2016.

Emad Shargi is an Iranian-American businessman who was arrested in 2018 while working for a tech investment company.

Iranian-American environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, who also holds British citizenship, was given a 10-year sentence on charges of spying for the US and undermining Iranian security in 2019.

Thanks to the (prolonged war) Russia - Ukraine war, a lot of countries seek “alternative supply” for energy, and one of options is Oman, very good relation with Saudi and Iran.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is not alone for (aiming) to go to space among Arabian countries. In previous years, Gulf funds had a reputation for snapping up trophy assets. Now, they are being more tactical — using their wealth to claim a bigger role on the world stage, diversify their economies and win geopolitical influence. Oman has a rare dream, not like Qatar (host World Cup 2022) and Saudi (try to be winning bid of World Cup 2030): Oman will host the Middle East’s first spaceport, thanks to a large energy contract between Oman and several countries. The project will be located in the port town of Duqm, dubbed the Etlaq Space Launch Complex. 

Due to its equatorial positioning, authorities believe the site to make an ideal spot for launches, as the rocket can take advantage of the Earth’s rotational speeds. “Internationally verified studies have identified that Wilayat Al-Duqm’s equatorial positioning places it in the top 10 most efficient rocket launch latitudes in the world. Another “Top 10” is Biak Indonesia, one degree below the equator, which makes it ideal for launching spacecraft as less fuel is needed to reach orbit (and Biak) also has several features that make it attractive for anyone with space ambitions, It is flush with nickel and copper - both used to manufacture rockets. Back again to Oman, energy firm OQ SAOC plans to sell up to 49% of its oil drilling unit ​Abraj Energy Services SAOC in an initial public offering, kick-starting the sultanate’s push to join a listings boom sweeping through the Middle East. The Oman sultanate is looking to join the Gulf’s IPO boom.

Currently, Oman’s economy is firmly entrenched in a cycle of hydro-carbon dependency. In Oman, oil and gas accounts for nearly 50% of GDP, 70% of exports, and 71% of total government revenue.

This reliance on oil and gas has been posited as Oman’s biggest risk, and the country has been on an all out mission to develop other sectors of its economy, aiming to cut its share of hydro-carbon derived GDP in half by 2020. To these ends, the country has earmarked roughly $106 billion to invest in industries like transportation, tourism, and real estate, with projects to create a new railway network, new airports, enhanced seaports, new cities — a la Duqm — currently underway. The research firm BMI forecasted that the Sino-Oman Industrial City will be a major factor in the rise of Oman’s construction sector, which is predicted to double its growth rate by 2019.

The location of the port/SEZ combo at Duqm fits snuggly into the bosom of China’s Maritime Silk Road — Beijing’s vision of three supercharged sea routes between China and Europe and Africa that are serving as a framework for the development of a plethora of Chinese-owned ports and other mega-projects. From an established basecamp at Duqm, China will be able to better access and secure their energy and trade supply lines throughout the Middle East and East Africa.

It is also probably no coincidence that 77.1% (2015) of Oman’s crude oil and condensate exports go to China. Oman sees China as ‘a partner, not competitor’ against US. The old back channel in Oman is being used. Both Qatar and Oman have played mediating roles between Iran and Western powers in the past.

Syria and Saudi. Syria and the UAE. Iran and Saudi. Iran and the UAE. Egypt and Turkey. Saudi and the Houthis. Oman mediating. Qatar mediating. Iraq mediating. Lots of diplomacy going on in the Middle East right now, thanks to tireless former Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, at least April 2022-December 2022 (before being replaced by Qin Gang) to mediate two of the (original) biggest powers in the Middle East: Iran - Saudi. After the Iran - Saudi deal to peace, every muslim country in the Middle East agreed to peace with each other too. 

In Christmas 2022 (announced 1 day after, on Dec 26th), worried about less supply from Blok Tangguh (Papua Indonesia), Japan sealed an agreement (gigantic agreement) with the Oman government for gas supply. Japanese firms, including Mitsui, will buy more from Oman for 10 years starting 2025. January 2023, Oman also agreed to sell LNG to Turkey, the latest in a string of long-term deals. Turkey's Botas will buy 1 million tons/year from 2025 for 10 years. (Also) January 2023, PTT Thailand will buy 800,000 tons/year starting in 2025 for 10 years. Buyers rush to secure supply from Oman, since few exporters have anything available before 2026.

Oman has been busy this last month signing deals as buyers clamor for long-term supply. In February 2023, Oman will supply China's Unipec with 1 million tons per year of LNG for 4 years starting in 2025.

Get boost economic, thanks for gas, Oman also more strategic in politic - geopolitic. Oman is the key mediator between U.S. & Iran. Oman's foreign minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi says Iran and the US are close to a deal on the release of Americans held in Tehran. Syria and the US are exchanging messages with the help of Oman over the fate of missing US journalist Austin Tice. Again, the old back channel in Oman is being used.

In private, however, Israel's prime minister reportedly has downplayed the likely impact of the more limited discussions taking place in Oman. Qatar and Oman have maintained communications with Iran and Saudi Arabia, also playing a mediating role between Washington and Tehran.

The recent indirect U.S.-Iran talks, reported to have occurred in Oman in May, included on the U.S. side NSC Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk, as well as U.S. Iran Envoy Robert Malley.

The EU's recent meetings with diplomats from Iran about the long dead JCPOA of 2015 that has no future when the U.S. is discussing a different deal with the Iranians in Oman. On Wednesday (June 21, 2023), Iran foreign minister met Sultan bin Mohammed al Numani, minister of Oman's royal office, for talks on ties between their countries and "several areas of cooperation", the official Oman News Agency said." Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said last week that Tehran exchanged messages with the United States through Oman “a few weeks ago” but said that his government does not endorse any negotiations for an interim agreement or new arrangements to replace the JCPOA.

The Trump administration withdrew from the landmark agreement in 2018 and Iran has increasingly grown its nuclear program in violation of the deal. In Tel Aviv, without informing the CIA, Mossad was (secretly) trying to nuke or bombing Tehran, according to an investigation about Pentagon leaks. 

U.S. and Iranian officials have been engaged in indirect talks for months. The aim: find a way to de escalate relations and avoid a possible conflict neither side wants. Most of these organizations or individuals will tell you that they aren't opposed to diplomacy with Iran—they're only opposed to a bad deal. Even so, they're allergic to the idea of giving Tehran concessions. Their version of diplomacy is squeezing Iran until they capitulate.

The U.S. itself (thanks Trump) ditched the JCPOA, resumed the sanctions, and added even more. The U.S. itself spent about three years executing this strategy. The result was a more belligerent Iran, an Iranian nuclear program free of most constraints, and you guessed it, less breakout time.

Now, courtesy of the failed policy of the hardliners (plagued with poor assumptions), the U.S. is left with a bigger problem. Iran has more leverage (thanks China's appearance in the Middle East), which means any nuclear restrictions and inspection protocols we are lucky to strike won't be as good as they once were. One can take issue with the various aspects of a (rumored) deal. Reasonable people can disagree about the details.

By agreeing to halt their mutual escalations between Iran - U.S. (thanks Oman for mediating), the hope is that a crisis can be avoided for another 18 months. What at first was an unspoken understanding has now become an informal agreement that provides them with what they need the most—time

Oman can cooperate with NASA, or with Russia, or ESA (European Space Agency), or even with China for the Space Program (like current partnership cooperation Oman - China on construction - built a new city). 

Nobody is going to confuse the dusty fishing village of Duqm for Dubai.

But Oman intends to change this by building an entirely new, $10.7 billion transit-oriented industrial city on the desertified coast of the Arabian Sea, 550 kilometers south of Muscat.

More accurately, China intends to change this by building an entirely new $10.7 billion transit-oriented industrial city …

A year ago, Oman signed a deal and opened the doors for a Chinese consortium to move in and do what they seemingly like to do best: build a new boomtown. After constructing dozens of full-scale new cities and completely re-developing dozens more in their own country, Chinese firms are now moving out along the tendrils of the Belt and Road to construct new cities across Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Duqm is among the most ambitious of such projects.

China's new city in the Oman desert has been pragmatically dubbed the Sino-Oman Industrial City, and the ambition is to turn a remote and underutilized Middle East seaport into a vital nerve center of global trade and manufacturing. The 11-square-kilometer endeavor, which sits within the giant Duqm Special Economic Zone (SEZAD), is expected to have not only a vibrant port but an array of other “mega-ventures,” which include an oil refinery, a multi-billion dollar methanol plant, a giant solar energy equipment manufacturing operation, an automobile assembly factory, an oil and gas equipment production site, and a $100+ million building material distribution enterprise.

In addition to being a cluster of industrial operations, the Sino-Oman Industrial City will also have a more human element as well, providing homes for 25,000 people, complete with schools, medical facilities, office complexes, and entertainment centers — which includes a $200 million 5-star tourism zone.

The Chinese consortium has promised to develop 30% of the project area in just five years, with financing and construction firms coming straight from the mainland.

Location of Dumq, Oman. GOOGLE MAPS

Oman Wanfang, the Chinese consortium that is putting up the money, know-how, and boots on the ground to carry out this massive endeavor, is made up of six companies, most of which are from the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region — which is largely populated by Chinese Muslims, demonstrating a cultural link with Oman that may help facilitate such deals.

But unlike many other Chinese investor consortiums that are active along the Belt and Road, all of these firms are private, as opposed to being commercial extensions of the Chinese state, and claim that they are not being provided with direct funding from their government to carry out their individual projects in Duqm. However, this doesn’t mean that they don’t have the full backing of Beijing, who is reputedly supporting the venture via its National Development and Reform Commission, who has oddly already enthroned the project as a “Top Overseas Industrial Park.”

Laying right on the Arabian Sea between the Gulf of Oman and the Gulf of Aden, the location of the port/SEZ combo at Duqm fits snuggly into the bosom of China’s Maritime Silk Road — Beijing’s vision of three supercharged sea routes between China and Europe and Africa that are serving as a framework for the development of a plethora of Chinese-owned ports and other mega-projects. From an established basecamp at Duqm, China will be able to better access and secure their energy and trade supply lines throughout the Middle East and East Africa.

It is also probably no coincidence that 77.1% (2015) of Oman’s crude oil and condensates exports go to China.

Chinese investors listening to an explanation as they check the model of the dry dock which is to be... [+]

The Sino-Oman Industrial City is just one of a network of new cities that Chinese firms are currently busy at work constructing along the land and sea routes of the Belt and Road — another entry into a portfolio that now includes Colombo Financial City and Hambantota in Sri Lanka, Forest City and Robotic Future City in Malaysia, a massive port and SEZ project in Abu Dhabi, the $10 billion Kyauk Pyu Special Economic Zone in Myanmar, along with large-scale new developments in western Chinese cities like Horgos, Urumqi, Lanzhou, and Xi’an.

Via its Belt and Road Initiative, China has become a prime partner of countries that are going through three kinds of economic transitions:

• Emerging markets trying to build up their economies and develop a framework of modern transport infrastructure, energy, and technology.

• Stagnant or retracting developed economies, like Greece, Spain, and the Brexit-riddled U.K, who are in dire need of additional sources of economic sustenance.

• Energy resource dependent nations who are trying to diversify their economies to bolster long-term sustainability.

Oman joins countries like Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan right in the midst of the third type of transition.

Currently, Oman’s economy is firmly entrenched in a cycle of hydro-carbon dependency. In Oman, oil and gas accounts for nearly 50% of GDP, 70% of exports, and 71% of total government revenue.

This reliance on oil and gas has been posited as Oman’s biggest risk, and the country has been on an all out mission to develop other sectors of its economy, aiming to cut its share of hydro-carbon derived GDP in half by 2020. To these ends, the country has earmarked roughly $106 billion to invest in industries like transportation, tourism, and real estate, with projects to create a new railway network, new airports, enhanced seaports, new cities — a la Duqm — currently underway. The research firm BMI forecasted that the Sino-Oman Industrial City will be a major factor in the rise of Oman’s construction sector, which is predicted to double its growth rate by 2019.

For the record, Oman didn’t go running straight to China with their economic woes, begging the emerging superpower to the east to step in and fund their diversification program. No, as was the case with Sri Lanka, Oman initially tried to secure additional funding for its big development projects from other countries, like Iran, but it was to no avail. China was the only taker, and probably the only country in the world with the capital, political will, and motive for carrying out such long-term, costly developmental endeavors.

Omani Yahya bin Said bin Abdullah Al-Jabri, Minister of the Special Economic Zone Authority

Under the framework of the Belt and Road, China is going around salving the world’s economic deficiencies with bags of money and bulldozers in exchange for long-term engagements:

These new port holdings also further enmeshes China into the political and economic fabric of the world. While seemingly irrational, inflated amounts of money are being passed over the table today, what China is receiving are strong footholds in the international arena that they will be able to stand upon for decades, creating a new geo-economic paradigm in the process. While national leaders put on smily faces and talk about “win-win” partnerships, international infrastructure projects like China's maritime developments are drawing up the new front lines of the 21st century, where economic leverage is the weapon of choice.

CONTRARY: very hate China, but deal with Oman, yes, its Trump

According to New York Times, Trump makes another run at the White House, he’s partnering with a key U.S. ally on a new business venture that is raising serious ethical questions. The multi-billion dollar deal between Trump, the government of Oman and a Saudi firm would develop a luxury complex.

The Trump Organization is in business with the government of Oman, because the government of Oman owns the land, and it's going to be taking a cut of the profits from this deal.

And so they are now a partner of a government entity that is doing this multibillion-dollar project that has a 30-year contract with the Trump family. And it's not only for their name. They're going to be reviewing the hotel design. They're going to be helping build the golf course and the golf club. And they're going to be managing the hotel and golf club for decades to come. They're going to have a significant financial stake that involves the government of Oman itself.

Oman is just 20 miles (32 km) across the Strait of Hormuz from Iran. It's right next to the United Arab Emirates, and it's close to Saudi Arabia. And it is sort of an intermediary between the Saudi political concerns and the Iranian concerns. And it actually is a place where, recently, Biden administration officials have gone to potentially talk to Iran about resolving some of our differences.

Same Jan 6th, 2021

Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, was doing shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East as they were trying to reach some decline in tension between Israel and some of the Arab nations, and that Trump was quite engaged with Saudi Arabia after the Khashoggi murder and defending actions there and downplaying the role of the Saudi government.

He was quite friendly with Saudi Arabia. And so now, after he leaves office, his son-in-law gets $2 billion worth of investment from the Saudi public sovereign — sovereign wealth fund. And then the sovereign wealth fund always — also LIV Golf. And LIV Golf puts several of its tournaments at Trump golf courses in the United States.

And this — there's a lot of money between the Middle Eastern companies, be it in Saudi Arabia or now in Oman, and Trump business operations that overlap with his activities as president. What were those deals and rewards for his actions as president? It's an open question.

But, again, we have never seen something like this in — even in the aftermath of a presidency, where a president is profiting as much from a foreign government that he — foreign governments that he was closely active with during his presidency.

Trump family international deals since 2016. India, Indonesia (with Hary Tanoe, but some property change MoU, for example, in near Headquarter Business of Hary Tanoe, actually will build Trump Hotel, but currently under name “Park Hyatt Hotel”, may be still ongoing Trump resort planning in Lido, around 160 km from Jakarta), Philippines, Turkey, Panama. 

For specific Indonesia: actually during the Trump administration, (former) Secretary of State Rex Tillerson started to rebuild the US Embassy in Jakarta. And, Hary Tanoe headquarter business in Jakarta just separate 16 feet one-way road with US Embassy in Indonesia. The US Embassy in Indonesia is just around 400 meters from the Indonesia’s Presidential Palace.

There's been a tug of war between aesthetically pleasing and safe when it comes to American embassies around the world. Many embassies have been slammed as bunkers, bland cubes and lifeless compounds. Even the former Secretary of State John Forbe Kerry said just a few years ago, "We are building some of the ugliest embassies I've ever seen." But the choice between gardens and gates isn't just academic for diplomats — it can affect the way they work. Many diplomats found that the isolation, distance from city centers and lack of accessibility of many embassies complicated their job. With cost always a consideration and safety always a priority, there was a shift to the more prisonlike embassies that have drawn criticism of late

The US Government (lookalike) has a fetish, to make sure every Compound or US Embassy building is (MUST) very near with the Presidential Palace / Prime Minister Palace / some landmark in the capital city. For example: US Embassy in Berlin just 11-12 feet from Brandenburg Gate. Following a series of high-profile attacks on US missions elsewhere in the world, Congress ruled that all embassies must be set back from the street behind a 30.5-metre (100ft) “seclusion zone”, and be built within a self-contained site of at least 4.5 acres (1.8ha). The George W Bush administration then introduced a standard embassy design programme , which seemed intent on populating the world with a grim concrete sheds set behind high walls, like the $750m compound in Baghdad.

To show how “fetish” US government to make sure “very strategic” location to every US Embassy building across the world, back again about Trump as (not only) former President but (he’s literally) property businessmen. Donald Trump abruptly pulled the plug on his mooted visit to the UK by firing a broadside at the “bad deal” he said the US had got over its new $1 billion embassy.

The former president (in 2017) cited the forthcoming move from the current embassy in Mayfair's Grosvenor Square as his reason for jettisoning the planned working visit to the UK, and proceeded to lambaste his predecessor Barack Obama for having “sold perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for ‘peanuts’.”

This is why TRUMP HOTEL must near US Embassy in Jakarta, coincidentally, US Embassy in Jakarta also very near with Presidential Palace

Trump had been scheduled to officially open the imposing new Nine Elms embassy on the south bank of the Thames as the start of a working visit to the UK later (2017). But the new embassy has become embroiled in the contentious diplomatic saga over Mr Trump’s proposed visit to the UK.

Beginning in 2008 when US government announced the purchase of a site in the Nine Elms area of Wandsworth, this is a process that will produce a modern, welcoming, safe and energy efficient embassy for the 21st century.

Regarding the move, (former) Ambassador Robert Tuttle, who led the search for a new site, said: “We looked at all our options, including renovation of our current building on Grosvenor Square. In the end, we realized that the goal of a modern, secure and environmentally sustainable Embassy could best be met by constructing a new facility.”

Standing in contrast to dark brick luxury flats (former US Embassy building in Grosvenor), the glass citadel (in Nine Elms) aims to be a benign fortress that is part of a wider rejuvenation of ‘Knightsbridge of the South.’ US$1bn (£750m) glass citadel that aims to be fortress without walls.

The astonishing array of “hostile vehicle mitigation” paraphernalia that surrounds the two-hectare site in Nine Elms. embassy stands at the centre of the £15bn regeneration project, spanning 230 hectares along the river from Vauxhall to Battersea, where some of London’s most expensive apartments are being conjured from what was a scruffy landscape of depots and sorting offices until recently.

According copywriting to explaining Park Hyatt Jakarta, “The (Park Hyatt Jakarta) hotel’s location harkens back to the origins of the Park Hyatt brand with its first property overlooking a serene park in Chicago, its proximity to nature reflects how Park Hyatt hotels around the world offer an oasis of calm amid the bustle of the city.”

Of course, hotel in the middle of HQ Hary Tanoe complex business was (previously) Trump business under Trump Organization. (Honestly) I’m surprised that this Hotel no longer under TRUMP brand but Park Hyatt. In Jakarta, Hyatt already have a hotel in very strategic “Bundaran HI” (HI Square) Jakarta, Grand Hyatt Jakarta (1991). For first ever in ASEAN / Southeast Asia, top-tier luxury brand, offering residential-style luxury “PARK HYATT” has built (but, again, not under TRUMP name). Park Hyatt Kuala Lumpur (2nd with level “PARK HYATT”) is planned for the top floors of the Merdeka 118, the world's second tallest building.

Back to "(previously) two projects under Trump administration - related - business of building (Trump Hotel in Jakarta but now Park Hyatt, and renovation US Embassy building), still unclear from Biden administration to willing new embassy building if officially Indonesia moving capital city from Jakarta to IKN NUSANTARA.

As I heard (not reported by media), at least Germany and China agree to build a new embassy building in IKN NUSANTARA. In Jakarta, the biggest embassy building is actually not the U.S. but Australia. The Australian Government set an Embassy Building in Jakarta to be the biggest ever Australia embassy (even if compared with the Australian Embassy in Washington DC and in London).

Same as US Government or Biden administration, unclear until today that Australian - Albanese administration set a plan to build (again) new embassy building in IKN NUSANTARA, because same situation as US government, Australian government already spent nearly billion dollars to build embassy in Jakarta. Australian Embassy in Jakarta was get bombed by terrorist (September 9th, 2004), so Australian government move the embassy, previously in area named Rasuna Jakarta now in elite district Patra Kuningan Jakarta, around 8 kilometers from Presidential Palace.

To comparison about budget to build new embassy, again, back again about situation in London. The US state department agreed to sell the building to Qatari Diar in 2009 to fund a new embassy in the Nine Elms regeneration project south of the Thames. Estimates put the Grosvenor Square site’s value at £500m before it was made a listed building, which would have reduced the value because of restrictions on development. Grosvenor Square has housed the US embassy since 1938, and during the second world war the square was known as Little America because it was Gen Dwight D Eisenhower’s headquarters and other US operations were based there. Unclear US government and Australian government sells embassies building in Jakarta before built new embassy in IKN Nusantara.

(This angle photo is in front of US Embassy)

Back to Oman. Trump has sold his name to real estate developers in spots around the globe. But in Oman, a partner in this giant deal is the government of Oman itself. Eric Trump in Oman in February 2023, meeting with Oman government officials, as his dad is running for re-election. Nov. 2022, clearly, the sponsors of the deal, a Saudi-real-estate company named Dar Global, wanted Trump in person for this event.

Yiti, the one-time fishing village at the entrance to the megalopolis Trump Organization is helping build in Oman. This town is dying--as luxury townhouses/golf course rises. More goats/donkeys in town than people. Workers taken over some houses. Htim Talbi, whose family has lived in Yiti for six decades and remains in one of the few occupied homes in the dusty town, said he harbored a far-off dream that he might somehow afford one of the luxury townhouses.

“Trump — he is your king from America,” Mr. Talbi said, after inviting a visitor to his village inside to an air-conditioned room to sit on the floor and share a pot of tea.

Oman is a beautiful country, although (typical) desert temperature: 100-107 degree fahrenheit . Super friendly people. But was amazed at how big the Trump brand is as part of this deal. His name is key part of sales effort at showroom and at the project site. The government of Oman owns the land where the project is being built. The developer, Dar al Arkan, is a Saudi real-estate company with close ties to the Saudi royal family.

Detailed the 30-year deal with the Trump family--DT Marks Oman LLC (as in Donald Trump)--and that the government of Oman will share in the profits. Here is a piece of it. Opening payment to Trump: more than $5 million.

Welcome to (New) Oman.

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-prada- is a Helper. Former adviser (President Indonesia) Jokowi for mapping 2-times election. I used to get paid to catch all these blunders—now I do it for free. Trying to work out what's going on, what happens next. Arch enemies of the tobacco industry, (still) survive after getting doxed.

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