Saudi prince in court over commission on sale of jet to Gaddafi

The secretive sale of a private jet to late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi by a billionaire Saudi prince came under scrutiny yesterday in a London court, where a businesswoman who says she brokered the deal is suing the prince for US$10 million.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a nephew of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah and one of the world's richest men, is expected to give evidence in what would be an extremely rare instance of a senior Saudi royal being cross-examined in court.

The jet in question has a history as colourful as its customised interior, which boasted a king-size bed and a meeting room with a throne-like leather armchair.

Gaddafi sent the plane to pick up Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi when he was freed from a Scottish jail in 2009, and it was shown off as a trophy by rebels who toppled Gaddafi in 2011, who were photographed on its silver-coloured leather sofas.

Daad Sharab, a Jordanian businesswoman who had high-level contacts in Saudi Arabia and Libya, says Prince Alwaleed sold the Airbus A340 to Gaddafi for US$120 million in a protracted process from 2001 to 2006.

Sharab, 52, says he promised her a US$10 million commission but she received nothing.