Billionaire Al Masri released

Sabih Al Masri, a Palestinian billionaire and Jordan’s most influential businessman, was released after several days of detention in Saudi Arabia, who he said gave him “all respect”.

Masri, the chairman of Amman-based Arab Bank, was detained last Tuesday hours before he was planning to leave after chairing meetings of companies he owns, sources said.

The authorities have not commented on his detention. His confidants had warned him not to travel to the Saudi capital after the mass arrests in early November, the sources said.

The detention sent shock-waves through business circles in Jordan and the Palestinian territories. Masri’s multi-billion-dollar investments in hotels and banking in Jordan are a cornerstone of the economy of the Kingdom and he is by far the biggest investor in Palestinian territories.

Masri said on Sunday that he would be returning to Jordan after finishing business meetings this week.

“All is well and am happy (to be released) and I was given all respect by everyone here,” a Saudi citizen of Palestinian origin, told Reuters from his home in Riyadh.

A member of a prominent merchant family from Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Masri amassed a fortune by partnering with influential Saudis in a catering business to supply troops during the U.S.-led military operation to retake Kuwait from Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War.

He is the founder of Saudi Astra Group, which has wide interests in diversified industries ranging from agro-industry to telecommunications, construction and mining across the region.

Arab Bank shares, which account for almost a quarter of the $24 billion market capitalisation of the Amman exchange, ended just 1.44% lower at start of weekly trade as investor fears ebbed with news of his release.

Officials and businessmen had warned of the reverberations of the crisis on an aid-strapped Jordanian economy already plagued by high debts. Saudi Arabia is a major donor.

Masri has since taken the helm at Arab Bank in 2012 helped boost confidence in one of the Arab world’s largest private financial institutions.

The bank, which was first established in Jerusalem in 1930, has a balance sheet of over $45 billion and has earned a reputation of resilience in the face of regional political turmoil.