Rescue chief rescuing himself?

May €1,000 Appeal nd is £119 19s 10d REPORTS from the Geneva headquarters of Overseas Investors Services indicate that its new head, the Denver multi-millionaire, Mr John King, is about to reveal the members of the financial consortium prepared to provide sufficient cash to rescue the tottering financial giant formerly controlled by Mr Bernard Cornfeld.

But it is doubtful whether the release of this information can do anything to restore confidence in IOS and prevent a further slide in its share prices which has continued throughout the week.

Serious doubts also arise about the adequacy of the $40 million which King has already raised.

Most significant is the refusal of the London and Paris branches of Rothschild to get involved in the IOs rescue bid. They have now broken off all negotiations with both King and Cornfeld.

And the long delay and contusion surrounding the announcement of the 'leading American financial institutions' which King claims are ready to support him has also further shaken investors' confidence.

It was at first rumoured that support had come from the Bank of New York and the Fidelity Insurance Company of Richmond.

is understood that nominees from these institutions were named in early communiqués from Geneva announcing King's take-over of IOS, but were later dropped after telephone calls to the United States.

Links

Mr Martin Brooke, an IOS board member and director of London bankers Guiness Maho' Fidelity is confirmed that far from 'independent'.

It already has links with IOS through a subsidiary - Fidelity and Guaranty (Continental)— which last October entered an agreement to underwrite the net asset value of various IOSowned and managed funds.

The Continental Bank and Trust Co. of Chicago, after being mentioned as a possible member of the consortium, has now also apparently dropped out.

Samuel Woolley, Bank of New York chairman, now also denies that his bank is involved in any IOS negotiations.

His bank in any case is already a custodian several IOS and associated accounts.

Not only has King built his empire-King Resources -along similar lines Cornfeld.

It now appears that much of the money which has built King Resources up as a multi-million - dollar concern came from IOS.

Mr King, it would seem, is not quite the 'independent' man that many at first took him to be.

Cornfeld's activities were largely directed to countries outside the United States.

Investment in America was in any case made difficult by Cornfeld's persistent refusal to submit to the jurisdiction of the American Securities and Exchange Commission, a stand which has certainly done little to enhance his image in the eyes of European financial interests.

This posed a problem for ion gives Cornfeld (left) helped make King who now comes to the 'rescue' of International Overseas Services Cornfeld, particularly in those colonial and semi-colonial countries where he commenced activities.

Not only did these areas lack an organized stock exchange; their governments often demanded that IOS re-invest some of its profits in the country of origin.

Contact

This brought Cornfeld into contact with King and his main company, King Resources, which spécializes in the purchase of drilling and exploration rights on packages of oil, gas and other mineral resources.

It then sells participation in these lease packages to investors at a good profit, and, for a smaller profit, performs the actual drilling.

As a King spokesman explained:

'IOS is raising money all round the world. The money has been raised for investment in the US stock market. But IOS has gotten so big that they create a balance of payments problem for these countries. So the country says re-invest. So what do they re-invest in? There's no stock exchange locally. These countriés want money in their natural resources. IOS Heavy Israeli losses Al Fatah claims AL FATAH, the Arab guer- artillery and soldiers from rilla organization, claimed Syria, Jordan and Iraq. heavy casualties among Israeli Evéry Israeli move of this forces which invaded Lebanon kind only intensifies Arab on Tuesday. determination to fight back The attackers had been pre- against the Zionist agents of vented from entering any of imperialism and weakens the the guerrilla base villages and hold l of the Arab rulers over had been driven out of a commando base they captured earlier in the fighting.

The Israelis, who had been scheduled to pull out of the area during Tuesday night, were pinned down by heavy fire and forced to call in more tanks during the night, said Al Fatah.

The action was significant from the Arab standpoint because it was jointly carried out by guerrillas, Lebanon government troops and planes, police a 'MTUC' publications were sent not only to political and trade union organizations, as we reported last week, but to a number of MPs and-significantly-to all the Fleet Street newsWhat was the purpose of this if not to provide the basis for a press campaign directed against trade union militants and a pretext for police inquiries into the revolutionary movement? dha 1ibrandina maramant Far from achieving their aim of inducing the Lebanese government to 'discipline' the guerrillas, the Israelis have helped to deepen the political crisis in the country and increased the widespread popular support for Al Fatah.

The reliance of the Arab leaders on the United Nations is utterly criminal.

Tuesday's Sécurity Council unanimously carried a resolution demanding the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces after the time actually planned for the withdrawal.

Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir declared contemptuously that the United Nations Security Council was incompetent to intervene in the situation.

ROLLS-ROYCE STRIKE ENDS MORE THAN 200 storemen on an unofficial pay strike at Rolls-Royce's Bristol Engine Division factories, Patchway, Bristol, decided unanimously to go back to work yesterday.

League and Young Socialists LENIN CENTENARI MEETING Birmingham Sunday, May 17 7.00 p.m.

DIGBETH CIVIC HALL Speaker :

seCretary Lea Admission KEEP LEFT Young Socialists' official paper MAY ISSUE