SELLING Scotland’s busiest airport to the rulers of Qatar was top of Alex Salmond’s agenda during a trade mission, secret papers reveal.
Briefing papers prepared by civil servants before the then first minister travelled to the Gulf in 2011 reveal touting Edinburgh Airport, then up for sale, was a priority.
The former first minister also tried to convince the oil-rich state, which has been attacked for its record on human rights, to invest billions of pounds in green energy projects.
Salmond insisted yesterday that, despite the sale of the airport being near the top of a list of priorities included in the briefing papers, he did not mention it to Qatar’s leaders.
The papers for Salmond’s visit to Qatar, released under freedom of information laws, detail his pitch to Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the country’s leader until 2013.
Details come days after Chinese media revealed Nicola Sturgeon signed a £10billion investment agreement with Beijing and critics accused SNP ministers of being too eager to deal with questionable regimes.
Salmond’s briefing notes say the purpose of the summit in the Gulf state was to “promote collaboration between Scotland and Qatar in the low carbon sector, to highlight investment opportunities within Scotland, to explore opportunities for a direct air service between Scotland and Doha and to promote the opportunity to purchase Edinburgh Airport”.
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It was for sale at the time because of anti-monopoly rules that forced then-owners BAA to sell Edinburgh or Glasgow Airport.
Scotland’s links to Qatar have come under scrutiny since it won the chance to host the 2022 World Cup.
Hundreds of migrant workers have died in appalling working and living conditions after being recruited to build the tournament’s roads, hotels and stadiums.
Yesterday, Labour’s Neil Findlay said: “Coming after the SNP signed a secret deal with a Chinese consortium, these revelations bring up yet more questions of the deals the SNP are trying to do behind the backs of the people of Scotland.
“The SNP Government tried to hush up the fact Alex Salmond was trying to punt Edinburgh Airport five years ago and tried to suppress signing a deal potentially worth billions with a Chinese consortium mere weeks ago.
“While he was touting Scottish assets, Alex Salmond barely seemed to mention human rights, while Nicola Sturgeon professed ignorance about allegations of corruption on the part of one of the companies involved in the China deal.
“The SNP need to be honest with the people of Scotland about the deals they are trying to cut.”
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As first minister, Salmond faced criticism over his courting of tycoons such as Donald Trump and Rupert Murdoch, which he defended by claiming he was helping bring investment to Scotland.
Yesterday, he insisted he did not discuss the airport’s sale with Sheikh Al Thani.
He said: “I never even discussed the issue of investing in Edinburgh Airport with the then emir. I knew that there was no shortage of both international and domestic bidders for Edinburgh.
“Indeed, I’d already had meetings with some of the potential investors with a view to securing Scottish participation in their consortia.
“That would not have been known to the civil servants who prepared the 90 page notes from a Foreign Office briefing.
“In the economic part of the meeting with the emir, I concentrated on the value added of seeking Qatari investment for Scotland’s marine renewable industry, which was not successful, and also establishing a direct air link with Scotland, which was successful.”
Global Infrastructure Partners bought Edinburgh Airport in 2012.
It was revealed last week that Sturgeon penned a memorandum of understanding with SinoFortone and China Railway No 3 Engineering Group (CR3) on March 21.
The news only emerged in China’s media as the Beijing regime came under fire for dumping cheap steel on Europe while imposing huge tariffs on imports.
Sturgeon admitted she was not aware that CR3’s owners, China Railway Group, faced corruption allegations which led Norway’s oil fund to blacklist the firm.
She said vetting of partners would take place only after firm deals were struck.
But Sir Richard Heygate, who advised CR3 and signed the deal, said there were discussions about three projects – 5000 new homes in Falkirk, Edinburgh and Ayrshire, a biomass plant in Ayrshire and an unspecified railway project – and that construction could start within a year.
Sturgeon is facing questions about the involvement of SNP donor, transport boss Brian Souter, who was quoted on SinoFortone’s website praising the deal.
A Sunday Mail investigation two years ago exposed horrific conditions suffered by workers on infrastructure projects for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
We revealed how labourers were dying from heart attacks and heat exhaustion in temperatures topping 40C but they couldn’t leave the country without their employers’ permission.
The Qatari authorities promised reform but two weeks ago an Amnesty report said workers building World Cup stadia were still caught in “a living nightmare”.
Last month, we revealed how international development minister Humza Yousaf appealed to Qatar for £1.3billion to pay for motorways and hospitals but did not raise concerns about the slave conditions of migrant workers.
Both Edinburgh and Glasgow airports were among those owned by the British Airports Authority until competition watchdogs ordered them to break up their monopoly. Global Infrastructure Partners bought Edinburgh airport for £807million in 2012.
A Scottish Government spokesman said yesterday: “It is right for the Scottish Government to promote opportunities for the investment required to support Scotland’s prosperity.
“The Scottish Government are firmly committed to acting as a good global citizen and stands against human rights abuses wherever they exist.”