NAIROBI, Nov 8: It may seem ironic but Osama bin Laden could have cashed in on the huge amount of chewing gum consumed in the United States each year and on the country’s favourite soft drinks, according to secret services sources quoted by the international media.

One of Osama’s key business interests is said to have been gum arabicum, an important ingredient in soft drinks and other products.

“It is possible that every time somebody buys an American soft drink, he’s filling Osama bin Laden’s coffers,” British author Simon Reeve wrote in his book “The New Jackals”, which examines Osama terrorist network.

Arabicum is also used to make cosmetics, pharmaceutical products and confectionery. It is used to stabilize foams or to prevent particles from forming a residue at the bottom of a bottle.

Eighty to 90 per cent of this unique, easily soluble resin from the acacia tree, is harvested in Sudan and distributed by the Gum Arabic Company, founded in 1969.

In the past a significant part of the company’s annual revenue of 60 million dollars is said to have ended up in the pockets of Osama, who established a financial base for his worldwide terrorist network from 1991 to 1996 in Sudan, secret service sources say. Osama owned a large share of the company headed by Adbel Mageed Abdel Gadir, according to international secret service sources.

The Sudanese company employs smalltime farmers in Sudan, who harvest some 40,000 tons annually on their plantations and it supplied North America with large amounts of the coveted resin through the New Jersey-based agency PL Thomas & Co.

Internal market analyses show that until 1988, Osama had a virtual monopoly on the resin. It is not clear whether Osama is still involved in the business, say the Central Intelligence Agency CIA and the US Department of State.

The Sudanese government vehemently denies any trade relations with bin Laden.—dpa