AL FAYED LOSES APPEAL FOR BRITISH CITIZENSHIP
THE ORLANDO SENTINEL
LONDON -- Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed lost his appeal for British citizenship Wednesday as a senior judge ruled the government was right to question whether he had a "general defect in his character." Al Fayed, the Egyptian-born owner of the famed department store, applied for a British passport in 1993. After a lengthy legal battle, his application was turned down by Home Secretary Jack Straw in May 1999 after allegations that Al Fayed paid British lawmakers to ask parliamentary questions and that he rifled through safe-deposit boxes rented to Harrods customers.