We're honest brokers, insist bar brothers

TALK to Karl Kazal and you hear a story of an immigrant family from Lebanon that built a successful business and property empire through shrewd investments and sheer hard work.

The crowning achievement of the eight Kazal brothers - a four-storey pleasure palace called Bar 100, located in one of The Rocks' premier heritage buildings - will soon elevate the family to genuine players alongside bar barons like Justin Hemmes and John Ibrahim when it opens late next month.

But the people who also make a living in business in The Rocks have a far different tale: one of mysterious Middle Eastern money and political favours.

The Kazals, who are well known to have deep ties to the rulers and business elite of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia through an international consultancy business that has opened doors for politicians in Sydney and the Gulf States, are the subject of much local suspicion.

At its mildest, the rumour says the Kazals have used their connections, particularly in the NSW Labor Party, to gain preferential treatment and sweetheart lease deals from the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority (SHFA), which administers the taxpayer-owned buildings of The Rocks.

At its wildest, that their businesses, which include a pizza restaurant and the Guylian Belgian Chocolate Cafe, are a mere front to salt away money for individuals in the Middle East. A past business relationship with Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the notorious Libyan dictator, heightened the rumours.

In their first interview, Karl Kazal, the family patriarch, and his brother Charif spoke to The Sun-Herald to clear the air before the opening of Bar 100 and as local businesses brawl with SHFA over the future of The Rocks.

''We have had an international consultancy business for a long time. That is no secret,'' said Karl Kazal.

''But the rumours and innuendo about us parking Middle Eastern money in our business are totally and utterly unfounded. People are narrow-minded. They could see hard work but instead they see other motives.

''Do you think that people who want to hide money around the world are going to do it in a little cafe in The Rocks? Come on, it's unfounded and it's disgusting. Do you think I'd be here seven days a week running cafes if that was the case?''

None of the traders in the Rocks is willing to speak out publicly against the Kazals.

The most contentious property deal the Kazals have been involved in was signing the exclusive lease to 100 George Street, and an agreement with SHFA that has seen NSW taxpayers throw in $6.5 million for renovations for Bar 100.

The Kazals are suing The Sydney Morning Herald over reports last year about their relationship with SHFA.

If Bar 100, which will include a top-level lounge and cigar balcony, a function room and a downstairs brasserie called Eight Brothers, hits expected revenue targets, the Kazals say they will be paying $1 million in rent a year. They say they have spent $12 million on making Bar 100 a reality.

''We are taking a big risk, a massive risk and if it works - big question mark - The Rocks wins,'' said Charif Kazal.

The Kazal family, which has donated more than $100,000 to both political parties, but mainly the ALP, said attending and hosting fund-raisers has been essential in the Sydney property sector.

Donations by developers were banned last year by the former Labor government.

The brothers may need some political back-up ahead, with Rocks traders already claiming that Bar 100 will turn the historic precinct into ''the next Kings Cross''.

Karl Kazal counters: ''How could we dare to do that when we have substantial other business interests in the same area? We'd be digging our own grave.''