Dr. Mahdi was Muhammad Ali business manager for 13 years. He has personally met with five U.S. Presidents and have been recognized by the U.S. Government as a Middle Eastern foreign affairs expert. In 1984, upon recommendation from President Ronald Reagan, under the direction of Vice-President George Bush, Sr., I led the Muhammad Ali Delegation to Beirut, Lebanon, to successfully negotiate with terrorists the cease and desist of the execution of seven American hostages. In 1985, we were asked again by the U.S. Government to participate in the Trans-World Airlines (TWA Flight 847) hostage crisis in Beirut, Lebanon. I led the Muhammad Ali Delegation to Israel and successfully negotiated with the Israeli government for the release of 700 Muslim detainees in Israel's Attica prison, in return for the release of 139 hostages on TWA in Beirut. Dr. Mahdi successfully negotiated a cease-fire between the Sudanese Government of the North and the rebel leader of the South. The cease-fire negotiations were a twofold plan primarily for World Vision's and other relief organizations' reentry into Sudan to deliver 400 tons of food and medical supplies to over a million starving Sudanese. Successfully established a peace conference to end the senseless civil war between North and South Sudan.
