buglerbilly
04-05-10, 03:57 AM
From Times Online May 4, 2010
Saudi Arabia delays signing arms contract
Hugh Tomlinson
Saudi Arabia is waiting for the next British government to take shape before signing a defence contract worth up to £4 billion to the UK economy, The Times has learnt.
The contract concerns weapons for the Eurofighter Typhoon jets sold to Riyadh by BAE Systems under a £20 billion deal signed by the two governments in September 2007. The munitions contract is the last big package of the al-Salam deal still to be signed.
Negotiations are believed to be well advanced but Riyadh is understood to have balked at finalising the agreement because a change of government in Britain looks likely.
The move echoes the Saudi approach when agreeing the original contract to purchase 72 Typhoons at a cost of £4.43 billion four years ago. Although al-Salam — meaning peace in Arabic — was agreed in August 2006, Riyadh resisted signing the deal until September 2007, a few months after Gordon Brown had replaced Tony Blair as Prime Minister.
Riyadh is considering ordering at least 24 more Eurofighters, worth almost £1.5 billion. Talks on this deal will resume during the next parliament. The Saudi Government came close to walking away from the entire al-Salam agreement after an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office into allegations of bribery and corruption in arms deals between BAE Systems and Saudi Arabia. BAE was alleged to have made illegal payments to Saudi princes to secure a £43 billion agreement to supply Riyadh with Tornado and Hawk jets, plus other military equipment, in 1985. The al-Yamamah deal, the precursor to al-Salam, is the UK’s largest ever defence contract.
The SFO inquiry was dropped in December 2006 after the Saudis threatened to withdraw intelligence co-operation with Britain on terrorism. Mr Blair drew widespread criticism when he asked Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney-General at the time, to halt the investigation on the ground that it jeopardised British national security and jobs.
In 2008, the High Court ruled that the SFO had acted unlawfully by dropping the investigation.
The US Department of Justice is still examining payments worth more than £1 billion made by BAE to Saudi officials, including Prince Bandar bin Sultan, a former ambassador to Washington.
BAE began delivering the Typhoons to Saudi Arabia last June.
Saudi Arabia delays signing arms contract
Hugh Tomlinson
Saudi Arabia is waiting for the next British government to take shape before signing a defence contract worth up to £4 billion to the UK economy, The Times has learnt.
The contract concerns weapons for the Eurofighter Typhoon jets sold to Riyadh by BAE Systems under a £20 billion deal signed by the two governments in September 2007. The munitions contract is the last big package of the al-Salam deal still to be signed.
Negotiations are believed to be well advanced but Riyadh is understood to have balked at finalising the agreement because a change of government in Britain looks likely.
The move echoes the Saudi approach when agreeing the original contract to purchase 72 Typhoons at a cost of £4.43 billion four years ago. Although al-Salam — meaning peace in Arabic — was agreed in August 2006, Riyadh resisted signing the deal until September 2007, a few months after Gordon Brown had replaced Tony Blair as Prime Minister.
Riyadh is considering ordering at least 24 more Eurofighters, worth almost £1.5 billion. Talks on this deal will resume during the next parliament. The Saudi Government came close to walking away from the entire al-Salam agreement after an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office into allegations of bribery and corruption in arms deals between BAE Systems and Saudi Arabia. BAE was alleged to have made illegal payments to Saudi princes to secure a £43 billion agreement to supply Riyadh with Tornado and Hawk jets, plus other military equipment, in 1985. The al-Yamamah deal, the precursor to al-Salam, is the UK’s largest ever defence contract.
The SFO inquiry was dropped in December 2006 after the Saudis threatened to withdraw intelligence co-operation with Britain on terrorism. Mr Blair drew widespread criticism when he asked Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney-General at the time, to halt the investigation on the ground that it jeopardised British national security and jobs.
In 2008, the High Court ruled that the SFO had acted unlawfully by dropping the investigation.
The US Department of Justice is still examining payments worth more than £1 billion made by BAE to Saudi officials, including Prince Bandar bin Sultan, a former ambassador to Washington.
BAE began delivering the Typhoons to Saudi Arabia last June.