September 7, 200718 yr From DefenseNews Posted 09/07/07 09:48 Report: BAE to Seal $40B Eurofighter Deal With Saudis Next Week AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, LONDON British defense firm BAE Systems will next week clinch a 20-billion-pound ($40.4 billion) deal to supply 72 Eurofighter Typhoon jets to Saudi Arabia, a report said Sept. 7. "It is understood that the British government sent the Typhoon contract to King Abdullah two days ago," The Times newspaper in London wrote. "The king is expected to sign the contract next week, sealing one of the largest export orders ever won by the UK.” A spokeswoman for BAE told the newspaper, "This is a government-to-government negotiation and we are unable to make any comment on it." The Ministry of Defence said negotiations were continuing, according to The Times. It had been feared that the deal would be scuppered because of a British investigation into allegations that Saudi Arabia took bribes from BAE under a military plane deal struck between Britain and the Middle Eastern kingdom more than 20 years ago. Britain’s Serious Fraud Office last year investigated BAE Systems’ 43-billion-pound Al-Yamamah deal in 1985, which provided Hawk and Tornado jets plus other military equipment to Saudi Arabia. But the investigation was shelved by the British government last December in a move supported by then-Prime Minister Tony Blair amid concerns over Britain’s national interests. Despite this, the U.S. Department of Justice in June launched its own investigation into BAE Systems amid allegations the British arms maker paid bribes to secure contracts in Saudi Arabia in the 1980s. BAE Systems is alleged to have set up a 60-million-pound "slush fund" for members of the Saudi royal family to secure business, and made illegal payments to those involved in its deals. BAE strenuously denies the charges.
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