Word: arabia
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...arms deal of the century, newspapers around the world are calling it. Over the next two decades, Saudi Arabia will buy as much as $25 billion worth of jet fighters, helicopters, minesweepers and military services from Britain in exchange for oil and hard cash. The agreement, signed earlier this month, means that Britain will supplant the U.S. as the Saudis' main arms supplier. The British thus benefited directly from the U.S. Congress's refusal to approve the transfer to the Saudis of 40 advanced F-15 fighters in 1985 and 800 Stinger missiles...
Under the British-Saudi agreement, Riyadh will obtain 48 Tornado fighter- bombers to add to the 72 it has already contracted for, as well as up to 60 Hawk jet trainers, 80 helicopters and six minesweepers. Britain will also build two military airfields and provide training for Saudi Arabia's army and air force...
Israeli officials accused the British of undermining the Jewish state's security. Yossi Ben-Aharon, Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir's director general, said the Tornado fighters would allow Saudi Arabia to "hit us in the soft underbelly from the south." But Israeli objections were dismissed by British officials. The Israelis "know full well," said a Cabinet minister, that the weapons will be deployed only as a defense against Iran...
...farms." To make ends meet, the generals have been forced to become entrepreneurs themselves, selling weapons to foreign countries to bring in extra cash. Western leaders have criticized them for selling Silkworm missiles to Iran and CSS-2 medium-range missiles, capable of carrying nuclear warheads, to Saudi Arabia...
...Since Ashland had depended on Iran for 25% of its crude supplies, the firm scrambled to find alternative sources. In so doing, the jury ruled, Ashland resorted to bribery: in 1980 and 1981, according to court records, the company paid $49 million to government officials in Oman and Saudi Arabia and a government representative in Abu Dhabi to obtain oil. Ashland attorneys had argued that the payments were legal and were made to private consultants...