Blair faces storm of protest over Saudi arms probe

Looks like the Saudis have all the influence, on what America and Briton do today.

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Friday December 15, 2006
By Anna Tomforde,

London- The British government's unusual intervention to
halt a sensitive inquiry into alleged bribery payments in connection
with a major arms deal with Saudi-Arabia has prompted accusations of
corruption against Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The decision to abandon fraud investigations into an alleged 60-
million pounds (117 million dollars) "slush fund" said to have been
operated by leading British arms manufacturer BAE Systems to secure
the purchase of Eurofighter jets by Riyadh followed "intense
pressure" from Saudi Arabia, analysts said Friday.

Investigators at Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) had reached
a crucial stage in their two-year probe when Britain's Attorney-
General, Peter Henry Goldsmith, announced late Thursday that - at the
advice of Blair and key government ministers - the corruption probe
would be stopped.

The investigations were launched in 2003 following disclosures in
the Guardian newspaper that BAE had allegedly paid bribes to Saudi
dignitaries and middlemen to secure what is known as the Al-Yamamah
contract.

Blair, who had already had a bad day being interviewed by police
in connection with alleged irregularities over party funding, was
abroad when Goldsmith made his statement to the House of Lords.

After talks in Turkey Friday, Blair is expected to visit several
Middle East states.

British analysts believe that Blair's open intervention in the
Saudi investigations, which he defended Friday, will be grist to the
mill of critics who claim that the Labour government is mired in
corruption. >>cont

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency