MikeLigalig.com

Saudi Arabia says it is to buy 72 Eurofighter Typhoon jets from UK firm BAE Systems for £4.43bn.

The Ministry of Defence would not confirm the deal had been completed, saying negotiations are continuing.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) dropped a probe last year into a sale of jets to the Saudis in the 1980s.

The UK government said the decision was on national security grounds, but reports said the Saudis had threatened to pull out if the probe went ahead.

A report on the official Saudi news agency SPA says that the price paid per aircraft is the same that Britain's Royal Air Force pays for the aircraft.

Critics attacked the decision to drop the SFO investigation, saying the government had put commercial interest before ethics and had given in to Saudi blackmail.

In addition to the price paid for the planes, there is also expected to be a lucrative deal for the munitions that go with them and for their maintenance.


source: news.bbc.co.uk

Wow, i wish the AFP could get some of those..