The News
LONDON: Britain’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) on Monday admitted that it does have “a contingency plans for British staff and the UK nationals in Pakistan in case of an emergency or a military coup”.
The FCO reacted after a tabloid in Britain claimed that amid fears of a military coup in Pakistan, Britain has put its elite Special Air Service (SAS) on a stand-by mode for an emergency evacuation of Britons from the country.
Speaking to The News, an FCO spokesperson said: “All of our overseas Posts have contingency plans in place for staff and UK nationals. We do not comment on the nature of these contingency plans.”
The spokesperson refused to answer further questions about the fears Britain has and its assessment of the Pakistan’s political instability. The Ministry of Defence also refused to answer questions and referred all queries to the FCO but the brisk reply confirms that the original report published in a paper, considered close to Britain’s armed forces, was not baseless and may have been published on the basis of a briefing from a senior military official.
The displacement of more than 10 per cent of Pakistan’s population after the worst floods in modern Pakistan’s history has prompted multiple concerns over the stability of the country, including the fear that the nuclear-armed country could be taken over again by the powerful military. The military has been seen on the frontline of delivering aid and rehabilitation to the flood-affected population while the civilian government has been exposed as inefficient, rudderless and corrupt.
Recently, some democratic politicians have openly called on the military to intervene and steer the people’s revolution in Pakistan by ousting the current democratically elected set-up. The Sunday Express newspaper reported that special forces regiment of the British Army in Afghanistan are drawing up plans to remove staff from the Islamabad embassy within four hours, if required. Britons working in the country have been put on a register and will be told to gather at an assembly point at a time of crisis. The plan, said the report, is a sign of Pakistan’s political fragility.
The civilian government is having to field off questions of an imminent military coup. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani recently told journalists that Pakistan’s elected government would complete its tenure as there is no threat to democracy and the Army has no intention of coming to power. “The Army neither intends to come to power nor will it come to power. The judiciary is independent and pro-democratic,” he said.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
How Rich are Pakistani MNAs?: PPPP MNA tops list with Rs3.288bn
The News
LONDON: Britain’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) on Monday admitted that it does have “a contingency plans for British staff and the UK nationals in Pakistan in case of an emergency or a military coup”.
The FCO reacted after a tabloid in Britain claimed that amid fears of a military coup in Pakistan, Britain has put its elite Special Air Service (SAS) on a stand-by mode for an emergency evacuation of Britons from the country.
Speaking to The News, an FCO spokesperson said: “All of our overseas Posts have contingency plans in place for staff and UK nationals. We do not comment on the nature of these contingency plans.”
The spokesperson refused to answer further questions about the fears Britain has and its assessment of the Pakistan’s political instability. The Ministry of Defence also refused to answer questions and referred all queries to the FCO but the brisk reply confirms that the original report published in a paper, considered close to Britain’s armed forces, was not baseless and may have been published on the basis of a briefing from a senior military official.
The displacement of more than 10 per cent of Pakistan’s population after the worst floods in modern Pakistan’s history has prompted multiple concerns over the stability of the country, including the fear that the nuclear-armed country could be taken over again by the powerful military. The military has been seen on the frontline of delivering aid and rehabilitation to the flood-affected population while the civilian government has been exposed as inefficient, rudderless and corrupt.
Recently, some democratic politicians have openly called on the military to intervene and steer the people’s revolution in Pakistan by ousting the current democratically elected set-up. The Sunday Express newspaper reported that special forces regiment of the British Army in Afghanistan are drawing up plans to remove staff from the Islamabad embassy within four hours, if required. Britons working in the country have been put on a register and will be told to gather at an assembly point at a time of crisis. The plan, said the report, is a sign of Pakistan’s political fragility.
The civilian government is having to field off questions of an imminent military coup. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani recently told journalists that Pakistan’s elected government would complete its tenure as there is no threat to democracy and the Army has no intention of coming to power. “The Army neither intends to come to power nor will it come to power. The judiciary is independent and pro-democratic,” he said.
LONDON: Britain’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) on Monday admitted that it does have “a contingency plans for British staff and the UK nationals in Pakistan in case of an emergency or a military coup”.
The FCO reacted after a tabloid in Britain claimed that amid fears of a military coup in Pakistan, Britain has put its elite Special Air Service (SAS) on a stand-by mode for an emergency evacuation of Britons from the country.
Speaking to The News, an FCO spokesperson said: “All of our overseas Posts have contingency plans in place for staff and UK nationals. We do not comment on the nature of these contingency plans.”
The spokesperson refused to answer further questions about the fears Britain has and its assessment of the Pakistan’s political instability. The Ministry of Defence also refused to answer questions and referred all queries to the FCO but the brisk reply confirms that the original report published in a paper, considered close to Britain’s armed forces, was not baseless and may have been published on the basis of a briefing from a senior military official.
The displacement of more than 10 per cent of Pakistan’s population after the worst floods in modern Pakistan’s history has prompted multiple concerns over the stability of the country, including the fear that the nuclear-armed country could be taken over again by the powerful military. The military has been seen on the frontline of delivering aid and rehabilitation to the flood-affected population while the civilian government has been exposed as inefficient, rudderless and corrupt.
Recently, some democratic politicians have openly called on the military to intervene and steer the people’s revolution in Pakistan by ousting the current democratically elected set-up. The Sunday Express newspaper reported that special forces regiment of the British Army in Afghanistan are drawing up plans to remove staff from the Islamabad embassy within four hours, if required. Britons working in the country have been put on a register and will be told to gather at an assembly point at a time of crisis. The plan, said the report, is a sign of Pakistan’s political fragility.
The civilian government is having to field off questions of an imminent military coup. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani recently told journalists that Pakistan’s elected government would complete its tenure as there is no threat to democracy and the Army has no intention of coming to power. “The Army neither intends to come to power nor will it come to power. The judiciary is independent and pro-democratic,” he said.
Musharraf to launch his political party in London on Oct 1
The Economic Times
ISLAMABAD: Former president Pervez Musharraf, who has announced his intentions to return to Pakistan before the 2013 general elections, will formally launch his new political party and unveil its programme in London on October 1.
Musharraf, 67, is also planning to hold a show of power in Birmingham on October 3, less than two months after a man hurled his shoes at President Asif Ali Zardari during a rally in the same British city with a large population of Pakistani origin.
The former military ruler’s spokesman Mohammad Saif told the Dawn newspaper that Musharraf would “start his political journey at a press conference (in London) on October 1″.
Musharraf will address a public rally at the Oval Banqueting Suite in Birmingham’s Sparkhill area two days later, media reports said.
The meet is being described by Musharraf’s aides as a demonstration of the support enjoyed by his new party, the All Pakistan Muslim League, among Pakistanis abroad.
Supporters of Musharraf from the Middle East, the US, Europe and Pakistan, including former Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, are expected to attend the meet.
Musharraf has reportedly chosen Birmingham as the venue for the meet because of the strong backing from Khalid Mahmood, a local Labour party MP.
Before the show of power in Birmingham, Musharraf will hold meetings of his new political party in London.
During the planned interaction with the media, Musharraf will launch his party’s manifesto, explain how he rates the current government and opposition in Pakistan and outline his future plans.
Musharraf’s supporters are planning another gathering in Manchester on October 9.
The MP has stood by Musharraf all along and has hosted him at the House of Commons on a number of occasions despite the opposition from many British Pakistani groups.
Chaudhary Aslam Wassan, the APML coordinator for Birmingham, claimed Musharraf has a lot of support among expatriate Pakistanis who have nostalgia for his time in power “when the land mafia and criminal gangs were under control and foreign investors were flocking to Pakistan”.
“He served Pakistan wholeheartedly. Compare today’s Pakistan with Mushararf’s period. It has been taken over by bandits who only want Pakistan for their children,” Wassan said.
ISLAMABAD: Former president Pervez Musharraf, who has announced his intentions to return to Pakistan before the 2013 general elections, will formally launch his new political party and unveil its programme in London on October 1.
Musharraf, 67, is also planning to hold a show of power in Birmingham on October 3, less than two months after a man hurled his shoes at President Asif Ali Zardari during a rally in the same British city with a large population of Pakistani origin.
The former military ruler’s spokesman Mohammad Saif told the Dawn newspaper that Musharraf would “start his political journey at a press conference (in London) on October 1″.
Musharraf will address a public rally at the Oval Banqueting Suite in Birmingham’s Sparkhill area two days later, media reports said.
The meet is being described by Musharraf’s aides as a demonstration of the support enjoyed by his new party, the All Pakistan Muslim League, among Pakistanis abroad.
Supporters of Musharraf from the Middle East, the US, Europe and Pakistan, including former Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, are expected to attend the meet.
Musharraf has reportedly chosen Birmingham as the venue for the meet because of the strong backing from Khalid Mahmood, a local Labour party MP.
Before the show of power in Birmingham, Musharraf will hold meetings of his new political party in London.
During the planned interaction with the media, Musharraf will launch his party’s manifesto, explain how he rates the current government and opposition in Pakistan and outline his future plans.
Musharraf’s supporters are planning another gathering in Manchester on October 9.
The MP has stood by Musharraf all along and has hosted him at the House of Commons on a number of occasions despite the opposition from many British Pakistani groups.
Chaudhary Aslam Wassan, the APML coordinator for Birmingham, claimed Musharraf has a lot of support among expatriate Pakistanis who have nostalgia for his time in power “when the land mafia and criminal gangs were under control and foreign investors were flocking to Pakistan”.
“He served Pakistan wholeheartedly. Compare today’s Pakistan with Mushararf’s period. It has been taken over by bandits who only want Pakistan for their children,” Wassan said.
$11-Million Monument to Benazir Bhutto: APPROVED
The Huffington Post
This week, as flood waters ravage Pakistan’s land and 20 million of its people, and after Pakistan’s own president, Asif Ali Zardari, managed to muster only $58,000 of his own vast wealth to the flood relief (a donation nearly doubled by Angelina Jolie), yet another devastating blow has hit Pakistan: news that the government has now approved an $11-million statue of the President’s assassinated wife, Benazir Bhutto.
And yes, this is Pakistani taxpayer money.
The statue itself will cost 4.7 million dollars, and it will be built on land that is worth another 5.9 million dollars. Apparently, Mr. Zardari, whose personal wealth is estimated to be more than 1 billion dollars, just couldn’t afford to donate the land or the statue in honor of the mother of his children.
His government decided the people of Pakistan could afford it, though. People who, according to the World Bank, have an average per capita income of $870 annually.
Admirably, the people of Pakistan have taken it upon themselves to try and stop this misguided use of funds in the midst of a national disaster. A legal action failed, but now a petition is available online.
Another day, another battle in the Pakistani people’s war for a representative government.
This week, as flood waters ravage Pakistan’s land and 20 million of its people, and after Pakistan’s own president, Asif Ali Zardari, managed to muster only $58,000 of his own vast wealth to the flood relief (a donation nearly doubled by Angelina Jolie), yet another devastating blow has hit Pakistan: news that the government has now approved an $11-million statue of the President’s assassinated wife, Benazir Bhutto.
And yes, this is Pakistani taxpayer money.
The statue itself will cost 4.7 million dollars, and it will be built on land that is worth another 5.9 million dollars. Apparently, Mr. Zardari, whose personal wealth is estimated to be more than 1 billion dollars, just couldn’t afford to donate the land or the statue in honor of the mother of his children.
His government decided the people of Pakistan could afford it, though. People who, according to the World Bank, have an average per capita income of $870 annually.
Admirably, the people of Pakistan have taken it upon themselves to try and stop this misguided use of funds in the midst of a national disaster. A legal action failed, but now a petition is available online.
Another day, another battle in the Pakistani people’s war for a representative government.
New York imam says moving mosque could incite Muslim backlash
The Guardian
If planned centre is moved from site near Ground Zero, radicals could see Islam as under attack in US, says cleric
The imam behind the controversial plan to build an Islamic centre and mosque near New York’s Ground Zero site has said he is “exploring all options” and “everything is on the table”, in the face of a firestorm of politically driven protest against the project.
In a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York today, Feisal Abdul Rauf expressed frustration that “radical extremists have hijacked our discourse”, and warned that moving the mosque could prompt a violent backlash from some Muslims abroad.
Rauf said the Islamic centre’s advisers had been looking at “every option” including delaying construction. The imam has also suggested that the centre could expand to provide space for people of other faiths alongside Muslims.
“Everything is on the table,” he said. “We really are focused on solving it … I give you my pledge.”
Rauf said it was “absolutely disingenuous” to suggest that the site of the planned construction was “hallowed ground” when there is a strip club and betting shops nearby. He defended the need for the project.
“In recent days some people have asked: is there really a need for an Islamic community centre in lower Manhattan? Is it worth all this firestorm? The answer is a categorical yes,” he said.
Yesterday, Rauf told ABC News that the controversy had “been used for political purposes” and that there was “growing Islamophobia in this country”. He said the “discourse has been, to a certain extent, hijacked by the radicals.”
“The radicals on both sides, the radicals in the United States and the radicals in the Muslim world, feed off each other. And to a certain extent, the attention that they’ve been able to get by the media has even aggravated the problem,” he said.
Asked why, when more than two-thirds of New Yorkers say they want the Islamic centre built somewhere else, he would not do that, Rauf said: “My major concern with moving it is that the headline in the Muslim world will be Islam is under attack in America, this will strengthen the radicals in the Muslim world, help their recruitment, this will put our people – our soldiers, our troops, our embassies, our citizens – under attack in the Muslim world, and we have expanded and given and fueled terrorism.”
Rauf said he might have done some things differently if he had realised the Islamic centre would provoke the reaction that has engulfed it. “I would never have done it. I’m a man of peace. I mean the whole objective of peace work is not to do something that would provoke controversy,” he said
If planned centre is moved from site near Ground Zero, radicals could see Islam as under attack in US, says cleric
The imam behind the controversial plan to build an Islamic centre and mosque near New York’s Ground Zero site has said he is “exploring all options” and “everything is on the table”, in the face of a firestorm of politically driven protest against the project.
In a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York today, Feisal Abdul Rauf expressed frustration that “radical extremists have hijacked our discourse”, and warned that moving the mosque could prompt a violent backlash from some Muslims abroad.
Rauf said the Islamic centre’s advisers had been looking at “every option” including delaying construction. The imam has also suggested that the centre could expand to provide space for people of other faiths alongside Muslims.
“Everything is on the table,” he said. “We really are focused on solving it … I give you my pledge.”
Rauf said it was “absolutely disingenuous” to suggest that the site of the planned construction was “hallowed ground” when there is a strip club and betting shops nearby. He defended the need for the project.
“In recent days some people have asked: is there really a need for an Islamic community centre in lower Manhattan? Is it worth all this firestorm? The answer is a categorical yes,” he said.
Yesterday, Rauf told ABC News that the controversy had “been used for political purposes” and that there was “growing Islamophobia in this country”. He said the “discourse has been, to a certain extent, hijacked by the radicals.”
“The radicals on both sides, the radicals in the United States and the radicals in the Muslim world, feed off each other. And to a certain extent, the attention that they’ve been able to get by the media has even aggravated the problem,” he said.
Asked why, when more than two-thirds of New Yorkers say they want the Islamic centre built somewhere else, he would not do that, Rauf said: “My major concern with moving it is that the headline in the Muslim world will be Islam is under attack in America, this will strengthen the radicals in the Muslim world, help their recruitment, this will put our people – our soldiers, our troops, our embassies, our citizens – under attack in the Muslim world, and we have expanded and given and fueled terrorism.”
Rauf said he might have done some things differently if he had realised the Islamic centre would provoke the reaction that has engulfed it. “I would never have done it. I’m a man of peace. I mean the whole objective of peace work is not to do something that would provoke controversy,” he said
Police shoot dead 18 during protests in Kashmir
BBC News
Police have shot dead 18 civilians in the deadliest day in Indian-administered Kashmir since protests erupted three months ago.
A policeman was also killed when he was run over by a lorry.
The BBC’s Altaf Hussain in Srinagar says reports of Koran desecration in the US have stoked anger.
Scores of Kashmiris have now died since June, when anti-India protests broke out after police shot dead a teenager.
In Monday’s protests, thousands of people defied curfews and took to the streets, chanting anti-India and anti-US slogans and burning effigies of US President Barack Obama, our correspondent says.
An angry mob set fire to several government buildings and a Protestant-run school, as well as attacking a police station, he adds.
Police fired live ammunition to break up the demonstrations, and confirmed that 18 civilians had been killed.
Several of the deaths were reported to have occurred in Budgam district, with others reported in the village of Tangmarg, where the school was burned.
One of those killed was a student aged 12 or 13, our correspondent says.
More than 100 people are also reported to have been wounded, some seriously, he adds.
Meanwhile, a policeman died after he was run over by a lorry driven by demonstrators in the town of Humahama.
The attack on the missionary school was condemned by separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani – who has been put under house arrest by Indian authorities.
“I urge the Muslims to protect members of [the] minority community and their religious places. We should at any cost maintain the age-old communal harmony and brotherhood for which Kashmir is known the world over,” he said.
A curfew was also imposed in the town of Poonch in Indian-administered Kashmir on Monday following violent protests, Indian officials said.
Protesters stoned government vehicles and clashed with security forces when they were stopped from moving towards a Christian church, police said.
Police dispersed the protesters using teargas and more than a dozen people were reported to be injured.
The Indian government said it was “deeply distressed” by the violence.
In a statement following a cabinet meeting on Monday, the government expressed its “profound grief at the loss of life and offers its sincere condolences to the bereaved families”.
An indefinite curfew remains in place in Srinagar and other major towns in the region.
The measures were imposed after mass protests against Indian rule on Saturday again turned violent.
Tensions heightened
A plan by a Florida church to burn copies of the Koran during the 9/11 anniversary caused outrage across the Muslim world, but was eventually called off.
However, reports that pages had been torn from a Koran outside the White House over the weekend reignited the controversy and further heightened tensions in the Kashmir Valley.
Kashmir has been a flashpoint between India and Pakistan for more than 50 years.
In Delhi on Monday, the Indian cabinet resisted calls to partially lift a 20-year-old emergency law that shields their forces from prosecution.
Instead it called an all-party meeting for Wednesday to discuss solutions to the latest violence in Kashmir.
Human rights activists say the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which also grants powerful search and seizure powers, is often misused by Indian police and paramilitaries.
Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah had urged the government to withdraw the act, but has met with strong resistance from the Indian military.
Police have shot dead 18 civilians in the deadliest day in Indian-administered Kashmir since protests erupted three months ago.
A policeman was also killed when he was run over by a lorry.
The BBC’s Altaf Hussain in Srinagar says reports of Koran desecration in the US have stoked anger.
Scores of Kashmiris have now died since June, when anti-India protests broke out after police shot dead a teenager.
In Monday’s protests, thousands of people defied curfews and took to the streets, chanting anti-India and anti-US slogans and burning effigies of US President Barack Obama, our correspondent says.
An angry mob set fire to several government buildings and a Protestant-run school, as well as attacking a police station, he adds.
Police fired live ammunition to break up the demonstrations, and confirmed that 18 civilians had been killed.
Several of the deaths were reported to have occurred in Budgam district, with others reported in the village of Tangmarg, where the school was burned.
One of those killed was a student aged 12 or 13, our correspondent says.
More than 100 people are also reported to have been wounded, some seriously, he adds.
Meanwhile, a policeman died after he was run over by a lorry driven by demonstrators in the town of Humahama.
The attack on the missionary school was condemned by separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani – who has been put under house arrest by Indian authorities.
“I urge the Muslims to protect members of [the] minority community and their religious places. We should at any cost maintain the age-old communal harmony and brotherhood for which Kashmir is known the world over,” he said.
A curfew was also imposed in the town of Poonch in Indian-administered Kashmir on Monday following violent protests, Indian officials said.
Protesters stoned government vehicles and clashed with security forces when they were stopped from moving towards a Christian church, police said.
Police dispersed the protesters using teargas and more than a dozen people were reported to be injured.
The Indian government said it was “deeply distressed” by the violence.
In a statement following a cabinet meeting on Monday, the government expressed its “profound grief at the loss of life and offers its sincere condolences to the bereaved families”.
An indefinite curfew remains in place in Srinagar and other major towns in the region.
The measures were imposed after mass protests against Indian rule on Saturday again turned violent.
Tensions heightened
A plan by a Florida church to burn copies of the Koran during the 9/11 anniversary caused outrage across the Muslim world, but was eventually called off.
However, reports that pages had been torn from a Koran outside the White House over the weekend reignited the controversy and further heightened tensions in the Kashmir Valley.
Kashmir has been a flashpoint between India and Pakistan for more than 50 years.
In Delhi on Monday, the Indian cabinet resisted calls to partially lift a 20-year-old emergency law that shields their forces from prosecution.
Instead it called an all-party meeting for Wednesday to discuss solutions to the latest violence in Kashmir.
Human rights activists say the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which also grants powerful search and seizure powers, is often misused by Indian police and paramilitaries.
Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah had urged the government to withdraw the act, but has met with strong resistance from the Indian military.
Barack Obama to authorise record $60bn Saudi arms sale
The Guardian
Biggest arms deal in US history will shore up a Gulf ally against Iran threat, but angers Tehran and worries Israel.
Barack Obama is to go ahead with plans to sell Saudi Arabia advanced aircraft and other weapons worth up to $60bn (£39bn), the biggest arms deal in US history, in a strategy of shoring up Gulf Arab allies to face any military threat from Iran.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the administration is also in talks with the Saudis about possible naval and missile-defence upgrades that could be worth tens of billions of dollars more over five to 10 years.
Plans to go ahead with the package, which has been under secret negotiation since 2007, have been known for some time and have raised angry objections from Iran and to a lesser extent from Israel, an even closer US ally which is anxious to maintain its strategic edge over any potential adversary in the Middle East.
In its notification to Congress, the administration will authorise the Saudis to buy as many as 84 new F-15 fighters, upgrade 70 more, and purchase three different types of helicopters – 70 Apaches, 72 Black Hawks and 36 Little Birds, the Wall Street Journal reported. The package would be subject to a review by Congress.
According to earlier reports, the administration has already decided out of deference to the Israelis not to sell Saudi Arabia so-called stand-off systems, advanced long-range weapons that can be attached to F-15s for use in offensive operations.
The US is the world’s largest arms supplier and the Saudi deal alone is said to support up to 75,000 jobs, according to firms such as Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and General Electric. Last year, despite a recession that hit global arms sales, the US increased its share to more than two-thirds of all foreign armaments deals, according to a congressional study.
In 2008, Saudi Arabia was the second biggest arms buyer in the developing world, spending $8.7bn, making it second only to the United Arab Emirates. Britain and France are also in intense competition to sell in this market.
US-Saudi ties suffered a serious dip after the 9/11 terrorist attacks exposed al-Qaida’s Saudi background to ordinary Americans, but the military relationship is in good order. Analysts say the deal will significantly boost Saudi Arabia’s ability to defend its airspace against aircraft and missiles, to undertake “very painful” deterrent strikes and to police coastal areas.
It will also lock Riyadh into a close military relationship with Washington for at least another 20 years. Questions about democracy, freedoms and human rights in the kingdom clearly have a lower priority than security issues.
The package is expected to win congressional approval with limited amendments, although probably not until after the 2 November mid-term elections. It is a striking reflection of a convergence between the strategic concerns of the US, Israel and conservative Arab states about Iran’s nuclear ambitions and bid for regional influence.
Saudi Arabia has denied recent reports that it has secretly agreed to allow Israeli planes to pass through its airspace on the way to bomb nuclear sites in Iran.
Biggest arms deal in US history will shore up a Gulf ally against Iran threat, but angers Tehran and worries Israel.
Barack Obama is to go ahead with plans to sell Saudi Arabia advanced aircraft and other weapons worth up to $60bn (£39bn), the biggest arms deal in US history, in a strategy of shoring up Gulf Arab allies to face any military threat from Iran.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the administration is also in talks with the Saudis about possible naval and missile-defence upgrades that could be worth tens of billions of dollars more over five to 10 years.
Plans to go ahead with the package, which has been under secret negotiation since 2007, have been known for some time and have raised angry objections from Iran and to a lesser extent from Israel, an even closer US ally which is anxious to maintain its strategic edge over any potential adversary in the Middle East.
In its notification to Congress, the administration will authorise the Saudis to buy as many as 84 new F-15 fighters, upgrade 70 more, and purchase three different types of helicopters – 70 Apaches, 72 Black Hawks and 36 Little Birds, the Wall Street Journal reported. The package would be subject to a review by Congress.
According to earlier reports, the administration has already decided out of deference to the Israelis not to sell Saudi Arabia so-called stand-off systems, advanced long-range weapons that can be attached to F-15s for use in offensive operations.
The US is the world’s largest arms supplier and the Saudi deal alone is said to support up to 75,000 jobs, according to firms such as Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and General Electric. Last year, despite a recession that hit global arms sales, the US increased its share to more than two-thirds of all foreign armaments deals, according to a congressional study.
In 2008, Saudi Arabia was the second biggest arms buyer in the developing world, spending $8.7bn, making it second only to the United Arab Emirates. Britain and France are also in intense competition to sell in this market.
US-Saudi ties suffered a serious dip after the 9/11 terrorist attacks exposed al-Qaida’s Saudi background to ordinary Americans, but the military relationship is in good order. Analysts say the deal will significantly boost Saudi Arabia’s ability to defend its airspace against aircraft and missiles, to undertake “very painful” deterrent strikes and to police coastal areas.
It will also lock Riyadh into a close military relationship with Washington for at least another 20 years. Questions about democracy, freedoms and human rights in the kingdom clearly have a lower priority than security issues.
The package is expected to win congressional approval with limited amendments, although probably not until after the 2 November mid-term elections. It is a striking reflection of a convergence between the strategic concerns of the US, Israel and conservative Arab states about Iran’s nuclear ambitions and bid for regional influence.
Saudi Arabia has denied recent reports that it has secretly agreed to allow Israeli planes to pass through its airspace on the way to bomb nuclear sites in Iran.
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