Kuwait, Tuesday
DEFENCE Secretary Malcolm Rifkind signed a statement of intent with
Kuwait today which he said showed ''the interest and enthusiasm of the
Kuwaiti Government in purchasing British defence equipment''.
The document, signed for Kuwait by Defence Minister Sheikh Ali Sabah
al-Salem al-Sabah, would open the way for detailed negotiations, Mr
Rifkind told reporters.
British Challenger tanks have been competing with US M1-A1s this
summer for a contract expected to involve 300 to 400 tanks. Diplomats
said Kuwait may still take several months toplace its order.
Mr Rifkind declined to say what or how much Kuwait might buy, but
said: ''I am confident that at the end of the day the strengths of the
Challenger tank will be very well recognised.
''The British Government believes it is a superb tank. That is why we
are buying it for our own requirements.''
Arms purchases would fall under a British-Kuwait defence co-operation
pact signed after the Gulf War.
Mr Rifkind, making his first trip through Gulf states as Defence
Minister, arrived after visiting Saudi Arabia yesterday.
He told reporters the Saudi Government had shown its commitment to the
second phase of its huge Al Yamamah defence procurement contract.
He declined to list the equipment that the second phase would include
except to say the Saudis had expressed a serious interest in British
Aerospace's Tornado aircraft.
Press reports have said the second phase could be worth a total of
around #10 billion.
Mr Rifkind, who winds up his tour with a visit to Bahrain tomorrow,
said that Iraq continued to pose a threat.
''Saddam Hussein has not yet lived up to his obligations under the
UN's Security Council resolutions,'' he said.
''The UK is determined that he should be brought to respect the
authority of the UN.
''We have no argument with the Iraqi people -- only with Saddam's
regime which so abuses its own people and defies the UN. It is not our
aim to see Iraq dismembered.''--Reuter.
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