RIYADH, Sept 17: Saudi Arabia announced on Monday it has signed a 4.43 billion pound ($8.86bn) deal to buy 72 Eurofighter planes, after tortuous negotiations on one of the largest ever British export orders.

“The two governments on Tuesday (Sept 11) signed the contract for the acquisition of (72) planes for a cost of 4.43 billion pounds,” a defence ministry spokesman told the state news agency SPA.

He said the deal follows an August 2006 agreement in principle and “a memorandum of understanding between the London and Riyadh governments to modernise the Saudi armed forces as part of their close defence ties”.

The memorandum, inked in December 2005, also provides for “a transfer of technology, investment in Saudi military industry and aviation training for Saudis”, the spokesman said.

Saudi Arabia is buying the aircraft at the same price they are sold to Britain’s Royal Air Force, he added without giving further details.

The Times newspaper in London reported on Sept 7 that BAE Systems was poised to clinch the deal to supply 72 Eurofighter Typhoon jets to the oil-rich Gulf Arab kingdom.

It had been feared that the deal would be scuppered because of a British probe into allegations Saudi Arabia took bribes from BAE under a military-plane deal struck between London and Riyadh more than 20 years ago.

Britain’s Serious Fraud Office last year investigated BAE Systems’ massive 43-billion-pound Al-Yamamah deal in 1985 that provided Hawk and Tornado jets plus other military equipment to Saudi Arabia.

But the British government shelved the investigation last December in a move supported by then prime minister Tony Blair amid concerns over Britain’s national interests.

Despite this, the US Department of Justice in June launched its own investigation into BAE Systems amid allegations the British arms maker paid bribes to secure contracts in Saudi Arabia in the 1980s.

The announcement that the deal has been sealed comes in the run-up to a three-day visit to Britain by Saudi King Abdullah, his first since he rose to the throne of in August 2005.

The monarch arrives in Britain on Oct 30 at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth II for talks on boosting

ties between the two states and “regional and international issues of common concern,” according to the royal court.

Press reports had put the overall value of the Eurofighter deal at more than twice the cost reported by the Saudi defence ministry, with estimates ranging from $20bn to $40bn.—AFP