Saudi-German deal

Press, 30 April 1981, Page 8

Saudi-German deal

NZPA-Reuter Riyadh, Saudi Arabia The West German Chancellor (Mr Helmut Schmidt) will leave Riyadh today with a mutual agreement to ex-

pand economic ties with Saudi Arabia despite the fact that he told the Saudis they could not buy West German weapons at the moment. I Mr Schmidt will fly to the United Arab Emirates this morning after a news conference on the results of his two-day visit.

A West German spokesman, Kurt Becker, said the Chancellor told the Saudi Government yesterday that any West German arms sales outside N.A.T.O. were “not feasible” at present because it would be extremely difficult to the Bonn Parliament to agree to such a change in established policy. Saudi Arabia has. expressed the wish to buy German weapons including heavy Leopard battle tanks and German industry leaders

have expressed concern they might lose substantial business if the arms deal did not come off. But according to Mr Schmidt’s spokesman, Crown Prince Fahd took note of the . Chancellor’s decision and reiterated Saudi Arabia’s wish to expand economic and political co-operation between the two countries.' There was no official statement from the Riyadh Government on the arms issue but Mr Schmidt’s message was unlikely to have surprised the Saudis because he had made it known in interviews before his arrival.