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Clearly, the Justice department believes there is reasonable cause to think US law has been violated by the Bandar payments. Since the money actually came from a British government account, it could be argued that the UK state - rather than BAE as such - was the actor, and thus should be denied the export permit it is asking for.It appears that the British government's application to export American tech on 72 Eurofighters to the desert princes is the subject of some debate both among Capitol Hill politicos and at the Departments of State and Justice.Now the US State Department...

Saudi Arabia has given Britain 10 days to halt a fraud investigation into the country's arms trade - or lose a £10 billion Eurofighter contract. The contract supports up to 50,000 British jobs and there are now fears that the deal may go to France. The Saudi government is on the verge of cancelling the contract - an extension of one brokered by Margaret Thatcher 20 year ago - because of a Serious Fraud Office investigation into allegations of a slush fund for members of the Saudi royal family, according to authoritative sources. Tony Blair has been told that the...

Laage, Germany - The German air force announced on Friday that it had officially put its first five Eurofighter jets into service in the northern city of Rostock. The five aircraft, which will be used mainly for training purposes, were given to the Steinhoff fighter squadron based in Laage. Germany, which was the first country to take delivery of the European-made fighter but the second to put it into service after Italy, has ordered 180 of the combat aircraft at a cost of €80m each. The Eurofighter Typhoon is a multi-role combat jet with a range of 2 500km and...