TEL AVIV Ñ Saudi Arabia is said to be undergoing a fiscal crisis
that will not allow a major weapons purchase.
A leading Western analyst on Saudi Arabia said the kingdom does not have
the money to complete a major defense deal. This would include the
procurement of a fighter-jet or warships.
"A major weapons procurement is beyond Saudi capability," Laurent
Murawiec, the analyst, said in a briefing at the Begin-Sadat Center for
Strategic Studies on Monday.
Murawiec, a former analyst for the French Defense Department and the
Washington-based Rand Corp., briefed the Pentagon's Defense Advisory Board
on Saudi Arabia. The July briefing, reported weeks later in the Washington
Post, asserted that Saudi Arabia is no longer an ally of Washington and the
Bush administration must consider a new approach to the kingdom.
Saudi Arabia has not been able to absorb new U.S. and other Western
military platforms, Murawiec said. He cited the continued employment of
Pakistani pilots to fly Saudi fighter-jets.
The kingdom has not completed a fighter-jet purchase since 1995 despite
an aging fleet of F-5 warplanes. France and the United States have offered
Riyad the Rafale fighter and the F-16 multi-role jet.
Murawiec said the Saudis, despite their growing friendship with France,
would reject another major weapons deal with Paris. He cited heavy French
lobbying to sell Riyad such platforms as the Rafale fighter jet and Leclerc
main battle tank.
"Despite the French appeals, there's not going to be another sale,"
Murawiec said. "You're not going to find the Saudis buying any more
Lafayette frigates."
The reference was to the Saudi purchase of three Lafayette-class
frigates from France in the Sawari-2 program. At least one warship has been
completed and expected to be delivered over the next year to the kingdom.
Murawiec said the Bush administration is moving toward a reassessment of
U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia. He cited a review by the National Security
Council which includes recommending that Riyad be given 90 days to end
support for Islamic insurgency groups.
"The jury [on the Saudis] is still out," Murawiec said. "But it's moving
in the right direction."
