Because it’s not everyday they threaten to cut off diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom over an investigation of the Blair government’s perfidy:
SAUDI ARABIA is threatening to suspend diplomatic ties with Britain unless Downing Street intervenes to block an investigation into a £60m “slush fund” allegedly set up for some members of its royal family.
A senior Saudi diplomat in London has delivered an ultimatum to Tony Blair that unless the inquiry into an allegedly corrupt defence deal is dropped, diplomatic links between Britain and Saudi Arabia will be severed, a defence source has disclosed.
The Saudis, key allies in the Middle East, have also threatened to cut intelligence co-operation with Britain over Al-Qaeda.
They have repeated their threat that they will terminate payments on a defence contract that could be worth £40 billion and safeguard at least 10,000 British jobs.
The Saudis are furious about the criminal investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) into allegations that BAE Systems, Britain’s biggest defence company, set up the “slush fund” to support the extravagant lifestyle of members of the Saudi royal family. […]
You see, the Saudi Royal family thought they had come to an “understanding” with Blair about this probe months ago:
(Cont.)
The Saudi royal family, which effectively controls the government, instructed a senior diplomat, said to be Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf, its London ambassador, to visit Downing Street. He held a meeting with Jonathan Powell, Blair’s chief of staff, according to the sources.
The diplomat is said to have delivered a 12-page letter drawn up by a Saudi law firm demanding a detailed explanation of why the investigation was still continuing.
The Saudis had been given the impression during a meeting with Blair in July last year that the inquiry would be stopped, say the sources.
“The Saudis are claiming in this letter that the British government has broken its undertaking to keep details of the Al-Yamamah deal confidential,” said a source who has read the document.
I’d be pissed to if my friend had gone back on his word, and allowed an investigation into the people helping to subsidize my lifestyle to continue. Tony Blair is obviously not a man of his word!
Makes you wonder which US defence firms are doing the same thing; and whether anyone in the Bush administration has come to a similar understanding with the Saudis to keep it quiet. Because I seriously doubt that the Saudi Royal Family’s graft was limited to one company in Britain. Certainly one has to wonder about the ties between the Carlyle Group and the Royal Family at the very least. Something else for House Democrats House to pursue, don’t you think?
