Agence France-Presse,
LONDON: King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has reportedly approved a 5 bln usd (2.8 bln stg) plan to upgrade and replace 96 Tornado fighter aircraft made by BAE Systems PLC, the British aerospace and defence group.
But BAE spokeswoman Charlotte Lambkin, who was unable to confirm the report in London-based weekly the Middle East Economic Digest (MEED), was keen to stress that no deal had yet been struck.
Saudi Arabia will upgrade 64 of the aircraft and replace another 32, MEED reported.
Recent British press reports said efforts by Prime Minister Tony Blair and Defence Secretary John Reid to persuade the Saudis to buy the Eurofighter Typhoon in a separate 40 bln stg deal, had run into difficulty.
The kingdom's officials are said to have demanded the expulsion by the UK of two Saudi dissidents, the resumption by British Airways of flights to Saudi capital Riyadh and an end to an investigation by the UK's Serious Fraud Office into allegations of corruption involving the Saudi royal family and BAE.
BAE, which makes the Typhoon in collaboration with partners in Germany, Italy and Spain, may lose out to French rival Dassault Aviation SA.
French President Jacques Chirac is reported to have held face-to-face talks with the Saudi King in an effort to persuade him to take Dassault's Rafale jet.
