Politicians from all parties were informed in 2010 about plans to help Saudi Arabia build a weapons factory, according to leaked government documents. The documents details how many and which type of factory buildings were planned, which products would be manufactured, and which types of explosives would be made.
It further states that the Defence Research Agency (FOI), an authority subordinate to the Defence Department, would provide training for the Saudis.
The documents’ authors assess the project’s worth at US$ 600 million and say Sweden’s involvement should stretch over a four to five year period.
On May 5th, 2010, the memo was shown to the Swedish Export Control Council, which includes members of parliament from all political parties.
“We didn’t discuss it much because there was a binding agreement between our two countries,” said Björn Leivik, Moderate party politician who sat on the council at the time. “That agreement was the basis for these proposals and there was no scope for us to express opinions.”
This latest in a series of government documents examined by Swedish Radio also shows that FOI continued finding ways to distances itself on paper from dealings with the Saudis. A shell company, set up by a high level FOI employee allowing him and his colleagues to become indirect consultants, was abandoned. Instead, they enlisted the services of global construction company Grontmij.
Grontmij Deputy CEO Niklas Sörensen declined to comment when contacted by Swedish Radio. “FOI has responsibility for communication, so we have no comments,” he said.
The Swedish Non-Proliferation and Export Control Agency (ISP) wrote the latest memo. The agency is meant to ensure military sales are in accordance with national law.
