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London: The Serious Fraud Office is to appeal against a ruling that it acted unlawfully by dropping a bribery probe into a BAE arms deal with Saudi Arabia, it was reported yesterday.
Richard Alderman, who becomes SFO director tomorrow, stressed the matter was still being considered.
Alderman takes over from Robert Wardle, who made the decision to stop the investigation in 2006. Lawyers are waiting to hear what order judges make on April 24. They may strike out the original decision to end the inquiry.
However, a senior SFO source told The Times: "Of course we will appeal ... wouldn't you?" Alderman said: "There are lots of issues to be considered: the role of the SFO in dealing with these cases, about the Attorney General, government, lots of things."
Ministers were humiliated last week when the High Court ruled the SFO should not have ditched an inquiry into alleged bribery in the £43-billion (Dh318 billion) Al Yamamah deal.
Tony Blair and former Attorney General Lord Goldsmith had pressed for the inquiry to be ended early on the grounds national security could be put at risk, with fears that Saudi Arabia would stop co-operating on anti-terrorism.
Lord Justice Moses told the High Court: "No one, whether within this country or outside, is entitled to interfere with the course of our justice."
- Evening Standard
London (Reuters) A British government contract to supply Saudi Arabia with Eurofighter Typhoon planes could be in jeopardy because of an internal US administration debate over whether to approve the deal, The Financial Times newspaper reported yesterday.
The US state department must approve the transfer of US technology on the fighter before Britain can export 72 Eurofighter Typhoons to Saudi Arabia, the paper said.
British defence company BAE Systems Plc is the prime contractor for Britain on the deal.
The state department wants to approve the deal but has encountered resistance from the justice department, according to a senior administration official, the FT reported. The justice department is concerned that approval could hamper an investigation into whether BAE violated US laws by allegedly bribing Saudi officials over a previous arms deal known as Al Yamamah, the FT said.
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