It started as a familiar tale of kickbacks in the murky world of international arms trading. bae Systems, Britain's largest defence manufacturer, was suspected for years of having slipped handsome "commissions" to those who had helped secure the world's biggest arms deal in 1986: a contract to supply and maintain £43 billion-worth ($85 billion) of aircraft and other bits and pieces to Saudi Arabia. Later, British authorities investigated the Al Yamamah deal, only to call an abrupt halt last December as the gumshoes were circling royal Saudi bank accounts in Switzerland. National security and the fight against terrorism would be imperilled if Britain's valued Middle Eastern ally were annoyed, the official version ran. An extension to the arms deal that could bring Britain as much as £20 billion is believed to be close to signing now.
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