ONE QUARTER OF THE BRITISH MILITARY MEN POWER WORKS FOR SAUDI ARABIA. THE MILITARY BRITS AND SAUDIS ARE IN SYNC.
SECRET ARMS SALES AND DEALS BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND SAUDI ARABIA WORTH $12 BILLIONS
By Peggy North, World Jewish News Agency, Senior Correspondent in Great Britain.
Photo:
Mr Alan Garwood, head of DESO.
Here in the UK, more than a quarter of her Majesty's government ammunitions, explosives, guns and arms sales machine is geared toward Saudi Arabia and categorically committed to the Saudi military and naval forces. Meaning bluntly, selling arms to the Saudis. Our sources as well as, official communiques and printed circulars distributed to defence factories and arms firms in Great Britain, revealed in a most alarming manner, the intensity and enormous magnitude of arms sale to the Saudi kingdom. Today, it has become clear, that extensive secret deals were made between the Saudi royal family and Great Britain's ministry of defence. And this has been going on for the past 18 months. It seems that the United States is not fully aware of all these arms transactions. Documents obtained by the World Jewish News Agency categorically showed the secretive nature of these frightening deals and the alarming number of British military experts and arms manufacturers working for the Saudi crown. Almost 165 British officials are on the payroll of the Saudis. In fact, that number constitutes one quarter of the total work force of the military "products" machine in the UK. The arm deal has been referred to as "The Saudi Project". Others call it the "SAFP", meaning the "Saudi Armed Forces Project". Of course, the Saudis have denied the existence of such a project. Top British and Saudi officials will meet today in London to choreograph a joint statement to be issued and given to the media. Meanwhile, senior officials and top brass of the British army, are addressing -as we talk- a closed conference of DESO, the DEFENCE EXPORT SERVICES ORGANISATION, the entity responsible for selling the weapons to the Saudis, as well as to many foreign countries around the globe. Tony Blair is not pleased with the recent development of the scandal and the secret deals which have created a huge embarrassment to Great Britain. He wants DESO to close down for good. All the fingers are pointing at Air Vice-Marshall John Thompson who allegedly orchestrated the whole bonanza. Thompson was the major key player in the UK-Saudi affair, since he was the head of the negotiations team. In addition, Thompson is a member of the board of DESO. The chairman of the board is Mr Alan Garwood , a tycoon in the arms industry and a former senior executive of BAE, one of Great Britain's largest armaments manufacturers, factories and companies.
To many observers, DESO is a secretive cell. For instance, The DESO Partners Site is "ONLY open to members of the UK defence industry, UK Government officials, members of UK financial institutions and defence Trade Association officials". And this is the official statement of DESO. Equally secretive and strange IS the listing of DESO Senior Officials. For such listing exclusively includes Mr Alan Garwood, head of DESO. No other officials are either listed or mentioned in the official list of senior officials of the entity. Mr Garwood took up his position as head of the DES, the Defence Export Services on 23rd September 2002. He is the man in charge of " taking the lead, both within Whitehall and in the UK's relations with other Governments, on the promotion of overseas sales of the products and services of the British defence industry, consistent with the Government's defence export policy. " stated the company on its website. Garwood is also, the sole responsible to the Secretary of State for Defence and for advising the Secretary of State and other Ministers as appropriate on defence export matters. His bio contained this: " He joined British Aerospace in 1977, commencing his career in Export Contracts in the Middle East. Mr Garwood subsequently became Sales and Customer Support Director of BAe Dynamics, joining the board in 1994. In 1996 he moved to BAe Headquarters and was appointed Managing Director, Europe and North America, in the newly created International Marketing and Sales Organisation and in 1998 returned to the Missiles sector, joining Matra BAe Dynamics as Deputy Chief Executive. Mr Garwood gained an MBA at Cranfield University and in 2003 was made an Honorary Doctor of Science - again at Cranfield. He is also a visiting Professor at the Royal Military College Shrivenham. Alan Garwood is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society."
DESO AND BRITAIN'S MEN IN SAUDI ARABIA
DESO stationed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia some of their best civilians, tacticians, business negotiators and military men. Grenville Johnson, a royal navy captain is currently commanding the Saudi fleet of Vosper mine-hunters in the area of Jubail. In fact, Johnson is the commanding officer of the whole Saudi Naval team in that region. He is assisted by 40 British military experts and naval pilots who are officially wearing Saudi military uniforms. Among DESO's most military prolific military men are Air Commodore John Chandler and Air Commodore Ray Hodgson who are in charge of logistics and "greasing the wheel". And they are not alone. A squad of 75 British military men and 55 officials who are permanently based in Saudi Arabia is under their direct control. To a certain degree. For the Saudi Ministry of Defence is de facto in charge of the whole military operations under the British umbrella. The Saudis have the final word.
The official statement of the British government leads to believe that the British military men and top officials are stationed in Riyadh. But World Jewish News Agency discovered that the British squad has mushroomed to Tabuk, Khamis, Dhahran and several naval and military bases throughout the Saudi kingdom. This could explain the concerns and suspicions of many observers who claim that the British squad had to be much bigger than what the British government "pretend" to be. In fact, to cover the territories of 7 military and naval bases in Saudi Arabia, any military squad should and must have more than 200 men in active duty to carry its operations. Political observers and military analysts estimate that Great Britain has stationed more than 2,000 men in Saudi Arabia. World Jewish News Agency has discovered that no less than 100 British pilots and 150 technicians of the British air crew were spread over 2 Saudi air bases. The British airmen belong to the RAF (Royal Air Force) and are actively serving in the Saudi Air Force, flying the Hawks and the Tornados which were sold in a large quantity to Saudi Arabia. It is estimated that no less than 75 British jet fighters were bought by the Saudis under the provisions of the "AL YAMANA" arms sales contract between the two countries. DESO head claims that his squad and British airmen are serving in the capacity of military advisors and trainers. While skeptic analysts believe that the British military task force is much more than a " team of military instructors". They claim that DESO and Great Britain's men are active Saudi jet fighters and head pilots. Our sources told us that a large number of Saudi and British pilots are stationed in a region called Tabuk neighboring Israel. This unit is under the direct command of Group Captain Nick Watson who is in charge of all the operations, including sorties, logistics, flight operations, special training unit and tactics. Watson's financial and managerial assistant is Mr John Radcliffe, a civilian. This year, Great Britain has sold nearly £7bn worth of weapons. Much of these weapons systems were supplied to Saudi Arabia, the world's largest arms buyer. Last year, Saudi Arabia purchased more than £5bn worth of weapons. The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) report revealed that Arab countries spent £42bn on defence last year.