Saudi royal alleged to have taken bribes
Arms deal probe halted by tony Blair
Prince Turki bin Nasser, who has died aged 72, became infamous for his central role in the al-yamamah arms deal between britain and Saudi Arabia that led to corruption investigations in britain and the u.s.
The deal involved the sale of arms, particularly fighter planes, by british Aerospace (now bae Systems), to Saudi Arabia over two decades from 1985. The contracts, worth us$60 billion, were won amid intense competition from France and the u.s. and clinched with the backing of Margaret Thatcher’s government.
It was not long before reports of Saudi “commissions” to middlemen prompted england’s Serious Fraud Office to investigate. In december 2006, however, the investigation was halted on the orders of then-prime Minister Tony blair, who cited threats from the Saudis to break off intelligence co-operation on terrorism.
In 2010 bae admitted to false accounting, but not bribery, and was fined us$400 million.
As journalists continued to probe, the name of Prince Turki, for almost 20 years responsible for overseeing the Saudi side of the al-yamamah deals, came up time and again.
In November 2017 Prince Turki was arrested in Saudi Arabia, ostensibly as part of a crackdown on corruption, creating a certain amount of political pressure for britain to re-open its investigation into al-yamamah. but after Prince Turki was released in January 2018, pressure on the british Government seems to have eased.
A grandson of the founder of Saudi Arabia, Turki bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz Alsaud was born in riyadh on April 14, 1948.
He earned bachelors and masters degrees from the u.s. Army War College, then underwent military training in the u.s., britain and Saudi Arabia, qualifying as a fighter pilot. In 1966 he was appointed commander of King Abdulaziz Air base in Saudi Arabia.
He went on to serve in various military positions, in addition to being project officer for the al-yamamah deal, attaining the rank of air force major-general. His influence came from being a son-in-law of Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, the Saudi defence minister from 1963 to 2011.
Prince Turki was said to be one of the richest people in the Arab world.