DHAKA: Saudi Arabia wants to buy 600 to 800 Leopard battle tanks from Germany, at least twice the number previously expected, a German newspaper reported on Sunday.
A deal for around 300 tanks was about to be signed, Bild am Sonntag newspaper said in a report sent to Reuters ahead of publication, reports The Jerusalem Post.
The newspaper said that while there was opposition to the deal in Germany’s Chancellery, Foreign Ministry and Defence Ministry, there was support for it within the Economy Ministry.
‘The Saudi order could secure the future of German tank-makers Krauss-Maffei Wegman and Rheinmetall, which urgently need new markets because of the restructuring of the German army’, said Bild am Sonntag.
A German government spokeswoman declined to comment.
BDST: 1346 HRS, JUN 17, 2012
Edited by Robab Rosan, Cultural Affairs Editor
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