Previously secret files reveal that Saudi Arabia’s rulers threatened to make it easier for terrorists to attack London unless British corruption probes into Saudi arms deals were halted.
According to newly released court documents, British authorities were told they faced “another 7/7” and the loss of “British lives on British streets” if they continued the probe.
The “7/7” refers to the July 7, 2005 bombings in London that killed 52 commuters and injured 700.
Prince Bandar, the head of the Saudi national security council, was said in court to have been behind the threats to hold back information about suicide bombers and terrorists, the Guardian in Britain reported.
Bandar has been accused of receiving nearly $2 billion in secret payments from the arms company BAE.
In the face of Bandar’s December 2006 threats, Prime Minister Tony Blair pressed the Serious Fraud Office to end its investigation into bribery allegations involving Bandar and his family, according to the Guardian.
But anti-corruption campaigners have now begun a legal action to restart the investigation, charging that the British government gave in to blackmail.
After reports of Bandar’s secret payments were published in the Guardian, Switzerland launched a probe of Saudi arms purchases. The U.S. Justice Department has also launched an investigation of the money Bandar received in the U.S. while he was ambassador to Washington.
===========
