Chancellor Bruno Kreisky confirmed yesterday that Austria is negotiating the sale of Kuerassier tanks to Saudi Arabia and said that he personally saw no obstacle to the sale. Israel has already lodged a strong protest.
The deal was first reported this week by the West German magazine, Der Spiegel, which said
Austria was prepared to sell up to 100 of the light tanks, manufactured by Steyr-Daimler-Puch, to the Saudis. The Austrian weekly Profil said today that the government has already made a firm decision to grant an export license for 400 tanks and ammunition to Saudi Arabia. Austria is also said to be involved in arms sales negotiations with other Arab counties.
SCHMIDT BACKS OFF ON SAUDI DEAL
Meanwhile, West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, currently visiting Riyadh, was reported today to have backed away from a multi-billion dollar arms deal with the Saudis that has aroused a storm of controversy in Bonn. According to reports from the Saudi capital, Schmidt told Crown Prince Fahd yesterday that it was “not feasible” at this time for Germany to alter its arms export policy. A Cabinet decision in 1971 banned the sale of weapons to countries in areas defined as “crisis zones” such as the Middle East.
Although Schmidt himself was reported to favor the deal, it is opposed by many in the Bundestag, including members of his own Social Democratic Party (SPD). The Chancellor, it was said, wants to avoid an open battle with the Parliament which he may well loose. But he did not foreclose the possibility that the deal might be revived at a later, more opportune time. The arms package reportedly included West Germany’s newest and most sophisticated tank, the Leopold II, and Tornado jet fighter planes, manufactured by an Anglo-German-Italian consortium.
ISRAELI STATEMENTS OF PROTEST
A note protesting Austria’s proposed tank sale to Saudi Arabia was delivered to the Foreign Ministry here by the Israeli Ambassador Yissachar Ben-Yaacov. At the same time, Yeruham Meshel, Secretary General of Histadrut, the Israeli labor federation, sent a letter to the chairman of the Austrian transportation union, Fritz Prechtl, urging him to intervene to stop the export of tanks that would pose a “deadly danger” to Israel. Prechtl is also chairman of the Transportation Workers international Organization.
OTHER MIDEAST COUNTRIES INTERESTED
Saudi Arabia is not the only Middle Eastern country that has shown an interest in acquiring Austrian made tanks and other military equipment. The Defense Ministers of Tunisia and Lebanon and the Vice Premier of Iraq visited Vienna recently to inquire about products and prices. Steyr-Daimler-Puch, the leading Austrian manufacturer of tanks, automatic rifles and military vehicles, recently applied for an export license for 200 Kuerassier tanks to the Persian Gulf state of Oman and 60 recovery and ambulance tanks to Jordan.
Lebanon has shown interest in long distance military trucks and tanks. But it is considered unlikely that Austria will sell weapons to Beirut because of a constitutional ban on the sale of arms to countries involved in a war. The State-owned Voest-Alpine Steel Corp., Which has developed a new 15.5 cm. cannon, is currently negotiating sales to Algeria and Jordan.
Meanwhile, Austria has been urged to show restraint in its arms sales abroad. A booklet jointly published by the Austrian section of Amnesty International and student organizations representing Austrian universities, noted that about 70 Austrian firms are in the arms export business. The organizations demanded stricter control of arms sales to countries with poor human rights records and urged that arms sales approved by the government should also require parliamentary approval before they are implemented.
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