Saudis Killed Arms Probe Under Blair

Prince threatened to withhold terror info; predicted 'another 7/7'
By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 15, 2008 9:37 AM CST
Saudis Killed Arms Probe Under Blair
In this photo released by Saudi News Agency, Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan, right receives Mideast envoy Tony Blair, the ex-prime minister of Britain after his arrival in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia Monday, Sept. 3, 2007. (AP Photo/Saudi News Agency)   (Associated Press)

The Saudi royal family threatened to withhold information about planned terrorist attacks on London unless British authorities suspended an investigation into corrupt arms deals, court documents show. Prince Bandar flew to London in December 2006 to warn investigators they faced "another 7/7," referring to the four bombs that killed 52 people in 2005, reports the Guardian.

The threats—Bandar warned of the loss of "British lives on British streets"—led PM Tony Blair to close an investigation into allegation of bribery surrounding more than $2 billion in secret payments from the arms company BAE to the Saudis. Anti-corruption campaigners filed a legal action yesterday to reopen the investigation, asserting that the British government had been blackmailed. (More BAE stories.)

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