ABU DHABI [MENL] -- After a delay of more than a year, Saudi Arabia has signed a deal to purchase air trainers from Pakistan.
Diplomatic sources and Pakistani officials said the Saudi Defense Ministry has concluded a contract for the purchase of 20 SuperMashak air trainers from Pakistan. They said the contract was signed during a visit by a Pakistani defense delegation to Riyad earlier this month.
"The contract to sell these aircraft to the kingdom was signed recently," Pakistan's ambassador to Riyad, Abdul Aziz Mirza, said. "But whether delivery will be made according to a staggered schedule or in a fleet is still unclear."
Pakistani officials said the Saudi contract -- estimated at about $25 million -- fell far short of Islamabad's expectations. They said the Saudi Defense Ministry, which had been expected to sign the contract in early 2003, reduced its order from 40 to 20 platforms. The decision was said to have been taken during a ministry review held in wake of the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in neighboring Iraq in 2003.
http://menewsline.com/stories/2004/june/06_23_3.html
Diplomatic sources and Pakistani officials said the Saudi Defense Ministry has concluded a contract for the purchase of 20 SuperMashak air trainers from Pakistan. They said the contract was signed during a visit by a Pakistani defense delegation to Riyad earlier this month.
"The contract to sell these aircraft to the kingdom was signed recently," Pakistan's ambassador to Riyad, Abdul Aziz Mirza, said. "But whether delivery will be made according to a staggered schedule or in a fleet is still unclear."
Pakistani officials said the Saudi contract -- estimated at about $25 million -- fell far short of Islamabad's expectations. They said the Saudi Defense Ministry, which had been expected to sign the contract in early 2003, reduced its order from 40 to 20 platforms. The decision was said to have been taken during a ministry review held in wake of the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in neighboring Iraq in 2003.
http://menewsline.com/stories/2004/june/06_23_3.html