Algeria cancels weapons deal over Israeli parts

Algerian newspaper quotes senior source as saying air force called off major weapons deal with France when manufacturers failed to guarantee equipment does not include components made in Israel

Doron Peskin|Published: 10.12.09 , 12:17

An Algerian newspaper claimed that the North African nation's air force cancelled a major weapons deal with France after the French manufacturers were unwilling to guarantee that the equipment to be provided does not include any components made in Israel.

The el-Khabar newspaper quoted a senior Algerian source as saying the deal would not be executed due to the French suppliers' refusal to accept Algerian demands that the weapons systems in question do not include any components manufactured outside of France.

"We wanted this clause in order to prevent the possibility of Israeli products being part of the Algerian military's weapons systems," the source was quoted as saying.

Negotiations between France and Algeria for the finalization of the deal lasted nearly a year, only to end in the agreement being called off.

One of the arguments given for the cancellation of the deal in the past was France's plans to sell the same military equipment to Morocco, Algeria's neighbor. Now, it turns out the cancellation of the deal is actually linked to Israel.

The source told the paper that the Algerian Defense Minister put a similar clause in a deal for the acquisition of battleships from Britain, and in a deal for the purchase of helicopters from Italy.

Algeria has also recently purchased from Italy battleships equipped with anti-submarine missiles at the total cost of €4 billion ($5.9 billion).

In all of the above deals, the manufacturers were asked to present to the Algerian Defense Minister a detailed list of the components, their point of production, and who can provide maintenance services to the products for a period of five years from the day of purchase.

"We do not want to be dependent on the Israeli manufacturers' moods," the source told the paper.

Algeria is ranked third among Arab countries with regards to its expenses on military equipment. In 2008, Algeria spent some $2.4 billion on upgrading its army.