DUBAI: Sweden's role in assisting Saudi Arabia to construct an advanced arms factory able to produce anti-tank missiles has left many frustrated over the Scandinavian country's role in the ultra-conservative Gulf Kingdom. According to reports in Riyadh, the country and Sweden have been working together with the Swedish Defense Research Agency (FOI) for a number of years to give background to Saudi scientists on weapons. The revealing of the munitions training and development has pushed human rights groups and activists into a frenzy, accusing the Swedish government of buttressing one of the most brutal countries in the world. “I think it shows that countries don't really care about freedom and justice, they just want the business deals and to make money,” Abdullah Abdel Aziz, a Saudi university student in Dubai, told Bikyamasr.com. The FOI, which is an authority under the Ministry of Defense, has been involved in plans to develop Saudi Arabia's weapons industry in cooperation with companies based in Sweden, the defense company Eurenco Bofors among others. “It is extremely problematic that a government institutional authority assists in planning the establishment of a weapons factory in a dictatorship where gross human rights violations occur,” Anna Ek, head of the NGO Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society (SPAS), was quoted by IPS as saying. Classified government documents revealed by the public broadcaster Swedish Radio Tuesday show that FOI since 2007 has been involved in a project called Simoom that has been kept secret from the public. Confidential documents show that the plans have been far-reaching though the construction of an advanced weapons factory – which would be the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia – has not yet begun. According to the Swedish government's website, Saudi Arabia is Sweden's most important trading partner in the Middle East and North Africa. While Sweden has sold weapons to Saudi Arabia in the past, a classified government document from June 2008 says that the project Simoom “is something new for FOI and stretches the boundary for what is possible for a Swedish agency.” FOI General Director Jan Olof Lind denies the existence of the project. “We do not have a project agreement with that country. I do not wish to comment on discussions that may or may not have occurred between Sweden and Saudi Arabia. These discussions are classified,” he told the Swedish Radio. However, in a document sent by Jan Olof Lind to the Ministry of Defense in March 2009 the planned project is explained in detail. The document reveals that the project's worth is several hundred million dollars and that Sweden's involvement would stretch over a five to six-and-a-half year period. It appears that more information is needed before international accusations are thrown around, but the rumor mill is in full swing and even a number of Saudi scientists have confirmed the project's existence, but on what level, Bikyamasr.com could not, at this time, confirm. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/5rDST Tags: featured, Saudi, Sweden, Tanks, Weapons Section: Europe, Latest News, Saudi Arabia
