A former Egyptian military official, who now heads an industrial corporation, said yesterday his institution was holding talks with a foreign partner over a new project to produce Egypt's first fighter jet. "The Arab Organisation for Industrialisation is approaching a foreign partner to co-operate in producing a fighter plane with a high percentage of Egyptian components," Hamdi Weheiba, the head of the governmental organisation was quoted as saying by the official Middle East News Agency (MENA) Saturday. He added that if negotiations were finalised, "the locally produced plane will meet the Egyptian Armed Forces' needs as its price will be reasonable". "The Authority will try to maintain a good quality with international standards for the fighter jet," Weheiba added. However, the official, the ex-head of the Egyptian Army's Chief of Staff, said that the exportation of such a plane or any other military products was subjected to a "political decision". "Exporting our products has nothing to do with the economy. It's merely a political by the Egyptian leadership," Weheiba told the agency. An offshoot of the 1973 War against Israel was the Arab Organisation for Industrialisation which, collapsed after Egypt signed a peace deal with Israel in 1979.
