France backs off Saudi fighter sale

French defence minister Herve Morin in front of a Rafale fighter during the 2007 Paris Air Show (Getty Images).

France is no longer pushing Saudi Arabia to buy Rafale fighters now that the kingdom has purchased Typhoon jets from Britain, French Defence Minister Herve Morin said on Sunday during a visit to the Arab kingdom.

"We haven't discussed Rafale in Saudi Arabia. It's not a current issue," Morin told reporters in Jeddah after talks with Saudi leaders. "I think that after the Typhoon order it's not necessarily a priority."

Last month Saudi Arabia and Britain announced a 4.43 billion pound ($9.09 billion) deal for 72 Eurofighter Typhoon jets as part of a contract that could be worth up to 20 billion pounds to prime contractor BAE Systems and firms spread across Europe as well as in Saudi Arabia.

Morin's comments come days after France failed to sell its Rafale advanced fighter jets to Morocco, a Francophone country normally seen as part of France's political orbit. Morocco is expected to buy US F-16s instead.

France had been holding out for a Rafale deal for some time. Former President Jacques Chirac visited Saudi Arabia last year.

Morin said Paris was open to helping the kingdom in a possible nuclear energy programme, when asked about the bid by Riyadh and fellow Gulf Arabs to start a peaceful nuclear energy programme.

"France considers itself open to this," he said.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries are flush with cash on booming world oil and gas prices and a trail of foreign leaders have come hoping to win contracts and Saudi investment.

Saudi Arabia, the largest Gulf Arab country, is boosting its armed forces as regional tension heightens over Iran's stand-off with the United States over Tehran's nuclear programme.

Washington said in August it intends to approve the sale of at least $20 billion-worth of arms to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries.

Asked about Saudi investment in strategic French industries, Morin said Arab money was welcome.

"EADS already has UAE and Qatari funds in its capital. So there is no reason for such investments not to be made in French or European firms as long as it's in the interest of the company," he said.

Qatar Investment Authority has an indirect ownership in EADS, the parent company of commercial airliner Airbus, through shareholdings in Lagardere and a Dubai fund.

Qatar said in March it was interested in buying as much as 10% of EADS.

EADS is parts of the BAE-led consortium building the Eurofighter aircraft.

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