Saudi Arabia is expecting the delivery of 72 Eurofighter Typhoon jets, designed and built by a European consortium comprising BAE, European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co. and a unit of Finmeccanica SpA, from Britain soon.

Addressing a press conference yesterday, Crown Prince Sultan, Saudi Arabia's deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense and Aviation, confirmed that Saudi Arabia has purchased from UK 72 Eurofighter Typhoon aircrafts, costing around $19.3 billion.

"The delivery (of military aircraft) will take place very soon and in accordance with a specific timetable," Arab News quoted Prince Sultan as saying. "We don't want to depend on a single source for our defense requirements as we want to acquire the best and advanced weapons."

Prince Sultan however didn’t mention the specific day of the delivery.

The Saudi Press Agency also confirmed that the jets will arrive in the kingdom very soon.

A previous probe by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office into improper dealings in an arms export contract with Saudi Arabia threatened the aircrafts deal.

But British authorities dropped the investigation after reports emerged that Saudi Arabia was considering pulling out of the deal to buy Eurofighter jets from BAE.

UK’s decision to end the probe into alleged bribery of Saudi Arabian officials during the arms deal is expected to put Prime Minister Tony Blair in direct confrontation with the head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

OECD believes ending the probe could undermine its 1999 convention against bribery.

Professor Mark Pieth, who heads a key OECD committee monitoring international bribery which includes representatives of more than 30 countries, including the U.S. and France, wrote to the Foreign Office last month demanding an explanation over the case. The FCO is expected to reply back to Professor Pieth before the OECD committee meeting to consider Britain's actions next week. (Source: Aljazeera.com)