Kuwait will purchase an air defense system from Egypt before the end of this month, said Kuwait’s Defense Minister Sheikh Jaber Al Mubarak Al Sabah on Tuesday.
The minister’s remarks came after a meeting with Mohammed Al Assar, adviser to the Egyptian defense minister for armament affairs, reported the official Kuwaiti news agency (KUNA).
The minister said that he would sign the purchase agreement of the Amoun air defense system during his visit to Cairo in the summer in response to an invitation from Assar.
“Preliminary steps for concluding the purchase contract will be finalized before the end of the current month,” he said.
Egypt and Kuwait first started talks on a new Amoun deal after Iraq's defeat by a US-led international coalition in the 1991 Gulf War, but a final agreement was not reached, said Reuters.
At the time, the deal for two new Amoun systems was valued at $625 million.
Meanwhile, the minister said that Kuwait received last week other Russian, Chinese and British offers of weapons deals.
“We will choose the appropriate offers before the end of the year, and most probably in the summer.” – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
