Back in December I posted a few times (14th, 17th) about the suspicious sequence of events surrounding an investigation into the so-called 'al Yamamah' arms deal between Saudi Arabia and the UK's BAE (British Aerospace) back in the 80s. The picture didn't look any more edifying by February of this year.
The government's decision to intervene and stop a Serious Fraud Office investigation into the deal (just as it looked as though a further huge aerospace deal might go to France instead...) not only looked decidedly shady at the time, but has now prompted the OECD (in its role as an international anti-bribery watchdog) to send a team of inspectors over - effectively, to audit the whole sorry business.
From the point of view of international transparency in deals of this size and nature, that's probably a good thing in itself. It should also generate a fascinating record of the conversations ministers are likely to have with the OECD inspectors.
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