{"id":3179,"date":"2019-03-05T15:18:47","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T15:18:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/?p=3179"},"modified":"2019-03-05T15:18:47","modified_gmt":"2019-03-05T15:18:47","slug":"us-awards-lockheed-martin-1bn-contract-for-saudi-missile-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/2019\/03\/05\/us-awards-lockheed-martin-1bn-contract-for-saudi-missile-sale\/","title":{"rendered":"US awards Lockheed Martin $1bn contract for Saudi missile sale"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Payment comes as members of Congress look to punish Saudi Arabia for its role in the war in Yemen and Khashoggi murder.31 minutes ago<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"void(0)\"><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2019\/03\/isil-fighters-surrender-numbers-final-syria-enclave-190305074306139.html#\"><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/mritems\/imagecache\/mbdxxlarge\/mritems\/Images\/2019\/3\/5\/596da241ab9143929d1b5d27f3c18182_18.jpg\" alt=\"Saudi Arabia is to purchase of 44 THAAD launchers, missiles and related equipment from the US [File: Ralph Scott\/US Department of Defense via Reuters]\" \/><figcaption>Saudi Arabia is to purchase of 44 THAAD launchers, missiles and related equipment from the US [File: Ralph Scott\/US Department of Defense via Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">MORE ON&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/topics\/country\/saudi-arabia.html\">SAUDI ARABIA<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2019\/03\/awards-lockheed-martin-1bn-contract-saudi-missile-sale-190305073712708.html\">US awards Lockheed Martin $1bn contract for Saudi missile sale<\/a>today<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2019\/03\/saudi-arabia-suspends-tv-show-aired-critical-views-190305110722769.html\">Saudi Arabia suspends TV show that aired critical views<\/a>today<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2019\/03\/saudi-arabia-terror-laws-stifle-dissent-experts-190305032840542.html\">Saudi Arabia using &#8216;terror&#8217; laws to stifle dissent: UN experts<\/a>today<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2019\/03\/senators-frustrated-white-house-silence-khashoggi-190305015411701.html\">US senators frustrated over White House silence on Khashoggi<\/a>today<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The US government says it has awarded arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin&nbsp;a $946m payment on behalf of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/topics\/country\/saudi-arabia.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Saudi Arabia<\/a>&nbsp;for an advance missile defence system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The contract, announced by the Pentagon in a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/dod.defense.gov\/News\/Contracts\/Contract-View\/Article\/1774554\/\/\">statement<\/a>&nbsp;on Monday, is the first installment of what is expected to be a $15bn deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In November, Saudi and US officials signed the letters of offer and acceptance formalising terms for the kingdom&#8217;s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2017\/10\/world-biggest-arms-companies-171007084157108.html\">purchase<\/a>&nbsp;of 44&nbsp;Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) launchers, missiles and related equipment.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a part of the scope of work outlined by the Pentagon, obsolete systems currently in place will be updated to prepare the current Saudi missile defence infrastructure for the new THAAD technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The contract also allows Lockheed Martin to pay for materials, tooling and engineering development, among other work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Pentagon said the partial payment that would go to Lockheed Martin and prevent major delays in the production of the new missile defence system in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<table class=\"wp-block-table\"><tbody><tr><td><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>INSIDE STORY: Will Saudi Arabia be held to account for Jamal Khashoggi&#8217;s murder? (25:41)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The payment comes as Saudi Arabia faces increasing international pressure in the wake of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Washington Post columnist was killed at the kingdom&#8217;s consulate in Istanbul in October last year by a Saudi hit squad, which Riyadh said was rogue but which&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2018\/11\/cia-concludes-saudi-crown-prince-ordered-khashoggi-murder-report-181117004639742.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">leaked Western intelligence&nbsp;assessments<\/a>&nbsp;have reportedly concluded was ordered by Mohammed bin Salman,&nbsp;Saudi Arabia&#8217;s powerful crown prince.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A number of US politicians from both the Republican and Democratic parties have called for punitive action against the Saudis for the journalist&#8217;s death and for its role in the ongoing war in neighbouring Yemen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Senior Republicans, including&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2019\/03\/senators-frustrated-white-house-silence-khashoggi-190305015411701.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Senator Lindsey Graham<\/a>&nbsp;have called for sanctions against Riyadh, but they stand at odds with Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SOURCE:&nbsp;AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/topics\/country\/saudi-arabia.html\">Saudi Arabia<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/topics\/country\/united-states.html\">United States<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/topics\/regions\/middleeast.html\">Middle East<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/topics\/regions\/us-canada.html\">US &amp; Canada<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Have your say.<a href=\"showFeedbackForm();\">Give us feedback.<\/a>Sign up for our<a href=\"showNewsletterForm();\">Newsletter.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Advertisement<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/\">NEWS<\/a><\/li><li>\/<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/topics\/organisations\/isis-isil.html\">ISIS\/ISIL<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">ISIL fighters &#8216;surrender in large numbers&#8217; in final Syria enclave<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About 3,000 people came out of Baghouz in eastern Syria through a humanitarian corridor, US-backed SDF rebels say.05 Mar 2019 10:08 GMT<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/mritems\/imagecache\/mbdxxlarge\/mritems\/Images\/2019\/3\/5\/23dd7a1df7634d08893151410e4267b8_18.jpg\" alt=\"Women walk with children near the village of Baghouz in the Deir Az Zor province [File: Rodi Said\/Reuters]\" \/><figcaption>Women walk with children near the village of Baghouz in the Deir Az Zor province [File: Rodi Said\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thousands of people, including armed fighters, have left the last area held by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/topics\/organisations\/isis-isil.html\">ISIL<\/a>&nbsp;in Syria, a spokesperson for the US-backed Syrian&nbsp;Democratic Forces (SDF)&nbsp;said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mostafa Bali of the SDF tweeted that about 3,000 people had come out of the village of Baghouz in eastern&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/topics\/country\/syria.html\">Syria<\/a>&nbsp;on Monday through a humanitarian corridor established by the Kurdish-led group for those who want to leave or surrender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bali said&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2019\/03\/hundreds-syria-baghouz-surrender-slowdown-fighting-190304112051000.html\">among those who left<\/a>&nbsp;was a large number of fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) group who &#8220;surrendered to our forces&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The evacuations came as the US-backed forces slowed down their&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2019\/03\/fierce-fighting-sdf-pounds-isil-held-pocket-syria-190303152032101.html\">latest push on Baghouz<\/a>, the last shred of ISIL-held territory, to allow civilians to leave the tiny enclave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mustefabali\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/profile_images\/893845029294403584\/F62770UB_normal.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mustefabali\"><strong>Mustafa Bali<\/strong>@mustefabali<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mustefabali\/status\/1102686952237776896\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Slowing down the offensive in <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Baghouz?src=hash\">#Baghouz<\/a> yesterday, we managed to evacuate about 3.000 ppl from ISIS pocket through the corridor we opened. A large number of Daesh jihadists surrendered to our forces among the same group overnight.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/like?tweet_id=1102686952237776896\">190<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mustefabali\/status\/1102686952237776896\">4:47 PM &#8211; Mar 4, 2019<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/support.twitter.com\/articles\/20175256\">Twitter Ads info and privacy<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mustefabali\/status\/1102686952237776896\">97 people are talking about this<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is unclear how many ISIL fighters and civilians remain inside, but the number is likely in the hundreds, according to local activists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since February 20, more than 10,000 people have left the pocket, producing dramatic scenes of women shrouded in black and many children climbing off trucks in the desert to be screened and searched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They were then whisked off to a camp for displaced persons to the north, while suspected fighters were moved to detention facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#8216;Overwhelming&#8217;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, a Red Cross official said the weak and fragile services at the al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, which has been in recent weeks inundated with civilians and ISIL fighters fleeing from Baghouz, are on &#8220;the brink of collapse&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Robert Mardini of the International Committee for the Red Cross said in New York that the population in the camp has risen from 34,000 at the beginning of December to 45,000 now. He said several thousand mainly women and children arrive daily and there is &#8220;no end in sight&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mardini says those coming out of Baghouz are &#8220;sick, injured, tired, afraid&#8221; and the situation at the camp is &#8220;overwhelming&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also said says the international Red Cross is ready to help with any repatriations of ISIL fighters and their families provided agreements are negotiated with their home countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mardini called this &#8220;one of the most complex issues, not only from a humanitarian sense but also from whether countries want their nationals to return or not&#8221;.<br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Payment comes as members of Congress look to punish Saudi Arabia for its role in the war in Yemen and Khashoggi murder.31 minutes ago MORE ON&nbsp;SAUDI ARABIA US awards Lockheed Martin $1bn contract for Saudi missile saletoday Saudi Arabia suspends TV show that aired critical viewstoday Saudi Arabia using &#8216;terror&#8217; laws to stifle dissent: UN expertstoday US senators frustrated over&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/2019\/03\/05\/us-awards-lockheed-martin-1bn-contract-for-saudi-missile-sale\/\">Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3179"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3180,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3179\/revisions\/3180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}