AWACS SALE IN DEEP MUDDLE

CONSIDERABLE ANGER is growing in Saudi Arabia about the US administration's quite extraordinary mishandling of the proposal to sell advanced aerial surveillance aircraft to the kingdom. The White House - which had given everybody, including most importantly the Saudis - the impression that the sale was firm, has now agreed not to submit its plan to Congress until the latter has had time "to give advice on the final shape and form" of the total arms package under discussion. That effectively means no final decision will be taken until September. Not only is the controversial AWACS decision now deferred, but also the . administration's proposal to provide Saudi Arabia's US-built F-15s with advanced range and firepower.