PARIS: Qatar has agreed to buy 24 Dassault Aviation-built Rafale fighter jets in a ¤6.3bn ($7bn) deal, the French government said yesterday. The contract also includes MBDA missiles, and the training of 36 Qatari pilots and 100 technicians by the French army, a French Defence Ministry official said. “The president spoke to H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, who confirmed his desire to buy 24 Rafale combat planes,” President Francois Hollande’s office said. Eleven planes will be delivered each year from mid-2018. Dassault Chief Executive Eric Trappier told BFM TV that Qatar had an option to buy 12 more planes. Hollande will travel to Doha on May 4 to sign the contract.
Iran to release seized Maersk vessel after ‘debt settled’
Copenhagen: Iran will release a cargo vessel chartered by Danish shipping group A P Moeller-Maersk as soon as the company settles a debt stemming from a long-running business dispute, the Iranian embassy in Denmark said yesterday. “Iranian authorities reiterate that there has been absolutely no political or security intentions or considerations behind the incident,” the statement said. “The seizure of the ship was solely an enforcement of a judicial court ruling resulting from a commercial dispute between two private parties,” it added. Maersk said it was told by the Iranian Ports and Maritime Organisation at a meeting on Wednesday that an Iranian court had ordered it to pay $3.6m in compensation in the case.
Agencies
