British lives would have been at risk if an arms deal inquiry had not been dropped, the British government claimed, according to a BBC report on Thursday.
The claims were made at the start of a High Court challenge brought by the pressure groups Corner House Research and Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), which want to overturn a decision to halt a corruption inquiry into an arms deal between BAE, Britain's largest defense group, and Saudi Arabia.
In the documents released to the court, Helen Garlick, assistant director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), was quoted as recalling what the Foreign Office told her about its fears of another bomb attack in the UK.
Britain's SFO investigated BAE's 43 billion-pound (about 86 billion U.S. dollar) Al-Yamamah arms deal to Saudi Arabia in 1985,which provided Tornado and Hawk jets plus other military equipment.
BAE was accused of operating a slush fund to help it secure the contract.
The SFO inquiry into the Al Yamamah deal was stopped in December 2006 by the government, with attorney general Lord Goldsmith announcing that it was threatening Britain's national security.
Corner House and CAAT are trying to prove in court that hopes of winning a huge new arms contract from Saudi Arabia influenced officials.
BAE won a new deal from Saudi Arabia earlier this year.
The judicial review at the High Court is expected to last two days.
Source: Xinhua
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