Dassault source denies reported Libyan order

A French newspaper reported yesterday that Libya wanted to order up to 18 Rafale fighter jets from France but a source close to the aircraft's maker Dassault Aviation denied that a deal was imminent.

The weekly Journal du Dimanche, citing a source close to the Libyan government, said Libya wanted to order between 13 and 18 Rafale fighter jets from France in a deal worth up to €2.5 billion.

No comment was immediately available from either Dassault Aviation, makers of the multi-role Rafale aircraft, or the French government but a source close to the company said that no firm talks were underway.

The source said the aircraft had been shown by the French air force at an aerospace fair in Tripoli last month but that no firm deal was immediately in the offing.

"The presentation of the Rafale by the air force in December was part of the normal promotion of the Rafale abroad but there are no discussions and no negotiations," the source, who declined to be named said.

The Rafale is France's next generation, multi-role combat aircraft, combining both fighter and bomber roles and has been a flagship programme for France's arms industry but has had problems in finding export buyers.

The €34 billion Rafale programme has been short-listed several times but orders so far have been confined to France's own navy and air force, despite a major export push backed by President Jacques Chirac.

It lost out last year when Saudi Arabia sealed a $11.61 billion deal to acquire up to 72 Eurofighter jets from a multinational consortium that includes Airbus parent EADS, BAE Systems and Alenia Aeronautica, part of Italy's Finmeccanica.

US rival Boeing has also beat it to major deals in Singapore and South Korea.

Libya emerged from international isolation from 2003 when it accepted responsibility for the Lockerbie airliner bombing over Scotland and announced it would abandon its nuclear weapons programme. Most US sanctions were lifted in 2004.

In 2004, the European Union lifted an arms embargo against Libya imposed in 1986.