The World - News from March 18, 1988

China is selling Saudi Arabia intermediate-range missiles capable of reaching any part of the Middle East with a nuclear warhead, although both countries have assured the United States that nuclear weapons are not involved, the State Department said. The missiles are Chinese CSS2-class surface-to-surface missiles that in their most advanced form have a range of about 2,200 miles, sources said. Some of the missiles are being installed in sites south of the Saudi capital of Riyadh, the sources said, adding that it will apparently be some time before they become operational. State Department spokesman Charles Redman said the Saudis “assured us categorically” that they do not intend to acquire nuclear capability.