Major Saudi Arms Deal Delayed Till Crisis Ends : Military: The $15-billion package is put off amid concerns that it could pose a long-term threat to Israel’s security.

The Bush Administration said Friday that it will defer the proposed sale of an estimated $15 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia until after the Persian Gulf crisis has ended, acting amid concerns that the deal could pose a long-term threat to Israel’s security.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said U.S. and Saudi officials have jointly agreed to delay the sale to “further assess Saudi arms needs in the context of the post-crisis environment.”

The proposed sale, the second installment of a huge arms deal proposed shortly after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in August, would provide the desert kingdom with advanced F-15 jet fighters, M-1A tanks, Stinger missiles and thousands of personnel carriers and trucks.

Although the first installment of $7 billion in arms was allowed to proceed, the second package faced considerable opposition in Congress, where lawmakers feared it would further upset the Middle East balance of power and fuel an accelerating arms race in the region.

Boucher said that members of Congress were told of the deferral Thursday by Secretary of State James A. Baker III, who has tried to calm congressional concerns about the Administration’s Persian Gulf strategy.

Boucher declined to say when the proposal might be revived, other than to note that its consideration would await “post-crisis” conditions. A source close to the Saudi government, however, said U.S. officials had given assurances that the delay would be no more than 45 days.

“The Saudis intend to spend $12 to $15 billion, and if they don’t get to spend it here, they are going to spend it in Europe,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The source noted that when Congress objected to the sale of F-15s in the mid-1980s, the Saudi government bought British Tornadoes instead.

Boucher denied that postponing consideration of the sale had any relation to U.S. desires to placate Israel, which has strenuously objected in the past to the purchase of military hardware by its Arab neighbors.

“This was a matter discussed and decided between us and the Saudis,” said Boucher, adding that the decision was made “in the last few days.”

“Strong Saudi defense forces are an important element in regional stability, and the United States will continue to assist Saudi Arabia in building such capability,” he said.

A congressional source who attended the briefings said the original arms package was tailored to meet the threat posed by Iran and must now be redesigned in the light of Iraqi belligerence. The source said U.S. and Saudi officials had concluded that it would be difficult to design a new defense strategy in the midst of the current gulf crisis.

“Both the Administration and the Saudis are very much aware that Congress is sensitive about arms sales to Arab nations,” the congressional source said. “They’re not going to expend political capital and create a big stir about a sale at the same time they’re trying to get support for military action in the gulf.”

Boucher declined to specify the exact cost of the deferred weapons package, although he pointed out that the original sales proposal exceeded $20 billion and that the first installment was $7 billion. “We did not precisely define” the remainder, he said.

Administration sources, however, have estimated the value of the second installment at about $13 billion.