MADRID — Spain says it is holding talks with Saudi Arabia to resolve differences over a shipment of bombs that, according to Spanish defense authorities, could end up targeting civilians in Yemen.
Defense Minister Margarita Robles told senators at a hearing on Monday that the decision wasn’t final and that she expected that talks between the two trade partners would settle the dispute.
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Shipbuilders are blocking roads in southern Spain amid fears that Saudi Arabia could scrap a $2.1 billion-purchase of warships in retaliation to a move by Madrid to halt a shipment of bombs to Riyadh.
Her department had announced last week that it was halting the delivery of 400 laser-guided precision bombs ordered by Riyadh in 2015 and paid for.
Shipbuilders in southern Spain have protested in recent days over fears that Saudi Arabia could scrap a separate $2.1 billion purchase of warships in retaliation.
Robles has ruled out such a scenario.
The Saudi Embassy in Madrid has declined to comment.
The British government used what's known an urgent operational requirement process in Iraq and Afghanistan to rapidly get capabilities into the front line.
Experts say balloons loitering at high altitudes can offer some advantages over satellites and drones — and could at least augment ISR capabilities.
Biden said he wanted the balloon downed on Wednesday, but was advised the best time for the operation would be when it was over water.
The Pulse program took five months to pull together. Such a pace, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said, was an “extraordinary feat."
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