Saudi's Satellite Data Not For Military Use
New York (JTA) — Saudi Arabi- launched in 1997 by Eyeglass In to U.S. Commerce Secretary
an officials assured the American
a private consortium Ronald Brown, concerned about
Jewish Committee this week that based in the United States that the implications for Israel's in-
they have no intention of using would resell the photographs.
telligence edge if the deal went
data from a controversial spy
The satellite images will have through. The senators noted that
a resolution of one meter, a sub- the Saudi company was planning
satellite for military purposes.
The assurances came as AJ- stantial improvement over the to establish a ground station to
Committee leaders were in images now available from com- receive the data in Riyadh.
Mr. Moses said his five-mem-
Riyadh, as guests of Saudi King mercial satellites. Satellite im-
ages of that resolution were ber delegation was told the satel-
Fand.
"We came to learn about a considered sensitive military lite "is not a governmental issue,"
country that until recent years technology, until the Clinton ad- but an investment by a private
was not accessible to us," AJ- ministration eased requirements Saudi citizen.
Saudi government officials said
Committee President Alfred earlier this year to promote
they did not plan on using the
Moses said in a telephone inter- American exports.
But while the photographs satellite information, saying that
view.
The Saudis first received a would apparently be available to purchase of the private date
Jewish group, the American Jew- all customers, opposition to the would conflict with their inter-
satellite emerged after a Saudi ests of maintaining an ongoing
ish Congress, in January 1992.
The satellite, which has company expressed interest in exchange of intelligence infor-
mation with the United States,
emerged as an issue in Wash- joining the consortium.
Last week, 64 senators wrote according to Mr. Moses.
ington in recent weeks, is to be
But one pro-Israel activist in
Washington said that the Eye-
glass satellite would offer infor-
mation unavailable through
information exchanges, since "I
don't believe we give the Saudis
photographs of the Israelis, or the
Israelis photographs of the Saud-
is."
Overall, Mr. Moses, speaking
by telephone from the Saudi cap-
ital, said the visit came at a good
time, since the current crisis with
Iraq "reinforces the importance
of the U.S." in Saudi eyes.
The visit also came on the
heels of the Saudi announcement
of an end to the Arab boycott of
companies doing business with
Israel, giving the AJCommittee
an opportunity to congratulate
officials on the move.
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"In the course of our discus-
sions, there was obviously dis-
agreement," he said, citing as an
example his request that the
Saudis play a stronger role in the
ongoing multilateral regional ne-
gotiations.
Mr. Moses, who has been
named American ambassador to
Romania, said the high point of
the visit was addressing a dozen
or more members of the chamber
of commerce.
"It was an opportunity to dis-
pel some of the myths that exist
in the minds of Saudis who know
little about Jews," he said.
In the wake of the terrorist at-
tack in Jerusalem that killed two
people, Mr. Moses reported "de-
nunciation" of the attack by the
Saudis he spoke to. ❑
101