Quote:The US arms package involves about $20bn going mainly to the Saudis but also the Gulf states, $13bn to Egypt and $30bn to Israel. It includes warships for the Saudis' eastern fleet that faces the Iranian navy in the Persian Gulf.
As well as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, the conference today was attended by Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.


A senior US defence official involved in the Sharm-el-Sheikh talks told reporters the sales were intended to send a message to the region: "We have been here 60 years and we're going to be here a lot longer."


Both the Saudis and the Gulf states, which are predominantly Sunni, fear that Iran could try to destabilise them by stirring up the Shia parts of their population.


The arms sale is part of a US strategy aimed at putting a squeeze on Iran that involves everything short of war. Both Ms Rice and Mr Gates are the advocates of this approach, in contrast to the vice-president, Dick Cheney, who argues that in the end military strikes will be needed against Iran.

Quote:"He who wants to make peace, does not start out with an arms initiative".