Swedish jet-sale turbulence

The non-government organization (NGO) Peace and Arbitration Society has filed a police complaint in Stockholm alleging major corruption in sales of Swedish-built Gripen fighter-bombers to Thailand.

Police have launched an investigation, an announcement that came during an official visit to Sweden by President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, which also has closed a deal to buy Gripen jets for its air force.

"The Gripen project is one of our most important projects," Rousseff told reporters in Stockholm. "It is an ambitious, large-scale project, but it is a project that

will not harm our economy," she added.

She did not refer to the allegations made against defense contractor Saab, which manufactures and markets the aircraft.

The deal with Brazil is valued at 39.3 billion kronor ($5.4 billion).

Like most defense contracts, however, the specifics of the Saab-Brazil warplane sale are secret. This also is why the Saab-to-Thailand sale of Gripen aircraft never got much tight scrutiny.

The first contract between the Thai defense ministry and the Swedish government's arms sale division Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) was in 2008, for six Gripen. A second contract in 2010 covered the purchase by Thailand of an additional six planes, and training "scholarships" for 37 officers of the Royal Thai Air Force.

The total price of the 12-plane deal was 34.4 billion Thai baht, worth at the time about $1.08 billion. The Gripen are based at the Surat Thani airbase in the Thai south, where they replaced a depleted and rapidly ageing squadron of F5 fighters.

The PAS group now alleges that neither the government's FMV nor Saab Swedish firm disclosed the scholarship deals to the public.

Anna Ek, in a statement made to the Bangkok Post newspaper said her group learned of the covert agreement through whistleblowers.

"It is clear to us that this case must be investigated by the legal authorities," the paper reported her as saying. "Should the investigation find evidence of corruption, the responsible persons have to face the corresponding legal charges."

Neither the Thai nor Swedish governments have commented on the corruption allegations.