Sale to Israel ‘will not be approved’

Germany would veto a plan by Textron Inc to sell to Israel armoured vehicles it makes under licence from a Munich-based company if asked for approval, according to lawmakers from Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s ruling coalition.

Israel wants to buy 103 Dingo armoured trucks from Providence, Rhode Island-based Textron, which makes them under licence from Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH.

Germany, if asked by Textron to approve such a sale, will say no, said Rainer Arnold, the ruling Social Democrats’ defence spokesman in parliament.