Reagan Seeking $300 Million in Arms for Saudis

President Reagan will ask Congress to approve a highly controversial $300-million arms sale to Saudi Arabia, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) said Tuesday.

Lugar, who announced the President’s plans at a meeting of Senate Republicans, said it will be a scaled-down version of the $1.2-billion package that the Administration abandoned earlier this year in the face of strong opposition from supporters of Israel.

Sources said that the package, scheduled to be submitted to Congress next Tuesday, will include the sale of Sidewinder air-to-air and Stinger surface-to-air missiles, two American-made weapons that the Saudis have received in earlier sales.

Eliminated from the original package, according to sources, were requests for Black Hawk helicopters and advanced electronic equipment that the Saudis have been seeking for their F-15 and F-5 aircraft.

In briefing Republicans on the proposal, Lugar asked them to withhold judgment until it actually reaches Congress. But he declined to predict how Congress will vote.

Earlier this year, a resolution disapproving the larger package was introduced in the Senate with 60 supporters even before the proposal was submitted by Reagan. The resolution had the support of about 40 Democrats and 20 Republicans.

Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.), who co-sponsored the resolution along with Sen. Bob Packwood (R-Ore.), said he will revive his effort to defeat the modified sale after Congress receives the proposal.

“Saudi Arabia has consistently worked against American security interests in that part of the world,” Cranston said, “and we do not feel we should reward such a country by selling them our sophisticated weapons of war.”

In the face of similar opposition, the Administration last month abandoned its request to sell $1.9 billion worth of military equipment to Jordan.

According to sources, the Reagan Administration will argue for the package on grounds that the Saudis already have Stingers and Sidewinders and that more are needed because of Iran’s recent successes in its war against Iraq. Saudi Arabia, an Iraqi supporter, fears the influence of fundamentalist Iran in the Islamic world.

Congress has not considered an arms sale package for Saudi Arabia since 1981, when it approved the sale of sophisticated AWACS (airborne warning and control system) electronic reconnaissance aircraft after a long-fought battle.