http://192.168.2.6/english/20061215BBC.mp3

The legal authorities in Britain have abandoned a full investigation into a multibillion dollar arms deal between the British company BAE Systems and Saudi Arabia. Italian Gen. / said the continuing investigation would cause serious damage to Britain's relations with Saudi Arabia. BAE Systems and the Saudi Arabia government had denied any wrongdoing. But Norman Lamb from the opposition Liberal Democratic Party said the British government had caved into a pressure from defence industry and the Saudi government.

I think it's / that just two weeks after a pressure from the Saudi Arabia government together also with BAE Systems in the defense industry generally,we get this announcement that a serious criminal investigation has been brought to end. In a / sad day for the rule of law and good governance in our country. And how / you can lecture other countries on the / of good governance when behavior as well as ourselves.

The British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been questioned by police during inquiring into allegations of the governing Labor Party and the opposition conservatives rewarded some of their bankers with seats in Upper House of parliament. Mr. Blair wasn't interviewed under caution, meaning that he was treated only as a witness and not a suspect. Our political reporter / repors.

/ Election Campaigns calls lots of money. And in Britain, the politicians rely a great deal on individual / donors took from them. At the same time it's the politicians who can nominate people to seat in the upper chamber of parliament the House of Lords. And this latest scandal revolves around delegations that money was led to political parties in return for such honors. The trial has led the police investigation to the prime minister's front door because of four businessmen who / made secret loans to Tony Blair's Labor Party, later ended up being nominated for seats and titles in the House of Lords.

The son of the Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has been shot and wounded during a battle at Rafah crossing point. Report said that he wasn't seriously wounded. It happened as the Palestinain Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh returned to Gaza from Egypt. Earlier he's been prevented from crossing the border with 30 million dollars in cash for his government. A J reports from Gaza.

In / , the crossing point on Gaza's border with Egypt, the convey of the Palestinian Prime Minister and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has come under fire. Mr.'s adult son, and one of his senior advisors and others were injured. As gunfire rattled around the entrance way to the custome's hold, the prime minister's bodyguard shot him in the back of a jeep before racing away. All this came after Mr. Haniyeh's return to Gaza have been delayed for several hours when the Israelis closed the frontier. They would determine to prevent him from bringing in million of dollars that Hamas wanted to use to / an international economic embargo on its government.

Reports from Iraq say at least 25 people seized in a mass kidnapping in Baghdad earlier today have been released. Iraqi police had earlier said that dozens of shopkeepers and / both Sunni and Shiite had been taken from a commercial area by gunmen wearing / uniforms.

The new Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki Moon has been sworn in. Mr.Ban, the former South Korean foreign minister, is the first Asian to lead the UN for 35 years. He will formally take up the post on January 1th, succeeding Kofi Annan who was Secretary General for a decade. Mr.Ban said he was approaching his new job with mixture of all and enthusiasm.

A man in charge of British police investigation into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales nine years ago says there was no conspiracy and no cover-up. Publishing in findings of the 3-year inquiry, John Stevens said the car crash in Paris which killed the Princess, a friend Dodi Fayed and their driver Henri Paul were simply a tragic accident. While Stevens said allegations made by Dodi's father Mohamed Al Fayed about a murder conspiracy involving the British intelligence services or the British royal family were totally unfounded.

There was no conspiracy to murder any occupants of the car. This was a tragic accident.

The authorities in Greece have fined a mobile phone operater / 100 million dollars for failing to protect users from operation to tape the phones of leading Greek politicians. The / , a subsidiary of the British company /Phone Greece, said it would challenge the fine imposed. Earlier this year, the Greek government disclosed that unknown easy droppers had illegally monitored mobile phone calls of more than 100 public figures, including the Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis. Investigators havn't discovered who was behind the phone tapes.

And that's the latest BBC world service news.