Pentagon says M-1 tanks won't be sold to Saudis

The Pentagon said the United States is not considering selling Saudi Arabia M-1 tanks or stationing tanks there for US use. An official denied a New York Times report that the administration plans to sell the Saudis 1,200 of the most advanced US battle tanks. The US does plan to send a small number of M-1 tanks to Saudi Arabia to demonstrate their ability in the desert. But the official said the sale of such large numbers of tanks wasn't being considered because of likely Israeli opposition and production problems in meeting US needs for the M-1s.