Government officials urged Tony Blair to use the final leg of his Middle East peace tour to lobby on behalf of the British arms industry, The Times has learnt.

The Prime Minister flew to the United Arab Emirates yesterday, visiting Abu Dhabi and Dubai, saying that he wanted to promote reconciliation and democracy in the Arab world.

But it is understood that before he arrived Mr Blair was briefed that the UAE was seeking to “update its fleet of training aircraft”. BAE Systems, Britain’s largest arms company, was mentioned in the briefing document.

BAE said yesterday that it was waiting to learn whether the UAE would buy its Hawk advanced jet trainer. The head of the UAE Airforce has said that the BAE model was competing with a South Korean rival.

It emerged yesterday that Mr Blair and Lord Goldsmith, QC, the Attorney-General, will face a legal challenge over the controversial decision last week to abandon an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office into relations between BAE Systems and Saudi Arabia.

Lawyers for the Campaign against the Arms Trade have informed the Prime Minister, Lord Goldsmith and the Serious Fraud Office of their intention to seek a judicial review of the decision.

The Times can also reveal that the UAE had misgivings about Mr Blair’s visit, his first to the country. The document said that there had been “much grumbling over the past year” as preparations for the visit were made, but added that it was now delighted to welcome him.

Although Mr Blair had made public appearances with the leaders of Turkey, Iraq, Israel and the Palestinian Authority, he made no such appearance with the leaders of the UAE yesterday.

After flying from Israel, Mr Blair met Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid, the Prime Minister; Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, the President of the UAE; and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince, in Abu Dhabi.

Mr Blair then flew to Dubai for dinner with the Crown Prince, who has been heavily involved in choosing the new training aircraft. In June he visited South Korea for a demonstration of the T50 Golden Eagle trainer made by Korea Aircraft Industries.

Last night Mr Blair’s spokesman said that he was “not aware” of the briefing or whether the Prime Minister had raised the matter. Asked about the grumbling, he replied: “The trip has been a huge success.”

A spokesman for BAE Systems said: “There is a requirement in UAE for trainer aircraft and our Hawk is the most pre-eminent version. We are hopeful that we have a good chance for (a sale) to happen. However, at this time we have no information as to when decision might be made.”

The decision is running behind schedule. In November last year, Major-General Khaled Al Bu-Ainain, head of the UAE Air Force and Air Defence, said that he had hoped to choose the new trainer jets by the middle of this year. “We are aiming at having our new advanced trainer enter service by 2010.”

Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat MP who was following the Serious Fraud Office investigation into BAE, said that the briefing illustrated the close links between BAe and Government. “Last week Tony Blair got BAE off the hook. This week he is being urged to act as their salesman. It demonstrates yet again the closeness of relationships between this company and the top of the Government, and the risks and potential conflict of interest that this involves.”

The UAE visit came less than a week after Mr Blair ordered the Attorney-General to abandon the investigation into BAE Systems on national security grounds. Lord Goldsmith said that there was little chance of a prosecution in the case, which the head of the Serious Fraud Office has publicly disputed.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said that Britain was likely to face questions from fellow members about the decision to drop the investigation.

£14.8bn: BAe’s annual sales

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