BRITISH Aerospace bosses were expected to face a grilling today from shareholders and protesters over the sale of arms to strife-torn countries.

The firm's annual general meeting was likely to see heated exchanges over the company's defence exports for use in troublespots like East Timor.

Following its £7.7 billion merger deal with GEC's Marconi defence electronics business, announced in January, BAe will be the third biggest defence contractor in the world.

Earlier this month, the Church of England, which owns around £25 million of BAe shares, announced plans to pull its investment out of the company, saying the Marconi deal would make BAe too heavily concentrated on arms development.

Blackburn Cathedral bosses are to meet to decide whether to follow suit with BAe shares they are about to receive from the Marconi deal. Tornado bombers and Harrier jump jets made by BAe are being used against Serbia. The firm also owns Royal Ordnance and Hechler and Koch, which makes weapons such as mortars, assault rifles, machine guns, bombs and missiles.

More than 150 shareholder activists supporting the Campaign Against Arms Trade will be at the AGM in London.

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