RIYADH, 11 July — The Ministry of Defense and Aviation has assured that the rights and privileges of the Saudi employees in the BAE systems will be protected. The ministry made the statement following media reports about the company’s move to convert the work contracts of the Saudi employees to annual contracts with new conditions adversely affecting them. The Saudi employees in the company had complained against the management’s plans to violate their rights when they were asked to fill out a form titled "Continuation of Request with Yamamah Project" and sign it. Signing the form gave BAE the right to start a new contract under new terms including salary changes from Jan.1, 2003. The form threatened that any worker who did not sign the form would be terminated effective Jan. 1, 2002. (SPA)