Saudi Arabia's pledge to buy 96 Rafale's … What's up ?

The following link > http://news.ft.com/cms/s/1bffffc4-ad4c-11d9-ad92-00000e2511c8.html reads :

Saudi Arabia has agreed in principle to acquire up to 96 Rafale combat aircraft from France’s Dassault Aviation for some €6bn, Les Echos, the FT’s French sister newspaper, has learnt.

The agreement forms the cornerstone of a broader defence, security and industrial accord estimated to be worth up to €20bn ($26bn, £14bn) signed during a meeting in Paris yesterday between Jacques Chirac, French president, and Crown Prince Abdullah, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler.

In mid-April, the Saudis seem to have pledged to buy 96 Rafales from France….what’s the news on this ? Is this prospective deal still alive ??

It appears to me that heavy handed American lobbying for the F-15T in addition to geopolitical reasons will defeat the Rafale in the Singapore tender (although IMHO the Rafale is a better jet that the F-15T with or without its AESA radar). So, this must be a deal that France is looking forward to and i hope they are aggressively chasing this.

Is there any updated news on this ? What is the US upto ? Has the Eurofighter been offered as well ?