British Gov't Signed Off £3.3bn of Arms Exports to Saudi Arabia
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The British government gave the go-ahead to £3.3 billion in arms exports to Saudi Arabia during the first year of that country’s bombardment of Yemen, new figures show.
Britain has ignored repeated calls to stop selling the autocratic petro-state bombs and other military equipment as allegations and reports of war crimes and the targeting of civilians continue to emerge.
Between April 2015 and March 2016 Britain signed off exports of £2.2 billion worth of so-called ML10 licenses – which include equipment like drones, helicopters, and other aircraft.
£1.1 billion worth of ML4 licenses were issued – relating to bombs, missiles, grenades, and countermeasures. Britain also signed off £430,000 of licenses for armored vehicles and tanks.
In January a UN panel accused Saudi Arabia of breaking international humanitarian law during its assault on the country. The country has blown up schools, hospitals and weddings during the bombardment, according to observers.
British parties Labor, the Liberal Democrats, and the SNP have all called for arms licenses to be suspended, as has the European Parliament and the British House of Commons’ own international development committee, the Independent reported.
Recent moves by the British Foreign Office show the Government itself is also less confident than ever that Saudi Arabia is not committing war crimes. Previous statements by the former Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond were quietly corrected on the last day before parliamentary recess to water down endorsements of Saudi Arabian forces.
Mr Hammond had said the Government “have assessed that there has not been a breach of international humanitarian law by the coalition”. This was later changed to, “we have not assessed that there has been a breach of international humanitarian law by the coalition”.
Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade, which collated the BIS figures, said, “The UN has accused Saudi Arabian forces of violating international humanitarian law, the European Parliament has calling for an arms embargo, but, as usual when it comes to Saudi Arabia, the British government has focused on arms sales.”
The British government says it has one of the most rigorous arms export control systems in the world. David Cameron has said that Britain’s alliance with the Saudi Arabian monarchy is important for its “security”.
