UK Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia 'Worth £5.6bln under David Cameron'
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - The Conservative government has licensed £5.6bln in sales of arms, fighter jets and other military hardware to Saudi Arabia since David Cameron came to power, according to new figures on Wednesday.
New research by the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) states that in the nearly six years since Mr Cameron’s election in May 2010, the UK has sold weapons to 24 of states included on its own list of “countries of humanitarian concern”.
The deals come alongside over £2bln in sales to other countries accused of abusing of human rights.
All of the 24 have been licensed to make deals with British companies, from Saudi Arabia’s ongoing purchase of 72 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft (which will be worth a total of £4.5bln upon completion) right down to Eritrea’s solitary £8,600 purchase of body armour. Overall, these deals are worth £6.2bln.
Aside from the purchase of the Typhoon jets, major deals between Saudi Arabia and British companies include a £1.6bln agreement for Hawk fighter jets and bulk sales of machine guns, bombs and tear gas, The Independent reported on Wedensday.
In fact, Saudi Arabia have access to twice as many British-made warplanes as the RAF does, while bombs originally stockpiled by Britain's Armed Forces are being sent to Saudi Arabia for use in their bombing campaign against Houthis in Yemen.
A UN investigation into Saudi war crimes in the Persian Gulf’s poorest nation was blocked by the Saudis themselves. It has been claimed that the Saudis' appointment on to the UN’s human rights council may have been secured thanks to a secret voting deal forged with the UK.
Other major beneficiaries who feature on the Government’s list of countries of concern are China, Pakistan and Afghanistan, sealing deals worth £131m, £117m and £49m respectively.
“The overriding message is that human rights are playing second fiddle to company profits,” said CAAT spokesperson Andrew Smith.
“The income of BAE is being put over the rights of people being executed and tortured. It’s completely inconsistent to condemn these regimes while signing off on billion-pound arms deals.”
“Two-thirds of UK arms exports go to the Middle East, and that’s unlikely to change. We know that Saudi Arabia is arming a number of groups in and around Syria, but we’ve no idea what weapons are being sent there. Once a weapon enters a war zone there’s no such thing as arms control.”
CAAT also states that the seeds for many of these deals were sown by the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
“We would argue that it’s more an institutional issue than a party political one,” he said.
