No Script

Please Wait...

Al-Ahed Telegram

Arms Trade with Saudi Fuels Yemen Carnage

Arms Trade with Saudi Fuels Yemen Carnage
folder_openYemen access_time7 years ago
starAdd to favorites

Local Editor

A group that campaigns for stricter arms sales controls said on Monday that Western powers were breaking international law by selling vast amounts of weapons to Saudi Arabia that are being used to hit civilians in Yemen.

Arms Trade with Saudi Fuels Yemen Carnage

The Control Arms Coalition said Britain, France and the US were flouting the 2014 Arms Trade Treaty [ATT], which bans exports of conventional weapons that fuel human rights violations or war crimes.

"It is extremely concerning that many transfers are still continuing, in particular the governments of the United States, the UK and France have authorized and are continuing to export very large quantities of weapons, including explosive weapons, bombs which are being used daily against civilians in Yemen," said Anna MacDonald, director of the Control Arms Coalition. She was speaking to a news briefing as week-long UN negotiations began in Geneva aimed at putting teeth into the ATT which lacks a mandatory public reporting system for the $100-billion [R1,36-trillion] global arms trade.

France authorized arms licenses worth $18bn to Saudi Arabia last year, followed by the US at $5,9bn and Britain's $4bn, the group said in its latest study.

Nigeria's ambassador Emmanuel Imohe, who chairs the conference, said: "The allegation is quite grave and it should be of concern to everyone including the ATT secretariat itself."

Medecins Sans Frontieres [MSF] said last week it was evacuating its staff from six hospitals in northern Yemen after a Saudi-led coalition air strike hit one of its hospitals, killing 18 people.

The war has killed more than 6,500 people since it began 16 months ago and raised the prospect of famine in the Arab world's poorest country.

Outcry over civilian casualties has led some members of the US Congress to push for restrictions on arms transfers.

The Obama administration this month approved a potential $1,15bn arms package for Saudi Arabia.

Campaigners said arms exports also drove fighting in South Sudan last month that killed hundreds, prompting fears of a return to civil war.

Source: Reuters, Edited by website team

Comments