US Blocks around $350 Million Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia over Aggression on Yemen

Local Editor

Out of concern about the civilian causalities resulting from the Saudi aggression on Yemen, the Obama administration decided to block a transfer of precision munitions to Saudi Arabia.

Administration officials said on Tuesday that the White House had made the decision to block the sale by Raytheon of about 16,000 guided munitions kits, which upgrade so-called dumb bombs to smart bombs that can more accurately hit targets. The kits, if purchased over the life of the proposed contract, are valued around $350 million.

US administration officials said that upgrading the bombs would not help targeting if the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen did not choose its targets properly, an ongoing concern since the start of bombing campaign. This year, the United States blocked a sale of cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia because of similar concerns.

Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said on Tuesday that the Obama administration has "long expressed some very significant concerns about the high rate of civilian casualties" in the Yemeni conflict. Administration officials pointed to the bombing in October of a funeral hall in Yemen that martyred over 100 people and wounded hundreds of others. The Saudi-led military coalition involved in Yemen's war acknowledged that one of its jets carried out the attack, for which it blamed faulty intelligence.

The funeral bombing prompted the administration review of the United States' engagement in the conflict. A senior administration official said that until what he called "flaws" in Saudi Arabia's targeting Yemen, the United States would block the arms sale.

Besides halting the munitions sales, first reported by Reuters, the White House is also cutting back on some intelligence sharing with Saudi Arabia, which administration officials acknowledge could potentially lead to even more civilian casualties.

Human rights organizations, which have sharply criticized American support for the Saudi-led bombing in Yemen, said that blocking the arms sale was not enough. "The absence of a more comprehensive ban, given the ongoing unlawful strikes and the potential US complicity, is deeply concerning," said Sarah Margon, the Washington director at Human Rights Watch.

She added that the organization found it "disappointing that the review has not been made public as doing so would send a clear message to Riyadh that opacity is not acceptable given the scale and scope of the civilian casualties."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team