Report: US Offers $115 bn Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia
Local Editor
US President Barack Obama's administration has offered Saudi Arabia more than $115 billion in weapons, other military equipment and training, the most of any US administration in the 71-year US-Saudi alliance, a report seen by Reuters has found.
The report, authored by William Hartung of the US-based Center for International Policy, said the offers were made in 42 separate deals, and the majority of the equipment has yet to be delivered. Hartung told Reuters the report would be made available publicly on Sept. 8.
Moreover, the report said US arms offers to Saudi Arabia since Obama took office in January 2009 had included everything from small arms and ammunition to tanks, attack helicopters, air-to-ground missiles, missile defense ships, and warships. Washington also provides maintenance and training to Saudi security forces.
The Center's report is based on data from a security agency in the US War Department that provides figures on arms sales offers and Foreign Military Sales agreements. Most of the offers, which are reported to Congress, become formal agreements though some are abandoned or amended.
However, the report did not disclose how many of the offers to Saudi Arabia were agreed.
Washington's arms sales to Riyadh recently had come under fire from rights groups and some members of Congress were disturbed by the rising number of civilian casualties in the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
The aggression had martyred at least 10,000 people. Last month the United Nations human rights office said that 3,799 civilians have died in the conflict, with coalition air strikes responsible for an estimated 60 percent of the deaths.
The outcry over those casualties had led some members of Congress to push for restrictions on arms transfers, and amid the growing outcry, the Pentagon cautioned that its support for Saudi Arabia in its Yemen campaign was not "a blank check".
The Control Arms coalition, a group that campaigns for stricter arms sales controls, said last month that Britain, France and the United States were flouting the 2014 Arms Trade treaty, which bans exports of conventional weapons that fuel human rights violations or war crimes.
Nevertheless, the Obama administration last month approved a potential $1.15 billion arms package for Saudi Arabia.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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