UK faces probe over arms sales to Saudi Arabia

The UK's sale of arms to Saudi Arabia that were used in Yemen are set to go under the microscope when a full-scale inquiry is launched by a parliamentary committee on arms exports controls, the Guardian reports.

The committee set to conduct the investigation has taken several months to be put together and will be examining the UK government's spending, administration and policy on how arms exports are licensed, the report says.

Since Prime Minister David Cameron arrived in 10 Downing Street in 2010, the UK government has licensed £6.7 billion of arms to Saudi Arabia — £2.8 billion of which has been licensed since the Saudis started bombing Yemen in March 2015.

The UN and others have claimed that human rights laws have been consistently violated by the Saudis' bombing. Saudi Arabia has already conducted an internal inquiry into its bombing campaign, the Guardian says.

"The defense and security industry is one of the UK's most important exporters. However, it is vital that its financial success does not come at a cost to the nation's strategic interests," Chris White, a Conservative MP said, quoted in the Guardian.

"We've launched this inquiry to understand what role UK-made arms are playing in the ongoing conflict in Yemen," he continued.

"Have the criteria set by the government for granting arms export licenses in the region been respected, and what should be the consequences if they have not?" White added.

The committee will also be looking into the UK's arms sales to other Gulf states, the Guardian says. Furthermore, according to White, it will look at the Department for International Development's part in approving arms sales.

DfID has a large aid program in Yemen and is supposed to be consulted on arms licenses if it has an aid project in the target country.

In response to the announcement of the inquiry, Andrew Smith of the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) said: "We welcome the announcement of an investigation, but these arms sales should never have been allowed in the first place.

"[Saudi Arabia] is one of the most repressive regimes in the world and has unleashed a humanitarian catastrophe on Yemen, yet it has enjoyed uncritical political and military support from the UK," Smith continued.

At the end of February, European lawmakers called for an EU arms embargo against Saudi Arabia over its military campaign in conflict-torn Yemen which has caused "thousands of deaths."
 [i24news.tv]
10/3/16
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• HRW: Saudi Blatantly Disregarding Int’l Standards, Using Cluster Bombs in Yemen

• US Morally Responsible for Use of Cluster Bombs Against Civilians in Yemen