British Foreign Minister Don’t See to kill Yemeni Civilians as ‘Clear Danger’

YemenExtra

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has recommended completing a weapons deal to Saudi Arabia because as per him there was no clear danger about the use of British weapons in violation of humanitarian law, according to documents obtained by the Guardian newspaper.

Under the headline Britain sold arms to Saudi Arabia after a deadly raid on Yemen, Alice Ross wrote in the newspaper that the British government had approved a deal worth 283 million pound sterling within six months following an air strike carried out by the Saudi-led coalition forces in Yemen.

Ross said the raid, which took place in October 2016, wounded a funeral home that killed 140 people and wounded hundreds in Sanaa in the bloodiest attack during a Saudi-led military campaign in nearly two years.

The writer added that although British arms deals to Saudi Arabia are under strict parliamentary control, Riyadh remains the largest arms importer from Britain.

After the raid, condemnation came from United Nations, Trade Minister Liam Fox was to sing a set of export licenses and his aides prepared for export suspension measures to Saudi Arabia.

According to the CAAT campaign, Britain sold 263 Million Pound worth of fighter Jets to Saudi Arabia, with bombs and missiles worth 4 million pounds.

But the Supreme Court ruled this month that the British government did not violate the arms export law by continuing to implement deals with Saudi Arabia, despite increasing accusations against the latter of the indiscriminate killing in Yemen, according to the newspaper.

The UK and EU arms sales rules state that sales licenses cannot be granted if there is a clear risk that the equipment may be used in the violation of international law. BBC