Canada Looking for a Way Out of a Billion-Dollar Arms Deal With Saudi Arabia

YemenExtra

SH.A.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said for the first time that his government is looking for a way out of a billion-dollar arms deal with Saudi Arabia.

This move marks a significant tightening in Trudeau’s stance.

Earlier, he said that there would be huge sanctions if the $13 billion agreement to supply the unit of General Dynamics in Canada would be canceled by armored vehicles to Saudi Arabia.

Last month, Trudeau said Canada could freeze the relevant export permits if it concluded the weapons had been misused.

“We are engaged in discussion with the export permits to try to find out if there is a way of not exporting these vehicles to Saudi Arabia,” Trudeau told CTV.

Political opponents insist that Trudeau should end the General Dynamics deal, which was negotiated by the previous conservative government, citing the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the war on Yemen.