Trump Seeks to Establish Nuclear Facilities in Saudi Arabia: New York Times

YemenExtra

SH.A.

Democratic lawmakers are investigating in White House’s involvement for a proposed partnership to build nuclear power plants in Saudi Arabia, the #New_York_Times reported on Wednesday.

Democratic lawmakers have prepared a report that former national security adviser Michael Flynn and White House officials have pushed for this project despite repeated warnings of potential conflicts of interest that threaten US national security and proliferation of nuclear weapons technology in the troubled Middle East, the report said.

The report, issued by the House of Representatives’ Internal Control and Reform Committee, noted that the measures were taken by Donald Trump’s administration at the beginning of his presidency to provide government support for US companies to build nuclear power facilities across Saudi Arabia.

According to the newspaper, even after the separation of Flynn this issue continued, as well as deputies confirmed that there is evidence that the White House was continuing to study the project, until last week.

According to White House documents obtained by Democratic lawmakers, the company that supports the nuclear partnership with Saudi Arabia had sent a draft memo supporting the deal to former national security adviser Michael Flynn, days after inauguration by the US administration.

After Flynn’s separation from the administration in February 2017, National Security Council officials pushed the plan, ignoring advice from the council’s ethics committee and other lawyers.

The documents also indicated that Trump appointed Thomas Barak, who chaired the Presidential Presidium, as his representative for the implementation of the plan, which was named “The Middle East Mentor Scheme”, according to the memo sent by the company, it instructs US agencies to facilitate and support Barak’s efforts.

The director of the House Oversight Committee, Elia Caming, said that further investigation is still needed to determine whether Trump’s actions are in the national security interest, or serve those who are working to gain more material profits.

Saudi Arabia relies heavily on the US in its brutal war on Yemen. Washington has deployed a commando force on the Arab kingdom’s border with Yemen to help destroy arms belonging to Yemen’s popular Houthi Ansarullah movement. Washington has also provided logistical support and aerial refueling.

To date, the Saudi-led coalition has displaced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes, towns and villages, caused outbreaks of infectious diseases and famine in some areas, and wrought significant destruction of Yemen’s infrastructure.