Al-Houthi Dismisses Macron’s Comments, Proves Use of French-made Weapons in Yemen

YemenExtra

M.A.

Member of the Supreme Political Council Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi dismissed in a tweet on Thursday claims by French President Emmanuel Macron that his country’s weapons are not being used in the Yemen war, saying it caused the displacement of half a million Yemenis.

Al-Houthi said that the French president’s assertion that “his country has asked Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates not to use French-made weapons in Yemen, and that French weapons are not used in attacks basically misguided reality.”

Political Council member refuted the Macron ‘s allegations, saying, “the French Hercules howitzer is used along the Yemeni land border, displacing more than half a million residents of the border districts.”

“Since I was elected, we have asked for clear commitments not to use weapons that are part of our cooperation in Yemen’s conflict,” Macron said at a news conference Thursday in Lyon.

He claimed that French weapons are not used primarily in attacks. “We have also significantly reduced a number of the most sensitive contracts,” he said. “I think we have succeeded in ensuring that our weapons are not used in attacks.”

Meanwhile Al-Houthi has proved the use of French weapons in the Yemen war. “To assure President Macron that the French Caesar is what the Saudis are using, we have attached to you the link of the National Guard channel and the statement of the commander of the Saudi artillery battalion in a field broadcast.”

“In addition to a link of the Egyptian site promoting Caesar howitzer to purchase it from France,” he added.

Non-governmental organizations are criticizing Macron for selling arms to Saudi Arabia and its ally in the coalition, the United Arab Emirates.

In a speech last May, Macron conceded that France for several years has been selling arms to the Saudis and Emiratis, but said the weaponry was being used within those countries’ territories or on their borders, not in the conflict in Yemen.

The same month, human rights activists protested the loading on weapons onto a Saudi ship in the port of Le Havre in western France.

At the time, Defense Minister Florence Parly confirmed in a television interview that the weapons were bound for Saudi Arabia, but said there was no evidence that they would be used against civilians.

“How do you intend to prove that French-made weapons are not being used for offensive purposes in Yemen, in violation of the Arms Trade Treaty?” Jean-Paul Lecoq, a communist deputy, asked in parliament. “The guns were not made to decorate the sheikh’s palace,” he added, demanding greater government transparency.

Disclose, an independent investigative media outlet, last April published confidential defense documents revealing the extensive use of French weapons in the war in Yemen.

Human rights groups said there was a high risk of their use in unlawful attacks against civilians in Yemen, and demanded that France stop all weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and its allies.

France has had an improving business relationship with Saudi Arabia since former President François Holland took office in 2012.

This post originally ran on Almasirah English