UK Arms to Saudi Arabia: “It Shouldn’t Take the Disappearance of a Journalist for the UK to Reconsider Its Relationship with the Saudi Regime”

This morning the Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, promised that the UK’s “response will be considered” if the Saudi authorities are linked to the disappearance of journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. He refused to end arms sales to the regime, claiming that the UK has “a very strict arms sale control mechanism.”

UK government statistics show that since the bombing of Yemen began in 2015, the UK has licensed £4.7 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia, including:

  • £2.7 billion worth of ML10 licenses (Aircraft, helicopters, drones)
  • £1.9 billion worth of ML4 licenses (Grenades, bombs, missiles, countermeasures)

Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade said:

“For decades now, the Saudi authorities have committed terrible atrocities against Saudi people, and for the last three and a half years they have used UK arms to wage a terrible war against Yemen.

No matter how bad the situation has got, Theresa May, Jeremy Hunt and their predecessors have prioritised arms sales over human rights.

We hope that the current pressure will force the government into taking action, but it should never have come to this. It shouldn’t take the disappearance of a journalist for the UK to reconsider its relationship with the Saudi regime.”

*

Note to readers: please click the share buttons above. Forward this article to your email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc.


Comment on Global Research Articles on our Facebook page

Become a Member of Global Research


Articles by: Andrew Smith

Disclaimer: The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). The Centre for Research on Globalization will not be responsible for any inaccurate or incorrect statement in this article. The Centre of Research on Globalization grants permission to cross-post Global Research articles on community internet sites as long the source and copyright are acknowledged together with a hyperlink to the original Global Research article. For publication of Global Research articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: [email protected]

www.globalresearch.ca contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of "fair use" in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than "fair use" you must request permission from the copyright owner.

For media inquiries: [email protected]