Dan Sabbagh: UK authorised £1.4bn of arms sales to Saudi Arabia after exports resumed

By Dilip -

British officials authorised the export of almost £1.4bn of weapons to Saudi Arabia in the quarter after the UK resumed sales of weapons that could be used in the war in Yemen. Campaigners accused ministers of “putting profit before Yemeni lives” and said the figures highlighted the discrepancy between the UK and the US, which under President Joe Biden halted similar arms sales to Riyadh last week. Britain had resumed unrestricted arms sales early in July, after concluding there were only “isolated incidents” of civilian casualties from bombing raids conducted by the Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels.

Official figures released on Tuesday showed that in the period following the restart – the quarter between July and September – the UK authorised £1.39bn worth of arms exports, of which £1.36bn were in the category that includes missiles and bombs.

Campaign Against Arms Trade said the deluge of exports demonstrated how far UK arms sales to Riyadh were dependent on the ongoing six-year conflict, in which thousands of civilians have been killed. Arms exports to Saudi Arabia in the preceding two quarters were a tiny fraction of the third quarter, at £8.8m and £17.5m….

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/09/uk-authorised-14bn-of-arms-sales-to-saudi-arabia-after-exports-resumed

Martin Chulov: Saudi women's rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul released from prison // Bill Law: Can America’s Favorite Police State ever Change?

'What they did to me was so horrific': Brutal silencing of a Saudi feminist

Walid al-Hathloul: My sister is in a Saudi jail. Her crime? Campaigning for women’s rights

Ruqia Hassan: the woman who was killed for telling the truth about Isis

Marieme Helie Lucas: Stand and Be Counted

No spring for Arab women - Interview with Marieme Helie Lucas


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