Hundreds of people on Sunday gathered in front of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates, in central London to call on the British government to end arm sales to the Saudi Kingdom and the UAE.
UK SOLD SAUDI ARABIA 18.8 MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF ARMS IN 5 YEARS
A statement on Stop the War Coalition’s web site said “Anti-war campaigners say Saudi-led intervention in Yemen will only compound existing tensions and violence in the crisis-ridden state.”
The anti-war group accuses the Saudi regime of playing a leading role in almost every “anti-democratic development in the Middle East.”
On July 7, Britain announced that it will resume arms sales to Saudi Arabia a year after the court of appeal declared the UK government acted unlawfully by selling arms to the kingdom without first assessing whether they were involved in breaches of international humanitarian law.
Britain is one of Saudi Arabia’s top arms suppliers. Over the past five years, the UK’s top arms manufacturer, BAE Systems, sold Saudi Arabia £15 billion ($18.8 million) worth of arms.
The government review, sparked by the court of appeal’s decisions in June 2019, assessed examples of Saudi airstrikes using British equipment that could have breached international humanitarian law and killed civilians.
The arms and equipment sold to Saudi Kingdom by the UK include air-to-air missiles, aircraft components, sniper rifles, anti-riot gear, ballistic shields and body armor.
