End arms sales to Riyadh, UK parties urge government

Five British parties have urged the government to end arms sales to Saudi Arabia, saying it has contributed to a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.

The letter to Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt was signed by leaders of the Labour party, the Scottish National party, the Liberal Democrats, the Plaid Cymru and the Green party, the Guardian reported on Monday.

In the letter, the opposition leaders said it was shameful that the UK government had not used all means at its disposal to pressurise Saudi Arabia "to abide by basic human rights laws".

It said Germany, Spain, Denmark, Canada, the US Congress, the UN Human Rights Council and the European Parliament have all called for a suspension of arms sales on this basis.

"It is morally reprehensible that the UK government is not only not considering changing its policy, but is actively lobbying other foreign governments, as it did with Germany, to resume arms sales to Saudi Arabia," the letter said.

They described Saudi behaviour in Yemen as reckless and barbaric, saying all arms sales for use in the country should be suspended pending an independent investigation into Saudi conduct in the war.

Despite British claims of leverage over Riyadh, there was no evidence that Saudi behaviour has been restrained, it said.

UN special envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths is due in London this week to discuss his efforts to enforce outline agreements on redeployment of forces in Hodeidah, the strategic Red Sea port that lies at the heart of the conflict between the Saudi-backed Yemen government and the Iran-supported Houthi rebels.

The Saudis and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are, meanwhile, putting pressure on the UN to declare that the Houthis have failed to comply with agreements reached in Stockholm, in effect declaring that the outline deal is dead. Such a move would lead to the UAE forces restarting their attack on Hodeidah.

Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, warned that children in Yemen continued to be killed and maimed at an alarming rate, despite the three-month-old truce in Hodeidah.

--IANS

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