Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) is delighted that the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) is examining the relationship between the UK and Saudi Arabia, not least because of the huge amount of UK military equipment exports that continue to go there.
The UK government has just released data on arms export licensing for the second quarter of 2012. The data reveals that the UK licensed over £5.4 million worth of military goods to Saudi Arabia in the three months April-June 2012. While the largest amounts were for components for military aircraft (£3.2 million) and military communications equipment, open trade licences[2] were also issued for acoustic devices for riot control
, combat shotguns and small arms ammunition.
Officials of the Saudi Arabian government were today quoted as stating that the kingdom was insulted
by the FAC inquiry, announced in September, and they would not accept foreign interference in the workings of the Gulf Cooperation Council
. The ongoing military sales make the inquiry particularly pertinent.
Ann Feltham, CAAT’s Parliamentary Co-ordinator, says:
The UK-Saudi connection through arms sales is pernicious and well merits a thorough inquiry by the FAC. In a democracy it is important that parliament should be able to investigate this subject robustly and independently. We saw the effect of Saudi threats in 2006 when they pressured the Blair government to pull the Serious Fraud Office from investigating BAE’s Al Yamamah deal with the Saudi government.
ENDS
For further information please contact CAAT’s Media Coordinator, Kaye Stearman on 020 7281 0297 or mobile 07990 673232 or email media(at)caat·org·uk.
Notes
- Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) in the UK works to end the international arms trade. The arms business has a devastating impact on human rights and society and damages economic development. Large-scale military procurement and arms exports only reinforce a militaristic approach to international problems. Around 75% of CAAT’s income is raised from individual supporters. In 2012, CAAT was awarded a Right Livelihood Award, the
alternative Nobel Prize
for its “innovative and effective campaigning against the arms trade. - Open Individual Trade Control Licences are licences to trade an unlimited quantity of goods between overseas countries. See
Key
for further information.
