EU
officials have called on Brussels to stop shipping weapons to Saudi Arabia. The
move is in response to alleged human rights violations committed by Riyadh in
neighboring Yemen.
Deutsche Welle, 25 February 2016
European
lawmakers called on Thursday for the EU's foreign affairs chief Federica
Mogherini to approve an arms embargo against Riyadh in response to the
government's involvement in the ongoing war in Yemen.
The
European Parliament's resolution followed a petition signed by 750,000 European
citizens calling for an end to weapons sales. The resolution would not be
legally binding, but officials hope that it would dissuade countries like
Britain and France, who are the two main European exporters of arms to Saudi
Arabia. Earlier this year, Germany announced it would look harder at its
decision to export arms to Saudi Arabia.
"This
is about Yemen. The human rights violations have reached a level that means
Europe is obliged to act and to end arms sales to Saudi Arabia," said
British lawmaker Richard Howitt, according to Reuters news agency.
Calls to
end the war
Saudi
Arabia and its Sunni Arab allies intervened in Yemen last year after a Houthi
rebel uprising led to a wider war that has claimed the lives of some 6,000 people.
Riyadh buys
most of its weapons from the United States, and the EU-wide embargo would go
against Washington's policy of aiding the Sunni Arabs in the fight to help the
internationally recognized government retake swathes of territory back from the
rebel and al Qaeda factions that have divvied up the country.
Some EU
officials also warned that an embargo could trigger a backlash from Riyadh.
Howitt, for instance, said the Saudis had threatened to cut off relations with
the EU in response.
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