EU Lawmakers Call for Arms Embargo Against Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has mounted a serious diplomatic push at the European Parliament in an effort to avert a Thursday vote on an amendment that calls for a EU-wide embargo on arms sales.

The EU foreign policy leader, Federica Mogherini has been called on decide how the embargo should be implemented.

“Control Arms has called on States Parties…to commit immediately to halting the transfer of weapons to Saudi Arabia and to its allies where these are at serious risk of being used in Yemen”, the report said. “That message is politically significant in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia must show a lot more consideration for civilian lives in Yemen”, said Smith.

“There is a strong belief in Whitehall [the British civil service] that the British defense industry depends upon exports to Saudi Arabia, and the strategic support the United Kingdom gives to Riyadh benefits United Kingdom influence in the region”, Paul Ingram said.

Top Saudi media personality Jamal Khashoggi, head of a news channel owned by a Saudi prince, published an article in January on the Al-Arabiya News website and in the London- based Al-Hayat newspaper that demonstrated the no-nonsense mood.

Riyadh’s withdrawal of aid to Lebanon in favor of supporting Sudan was logical from the Saudi perspective, given Lebanon’s unwillingness to date to support the Saudi position in its feuds with Iran, while Sudan has sent troops to fight in Yemen with the Saudi-led military coalition there.

“We and NGOs want more scrutiny”.

Yemen’s government said Wednesday that it has proof Iran-backed Hezbollah militants are helping Yemeni rebels carry out cross-border attacks in Saudi Arabia, fueling the tensions between the regional powers.

At least 6,000 people have been killed since the Saud-led coalition of Arab countries launched their offensive in Yemen almost a year ago.

The parliament’s vote is not legally binding but lawmakers hope it will pressure EU governments to agree to an embargo, following a petition of 750,000 European citizens calling for the suspension of weapon sales.

In a letter to on Sunday, Saudi ambassador Abdulrahman Al Ahmed reportedly defended the kingdom’s actions saying that “the larger ramifications of our not taking action in Yemen would have had devastating geopolitical consequences for the kingdom, Europe and the broader West as well”.

The Sudan Tribune’s sources said that the Kingdom paid this aid to Sudan instead of Lebanon.

Human Rights Watch Yemen researcher Belkis Willie told the AP that governments that arm Saudi Arabia “have rejected or downplayed compelling evidence” of civilian deaths.