UK arms exports to Saudi Arabia lawful, rules High Court

Campaigners say they are "deeply disappointed" by the High Court ruling, with Oxfam saying it "sets back arms control 25 years".

Weapons allegedly dropped in Yemen by Saudi coalition planes 2

UK arms exports to Saudi Arabia are to continue, after the High Court rejected claims the Government is acting unlawfully by failing to suspend their sale.
The case was brought by UK-based group Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), which says UK fighter jets and bombs have been used in the conflict in Yemen.
The group, which accuses the Government of "repeated and serious breaches" of international humanitarian law, says more than 10,000 civilians have been killed since 2015 as the Saudi Arabia-led coalition intervenes in the Yemeni civil war.
However, judges dismissed the claim, saying the decision to continue trading with Saudi Arabia was "not irrational or unlawful".
They said the evidence, some of which was given in secret in order to protect national security, "demonstrates that the Secretary of State was rationally entitled to conclude that the Saudi Arabia coalition were not deliberately targeting civilians".
Lawyer Rosa Curling, representing CAAT, told Sky News: "In our view the Government is in breach of laws they themselves put in place, which make clear that there are certain circumstances in which arms cannot be sold."
Building damaged in a Saudi-led airstrike in Yemen
"The evidence that we saw in the opening court sessions showed that there was a clear risk of international humanitarian war breaches by the Saudi coalition in Yemen. In those circumstances, the Government's own rules say they shouldn't be selling arms."
Since the Saudi-led coalition has been involved in the Yemeni civil war, abound £3.3bn of sales from the UK's arms industry has gone to Saudi Arabia.
Save the Children said it was "deeply disappointed" by the High Court's decision.
"Britain is selling bombs to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen," it said. "The Saudi-led coalition is killing children in repeated violations of international humanitarian law."
Oxfam said the result "sets back arms control 25 years", adding: "There is a clear moral case for the Government to suspend its sales."
CAAT said it was "extremely disappointed" with the outcome and would be appealing.
By;Worldcoinsmoney.blogspot.com
SAUDI ARABIA ,,YEMEN.

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