Britain will Resume Exporting Arms to Saudi Arabia

Britain has complied with a court order over its decisions on granting export licenses to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, its trade minister said on Tuesday, it means, Britain can again issue new licenses to export arms to the Kingdom.

The Court of Appeal ruled that Britain broke the law by allowing arms sales to Saudi Arabia in last year, that might have been deployed in the war in Yemen.

Ms Liz Truss, Trade Minister said that “while some credible incidents of concern related to Saudi forces conduct had been classified as possible breaches of international humanitarian law(IHL), the UK government viewed these as isolated incidents”.

The court concluded that the Britain government had erred in law in its decision- making processes on arms export licenses to Saudi Arabia, after activists said there was evidence the weapons had been used in violation of human rights statutes.

Truss said the review found that Saudi Arabia had genuine intent and the capacity to comply with IHL.

“On that basis, I have assessed that there is no clear risk that the export of arms and military equipment to Saudi Arabia might be used in the commission of a serious violation of IHL,” she said.