Oxfam CEO Urges UK Government to Halt Saudi Arabia Arms Sales Immediately

UK government willfully ignored interior and international law by supplying Saudi Arabia with arms while there was a high probability the use of these munitions violated the International Humanitarian Law and contributed to the instability in the Gulf region, according to the report of Oxfam GB.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Oxfam GB's Chief Executive Mark Goldring called on the UK government to stop Saudi Arabia arms sales, as UK munitions were used in military actions in Yemen in breach of international and UK law, in a press release published Thursday.

"The Government has both a moral and legal obligation to halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia immediately and to carry out a rigorous investigation into how British arms are being used. These hard-hitting reports mean it can no longer hide behind the flimsy fig leaf of Saudi assurances," Goldring was quoted as saying.

According to the report by two Parliament-appointed committees, the UK government willfully ignored interior and international law by supplying Saudi Arabia with arms while there was a high probability the use of these munitions violated the International Humanitarian Law and contributed to the instability in the Gulf region.

Yemen has been torn by a military conflict between the government headed by Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and Houthi rebels, the country’s main opposition force.

Since March 2015, the Saudi-led coalition of mostly Persian Gulf countries has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request despite a ceasefire agreed shortly before.