NEARLY 30 NGOS URGE US TO DITCH MASSIVE ARMS SALE TO UAE

1 DEC 2020

WASHINGTON: An international coalition of arms control organisations and human rights groups warned the US government that selling the United Arab Emirates (UAE) US$23 billion in weapons will exacerbate the conflicts in Yemen and Libya, reported Sputnik news agency.

On Monday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a closed-door meeting with top State Department and Pentagon officials over the Trump administration approving the sale of several advanced defense capabilities to the UAE, including up to 50 F-35 fifth-generation fighter jets and up to 18 MQ-9B Unmanned Aerial Systems.

"We the undersigned non-governmental organisations write in opposition to the United States government’s plans to sell more than US$23 billion in advanced weapons systems and munitions to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The planned arms sales to the UAE, a party to the conflicts in Yemen and Libya, would fuel continued civilian harm and further exacerbate these humanitarian crises," the NGOs said in a letter.

The groups called on the Trump administration and President-elect Joe Biden to halt these sales as well as US support for the war in Yemen. In addition, they urged Congress not to approve any future arms sales or other military support to parties to the conflicts in Yemen and Libya.

The letter was signed by 29 groups including the Arms Control Association, Human Rights First, and the Center for International Policy, which tracks arms sales. The initiative was headed by the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED), an advocacy group with offices in Washington and Tunisia. - Bernama