Former UK minister 'misled' on Saudi arms deal

A former UK minister for business has said he was "seriously misled" by the ministry of defence over a missiles deal with Saudi Arabia, which is spearheading punishing air raids on Yemen.

Vince Cable told The Guardian newspaper that he was given specific assurances about the checks that would be carried out on the use of UK-made missiles.

False promises?

Cable, who was in office from 2010 to 2015 and responsible for authorising export licences during this period, said he blocked a deal for a consignment of laser-guided Paveway IV missiles as he was concerned about civilian deaths.

After being assured that UK would be involved in decisions about what was being bombed, he signed the licences.

The UK ministry of defence told The Guardian that it had no military personnel in the "targeting chain" and had offered Cable no such assurances.

"That is categorically contrary to what I was told was going to happen," Cable said.

"If what they are now saying (is) I was not offered oversight on an equivalent level to the Americans, and that this would involve oversight of targeting, then I was seriously misled. That is total fabrication because that was very specifically stated."

He said he was assured by the ministry there would be UK oversight in the use of the laser-guided bombs, which have been used in Saudi air raids in Yemen.

"My very clear understanding was that the equipment would be supplied to Saudi Arabia on the very clear basis that British personnel would have oversight of what the Saudi air force was doing, on the same basis as the Americans."

Civilian deaths

The war in Yemen escalated in March 2015 when the Saudi-led coalition launched a military campaign to push back Houthi rebels after they seized the capital in 2014 and then advanced onto other parts of Yemen.

The coalition has come under pressure over the high civilian death toll from its bombing campaign across Yemen.

UN figures suggest more than 10,000 people - have of which civilians - were killed since the war began in March.

The coalition has been linked to half of the deaths, including more than 140 killed during unlawful 'double-tap' airstrikes struck mourners at a funeral in Sanaa.

The ministry of defence said while it had agreed to "increase oversight of the targeting process" last year, that did not involve oversight of targeting itself. 

"British personnel are not involved in carrying out strikes, directing or conducting operations in Yemen or selecting targets and are not involved in the Saudi targeting decision-making process," a spokesman said.

The UK is the world's second biggest arms dealer and Saudi Arabia is its best customer.

There has long been a contradiction in the UK's approach, with the foreign office deeming Saudi Arabia a "country of major human rights concern", while the business department calls the kingdom a "primary market for arms exports".

Over a three-month period in 2015, UK bomb sales to Saudi Arabia rose 100-fold, according to the UK government's own official records; £3.3 billion of arms have been licensed by the UK since the Yemen intervention began.

Meanwhile, the UK is preparing a draft United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Yemen.

Both the government and Houthi rebels have rejected a UN peace roadmap, according to a proposal obtained by AFP on Thursday.