Washington limits weapons transfers to Saudi over Yemen
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WASHINGTONDec 15, 2016 - 12:00 am GMT+3
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Dec 15, 2016 12:00 am
The White House has blocked the transfer of precision munitions to ally Saudi Arabia, amid anger about the civilian death toll in Yemen. "We have made it clear that U.S. security cooperation is not a blank check," a senior administration official told AFP, voicing concerns about how Riyadh prosecutes the war against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.
"Consequently, we have decided to not move forward with some foreign military sales (FMS) cases for munitions."
"This reflects our continued, strong concerns with the flaws in the coalition's targeting practices and overall prosecution of the air campaign in Yemen."
Other U.S. officials confirmed the proposed sale was of precision guided munitions made by U.S. firm Raytheon. The decision brings a simmering division between the already troubled allies into public.
The White House has long struggled to balance its unease over the prosecution of the Saudi campaign and risking a broader feud with a key Middle Eastern partner.
The war in Yemen has also coincided with the Obama administration's assiduous courting of Saudi support for the nuclear deal with Iran. Since then, ties have been further strained by Congress's recent passage of a bill allowing 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia. Obama vetoed the bill, only to have his veto overridden for the first time in his presidency.
But the tipping point for Washington's ire over Yemen appears to have been an October attack on a Yemeni funeral home that killed more than 140 people. After that attack the U.S. announced a review to ensure "support for the Saudi-led Coalition is consistent with our foreign policy goals and values."
A United Nations panel has since found that "double-tap" strike was a violation of international humanitarian law.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the U.S. would not be "refocusing our efforts to support the Saudis when it comes to enhancing their border security and their territorial integrity." "We also are going to undertake steps to refocus our information sharing."
Yemen's 20-month-old war has left more than 7,000 people dead and nearly 37,000 wounded, the World Health Organization announced in its latest toll update. As of Oct. 25, "more than 7,070 people have been killed and over 36,818 injured, according to health facility-based data," the WHO said in a statement late Sunday. Another 21 million people are in need of urgent health services, said the U.N. health agency.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized the Yemeni capital Sanaa in September 2014, forcing the internationally recognized government to flee the country. A Saudi-led, U.S.-backed coalition has been conducting an extensive air campaign against the Houthis since March 2015 that has pushed the rebels out of southern Yemen. The U.N. says the conflict has left more than 19,000 people dead and displaced at least 3 million. Saudi Arabia leads a coalition of Muslim countries, backed by the U.S., the U.K. and France, in the war in neighboring Yemen. The campaign, which is a campaign to restore the government ousted by the Iran-allied militia, is part of a larger assertive effort to prevent weapons from reaching Shiite Houthi rebels and their allies, who have overrun much of Yemen.
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