Oxfam Hits Out At Government Over Arms Sales To Saudi Arabia

Oxfam will accuse the Government of being in "denial and disarray" over the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia for potential use in Yemen's civil war.

Fighting in the country has pitted the Yemeni government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia, against Shiite Yemeni rebels.

The UK Government has faced repeated calls to ban the sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia amid concerns international humanitarian law (IHL) could be being broken in the conflict.

Its apparent reluctance to do so has prompted Oxfam to claim the Government has switched from being an enthusiastic backer of the Arms Trade Treaty to "one of the most significant violators".

The treaty, of which the UK is a signatory, seeks to regulate the international weapons trade.

:: Exclusive: UK Helping Saudi's Yemen Campaign

The charity will use the second conference of states party to the treaty in Geneva later on Tuesday to attack the Government's stance.

Penny Lawrence, deputy chief executive of Oxfam GB, will say: "UK arms and military support are fuelling a brutal war in Yemen, harming the very people the Arms Trade Treaty is designed to protect.

"Schools, hospitals and homes have been bombed in contravention of the rules of war.

"The UK government is in denial and disarray over its arms sales to the Saudi-led coalition bombing campaign in Yemen.

"It has misled its own parliament about its oversight of arms sales and its international credibility is in jeopardy as it commits to action on paper but does the opposite in reality.

:: Concerns Raised About UK's Role In Yemen War

"How can the Government insist that others abide by a treaty it helped set up if it flagrantly ignores it?"

The Government said earlier this year it was confident Saudi Arabia's intervention in Yemen did meet the terms of IHL.

But it later corrected those statements and said assessments to verify such a claim had not been carried out.

It said the original statements were made in error and were not a deliberate attempt to mislead MPs (BSE: MPSLTD.BO - news) .

A Government spokeswoman said: "The UK Government takes its arms export responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world.

"The Government is satisfied that extant licences for Saudi Arabia are compliant with the UK's export licensing criteria.

"The key test for our continued arms exports to Saudi Arabia in relation to international humanitarian law (IHL) is whether there is a clear risk that those weapons might be used in a serious violation of IHL.

"The situation is kept under careful and continual review."