UK Labour Party says would stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia over Khashoggi
Britain’s main opposition Labour Party says it would stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia if it was in government after the disappearance and alleged murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“We would stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia in current circumstances until they changed their ways ...We would be making it clear that we disagreed,” Emily Thornberry, Labour’s so-called shadow foreign minister, said on Sunday.
Thornberry, speaking to the BBC, advised the Conservative Party-led British government to be serious about allegations that the Saudi government ordered the killing of Khashoggi, an outspoken critic of the Saudi royals who had been living in exile the United States since last year.
“I think our country has had enough of this. I think we have to stand up to them and have to say that the current behavior is unacceptable,” she said.
Khashoggi has been unaccounted for since October 2, when he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, to collect documents for his marriage.
He was never seen leaving the diplomatic post. Turkish officials believe the journalist was killed in the consulate but Saudis deny the accusations and say the journalist may have been kidnapped after he left the embassy.
Khashoggi’s case has sparked huge global outrage with many governments threatening to take actions against Riyadh if it becomes clear that it played a role in the killing.
Rights campaigners have called on major arms suppliers to Saudi Arabia, including the British government, to stop selling weapons to the kingdom.
Sources in London have indicated, however, that such an embargo would not be possible as it would hurt the weapons industry and help the rivals like China and Russia to fill the gap.
The Labour Party issued a statement earlier this week condemning the government’s response to Khashoggi’s mysterious disappearance, saying it was “too little, too late”.
The move came after a statement by Foreign minister Jeremy Hunt in which had only called on Saudis to explain the issue, without threatening them with any punitive measures.
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