US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar files legislation to block major Saudi arms deal

US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has introduced legislation in the House of Representatives in an effort to block the sale of $650 million air-to-air missiles to Saudi Arabia, amid growing opposition to Washington’s arms sales to the kingdom because of its atrocities against the people of Yemen.

Representative Omar said she on Friday filed the measure, called a joint resolution of disapproval, because of Saudi Arabia's warn on Yemen, and its human rights record.

The administration of US President Joe Biden announced on November 4 that it had approved the sale of 280 air-to-air missiles valued at up to $650 million, despite the fact that Biden had vowed to “reassess” Washington’s ties with the conservative kingdom.

“It is simply unconscionable to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia while they continue to slaughter innocent people and starve millions in Yemen, kill and torture dissidents, and support modern-day slavery,” Omar said in a statement.

"We should never be selling human rights abusers weapons, but we certainly should not be doing so in the midst of a humanitarian crisis they are responsible for. Congress has the authority to stop these sales, and we must exercise that power," she added. 

Omar's action underscores continuing opposition of weapons sales to Saudi Arabia among some lawmakers, but the measure's prospects for stopping the sale are slim since it would have to pass the US Senate and survive a likely veto.

The resolution was welcomed by the group Democracy for the Arab World Now, the organization founded by journalist Jamal Khashoggi before he was killed. 

"The United States should not sell any weapons to Saudi Arabia or other abusive governments, period. Congress should block this and similar deals in the future,“ Raed Jarrar, DAWN’S advocacy director, said in a statement. 

On Wednesday, Omar said "selling weapons to Saudi Arabia while they continue to slaughter Yemenis is unacceptable".

“If we truly believe in putting human rights at the center of our foreign policy we would not be arming human rights abusers,” she wrote on Twitter.

"Working on legislation to stop this sale this week," she added. 

US arms sale to Riyadh ‘troubling’ indication of Saudi intent to prolong war in Yemen: Scholar

The newly-approved US weapons sale to Saudi Arabia is a “troubling” indication of Riyadh’s intention to continue its aggression against Yemen, says an American scholar.

The Pentagon on November 4 notified Congress of the sale which the State Department had approved in October. This comes amid harsh criticism against Saudi Arabia for its military onslaught on Yemen.

Saudi Arabia, backed by the US and regional allies, launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the popular Ansarullah movement, which had overthrown the previous Saudi-backed Yemeni government.

The Saudi war has left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead, and displaced millions more. It has also destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure and spread famine and infectious diseases.

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