Only a quarter of those polled said that the country should promote the sale of UK military equipment to foreign governments, while 71 percent think that the United Kingdom should not promote the sale of weapons to foreign governments accused of violating international humanitarian law.
CAAT will on February 7 take the government’s decision to keep arming Saudi Arabia to a judicial review by the High Court. The organization is calling for the Department for International Trade to suspend all existing arms export licenses and to stop issuing new licenses to Saudi Arabia.
The UK government has repeatedly been blamed by humanitarian organizations for fueling the Yemeni conflict by supplying Saudi Arabia with arms, allegedly including cluster bombs, the use of which is prohibited by an international treaty.
Last December, Abdulaziz bin Habtoor, the prime minister of the unrecognized Yemeni government formed by Shia Houthi rebels and their allies, accused the United Kingdom of committing war crimes in Yemen by selling arms to Saudi Arabia.
The UK government insists all arms exports are subject to strict licensing criteria and comply with international and domestic law.
