The Government is to confirm Saudi Arabia is using British-made cluster bombs in Yemen, Sky sources say.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon is expected to make a statement on the issue in the House of Commons later.
A spokesman for No 10 said that the Government was taking allegations that British cluster bombs were being used "very seriously" and that the issue had been raised with the Saudi-led coalition.
Last week, the new Prime Minister of the controversial rebel Houthi government which has been set-up in Yemen accused the UK of war crimes.
"They have sold cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia," Abdulaziz bin Habtour told Sky News in his office in the capital Sana'a. "They know the Saudis are going to drop them on Yemen ... in Sa'adah and in Sana'a and other provinces.
"I don't think they are guilty of war crimes, I believe so. They are participating in the bombing of Yemen people."
An international treaty signed by Britain bans cluster bombs, which carry extraordinary risks to civilians because they contain groups of smaller bombs that explode over a wide area and can go off much later.
The words of the Convention on Cluster Munitions state that signatories will "never under any circumstances assist, encourage or induce" anyone to use such munitions.
However, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are believed to have British-made cluster bombs bought in the 1980s and 1990s.
Yemen's war began when the Houthis and their allies seized Yemen's capital, Sanaa, in September 2014. A Saudi-led coalition of mostly Gulf Arab nations launched a campaign in March 2015 against the Iran-backed rebels.
No comments:
Post a Comment