Activists Protest UK-backed Aggression on Yemen: Stop Arming KSA!
Local Editor
Crowds will gather in central London on Saturday in protest against Saudi-led aggression on Yemen. Protesters say the intervention is motivated by Western and Middle Eastern governments' agenda of quashing remnants of the so-called "Arab Spring".
Hundreds of anti-war activists are expected to descend upon Saudi Arabia's embassy on Charles Street, West London, on Saturday to highlight the humanitarian impact of Saudi-led bombing in Yemen.
The protest has been organized by the Stop the War coalition, and is due to commence at 1pm.
Although Britain is not directly taking part, Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond has pledged Britain's diplomatic, logistical and technical support for the bombing campaign.
Stop the War, which has campaigned for a shift in Britain's foreign policies since 2001, says the airstrikes will further destabilize the Middle East and exacerbate conflict in the region.
The anti-war group accuses the Saudi regime of playing a leading role in almost every "anti-democratic development in the Middle East."
It says the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen reflects the determination of Saudi Arabia and Western powers to decimate the "democratic potential of the Arab Spring in one country after another."
The campaign group is calling upon the British government to terminate its alliance with the Saudi government and stop supplying it with arms.
As the aggression escalate, the humanitarian crisis in Yemen has worsened dramatically, according to the World Health Organization [WHO].
Chris Nineham of Stop the War said Britain's support of the Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen is "much more strategic than humanitarian.""The country's complex problems have been obvious for a long time, and there has been no serious effort at humanitarian relief," he said.
"As the Hadi government was elected unopposed, the intervention cannot successfully be presented as a defense of democracy. The real issue here is about the influence of the key western ally Saudi Arabia throughout the region."
Nineham believes the conflict in Yemen will be brought to a close by a diplomatic solution.
"The crucial thing to understand is that outside intervention is not improving the situation. The war has been worsened by the Western backed intervention of Saudi Arabia," he said.
Concerns are mounting in Britain over the UK's arms sales to Saudi Arabia as aggression on Yemen continues to intensify.
Saudi Arabia is Britain's most prolific arms buyer, according to UK charity Campaign Against Arms Trade [CAAT]. Since coming to power in 2010, the Conservative-led UK government has licensed more than £3.8 billion worth of military wares to the Gulf regime.
Among the arms Britain sells to Saudi Arabia are Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft. The UK also maintains the Saudi regime's F-15 combat aircraft and Tornado fleet.
Speaking to RT on Thursday, Chris Nineham of Stop the War said it is likely UK-produced arms are being deployed in Yemen "despite the British government's denials."
"Britain supplies large amounts of weapons to Saudi Arabia, and Amnesty International previously concluded it was "extremely likely" that UK-supplied Tornado fighter-bombers were used in a Saudi-led military offensive against Yemen in 2009," he said.
"So there is a strong likelihood that British sourced munitions are being used in Yemen."
Andrew Smith of CAAT said "there is every reason to believe UK fighter jets have been involved in the bombing."
"The government needs to announce a full embargo on all arms sales to Saudi Arabia and investigate whether or not any UK weapons have been used," he added.
Smith said Britain's support for Saudi Arabia has remained steadfast in the face of "terrible human rights abuses" committed by the Saudi regime. He said this alliance is borne of sequential UK governments' willingness to reap profit from arms sales.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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