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With bananas for oil, UK wouldn’t ‘even trade’ with Saudi

"If the Saudis had bananas instead of oil, you can be sure the British would not be even trading with them.”

A British program to train police officers from a country “known for torture” could mean the UK is playing the same “dirty role” the United States has been playing in Saudi Arabia, says an Ireland-based political commentator.

Anna O’Leary made the comments to Press TV on Wednesday when asked in a telephone interview about an offer by the College of Policing to teach Saudis how to use high-tech detection skills despite concerns that they have led to suspects being tortured.

“Saudi Arabia is known for torture, known for cutting off heads,” O’Leary said, censuring the Middle Eastern monarchy for “operating courts in total secrecy” and being the “most non-democratic country in the world.”

Bananas for oil

The college has reportedly been teaching Saudi officers finger-printing, forensics and crime scene investigation under a contract signed in 2009.

Saudi police officers (file photo)

It now plans to expand the scheme to include cyber security, mobile phone analysis, CCTV systems, voice recognition, DNA use and IT digital forensics, according to internal documents obtained by the BBC and rights group Reprieve.

The expansion to the already-running program, O’Leary said, aims “to insure British citizens… will be tortured in Saudi Arabia prisons,” further recounting the story of a friend who had been tortured in the kingdom.

Riyadh has been under fire from rights groups and various world states for severe crackdown on Saudis, particularly the Shia population mostly residing in the Eastern Province.

Apart from that the Al Saud royal family has been slammed for war crimes during an aggression against impoverished Yemen.

On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch accused UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of succumbing to “political manipulation” from Riyadh to remove Saudi from the list of child rights violators despite being blamed for the killing of hundreds of Yemeni children.

O’Leary voiced pessimism the even if the program is stalled, a request uttered by Senior British MPs on Tuesday, “the United States military training mission will continue to show the Saudis how to crush the population of Saudi Arabia.”

“If Britain is going to play the same dirty role, I hope not, then, they’re selling their souls to the devil. If the Saudis didn’t have money; if the Saudis had bananas instead of oil, you can be sure the British would not be even trading with them.”

“It’s all about money; Britain is selling the technology in return for money.”


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