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West not taking real steps toward peace in Yemen: Activist

Monday, 12 November 2018 1:34 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 12 November 2018 1:38 PM ]

Western countries have not taken any real steps to pressure Saudi Arabia to put an end to its military aggression against Yemen after the murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, says an activist, adding that as long as Riyadh enjoys the full support of the United States, UK and France it will continue its war on the impoverished Arab nation.

“We know that Germany and Norway have decided not to sell any weapons to Saudi Arabia but of course we cannot compare the amount of weapons sales by these two countries with the United States, UK and France. All those three countries actually have insisted they will keep selling weapons and this has given a green light to the Saudis that they can continue their war in Yemen,” Hussein al-Bukhaiti told Press TV in an interview on Monday.

“I don’t think the Saudi campaign in Yemen or the aggression on Yemen will stop or even reduce because of Khashoggi’s case but … after the killing of that journalist I am sure that many international media, especially the Washington Post, have realized that they cannot actually take down [Saudi Crown Prince] Mohammed bin Salman or the Saudi regime because of Khashoggi’s case so they have only one way to continue attacking Saudi [and that] is through the case of … Saudi crimes in Yemen,” he added.

Saudi Arabia launched a devastating military campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing the government of former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crush the country’s Houthi Ansarullah movement.

According to a new report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, the Saudi war has claimed the lives of around 56,000 Yemenis so far.

The US, along with the UK, has been the main arms provider to Saudi Arabia during the military campaign. The US has also provided intelligence and logistical support.

Calls for a suspension of arms sales to Riyadh and its allies have increased, especially after the killing of Khashoggi in Turkey last month.

Many governments have promised to stop arms exports to Saudi Arabia, but only Germany has suspended its sales until clear explanations are made about the murder. The UK, France and Spain have all signaled that they will continue business as usual.