Saudi
Arabia’s foreign minister is to visit the UK on Wednesday to
“privately” brief British MPs over concerns that Britain could
start restricting arms sales to the kingdom.
According to
a House of Commons spokesman, Adel al-Jubeir is set to meet MPs in a
private meeting in Portcullis House in London, just hours before the
convening of a select committee to debate whether to call for a ban
on arms sales to the Saudis.
The select
committee on arms export controls meeting is also set to be held in
private, but it is expected there will be a cross-party push during
the meeting for the UK to suspend its multibillion-dollar arms sales
to the kingdom.
The UK has
sold billions of dollars of weapons to Saudi Arabia as it has
prosecuted a war in Yemen against the Houthi movement, and amid
claims UK-made weapons have been used in the indiscriminate bombing
of civilians, hospitals and factories.
A
spokeswoman from the Campaign Against the Arms Trade said the group
would be staging a protest outside parliament over the meeting, which
she described as a “clear lobbying visit”.
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report:
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