Local Editor
Shortly after announcing that it was halting the sale of 400 laser-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia over concerns that the weapons could be used in Yemen, the Spanish government has made a surprising U-turn.
“We found no reason not to carry it out,” the Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell told Onda Cero radio in reference to the lucrative arms contract.
When asked about any guarantees that the use of the Spanish-produced bombs would not result in the killing of Yemeni civilians, Borrell said that the laser-guided bombs have “extraordinary precision”.
Just ten days earlier, Madrid announced that it would return the USD 10.6 million already paid by the Saudis for the bombs.
But according to some media reports, that announcement jeopardized a separate USD 2.1 billion contract to sell five Spanish warships to Saudi Arabia, forcing Madrid to backtrack.
A Saudi-led coalition, which groups a number of states including Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, launched its military campaign against Yemen in March 2015.
The conflict has since killed tens of thousands and left Yemen facing the worst humanitarian crisis in generations.
Source: Yemenwatch.net
