Local Editor
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) made the top of SIPRI’s (five in Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) fact sheet that listed major arms importers in the world.
Saudi Arabia ranked second following India. While the UAE came in fourth place, making Egypt the world’s third largest weapons importer and leaving China in fifth place.
Meanwhile, the United States was listed as the top arms exporter in 2013–17. Its share of total arms exports rose from 30 per cent to 34 per cent between those periods.
US arms exports between 2013 and 2017 reached 58 per cent. The contracts for most of these deliveries were agreed up to 10 years ago.
Countries in the Middle East accounted for 49 per cent of US arms exports in 2013–17. The largest recipient of arms was Saudi Arabia, accounting for 18 per cent of US arms exports. The UAE was America’s second largest, accounting for 7.4 per cent.
SIPRI identified France and the UK as the second major arms importers to the UAE and Saudi Arabia respectively.
The flow of arms to the Middle East increased between 2013–17, with all the main arms suppliers exporting advanced weapons, including air-launched guided missiles (ALCMs).
Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are part of a coalition bombing Yemen in attempt to forcefully restore the resigned regime of former Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Both countries have used their ALCMs in Yemen.
Some 15,000 Yemenis have been killed and thousands more injured since the onset of the Saudi-led aggression.
More than 2,200 others have died of cholera, and the crisis has triggered what the United Nations has described as the world's worst humanitarian disaster.
Source: Yemenwatch.net
