Local Editor
Swiss weapons are being used by Saudi soldiers in the Yemen conflict, according to the SonntagsBlick newspaper.
The paper backed its allegations with a photograph, which purportedly shows Saudi soldiers holding assault rifles manufactured by the Schaffhausen company Swiss Arms.
The photo dates back to late 2017 and was taken in Saudi Arabia’s Jizan province.
According to SonntagsBlick, Swiss rifles are being exchanged on the black market in Yemen. The weapons seem to have come from a delivery originally approved by the Swiss government, the paper added.
In 2006, Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) gave the green light for the sale of 106 assault rifles of the type 552 to the Saudi marines, a spokesman told the newspaper.
Swiss Arms told SonntagsBlick that it had delivered assault rifles to Saudi Arabia in accordance with the law.
On October 24, the Swiss government said it wanted to re-assess its relationship with Saudi Arabia following the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey.
The government says it has asked Swiss armament companies to use restraint in business deals with Saudi Arabia.
Swiss weapons exports to Riyadh were originally suspended in 2009, but existing contracts for air defence ammunition and spare parts will be honoured, according to Economics Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
