The UK government will resume arms sales to Saudi Arabia after a High Court ruling put a temporary suspension on exports last year, Sky News reported.
An internal government review into the use of weapons by Saudi Arabia in Yemen has concluded that breaches of international humanitarian law (IHL) were just “isolated incidents”.
The move was announced in a written statement to parliament by International Trade Secretary Liz Truss.
“I have assessed that there is not a clear risk that the export of arms and military equipment to Saudi Arabia might be used in the commission of a serious violation of IHL,” Truss said in the statement. “The government will now begin the process of clearing the backlog of licence applications for Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners that has built up since 20 June last year.”
The UK is one of the biggest arms suppliers to Saudi Arabia and has sold in excess of £5bn of weapons to the Kingdom since the bombing of Yemen started in 2015.
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