“This decision affirms that Saudi Arabia, in its aggression on Yemen, violates the humanitarian laws and worldwide mores and intentionally targets civilians, infrastructure and vital installations under the USA cover and support”, he said.
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“That message is politically significant in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia must show a lot more consideration for civilian lives in Yemen”, said Smith.
Protesters then assaulted Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran, leading the kingdom to cut relations with the Islamic republic.
The stalemate in the Lebanese national policymaking system means the country is unable to take clear positions on critical regional issues like the wars in Syria or Yemen, or even domestic issues like how to respond to the influx of around 1.2 million Syrian refugees (leaving the NGO sector, the United Nations system and global humanitarian groups to deal with it). Cross-border attacks from Yemen into Saudi Arabia perpetrated by Yemen’s Houthi rebels have led to the death or capture of hundreds of Saudi soldiers deployed along the hills of the Yemeni-Saudi border.
The European Parliament adopted a resolution Thursday calling for the introduction of an arms embargo against Saudi Arabia for its military action in Yemen.
This week, Saudi Arabia called on its citizens not to travel to Lebanon for safety reasons and ordered those staying there to leave.
European Union lawmakers have claimed that Britain had licensed more than $3billion of arms sales to Saudi Arabia since Saudi-led forces began military operations in Yemen in March previous year.
Riyadh announced Friday it was halting $4 billion in aid grants due to what it described as stances taken by Lebanese officials which “were not in harmony with the ties between the two countries”. However, reports have suggested it was delayed due to pressure from Saudi diplomats in Brussels.
In a letter to on Sunday, Saudi ambassador Abdulrahman Al Ahmed reportedly defended the kingdom’s actions saying that “the larger ramifications of our not taking action in Yemen would have had devastating geopolitical consequences for the kingdom, Europe and the broader West as well”.
Yemen’s Gulf-backed government also this week accused Hezbollah of training Houthi forces, fighting alongside them, and planning attacks in Saudi Arabia.
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Mr Smyth said: “Having grown up in Saudi Arabia I am sensitive to the realities of the Saudis and appreciate that the Saudis have concerns in their neighbourhood”.
