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Article

13 Sep 2018

Author:
Aljazeera

Spain makes U-turn, will now sell 400 missiles to Saudi Arabia

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The Spanish government reversed its decision to scrap a deal to sell 400 laser-guided missiles to Saudi Arabia, despite earlier reservations the hi-tech weapons may kill civilians in Yemen's devastating war. Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said on Thursday the deal will now go ahead, a week after it was halted. "The decision is that these bombs will be delivered to honour a contract that comes from 2015 and was made by the previous government," Borrell told Spanish radio station Onda Cero, adding the sale had been reviewed three times. "We found no reason not to carry it out." "It is truly a shameful decision, instead of sending a red light to end mass slaughter in Yemen, Spain is changing that to green light to continue indiscriminate killing of civilians and targeting of civilians areas like hospitals and school and most recently a school bus full of Yemeni children," Kate Gould, the Legislative Representative for Middle East policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), told Al Jazeera... Last week's announcement that the deal was done received praise from human rights groups opposed to the international arms trade, including Amnesty International and the UK-based Campaign Against Arms Trade. Spain is the fourth-largest provider of military equipment to Saudi Arabia, according to Amnesty.