US: Trump should end Saudi arms sales
The Saudi-led coalition, militarily supported by the United States, has conducted an aerial and ground campaign in Yemen for more than two years against the Houthi armed group and forces loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Both the Saudi-led coalition and Houthi-Saleh forces have committed serious violations of the laws of war. On his first trip abroad, US President Donald Trump is traveling to Riyadh to meet with Saudi leaders and plans to discuss the war in Yemen. He is set to announce more than US$100 billion in new arms deals, Reuters reported. The following quote can be attributed to Andrea Prasow, deputy Washington director at Human Rights Watch:
Billions of dollars in US arms sales and two years of US logistical support to the Saudi-led coalition have contributed significantly to the unmitigated human rights and humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen. Coalition aircraft have bombed crowded markets and funerals, maimed countless children, and attacked a boat filled with refugees, often using US-made weapons in unlawful attacks. Seven million people face starvation in Yemen. If the Trump administration wants to curtail US support for abuses in the Muslim world, it should immediately end arms sales to Saudi Arabia and demand credible investigations of alleged laws-of-war violations.