ktlight
14th May 2011, 08:45
The UK government's apparent surprise at what Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi has been doing with weapons supplied to him by the British since the anti-regime protests began in the country, has bewildered analysts.
The current unrests in the Middle East and North Africa and the following suppression of anti-government protesters with weapons and crowd control gadgets supplied by Britain has raised question as to why the UK has emerged as the main provider of lethal arms to dictatorial regimes in the war-torn countries.
British government has reportedly demonstrated its enthusiasm in promoting arms exports to depots in the volatile and mostly oil-rich regions. As the UK has extensively dealt with Saudi Arabia since 1980s, the Al-Yamamah deal is considered as the largest one in the region. Additionally, the country has also established long-term military ties with other authoritarian states, namely Jordan, Bahrain, and Oman.
North Africa was among the newest areas for UK government to export its weapons. UK Trade & Investment Defence & Security Organisation regarded oil-rich states of Algeria and Libya as their priority markets in the region. Accordingly, the famous Tony Blair's deal in the desert with Muammar Gaddafi in 2003 paved the way for even further deals that were crucial to London, including deals in oil, construction, and arms.
Meanwhile, the UK government claims that it “follows a responsible policy” and it would not sell arms to countries that it expects to use them for internal repression or external aggression.
The country, which was widely believed to be a major human rights abuser, also proved to be an important market for UK arms exports. In the 2010 Human Rights and Democracy Report published on March 31 2011, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office recorded 26 “countries with the most serious human rights concerns,” including the very states that the UK happily signs lucrative arms deals with, such as Saudi Arabia, Israel, Libya and Pakistan. In order to smooth the progress of arms industry activities, UK Trade & Investment Defence & Security Organisation (UKTI DSO) established a permanent office in the Libyan capital Tripoli.
Libya was regarded as a new opportunity for the United Kingdom and the European Union arms exporters, since the world's largest arms exporter, the US, did not participate due to political considerations.
EU arms exports to North Africa suddenly doubled in 2009, from 985 million Euros to two billion Euros. In Libya, they gained 343 million Euros. From 2005 to 2009, the main arms suppliers to Libya were the UK, France and Italy, the same countries that formed a coalition to wage aerial attacks against the Gaddafi regime.
As the anti-Gaddafi protests began in February 2011, the British government had already armed Gaddafi with weaponry such as wall and door breaching projectile launchers, crowd control ammunition, small arms ammunition, tear gas/irritant ammunition, and then began to arm Libyan revolutionary forces to fight against its former major arms customer.
source
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/179699.html
The current unrests in the Middle East and North Africa and the following suppression of anti-government protesters with weapons and crowd control gadgets supplied by Britain has raised question as to why the UK has emerged as the main provider of lethal arms to dictatorial regimes in the war-torn countries.
British government has reportedly demonstrated its enthusiasm in promoting arms exports to depots in the volatile and mostly oil-rich regions. As the UK has extensively dealt with Saudi Arabia since 1980s, the Al-Yamamah deal is considered as the largest one in the region. Additionally, the country has also established long-term military ties with other authoritarian states, namely Jordan, Bahrain, and Oman.
North Africa was among the newest areas for UK government to export its weapons. UK Trade & Investment Defence & Security Organisation regarded oil-rich states of Algeria and Libya as their priority markets in the region. Accordingly, the famous Tony Blair's deal in the desert with Muammar Gaddafi in 2003 paved the way for even further deals that were crucial to London, including deals in oil, construction, and arms.
Meanwhile, the UK government claims that it “follows a responsible policy” and it would not sell arms to countries that it expects to use them for internal repression or external aggression.
The country, which was widely believed to be a major human rights abuser, also proved to be an important market for UK arms exports. In the 2010 Human Rights and Democracy Report published on March 31 2011, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office recorded 26 “countries with the most serious human rights concerns,” including the very states that the UK happily signs lucrative arms deals with, such as Saudi Arabia, Israel, Libya and Pakistan. In order to smooth the progress of arms industry activities, UK Trade & Investment Defence & Security Organisation (UKTI DSO) established a permanent office in the Libyan capital Tripoli.
Libya was regarded as a new opportunity for the United Kingdom and the European Union arms exporters, since the world's largest arms exporter, the US, did not participate due to political considerations.
EU arms exports to North Africa suddenly doubled in 2009, from 985 million Euros to two billion Euros. In Libya, they gained 343 million Euros. From 2005 to 2009, the main arms suppliers to Libya were the UK, France and Italy, the same countries that formed a coalition to wage aerial attacks against the Gaddafi regime.
As the anti-Gaddafi protests began in February 2011, the British government had already armed Gaddafi with weaponry such as wall and door breaching projectile launchers, crowd control ammunition, small arms ammunition, tear gas/irritant ammunition, and then began to arm Libyan revolutionary forces to fight against its former major arms customer.
source
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/179699.html