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| Michael Fallon to make statement on Yemen cluster bomb claims | Michael Fallon to make statement on Yemen cluster bomb claims |
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| Michael Fallon is to make a statement to the House of Commons about military exports following reports that UK-made cluster bombs have been used by Saudi-led coalition forces in Yemen. | Michael Fallon is to make a statement to the House of Commons about military exports following reports that UK-made cluster bombs have been used by Saudi-led coalition forces in Yemen. |
| The defence secretary will make a statement on Monday afternoon, more than six months after the Ministry of Defence said it would urgently investigate allegations in an Amnesty International report that British cluster munitions had been deployed. | |
| The UK is aiding Saudi Arabia with military training but is a signatory to the convention on cluster munitions, which prohibits their use or assistance with their use. Saudi Arabia is not a signatory to the international treaty. | The UK is aiding Saudi Arabia with military training but is a signatory to the convention on cluster munitions, which prohibits their use or assistance with their use. Saudi Arabia is not a signatory to the international treaty. |
| The Guardian reported on Sunday that Fallon had seen government analysis indicating UK-made cluster bombs were deployed in the war, in which Saudi-led forces are fighting Houthi rebels who rose up against the Yemeni government. | The Guardian reported on Sunday that Fallon had seen government analysis indicating UK-made cluster bombs were deployed in the war, in which Saudi-led forces are fighting Houthi rebels who rose up against the Yemeni government. |
| A source said the defence secretary had known about the analysis for about a month, although it is understood no confirmation one way or the other has been received from Saudi Arabia, which publicly denies the allegations. | A source said the defence secretary had known about the analysis for about a month, although it is understood no confirmation one way or the other has been received from Saudi Arabia, which publicly denies the allegations. |
| The FT reported a Whitehall official as saying: “It has been known for some time inside the system that this was a British cluster bomb and at some point we are going to have to come clean about it.” | The FT reported a Whitehall official as saying: “It has been known for some time inside the system that this was a British cluster bomb and at some point we are going to have to come clean about it.” |
| In the last few months, ITV and Sky News have also reported from Yemen, alleging British-made bombs have been used in the war. The last exports of cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia are thought to have been made in the 1980s. | |
| Kate Allen, Amnesty International’s UK director, said confirmation from the government would not be a “bolt from the blue” and repeated the organisation’s calls for a suspension of arms sales to Saudi Arabia. | Kate Allen, Amnesty International’s UK director, said confirmation from the government would not be a “bolt from the blue” and repeated the organisation’s calls for a suspension of arms sales to Saudi Arabia. |
| “The reality is that Amnesty and others have been reporting on Saudi Arabia’s use of UK cluster munitions in Yemen for months,” she said. “Back in May we revealed how the Saudi coalition had been using British-made cluster bombs in their attacks near Yemeni villages and farms in the north of the country. | “The reality is that Amnesty and others have been reporting on Saudi Arabia’s use of UK cluster munitions in Yemen for months,” she said. “Back in May we revealed how the Saudi coalition had been using British-made cluster bombs in their attacks near Yemeni villages and farms in the north of the country. |
| “Over the years, the UK has sold billions and billions of pounds’ worth of weapons, including cluster bombs, to Saudi Arabia, and it’s hardly a surprise they’re turning up in bombed-out villages in Yemen. Thousands of Yemeni civilians have already been killed and injured by the Saudi coalition’s reckless and indiscriminate bombing of homes, hospitals, schools and factories. | “Over the years, the UK has sold billions and billions of pounds’ worth of weapons, including cluster bombs, to Saudi Arabia, and it’s hardly a surprise they’re turning up in bombed-out villages in Yemen. Thousands of Yemeni civilians have already been killed and injured by the Saudi coalition’s reckless and indiscriminate bombing of homes, hospitals, schools and factories. |
| “It doesn’t require a belated ‘investigation’ within the MoD to tell us what we already knew: that the UK should immediately suspend all further weapons sales to Saudi Arabia that risk fuelling these appalling atrocities in Yemen.” | “It doesn’t require a belated ‘investigation’ within the MoD to tell us what we already knew: that the UK should immediately suspend all further weapons sales to Saudi Arabia that risk fuelling these appalling atrocities in Yemen.” |