US Senate blocks arms sale to three Arab countries

WASHINGTON — The US Senate voted on Thursday to block the Trump administration's effort to complete 22 arms sale to three Arab countries without congressional review.

With the endorsement of several Republican senators, the Senate voted 53-45 on two resolutions to block two of the sales, and later voted 51-45 to block the remaining 20 arms sales.

The votes on Thursday demonstrated lawmakers' discontent with the Trump administration's decision last month to bypass the review process of Congress to complete the $8.1-billion arms sales to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. The arms sale included precision guided munitions, other bombs and ammunition and aircraft maintenance support.

Trump has promised to veto the legislation. The White House said stopping the sales "would send a message that the United States is abandoning its partners and allies at the very moment when threats to them are increasing".

Citing the humanitarian crisis in Yemen conflict and the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the US Congress has put on hold the pending arms sale to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The Trump administration announced last month that it would invoke "emergency" provision of the Arms Export Control Act to complete 22 pending arms sales to the three US regional partners to deter Iranian threats.

But critics both in the United States and United Kingdom have expressed concern about the devastating toll that the four-year Saudi bombing campaign in neighboring Yemen has taken on civilians.

"These partnerships are not a blank check for weapons and direct support for a campaign that is decidedly working against US interests in the region," said Democratic Senator Robert Menendez, who sponsored the resolutions.

"When they target civilians how can we continue to sell those arms?" he said.

The Yemeni conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives and triggered what the United Nations describes as the world's worst existing humanitarian crisis.

House Democrats have pledged that they would also pass resolutions blocking the sale, according to US media.

However, neither chamber is expected to gain the two-thirds votes necessary to override vetoes from the Trump administration. US media reported that the White House had planned to veto congressional efforts to block arms sale.

Britain's temporary sales suspension was announced by International Trade Secretary Liam Fox after a British court ordered the government to "reconsider" the sales due to their toll on noncombatants.

"We disagree with the judgment and will seek permission to appeal," Fox said in a statement delivered in Parliament, adding that the authorities "will not grant any new licenses to Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners which might be used in the conflict in Yemen".

Government figures analyzed by CAAT show that Britain, which accounts for 23 percent of arms imports to Saudi Arabia, has licensed nearly $6.4 billion in weapons to the kingdom since its Yemen campaign began in 2015.

Germany halted all arms sales to Saudi Arabia in response to Khashoggi's 2018 killing and called on other EU governments to follow suit.

XINHUA—AFP—AP