Riyadh 'tried to avert EU parliament vote on arms embargo'

Saudi Arabia has mounted a serious diplomatic push at the European Parliament in an effort to avert a Thursday vote on an amendment that calls for a EU-wide embargo on arms sales.

According to reports in the Guardian, Saudi representatives met MEPs to try to persuade them not to back the amendment introduced following concerns about “the serious allegations of breaches of international humanitarian law by Saudi Arabia in Yemen”.

The vote is not legally binding, and the parliament cannot force member states to stop sending arms, but if adopted the move could be seen as a big embarrassment for Riyadh and could help increase pressure on governments to stop shipments.

Since June 2010 British authorities have sold more than $7.7bn in sales of arms, fighter jets and other military hardware to Saudi Arabia.

On Sunday, the Saudi ambassador to Brussels, Abdulrahman al-Ahmed, sent a letter to parliamentarians urging them to vote against the amendment and support his country’s military intervention in Yemen.

In the letter, seen by the Guardian, Ahmed blames the military operation on Iran and claims that much of Riyadh’s intervention has been humanitarian in nature.

“Saudi Arabia has also answered the call from the West to take a greater role in combating terrorist instability throughout the Middle East and the consequences of our not intervening in Yemen’s conflict would have been far worse than the West could as yet imagine,” the ambassador wrote.

However, rights groups and the UN have blasted the Saudi-led coalition campaign that began in March last year, repeatedly saying not enough was being done to protect civilians.

Since the operation began more than 6,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced.

In January a UN report said that the coalition was engaged in "widespread and systematic" targeting of civilians and said that civilians were also being deliberately starved as a war tactic.

Amnesty International – which has long supported the arms ban on Saudi Arabia – has gone even further saying last year that the coalition has carried out violations that could amount to war crimes.

All sides in Yemen’s war have been accused of gross human rights violations, with Human Rights Watch saying it has evidence the Houthis have purposefully shelled civilian areas and confiscated food, water and medicine.

The European Parliament vote was originally scheduled for 4 February but campaigners say it was delayed due to Saudi pressure.