 74% of French people against weapons sales to Saudi: poll Paris (AFP) March 26, 2018 - Three out of four French people believe it is "unacceptable" to sell military weapons to Saudi Arabia, according to a poll published Monday. The study by independent research group YouGov was commissioned by the anti-corporation lobby group SumOfUs to mark the third anniversary of the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen. Several NGOs including Amnesty International are seeking to raise pressure on President Emmanuel Macron over French arms sales ahead of the visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Paris in early April. Norway has suspended arms exports to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia's coalition partner in Yemen, while the new German government says no weapons will be supplied to countries involved in the conflict. Seventy-four percent of French people questioned for the poll said they were against selling weapons to Saudi Arabia and 71 percent were against supplying to the United Arab Emirates. France, one of the world's biggest arms exporters, continues to sell equipment to both countries and campaigners claim Paris does not have sufficient guarantees that the weapons will not be used in Yemen. French exports have included Caesar artillery guns and ammunition, sniper rifles and armoured vehicles. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe's office insists that the weapons sold to Saudi Arabia are for defence and are only being used to deter rebel attacks. In March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition of nine African and Middle Eastern countries intervened in the civil war in Yemen. The coalition supports Yemeni pro-government forces against Huthi rebels, who are supported by Iran and control Sana'a, Yemen's capital. Since then, nearly 10,000 Yemeni citizens have been killed in the conflict, and more than 53,000 have been injured. The UN has called it the "worst humanitarian crisis" in the world. The study was carried out online by YouGov on March 20-21 with a sample of 1,026 people aged 18 and over.
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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday strongly condemned missile attacks on Saudi Arabia from rebel-held territory in Yemen and said military escalation was not the solution to ending the three-year war.
Saudi forces on Sunday intercepted seven missiles fired by Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels into Saudi Arabia, killing one person and wounding two others.
Guterres "strongly condemns the launch late yesterday of a series of missiles claimed by the Huthis toward cities in Saudi Arabia, including Riyadh, as he does consistently with all attacks against civilians," said a UN statement.
He called for "restraint amid mounting tensions and stresses that military escalation is not the solution."
The UN chief is due to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at UN headquarters on Tuesday to discuss Yemen.
The United Nations is making a fresh push for talks after Iran sent signals that it would be willing to help turn up the pressure on the Huthis to take part in negotiations, UN diplomats said.
New UN envoy Martin Griffiths was in the rebel-held capital Sanaa this week for talks on kick-starting the political process, following a first round of meetings in Riyadh.
About 10,000 Yemenis have been killed and 53,000 wounded since the coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015.
On Sunday, the Huthis fired three missiles at Riyadh and four others at the southern cities of Khamis Mushait, Jizan and Najran.
The Saudi-led coalition said the attacks all targeted populated areas.
The United Nations has said Yemen is facing the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with 22.2 million people in need of aid, a growing risk of famine and a severe outbreak of cholera.
Yemen rebel attack on Saudi possible war crime: Amnesty
Dubai (AFP) March 26, 2018 -
Overnight missile attacks by Yemen's Huthi rebels on arch-rival Saudi Arabia could constitute a potential war crime, Amnesty International said Monday.
"Launching indiscriminate attacks is prohibited by international humanitarian law and can constitute a war crime," said Amnesty's Samah Hadid.
"A high death toll may have been averted, possibly due to the missiles being intercepted, but that doesn't let the Huthi armed group off the hook for this reckless and unlawful act," Hadid said in a statement.
"These missiles cannot be precisely targeted at such distances, so their use in this manner unlawfully endangers civilians."
Amnesty did not say it had independently documented evidence of the attacks.
Saudi Arabia is at the helm of a military coalition that has fought alongside the Yemeni government against the Iran-backed Huthi rebels since 2015.
The coalition said Saudi Arabia's air defence forces had intercepted seven Yemeni rebel missiles late Sunday night, with one Egyptian labourer reported killed by falling shrapnel in Riyadh.
The rebels confirmed they had launched missiles at Riyadh as well as the southern cities of Khamis Mushait, Jizan and Najran.
Both parties in the Yemen conflict have drawn harsh condemnation for failing to protect civilians in a war that has claimed nearly 10,000 lives and pushed the country to the brink of famine.
Amnesty last week said Saudi Arabia and its allies could stand guilty of war crimes in Yemen, which is under partial blockade by the coalition.
The Saudi-led alliance last year landed on a UN blacklist for the killing and maiming of children.
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