Planned Protest Against the Saudi Crown Prince Visit to the UK
Yamanyoon
High-profile campaign groups aim to protest in London in the next week to show their denunciation of a visit from the Saudi Crown Prince to Britain to stress Riyadh’s war crimes in Yemen and its human rights record.
Among the organizers are the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) and Stop the War Coalition, which counts Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott among their patrons, Sky News reported on Wednesday.
The participants in the protest will gather outside Downing Street next Wednesday, when Mohammed bin Salman arrives to the UK for a meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May.
The activists have urged the premier to “show some backbone” over Saudi Arabia’s human rights violations and end Britain’s weapon sales to the Saudi kingdom, which has been engaged in a deadly criminal war against Yemen over the past three years.
The UK has increased its arms sales to more than 500 percent since the onset of the deadly Saudi military campaign that has taken the lives of thousands of people in Yemen so far.
The military equipment sold to the kingdom ever since, including warplanes, precision-guided bombs, and missiles, are estimated to cost more than $6.4 billion.