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The investigation into the assassination of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi could have an impact on British support for Saudi Arabia's engagement in the war in Yemen, said Britain's Middle East minister.
Alistair Burt said Tuesday in the House of Commons that it was "not an illegitimate question" to ask if the investigation would reveal anything about the scheme's character in Riyadh and that this would have an impact on the war in Yemen, in which Saudi Arabia entered in 2015..
During an often stormy session at the International Development Selection Committee in Westminster, Burt resisted warnings from humanitarian agencies that he was watching the biggest famine in history and was not using it. British diplomatic influence in the UN to end the civil war. between the government backed by the Saudis and the Houthi rebels.
But he rejected the passionate appeals of humanitarian agencies and former diplomats asking the UK to use its influence to demand a unilateral ceasefire and the full opening of the United Nations. Humanitarian aid in the country.
A meeting of seniors in London, the oldest group of former UN diplomats, called on the UK to encourage the UN to take credible and urgent steps to lift the humanitarian blockade . The group, currently chaired by Gro Harlem Brundtland, a former United Nations special envoy for the fight against climate change, has also called for the cessation of arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
Burt then said that British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt had had unannounced talks in London with Martin Griffiths, UN special envoy for Yemen. Conservative support for the war in Yemen has been severely damaged by the killing of Khashoggi, even though there is little support for the Houthis backed by Iran.
Burt has repeatedly insisted that the United Kingdom was not a party to the conflict and blamed the Houthis for the failure of talks organized by the UN envoy to Geneva.
His statement elicited a furious reaction from Labor MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle, who told Burt, "We are arming the Saudis. We maintain the army of air. We have British soldiers integrated in the control centers. We control the war flight trajectories. We train Saudi pilots in Wales. The only thing we do not do is press the button to drop the bomb.
"Can we just not be honest? We went to this war. We decided to integrate a regime that would dismember its own civilians in the consulates of NATO allies. "
Burt replied: "We are not parties to the conflict, we do not control any flight path, the coalition is acting for the defense of a legitimate government."
Ending UK support to Saudi Arabia would not end the conflict, he added. He also rejected efforts to lobby for a new resolution on the ceasefire at the UN, saying that Griffiths was not in favor of such a move because he was unlikely that it is accepted in the field.
Earlier, Jan Egeland, Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said that the United Kingdom was part of a small group of countries that could put an end to Yemen's ruthless deterioration.
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