SHAFAQNA- Italy blocked the sale of thousands of missiles to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Friday. “This is an act that we considered necessary, a clear message of peace coming from our country. For us, the respect of human rights is an unbreakable commitment,” Di Maio said in a statement.
Andrew Smith from the Campaign Against the Arms Trade said the Italian decision sets a “vitally important precedent” for other European countries. “The Italian government should not have been arming Saudi forces in the first place. The arms sales they have supported have fuelled a brutal war and helped to create a humanitarian catastrophe,” Smith told MEE.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte previously said in 2018 that his government wanted to end arms sales to Saudi Arabia because of its involvement in Yemen and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Middle East Eye reported. Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched the war on Yemen in March 2015. The United Nations describes Yemen as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with 80% of its people in need of aid.