Norway suspends arms sales to UAE over war in Yemen
Norway has announced that it has suspended arms and ammunition exports to the United Arab Emirates because of Abu Dhabi's involvement in the Yemen war.
Norway said on Wednesday that it had suspended exports of munitions and arms to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a "precautionary line," based on its assessment of the situation in Yemen.
The UAE is part of a Saudi-led coalition that was formed in 2015 to fight the Houthi group that controls most of northern Yemen and the capital Sanaa.
"The development of the armed conflict in Yemen in the autumn of 2017 has been serious and there are severe concerns for the humanitarian situation," the Norwegian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Existing export permits had been temporarily revoked and no new licences would be issued under the current circumstances, Norway said.
Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soreide said that since 2010, Norway had allowed the sale of weapons and ammunition to the UAE. The decision to suspend sales for so-called A-material – munitions and arms – was made on December 19 and announced on Wednesday.
The Emirati government offered no immediate comment on Norway's decision.
In 2016, Norwegian exports of weapons and ammunition to the UAE rose to $9.7 million (79 million Norwegian crowns) from $5 million (41 million) in 2015, Statistics Norway data showed.
Seizure of weapons
Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang,on Tuesday, published a video by the Yemeni rebels, known as Houthis, in which they claimed to have seized "a US spy submarine."
The newspaper said it was a REMUS 600 Autonomous Underwater Vehicle made by Norway's Kongsberg group.
Eriksen Soreide said she had "no information" that any of Norway's military exports have been used in Yemen.
There was no comment from Kongsberg or from the Saudi-led coalition. It was also not clear when the submarine was purportedly seized.
War in Yemen
The Houthis, who are allied with Saudi Arabia's rival Iran, have forced into exile the Saudi-backed and internationally recognised government of Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
Despite a fierce air campaign against them, the rebels still control Yemen's capital Sanaa and much of the country's north, along the border with Saudi Arabia.
Earlier this month, the Houthis killed Yemen's former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, after he broke off his alliance with the rebels and appeared ready to switch sides.
Yemen's war has left more than 10,000 civilians dead, displaced more than three million people and pushed millions to the brink of famine.