Some Saudi troops in Bahrain may be UK-trained, says minister<\/p>\n
London, May 25, IRNA \u2013 Saudi troops dispatched to help quell pro-democracy protests in Bahrain may include numbers who were trained by Britain, Armed Forces Minister Nick Harvey has acknowledged.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is possible that some members of the Saudi Arabian National Guard which were deployed in Bahrain may have undertaken some training provided by the British military mission,\u201d Harvey said. \u201cThe Ministry of Defence has extensive and wide-ranging bilateral engagement with Saudi Arabia in support of the government’s wider foreign policy goals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In a written parliamentary reply published Wednesday, Harvey confirmed that the Ministry of Defence’s engagement with Saudi Arabia includes training provided to the Saudi Arabian National Guard, delivered through the British mission. MPs have raised a series of concerns about the role of Saudi troops deployed in Bahrain, including reports that they have been involved in abuses and in the transfer of some prisoners to Saudi Arabia. <\/p>\n
In an interview with IRNA last week, Foreign Office spokesman Barry Marston insisted he had seen no evidence that the activity of the forces from the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council has gone \u201cbeyond protecting key installations.\u201d Marston also disputed testimony from protesters that British arms have been used against demonstrations, further saying he had \u201cno evidence to suggest that United Kingdom supplied equipment has been used during the recent protests in Bahrain.\u201d <\/p>\n
A group of MPs, led by Labour representative Katy Clark, have been calling on the UK government to pressure Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to end \u201ctheir repressive measures\u201d in Bahrain by suspending arms sales to both countries. At the end of March, Harvey confirmed that the British Military Mission to the Saudi Arabian National Guard \u201ccontinues to operate as an essential part of our bilateral relationship.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cTraining forms an integral part of the British Military Mission’s activity,\u201d he said, but refused to provide a breakdown of military programmes and whether it included internal security training, saying it was not possible to do so \u201cwithout prejudicing relations between the UK and other states.\u201d …source<\/a><\/p>\n