Congress given green light to consider US arms sale to Saudi

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has authorised the State Department to notify Congress of the Trump administration’s sale of precision-guided munitions for Saudi Arabia to use in its Yemen campaign, a senior US diplomat said today.

The notification is one of the last steps in the arms sale process and triggers a formal 30-day review to allow members of Congress to attempt to pass legislation to stop any sale.

US lawmakers introduced legislation last week seeking to block about $500 million of a $110 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia, including the portion on precision-guided missiles and other offensive weapons.

Read: US lawmakers aim to block Trump-Saudi arms deal

An announcement of the sale had been expected in March but objections from mostly Democratic lawmakers and human rights groups led to Washington to ask Riyadh for commitments to improve targeting procedures that would minimise civilian casualties.

Asked today whether the Saudis had taken specific measures to improve targeting capabilities, the senior US diplomat, acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Stuart Jones, did not answer directly.

“That’s a continuing source of conversation between us,” Jones told reporters. “We’re constantly trying to improve that process.”

The Yemen civil war pits Iran-allied Houthi rebels against the government backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition. Nearly 4,800 civilians have been killed since March 2015, the United Nations said in March.

Jones said Tillerson’s authorisation, which was expected, occurred just before President Donald Trump’s 20-21 May visit to Saudi Arabia.

Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, in December limited military support to Saudi Arabia’s campaign in Yemen because of concerns over civilian casualties, and halted the sale of the precision-guided munitions.

Saudi Arabia was the first stop on Trump’s first international trip and he marked the visit by announcing the arms deal in Riyadh on 20 May. Saudi Arabia agreed to by $110 billion of US arms, with options running as high as $350 billion over 10 years.