UK revokes 5 Egypt arms export licenses, 212 remain in place
Iran Press TV
Sat Jul 20, 2013 7:7AM GMT
Britain says it has withdrawn five export licenses to Egypt to prevent British goods being used in unrest and lead to more civilian deaths.
'We will not grant export licenses where we judge there is a clear risk the goods might be used for internal repression, provoke or prolong conflict within a country,' Business Secretary Vince Cable said.
This is while 212 arms sales licenses to Egypt remain firmly in place.
The British parliament said in a report earlier this week that the government's arms export agency UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security considers Egypt and several other countries, the foreign office lists as human rights abusers, as it top priority arms markets.
The report by the Commons' Committee on Arms Export Control said Egypt has been getting British arms since at least 2011 despite being named by the Foreign Office as a country of "concern" in terms of human rights.
However, Cable claimed that there are no reports of British military equipment having been used in the unrest.
The five suspended licenses cover sales of equipment for tanks and machine gun parts.
AMR/HE
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