The selling of arms “kill” in the Arab countries

1. Arms kill and its trade is not “ordinary business”

In most Arab countries where the revolts have taken place security forces attacked unarmed demonstrators killing and injuring many.  In Libya the government is using warplanes and tanks to bomb civilians. TV has shown security forces and civilians using Belgian guns. Where do these arms used to attack, kill and injure peaceful demonstrators come from? 

 

Many countries that call themselves “defenders” of democracy have not only supported those dictators’ regimes but have also done business with them and sold them great quantities of weapons. The separation between ethics and values on the one hand and economic and political interests on the other is one of the main “inconsistencies” of these countries. When these come into conflict, business and political interests usually override ethical standards. This is particularly scandalous and dangerous in the case of arms sales. Business and employment may be important for the countries where the arms are produced, but ethics are also significant for many of its citizens.

 

Governments are responsible for the selling of arms. To legally export arms and defence-related articles and services from country A to country B, the exporting company needs an export license from the exporting country A’s government. The governmental body responsible for issuing exporting arms licenses decides if country B complies with a series of security measures. What the security forces can do with these weapons should be considered. In some cases “conditions” are attached to the contracts, but the reality is that, once the arms are in a country, the seller has no means to control its use or destination.

 

The French government continued to allow exports of equipment used to maintain public order, explosive material, mostly tear gas grenades to Tunisia even after the uprising. However, at the beginning of February France suspended sales of arms and equipment for riot police to Egypt.

 

1.1. Arms imports in Arab states

In these protests, revolts or revolutions, police and army are playing an important role, either to fight the protestors or to defend the people.

 

Though in recent years the danger of a war between neighbours has diminished in North Africa, the countries of the region have been excellent clients for arms producers. During the period 2005-2009, Algeria, Morocco, Libya, and to a lesser extent, Egypt and Tunisia were the largest arms importers in Africa, with Algeria at the forefront. Everybody knew what Gaddafi had done in the past and what he would be able to do in the future. But since 2003 when he was “restored” to the international community, because of the Libyan oil and the business resulting from it, many governments decided to deal with him and gave licenses for weapons destined for Libya.

 

1.1.1. Libya a big arms market

Libya dominates the Maghreb in terms of weapon numbers but lacks meaningful military capability because of its limited active manpower, poor training and technical skills, weak support system and infrastructure and poorly organized mobilization base. This explains Gaddafi’s use of mercenaries.

 

Today, faced with the use of weapons against the people of Libya, most exporting governments play innocent. But the facts are clear.

 

WEAPONS PURCHASED BY LIBYA
SUPPLIERS	Millions of Euros
Belgium	22,4
Bulgaria	3,7
France	185,5
Germany	43,2
Italy	191,3
Malta	79,7
Portugal	19,1
Russie	100,0
United Kingdom	20,7
United States	70,0
TOTAUX	735,6
Data taken from the 2009   EU Report on Arms Exports

 Although according to the SIPRI report Libya spent only US$ 17million on weapons from 2005 to 2009: ($1m. to France and $16 m. to Italy, with the latter selling six helicopters and France signing a contract to refurbish Libya's Mirage combat jets) the actual expenditure is much bigger.

According to the 2009 European Union (EU) report on arms exports, in 2009 alone EU countries granted €687.6 million worth of licenses for exports to Libya. Italy sold 6 light helicopters and granted licenses for military aircraft, including assault craft, and associated equipment, as well as for bomb fuses, including some for improvised-type devices. France sold 100 anti-tank missiles and Portugal granted permits for drones. Malta shipped small arms to the regime. Belgian gave permits for anti-personnel chemicals used to quell riots and of Italian licenses. Germany sold electronic jamming devices. Romania sold Gaddafi 100,000 Kalashnikovs.

 

The arms and ammunition delivered to Libya from Belgium in 2009 came from Wallonia and Flanders. Those from FN Herstal in Wallonia were worth 11.5 million euro and consisted of hundreds of assault rifles, submachine guns, handguns, light machine guns, rifle grenades, compressed-air guns that can be used to stop hostile but unarmed individuals or groups, and 1.134 million rounds of ammunition among other things. These arms were delivered to the army and the security forces. Flanders sold very sophisticated material.

 

Libya was one of 53 countries invited by to the 2009 DSEi arms fair in London. In 2005 BAE-UK gained some of Libya’s military spending — forecast to rise to $730 million in 2010. 

 

In 2009 Russia sold 96 Libya anti-ship missiles for $100m. and USA 8 Hercules aircraft for $70m. Even South Africa had supplied Libya with more than 100 sniper rifles and more than 50 000 rounds of 40mm ammunition, multiple grenades launches, Hercules C130 aircraft and armoured personnel carriers in late 2010.

 

In January 2010 Moscow struck a deal with Libya to sell Russian arms worth $1.8bn. More than one billion dollars of the deal was for combat aircraft such as SU-35s, SU-30s and Yak-130s. The deal also included two divisions of air defence systems and several dozen Russian tanks to modernize the old Libyan tanks and other weapons.

 

The following table shows the spending in weapons of the Arab countries and the countries that provided such weapons. The amounts of Arab expenditure and Western export revenues from those arms are expressed in millions of US Dollars

 

SUPPLIERS	Libya	Algéria	Saudi Arabia	Bahrein	UA Emirates	Egypt	Jordan
South Africa		18,0	10,0		11,0		31,0
Germany			1,0		61,0		8,0
Australia							1,0
Austria					8,0
Belgium			7,0	16,0			206,0
Canada		12,0	26,0
China		61,0	73,0			85,0	8,0
Arab Emirates							9,0
Spain		78,0					7,0
United States	70,0		455,0	98,0	3.880,0	1.862,0	228,0
Finland					2,0	68,0
France	1,0	57,0	42,0		2.309,0		7,0
Italy	16,0		15,0		30,0
Jordan
Libya					24,0
Montenegro						180,0
Oman				1,0
Pakistan			3,0
Netherlands						161,0	103,0
Romania					40,0
United Kingdom	730,0	18,0	474,0	60,0
Russia	100,0	3.119,0			124,0	128,0	12,0
Singapour					2,0
Sweden					1,0
Switzerland			30,0
Turkey			2,0	4,0	23,0
Ukraine		31,0				30,0	11,0
TOTALS	917,0	3.394,0	1.138,0	179,0	6.515,0	2.514,0	631,0

SUPPLIERS	Koweit	Lebanon	Morocco	Oman	Tunisia	Qatar	Yemen	TOTALS
South Africa								70,0
Germany					168,0			238,0
Australia							50,0	51,0
Austria								8,0
Belgium		7,0	17,0					253,0
Canada				4,0				42,0
China								227,0
Arab Emirates		9,0		7,0				25,0
Spain								85,0
United States	286,0	13,0	16,0	478,0	18,0	280,0	7,0	7.691,0
Finland								70,0
France	9,0			93,0				2.518,0
Italy	20,0					5,0	83,0	169,0
Jordan		28,0						28,0
Libya								24,0
Montenegro								180,0
Oman								1,0
Pakistan								3,0
Netherlands								264,0
Romania								40,0
United Kingdom				25,0				1.307,0
Russia			171,0				235,0	3.889,0
Singapour								2,0
Sweden								1,0
Switzerland			16,0					46,0
Turkey								29,0
Ukraine							197,0	269,0
TOTALS	315,0	57,0	220,0	607,0	186,0	285,0	572,0	17.530,0

1.2. Some control exercised by Western countries

After the hard response of Gaddafi to the protests, most governments have decided an ‘immediate’ review of export licenses, concerned that they might be used by Gadaffi’s regime to fight protesters.

 

As response to NGO complaints for the selling of arms from Belgium to Libya, in 2009 Belgium overturned a licence for FN Herstal to supply €11.5 million of small arms - including 367 rifles, 367 handguns, 50 "luxury" pistols and 22,000 grenades - for Gaddafi's elite army and police units.

 

In February 2010, the UK revoked a series of export licences to Libya and Bahrain covering tear gas and gun components following violence in both countries. As early as 2008, the UK had blocked York Guns from shipping 130,000 Kalashnikovs to Libya because it feared they would be resold to warlords in Sudan.

 

Yet despite the later decisions the selling of arms continues to feature on the “agenda” of most governments, even to “problematic countries”.  The United Kingdom and United States were the first two countries to pay a visit to the new leaders, but their interest raises questions… David Cameron, UK Prime Minister, in his recent tour of the Middle East was accompanied by 20 businessmen of whom 8 were arms manufacturers from defence and aerospace firms – BAe, Thales and others. The fact that the UK is ready to continue selling weapons to undemocratic Gulf states, despite the people of the Arab region’s cry for democracy and respect for human rights, shows that UK cares about its business more than about these human values. The reason given by Cameron, “the equipment sold is used to defend the country's borders”, is not valid today.