Aiding and abetting war criminals

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir has confirmed that British officers are present in operational rooms of Saudi-led coalition and are training the anti-Houthi forces to conduct air warfare in Yemen, TheTelegraph reports.

“We asked a number of allied countries to come and be part of the control center,” Adel al-Jubeir told journalists. “I know they are aware of the target lists.”

This information has already found confirmation from the UK’s Ministry of Defense, which specifically stressed that British military are not directly involved in choosing targets or programming precision weapons for the Saudis, yet confirmed British experts are training the Saudi Air Force, together with other Gulf allies such as the United Arab Emirates, in handling the smart weapons sold to the Gulf states.

“We support Saudi forces through longstanding, pre-existing arrangements,” an MoD spokesman was cited as saying by The Telegraph, adding that the training is necessary to ensure “best practice” and compliance with international humanitarian law. Which apparently must include bombing hospitals according to the humanitarian organization, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). Since bombing began in March 2015, the Saudi-led coalition has been repeatedly accused of inflicting airstrikes on civilian installations in Yemen.