Featured World News

German arms factory in Italy to stop Saudi Arabia, UAE bomb exports

A German-owned arms factory in Italy will stop exporting to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates bombs used in the Yemeni war, activists said on Wednesday.

RWM Italia, a subsidiary of German defence company Rheinmetall, produces bombs whose fragments have been found on airstrike targets in Yemen.

“We welcome a decision that should have been taken a long time ago, as we had urged,” the Italian Civil Society Coordination Group said in a statement.

The group includes the Italian chapters of the Amnesty International, Oxfam and Save the Children charities, as well as Italian disarmament campaigners.

According to the ANSA news agency, RWM Italia is complying with an Italian government decision to suspend export licences for aircraft bombs and components to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

ANSA quoted from a letter RWM Italia sent to its employees on Tuesday indicating that the suspension was with immediate effect and will last up to 18 months.

RWM Italia deflected questions about the report to its parent company, and a Rheinmetall spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

Earlier in July, Italian Deputy Premier, Luigi Di Maio, of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement said the government had agreed to block Italian bomb sales to countries involved in the Yemeni war.

 

 

Related posts

Aviation unions suspend strike, reopen NCAA offices

By Abisola THOMPSON

Lekki tollgate shooting: Cameras stopped working by 8pm, no audio –LCC

Our Reporter

Private sector seeks collaboration with FG, states on decentralised sewage system

 By Meletus EZE

Climate Change: 11% of Nigeria’s GDP may be affected by 2020 — Official

By Dotun Adeleye

NAFDAC pledges commitment to step up regulatory mandate

Editor

SHACMAN delivers 400 trucks to Dangote

Our Reporter