PM Cameron has begun a diplomatic tour to
patch up relations with the Gulf with a billion-dollar arms deal on the cards.
He has minimized press coverage of the trip amidst accusations Britain is
arming countries with debatable human rights records.
During the tour Cameron will seek to revive
relations with both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where the
UK has significant business interests in the oil industry. In addition, Britain
will also seek to peddle 100 Typhoon fighter jets to both nations in a deal
worth a potential US$10 billion.
The UK PM faces stiff competition, with
French President Francois Holland also in the region to sell defense equipment.
Despite the minimized press presence
accompanying the PM, Downing Street has said they are in no way trying to hush
up coverage.
"This is not a secretive trip in any
shape or form. We have the media traveling on the plane with the prime minister
– they will have access to the events he is doing in country,” said a Downing
Street spokesperson.
The British government has stated that the
motive behind the trip is “to work together with the Gulf countries towards a
future that is rich in prosperity, strong in defense and open in its handling
and pursuit of political and economic reform.”
However, in the wake of the Arab Spring, ties
with Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been put under strain with both countries
being targeted for their questionable human rights policies and authoritarian
governments.
The UK’s significant financial dealings with
the region, worth around $27 billion according to UK newspaper The Guardian,
are also on the rocks. Saudi Arabia has warned that if the UK shows support for
anti-regime groups pushing for government reform it will begin courting Asian
markets with lucrative trade deals.
The UK government has come under increasing
pressure from human rights groups to use its influence with UAE and Saudi
Arabia to push for reform. Nevertheless, Britain has been reluctant to vocalize
any criticism for fear of endangering economic ties with the Gulf nations.
Saudi Arabia ‘insulted’ by UK
The trip comes after Saudi representative
said that they felt insulted by a UK parliamentary review of relations with
Saudi Arabia and its neighbor Bahrain, which has been undergoing significant
social upheaval against the country’s Sunni monarchy.
Enraged Saudi officials told the BBC that
they were "re-evaluating their country's historic relations with Britain,”
adding they would rule nothing out.
The parliamentary inquiry followed a report
on the Arab Spring which said that the UK should "support peaceful reform
efforts where possible in Bahrain," but that it "must also be clear
in its public criticism of human rights violations there if it is to avoid
charges of hypocrisy."
Saudi Arabia has shown open support for
Bahrain’s Sunni monarchy, lending 1,000 troops last year to quash a
pro-democracy movement.
The Saudi Arabian monarchy implicates Iran in
having a hand in the unrest currently engulfing Bahrain and also accuses it of
triggering a Shiite uprising on its own territory.
The currently international nuclear conflict
with Iran is also expected to be high on the agenda during Cameron’s visit. In
the case of a severe deterioration in relations with Tehran, British media have
speculated the UK might base fighter jets in the UAE for a possible strike on
the country.
The US, along with other Western countries,
has accused Tehran of enriching uranium for the purposes of building nuclear
weapons and have sought to allay progress by slamming sanctions on Iran.
Iran, for its part, maintains its atomic
research is purely for civilians ends and denies claims it is developing
weapons.
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