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Britain expresses regret over 'disturbance' during Saudi aide's London visit

REUTERS

 

Major General Ahmed Al Asiri, spokesman for the Arab Coalition attends a press briefing at the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in London, Britain November 3, 2016. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

 

LONDON/DUBAI (Reuters) - Britain has expressed regret to Saudi Arabia after what it described as a "disturbance" during a visit by an aide to Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to London last week.

 

Activists said on social media that a demonstrator tried to perform a "citizen's arrest" against Major General Ahmed al-Asseri as he tried to enter an office in London on Thursday.

 

Asseri is also the spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition engaged in fighting against Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen. Activists accuse Saudi Arabia of committing war crimes against civilians in Yemen, a charge Riyadh denies.

 

Britain's Foreign Office said in a statement that Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson had spoken about the incident with Prince Mohammed by telephone on Saturday.

 

"The Foreign Secretary expressed his regret at the disturbance to Saudi Major General Asseri's visit to London on Thursday,” the Foreign Office said.

 

Saudi state news agency SPA had earlier reported the telephone call and quoted Johnson as saying that the incident was under investigation.

 

The agency quoted the Saudi embassy in London as saying in comments on its Twitter account that Asseri was "safe" after some demonstrators tried to attack the general to obstruct his participation in a symposium by the European Council on Foreign Relations.

 

It said Asseri's schedule was not interrupted by the incident.

 

Saudi Arabia denies its forces in Yemen target civilians. It says it takes extra care to avoid civilian casualties and accuses the Houthis of operating behind the cover of civilian targets.

 

The United Nations says the war in Yemen has killed more than 10,000 people, half of them civilians and caused a humanitarian crisis in the country.

 

(Reporting by Paul Sandle in London and Noah Browning in Dubai, editing by Sami Aboudi and Susan Fenton)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-04-03

[sanukjim]

The UK wails on about supporting the abolishment of abuse to citizens in other countries but kisses the arse of Saudi Arabia,one of the biggest abusers of them all.Do you think that if Scotland pulls out of the UK The UK may need another source of oil without the North Sea Oil ?

[Stargeezr]

Britan is not the only country to suck up to Saudi Arabia, and its people who go to other countries  That oil wealthy nation is head and shoulders above all others  in what they  do in  their own country, to  their  kind of rule  of their population.  They get  treated  with  kids  gloves  by  many  other countries.  Must be  nice to have  that

kind of power  and  influence

Geezer

[champers]

They buy a lot of military hardware from the UK and actually use it too, meaning ongoing replacements. Saudis also own vast swathes of high-end property in London. This is really important, so please disregard their awful human rights record. Revenue from trade matters above all else.

[elgordo38]

1 hour ago, champers said:

They buy a lot of military hardware from the UK and actually use it too, meaning ongoing replacements. Saudis also own vast swathes of high-end property in London. This is really important, so please disregard their awful human rights record. Revenue from trade matters above all else.

No truer words were spoken than your last sentence. 

[dick dasterdly]

3 hours ago, sanukjim said:

The UK wails on about supporting the abolishment of abuse to citizens in other countries but kisses the arse of Saudi Arabia,one of the biggest abusers of them all.Do you think that if Scotland pulls out of the UK The UK may need another source of oil without the North Sea Oil ?

I could well be wrong, but I'd be very suprised if the UK doesn't already source oil from countries other than Scotland.

 

Agree entirely about the absurdity of UK and other Western countries 'kissing Saudi Arabia's arse' whilst pretending they care about human rights etc. etc. .

 

There's obviously a lot of money involved for some very wealthy people....

[clockman]

The only plane to fly, after 9-11 was the Bin Laden family.!

[englishinsiam]

Saudi's are pure evil scum. They finance most Islamic terrorism smile to our faces while plotting and scheming behind our backs.

I'd love it if all western govts cut off their money flow. But sadly oil is the be all and end all.

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