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YEMEN

‘French embassy guard’ gunned down in Yemen

A Frenchman was killed Monday and another was wounded when gunmen fired on their car in a diplomatic district in Sanaa. The victim was reported to ba guard at the French embassy.

'French embassy guard' gunned down in Yemen
A French embassy guard was reportedly killed by gumen in Yemen on Monday. Photo: Mohammed Kuwais/AFP

The official identified the two men as guards at the French embassy, but a diplomatic source was unable to confirm this.

Their Yemeni driver was also wounded in the attack, the security official said, adding that the assailants fled.

Authorities have launched an investigation into the attack, which took place a few hundred metres (yards) from the embassy, said the official, who could not immediately provide details on possible motives.

Foreign diplomats, mainly Europeans, have increasingly come under attack in Sanaa.

A German diplomat was wounded in the Yemeni capital on April 28 as he evaded an attempt by gunmen to kidnap him in the same district.

Last October, a German embassy security guard was killed as he resisted a kidnapping attempt.

Two Britons and a German were kidnapped in January and February respectively.

Yemen, a deeply-tribal country where most men are armed, is home to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is seen by Washington as the most potent franchise of the global network after being linked to a number of attempted attacks on the US homeland.

Al-Qaeda militants hold captive Saudi diplomat Abdullah al-Khalidi, who was kidnapped from the southern city of Aden in March 2012, and Iranian diplomat
Nour-Ahmad Nikbakht, kidnapped in July 2013 from Sanaa.

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YEMEN

French firm strikes Saudi weapons deal despite Yemen pressure

Saudi Arabia's state arms producer and a French government-majority firm signed an agreement Sunday on a joint venture to boost the kingdom's navy, amid calls to halt weapons sales to Riyadh over it role in Yemen.

French firm strikes Saudi weapons deal despite Yemen pressure
Saudi hovercraft participate in last year's "Gulf Shield 1" military drills. Photo: Bandar Al-Jaloud/Saudi Royal Palace/AFP

The memorandum of understanding between Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) and France's Naval Group is aimed at providing the oil-rich Gulf state's navy with “state-of-the-art systems”, a statement said.  

“Through design, construction, and maintenance activities, the joint venture will contribute significantly to further enhancing the capabilities and readiness of our Royal Saudi Naval Forces,” SAMI boss Andreas Schwer said.

A spokeswoman for Naval Group — which is owned by the French state and French multinational giant Thales — refused to give any more details.    

French lawmakers and rights groups have repeatedly called on France's government to suspend all arms deals to Riyadh because of the war in Yemen, where some 10,000 people have been killed since a Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015.  

Riyadh is battling on the side of the internationally recognised government against Iran-aligned Huthi rebels, in a conflict that has seen all sides accused of potential war crimes. 

The US House of Representatives this week voted overwhelmingly to end American involvement in Saudi Arabia's war effort in neighbouring Yemen, dealing a rebuke to President Donald Trump and his alliance with the kingdom.

France, one of the world's biggest arms exporters, has sold equipment to Riyadh and fellow coalition member the UAE — notably Caesar artillery guns and ammunition, sniper rifles and armoured vehicles.

OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia has been one of the world's top arms buyers for the past several years.

But in 2017, the kingdom's Public Investment Fund set up SAMI to manufacture arms locally with the fund expecting it to become one of the world's top 25 defence companies by 2030.

Naval Group — which was previously called DCNS — has been embroiled in a long-running graft scandal over the 2002 sale of two Scorpene submarines to Malaysia for $1.2 billion. 

The submarine maker is alleged to have paid more than 114 million euros ($128 million) in kickbacks to a shell company linked to a close associate of ousted Malaysian leader Najib Razak. 

A French investigation launched in 2010 has already led to four French executives involved in the deal being charged. They all deny wrongdoing.

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