REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, LONDON - The British government said Friday it has revoked five export licenses for equipment destined for Egypt's military and police in light of recent unrest in the country that has led to the deaths of civilians.
Egypt has witnessed street skirmishes and protests since the military deposed Mohammed Mursi as president. About 60 people have been killed in the clashes. On Friday, several thousand protesters demonstrated in cities across Egypt in the latest show of strength by supporters of Mursi.
Business Secretary Vince Cable's department said Friday that the decision was not related to one specific incident, but rather a buildup of events and Egyptian authorities' recent actions with regard to crowd control.
The five licenses covered components for armored personnel carriers, machine guns, and armored fighting infantry vehicles, along with communications equipment for tanks and licenses for vehicle antennas and radio equipment.
Cable said the government had not had reports of British equipment being used in Egypt's unrest, but took the decision to revoke the licenses upon advice from the Foreign Office. It was not immediately clear exactly who the licenses had been issued to — whether they were private British companies or other entities that export such material.
"We are deeply concerned about the situation in Egypt and the events which have led to the deaths of protesters," he said in a statement. "The longstanding UK position is clear: We will not grant export licenses where we judge there is a clear risk the goods might be used for internal repression."
The moves comes after a report from British lawmakers earlier this week urged the government to exercise more caution in approving applications for the export of arms to countries with authoritarian regimes.
The House of Commons Committees on Arms Export Controls published the report, showing that Britain has issued more than 3,000 arms export licenses for goods bound for countries where the UK has concerns about human rights — such as Iran, Iraq, Libya and Syria.
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