Canada is 'concerned' with Khashoggi's fate but will sell arms to Saudis anyway – Trudeau
Ottawa will keep its $15bn arms deal with Riyadh despite concerns over Saudi involvement in the disappearance of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the diplomatic row over human rights, Prime Minister Trudeau said.
"We respected that contract," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
told reporters on Friday, adding that his cabinet has put forward measures to make the arms sales more transparent.
"We are making sure Canadians' expectations and laws are always being followed," he said.
The contract was signed in 2014 by the previous conservative government, and has since been upheld by Trudeau. The specifics of the sales were originally not disclosed by the parties.
According to documents
obtained by CBC News last month, a Canadian company is to ship 742 LAV-6 light armored vehicles to Riyadh. The same outlet
revealed in March that hundreds of the LAV-6s will be outfitted as
"heavy assault" and
"anti-tank" types.
Trudeau was forced to defend the deal amidst public outcry over the disappearance of prominent Saudi Arabia critic Jamal Khashoggi. He mysteriously vanished more than a week ago, and was last seen entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.
Turkish officials
claim they have evidence that the journalist was secretly
murdered by Saudi agents. Riyadh
dismissed the allegations as
"lies."
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