The UK government has revoked 44 licenses for the export of arms to Bahrain amid concern over the suppression of anti-government protesters.

Eight licenses authorizing arms sales to Libya were also revoked amid a review of exports to the wider Middle East including Yemen.
The licenses are thought to cover items that could be used for repression, such as teargas. The Foreign Office said it had no evidence of British equipment being used in the unrest in Bahrain.
Alistair Burt, the minister for the Middle East and north Africa, said that an immediate review of UK export licenses was being conducted as a result of the changing situation in Bahrain.
“All export license applications are considered on a case-by-case basis against the consolidated EU and UK export licensing criteria and in the light of prevailing circumstances, paying particular attention to allegations of human rights abuses,” he added.
The licenses that were revoked for Bahrain were 24 “individual” licenses, which govern specific transactions, and 20 “open” licenses, which provide exporters with potentially more flexibility.
Separately, the Guardian has learned that the Ministry of Defense has helped train more than 100 Bahraini military officers in the past five years at Sandhurst and other top colleges in the UK.
It has provided places to troops from the Persian Gulf state on junior officer training courses for the British army, RAF and Royal Navy and the joint services advanced command and staff course. It has also deployed short-term teams to Bahrain to deliver specific training. The MoD said it provided “advisory visits, defense staff talks and senior leadership engagement either in the UK or in-country”. The close involvement of the British government with Bahrain's military emerged amid claims that troops shot live ammunition at protesters on Friday afternoon, and fired warning shots with anti-aircraft weapons.
Human Rights Watch, an international campaign group, called for the immediate suspension of all assistance to Bahrain by military donors including the British government “in light of what we have seen of the Bahrain military's confrontation with protesters”.
(Source: The Guardian)
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