Britain trained Saudi troops used in Bahrain crackdown

Britain sends 20 military training teams a year to Saudi Arabia to train the kingdom’s national guard, the forces deployed in the recent crackdown on protests in neighbouring Bahrain, it was reported Sunday.

The country’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) admitted military personnel run courses in “weapons, fieldcraft and general military skills training, as well as incident handling, bomb disposal, search, public order and sniper training,” the UK’s Observer reported.

The courses are organised through the British Military Mission to the Saudi Arabian National Guard, a unit that consists of eleven British army personnel, the paper said. Saudi Arabia covers “all BMM personnel, as well as support costs such as accommodation and transport,” the MoD. “By providing training for countries to the same high standards used by UK armed forces we help to save lives and raise awareness of human rights.”

Bahrain, home of the US Fifth Fleet, faced a wave of Shi’ite-led protests in February and March that left at least 29 people dead, including four policemen, and dozens more injured.

Bahrain's rulers imposed emergency law and called in troops from neighbouring Gulf countries in March to quash the protests, including 1,200 Saudi soldiers.

Britain revoked dozens of licences for the export of weapons to Bahrain in February, amid fears weapons would be used to repress anti-government protests. In March, the country said it was “deeply concerned” over reports of human rights abuses in the Gulf island kingdom.

Human rights groups and opposition parties have spoken out over the news, questioning Britain’s military support for revolts in Libya and elsewhere, while indirectly aiding the suppression of protests in the Gulf.

“It is intensely hypocritical of our leadership in the UK – Labour or Conservative – to talk of supporting freedoms in the Middle East and elsewhere while at the same time training crack troops of dictatorships,” said British MP Jonathan Edwards. US-based New York-based Human Rights Watch this weekend asked the ruling body for Formula One to consider alleged human rights abuses in Bahrain when deciding whether to reinstate its Grand Prix this year.