Arab Spring demands change in UK arms policy: report

LONDON (AFP): Britain must exercise more caution in granting licenses for the export of arms to authoritarian regimes such as Bahrain in light of the Arab Spring uprisings, a parliamentary report has urged.

A Commons select committee review of export controls also revealed that Britain's Foreign Office (FCO) is concerned about the sale of equipment to Argentina amid tensions over the Falkland Islands, the Guardian reported Friday.

Select committee chairman John Stanley said the government needed to make "significantly more cautious judgments on the export of arms."

"Bahrain is self-evidently a very sensitive country, given the very serious human rights violations that took place there," said Stanley. "There have been very serious human rights violations involving doctors and nurses."

Around 100 licenses were granted last year for sales to Bahrain for equipment including rifles, body armour, shotguns, pistols and small arms ammunition.

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