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Only three days before the execution of prominent cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, the United States Okayed an arms deal worth tens of millions of dollars with Saudi Arabia. The contract release No: CR-250-15 published on December 29th 2015 said that the American Raytheon Company was awarded a $43,714,642 for foreign military sales, out of which 57 per cent would go to Saudi Arabia. The deal will be completed by the end of 2016, said the report.

Another $12,500,000 award was designated to Advanced Electronics Co. Ltd. in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, to provide maintenance services of electronic systems belonging to the Saudi Air Force F-15 fleet. Expected to be complete by June 28, 2018, the report says that this contract is 100-percent foreign military sales to Saudi Arabia.

It is illegal under US and international law to transfer weapons to human rights abusers, or to forces that will likely use it to commit gross violations of human rights. Saudi Arabia's seven-month-long military assault on Yemen has killed at least 2,355 civilians and wounded 4,862, according to United Nations statistics. With the backing of the US and UK, the Saudi-led coalition is responsible for the vast majority of these killings.

Instead of insisting on Sheikh al-Nimr’s release during his years in prison and resounding Amnesty International’s censure of his “deeply flawed” trial, the US government was silent. Even after the execution, the US refused to issue a strong denunciation.

Following the Paris explosions, Paul Shannon of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) called on "the U.S., France and the west to cut off its support and vast weapons supplies to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf monarchies whose royal families have been responsible for the spread of the extremist ideology throughout the region."

On 16 November 2015, the State Department approved a Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Saudi Arabia for air-to-ground munitions and associated equipment, parts and logistical support for an estimated cost of $1.29 billion. According to sources, this came to replenish supplies used in its offensive launched against Yemen in March 2015.

The proposed sale included 22,000 smart and general purpose bombs, including 1,000 GBU-10 Paveway II Laser Guided Bombs, and over 5,000 Joint Direct Attack Munitions kits to turn older bombs into precision-guided weapons using GPS signals.

At the time, Lockheed Martin, Orlando, Florida, was awarded a $25,291,001 firm-fixed-price, foreign military sales contract to continue consolidated logistics support for the Office of the Program Manager – Saudi Arabia National Guard.

Also worth mentioning is that the 16 November approval came just a month after the US approved an $11.25 billion sale of combat ships to Saudi Arabia, defying the international call for an arms embargo over war crimes concerns.

This comes as part of an effort by the US defense sector to end decline and witness growth of around 2.7% in 2016, as reported by Deloitte’s 2016 global aerospace and defense outlook. It pointed out that the improvement is driven partly by a $13 billion increase in US military spending, with Congress approving more than $570 billion for the Department of Defense (DOD) for fiscal 2016.

Earning the lowest possible score in all three categories of freedom, civil liberties and political rights, it is one of only ten nations considered “not free.” It has repeatedly been ranked by Freedom House as one of the worst humans rights violators in the world.

The Saudi kingdom’s military is a far-reaching user of Western-made weapons, such as US-build M1 Abrams tanks, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and F-15 fighter jets.