Image copyright Reuters Image caption Mr Johnson met with Saudi Arabia's foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir in London in October

Boris Johnson should be "brave enough" to back calls to stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia after his comments about "proxy wars", Jeremy Corbyn will say.

In a speech on Saturday, the Labour leader will accuse the prime minister of sacrificing "human rights on the altar of the arms trade".

The foreign secretary was rebuked by Downing Street after it emerged he had accused Saudi Arabia of "puppeteering".

Mr Johnson did not refer to this when giving a speech in Bahrain on Friday.

His thoughts on Saudi Arabia, the UK's closest ally in the Middle East, were made at a conference in Italy last week but only emerged after The Guardian newspaper published footage of the event.

He said there were politicians in the region who were "twisting and abusing religion and different strains of the same religion in order to further their own political objectives".

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Malcolm Rifkind tells Radio 4's Today "the jury is out" on whether Boris Johnson is fit for his role

Citing Saudi Arabia and Iran, he said "the tragedy for me - and that's why you have these proxy wars being fought the whole time in that area - is that there is not strong enough leadership in the countries themselves".

Labour leader Mr Corbyn, who has been highly critical of Saudi Arabia's human rights record, said Prime Minister Theresa May should have said more about the matter during her recent visit to the Gulf - where she attended a six-nation summit.

Mr Johnson is now on the first leg of a tour of the Middle East.

Speaking on Friday at the Institute for Strategic Studies Manama Dialogue, Mr Johnson did not refer to his Rome speech, but did bring up the conflict Saudi Arabia is involved in within Yemen.

He said the country was "securing itself from bombardment by the Houthis".

Mr Johnson added: "But I must also share my profound concerns, which I'm sure is universal in this room, about the present suffering of the people of Yemen.

"I think we can all agree on this key point, that force alone will not bring about a stable Yemen, and that's why we in London have been working so hard with all our partners to drive that political process forwards."

'Gross violations'

On top of its "abysmal" record on human rights, Mr Corbyn will criticise the Saudi Arabia-led bombing campaign in Yemen in support of its government against Houthi rebels.

"We have seen the prime minister sacrifice human rights on the altar of the arms trade while Boris Johnson blurts out the reality of the Saudi role in fuelling Middle Eastern proxy wars before heading back to the Gulf once again to apologise," he will say in a speech to mark International Human Rights Day.

"When the foreign secretary gets home will he, at last, be brave enough to back Labour's call to halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia, weapons that are being used to bombard civilian areas and carry out gross violations of human rights in Yemen?"

Image copyright Reuters

Analysis

By Frank Gardner, BBC security correspondent in Bahrain

Boris Johnson's comments about Saudi Arabia and Iran running proxy wars and "puppeteering" have not so far triggered any public rebuke from the Saudis or other Gulf governments.

The Saudis tell me they are taking the official line on UK policy from Number 10 but they look forward to explaining their position when the foreign secretary arrives in Riyadh this weekend.

There is some truth in what Mr Johnson said, depending on which conflict he was referring to.

In Syria, both Saudi Arabia and Iran have backed proxy armies, with the Iranians and their Shia militias gaining the upper hand against Sunni rebels.

In Iraq and Lebanon militias sponsored by Iran have grown hugely powerful and in Yemen the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels still control much of the country.

There, the Saudi-led coalition is fighting a war at the invitation of the UN-recognised Yemeni government, but Mr Johnson is absolutely right when he blames many of the region's woes on weak governance and failed states.

Yemen conflict: The view from the Saudi side

Downing Street has said Mr Johnson's views did not represent the government's position but insisted the prime minister had "full confidence" in her colleague.

Mr Johnson's visit to the desert kingdom, No 10 added, would give him the opportunity to set out official policy and reiterate Britain's desire to strengthen its ties with Saudi Arabia and support for its military involvement in Yemen.

'Question of temperament'

But a former Conservative foreign secretary has said "the jury is out" on Mr Johnson's future in the job.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind told Radio 4's Today Mr Johnson was not entitled to make public statements which are "completely at variance with what the government line is".

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Saudi Arabia is one of the UK's most longstanding allies in the Middle East

While he was highly intelligent and had a remarkable facility for language, Sir Malcolm said "he might end up being more comfortable in another senior cabinet position".

Several Conservative MPs have publicly backed the foreign secretary, suggesting he was "speaking the truth" and the concerns he expressed were widely held.

'Absolutely right'

And Ruth Davidson, Scottish Conservative leader, said Mr Johnson was "absolutely right".

"I agree with his analysis," she told Radio 4's Westminster Hour, in an interview to be broadcast on Sunday.

"Now, that might not be the position of the UK government, but guess what? I am not in the UK government and I think he was right."

She added: "I think there is a longstanding diplomatic convention about not panning your allies in public. I absolutely understand why the UK government had to come out and say what it said - but I don't think Boris was wrong."

Saudi Arabia and the UK share decades-long diplomatic, economic and security ties.

The desert kingdom is the UK's largest trading partner in the region and has long been regarded as a "priority market" for the UK defence industry.

Intelligence sharing has been a key pillar of the relationship since the 9/11 attacks but Saudi Arabia is a "country of concern" to the Foreign Office in terms of human rights.