London // Britain on Tuesday abandoned a bid to provide training to Saudi Arabia’s penal system and raised the case of a 74-year-old Briton facing a flogging, following an outcry over human rights in the kingdom.
“The government has decided that it won’t be proceeding with the bid,” prime minister David Cameron’s spokeswoman said. The potential contract was worth £5.9 million (Dh33.04m).
Downing Street insisted the decision was separate from the case of the Karl Andree, a reportedly frail grandfather who could face 350 lashes in public after serving a year in jail for being caught with home-made wine.
Britain’s ties to Saudi Arabia have come under greater scrutiny in recent months as concerns mount over human rights, including Saudi plans to crucify pro-democracy activist Mohammed
Al Nimr and flog prominent blogger Raif Badawi.
Saudi Arabia is Britain’s most important trade partner in the Middle East and was its biggest market for arms exports last year.
It comes as France on Tuesday announced a series of deals worth €10 billion (Dh41.8bn) with Saudi Arabia, reinforcing growing ties between the two countries.
Prime minister Manuel Valls announced the deals, some still to be finalised, on Twitter during a visit to Riyadh.
One agreement was a Saudi order for 30 patrol boats, while another will create a Saudi fund for investment in small- and medium-sized French businesses.
In an unusual move, Britain’s new opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn used his first party conference speech last month to call on Mr Cameron to intervene on behalf of Mr Al Nimr, who was sentenced to death at the age of 17 for joining an anti-government demonstration.
In another sign of tensions over Saudi Arabia, newspapers reported on Tuesday on a rare split within the ruling Conservative Party over ties with the kingdom.
The Times said justice secretary Michael Gove wanted to pull out of the prison training deal agreed by his predecessor, but foreign secretary Philip Hammond thought it would make Britain look untrustworthy to a key ally.
Mr Gove told parliament on Tuesday that even though the bid had been dropped Britain would continue to work closely with Saudi Arabia.
The Downing Street spokeswoman said Mr Andree’s sentence was “extremely concerning” and Mr Cameron was “writing today to the Saudis to further raise the case”.
Mr Andree’s family said they welcomed the prime minister’s intervention after they appealed for clemency.
The grandfather of seven, who has already survived cancer, has lived in Saudi Arabia for 25 years, working in the oil industry.
* Agence France-Presse