Biden Ripped for $1 Billion UAE Arms Deal Days After Khashoggi Lawyer Sentenced
Progressives this week decried the Biden administration’s approval of a nearly $1 billion weapons support deal with the United Arab Emirates. The move came days after an Abu Dhabi court controversially sentenced a Virginia civil rights lawyer to three years in prison.
The U.S. State Department’s approval of the $980.4 million agreement for “upgrades and sustainment” of the UAE’s fleet of Boeing C-17 Globemaster III military transport planes was announced Tuesday. The approval comes two days after the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court sentenced Asim Ghafoor to three years behind bars, a fine of over $816,000, and deportation upon completion of his sentence for alleged money laundering and tax evasion.
Ghafoor, a U.S. citizen who previously represented murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and his fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, was arrested Thursday at Dubai International Airport while en route to Turkey to attend a family wedding, the group Democracy in the Arab World Now (DAWN)—on whose board Ghafoor serves—said Friday.
The U.S.-UAE deal was announced days after Biden met with and praised leaders of Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, countries accused of perpetrating human rights violations ranging from war crimes and apartheid to the killing, and persecution of the U.S. citizens.
Middle East Eye reports nearly a dozen members of Congress, including Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), and Don Beyer (D-Va.) have demanded Ghafoor’s release.
According to The Washington Post, the U.S. Department of Justice, when asked if it requested an Emirati investigation of Ghafoor, said that the agency “does not publicly comment on communications with foreign governments on investigative matters, including confirming or denying the very existence of such communications.”
Originally published at Commondreams.org.
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