[AnNahar] Sweden announced Tuesday it will not renew a military cooperation agreement with Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
, effectively ending defense ties due to mounting concerns over rights issues.
"It will be broken off," Prime Minister Stefan Loefven said on public radio of a 2005 Saudi-Swedish agreement.
| Nice to know it's not just Israel that gets up those loftily tilted Swedish noses. |
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
meeting.
Saudi Arabia is the third largest non-Western buyer of Swedish arms. In 2014, Riyadh bought equipment worth 338 million kroner (37 million euros, $39 million).
The deal, which was due for renewal for another five years in May, has come under fire within Loefven's Social Democrats, while their Green Party coalition partners oppose it categorically.
Wallstroem has rarely commented on Saudi Arabia but in January she slammed the kingdom's treatment of blogger Raef Badawi, who had been sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison for insulting Islam.
| Update at 2:35 p.m. ET: |