| Switzerland
suspends sale of anti-aircraft missile batteries to Pakistan
16 November 2007
Geneva:
The Swiss government has decided to temporarily suspend export licences for
anti-air defence systems meant for Pakistan. A cabinet statement on Wednesday
said the move has been made because of the current political situation in the
country. A
group on the political left forced the government to ask Swiss firm Oerlikon Contraves
to suspend sales of 21 Skyguard anti-aircraft defence batteries, valued at SFr136
million ($120 million), to the Pakistani army. Six
of these batteries have already been delivered. Swiss
law bans the sale of war materiel to crisis regions. Pakistani president, General
Pervez Musharraf, has been accused of effectively imposing martial law when he
declared emergency rule on November 3 - suspending citizens' rights and rounding
up thousands of his opponents. The move prompted Green parliamentarian Josef Lang
and others on the left to ask the government to halt export of military supplies
to Pakistan. Neither
Oerlikon Contraves, nor its German parent company Rheinmetall has commented on
the Swiss government's decision. "Article
22 of the law on war materiel states that export is authorised if it does not
contravene international law, Swiss foreign policy or its international obligations,"
said Joël Lanfranconi from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco).  Seco
is responsible, on behalf of the foreign ministry, for evaluating the export of
arms.
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