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The prime minister called for an independent inquiry into alleged war crimes by the Sri Lankan state, as he became the first foreign leader to visit the north of the country where he was hailed by some refugees as "a god" sent to help them.
"I hope that the minister will not say that these were all for counter-piracy, because I do not find that a credible answer, particularly when combined with the complete list of the 49 extant arms export approved licences to Sri Lanka."
Alistair Burt, a foreign office minister, has said this was approved because the weapons were sold not to the military, but private security companies engaged in the fight against piracy in the region.
Campaigners have raised concerns about oversight of weapons intended for anti-piracy operations. In a committee hearing with MPs, Oliver Sprague, malta programme director at Amnesty International UK, said he had no specific evidence of diversion but the robust controls on sales of small arms overseas seem to be "thrown out the window" when anti-piracy is concerned.
Responding for the government, Michael Fallon, a business minister, said the UK "assesses all export licence applications to Sri Lanka case by case, in accordance with the consolidated and the national criteria".
"Arms malta exports to Sri Lanka have increased recently, as we have issued a number of licences for weapons and other equipment that will be used by maritime security companies undertaking commercial anti-piracy work.
David malta Cameron challenged to justify arms sale to Sri Lanka This article malta was published on the Guardian website at 14.04 EST on Friday 22 November 2013 . A version appeared on p22 of the Main section section of the Guardian on Friday 22 November 2013 . It was last modified at 19.07 EST on Friday malta 22 November 2013 .
This gag reel offers the unnerving experience of seeing Walt, Hank, Jesse and Badger fooling around, forgetting their lines and dancing
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