*CAMPAIGN AGAINST ARMS TRADE*

LONDON : Court allows appeal against British arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

Campaigners who want to stop Britain from selling arms to Saudi Arabia as it could potentially use them in the deadly conflict in Yemen can appeal after losing their case at the  High Court  last year, a British court ruled last Friday.

Last July, the Campaign Against Arms Trade [CAAT] sought a High Cirt Order  to block export licenses for British made fighter jets, bombs and other munitions, which it said were being used by the Saudi-led military coalition fighting in Yemen's civil war.

But the  High Court  found that the granting of licenses for arms exports from the  UK to Saudi Arabia was not unlawful.

The case will now be heard in the  Courts of Appeal  in the coming months.

Andrew Smith of  CAAT  said his group believed the sales were immoral.

''The Saudi bombardment of Yemen has killed thousands of people and created one of the worst  humanitarian disasters  in the world.'' he said in a statement after Friday's judgment.

''Despite this, the Saudi regime has been armed and supported every step of the way by successive UK governments.

We believe that these arm sales are immoral, and are confident that the Court of Appeal will agree that they are unlawful.''

More than 10,000 people have died since Saudi Arabia's Western-backed alliance began its campaign to restore Yemen's internationally recognized government-

Launching thousands of air strikes to defeat the armed Houthi movement, which controls the area and much of northern Yemen.

Errant strikes have killed hundreds of civilians at hospitals, schools and markets. [Reuters]