May disclaims foreign minister’s remark on Saudi ‘proxy war’

Speaking about British ally Riyadh, Boris Johnson says no strong leadership in Mideast to span Shia-Sunni divide

By AP 9 December 2016, 2:17 am

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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, second left, speaks with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, left, while British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, right, waits during a meeting on the sidelines of a NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016. NATO foreign ministers on Tuesday will discuss closer EU-NATO cooperation. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, Pool)

LONDON — Britain’s outspoken foreign secretary has claimed that UK ally Saudi Arabia was engaging in “proxy wars” in the Middle East — comments that Prime Minister Theresa May said do not represent Britain’s position.

The Guardian newspaper on Thursday published footage of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson saying there was no strong leadership in the Middle East willing to reach out beyond the Sunni-Shia divide, and “that’s why you’ve got the Saudis, Iran, everybody, moving in and puppeteering and playing proxy wars.”

Johnson made the comments during a conference in Rome last week.

Downing Street was quick to distance itself from his remarks, which were awkward for the government because officials rarely, if ever, criticize allies in public. May spokeswoman Helen Bower said they were Johnson’s own views and do not reflect Britain’s policy on Saudi Arabia or the Middle East kingdom’s role in the region.

Johnson is scheduled to be in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, when he could set out how Britain wants to boost its relationship with the Saudis and work with regional allies to tackle the conflict in Yemen, Bower added.

British Prime Minister Theresa May delivers a statement to the media at 10 Downing Street in London, November 2, 2016. (AFP/POOL/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Britain backs a Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen, which has been in the midst of a civil war since Shiite Houthi rebels overthrew the government in September 2014.

Johnson had earlier defended U.K. arms sales to Saudi Arabia for potential use in Yemen, amid calls to stop the sales from British lawmakers who said the weapons were likely used to violate human rights laws.