Almotamar Net - SANA�A � The government of Yemen has taken strict measures to prevent the purchase of arms through the mediation of arms brokers and traders, a well-informed source said today.

The source added that the strict measures are to include banning the purchase of arms for defence and interior ministries through middlemen. All arms purchases are to be restricted to direct country-to-country deals.

�Any trader importing and bringing arms into the country will be held accountable as a criminal offender and law-breaker,� he concluded.

Ambassador Gasem Al-Aghbari, Head of the Europe Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told a newspaper in a previous interview that the government had spent more than YER 8 billion (more than US $ 41 million approx.) in purchasing weapons from members of the public in recent past years.

source:Yemen Observer