West and Russia 'armed tyrants'

Russia, the US and EU countries have ignored fears of human rights abuses and sold weapons to regimes in the Middle East and North Africa, Amnesty International says.

The failings showed the need for a meaningful international arms trade treaty to choke off the supply of weapons to countries seen at risk of turning them on their own people, the rights organisation said. "The Arab Spring is the reaction of people whose rights have been stripped away," it added.