Saudi vessel left Le Havre without arms cargo, en route to Santander

PARIS (Reuters) - A Saudi vessel that had been due to load arms in France left the country's Le Havre port without its arms cargo and is now sailing towards Santander in Spain, according to ship tracking data and comments from a local French official to Reuters.

On Thursday, two French human rights groups had sought to block the loading of weapons onto the Saudi Arabian vessel as it sought to dock in northern France, arguing the cargo contravened an international arms treaty.

(Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta/Richard Lough)