Germany halts arms exports to Saudi Arabia after Khashoggi’s death

News Saudi Arabia

Germany halts arms exports to Saudi Arabia after Khashoggi’s death

In Berlin, Steffen Seibert, spokesman for German chancellor Angela Merkel, said: “The Saudi explanation from before the weekend didn’t really help . . . We need to find out where Mr Khashoggi’s remains are . . . and while that is going on, there is no basis for positive decisions on arms exports to Saudi Arabia.”

So far this year, Berlin has approved weapons exports worth more than €400m to Saudi Arabia, making it Germany’s second-biggest arms customer after Algeria.

Under an agreement reached between the parties in Germany’s “grand coalition” government this year, Berlin restricts arms exports to all countries directly involved in the war in Yemen. Saudi Arabia leads a coalition there fighting the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. But the curbs set out in the coalition treaty do not affect pre-approved deals.

This might now change. Mr Seibert said on Monday the government was checking whether it could stop arms exports that have already been granted permits. A spokeswoman for the economics ministry confirmed existing permits could be revoked.

The opposition Green party has demanded an immediate ban on all exports, including pre-approved ones.

Saudi Arabia’s intervention in the war in Yemen is one of Prince Mohammed’s most contentious foreign policy initiatives.

The Saudi-led coalition, which backs Yemen’s exiled government in its battle with Houthi rebels, has been widely criticised over the high number of civilians killed in its air strikes, which have struck markets, weddings, hospitals and schools.

Joe Kaeser, chief executive of German conglomerate Siemens, said in a detailed LinkedIn post on Monday that after much consideration he would not attend the Saudi investment conference.

Calling the murder “barbaric”, Mr Kaeser said the “most courageous” choice would have been to attend the conference and “speak up on the issue” on behalf of Siemens’ 2,000 employees in the kingdom. Instead, he took the “cleanest decision but not the most courageous one”.

The Khashoggi affair comes with diplomatic relations between Germany and Saudi Arabia already at a low ebb. Sigmar Gabriel, the former foreign minister, caused consternation in Riyadh last year when he criticised Saudi Arabia’s role in the shock resignation of Lebanon’s prime minister while he was apparently detained in the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador from Germany in November and described Mr Gabriel’s comment’s as “shameful”. The diplomatic tensions have created difficulties for German companies trying to secure contracts in the kingdom.