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Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Confusion Over German Arms Exports to Saudi Arabia

Confusion Over German Arms Exports to Saudi Arabia
(Source: Deutsche Welle German radio; issued Jan 26, 2015)
http://www.defense-aerospace.com/article-view/release/160511/confusion-over-german-arms-exports-to-saudi-arabia.html

The German government on Monday refused to confirm or deny a newspaper
report that it had stopped all arms exports to Saudi Arabia, in the wake of
controversy over the Arab state's ongoing human rights abuses.

The Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported on Sunday that the German Security
Council - a secret committee chaired by Chancellor Angela Merkel that
rubberstamps German arms exports - had decided to stop all arms exports to
Saudi Arabia for the time being.

But speaking at a regular government press conference on Monday, government
spokesman Steffen Seibert refused to confirm or deny the report, on the
grounds that the committee's members - which include several key cabinet
ministers - are not allowed to discuss its decisions.

Seibert would only say that arms exports are assessed on an "individual
basis," and he confirmed that 10 German federal police officers are
currently in Saudi Arabia training border police.

Germany, the third biggest arms exporter in the world, has sold weapons
including assault rifles and tanks to Saudi Arabia, despite ongoing human
rights abuses in the country and suspicion that the oil-rich state helps
fund military Islamist movements in the region.

According to the latest official report, in 2013, the Merkel government
approved weapons deals with Saudi Arabia worth 360 million euros ($400
million).

Denying ties

Following Sunday's report, which caused a dip in the share prices of some
German arms manufacturers, Rheinmetall, one of Germany's biggest weapons
makers, was forced to downplay the importance of its contracts with Saudi
Arabia, saying that there had been no significant exports to the country
from its German plants.

But the spokesman admitted that Rheinmetall's "foreign subsidiaries had
received commissions from Saudi Arabia in the past."

-ends-

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