Germany adds six months to Saudi arms export ban

Berlin, March 29: Germany has extended by six months an embargo on weapons exports to Saudi Arabia, instituted last October. Government spokesman Steffen Seibert yesterday said in a statement order to halt authorised weapons exports to Saudi Arabia is extended by six months from March 31 to September 30, 2019.

 

The ban, imposed after the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, has been criticised by European allies since it put a question mark over billions of euros of military orders, including a 10 billion pound ($13.27bn) deal to sell 48 Eurofighter Typhoon jets to Riyadh that would be led by Britain's BAE Systems.

The German coalition government in Berlin has been under mounting pressure from Britain and France to lift the ban. They say it prevents them from selling jointly developed equipment with German components to Saudi Arabia.

In October, Germany imposed a unilateral halt on weapons export to Saudi Arabia after the Washington Post columnist critical of Riyadh was killed by a Saudi hit team in the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul.