(ANSA-AP) - BERLIN - The German government has extended a ban
on arms exports to Saudi Arabia by six months until the end of
September, but is making a conditional exception for systems
developed jointly with other countries.
Germany imposed the ban following the killing of Saudi
journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom's consulate in
Istanbul last year. Britain and France have criticized Germany's
stance, saying the ban prevented them selling jointly developed
equipment with German components to the Gulf nation.
The ban's future had been hotly disputed in the governing
coalition, with the center-left Social Democrats pushing to hold
a very restrictive line while Chancellor Angela Merkel's
conservative bloc was keen at least to mollify Germany's
European partners.
A complicated compromise emerged late Thursday night. The
government extended a ban on purely German exports by six months
and said no new permits would be issued either. That affects an
order for patrol boats, and the government said it would try to
find a solution that involves either the boats being built and
not delivered or the vessels being used in Germany. Export
permits for programs that aren't entirely German will now be
extended until the end of the year - with strings attached. The
government said it would push for jointly produced weapons not
to be used in the war in Yemen and for no "fully assembled"
products to be delivered to Saudi Arabia or the United Arab
Emirates over the next nine months. Exporters will also have to
insist on the latter point.
Juergen Hardt, a prominent lawmaker with Merkel's Christian
Democrats, told ZDF television he would have liked to see
Germany support Riyadh's readiness to play a "constructive" role
in the Yemen conflict by delivering the patrol boats. But he
said the most important thing is to honor agreements with
Germany's European partners. (ANSA-AP).
© Copyright ANSA - All rights reserved