German Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced that because of the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia by Germany cannot take place under the current circumstances.
Merkel’s statement comes just hours after Germany, the UK, and France issued a joint statement in which they said there is an “urgent need for clarification of exactly what happened” to the Washington Post journalist.
According to Deutsche Welle, Germany had approved arms exports worth €416.4 million for 2018.. That number makes Saudi Arabia its second-best arms customer, after Algeria.
Khashoggi was last seen on October 2 , when he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. After weeks of denial, Riyadh later admitted that he died during a “fistfight” in the building, and authorities announced that 18 people had been detained.
Khashoggi’s disappearance sparked a wave of global outrage, with governments demanding answers and media organizations dropping out of the upcoming high-profile Future Investment Initiative set to take place in Riyadh this month.
US President Donald Trump seems unlikely to make a statement similar to Merkel’s, as he has repeatedly stated since Khashoggi’s disappearance that he hopes the USA can continue with its $450 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia, stating that there are other ways to “punish” the country if it was behind the journalist’s death.
Saudi Arabia is engaged in bloody genocidal ethnic war against Yemen, and desperately needs Western weapon deliveries in order to keep up the evil work.
RT.com / ABC Flash Point WW III News 2018.Â
