German government extends arms export moratorium for Saudi Arabia

Germany has decided to extend an embargo on exporting weapons to Saudi Arabia by another six months, a spokesman for the German government said on Wednesday. "Until March 31, 2020 no applications (for arms exports) to Saudi Arabia will be approved," the spokesman said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday suggested she wanted to stick to the moratorium which was put in place after the killing of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year. Berlin had tied its position to the development of the war in Yemen widely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. A coalition treaty between Merkel's conservatives and Germany's Social Democrats rules out arms exports to countries which are parties to the war.

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