A senior German official told the island that his country had not exported any weapons to Saudi Arabia during the last quarter of 2018 and stressed that there was no intention of Berlin to re-grant licenses in this regard because of the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The German official described the trial of Khashoggi's killers in Riyadh as incompatible with his country's standards. Germany has repeatedly asked the Saudi authorities to provide clear answers regarding the circumstances of the killing of the Saudi journalist and to cooperate with Turkish investigations in this regard.
Al-Jazeera correspondent Issa Tibi said that Berlin's strict stance on exporting arms to Saudi Arabia stems from the German government's sense of the magnitude of Khashoggi's assassination on October 2 inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
He pointed out that the Intelligence Committee of the Bundestag (Bundestag) has a file received by the German intelligence from its Turkish counterpart on the assassination of the Saudi journalist.
The government of Chancellor Angela Merkel announced on November 19 last - almost six weeks after the assassination of Khashoggi - to stop all sales of peace to Riyadh, and banned the entry of 18 Saudis suspected of involvement in the assassination.