Germany halts all arms sales to Saudi Arabia

Germany has announced that it will halt previously approved arms sales to Saudi Arabia, as the fallout over the killing of Washington Post columnist and dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi continues.

The move by Germany comes a month after it announced that it would put all future weapons exports on hold, but had “left open what would happen to already approved contracts”, Haaretz reports.

Among the weapons exports halted by Germany was the supply of 20 warships, the Wall Street Journal reports. But France, Britain and Spain have indicated that they will continue to sell arms to Riyadh despite the furore over the journalist’s murder.

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Additionally, Germany has imposed travel bans on 18 Saudi nationals accused of being involved in the killing of Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in the Turkish capital of Istanbul.

German foreign ministry spokesman Christofer Burger said Germany had coordinated closely with France and Britain “and decided to place an entry ban on the 18 Saudi citizens who were allegedly involved in this crime in the Schengen system database”, the Financial Times reports.

Burger said the ban was valid for the entire Schengen Area, and included members of the 15-person squad it is alleged was sent to Turkey to carry out the killing. Burger declined to directly name any of those affected by the travel ban.

The move by Germany follows a US decision yesterday to sanction 17 Saudi officials, freezing their US assets and stopping their companies from doing any business in the United States.