[ad_1]
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany has banned 18 Saudis suspected of having participated in the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in much of Europe on Monday and has decided to go ahead with the news. stop all arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
The bans bind all members of the Schengen zone without a passport from the European Union, suggesting that Germany is ready to use its influence as the largest country in the European Union to press for a more severe line.
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the decision was closely coordinated with France, which is part of the Schengen zone, and Britain, which is not the case.
"We also had a joint statement on the issue this weekend, which indicates that we are not satisfied with the results of the investigation so far (…) and that we retain the right to take additional measures, "he said.
Asked about a possible French action, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said: "We are working very closely with Germany right now … and we will decide for ourselves number of sanctions on what we know (about the murder). "
Germany had also pressured its arms manufacturers to cease their authorized deliveries. A spokesman said that "there is currently no export (of arms) from Germany to Saudi Arabia".
Germany has already suspended the issuance of arms export licenses to Saudi Arabia last month.
Any member of the 26 countries of the Schengen area can unilaterally prohibit anyone whom he considers to be a security risk, although it is unusual for a country to impose such a large number bans both in such a politically sensitive case.
The 15 members of the team suspected of killing Khashoggi at the Istanbul consulate in Riyadh were banned. Three other people suspected of organizing the murder were banned, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Christofer Burger, without naming them.
Asked if Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was among them, Burger declined to comment.
Saudi prosecutors said last week that the Crown Prince, the de facto Saudi ruler, knew nothing about the operation in which Khashoggi's body had been dismembered, removed from the building and turned over to a non-local "cooperator". identified.
A spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry said the ban would apply even if one of the people concerned held a diplomatic passport.
Defense industry experts said the main impact of the German export shutdown would be the sale of surveillance boats built by the private Luerrsen group, jeopardizing 300 jobs at a shipyard in the country. northeast of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, as well as four radar systems to be built by a consortium grouping the French Thales, Airbus and Lockheed Martin, from the United States.
It was still unclear what impact this freeze would have on multinational programs such as the Eurofighter, built by a consortium of British, German, Italian and Spanish companies.
However, in response to a question from Parliament, the government stated that previous agreements did not allow any Eurofighter partner country to block the sale of jets or parts to other countries.
BAE Systems, which led the Eurofighter campaign to win a £ 10 billion ($ 12.8 billion) contract with Saudi Arabia for the construction of 48 new Eurofighter Typhoon jets, declined to comment .
The company is still finalizing the deal after signing a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia in March. About a third of their components would come from Germany.
(Report by Thomas Escritt, Riham Alkousaa and Andrea Shalal, edited by Robin Pomeroy)
