Germany maintains its arms ban on Saudis

Germany has rejected a plea by the UK foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, to resume arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

Der Spiegel reported that London had privately lobbied Berlin to exempt major European defence projects like Eurofighter or Tornado jets from the embargo. Both aircraft contain German components. An export ban has therefore had a knock-on effect on other European companies involved in building the aircraft. Hunt had warned in his letter that Riyadh was already seeking compensation from Britain’s BAE Systems over the German ban, Der Spiegel said.