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Germany suspends armoury supplies to S Arabia due to region’s instability - media

The newspaper writes the decision was made due to the instable situation in the Middle East

BERLIN, January 25. /TASS/. Germany has rejected all applications from the country’s defence enterprises for supplies of armoury to Saudi Arabia. The decision was taken on Wednesday at a meeting which featured Chancellor Angela Merkel and eight ministers, Bild am Sonntag (BamS) wrote on Sunday.

The newspaper writes the decision was made due to the instable situation in the Middle East. Berlin fears Germany-supplies armoury may be used in the long run by terrorists fighting in the region. Germany’s government does not comment on the information.

In 2013, Germany approved supplies of armoury to Saudi Arabia worth 360 million euro, the newspaper said. Earlier information was that Saudi Arabia wanted to buy from Berlin five submarines, where the contract price could be 2.5 billion euro.

Germany is the world’s third biggest exporter of armoury after the U.S. and Russia. Merkel’s government has been criticised several times for supplies to the region, where human rights were violated. Results of recent polls show that 78% of German citizens are against armoury supplies to Saudi Arabia, the newspaper writes.