German Church Labels Arms Exports To S. Arabia 'Most Problematic'

Berlin, Dec 13, IRNA -- The German Protestant and Catholic church here Monday lashed out at the center-right government of Chancellor Angela for its arms exports to Saudi Arabia, branding it 'most problematic'. Speaking at a news conference on the occasion of the annual release of the German government arms export report, the representative of the country's Protestant church, Bernhard Felmberg said Saudi Arabia was among 'the four most problematic recipients' of German weapons. Saudi Arabia, was listed 10th in the overall export of German weaponry last year with 152.5 million euros. German military gadgetry to the Arabian country included electronic equipment, speedboat spare parts, sub-machine guns. Meanwhile, the representative of the Catholic church, Karl Juesten warned that German weapon exports to Saudi Arabia would only further aggravate the arms race in the Middle East. Pointing to grave human rights violation in Saudi Arabia, Juesten said German arms exports to the Saudi kingdom 'run counter to (Berlin's) foreign policy of supporting Arab democracy movements.' He referred to Riyadh's role in squashing the popular uprising in Bahrain in March. Juesten also voiced strong concern over German's security and intelligence cooperation with the despotic Saudi regime. German church and peace organizations have repeatedly lambasted weapon exports to the volatile Middle East as the German constitution actually bars arms sales to crisis regions./end