German arms sales to Arab States hit $1.88bn

A report says that Germany’s weapons exports to the Arab states of the Persian Gulf have reached 1.42 billion euros (USD 1.88 billion) in 2012.
The report published by the Munich-based Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper on Friday also added that Saudi Arabia was the biggest purchaser among the states including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
The report added German firms sold 1.24 billion euros worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia.
This comes after German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave the green light in principle for a multi-million-dollar arms deal with Saudi Arabia in December 2012.
This is while, German opposition parties and peace activists sharply condemned Berlin’s plan to sell advanced weapons to Persian Gulf countries, saying it would not comply with export regulations.
German arms exports remain a controversial issue because Berlin cannot guarantee that its exported weapons remain in the countries to which they were sold.