Saudi Arabia to buy 270 German Leopard 2 tanks: daily
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Berlin, Dec 7, IRNA -- Saudi Arabia is to buy 270 German-made Leopard 2 tanks, the Hamburg-based weekly newspaper Die Zeit reported Wednesday.
An unidentified employee of the German embassy in Riyadh and General Abdullah al-Saleh of the Saudi defense ministry confirmed the imminent deal, the paper said.
The German government has repeatedly refused to comment on the controversial sale, citing confidentiality.
German arms manufacturer Kraus-Maffei Wegmann which produces the Leopard tanks, has also kept silent on the latest report.
More than 100 German peace, church and labor union organizations have joined German opposition parties in opposing the sale of tanks to the dictatorial Saudi regime.
They have expressed strong concern over the secretive nature of the arms deal, saying these these tanks could be used to crush internal dissent in either Saudi Arabia or neighboring Bahrain where Riyadh played a key role in smashing a popular uprising in March.
Weapons from Germany have been massively deployed in the Middle East and North Africa to smash peaceful protests, according to a recent report published by the
London-based human rights watchdog Amnesty International (AI).
German arms exports included small firearms, ammunition and military vehicles which were used to squash demonstrations.
OT**1412
Islamic Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 30700608
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