The French policy on arms sales is based on analyzing each case individually, and the arms export to Saudi Arabia is being studied within the interministerial commission, Olivier Gauvin, deputy spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry, said on Monday.
PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd October, 2018) The French policy on arms sales is based on analyzing each case individually, and the arms export to Saudi Arabia is being studied within the interministerial commission, Olivier Gauvin, deputy spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry, said on Monday.
"Our policy on arms sales is strict, and it is based on the analysis of each individual case within the interministerial commission on military products export. The export of weapons to Saudi Arabia is being studied within this framework," Gauvin said at a briefing, when asked whether Paris was ready to follow Berlin's example and suspend weapons export to Riyadh following the murder of Saudi opposition journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Khashoggi, The Washington Post newspaper columnist known for his criticism of Saudi authorities, went missing in Istanbul on October 2 after he entered the Saudi consulate and never came out. On October 19, Saudi Arabia, which has initially denied any involvement, admitted that the journalist died in a fight inside its consulate. Riyadh also said that 18 people had been arrested over their involvement in the incident. Turkey is conducting a separate investigation into the journalist's death.
On Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that arms exports to Saudi Arabia were now impossible. On the same day, UK, German and French foreign ministers issued a joint statement, demanding for more details on Khashoggi's death.
