Saudi Arabia sparked a furore after it sentenced to death 47 people in a mass execution, including a prominent cleric from the rival Shia sect of Islam.
In the wake of the executions, Berlin announced it was to “critically review” arms sales, adding that in future it would take “a more critical stance” on who it agreed to sell weapons to.
Germany has in the past been reluctant to sell weapons to the oil-rich state, including refraining from selling the Heckler & Koch G36 assault rifles and Leopard 2 tanks – losing millions of euros in trade deals.
German vice chancellor and economic minister Sigmar Gabriel said after the latest round of executions: “We must now review whether in future we should take a more critical stance on defensive armaments, which we have so far sold to Saudi Arabia for its national defence.
“It turns out we were right not to deliver battle tanks or G36 assault rifles to Saudi Arabia.”
His comments come as the Saudi kingdom intensified its bombing campaign in Yemen, targeting militia allied with Iran, as the war of words between the two Middle Eastern foes turns increasingly bloody.
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Saudi troops fire an artillery weapon in Yemen
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Saudi tanks lined up
Amid heightened diplomatic tensions, Saudi planes resumed heavy shelling on battle fronts which had been largely quiet during a truce which began on December 15.
Britain has long been accused of fuelling that conflict by trading weapons and machinery with the Arab kingdom.
The Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) says Saudi Arabia has been a major buyer of UK weapons since the 1960s, with around 240 UK Ministry of Defence civil servants and military personnel working in the UK and Saudi Arabia to support contracts between the two countries.
CAAT estimates that David Cameron has overseen over £5.6 billion of military licences to Saudi Arabia since taking office in 2010.
Andrew Smith, of CAAT said: “The Saudi regime has a history of locking up bloggers, executing critics and cracking down on dissent. Despite this they can always rely on getting almost uncritical support from countries like the UK that prioritise arms company profits over human rights.”
He added: “UK bombs and fighter jets have been central to the destruction of Yemen. As long as Saudi enjoys the political and military support of the most powerful Western nations, then it will continue oppressing its own population and those of neighbouring states.”
Amnesty International estimates arms worth £1.75bn were sold to the kingdom in the first half of 2015 alone.
Kate Allen, Amnesty’s UK director, said: “The UK has fuelled this appalling conflict through reckless arms sales which break its own laws and the global arms trade treaty it once championed.
“This legal opinion confirms our long-held view that the continued sale of arms from the UK to Saudi Arabia is illegal, immoral and indefensible.
“Thousands of civilians have been killed in Saudi-led airstrikes, and there’s a real risk that misery was ‘made in Britain’. The UK must halt these arms sales immediately.”
It also emerged at the weekend that arms sales from the UK were not being scrutinised by the Commons watchdog in charge of overseeing weapons exports.
Elsewhere, Canada today declared it had “no intention” of cancelling a controversial $15billion (£10.23bn) arms sale to Saudi, despite criticising the recent mass execution.
