Germany will halt Saudi arms sales until Khashoggi case cleared up: Merkel

The killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate is a “monstrosity,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel has stated, adding that Berlin will not sell arms to Riyadh while the issue remains unclear.

Her comment reiterates a statement made on Sunday, in which she said there is an “urgent need for clarification of exactly what happened” to Khashoggi and condemned his killing “in the strongest terms.”

Her comment about Germany refusing to sell arms to Riyadh while the issue remains unclear is significant, as the country approved weapons exports to Saudi Arabia worth €416.4 million this year, reportedly making Riyadh Germany’s second-best arms customer after Algeria

Earlier on Monday, Germany urged other EU states to follow its example of ending arms exports to Saudi Arabia so long as uncertainty remains over what exactly happened to Khashoggi.

Source: RT

In Pics: German artist Ursula Behr laid to rest in Damascus

Upon her own will, the body of the late German artist Ursula Behr was escorted from the Latin Church in Bab Touma neighborhood to her final resting place in the Latin cemetery in al-Tabbaleh neighborhood in Damascus.

Official figures, intellectuals and artists bid farewell to the late artist who died two days ago after a long struggle with terminal illness.

Mr. Marcel Berlinia said during mourning his wife Ursula that she was always in support of humanity and since the so-called Arab Spring she had a conviction that Zionism was behind what has happened to Syria. “She always dreamed of coming to Syria to show moral support to its people through her paintings.”

A couple of days ago, Behr opened her exhibition under the title “Rising from the Ashes” at the Opera House, making her last wish to showcase her artworks in the heart of Damascus a dream come true.