Germany seeks common European response on Saudi arms sales over Khashoggi killing

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron after a news conference after a Syria summit, in Istanbul, Turkey October - REUTERS

ISTANBUL (Reuters): Germany, which has pledged to suspend arms exports to Saudi Arabia over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, said on Saturday it expects the European Union to adopt a common position on potential limits to weapons sales.

The killing of Khashoggi - a Washington Post columnist and a critic of Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman - has sparked global outrage and pitched the world’s top oil exporter into crisis.

The incident has put the West’s relationship with Riyadh into sharp focus, given scepticism about Saudi Arabia’s shifting explanations of the killing at the Istanbul consulate. The kingdom’s public prosecutor said this week the killing was premeditated, contradicting a previous official statement that it happened accidentally.

“We agreed that when we have more clarity... we will try to find a unified European solution or reaction from all member states of the European Union,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, referring to the sale of arms to the kingdom.

She was speaking at a joint news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan at the conclusion of a four-way summit on Syria.