Spanish Party Podemos Urges EU States To Stop Arms Sales To Riyadh Over Khashoggi's Death

Spanish Party Podemos Urges EU States to Stop Arms Sales to Riyadh Over Khashoggi's Death

Spanish left-wing party Podemos supports Germany's appeal to stop weapon supplies to Saudi Arabia from the European Union amid the murder of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the party's founder and one of its leaders, Pablo Iglesias, said on Monday.

MADRID (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd October, 2018) Spanish left-wing party Podemos supports Germany's appeal to stop weapon supplies to Saudi Arabia from the European Union amid the murder of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the party's founder and one of its leaders, Pablo Iglesias, said on Monday.

On Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that it was impossible to continue arms exports to Saudi Arabia given Khashoggi's death.

"Everything that we have been saying in [the political alliance] Unidos Podemos, Germany is now saying it as well: the EU countries must stop arms supplies to the Saudi regime," Iglesias said via his official Twitter feed.

Iglesias also said that he would demand in the parliament that Spain should respect "ethical and democratic" norms when dealing with Saudi Arabia.

Iglesias's appeal has been echoed by another party leader, Pablo Echenique, who said it was unacceptable for Madrid to continue to have good relations with the "murderers of journalists."

"Spain must stop selling weapons to Saudi Arabia and the king must demand that his closest friends allow an in-depth investigation into Khashoggi's murder. The institutions of our country cannot be friends with alleged murderers of journalists," Echenique said via his official Twitter feed, posting a photo of Spanish King Felipe VI alongside Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

Khashoggi, who has been working for The Washington Post newspaper as a columnist and has been known for his criticism of Saudi authorities, went missing in Istanbul on October 2 after he entered the Saudi consulate and never came out. Following more than two weeks of denials, Saudi Arabia admitted on Friday via state television that the journalist had been killed in a fight inside the consulate. According to Riyadh, 18 people had been arrested over their involvement in the incident. Media earlier reported that some of the suspects had ties to the Saudi authorities.

Madrid and Riyadh currently have several major bilateral agreements, including contracts in the defense sector. According to Amnesty International watchdog, the Spanish government sold over $1 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia between 2015 and 2017.

In July, Spain and Saudi Arabia concluded an over $2 billion contract on the building of five corvettes set to be delivered to Riyadh by 2022.

Moreover, in September, the Spanish authorities announced that they would not cancel the delivery of 400 laser-guided bombs to Riyadh amid concerns that they might be used by the Saudi authorities against Yemen, where the Saudi-led coalition carries out airstrikes against the Houthi rebels and has been reportedly responsible for a large number of civilian casualties.