Opinion: No weapons for Riyadh, right for the wrong reason
Matthias von Hein
Commentary
October 22, 2018
Germany should not be exporting weapons to Saudi Arabia, writes DW's Matthias von Hein. But it should be because of the war in Yemen, not the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
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Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Pain
Can anyone still keep track of the excuses and subterfuge, the developments and explanations in the case of Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist killed almost three weeks ago?
When Chancellor Angela Merkel declared on Sunday that German arms exports to Saudi Arabia would be put on hold because they "cannot take place in the current circumstances," Saudi Arabia had just offered its second version of how Khashoggi died at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
News of condolences by the Saudi royal family to the family of the deceased critic of Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salm hadn't even made the rounds.
The fact that Merkel put further arms exports to Saudi Arabia on hold is at least a step in the right direction. Sometimes, and above all in politics, the right move is made for the wrong reason. The German government's coalition agreement stipulates, after all, that German arms should not be sold to states involved in the war with Yemen.
German arms for country at war
Saudi Arabia is and has been the leading force in this war. All the same, German arms manufacturers have been doing brisk business with the oil sheikdom. In the first quarter of 2018, licenses for arms sales to Saudi Arabia had quadrupled to about €160 million ($184 million) compared to the first quarter of 2017. Just last month, the German government approved sales of four artillery locating systems to Saudi Arabia.
Jamal Khashoggi managed to do what the deaths of more than 10,000 Yemeni citizens in this war haven't achieved. His death has managed to do what the misery of millions of famished people — who are not reachable due to the Saudi blockade of the ports — has not achieved. His death finally put a spotlight on weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and the West's direct involvement in the Yemeni tragedy, which has been going on for the past three years.
As cynical as this may be, the West doesn't seem to have any problem with authoritarian rulers, only with incalculable rulers. The drama surrounding Jamal Khashoggi is — for the time being — just the last act in the play about the 33-year-old Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for whom "impulsive" is a friendly description.
Apart from the needless military intervention in Yemen, let's not forget the blockade of Qatar, which started more than a year ago. And Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who announced his resignation last November in a Saudi hotel, to the utter surprise of the international community, giving rise to speculation he was abducted.
DW editor Matthias von Hein
'Sincere regret'
How ironic is it that less than a month ago, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas apologized to his Saudi counterpart, Adel al-Jubeir, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York for remarks his predecessor Sigmar Gabriel made last year about the Lebanon crisis. Without naming Saudi Arabia, Gabriel had denounced "foreign policy adventurism" in the Middle East. Riyadh reacted by recalling its ambassador from Berlin and systematically ignoring German companies vying for lucrative contracts in Saudi Arabia.
In the wake of Maas' "sincere regrets," the Saudi ambassador has returned to Berlin — a week after Khashoggi disappeared. By then, Maas probably regretted his apology.
Jamal Khashoggi: A mysterious disappearance and death
Official Saudi statements on the fate of journalist Jamal Khashoggi have changed several times since he disappeared at the Istanbul consulate on October 2. DW traces the most important events in this intricate case.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Martin
Vanishes into thin air
October 2: Prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where he had gone to obtain an official document for his upcoming marriage to his Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz. He never emerged from the building, prompting Cengiz, who waited outside, to raise the alarm.
Image: Reuters TV
Confusion over whereabouts
October 3: Turkish and Saudi officials came up with conflicting reports on Khashoggi's whereabouts. Riyadh said the journalist had left the mission shortly after his work was done. But Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said the journalist was still in the consulate.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/V. Mayo
Murder claims
October 6: Turkish officials said they believed the journalist was likely killed inside the Saudi consulate. The Washington Post, for which Khashoggi wrote, cited unnamed sources to report that Turkish investigators believe a 15-member team "came from Saudi Arabia" to kill the man.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Jamali
Ankara seeks proof
October 8: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Saudi Arabia to prove that Khashoggi left its consulate in Istanbul. Turkey also sought permission to search the mission premises. US President Donald Trump voiced concern about the journalist's disappearance.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/T. Kovacs
'Davos in the Desert' hit
October 12: British billionaire Richard Branson halted talks over a $1 billion Saudi investment in his Virgin group's space ventures, citing Khashoggi's case. He also pulled out of an investment conference in Riyadh dubbed the "Davos in the Desert." His move was followed by Uber's Dara Khosrowshahi, JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon and a host of other business leaders.
Image: picture alliance/dpa
Search operation
October 15: Turkish investigators searched the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The search lasted more than eight hours and investigators removed samples from the building, including soil from the consulate garden and a metal door, one official said.
Image: Reuters/M. Sezer
Death after fistfight
October 19: Saudi Arabia finally admitted that Khashoggi died at the consulate. The kingdom's public prosecutor said preliminary investigations showed the journalist was killed in a "fistfight." He added that 18 people had been detained. A Saudi Foreign Ministry official said the country is "investigating the regrettable and painful incident."
Image: Getty Images/C. McGrath
'Grave mistake'
October 21: Saudi Arabia provided yet another account of what happened to Khashoggi. The kingdom's foreign minister admitted the journalist was killed in a "rogue operation," calling it a "huge and grave mistake," but insisted that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had not been aware of the murder. Riyadh said it had no idea where Khashoggi's body was.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/C. Owen
Germany halts arms sales
October 21: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany would put arms exports to Saudi Arabia on hold for the time being, given the unexplained circumstances of Khashoggi's death. Germany is the fourth largest exporter of weapons to Saudi Arabia after the United States, Britain and France.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Sauer
Strangled to death, dissolved in acid
October 31: The Turkish prosecutor concluded that Khashoggi was strangled to death soon after entering the consulate, and was then dismembered. Another Turkish official later claimed the body was dissolved in acid. Turkish President Erdogan said the order to murder the journalist came from "the highest levels" of Saudi Arabia's government.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/M. E. Yildirim
Grilled at the UN
November 5: Saudi Arabia told the United Nations it would prosecute those responsible for Khashoggi's murder. This came as the United States and dozens of other countries raised the journalist's death before the UN Human Rights Council and called for a transparent investigation.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/F. Coffrini
Fiancee in mourning
November 8: Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, wrote on Twitter that she was "unable to express her sorrow" upon learning that the journalist's body was dissolved with chemicals. "Are these killers and those behind it human beings?" she tweeted.
Image: Reuters/Haberturk
Turkey shares audio recordings
November 10: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reveals that officials from Saudi Arabia, the US, Germany, France and Britain have listened to audio recordings related to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Presidential Press Service
Symbolic funeral prayers
November 16: A symbolic funeral prayer for Khashoggi is held in the courtyard of the Fatih Mosque in Istanbul. Yasin Aktay, advisor to President Erdogan, speaks at the service.
Image: Reuters/M. Sezer
Saudi-owned villas searched
November 26: Turkish forensic police bring the investigation to the Turkish province of Yalova, where sniffer dogs and drones search two Saudi-owned villas in the village Samanli.
Image: Reuters/O . Orsal
100 days since killing
January 10: Amnesty International Turkey members demonstrate outside the Saudi Arabia Consulate in Istanbul, marking 100 day since the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. One woman holds up a street sign which reads "Jamal Khashoggi Street". The organization has called for an international investigation into the case.
Image: Reuters/M. Sezer
Saudi murder trial begins
January 3: The Khashoggi trial begins in Saudi Arabia, where state prosecutors say they will seek the death sentence for five of the eleven suspects. A request for the gathered evidence has been send to Turkish authorities. A date for the second hearing has not yet been set.
Image: picture-alliance/abaca/Depo Photos
UN inquiry team in Turkey
January 28: Agnes Callamard, who is leading the UN probe into the handling of the Khashoggi case, arrives in Ankara where she meets with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. The human rights expect will stay in the country for the rest of the week to speak with prosecutors and others involved in the case.
