Austria calls on EU to halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN (AA) - Austria has called on EU member states on Friday to stop arms exports to Saudi Arabia after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said the killing of Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul was an “unprecedented breach of law”.

She accused Saudi Arabia of practicing massive human rights violations at home, and their controversial policies in the Middle East region.

“Especially the horrible war in Yemen and the Qatar crisis should be reason enough for European Union members to adopt a common stance towards Saudi Arabia,” Kneissl told Die Welt newspaper.

“If we all, the entire European Union, would stop arms deliveries to Saudi Arabia, this can contribute to ending these conflicts,” she added.

Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post, was last seen on Oct. 2 when he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

After weeks of denying involvement in his disappearance, Saudi Arabia on Saturday announced that he died in a fight inside the consulate.

On Sunday, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir admitted that Khashoggi had been killed inside the consulate, but insisted that Mohamed bin Salman -- Saudi Arabia’s high-profile crown prince -- had been unaware of a plot to murder the journalist.