GERMANY wants other European Union member states to follow its example in stopping arms exports to Saudi Arabia as long as uncertainty remains over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said yesterday.

Riyadh has given multiple and conflicting accounts on what led to Khashoggi’s death Oct. 2 at its consulate in Istanbul.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday that Germany would stop arms exports to Saudi Arabia as long as the uncertainty around Khashoggi’s death persisted.

Altmaier, a close ally of Merkel, said Riyadh’s explanations on the case so far had not been satisfactory.

So far this year the German Government had approved weapons exports worth more than 400 million euros (US$462 million) to Saudi Arabia, making it the second-biggest recipient of German arms after Algeria.

Asked whether Germany would roll back previously agreed arms deals with Saudi, he said a decision would be made “very soon.”

Altmaier said other EU states should stop arms exports to Saudi Arabia in order to increase pressure on Riyadh over the Khashoggi case.

“For me it would be important that we come to a joint European stance,” Altmaier said.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday vowed to reveal within days the “naked truth” over the death of Khashoggi, as Riyadh said it did not know the whereabouts of his body and that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had been unaware of any operation to murder him.

The Turkish leader’s statement came the day after Saudi authorities conceded Khashoggi had been killed inside their diplomatic compound in Istanbul.

“We are looking for justice here and this will be revealed in all its naked truth, not through some ordinary steps but in all its naked truth,” Erdogan told a rally in Istanbul.

The Saudi foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir, on Sunday described the killing as a “tremendous mistake” and said it had been a “rogue operation” by individuals who “exceeded their responsibilities” and then “tried to cover up for it.”

Jubeir insisted in an interview with Fox News that the operation was not ordered by the crown prince known by his initials MBS, also adding that “we don’t know where the body is.”

Khashoggi’s killing has further soured relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey, already at loggerheads over Qatar, with which Riyadh cut ties in 2017 and to which Ankara has deployed aid and troops. (SD-Agencies)