Germany breaks Saudi arms ban promise

Economy Minister Peter Altmaier announced the permission in a letter to lawmakers, Reuters reported citing a German government document.

The positioning systems, four of which are bound for Saudi Arabia, enable spotting of "enemy fire," thus lending more precision to counterstrikes.

Germany, one of the world's biggest arms exporters, had ordered the ban on the weapons delivery in March in an apparent reaction to the Saudi-led invasion of Yemen.

The reversal came less than a week after Spain, which had earlier suspended the sale of 400 laser-guided bombs to the Saudi kingdom, said it would reauthorize the sale to "honor" a contract made with Riyadh by the previous government in 2015.

Last week, Spanish media outlets said that Riyadh was preparing to react to the freeze by cancelling a warship contract worth $2.2 billion with Madrid. The outlets said that the warship deal would create 6,000 jobs in Spain.

Saudi Arabia led many of its allies in the invasion that started in 2015 to restore power to Yemen's former Riyadh-friendly authorities. Around 15,000 have lost their lives ever since, and now, the United Nations says more than eight million Yemenis are on the brink of famine.

The kingdom and its allies are accused of committing war crimes against the Arab world's most impoverished nation.

A report launched on August 28 by the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen (YemenGEE), which was established in 2017 by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, concluded that individuals in the governments of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Riyadh's key ally in the invasion, could be liable for acts that amounted to international crimes. 

“There is little evidence of any attempt by parties to the conflict to minimize civilian casualties. I call upon them to prioritize human dignity in this forgotten conflict,” said Kamel Jendoubi, chairperson of YemenGEE.