By Ayhan Simsek </p> <p> </p> <p>BERLIN (AA) – Germany reaffirmed on Wednesday that it would continue a freeze on arms exports to Saudi Arabia until the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi is clarified. </p> <p> </p> <p>Chancellor Angela Merkel told lawmakers during a parliament session that currently no weapons are exported to Saudi Arabia from Germany. </p> <p> </p> <p>“We had already adopted a very restrictive policy in our coalition agreement regarding arms sales to Saudi Arabia due to Yemen [conflict],” Merkel said, referring to the coalition deal signed in March between her Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democrat Party (SPD). </p> <p> </p> <p>“Unfortunately only very few European partners have adopted a similar policy,” Merkel said. </p> <p> </p> <p>“It would be very desirable if we could also achieve a common European approach here,” she added. </p> <p> </p> <p>The chancellor also promised to close loopholes in the German legislation, which could be used by companies to continue their weapons exports, despite bans imposed by the government.</p> <p> </p> <p>Following the Oct. 2 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, German government announced that it halted all arms exports to Saudi Arabia. </p> <p> </p> <p>But local media reported recently that a leading German defense firm used its subsidiaries in Italy and South Africa to bypass the export control system and continued its weapons exports to Saudi Arabia.