German opposition MPs urge gov't to stop Saudi tank deal

German opposition lawmakers here Thursday called on the government to rescind a decision to sell up to 200 Leopard 2 combat tanks to Saudi Arabia. A senior Green legislator, Hans-Christian Stroebele, urged fellow MPs of the ruling Christian Democratic and Free Democratic Party to press the co-governing coalition to cancel the planned multi-billion euro sale. Authorizing the tank export would not only be a 'sellout' to German export guidelines, but also a 'grave violation of human rights,' he added. Meanwhile, a leading Social Democratic MP, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul said that going ahead with the deal would be a 'catastrophe' pointing to the fact that Saudi tanks were deployed to squash the Bahraini uprising in March. Germany's opposition Green party has taken the government to the country's constitutional court over Berlin's refusal to divulge secret details of the highly controversial tank deal with Saudi Arabia. The lawsuit filed by three members of the Green parliamentary faction argues that the ongoing silence of the German government on the sale of 200 Leopard 2 combat tanks to the authoritarian Saudi regime violated the nation's constitution which bans the sale of weapons to crisis-hit regions like the Middle East. Germany, which for two decades has declined to sell such heavy weapons to Saudi Arabia because of concerns over human rights and fears for the security of the Zionist regime, has refused to officially confirm the reports on the arms agreement citing a secrecy policy on such deals.