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TEHRAN, October 28 - French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel remained at odds on Saturday over the issue of halting lucrative arms sales to Saudi Arabia in response to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - The disagreement led to a rare dispute between the close European allies on Friday, when Macron implied that Berlin was engaging in "pure demagoguery" after Merkel announced a freeze on arms sales to Riyadh.
The suspension would remain in place until the circumstances of the dissident's murder inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul were clarified, she said.
The tone was more measured when the two leaders had a "relaxed exchange" on the sidelines of a Syria summit in Istanbul on Saturday, Macron's office said, adding that they had agreed not to announce their next positions on the issue without first coordinating "at the European level".
However in separate news conferences after the end of the summit, the divide remained: Merkel stood by her "decision to stop all arms exports" to Riyadh, while Macron said that any sanctions should be made at the "European level" and "not limited to this or that sector".
Macron also reiterated his claim that there was no moral link to be made between Khashoggi's death at the beginning of this month and Saudi Arabia's purchase of French-made weapons.
Source: AFP
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