Berlin, January 5 (RHC)-- Germany's Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel has warned Saudi Arabia that Berlin will review its sales of military equipment to Riyadh following the internationally-condemned mass execution of 47 people by the kingdom.
 
"We must now review whether in future we should take a more critical stance" on selling arms to Saudi Arabia, Gabriel, who is also Germany's economy minister, said on Monday.  Berlin has in the past refrained from selling the Heckler & Koch G36 assault rifle and other offensive military weapons to Saudi Arabia.
 
Over the weekend, the Saudi regime executed prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a senior opposition figure, and 46 others for what is called undermining national security of the kingdom.  The move was condemned as a violation of human rights across the globe.
 
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert called on both Saudi Arabia and Iran to make every effort to improve their diplomatic ties, emphasizing that Saudi-Iranian ties are "of fundamental importance for resolving the crises in Syria and Yemen and for the stability of the entire region."