Germany stops Egypt-bound arms shipment

German customs officials have stopped a large arms shipment from Poland en route to Egypt, presumably to be used in confronting peaceful protesters, sources told the German newspaper Der Spiegel on Friday. The arms shipment was stopped in the German port of Hamburg.

Following the violent crackdown against pro-democracy protesters in the aftermath of the Egyptian military coup of July 3, the EU decided to prevent any arms shipment heading to Egypt via Europe. According to Der Spiegel, the Egyptian government demanded that the German foreign ministry should reverse the decision and allow the shipment to continue on its way to north Africa.

This is not the first example of punitive measures by Germany against the Egyptian military-led regime. A few months ago, Berlin suspended a joint security agreement with Cairo, as well as anti-terrorism cooperation agreements. The German government stated that the resumption of security cooperation between the two countries depends upon developments on the ground.