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But the economic value of the arms trade is limited – weapons account for less than 0.1 percent of German exports. They represent around 80,000 jobs. So why has the issue gained such a huge importance for German politicians?

No one knows how Gaddafi got these powerful weapons, but they were probably acquired illegally via factories in Saudi Arabia, which has a licence to make several H&K automatic weapons

In practice, the "stability argument" means selling arms to both sides of any simmering conflict – in the past, Germany has sold arms to Egypt and Israel, India and Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran, Turkey and Greece.