German federal police train Saudis for pro-democracy crackdown: TV http://www.irna.ir/ENNewsShow.aspx?NID=30414125&SRCH=1

Germany's federal police are training Saudi security forces in how to clamp down on pro-democracy protests, German public broadcaster MDR reported Wednesday. According to internal documents, among them contracts and pictures, German police are preparing Saudi security forces to confront demonstrations and unrest. In one video image, German police show how houses can be raided and searched. Saudi Arabia has cracked down hard on peaceful demonstrations in recent months. 

Meanwhile, a German member of the police training team was quoted saying it was unacceptable to train police and militia in an absolutely undemocratic country like Saudi Arabia. The criticism was echoed by a legislator of Germany's Green opposition party, Wolfgang Wieland who voiced outrage by saying his country should not be involved in training the police forces of a 'dictatorial and backward' country. In other related news, the deputy head of Germany's police union, Joerg Radek called for the withdrawal of federal police officers, citing the despotic nature of the Saudi regime. 

The German government has repeatedly defended the controversial security cooperation with Saudi Arabia, saying it focused only on training Saudi border police guards. Berlin has allocated 20 million euros for the program.  There are also plans to reportedly boost the size of the German federal police office in Riyadh from currently seven to 65 people, making it the second largest deployment of German federal police troopers abroad after Afghanistan. Berlin's security cooperation with the Saudi regime had been kept top-secret until the German press exposed it in early April.