The German Company goes back a long way and days says one of its main locations like. Five thousand kilometers away bombs are being dropped on civilians in a war that makes a mockery of International Law and despite apparently strict export rules run mittal is making a killing out of it. To know if it uses quite rapidly the facilities are expanding and they are all getting new customers as well it will drop to the bottom this is an infamous game with dubious roles in terms of legality ethics and morality what would you call it out of the dutch attention German Technology and expertise are being used to deal in death we have to do all we can to stop this. Every two years the british capital attracts military delegations from around the world they come to the london docklands to attend a d s e i arms fact their countries may be at war with each other but here they can bury the hatchet while they buy new weapons. One of the biggest stands at the trade fam belongs to ryan metar germanys leading arms manufacturer would just hold off base Company Sells three billion euros worth of military equipment tanks cannons Simulation Systems guns and ammunition. Shall most for mortar launchers artillery guns tanks and ordinance on display like precious museum exhibits looking so shiny and pretty that an observer could forget that these instruments of dad. Many of those inside all familiar with this man on the outside Andrew FeinsteinInternational Arms trade expert and former South African parliamentarian hes not allowed in fortunately my name is well known to be nice is off the arms fair and so ive never granted accreditation to come inside. Since he uncovered a huge arms scandal in his country has been operating from london for his own safety his Research Also focuses on german arms exports germany plays a role through the export of weapons especially into regions that are unstable where there is conflict where there is repression. Most obviously today the middle east and plays a role in ensuring that those conflicts are remarkably bloody. Like the campaign in yemen it was originally touted as a short aerial into. Eventually led by saudi arabia to defeat the militias who were allegedly terrorizing the country. More than a thousand days later theres been no sign of a let up who thieves have put up stiffer resistance than expected and the saudis and their allies have responded by raising much of yemen to the ground they bomb schools hospitals and residential areas they destroy infrastructure and apparently aim to starve the country into submission its a war thats claimed thousands of lives and led to a humanitarian catastrophe. Going by the book the german arms industry should have nothing to do with this war. So whats alleged was false for example it is forbidden by german law to export arms to countries where they can be used to disturb the peace. As the German Security and Defense Industry we completely accept that its all for tails also for. But there are ways and means to turn a profit that all the same one of those ways is by an island in the mediterranean familiar to many germans as a holiday destination. Come out openly as one of sardinia is best known politicians he was regional president before he was elected to the Italian Parliament in rome a politician who conducts a lot of his research personally including research into ryan metar. It all began just over two years ago when he got a tip off that something incredible was happening at kalyani apple where planes full of vacationers land and take off. That these days this area here was full of bombs it was quite a show of course the people who saw it got excited about the countless bombs being loaded onto a cargo plane the demand on our courses for the end of bhowmick i got thing they took out of. These are photos of the operation the weapons of war being loaded up next to the tourist carriers. U. S. General purpose bombs from the mock eighty series being loaded onto a plane belonging to silk way and azerbaijani and one that specializes in transporting weapons to crisis hit regions. What was going on. We got his boss that the only answer i got was from the operators of the airport people you know who said that all the flights were authorized but chief no further details both liberal and i asked the same question in parliament and was told the same thing that isnt that it that the flights were authorized. This was official confirmation that bombs were being transported. The bomb but. The bombs are assembled here in rural sod india about forty five kilometers west of. In a valley near the town of goma snow bus is an unassuming looking factory that makes bombs by the thousands. It belongs to a Company Called wm italia the abbreviation stands for ryan mittal weapon and munition and it is a one hundred percent subsidiary of german arms manufacturer run my top. Five but it kept the days this is a german factory on italian territory that makes a deadly product. Bombs that are sold all over the world by a measurement here germany is exploiting it disadvantaged area this will just something with its high unemployment. Arms are being manufactured for huge profits but a brute i did not is what is happening in this area. But where of the bombs made by ron matal insaan dania deployed in twenty fifteen an employee of the n. G. O. S Human Rights Watch snapped these photographs of bomb components. They were found in sabah in northern yemen a city with a population of fifty thousand shortly after a saudi bombing raid. The bomb but as a code number that indicates the type of bomb and and its origin. The italian island of sardinia. When queried ryan mittal in total golf admitted that the n. S. A. Encode thirteen twenty five fifteen one five zero fifty eight twenty four indicates that it was made by wm italia gradually a coherent picture is a managing the scenes just request of each a obviously lots of people said nothing cattle first the government in rome. Then the Regional Government and anyone else who knew what was going on. Because factory was always used to make explosives but they were used for civilian purposes ok the plant used to supply the local mines that once existed here in sardinia. But at some stage the factory was repurposed more or less secretly. Kwesi doubt that. Central bilin in may twenty seventeen protest does take to the streets to do. Demonstrate against ryan metal as it holds its annual Shareholders Meeting. But despite lets be clear i never buy shares in ryan mattel to make a profit is guilty of complicity with arms exports and with murder throughout the world they. Come out oh major lotto works for an Italian Foundation he is part of a network that buys run metal shands not for the dividend but to ask difficult questions that shareholder meetings he has heard that ryan mittal plans to invest heavily in its factory in sardinia. Italy to get a for these and i would like to ask why these facilities are being expended in domus not us. We read that there is going to be a new testing range we dont understand exactly what is going on and what is being tested and what for which weapons. And where these weapons being exported to. These have often exposed to it. That previous annual meetings of rye mental photographs were allowed these are from twenty fifteen. They show rahmatullah chairman baca and behind him the other directors and Supervisory Board members now photos are prohibited when the chairman gets up to talk business his message to this meeting all the trends point to growth especially for rye matal defense the weapons. Sales of almost three billion euros in twenty sixteen fourteen percent year on year growth and a new order for munitions to the tune of four hundred nine eleven Million Euros. The destination is in one of the most conflict torn regions in the world the middle east and north africa right mittal wont say exactly which country has played. The order. Be fun what did you make of the numbers. At the moment the company is in good shape and it was all very correct and democratic perfect but not going to do well the dividend is not bad at all its certainly better than the interest the local bank pays it doesnt get all the you that balms may buy rahmatullah being used in yemen at least a dozen other me. Thats the wrong question f. Bombs are being dropped there its not right mattel dropping them. If i was the Shareholders Meeting it was good good but what did you like in particular because the whole atmosphere the whole package is im tight we thought what did you make of the numbers they presented. Yes promising sorry i have to get my bus to tim was does it bother you the poms may buy rahmatullah being dropped in yemen. Does not everything is put to the right use but there are positives to buy for now qantas. Moto major lotto now has confirmation that the plantain saab ginia is growing in importance for run mittal. You saw going to but you know they answered some of our questions about plans to expand the plant and dont most know of us so im good stock that they said they would invest seventeen to twenty Million Euros in two thousand and seventeen and the same again in two thousand and eighteen. Also it did to me. Most know of us is a small town with high unemployment and the dwindling population business is booming for one fun run menthols bomb factory. It is dramatic this is a business based on debt. The more people are killed the more weapons are bought and the more you kill it the more weapons you need its. Perverse mechanism that a Democratic State should not tolerate neither for moral nor economic reasons. But how come this small town in southern sardinia play such a big role in the International Arms trade lets take a look at a complicated contract from twenty twelve that formed the basis for a major export do. The Saudi ArabianDefense Ministry orders bombs from us from raytheon its british subsidiary subcontracts the rye mattel subsidiary w. M. Italia to produce them contract is worth more than sixty three Million Euros. The order was delivered from dormice nov us to jeddah islamic seaport from where it was taken to the end customer the Royal Saudi Air force this contract ran until mid twenty seventeen and covered thousands of m. K. Eighty three bombs. Since the start of the saudi at campaign in yemen in twenty fifteen at the very latest it is being doubtful whether the arms exports are in line with the tally of lol. This is the deep vein these are sales to a country at war to a conflict that has been condemned by the United Nations a numerous occasions the italian constitution which condemns war and a law on arms exports totally prohibit this kind of export. And. How is it possible for ryan metallics to export bombs from soundin into saudi arabia nonetheless when asked the italian defense minister said it had nothing to do with. What hes or not italian bonds they are covered by a contract signed by a us firm that subcontracted to. That company has factories in italy. Numerous written queries to the Italian Government went. Who then is responsible for the bombs exported by germanys biggest manufacturer. In berlin the federal Security Council meets in secret to decide what. Can go ahead made up of the chancellor an important minister bases its decisions on the governments political principles which say supplying weapons of war shall not be approved to countries involved in. Or when there is a danger of such a conflict breaking out. A flexible principle as the latest figures show twenty seventeen the German Government did indeed approve oms exports to some countries that dont meet the requirements German Companies exporting nations worth four hundred twenty eight Million Euros to egypt two hundred forty nine Million Euros worth to saudi arabia two hundred fourteen million to the United Arab Emirates in the late one nine hundred eighty s. When helmut kohl was chancellor his defense minister rupert shots of the Christian Democratic Union was a member of the federal Security Council professor knows the legal and political ramifications of exports. Its a grey area heres one example. To saudi arabia intended for Police Border controls that has nothing to do with the military or military purposes however if the intention is to deploy them for military purposes they do need approval according to legislation governing the weapons of war in other words its a grey area. Grey area the should be no question of expo. To saudi arabia for the war in yemen. Arms can be used or intended for use in wars of aggression or for measures that would disturb the peace as the law stipulates then the federal government is duty bound to refuse to approve their export time the German Economic Ministry has to say about the bomb sold by iran mittal the matter you describe the assumption is that the export of arms took place from italy in this regard german law pertains to exports from germany very easy for the German Authorities to say these particular. Being produced in italy their responsibility of the to regulate the italian. German and therefore. The. Thing that and it is this way that the global trade in weapons remains less regulated than the global trade. Some deals were approved by neither the italian nor the German Government run the town has found another way around the regulations this time by a south africa. Since the days of apartheid the country has had a powerful arms industry with close ties to politicians. One of the few politicians who lost critical questions about this is copus marais of the Opposition PartyDemocratic Alliance in twenty sixteen he learned that time in time factory had been exported to saudi arabia. People concerned dead you know sets saudi arabia has got a good record in terms of human rights and suppression of human rights especially women and then you know the perception that they are supporting isis and even some rebel forces in yemen and other countries it is in conflict zones. Of concern that whatever gets manufactured the. You know can be used directly oh in directly in those in those areas the government did not respond to questions about reportedly unchecked use of the arms factory which added to my raise concern. That were not convinced at all i think as ive stated in the in a previous earlier that when to anything can be used and sometimes in the future so is this how the company now that makes it even more difficult to monitor and control because they would probably i suspect but be doing is not good nothing to do with you we dont use your products to manufacture anything. Despite the fact that the original plant. It was manufactured and installed because. Fifty kilometers east of cape town on the way to the Somerset West township is the headquarters of the company that built the factory its a huge complex with tight security a science of National Strategic importance which is why filming is actually prohibited to watch trials bad a familiar blue logo of rime atop this branch is called the now munition audi m m presents itself as a premium manufacturing. Procedure. Battle tested you see where every detail. With its Mission Critical there is no. Compromise. This is where the ships stay in. Their ultimate. Such partnerships for when you choose run the tulsa now minissha. Export driven company and they are one of the most Successful Companies in south africa they have got a tenth of. Every year. Two thousand people and they all crying at. The factories all even running shifts because theyre also busy. One of africas Success Stories on the finance industry side. The story began a decade ago when run motown started a joint venture with the state run South African Company then now. In two thousand and eight two for. Joint South African denial and germanys run matal defense efficiency and quality. Mission was all there had been constant. The whole. Africas military infrastructure is constantly embroiled in scandal so its origins. And its practices since then ive remained criminal to be in partnership with a company that is a state owned enterprise in south africa means that you are effectively engaging in the corruption that is taking place in the South African state today. We are back in northern germany in a village of three thousand five hundred residents one to loose is the nerve center of rime a tough business with bombs and bullets its also a hunch of the biggest shooting range in europe this is where the subsidiary which owns the plants in sardinia and south africa is headquartered. People here like to talk about. Dealings a brawl as big. As the town mayor its my job to look after the interests of the municipality of suit and were very happy to have a company like ryan mattel with so many jobs. And to hear. The economic factor for our community is very important. To his. The manner of suit to which i want to list belongs im the chairman of the local council agree that activities are rarely questioned. Anyone and im afraid i cannot help you on that i have very very rarely hear criticisms as they think this guy needs to but there is one place in on to list when reiman tom does come in for criticism the local church one sunday in june the lutheran churches peace commissioner has come to on to list to lend his support to the local pasta. I also heard im an outsider ive just come from had a very traditional for the local parish pastor its a sensitive issue because many in his Community Work there. We have to make clear that we have a position against this yeah. That will be the challenge of todays Service Without rejecting the people themselves im going to mention it. I have told. Nailed to the cross the desk like piece itself sacrificed sold nailed to the cross. Yes we christians are always good and devout to keep our heads down and stay out of trouble thats the best way to get through life one of the suspects to see i have a lot of respect for anyone attending todays service it is difficult for the parish pastor so it is difficult because many people i dont know if they are here today even rely on the factory for a living still if we think something is wrong we must draw the consequences of consequences. Thats easier said than done for many people in a town that has been producing arms for nearly one hundred twenty years and where the church until the one nine hundred ninety s. Was called the Soldiers Memorial charge the in charge them does it keep your feelings can get in the decision to rename this church the peace church didnt go down well with everyone i mean there were ryan mattel employees who left the church because of it. Period the local christian democrats say the churchs position is not their business and. Could visit them it will meet again in my opinion its the churchs business this is for us its important to have a Strong Economy here and to creating keep jobs to encourage people to live here. And the folk who fault the town of going to loose is proud of this company. And as long as it obeys the law and we dont have a problem with it because of his investigation of them hate so. Much. Based in loose as a majority stake in the plant in Somerset West what it produces that hes covered by south africa. In theory south africa has very tough regulations on what can be exported and imported and it is first keep track of all the items that go in and out of the country but the problem with that is that there is no record at all of things like factories cities that all exported so weve seen. Two to which countries are exporting their. Factories exporting entire factories is an important aspect of audi ms business strategy. Impressive product food for you includes the only comprehensive artillery suite in the world we also empower our clients with turnkey plant engineering solutions. All in all run metal danell munitions says it has exported a total of thirty nine arms factories the german boss of the rhine metal subsidiary handles the fact that these factories allow clients to make their own weapons. But it is hard to find out who the customers being. South africa actually are. What is known is that the rye metal subsidiary was involved in the construction of a factory in the United Arab Emirates and the one in saudi arabia. A group of syrian hackers released confidential documents including a secret document on a bid for a filling plant each shift was to produce hundreds of shells and mortars as well as bombs of the types m k eighty two m k eighty four and more heads from large missiles. The document appears real with a trove of Technical Details and plans for a turnkey factory. Its incredibly dangerous because if a German Company is not controlling production how do they know what being adhered to in this production process theyve affectively sold the production process. Theyre effectively saying especially if its into a region like the middle east theyre effectively saying do what you want. Via sardinia and south Africa Germanys run metal is arming the military coalition in yemen with bombs from the mediterranean and entire factories from capetown saudi arabia United Arab Emirates are among the customers and egypt as we discovered where an arms factory is on the completion. Egypt a country where hopes for democracy after the arab spring were put down with guns about toms where dissidents simply disappear. Where the military has seized back power and general Abdel Fattah Elsisi rules with an iron fist. A few defeats especially in the city as the man in charge of egypt is mr elsisi who many compatriots say is even worse than Mubarak Egypt is also taking part in the yemen war by helping with marine patrols i dont think we should accept this so its effectively undermining south africas democracy at the same time as being able to get weapons into destinations that might be completely undemocratic that might be engaged in conflict as. We wanted to ask about the allegations and find out about all the other factories but nobody wanted to talk with german media insisting that it was a South African Company but it belongs to a German Company flies a german flag at the factory gate and has a german box name nor that shows. The right metal headquarters and does hold off was also unwilling to tell us what countries its foreign subsidiaries export to the press department issued a statement saying exports by r. D. M. From south africa a carrier. Out in accordance with the countrys laws we cannot comment on possible Customer Relations for reasons of competition and in part due to contractual obligations. To use its foreign activities to circumvent german regulations we spoke to the industry federation. Of the federation of the German Security and Defense Industry. Our First Priority is german arms exports which keeps us busy and will do so in the future. Issues with the previous government and we expect to have them with the next while. In other countries where Companies Operate either alone or as part of joint ventures have other rules i cant tell from here whether they exploit that. Is also president of the federation he declined several invitations to take part in an interview for this report. A presentation on the strategic targets of the arms of Munitions Division reveals the thinking behind the overseas activities one stated goal is to free the company from german export regulations and ensure profitability the two key locations are italy where. Projected to reach the one hundred million euro mark in the medium term and south africa. During crease annual sales to two hundred fifty Million Euros. Toward the business of death is growing and the fact that its not happening here at the wars are taking place somewhere else does not make it any better everyone on this planet has to live with the consequences of these wars while leaders talk of fences and walls i find that unacceptable and it must be stopped. In this township in the a me. The synergy of the rhine mentality now munition plant investment from germany is most welcome in the battle with massive unemployment. And feel. That it is critically important that we have to look at ways to create jobs. But obviously in a Sustainable Way that is what run by tom promises in south africa as it plays the nice alms john but does something for poor communities equipping schools even donating chemistry sets. It will even get children to be able to do hands on experiments themselves instead of just looking at the pictures and it takes and expecting them to actually understand when its a practical experiment. Very practical and you have a successful for us because its really like a real saying i like to see think you have to be combined with the brain and i would really appreciate what theyve done for us were going to the states many things in the conflicts between now everythings going to be is welcome to achieve results before we see think you think of that in which we will be with you. In the years to come. Brian mattel will spend a tiny percentage of the profits theyre making in south africa on improving their public image the reality is. But the products that this company. In africa. In many parts of including the middle east. The company does not appear to have any scruples about. Sides in an armed conflict. And its allies in the yemen war factories it seems the company also wants to make money arch enemy iran which is on the other side in the war in yemen the United NationsSecurity Council block the sale of air defense missiles from south africa called. Supplies the propellant. If. We wanted to find out what germanys leaders have to say about the countrys largest arms manufacturer trying to evade german law. Every Single Member of the federal Security Council from the last legislature for an interview its the committee that decides. Which is being circumvented by tom germanys leading politicians were not willing to comment on the issue. The same goes for those who moved from politics to rhyme a tongue. Development minister. Is now the companys chief. German defense minister france you recently joined the ride. Would give us an interview. In germany are incredibly close to the government because they play a role in. Defense. Policy and. They would claim in their public relations. Which they are treated differently to most of the private companies. Frankfurt germanys Financial Hub is where stocks are listed the share price has shot up thanks to the money made by south africa. In january twenty seventh shares in. Just on the sixty five euros each climbing to almost ninety by media and almost one hundred ten euros by the end of the year thats a rise of more than seventy percent within a year. Many analysts recommend investing in iran mittal. Its like this more conflict equals a greater need for security more defense expenditure this is indeed thats the change in the leader. And in general the Arms Companies in different ways depending on whats in demand well profit from that. Most shareholders probably dont even know that they profit when ryan metar sells bombs to crisis regions investors with money in the day car fund for example the fund which belongs to germanys banks is one of the biggest shareholders of bryan mittal equity or people with money in Allianz Global Investors one major fund did recently decide to divest its run mental shasta. An exception. As long as the majority of investors arent interested it will only play a minor role for the share price. Was a way out friday may be allowed but people keep on investing in it. Because its maybe the state has to intervene it will. So. We join parliamentarians. On his way to collieries contain a pole in search of sardinians run metal bomb. He has found clues as to who ordered four hundred nine eleven Million Euros worth of munitions from ryan mattels italian subsidiary w. M. Italian saudi arabia. Sensually changed their strategy they used to fight the bombs out now they use ships. We knew that this was the best place from which to take photos of the secret operations with no ban on cameras. From here we recorded what actually happened and we usually eighteen containers a month were loaded up with one thousand to one thousand five hundred bombs. That you were sent to. Well the. Fundament i mean that they were mainly transported by Saudi Arabian ships three or four belonging to the battery shipping company it was a dock and load up the saudis evidently decided to run the transport themselves additional funding for. The military coalition in yemen needs a lot of bombs by the end of twenty seventeen saudi arabia and its allies had flown more than fifteen thousand air raids according to International Experts almost a third of those rates it civilian targets. Its a profitable war even for small investors with shares in germanys biggest arms manufacturer a company that breaks free of german law that manufactures in countries with laxer export rules that finds ways to sell its arsenal of destruction in crisis regions with no questions asked is this something society and politicians just have to accept in this era of globalization no say legal experts and analysts at the German Parliament the bundestag recently concluded that a law could stipulate that German Authorities must give their approval if german citizens abroad help develop or produce arms such a law would at least make it more difficult. But there is no majority for a step like that in the bundestag. To now run Metals Business is completely within the law or in germany a country that prides itself on its lofty principles. Enormous biodiversity massively exploited. Lake malawi in southeastern africa. Once teeming with fish its a stain the entire region. Was an ever growing population as well but depleted the richer is also now the as famine muesli fresh ideas on eating. And teenagers and thirty minutes on d w. A muse alice admitted she had not seen the unsub since. The socalled shake up good confidence boost side bottom suppose. That people had put big dreams on the big screen. Movie magazine on the w. Sometimes books are more exciting than real life. Raring to great. You know. What if theres no escape. Literature list hundred german plus traits. Theres a d. W. I. News live from berlin tragedy in austria as the deaf. Toll caused by a heavy snowfall rises the bodies of three german skiers killed by an avalanche are recovered while helicopter crews use a break in the weather to help clear the mountain sides but the risk of further avalanches remains high also coming up they were once almost extinct in bunches and now the grave wolf has made a comeback in germany theyve become so numerous