29 July 2012, Germany’s Der Spiegel reporting that the Arabian Peninsula country of Qatar offered Germany’s Krauss-Maffei Wegmann $2.46 billion USD for 200 of their latest Leopard main battle tanks (MBT).

A month ago it was revealed that Saudi Arabia was buying 800 Leopard 2A7 tanks, despite many German politicians pointing out that the sale violated Germany’s constitution.  Angela Merkel’s government dismissed such claims, and some politicians said the sale was needed to support Germany’s shrinking economy.

The latest Der Spiegel article says Qatari officials made the offer weeks ago.  Qatar is supporting the invasion of Syria, and was one of the main Arab supporters of the western backed insurgency in Libya.

Angela Merkel’s secretive Federal Security Council has final say regarding such a sale to Qatar, and Der Spiegel says it’s likely it will be approved.