BERLIN, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Greenpeace protesters interrupted the annual general meeting (AGM) of Rheinmetall, a European defence contractor, in Berlin on Tuesday.
About 30 female and male activists had entered the hall of the shareholders' meeting and had to be removed by police officers, according to German police.
The critics of the German arms company are accusing Rheinmetall of supplying weapons to the Arabian Peninsula via an Italian subsidiary.
German companies are currently not allowed to export arms made in Germany to Saudi Arabia but critics have complained that the export ban is being circumvented through foreign subsidiaries.
In January, the German ministry rejected reviewing the arms export regulations and assured that "the export of military equipment and technology is strictly controlled and subject to authorization".
Greenpeace activists unrolled a large banner that read "Rheinmetall bombs kill in Yemen" at the event's conference hotel on Tuesday.
Rheinmetal criticized in a statement that the general meeting was disturbed, asking for "fairness" in the dispute but stressed that the company would object to "false allegations".
Last year, the German arms company saw its defense business grow by 6.1 percent to 3.22 billion euros (3.60 billion U.S. dollars).
Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger attributed the strong arms business to a robust demand for new military equipment and is targeting a plus of nine percent for this year.
