Riyadh’s response to the arrest of Khashoggi’s murder suspect in France.
Saudi media quoted a Saudi official as saying that Khashoggi had been arrested in France on suspicion of murder.
A Saudi official on Tuesday denied reports in the French media about the arrest of one of the suspects in the murder of Saudi opposition journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
According to Russia Today, the Saudi official claimed: “Regarding the media reports about the arrest of the suspect in Khashoggi’s murder in Paris, it should be said that an incorrect identification has been made in this regard.”
The Saudi official went on to claim that those convicted of Khashoggi’s murder are currently serving their sentences in Saudi Arabia.
A suspect in the murder of critical Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been arrested at an airport in France, news sources reported Tuesday.
The detainee was a former member of the Saudi Royal Guard and was planning to leave for Saudi Arabia from Charles de Gaulle Airport, Radio RTL France reported.
A French police source told Reuters that legal proceedings were under way to extradite him to Turkey.
RTL radio reported that the detainee was named “Khalid Al-Otaibi”. Al-Otaibi, 33, is one of 17 people on the US Treasury Department who placed him on the sanctions list on October 15, 2016 for his role in Khashoggi’s murder.
Khashoggi was brutally murdered on October 2, 2018, at the Saudi consulate in Turkey, and his body was exhumed from the consulate building.
Saudi officials initially denied any knowledge of Khashoggi’s fate, claiming that he left the diplomatic corps after entering the consulate, but it turned out that the Saudis tried to claim that he was leaving the consulate by showing a video of him leaving. Khashkchi was, but their deception was exposed.
