Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. (file)
A Saudi man was arrested at Paris airport over suspected links to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi after his passport triggered an alert, a police source said on Wednesday. Said it was a case of mistaken identity.
French law enforcement sources named the man arrested on Tuesday as Khalid ad al-Otaibi – the same name listed in US and British sanctions documents as a former member of the Saudi Royal Guard and a UN-commissioned report on Khashoggi’s murder. is included in. ,
The Saudi embassy in Paris said late Tuesday that the man arrested “has nothing to do with the case” and should be released immediately.
The man was stopped at the airport on Tuesday morning after he got an alert while scanning his passport, a police source said on Wednesday.
The alert suggests he was wanted in connection with the murder investigation, the source said, adding that the alert was based on a Turkish arrest warrant.
According to French law, officers have 48 hours from the time he was stopped at the airport – so until just before 10 a.m. (0900 GMT) on Thursday – to verify who he is and Either release him or take steps to detain him for longer and start possible extradition procedures.
French police have a picture of poor quality based on his passport details and Turkish arrest warrant, but no biometric information, the police source said, adding that they could potentially request more information from Turkey.
A 2019 UN investigation report stated that al-Otaabi was a member of a 15-member Saudi team involved in Khashoggi’s murder, when the journalist went to the consulate to obtain a document allowing him to marry his fiancée Was.
Khashoggi, a Washington Post journalist and critic of Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018. Turkish officials believe his body was dismembered and removed. His remains have not been found.
A US intelligence report released in March this year said that Prince Mohammed had approved the operation to kill or capture Khashoggi. The Saudi government has denied any involvement of the Crown Prince and rejected the findings of the report.
Last weekend, French President Emmanuel Macron held one-on-one talks with Prince Mohammed in Saudi Arabia, who became the first major Western leader to visit the kingdom after Khashoggi’s assassination.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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