French police on Tuesday arrested a Saudi man in Paris who is suspected of being a member of the rogue team that murdered dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul in 2018. Authorities said that the man is being held on the basis of an international arrest warrant issued by Turkey in 2019.
A French police official and a judicial source told Reuters that the suspect, identified as Khaled Aedh Al-Otaibi, was arrested at the Charles de Gaulle airport just before he was about to board a flight for Riyadh and that he is being held at a detention facility in the airport.
The police have not yet confirmed whether Al-Otabi was involved in Khashoggi’s murder and noted that they were verifying the suspect’s identity. He was arrested on the grounds of having a similar name to the man accused of being a part of the 2018 Saudi hit squad.
The fiancée of Khashoggi, Hatiz Cengiz, noted that if the suspect was confirmed to be involved in the murder, the development is “a very significant first step for justice” for Khashoggi. “France should try him for his crime, or extradite him to a country able and willing to genuinely investigate and prosecute him as well as the person who gave the order to murder Jamal,” she said.
However, the Saudi embassy in Paris said that the man being held “has nothing to do with the case in question” and therefore, Saudi Arabia “expects his immediate release.” Furthermore, a Saudi official told Reuters that media reports suggesting that the detained Saudi citizen was involved in the murder of Khashoggi “are false.” He said: “This is a case of mistaken identity. Those convicted of the crime are currently serving their sentences in Saudi Arabia.”
Khashoggi, who was openly critical of the Saudi monarchy, was killed in 2018 after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain paperwork to marry his Turkish fiancée. The Saudi government, which initially denied any role in his murder. later claimed that he was killed by a team of rogue agents from the Kingdom.
In 2019, Riyadh announced that it had sentenced five men to death and three others to long prison terms over Khashoggi’s killing. However, the United Nations (UN) dismissed the ruling and accused Saudi Arabia of convicting low-level security agents to protect its leaders. The UN also called the trial a “mockery” of justice, as access was limited and Saudi Arabia never released the names of those who were convicted. In 2020, the death sentences were reduced to prison terms after Khashoggi’s family said they had forgiven the killers.
In February, a US intelligence report released by the Biden administration accused Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) of approving Khashoggi’s assassination. The document said that MBS had “absolute control” of the Saudi security apparatus, which made it unlikely that Saudi officials carried out the killing without his authorisation.
Soon after, US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken announced the “Khashoggi Ban,” a new directive aimed at imposing visa restriction policies on individuals engaging in “counter-dissident activities” on behalf of a foreign government. As part of this policy, the US government-imposed travel restrictions on 76 Saudi officials believed to have played a role in Khashoggi’s murder.
Riyadh, however, has fiercely denied claims that the Crown Prince was involved.