Khashoggi Murder Suspect Arrested in France

MailOnline/

One of the suspected killers of Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, has been arrested by French police.

Khalid Alotaibi was detained at Charles de Gaulle airport near Paris today as he prepared to board a flight to Riyadh.

French RTL Radio said the person arrested was a former Royal Guard of Saudi Arabia who is believed to have been involved in the killing of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.

France acted on a warrant issued by Turkey in 2019. 

Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi who lived in self-exile in the United States and wrote for The Washington Post, was strangled by a hit squad in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and his body dismembered.  

The journalist had once been close to the Saudi royal family but before his death had written critical pieces in the Washington Post about Mohammed bin Salman and his policies.  

The crown prince came under worldwide suspicion over Khashoggi’s death and a UN investigator’s report in 2019 said there was credible evidence of his involvement.

Joe Biden’s administration released a declassified report by intelligence earlier this year that concluded bin Salman ‘approved’ the operation – but took no action against the crown prince himself.

The ruler has denied involvement in the murder but Riyadh eventually admitted that Khashoggi was killed in a ‘rogue’ extradition operation gone wrong.

Five men were given the death penalty for the journalist’s murder but had their sentences commuted to 20 years in prison after being forgiven by Khashoggi’s family.  

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