Yahoo Finance Ex-Saudi Royal Guard Member Arrested In Jamal Khashoggi Killing
A former member of the Saudi royal guard has reportedly been arrested for his suspected involvement in the brutal murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Khalid Aedh Al-Otaibi was arrested at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris on Tuesday, French RTL radio and the BBC reported, citing a police source. Al-Otaibi served as a personal security official for the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom U.S. officials have blamed for the journalist’s 2018 killing.
The 33-year-old is one of 26 Saudis wanted in Turkey for the killing of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. He is also one of more than a dozen Saudi officials who were sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2018 for Khashoggi’s death, The Associated Press reported.
Al-Otaibi was preparing to board a flight to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, when French authorities executed an arrest warrant for him that was filed by Turkish authorities. Saudi Arabia had otherwise rejected Turkey’s request to extradite Al-Otaibi to Turkey to be tried for murder, the BBC reported citing its police source.
Khashoggi was a prominent U.S.-based journalist and critic of Saudi Arabia’s government. He was last seen entering the consulate on Sept. 28, 2018. Once inside, he was murdered and his body dismembered.
Crown Prince Mohammed was later found responsible by U.S. intelligence officials for his murder. Despite this conclusion, the U.S. did not sanction him.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said back in February that the Biden administration believes there are “more effective ways to make sure this doesn’t happen again” and that administrations customarily don’t sanction leaders of foreign governments with whom the U.S. has diplomatic relations.
Eight Saudi nationals were sentenced to prison in 2020 for their roles in Khashoggi’s death.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
