Khashoggi murder: death penalty for five defendants 0:36
Paris (CNN) -
A Saudi man accused of being a member of the strike squad that killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi was detained in Paris while boarding a flight to Riyadh, French media reported Tuesday.
A 33-year-old man was detained before his flight at 9:30 a.m. local time, and was traveling with a real passport, a spokesman for the French National Police told CNN.
He was placed in judicial detention, the spokesperson added.
The suspect was identified as Khaled Aedh Al-Otaibi, RTL radio station reported, citing French law enforcement and judicial sources.
French police did not confirm the man's identity to CNN.
Suspects in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi are sentenced in Saudi Arabia
(Credit: ASIN AKGUL / AFP via Getty Images)
The death of Jamal Khashoggi
Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist, criticized the policies of Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
He was assassinated and allegedly dismembered on October 2, 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by men with close ties to the highest levels of the Saudi government and bin Salman.
Al-Otaibi was one of 16 people expelled from the United States by the State Department in April 2019 for "his role in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi."
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Similarly, the British government put Al-Otaibi under sanctions in July 2020. The UK government said he was "involved in the illegal murder of Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul ... as part of the 15-man team sent to Turkey by the Saudi authorities. It was involved in the concealment of evidence in the residence of the consul general of Saudi Arabia after the assassination. "
There has been no official reaction from the Turkish authorities regarding the arrest of the Saudi citizen by the French police.
Jamal khashoggi
