French Prosecutors Confirm Arrest Was Due to Identity Mix-Up
A Saudi man detained in Paris over alleged involvement in the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been released after French authorities determined it was a case of mistaken identity.
The arrest, prompted by a Turkish-issued warrant during passport checks at an airport, led to the man being identified as Khaled Aedh al-Otaibi—a name associated with a former Saudi Royal Guard accused of participating in Khashoggi’s killing. However, French prosecutors later confirmed that the warrant did not pertain to the detained individual, stating: “Extensive identity checks revealed that the warrant did not apply to him. He has been released.”
The man was apprehended on Tuesday as he prepared to board a flight to Riyadh. French media noted that his name coincided with that of a suspect listed in international reports, including UN findings and sanctions documents from the US and UK. The Saudi embassy in Paris swiftly denied his involvement, asserting that the arrested individual had no connection to the case.
Khashoggi, a vocal critic of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and a journalist for The Washington Post, was murdered after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. While Saudi officials described the incident as an unauthorised operation by rogue agents, global condemnation followed, with trials in Saudi Arabia dismissed by many as lacking credibility.
This arrest came just days after French President Emmanuel Macron’s high-profile visit to Saudi Arabia, where he became the first major Western leader to meet Prince Mohammed since the assassination. Macron views Saudi Arabia as a strategic partner in fostering regional stability, countering Islamist extremism, and negotiating with Iran.
The French police later revealed that the detained man had travelled across Europe on multiple occasions, including entering France in November without issue, underscoring the mistaken arrest’s procedural complexity.
