French authorities release man held as suspect in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, citing an identity mix-up

PARIS -The arrest of a man previously believed to have been a suspect in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has turned out to be a case of mistaken identity, the Paris prosecutor’s office said Wednesday. He was released from detention after “thorough checks,” authorities said.

The announcement came almost 30 hours after French authorities detained the man at Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris.

French authorities had said the man was detained on an outstanding Turkish arrest warrant. The suspect was thought to be Khalid Aedh al-Otaibi, a Saudi national wanted in connection with the murder and dismemberment of Khashoggi inside Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul three years ago.

A man identified as Khalid Aedh al-Otaibi was allegedly part of a 15-member team sent to kill Khashoggi in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018. The suspect Otaibi is one of 17 Saudis sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2018 over the killing.

Saudi officials had cast early doubt on the French claims. A Saudi official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case, said Tuesday that “media reports suggesting that a person who was implicated in the crime against Saudi citizen Jamal Khashoggi has been arrested in France are false. This is a case of mistaken identity. Those convicted of the crime are currently serving their sentences in Saudi Arabia.”

The French police later said that they were not sure they had detained the right man. “It’s still possible that this is the right person, just as it’s still possible that it’s the wrong person,” a police spokesperson said Tuesday night.

A Saudi court in 2019 sentenced five people to death and three to prison over the killing of Khashoggi, a contributing columnist to The Washington Post, but the death sentences were withdrawn after some of Khashoggi’s family members forgave his killers, enabling the sentences to be set aside according to Saudi law.

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Dadouch reported from Beirut.