Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister on Sunday ruled out the extradition of suspects in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Reuters reported.
The comments by Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir came after Istanbul’s chief prosecutor filed warrants for the arrest of two former senior Saudi officials.
Turkish officials said last week that the prosecutor’s office had concluded there was “strong suspicion” that Saud al-Qahtani, a top aide to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and General Ahmed al-Asiri, who served as deputy head of foreign intelligence, were among the planners of Khashoggi’s October 2 killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
“We don’t extradite our citizens,” Jubeir said, according to Reuters, when asked about the arrest warrants. He was speaking at a news conference at a Gulf Arab summit in Riyadh.
The Turkish government has accused Saudi Arabia of murdering the dissident journalist and chopping his body into pieces.
After initially denying Turkish claims that Khashoggi was murdered, Saudi Arabia later admitted that he was killed after entering the consulate in Istanbul. At the same time, the Saudi leadership claimed Khashoggi was killed in a “rogue” operation and denies any connection to the murder.
Jubeir insisted two months ago the kingdom did not know where Khashoggi’s body was, and termed the killing a "tremendous mistake".
The US Treasury last month sanctioned 17 Saudis, including Qahtani but not Asiri, for their role in Khashoggi’s murder. Some US lawmakers, however, have called for a stronger US response to Khashoggi's murder.