S. Arabia not to hand over suspects in Khashoggi case

By Hussein Mahmoud Ragab Elkabany, Zeynep Hilal Karyagdi

RIYADH

Saudi Arabia ruled out extraditing suspects in the Jamal Khashoggi case to Turkey late Sunday, the country's foreign minister said.

"We don’t extradite our citizens," Saudi FM Adel al-Jubeir said in the 39th Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) news conference when he was asked about the arrest warrants.

Al-Jubeir said that those who are guilty have been referred to the Saudi prosecutor's office but he didn't comment on the legal process underlining that the prosecutor's office has its own spokesman.

In addition, he said that Saudi Arabia is open to any evidence to help the investigation and will announce every detail about this case.

An Istanbul court on Wednesday issued arrest warrants for two former Saudi officials for the killing of Khashoggi.

The decision of the court came after Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office demanded arrests of Saud al-Qahtani, a top aide to the crown prince, and Ahmed al-Asiri, former deputy intelligence chief, for their alleged involvement in the killing.

Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist columnist for The Washington Post, went missing after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in early October.

After initially saying he had left the consulate alive, Saudi Arabia admitted weeks later that he was killed there, blaming his death on a group of rogue Saudi operatives.

Following a royal decree, Saudi Arabia dismissed five senior officials, including al-Qahtani and al-Asiri.