RIYADH – Saudi Arabia s foreign minister on Sunday rejected demands toextradite suspects connected to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi assought by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“We do not extradite our citizens,” Adel al-Jubeir told a news conferencein Riyadh at the end of a summit of Gulf Cooperation Council states.
Erdogan has repeatedly called on Saudi Arabia to hand over suspects in thekilling of the dissident journalist.
Khashoggi, a Saudi contributor to the Washington Post, was killed shortlyafter entering the kingdom s consulate in Istanbul on October 2.
A Turkish court on Wednesday issued arrest warrants for former Saudiintelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri and former adviser to the royal courtSaud al-Qahtani, at the request of Istanbul s chief prosecutor.
Assiri often sat in during Prince Mohammed s closed-door meetings withvisiting foreign dignitaries and Qahtani was a key counsellor to the crownprince.
Both were sacked after Riyadh admitted Khashoggi was killed in itsconsulate.
“The Turkish authorities have not been as forthcoming as we believe theyshould have been,” said Jubeir, saying Riyadh was presented withinformation that had already been leaked to the media.
“We have asked our friends in Turkey to provide us with evidence that wecan use in a court of law. We have not received it in the manner that itshould have been received.”
According to Turkey, a 15-member Saudi team was sent to Istanbul to killKhashoggi.
Erdogan has said the order to kill Khashoggi came from the highest levelsof the Saudi government, but has insisted it was not King Salman.
The Turkish leader insisted last weekend during a trip to South Americathat Riyadh hand over the suspects, but said the kingdom was notcooperating.
Riyadh has since detained 21 people over the murder.
Despite speculation that the powerful crown prince ordered the hit, thekingdom has strongly denied he was involved.
The murder has damaged Riyadh s international reputation and Westerncountries including the United States, France and Canada have placedsanctions on nearly 20 Saudi nationals.
Qahtani was among 17 Saudi officials targeted by sanctions imposed by theUS Treasury Department in mid-November for “his role in preparing for theoperation” against the journalist. – APP / AFP