France: ‘We do not have details of Khashoggi’s death’

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian today said that France was not in possession of recordings related to the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi as far as he was aware, contradicting remarks by Turkey’s president.

Khashoggi, a critic of de facto Saudi ruler Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed in Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate last month in a hit which President Tayyip Erdogan says was ordered at the “highest levels” of the Saudi government.

Erdogan on Saturday said that France, Germany and Britain had been handed the tapes, but in an interview on France 2, Le Drian said this was not the case, as far as he knew.

Asked if that meant Erdogan was lying, Le Drian said: “it means that he has a political game to play in these circumstances.”

Khashoggi’s last words: ‘I’m suffocating … Take this bag off my head’

Jamal Khashoggi speaking at AlSharq Forum conference [AlSharq Forum]