France Says Not Aware of Khashoggi Tapes
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Monday said 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 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,” Reuters reported.
Khashoggi’s murder provoked international outrage but little concrete action by world powers against Saudi Arabia.
US President Donald Trump and Erdogan have discussed how to respond to the killing of Khashoggi, a White House official said on Sunday.
