A Saudi man detained in France in relation to the Jamal Khashoggi case has been released after he turned out to be the namesake of a suspect in the murder of the journalist.
According to the Paris prosecutor's office, identity checks have allowed to conclude that the Turkish arrest warrant did not apply to the detained individual.
On Tuesday, French media reported that a suspect, identified as Khalid al-Otaibi, an alleged member of the "commandos" who could have committed the murder of the Saudi journalist in 2018, was detained. Shortly after the news broke, the Saudi Embassy in Paris said the detained person "has nothing to do with the case in question".
Separately, French government spokesman Garbiel Attal said President Emmanuel Macron's administration was awaiting clarification over the man's identity.
Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, was killed in 2018 after he entered the premises of the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey to obtain papers necessary for marriage but never left the building. Later, it became known that the journalist's body was dismembered and stuffed into suitcases for transport. Saudi authorities revealed that his killing was carried out by a group of rogue state agents and promised to punish those responsible.
The Saudi government sentenced several people over their role in Khashoggi's murder.