France not in possession of Khashoggi tapes

French foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, on Monday said that France was not in possession of recordings related to the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The response of the minister has contradicted remarks by Turkey’s president, Tayyip Erdogan.

Mr Khashoggi, a critic of de facto Saudi ruler, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed in Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate last month.

Mr Erdogan has reaffirmed severally the assassination was ordered at the “highest levels” of the Saudi government.

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

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

Mr Khashoggi’s murder provoked international outrage but little concrete action by world powers against Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil exporter and a supporter of Washington’s plans to contain Iranian influence across the Middle East.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Mr Erdogan have discussed how to respond to the killing last month of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a White House official said on Sunday.

(Reuters/NAN)