A Saudi man arrested at Paris airport over suspected links to the killing of Jamal Khashoggi was released on Wednesday after officials concluded it was a case of mistaken identity, Paris prosecutors said.
On Tuesday French law enforcement sources identified the man as Khaled Aedh al-Otaibi, a former member of the Saudi royal guard, listed in US and British sanctions documents and a UN-commissioned report as having been involved in Khashoggi's killing in Turkey.
The arrested person has nothing to do with the case in question, according to the Saudi embassy in Paris. Prosecutors said that a warrant issued by Turkey that the man's passport was scanned during border procedures did not apply to the man arrested at the airport.
Khashoggi, a Washington Post journalist and critic of Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018. Turkish officials believe his body was dismembered and removed. His remains have not been found.