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Saudis: No extradition of suspects to Turkey

AFP-JijiRIYADH (AFP-Jiji) — Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister on Sunday rejected demands to extradite suspects connected to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi as sought by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“We do not extradite our citizens,” Adel al-Jubeir told a news conference in Riyadh at the end of a summit of Gulf Cooperation Council states.

Erdogan has repeatedly called on Saudi Arabia to hand over suspects in the killing of the dissident journalist.

Khashoggi, a Saudi contributor to The Washington Post, was killed shortly after entering the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

A Turkish court on Wednesday issued arrest warrants for former Saudi intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri and former adviser to the royal court Saud al-Qahtani, at the request of Istanbul’s chief prosecutor.

Assiri often sat in during Prince Mohammed’s closed-door meetings with visiting foreign dignitaries, and Qahtani was a key counsellor to the crown prince.

Both were sacked after Riyadh admitted Khashoggi was killed in its consulate.

“The Turkish authorities have not been as forthcoming as we believe they should have been,” said Jubeir, saying Riyadh was presented with information that had already been leaked to the media.

“We have asked our friends in Turkey to provide us with evidence that we can use in a court of law. We have not received it in the manner that it should have been received.”

Final words: ‘I can’t breathe’

WASHINGTON (AFP-Jiji) — Jamal Khashoggi’s final words were “I can’t breathe,” CNN said Sunday, citing a source who has read the transcript of an audio tape of the final moments before the journalist’s murder.

The source told the U.S. network the transcript made clear the killing was premeditated, and suggests several phone calls were made to give briefings on the progress.

CNN said Turkish officials believe those calls were made to top officials in Riyadh.

The transcript of the gruesome recording includes descriptions of Khashoggi struggling against his murderers, CNN said, and references sounds of the dissident journalist’s body “being dismembered by a saw.”Speech

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