Istanbul prosecutor seeks arrest of 2 Saudi crown prince allies over Khashoggi killing

Istanbul’s chief prosecutor has filed warrants for the arrest of a top aide to Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and the deputy head of foreign intelligence on suspicion of planning the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Turkish officials said on Wednesday. The prosecutor’s office has concluded there is “strong suspicion” that Saud al-Qahtani and General Ahmed al-Asiri, who were removed from their positions in October, were among the planners of the October 2 killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, according to the sources. The move to issue arrest warrants for Asiri and Qahtani “reflects the view that the Saudi authorities won’t take formal action against those individuals,” Reuters quoted one of the Turkish officials as saying.