Khashoggi case: France slaps travel ban on 18 Saudis

By Yusuf Ozcan

PARIS (AA) - France on Thursday imposed a travel ban on 18 Saudi citizens over their suspected involvement in last month’s killing in Istanbul of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The travel restriction applies to the entire visa-free Schengen area of 26 European states, according to a French Foreign Ministry statement.

The statement urged Saudi officials to help uncover the truth about the killing, saying: "Saudi Arabia is expected to provide a transparent, comprehensive, and detailed response on this issue."

If serious human rights violations are found to be involved, France and its EU partners are working on sanctions, it added.

Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Monday said France could impose sanctions on Saudi Arabia over the killing.

“We are working very closely with Germany at this moment ... and we will decide over swiftly imposing several sanctions [on Saudi Arabia] based on what we know," Le Drian told Europe 1 Radio.

On Monday, Germany also imposed a travel ban on 18 Saudi citizens suspected of involvement in the killing.

The Washington Post reported last week that the CIA had concluded the Khashoggi’s murder was ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist working for The Washington Post, was killed shortly after he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

After weeks of saying he had left the consulate alive, the Saudi administration later admitted he was killed there, blaming his death on a group of rogue Saudi operatives.