France Mulls Sanctions Against Riyadh Over Khashoggi Murder - Foreign Minister

PARIS (Sputnik) - France will announce the decision regarding the imposition of sanctions against Saudi Arabia in connection to the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the near future, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Monday.

Earlier in the day, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that Germany had banned 18 Saudi citizens, suspected of being involved in the murder of Khashoggi, from entering the country. The German Ministry of Economy and Energy, in turn, said that Berlin was exerting pressure on arms exporters to make them halt arms deliveries to the kingdom, which has already resulted in the end of the weapons exports to Riyadh.

"As soon as we shape our view on the issue, we will impose the necessary sanctions, it has been announced… We are currently working with Germany. I have seen my counterpart in Brussels and we will soon take the decision on sanctions based on what we know. But we believe that we should further move forward in order to find out the whole truth," Le Drian told Europe 1 radio station.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, known for his criticism of Saudi policies, went missing on October 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. After initially denying any knowledge of Khashoggi's whereabouts, Riyadh admitted later in October that the journalist had been killed in a fight inside the consulate.

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On Thursday, the Saudi Prosecutor General's Office said that the journalist had been killed with a drug injection, and his body had been dismembered and taken out of the consulate, adding that a total of 21 people had been detained in relation to the case.