Prosecutor asks to transfer Khashoggi case to S Arabia

ISTANBUL, Mar 31 (AFP): A Turkish prosecutor asked an Istanbul court to dismiss a case into the gruesome murder of Riyadh critic Jamal Khashoggi and transfer it to Saudi Arabia, local media reported on Thursday.

The development comes as Turkey is seeking a thaw in relations with Saudi Arabia, which worsened after the 2018 killing of Khashoggi, a contributor to The Washington Post, inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The prosecutor said during the hearing in Istanbul on Thursday that the case "has been dragging because the court orders cannot be executed on the grounds that the suspects are foreign nationals", the private DHA news agency reported.

The court is expected to approve the justice ministry's request to transfer the case to Saudi Arabia, the news agency said.