Interpol issues red notices for 20 Khashoggi murder suspects

Interpol has issued a red notice for 20 Saudi suspects in the murder of US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi upon Turkey's request, the Daily Sabah reported.

The suspects are accused of being members of the execution team who returned to the kingdom after murdering Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October. The interpol notice flags them for arrest around the world.

The red notices were requested on November 15 and December 21 and issued on March 1, said the Turkish Justice Ministry. 

The notice was issued as part of Turkey's investigation into the murder. The remains of Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor and critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, have not been found.

Turkish police believe that the body of Khashoggi may have been cut up and then burned in the Saudi consulate wood floor furnace.

Saudi Arabia reiterated its rejection of calls for an independent international investigation into the killing of Khashoggi on Thursday, telling the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that it was taking all the "measures required for us to resolve this heinous crime".

The CIA and Turkish intelligence believe bin Salman ordered an operation to kill Khashoggi. In a conversation intercepted by American intelligence agencies, Prince Mohammad is accused of telling a top aide that he would kill Khashoggi with "a bullet" if he didn't return to Saudi Arabia, willingly or by force.