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WASHINGTON – UNITED STATES. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced on Thursday that he would not attend a Saudi investment conference scheduled for next week, while growing concern that Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia could be complicit in the disappearance and presumed death of a dissident journalist.
Mr. Mnuchin announced his withdrawal from the forum via Twitter.
"We just met @realDonaldTrump and @SecPompeo and we decided not to attend the summit on future investment initiatives in Saudi Arabia," he said.
Mr. Mnuchin's decision to leave his post follows the visit of State Secretary Mike Pompeo to Saudi Arabia, where he met senior Saudi officials to discuss the disappearance of the editorialist. Jamal Khashoggi, who has not been seen since entering a consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul.
The Turkish government claims to have an audio recording showing that Mr. Khashoggi was killed at the consulate. The Saudi government denies any wrongdoing.
Earlier this week, Mnuchin said he would consider withdrawing from the conference "if more information is published and if changes are made" on Mr. Khashoggi's case.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo advised President Trump to give Saudi Arabia "a few more days" to complete his investigation into the alleged murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Photo:
saul loeb / Agence France-Presse / Getty Images
Earlier Thursday, Mr. Pompeo informed Trump of his visit to Riyadh and told reporters in the White House that Saudi Arabia understood the "seriousness" of the situation and pledged to conduct an investigation. complete and thorough "on the issue.
The state secretary also said that he had advised the president to give Saudi Arabia "a few more days" to complete his investigation into what had happened to Mr. hashoggi.
After the survey, the United States can decide "how or if" their response, he said.
Mr. Mnuchin's decision not to attend the Saudi Investment Conference came after several well-known Western companies dismissed him on charges that the kingdom was responsible for what had happened in the past. Mr. Khashoggi.
International Monetary Fund CEO Christine Lagarde, Glencore PLC President Tony Hayward and two executives of Magic Leap, an augmented reality startup in which Saudi Arabia has invested $ 400 million, announced Wednesday their withdrawal from the conference.
Senior Managers at Uber Technologies Inc.,
JPMorgan Chase
& Co.,
Blackstone Group
and
MasterCard
Inc.
it was removed earlier.
The conference, unofficially called "Davos in the Desert", aimed to present Saudi Arabia as a place for investors and increasingly tolerant.
The increasing number of withdrawals has suggested that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman may be forced to cancel the event. But Saudi Arabian allies in the Arab world have strongly supported, including regional companies that still plan to participate.
-Ian Talley contributed to this article.
Write to Vivian Salama at [email protected]
