Despite mounting outrage over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin still plans to attend an investment conference in Riyadh.
“We are concerned about what is the status of Mr. Khashoggi … (but) I am planning on going at this point,” Mnuchin told CNBC on Friday about the high-profile Future Investment Initiative.
“If more information comes out and changes, we can look at that, but I am planning on going,” he told the business news channel, which joined CNN, Bloomberg and the Financial Times in pulling out of the event.
Mnuchin said he had not spoken directly with Saudi officials but that others in the Trump administration were doing so, according to Reuters.
President Trump has said he saw no reason to block Saudi investments in the US despite concerns over the fate of the 59-year-old Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post who Turkish officials believe was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Khashoggi — a vocal critic of Saudi policies — has not been seen since her entered the consulate on Oct. 2.
Meanwhile, the Oct. 23-24 conference — dubbed “Davos in the Desert” — was in danger of turning into a mirage after a growing number of business bigwigs and top media companies announced they would pull out of the event.
The events is hosted by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and is part of his Vision 2030 plan to break the kingdom’s dependence on oil, reported CNN, which was named a media partner along with the Financial Times, The New York Times, Bloomberg and Fox Business Network.
“The Financial Times will not be partnering with the FII conference in Riyadh while the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi remains unexplained,” Editor Lionel Barber said in a statement.
Bloomberg News told The Post in an email that “as we do with every major event in the region, we plane to cover any news from our regional news bureau.”
The New York Times said in a statement that “in light of the current situation related to the disappearance of the Washington Post’s Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Turkey, we are no longer comfortable being associated with the event.”
Also pulling the plug was World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, a spokesman for the financial institution told Reuters on Friday, citing a scheduling conflict
Other no-shows include Viacom CEO Bob Bakish, The Economist editor in chief Zanny Minton Beddoes, LA Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and venture capitalist Steve Case.
“I was looking forward to returning to Riyadh this month to speak at the Future Investment Initiative conference, and participate in a Red Sea Project meeting. In light of recent events, I have decided to put my plans on hold, pending further information regarding Jamal Khashoggi,” Case wrote on Twitter.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga were still scheduled to attend. Reps for those companies, as well as Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley did not respond to requests for comment by Reuters.