Several American companies and business leaders have pulled out of an upcoming investment conference in Saudi Arabia as questions mount over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who went missing at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul over a week ago.
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th October, 2018) Several American companies and business leaders have pulled out of an upcoming investment conference in Saudi Arabia as questions mount over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who went missing at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul over a week ago.
The Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference, also known as "Davos in the desert," will be hosted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and is scheduled to take place from October 23-25.
But on Friday, several more of the conference's high-profile speakers and media sponsors announced that Khashoggi's disappearance had prompted them to withdraw from the event, following a wave of similar announcements on Thursday.
World Bank President Jim Kong Kim on Friday said he has informed Saudi authorities that he will no longer attend, the Financial Times reported.
Other notable business leaders who have dropped out of the event include co-founder of AOL and chairman of Case Foundation Steve Case, Viacom Inc. CEO Bob Bakish, HP Inc executive Joanna Popper, Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong and media mogul Arianna Huffington.
"In light of recent events, I have decided to put my plans on hold, pending further information regarding Jamal Khashoggi," Case said in a statement posted to Twitter.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, who was set to speak at the conference, has also announced that he will skip the event.
"I'm very troubled by the reports to date about Jamal Khashoggi," Khosrowshahi said in a statement on Thursday. "We are following the situation closely, and unless a substantially different set of facts emerges, I won't be attending the FII conference in Riyadh."
Several US and international journalists who were expected to speak at the conference have also canceled their participation, including New York Times Columnist Andrew Sorkin, CNN Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto and The Economist editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddos.
In addition, Bloomberg, the New York Times, the Financial Times, CNN and CNBC all have cut their ties with the conference.
However, US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who is listed as one of the speakers at the conference, said on Friday that he still intends to go.
"I am planning on going at this point," he told CNBC in an interview. "If more information comes out and changes, we could look at that."
Khashoggi has been missing since October 2, when he visited the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents needed for his upcoming marriage. Turkish authorities reportedly say they have evidence that Khashoggi was murdered at the consulate, but Saudi Arabia has denied the allegations.
