US treasury secretary Mnuchin withdraws from Saudi conference
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday said he would no longer attend next week’s investment conference in Saudi Arabia, as the Trump administration awaited the outcome of investigations into missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The US gave the kingdom “a few more days” to investigate Khashoggi’s case.
Mnuchin announced the decision in a post on Twitter following a meeting with President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who recently returned from meetings with top leaders in Riyadh and Ankara. “Just met with @realDonaldTrump and @SecPompeo and we have decided, I will not be participating in the Future Investment Initiative summit in Saudi Arabia,” Mnuchin wrote on Twitter.
The Saudis have said they plan to move forward with the conference, scheduled for October 23-25, despite a wave of cancellations by high-profile business, government and media leaders.
Mnuchin’s withdrawal comes after top financial, trade and foreign officials from the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands also dropped out.
Trump has urged patience in the wake of US-based Khashoggi’s disappearance earlier this month, October 2, during a visit to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and said he took the matter seriously. He also met Pompeo, who gave the president an update on his talks this week with Saudi and Turkish officials.
Turkish officials have said they believe Khashoggi — a Washington Post columnist who was a strong critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — was murdered at the consulate and his body chopped up and removed.
Notwithstanding exodus by western officials and companies, a large delegation of Russian chief executives and at least one billionaire plan to attend the Future Investment Initiative next week. “Why should we spoil our relationship with Saudi Arabia without understanding what had happened there?” Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
Saudi prince aide was at the mission
As Khashoggi’s disappearence remained shourded in mystry, a Turkish newspaper, Sabah, reported that man who previously travelled with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s entourage to the US entered the Saudi consulate just before the journalist vanished there.
The newspaper's report showed the man also later outside the Saudi consul general's home, checking out of a Turkish hotel as a large suitcase stood by his side, and leaving Turkey on October 2.