US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin will not attend Saudi Arabia’s ‘Future Investment Initiative’
United States Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has announced he will not attend Saudi Arabia's Future Investment Initiative conference next week.
Mr Mnuchin announced his decision on Twitter after a meeting with President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday.
"Just met with @realDonaldTrump and @SecPompeo and we have decided, I will not be participating in the Future Investment Initiative summit in Saudi Arabia," Mr Mnuchin tweeted on Thursday.
The Treasury secretary's decision comes as questions persist over the disappearance of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who went missing after visiting the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul. Turkish officials have said they have audio and video proving that Mr Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen who resides in the United States, was brutally murdered.
The Trump administration had tried to resist calls for Mr Mnuchin to cancel his attendance at the investors conference, even as evidence mounted that Mr Khashoggi is likely dead, and as American business leaders and foreign officials began pulling out of the summit. The Saudi conference is known as "Davos in the Desert" in reference to a similar investor conference held in Switzerland.
More follows…
