UK, US could 'boycott' Saudi investment conference over Khashoggi disappearance

Britain and the United States are considering boycotting a major international investment conference in Saudi Arabia over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who is believed to have been murdered.

Saudi journalist and Washington Post contributor Khashoggi vanished on 2 October after entering the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage.

Turkish officials have said they believe Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate. Saudi Arabia has strongly denied this but has failed to explain the journalist's fate after entering its consulate building.

US President Donald Trump has threatened Saudi Arabia with "severe punishment" if Riyadh was responsible for the disappearance and possible murder of Khashoggi.

Media giants and business heavyweights have decided to boycott a major investment conference in Saudi Arabia – dubbed "Davos in the Desert" – following the Saudi journalist's disappearance.

The event is the biggest show for investors to promote Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's reform vision.

Read more: Khashoggi's disappearance belies Saudi reform narrative

Diplomatic sources told the BBC that the US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and the UK's International Trade Secretary Liam Fox might not attend the conference.

Mnuchin had earlier said he was planning on going to the event.

"If more information comes out and changes, we can look at that, but I am planning on going," Mnuchin told CNBC on Friday.

A spokesman for the UK's international trade department told The New Arab that Dr Fox was "still finalising his diary" for the week of the conference.

Among the media sponsors and speakers to withdraw their involvement in the event are the Financial Times, CNN and CNBC.

The Economist's editor-in-chief also spurned Saudi Arabia's business summit, as well as leading editors and owners of The Huffington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times.

Uber, Virgin, AOL and others have also pulled their support.

Jamal Khashoggi is one of the Arab world's best-known journalists, having fled Saudi Arabia following Mohammed bin Salman's clampdown on perceived critics.

He moved to the US and was a contributor to The Washington Post.