Google pulls out of Saudi investor conference

Google became the latest company to pull out of a Saudi business conference being held in Riyadh later this month.

A Google spokesperson confirmed Monday that Diane Greene, CEO of the company’s cloud computing division, would no longer be attending but refused to comment on the reason for the decision.

{mosads}Many media and business leaders have been pulling out of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Summit following the disappearance and suspected murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

“We can confirm Diane Greene will not be attending the FII Summit,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The World Bank, The New York Times, Bloomberg, CNBC and Uber are among the other companies that have pulled out of the event in recent days.

“I’m very troubled by the reports to date about Jamal Khashoggi,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement last week. “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.”

The backlash comes after reports that Khashoggi was killed and dismembered by Saudi agents inside the country’s Turkish consulate.

The event is being hosted by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. A spokesperson for the event did not immediately respond when asked for comment by The Hill.

Reports emerged Monday that Saudi officials were prepared to admit that Khashoggi was killed in their consulate in Turkey. 

It is not clear how much responsibility Saudi Arabia will take for the journalist’s death though, as reports indicate that while an official narrative is being prepared it is not complete.