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More major players in international finance and industry are pulling out of a high-profile business conference in Saudi Arabia, in the wake of reports that a Saudi writer critical of the government disappeared and is feared dead after entering a Saudi consulate in Turkey.
Saudi writer and Washington Post contributor, Jamal Khashoggi, went missing when he visited the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on 2 October. Turkish officials fear Khashoggi was killed and dismembered, allegations Saudi officials call "baseless."
The chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co, Jamie Dimon, had been a featured speaker at the conference in Riyadh. The Wall Street Journal reports that Dimon has backed out.
Earlier, a member of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee says the US-Saudi relations may need "to be completely revised" if an investigation finds the kingdom's government responsible for the murder of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi.
President Donald Trump, too, had warned of "severe punishment" if Saudi Arabia was found to be complicit in the disappearance of US resident and journalist, Khashoggi.
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