Kushner likely to attend Saudi prince's forum: report

WASHINGTON

U.S. President Donald Trump's senior advisor and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is due to attend an annual economic conference in Riyadh hosted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, U.S. media reported Friday.

Kushner will likely attend the Future Investment Initiative, known as Davos in the Desert, in late October, according to The Washington Post.

The newspaper cited a list of attendees to the conference at the Ritz-Carlton in the Saudi capital. The hotel is infamous for housing dozens of businessmen and princes on corruption allegations.

Kushner "has not yet officially confirmed and would do so as part of a broader U.S. delegation," wrote the Post, citing an anonymous person familiar with the matter.

The forum, slated to run Oct. 23 - 25, is bin Salman's attempt to diversify the country's oil-based economy.

The event was boycotted by many business leaders and political figures last year because of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi -- a U.S. resident and contributor to The Washington Post, who was killed and dismembered by a group of Saudi operatives shortly after he entered the consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

Riyadh offered various, conflicting narratives to explain his disappearance before acknowledging he was murdered in the diplomatic building, seeking to blame his death on a botched rendition operation being carried out by rogue agents.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was among several dignitaries who pulled out of the forum.