The Australian government has decided it is “no longer appropriate” to attend a summit in Saudi Arabia in light of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Australia’s foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, announced on Saturday that news of the arrests of 18 Saudi nationals implicated in Khashoggi’s death and the removal of senior Saudi government officials had caused the government to pull out of next week’s Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh.

Payne said she had conveyed to the Saudi ambassador to Australia earlier in the week the government’s “serious concern” for Khashoggi’s welfare and also directed the Australian ambassador in Riyadh to raise the matter with the Saudi government.

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