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British officials flew to Saudi Arabia for trade meetings during an investment conference just days after the gruesome murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, despite Theresa May insisting no representatives or ministers would attend.

Senior officials from the Department of International Trade (DIT), including Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner, and representatives from the Foreign Office held meetings with businessmen during the three-day conference in Riyadh, while the Government officially sought to distance itself from the event.

Labour said the revelation was “disgraceful” and “typical of the government’s hypocrisy over the Khashoggi murder”.

The Mirror has learned officials from the Department for International Trade, and more junior officials from the Foreign Office, did travel to the oil-rich state in the days leading up to the conference.

Along with other UK officials already based in Saudi Arabia, they held meetings at hotels close to the three-day ‘Future Investment Initiative’ (FII) conference, which saw $50 billion worth of international deals signed with Saudi Arabia.

(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

The officials included Simon Penney, whom Dr Fox had appointed Trade Commissioner for the Middle East in May, and arrived in Riyadh in early October. He was accompanied by two aides.

While no British representatives went into the conference itself, or the Ritz Carlton hotel where it was held, the Mirror understands officials were on ‘the fringes’ of the conference, holding meetings at nearby restaurants and hotels.

They met with businessmen - who had travelled from across the Middle East and from the UK to attend the conference - at the Crowne Plaza Hotel and the Hyatt Regency Hotel, both of which are within 20 minutes’ drive of the venue.

DIT say their officials only held meetings in the British Embassy.

It’s not known what was discussed at the meetings, or whether any deals were agreed.

Labour's Emily Thornberry said: “This is typical of the government’s hypocrisy over the Khashoggi murder, saying one thing and then doing another. "

(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

The Shadow Foreign Secretary said it wasn’t just the "disgraceful and secret" meetings held by officials.

“It is also the fact that all their loudly-expressed determination to find out who ordered this killing goes out of the window the more the evidence points to Crown Prince Bin Salman,” she said.

“They need to stop the hypocrisy and treat this murder with the seriousness it deserves."

A government spokesman said: “As the Foreign Secretary has said, the Government condemns Jamal Khashoggi’s killing in the strongest possible terms.

“No UK official attended the FII conference. Visits by officials from the UK will continue to play a role in maintaining our relationship with Saudi Arabia including in how we work together to tackle regional threats, and support mutual national security and prosperity interests.”

The summit came at the peak of international uproar over Mr Khashoggi's death and dismemberment, apparently at the hands of Saudi government agents in the country’s consulate in Istanbul.

Mr Khashoggi, a journalist and dissident who criticised the kingdom's rulers, was murdered moments after he entered Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

(Image: X80001)

It is said that he was strangled before his body was dismembered and removed from the consulate.

His remains have not been found. There has been speculation in Turkey that his body was dissolved in acid.

The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt both insisted at the time that the UK had withdrawn from the so-called ‘Davos in the Desert’ summit as questions mounted over Saudi Arabia’s alleged involvement in the murder.

And International Trade Secretary Liam Fox withdrew from a planned visit, saying the “time was not right” for him to attend.

Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions on October 24th, the second day of the conference, Theresa May said: “I can tell the House that no Minister or official is attending the investment conference in Saudi Arabia.”

Two days earlier, Jeremy Hunt told Parliament Liam Fox had withdrawn from the conference, and that it was “highly unlikely” that any UK official would attend the conference.

And dozens of high profile business leaders, including representatives from HSBC, Siemens, Mastercard and Google all pulled out.

IMF managing director Christine Lagarde, World Bank president Jim Yong Kim and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also withdrew from the event.