FILE PHOTO: Chief Executive Ulrich Spiesshofer of Swiss power technology and automation group ABB gestures as he addresses a news conference to present the company's full year results, in Zurich, Switzerland, February 8, 2018. REUTERS/Moritz Hager

ZURICH (Reuters) - ABB Chief Executive Ulrich Spiesshofer will not attend an investment conference in Saudi Arabia next week, the Swiss engineering group said on Friday.

Spiesshofer joins other world business and political leaders who have withdrawn amid concern about a journalist’s fate. ABB did not give a reason for his decision.

The list of senior executives who have canceled attendance at Riyadh’s Future Investment Initiative conference is growing, with Airbus defense chief Dirk Hoke and Deutsche Bank’s CEO Christian Sewing also dropping out following Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance.