SAUDI TAKES DOWN PHOTO OF ‘PLANE ATTACK’ ON CANADA

RIYADH:Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic spat with Canada prompted a tweet that touched a raw nerve in the kingdom: a photomontage of an Air Canada plane heading toward the iconic CN Tower in Toronto.

The Saudi Ministry of Media ordered the Twitter account of the Infographic KSA youth group that posted the photo shut down, apparently unamused by its invocation of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York.

The photo’s English-language caption read: “Sticking one’s nose where it doesn’t belong! As the Arabic saying goes: He who intervenes with what doesn’t concern him finds what doesn’t please him.”

The Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing sources, that Saudi Arabia is selling Canadian assets.

The Saudi central bank and state pension funds have instructed their overseas asset managers to dispose of their Canadian equities, bonds and cash holdings “no matter the cost”, according to the report.

The sell-off began on Tuesday and underlines how the Saudi government is flexing its financial and political muscle to warn foreign powers against what it regards as interference in its sovereign affairs, the newspaper said. Saudi Arabia froze new trade and investment with Canada and expelled the Canadian ambassador this week, in an escalating row after Ottawa urged the country to free rights activists.