Saudi Arabia hits back at Canada’s interference
RIYADH EXPELS ENVOY, FREEZES TRADE, RELOCATES SAUDI STUDENTS AND PATIENTS
Saudi Arabia expelled the Canadian ambassador yesterday and froze “all new business” with Ottawa over its call for the “immediate release” of activist Samar Badawi.
Riyadh recalled its ambassador to Ottawa and ordered the Canadian envoy to leave the country within 24 hours. The kingdom also suspended scholarships to Canada and will relocate students already there, state media said. About 7,000 Saudis study in Canada. Reports also said that Saudi patients in Canadian hospitals were also being moved.
The UAE has voiced its solidarity with Riyadh. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation expressed its utmost denunciation of any interference in Saudi Arabia’s domestic affairs, and said that it completely supports measures and policies adopted by the Saudi government. Bahrain also offered its full support to Saudi Arabia.
Saudia suspends flights
The Saudi Foreign Ministry cited remarks last week by Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and the Canadian embassy in Riyadh criticising the arrests of women’s rights activists including Badawi. The arrests were in line with Saudi laws, and those detained were provided with due process during investigation and trial, the foreign ministry said.
Saudi state airline Saudia said in a post on its official Twitter account last night that it was suspending flights to and from Toronto.
Ayham Kamel, the head of the Eurasia Group’s Mideast practice, said Canada should have expected repercussions, given Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman’s assertiveness.
The Canadian position is an overt and blatant interference in the internal affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and is in contravention of the most basic international norms.” Statement by Saudi Foreign Ministry
Saudi Arabia’s suspension of diplomatic ties and new trade dealings with Canada in response to Ottawa’s call for the “immediate release” of activist Samar Badawi, is a dramatic escalation that highlights the kingdom’s increasingly assertive foreign policy under Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman.
Riyadh ordered the Canadian ambassador to leave the country and recalled its ambassador to Ottawa over Canada’s “blatant interference” in its affairs, according to the Saudi foreign ministry. It gave Dennis Horak 24 hours to leave the country, adding it retained “its rights to take further action”.
The statements came after Canadian foreign minister Chrystia Freeland and the Canadian embassy in Riyadh called on the Saudi authorities to “immediately release” Badawi and other activists. Badawi is a Canadian citizen whose brother and blogger Raif Badawi is already in jail in the kingdom.
“Using the phrase [immediately release] in the Canadian statement is very unfortunate, reprehensible, and unacceptable in relations between states,” the Saudi foreign ministry said in a series of tweets. “The Canadian position is an overt and blatant interference in the internal affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia... Any further step from the Canadian side in that direction will be considered as acknowledgment of our right to interfere in the Canadian domestic affairs,” it said.
Riyadh was also suspending educational exchange programmes with Canada and moving Saudi scholarship recipients there to other countries. Riyadh will “stop training, scholarship and fellowship programmes” there, state-run Al Akhbariya TV reported.
Plans to relocate 7,000 students and their families in Canada to other countries, primarily the US and Britain, were already underway, education ministry official Jassem Al Harbash said. These students, many of whom are enrolled in graduate or medical school, are accompanied by more than 5,000 dependents. “The US and UK will get the lion’s share and we’ve begun coordinating with the missions there,” Harbash said. Ireland, Australia, Japan and Singapore were also on the list of potential destinations, he said.
A spokeswoman for Freeland said Canada was “seeking greater clarity” about the matter. “We are seriously concerned by these media reports and are seeking greater clarity on the recent statement from Saudi Arabia,” said Marie-Pier Baril.
More assertive role
Under Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, Saudi Arabia has reacted more assertively against countries that it perceives as intervening in its internal affairs. In little more than a year, the kingdom has led a four-country coalition that severed ties with Qatar, recalled its ambassador to Germany and cut back its trade dealings with some German companies amid a diplomatic row.
In the series of tweets yesterday, the foreign ministry urged other nations to stay away from the kingdom’s internal affairs. “Canada and all other nations need to know that they can’t claim to be more concerned than the kingdom over its own citizens,” the ministry said.
Ayham Kamel, head of Eurasia Group’s Mideast practice,
said Canada should have expected the repercussions. “The win [for the Saudis] is that everyone will get the message,” Kamel said. “This is not just to Canada’s mailbox. It is about sending a message to the West that you don’t get to lecture us.”
Two months ago, Saudi women were given the right to drive and Prince Mohammad Bin Salman has since initiated a series of liberal reforms in the kingdom.