The rich kids of Saudi Arabia know how to live, and they love to flaunt their luxurious lifestyles all over social media.
SAUDI Arabia said Monday it was expelling the Canadian ambassador and had recalled its envoy while freezing all new trade, in protest at Ottawa’s vigorous calls for the release of jailed activists.
The kingdom gave the Canadian ambassador 24 hours to leave the country, in an abrupt rupture of relations over what it slammed as “interference” in its internal affairs.
The move, which underscores a newly aggressive foreign policy led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, comes after Canada demanded the immediate release of human rights campaigners swept up in a recent crackdown.
“The Canadian position is an overt and blatant interference in the internal affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the Saudi foreign ministry tweeted.
“The kingdom announces that it is recalling its ambassador to Canada for consultation. We consider the Canadian ambassador to the kingdom persona non grata and order him to leave within the next 24 hours.”
“The Canadian position is a grave and unacceptable violation of the Kingdom’s laws and procedures. In addition to violate the Kingdom’s judiciary and a breach of the principle of sovereignty.
“KSA through its history has not and will not accept any form of interfering in the internal affairs of the Kingdom. The KSA considers the Canadian position an attack on the KSA and requires a firm stance to deter who attempts to undermine the sovereignty of the KSA.
“Any other attempt to interfere with our internal affairs from #Canada, means that we are allowed to interfere in Canada’s internal affairs.”
#Statement | The negative and surprising attitude of #Canada is an entirely false claim and utterly incorrect. — Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) August 5, 2018
The ministry also announced “the freezing of all new trade and investment transactions with Canada while retaining its right to take further action”.
Canada last week said it was “gravely concerned” over a new wave of arrests of women and human rights campaigners in the kingdom, including award-winning gender rights activist Samar Badawi.
Canada is gravely concerned about additional arrests of civil society and women’s rights activists in #SaudiArabia, including Samar Badawi. We urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and all other peaceful #humanrights activists. — Foreign Policy CAN (@CanadaFP) August 3, 2018
The move on Sunday came after Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland tweeted on Thursday that Canada was “very alarmed” to learn Saudi authorities have arrested Samar Badawi, the sister of jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, along with prominent activist Nassima al-Sada.
“Canada stands together with the Badawi family in this difficult time, and we continue to strongly call for the release of both Raif and Samar Badawi,” Freeland tweeted.
“We urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and all other peaceful #humanrights activists,” the foreign ministry tweeted on Friday.
Badawi was arrested along with fellow campaigner Nassima al-Sadah last week, the latest victims of what Human Rights Watch called an “unprecedented government crackdown on the women’s rights movement”.
The arrests come weeks after more than a dozen women’s right campaigners were detained and accused of undermining national security and collaborating with enemies of the state. Some have since been released.
The Saudi foreign ministry voiced anger over the Canadian statement. “Using the phrase ‘immediately release’ in the Canadian statement is very unfortunate, reprehensible, and unacceptable in relations between States,” the ministry tweeted.
Prince Mohammed, heir to the region’s most powerful throne, has introduced a string of reforms such as lifting a decades-long ban on women drivers in a bid to improve the kingdom’s austere image as it prepares for a post-oil era.
But the 32-year-old has simultaneously pursued an aggressive foreign policy, while cracking down on dissent and cementing his grip on power.
“The rupture in Saudi diplomatic relations with Canada reinforces how the ‘new’ Saudi Arabia that Mohammed bin Salman is putting together is in no mood to tolerate any form of criticism of its handling of domestic affairs,” said Kristian Ulrichsen, a fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute in the US.
In April, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed his “serious concern” over the continued jailing of Badawi to Saudi King Salman.
Badawi’s wife Ensaf Haidar has been granted asylum by Canada, where she is raising their three children now aged 14, 13 and 10 as a single mother.
Riyadh’s expulsion of the Canadian ambassador was meant to send a strong message to other critical Western governments, observers say.
“Canada is easier to cut ties with than the rest,” Bessma Momani, a professor at Canada’s University of Waterloo, told AFP.
“There isn’t a strong bilateral trade relationship and poking the Trudeau government likely resonates with Saudi’s hawkish regional allies. At jeopardy, are the tens of thousands of Saudi students in Canada.”
Image copyright AFP Image caption Ms Badawi, pictured here with Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton, received an International Women of Courage Award in 2012
Saudi Arabia has said it is freezing all new trade and investment with Canada over its "interference" in the Gulf Kingdom's internal affairs.
In a series of tweets, the Saudi foreign ministry said it was expelling the Canadian ambassador and recalling its own envoy in Canada.
The move comes after Canada said it was "gravely concerned" about the arrest of several human rights activists.
Among those arrested was Saudi-American women's rights campaigner Samar Badawi.
Ms Badawi had been calling for an end to Saudi Arabia's male guardianship system.
What did Saudi Arabia say?
The foreign ministry said it "will not accept any form of interfering" in its internal affairs.
It referred to last week's statement by the Canadian foreign ministry, which urged Riyadh to "immediately release" civil society and women's rights activists.
Skip Twitter post by @CanadaFP Canada is gravely concerned about additional arrests of civil society and women’s rights activists in #SaudiArabia, including Samar Badawi. We urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and all other peaceful #humanrights activists. — Foreign Policy CAN (@CanadaFP) August 3, 2018 Report
The Saudi ministry described Canada's position as "an attack" on the kingdom, saying it would now:
Freeze all new trade and investment transactions between the two countries
Consider the Canadian ambassador persona non grata and order the envoy to leave within 24 hours
Recall the Saudi envoy in Canada
Reserve the right to take further action
Canada's government has so far made no public comments on Saudi Arabia's diplomatic measures.
The arrests are at odds with the progressive image the government has projected this year under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
He drew widespread praise last year when they announced that the decades-old ban on women driving would end on 24 June.
Image copyright EPA
Saudi women's rights activists, including those who have been imprisoned for defying the ban, had celebrated the decision.
But they also vowed to continue campaigning for the end of other laws they consider discriminatory.
Women must adhere to a strict dress code, be separated from unrelated men, and be accompanied by or receive written permission from a male guardian - usually a father, husband or brother - if they want to travel, work or access healthcare.
The Saudi crown prince has also spearheaded a sweeping anti-corruption drive which resulted in dozens of princes, government ministers and businessmen being detained in November and generated an estimated $107bn ($80bn) in settlements.
Riyadh halts fresh trade ties and accuses Ottawa of ‘blatant interference’ in its affairs
Saudi Arabia has ordered the Canadian ambassador to leave the country and suspended new trade and investment with Ottawa after Canada’s foreign ministry urged Riyadh to release arrested civil rights activists.
A statement released by the Saudi Press Agency said the foreign ministry gave the Canadian ambassador 24 hours to leave the country and recalled its own ambassador to Canada, adding it retained “its rights to take further action”.
“The kingdom of Saudi Arabia ... will not accept interference in its internal affairs or imposed diktats from any country,” the foreign ministry tweeted.
“The kingdom announces that it is recalling its ambassador ... to Canada for consultation.”
Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) #Statement | We have been briefed by what the #Canadian foreign minister and the Canadian embassy to the #Kingdom released on what they named "civil society rights activists", and we affirm that this negative and surprising attitude is an incorrect claim.
“The Canadian position is an overt and blatant interference in the internal affairs of the Kingdom of #SaudiArabia and is in contravention of the most basic international norms and all the charters governing relations between States,” it tweeted.
The statement came after the Canadian foreign ministry and the Canadian embassy urged the Saudi authorities to “immediately release” civil rights activists.
“We urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and all other peaceful human rights activists,” the Canadian embassy tweeted on Friday.
Canadian foreign ministry officials were not available for an immediate comment on Sunday.
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Last Wednesday, Human Rights Watch said Saudi Arabia had arrested women’s rights activists Samar Badawi and Nassima al-Sadah, the latest two to be swept up in a government crackdown on activists, clerics and journalists. More than a dozen women’s rights activists have been targeted since May.
On Friday, Canada said it was “gravely concerned” about the arrests of civil society and women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia, including Badawi, the sister of jailed dissident blogger Raif Badawi.
“We urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and all other peaceful human rights activists,” Global Affairs Canada said on its Twitter feed.
Raif Badawi’s wife Ensaf Haidar lives in Canada and recently became a Canadian citizen.
Most of those arrested campaigned for the right to drive and an end to the country’s male guardianship system, which requires women to obtain the consent of a male relative for major decisions.
The Saudi statement said it confirmed its commitment to refrain from intervening in the internal matters of other countries, including Canada, and in return rejected any intervention in its domestic affairs and internal relations with its citizens.
“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,” the statement said.
Reuters contributed to this report
Saudi Arabia will suspend new trade and investment with Canada after the North American country's foreign ministry urged Riyadh to release arrested civil rights activists, it said in a statement released to the official Saudi Press Agency on Sunday.
It also gave the Canadian ambassador 24 hours to leave the country and recalled its own ambassador to Canada, the statement by the Saudi foreign ministry said, adding it retained "its rights to take further action."
The Saudi ministry had been briefed that the Canadian foreign ministry and the Canadian embassy urged the Saudi authorities to "immediately release" civil rights activists, the statement said.
Canadian foreign ministry officials were not available for an immediate comment on Sunday.
Last Wednesday, Human Rights Watch said Saudi Arabia had arrested women's rights activists Samar Badawi and Nassima al-Sadah, the latest two to be swept up in a government crackdown on activists, clerics and journalists. More than a dozen women's rights activists have been targeted since May.
On Friday, Canada said it was "gravely concerned" about the arrests of civil society and women's rights activists in Saudi Arabia, including Badawi, the sister of jailed dissident blogger Raif Badawi.
"We urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and all other peaceful human rights activists," Global Affairs Canada said on its Twitter feed.
Raif Badawi's wife Ensaf Haidar lives in Canada and recently became a Canadian citizen.
Most of those arrested campaigned for the right to drive and an end to the country's male guardianship system, which requires women to obtain the consent of a male relative for major decisions.
The Saudi statement said it confirmed its commitment to refrain from intervening in the internal matters of other countries, including Canada, and in return rejected any intervention in its domestic affairs and internal relations with its citizens.
"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," the statement said.
In 2014, the Canadian unit of U.S. weapons maker General Dynamics Corp won a contract worth up to $13 billion to build light-armored vehicles for Saudi Arabia, in what Ottawa said at the time was the largest advanced manufacturing export win in Canadian history.
