Saudi Arabia freezes new trade deals with Canada, recalls envoy

Saudi Arabia on Sunday recalled its ambassador in Canada and froze all new trade and investment deals with the country after the Canadian foreign ministry called on Riyadh to free jailed civil rights activists.

Besides this, Saudi Arabia has also withdrawn its envoy to Ottawa.
"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 Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement, reports The Hill.

As part of its statement, Saudi Arabia has given its Canada's ambassador 24 hours to leave the country.

"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 added.

This comes after the Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland urged authorities in Saudi Arabia to release from prison human rights activist Samar Badawi, the sister of Saudi activist and writer Raif Badawi, who is currently in prison.

"Very alarmed to learn that Samar Badawi, Raif Badawi's sister, has been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia. 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.

(ANI)