Canada and Saudi Arabia rekindle diplomatic ties after 2018 spat
Diplomatic rift began in 2018, with tweets from Canada’s State Department denouncing human rights in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia and Canada have both announced they will resume diplomatic relations, ending a bitter dispute over human rights in 2018.
In separate statements, the two countries said they would “restore the level of diplomatic relations” that existed before the 2018 spat.
Each party will also appoint a new ambassador. Saudi Arabia has yet to announce its roster, while Canada has a name Jean-Philippe Linteaua longtime member of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
The move was prompted by discussions between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum in November. Canada quoted “mutual respect and common interestsas motivation for the renewed ties.
Diplomatic relations were first broken in 2018 when Saudi Arabia arrested several high-profile female human rights activists.
Among them, Samar Badawi, whose brother, the dissident Raif Badawi, was also imprisoned at the time. His wife and children had fled to Canada, where they were granted citizenship.
The new arrests sparked a series of social media posts in support of the activists, first from the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairsthan the Ministry of Foreign Affairs itself.
“Canada is deeply concerned about additional arrests of civil society and women’s rights activists in #SaudiArabia, including Samar Badawi,” the ministry said. wrote on his official Twitter page August 2018.
“We urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and all other peaceful human rights activists.”
Those messages led to a Twitter feud with Saudi Arabiawho replied that Canada’s interference in its affairs was a “breach of the principle of sovereignty”.
“Canadian’s position is a serious and unacceptable violation of the laws and procedures of the Kingdom,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry wrote in response, in a series of messages announcing that it would recall its ambassador to Canada.
It also declared Canadian Ambassador Dennis Horak “persona non grata” and gave him 24 hours to leave the country.
Relations between Canada and Saudi Arabia remained frosty, especially after allegations in October 2018 that journalist Jamal Khashoggi had been killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Canada, among others, denounced the killing as an “unscrupulous attack on freedom of expression” and imposed sanctions on Saudi nationals linked to the attack.
But lately, Saudi Arabia has been facing a series of rapprochements on the world stage. In March, the kingdom restored diplomatic ties with Iran in a China-brokered deal, and this month resumed ties with Syria. It also hosted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for Friday’s Arab League summit.
Saudi Arabia has also been working to broker peace in Sudan, holding talks between representatives of the country’s two warring generals. The United States was also a party to those negotiations, and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has also met with Saudi officials to discuss peace in Yemen.