Saudi Arabia expels Canadian ambassador, freezes new trade with country

Muscat: Saudi Arabia has expelled the Canadian ambassador to the kingdom and frozen any new trade deals, after statements made by the ambassador regarding the detaining of activists in Saudi Arabia.
In a statement through the Saudi Press Agency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it was "made aware of the statement by the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Canadian Embassy in the Kingdom, on the so-called civil society activists who have been detained, urging Saudi authorities to release them immediately."
"The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed disbelief by this negative unfounded comment, which was not based in any accurate or true information. The persons referred to were lawfully detained by the Public Prosecution for committing crimes punishable by applicable law, which also guaranteed the detainees’ rights and provided them with due process during the investigation and trial," the statement said.
Saudi also called the statement "a blatant interference in the Kingdom’s domestic affairs, against basic international norms and all international protocols", adding that it "has never accepted any interference in its domestic affairs by, or orders from any country" and calling the use of the phrase "immediate release" by the ambassador was "reprehensible and unacceptable use of language between sovereign states."
"Thereby, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia recalls the Ambassador of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in Canada back to Riyadh for consultation and considers the Canadian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia as Persona-Non-Grata who must leave the Kingdom within the next 24 hours. The Kingdom will put on hold all new business and investment transactions with Canada while retaining its right to take further action," the statement added.
— With inputs from Saudi Press Agency