Canada and Saudi Arabia rekindle diplomatic ties after 2018 spat | Political news

The diplomatic rift began in 2018, with tweets from the Canadian Foreign Office denouncing human rights in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia and Canada have announced they will resume diplomatic relations, ending a bitter 2018 dispute over human rights.

In separate statements, the two countries said they would “restore the level of diplomatic relations” that existed before the 2018 dispute.

Each side will also name a new ambassador. Saudi Arabia has yet to announce its selection, while Canada has named Jean-Philippe Linteau, a longtime member of its Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

The move was prompted by discussions between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum in November. Canada cited “mutual respect and common interests” as motivation for rekindling ties.

Diplomatic ties were first severed in 2018 when Saudi Arabia arrested several high-profile human rights activists.

They included Samar Badawi, whose brother, dissident Raif Badawi, was also in jail at the time. His wife and his children had fled to Canada, where they were granted citizenship.

The new arrests sparked a flurry of social media posts in support of the activists, first of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canadaafter the Ministry of Foreign Affairs itself.

“Canada is gravely concerned by the additional arrests of civil society and women’s rights activists in #SaudiArabia, including Samar Badawi,” the ministry said. wrote on his official Twitter page in August 2018.

“We urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and all other peaceful human rights activists.”

Those messages caused a Twitter feud with Saudi Arabiawhich replied that Canada’s interference in its affairs was a “violation of the principle of sovereignty”.

“The Canadian position is a serious and unacceptable violation of the Kingdom’s laws and procedures,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry wrote in response, in a series of messages announcing that it would withdraw 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 cool, particularly after allegations in October 2018 that journalist Jamal Khashoggi had been murdered at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul.

Canada, among other countries, denounced the assassination as an “unconscionable attack on freedom of expression” and imposed sanctions against Saudi nationals linked to the attack.

But recently, Saudi Arabia has been on the world stage through a series of overtures. In March, the kingdom restored diplomatic relations with Iran in a Chinese-brokered deal, and this month resumed ties with Syria. He also hosted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for Friday’s Arab League summit.

Saudi Arabia has also worked to broker peace in Sudan, arranging talks between representatives of the country’s two warring generals. The United States has also been a part of those negotiations, and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has also met with Saudi officials to discuss peace in Yemen.