Saudi Arabia didn't take well on Canada's criticism on the kingdom's recent strings of arrests of Saudi rights activists, threatening to cut off its ties with its Western counterpart if they continue to meddle in its domestic affairs.
On Sunday, Saudi Arabia ordered Canadian ambassador, Dennis Horak, to leave the country in light of its recent spat with Canada.
"We consider the Canadian ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia persona non grata and order him to leave within the next 24 hours," KSA's Foreign Ministry confirmed.
Riyadh had also recalled its ambassador to Canada. Both Horak and the Saudi envoy were on leave at the time that the ministry made the announcement.
The Saudi-Canada dispute also affected the education sector. After expelling, the Canadian ambassador, KSA's Education Ministry fired up an "urgent plan" to suspend scholarships for tens of thousands of Saudi students studying in Canada, forcing them to take classes in other countries, a report indicates.
As if this show of aggravation isn't enough, Saudi's state airline, Saudia, is also ordered by the KSA government to cancel all of its flights to Toronto starting next week, a report from BBC said.
Meanwhile, Reuters said that Riyadh will cancel out its trade and economic deals with Canada which could affect its existing USD$4 billion trade agreement with the Western country.
Focus of Rift
Last week, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights revealed that there were at least 15 human rights activists arrested by the Saudi government since May.
Eight of the arrested individuals have been released from detention with pending "procedural reviews." The remaining seven detainees are currently nowhere to be found.
The persons of interests reportedly hold critical views towards the government. Their arrests were on the grounds of having "suspicious contact with foreign parties," while others for the suspicion of committing serious crimes against the state.
"We urge the Government of Saudi Arabia to unconditionally release all human rights defenders and activists who have been detained for their peaceful human rights work, including their decades-long campaigns for the lifting of the driving ban for women," the official press release from OHCR reads.
Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, was quick to point out the issue, condemning the kingdom on its actions.
On Twitter, Minister Freeland called for the "immediate release" of the detained activists, including a certain Samar Badawi.
Freeland's counterpart, meanwhile, expressed "disbelief" at the minister's comment, saying it is "not based [on] any accurate or true information."
The war on words quickly caught fire, causing the abovementioned scenarios to take place.
