Saudi Arabia continues to bring forth the heat on Canada as the Islamic State makes new moves to hurt its Western counterpart, this time involving the welfare of the kingdom's ailing citizens. Meanwhile, Canada's border neighbor, USA, remains nonchalant on the on-going feud, saying it doesn't want to get involved in any means possible.
A report from CNBC confirms that KSA has put on hold all the medical treatment programs currently conducted in Canada.
Riyadh is also making the necessary preparations for the withdrawal of all its patients who are getting treatment from Canadian hospitals. According to a state-run press agency on Wednesday, and as cited by the news outlet, Saudi Arabia is moving its ailing citizens to other hospitals outside of the North American country.
In a statement released by the Saudi Health Attaché in the US and Canada, Dr. Fahd bin Ibrahim Al Tamimi, this decision from the kingdom is in line of its aims to "ensure the safety of Saudi patients who receive treatment in Canada with their companions, and to complete their treatment elsewhere."
This recent move from the Saudi government adds to the strings of events showing Riyadh's displease over Canada.
In a previous report, it was revealed that the Islamic nation has recalled its own envoy in Ottawa, all the while, expelling Canada's ambassador in the country.
"We consider the Canadian ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia persona non grata and order him to leave within the next 24 hours," the foreign ministry of KSA said.
Riyadh had also cancelled all flight operations of its own airline, Saudia, to Toronto. Saudi students in Canada were also ordered by the kingdom to pack up and leave the adoptive country and finish their education elsewhere.
On the trade and economic front, the Saudi family had also reportedly pulled the plug on the trade and investments deals it signed earlier with Canada.
Meanwhile, a report from Global News indicated the USA's inactive stance towards the escalating situation its neighbor is currently in.
Instead, the White House urged both Canada and Saudi Arabia to seek resolution on the conflict "diplomatically."
"Both sides need to diplomatically resolve this together. We can't do it for them; they need to resolve it together," the statement from the US State Department reads.
The heated row between the two countries all began with a tweet from Canada's foreign ministry, headed by Chrystia Freeland.
In a Twitter post, the Canadian minister expressed concern surrounding the reports about Saudi's alleged abuse of human and women's rights.
Prior to this, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights released findings pointing out the Saudi government's arrest of at least 15 activists since May.
At least half of the detained individuals were already released with pending "procedural reviews," but the whereabouts of the remaining prisoners are yet to be known.
