Saudi Arabia and Canada agree to restore full diplomatic relations

Saudi Arabia and Canada have agreed to restore full diplomatic ties nearly five years after Riyadh downgraded ties with Ottawa over criticism of the kingdom’s human rights record.

The agreement comes after a series of settlement disputes by Saudi Arabia, which marked the first few years of day-to-day ruler Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s rise to power, as Riyadh now focuses on its economic reform plans and attracting foreign investment. focuses attention.

In 2018, a dispute with Ottawa erupted after the Canadian embassy in Riyadh wrote a Twitter post in Arabic criticizing the detention of activists.

Saudi Arabia cut off trade deals with Canada, recalled its ambassador and barred the Canadian ambassador, who was traveling at the time, from returning. Saudi Arabia also canceled a scholarship program under which thousands of its students attended Canadian universities.

The Saudi and Canadian foreign ministries said in similar statements on Wednesday that both “seek to restore diplomatic relations between the two countries on the basis of mutual respect and common interests”.

It was not clear whether Ottawa would tone down its criticism of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, but Dennis Horak, who was Canada’s ambassador at the time of the controversy, told broadcaster CBC that “you can walk and be sad at the same time.” can chew”.

Prince Mohammed is popular among young Saudi Arabs for introducing social reforms that ended the religious police’s control of public life, but has cracked down on those dissatisfied with the measures.

The dispute with Canada was widely seen at the time as another erratic outburst by Prince Mohammed, who had led military intervention against Iran-backed rebels in Yemen and a regional boycott of Qatar. They also detained the Prime Minister of Lebanon and forced him to resign on air.

Months after a dispute with Canada, Saudi Arabian commentator Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul, with the CIA later concluding that Prince Mohammed was responsible. He denied involvement, but the assassination led to the crown prince being banished from the western capital.

In recent months, the kingdom has emerged as a regional troublemaker by instigating an end to the war in Yemen, restoring ties with arch-rival Iran and leading ceasefire efforts in Sudan with the US, drawing praise from Washington. sought to change his image. Riyadh has also driven a campaign to normalize regional relations with Syria’s Bashar al-Assad.

Horak said it was “about time” that Saudi Arabia and Canada restored ties, the CBC reported. “He’s an important player and it’s hard to ignore him,” he told the Canadian broadcaster. “And I think having full diplomatic relations with them gives us an opportunity to make our voices heard at a senior level, which is what matters in Saudi Arabia.”