Saudi Arabia said on Sunday that it is ordering Canada's ambassador to leave the country and freezing all new trade and investment transactions with Canada in a spat over human rights.

"We consider the Canadian ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia persona non grata and order him to leave within the next 24 hours," Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry said on Twitter.

<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Statement?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Statement</a> | KSA through its history has not and will not accept any form of interfering in the internal affairs of the Kingdom. The KSA considers the Canadian position an attack on the KSA and requires a firm stance to deter who attempts to undermine the sovereignty of the KSA. —@KSAmofaEN This is quoted by the Saudi statement...which says the people involved were arrested on charges of “committing crimes that should be stopped” and that their rights were “assured” in the process <a href="https://t.co/cgVp6QTiZD">https://t.co/cgVp6QTiZD</a> —@NahlahAyed

The ministry added that Saudi Arabia is recalling its ambassador to Canada. Both the Saudi and Canadian ambassadors were away on leave at the time of the announcement.

The dispute appears to be over a tweet on Friday from Global Affairs Canada.

"Canada is gravely concerned about additional arrests of civil society and women's rights activists in Saudi Arabia, including Samar Badawi. We urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and all other peaceful human rights activists," the tweet said.

'Unfortunate, reprehensible, and unacceptable'

The Saudi Foreign Ministry called the use of "immediately release" in Canada's tweet "unfortunate, reprehensible, and unacceptable in relations between states."

It dismissed Canada's characterization of the activists as "an incorrect claim" and said Canada's attitude was "surprising."

<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Statement?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Statement</a> | The Canadian position is an overt and blatant interference in the internal affairs of the Kingdom of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SaudiArabia?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SaudiArabia</a> and is in contravention of the most basic international norms and all the charters governing relations between States. —@KSAmofaEN

"Any other attempt to interfere with our internal affairs from Canada, means that we are allowed to interfere in Canada's internal affairs," it said.

Saudi state television later reported that the Education Ministry was coming up with an "urgent plan" to move thousands of Saudi scholarship students out of Canadian schools to take classes in other countries.

The sudden and unexpected dispute bore the hallmarks of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's 32-year-old future leader, whose recent foreign policy exploits include the war in Yemen, the boycott of Qatar and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri's surprise resignation broadcast during a visit to the kingdom. Hariri later rescinded the resignation, widely believed to be orchestrated by Riyadh, and returned to Beirut.

'Canada will always stand up for ... human rights'

A spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland issued a brief response to the Saudi complaint on Sunday evening.

"We are seriously concerned by these media reports and are seeking greater clarity on the recent statement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," said Marie-Pier Baril.

"Canada will always stand up for the protection of human rights, very much including women's rights, and freedom of expression around the world. Our government will never hesitate to promote these values and believes that this dialogue is critical to international diplomacy."

Very alarmed to learn that Samar Badawi, Raif Badawi’s sister, has been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia. Canada stands together with the Badawi family in this difficult time, and we continue to strongly call for the release of both Raif and Samar Badawi. —@cafreeland

Saudi Arabia said it is also freezing all new trade and investment transactions with Canada and "reserves its right to take further action." Saudi Arabia is one of Canada's largest export markets in the region, and some 10 per cent of Canadian crude oil imports come from Saudi Arabia.

It said it will not accept any form of interference in its internal affairs and considers the Canadian position "an attack" requiring a firm stance to deter "attempts to undermine the sovereignty" of Saudi Arabia.

In neighbouring United Arab Emirates, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said Monday on Twitter that his country stands with Saudi Arabia "in defending its sovereignty." Bahrain's foreign minister made similar comments in support of Riyadh.

Crackdown on human rights

Amnesty International has said Badawi, the sister of jailed blogger Raif Badawi, was recently detained along with Nassima al-Sada, another prominent female activist.

The human rights group's Middle East research director described the arrests as part of a larger crackdown on human rights in Saudi Arabia.

Jackie Hansen, a gender rights campaigner for Amnesty International Canada, said last Thursday that the circumstances of the arrests were still unclear and there was no news of any charges.

Badawi's brother was arrested in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and later sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in jail for criticizing clerics.

50 lashes

He received 50 lashes in January 2015 during a public flogging but is not believed to have received any further corporal punishment since then.

His wife,​ Ensaf Haidar, and three children live in Quebec and became Canadian citizens last month.

Samar Badawi, centre, is seen with Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama in 2012. (Gary Cameron/Reuters)

Freeland said on social media last Thursday that she was "alarmed" to hear of Samar Badawi's arrest.

"Canada stands together with the Badawi family in this difficult time, and we continue to strongly call for the release of both Raif and Samar Badawi," she wrote on Twitter.

Germany recently targeted

​Bessma Momani, a political science professor at the University of Waterloo, believes the apparent diplomatic moves by Riyadh were about more than the Badawi case.

"I think one has to stand back and see that there's been a lot of heat on Saudi Arabia, particularly its treatment of civil society actors and and human rights activities," she said. "I think Canada is literally made to be an example."

We’ve seen a lot of support for Saudi dissidents in the UK, Canada, the US Congress, & others. But Canada is easier to cut ties with than the rest. There isn’t a strong bilateral trade relationship & poking Trudeau government likely resonates with Saudi’s hawkish regional allies. —@b_momani

Saudi Arabia ended in June its long practice of not allowing women to drive automobiles in the Sunni kingdom. However, supporters of women's rights were arrested just weeks before the ban was lifted, signalling that only King Salman and his powerful son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, will decide the pace of change.

Saudi women still need permission from male guardians to travel abroad or marry.

The Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is shown in Ottawa on Sunday. Saudi Arabia says it is ordering Canada's ambassador to leave the country. (David Kawai/Canadian Press)

Germany similarly has found itself targeted by the kingdom in recent months over comments by its officials on the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

It isn't immediately clear what new business could be affected between the two countries. Bilateral trade reached $3.9 billion Cdn in 2016, with tanks and fighting vehicles among the top Canadian exports to the kingdom, according to government statistics.

Saudi Arabia in recent years has expelled Iran's ambassador over attacks on its diplomatic posts following its 2016 execution of a prominent Shia cleric.

With files from CBC News, Reuters and The Associated Press</s>OTTAWA — Saudi Arabia said Sunday it is ordering Canada's ambassador to leave the country and freezing all new trade and investment transactions with Canada in a spat over human rights.

"We consider the Canadian ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia persona non grata and order him to leave within the next 24 hours," Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry said on Twitter. And the ministry said Saudi Arabia is recalling its ambassador to Canada in a dispute that appears to be over a tweet on Friday from Global Affairs Canada.

"Canada is gravely concerned about additional arrests of civil society and women's rights activists in Saudi Arabia, including Samar Badawi. We urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and all other peaceful human rights activists," the Canadian tweet said.

The Saudi foreign ministry called the use of "immediately release" in Canada's tweet "unfortunate, reprehensible, and unacceptable in relations between states." It called Canada's characterization of the activists "an incorrect claim" and called Canada's attitude "surprising."

"Any other attempt to interfere with our internal affairs from Canada, means that we are allowed to interfere in Canada's internal affairs," it said.

Global Affairs Canada told The Canadian Press on Sunday night it was aware of the issue but offered no immediate comment.

Saudi Arabia also said it was freezing all new trade and investment transactions with Canada and "reserves its right to take further action."

It said it will not accept any form of interference in its internal affairs and considers the Canadian position "an attack" requiring a firm stance to deter who "attempts to undermine the sovereignty of the KSA."</s>Saudi Arabia has expelled Canada’s ambassador in Riyadh over what officials called “blatant interference in the Kingdom’s domestic affairs.

The Canadian ambassador has been declared a persona non grata and has been given 24 hours to leave the country, the Saudi Press Agency statement added.

According to a statement released to the official Saudi Press Agency by the Foreign Ministry, authorities

 gave the Canadian ambassador 24 hours to leave the country and recalled its own ambassador to Canada.

The Saudi ministry had been briefed that the Canadian foreign ministry and the Canadian embassy urged

 the Saudi authorities to “immediately release” civil rights activists, the ministry said.

Canadian foreign ministry officials were not available for an immediate comment on Sunday.

 Last Wednesday, Human Rights Watch said Saudi Arabia had arrested women’s rights activists Samar Badawi

 and Nassima al-Sadah, the latest two to be swept up in a government crackdown on activists, clerics

 and journalists.

More than a dozen women’s rights activists have been targeted since May.

On Friday, Canada said it was “gravely concerned” about the arrests of civil society and women’s rights

 activists in Saudi Arabia, including Badawi, the sister of jailed dissident blogger Raif Badawi.

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

 Global Affairs Canada said on its Twitter feed.

Raif Badawi’s wife Ensaf Haidar lives in Canada and recently became a Canadian citizen.

Most of those arrested campaigned for the right to drive and an end to the country’s male guardianship system,

 which requires women to obtain the consent of a male relative for major decisions.

The Saudi statement said it confirmed its commitment to refrain from intervening in the internal matters of

 other countries, including Canada, and in return rejected any intervention in its domestic affairs and

 internal relations with its citizens.

“Any further step from the Canadian side in that direction will be considered as acknowledgment of our right

 to interfere in the Canadian domestic affairs,” the statement said.

In 2014, the Canadian unit of U.S. weapons maker General Dynamics Corp (GD.N) won a contract worth up to 13 billion dollars to build light-armored vehicles for Saudi Arabia, in what Ottawa said at the time

 was the largest advanced manufacturing export win in Canadian history.</s>Saudi Arabia will suspend new trade and investment with Canada after that country's foreign ministry urged Riyadh to release arrested civil rights activists, it said in a statement released to the official Saudi Press Agency on Sunday.

It also gave the Canadian ambassador 24 hours to leave the country and recalled its own ambassador to Canada, the statement by the Saudi foreign ministry said, adding it "will freeze all new trade and investment transactions with Canada whilst retaining its rights to take further action."

The Saudi ministry had been briefed that the Canadian foreign ministry and the Canadian embassy urged the Saudi authorities to "immediately release" the civil rights activists, the statement said.</s>OTTAWA — Saudi Arabia said on Sunday that it is ordering Canada’s ambassador to leave the country and freezing all new trade and investment transactions with Canada in a spat over human rights.

“We consider the Canadian ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia persona non grata and order him to leave within the next 24 hours,” Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said on Twitter.

The ministry added that Saudi Arabia is recalling its ambassador to Canada in a dispute that appears to be over a tweet on Friday from Global Affairs Canada.

“Canada is gravely concerned about additional arrests of civil society and women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia, including Samar Badawi. We urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and all other peaceful human rights activists,” the Canadian tweet said.

The Saudi foreign ministry called the use of “immediately release” in Canada’s tweet “unfortunate, reprehensible, and unacceptable in relations between states.”

It dismissed Canada’s characterization of the activists as “an incorrect claim” and said Canada’s attitude was “surprising.”

“Any other attempt to interfere with our internal affairs from Canada, means that we are allowed to interfere in Canada’s internal affairs,” it said.

In an email to The Canadian Press Sunday night a spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland issued a brief response to the Saudi complaint.

“We are seriously concerned by these media reports and are seeking greater clarity on the recent statement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” said Marie-Pier Baril.

“Canada will always stand up for the protection of human rights, very much including women’s rights, and freedom of expression around the world,” she said, adding “Our government will never hesitate to promote these values and believes that this dialogue is critical to international diplomacy.”

Saudi Arabia said it was also freezing all new trade and investment transactions with Canada and “reserves its right to take further action.”

It said it will not accept any form of interference in its internal affairs and considers the Canadian position “an attack” requiring a firm stance to deter “attempts to undermine the sovereignty” of Saudi Arabia.

Amnesty International has said Badawi, the sister of jailed blogger Raif Badawi, was recently detained along with Nassima al-Sada, another prominent female activist.

The human rights group’s Middle East research director described the arrests as part of a larger crackdown on human rights in Saudi Arabia.

Jackie Hansen, a gender rights campaigner for Amnesty International Canada, said last Thursday that the circumstances of the arrests were still unclear and there was no news of any charges.

Badawi’s brother was arrested in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and later sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in jail for criticizing clerics.

He received 50 lashes in January 2015 during a public flogging but is not believed to have received any further corporal punishment since then.

His wife and three children live in Quebec and became Canadian citizens last month.

Freeland said on social media last Thursday that she was “alarmed” to hear of Samar Badawi’s arrest.

“Canada stands together with the Badawi family in this difficult time, and we continue to strongly call for the release of both Raif and Samar Badawi,” she wrote on Twitter.</s>Saudi Arabia has ordered the Canadian ambassador to leave the country and suspended new trade and investment with Ottawa after Canada’s foreign ministry urged Riyadh to release arrested civil rights activists.

A statement released by the Saudi Press Agency said the foreign ministry gave the Canadian ambassador 24 hours to leave the country and recalled its own ambassador to Canada, adding it retained “its rights to take further action”.

“The kingdom of Saudi Arabia ... will not accept interference in its internal affairs or imposed diktats from any country,” the foreign ministry tweeted.

“The kingdom announces that it is recalling its ambassador ... to Canada for consultation.”

“The Canadian position is an overt and blatant interference in the internal affairs of the Kingdom of #SaudiArabia and is in contravention of the most basic international norms and all the charters governing relations between States,” it tweeted.

The statement came after the Canadian foreign ministry and the Canadian embassy urged the Saudi authorities to “immediately release” civil rights activists.

“We urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and all other peaceful human rights activists,” the Canadian embassy tweeted on Friday.

Canadian foreign ministry officials were not available for an immediate comment on Sunday.

Last Wednesday, Human Rights Watch said Saudi Arabia had arrested women’s rights activists Samar Badawi and Nassima al-Sadah, the latest two to be swept up in a government crackdown on activists, clerics and journalists. More than a dozen women’s rights activists have been targeted since May.

On Friday, Canada said it was “gravely concerned” about the arrests of civil society and women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia, including Badawi, the sister of jailed dissident blogger Raif Badawi.

“We urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and all other peaceful human rights activists,” Global Affairs Canada said on its Twitter feed.

Raif Badawi’s wife Ensaf Haidar lives in Canada and recently became a Canadian citizen.

Most of those arrested campaigned for the right to drive and an end to the country’s male guardianship system, which requires women to obtain the consent of a male relative for major decisions.

The Saudi statement said it confirmed its commitment to refrain from intervening in the internal matters of other countries, including Canada, and in return rejected any intervention in its domestic affairs and internal relations with its citizens.

“Any further step from the Canadian side in that direction will be considered as acknowledgment of our right to interfere in the Canadian domestic affairs,” the statement said.</s>The sudden sharp response to criticism shows the limits of reforms by Saudi Arabia's 32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who runs its day-to-day government. He has launched a campaign of social and economic change, but has not eased the absolute monarchy's total ban on political activism.

In recent months Saudi Arabia has lifted a ban on women driving, but it has also arrested activists, including more than a dozen high profile campaigners for women's rights.

Riyadh recalled its own ambassador from Canada and gave the Canadian ambassador 24 hours to leave, a Saudi foreign ministry statement said late on Sunday. It retained "its rights to take further action", it added.

The announcement, carried on the official Saudi Press Agency caught diplomats in Riyadh off guard. Both the Saudi and Canadian ambassadors were away on leave when it was made.

It was not immediately clear what effect, if any, the ban on new trade would have on existing annual Saudi-Canadian trade of nearly $4 billion (£3.1 billion) and on a $13 billion defence contract.

A spokeswoman for the Canadian Foreign Ministry said Canada was "seriously concerned" about Saudi Arabia's decision, but standing its ground on human rights comments.

"Canada will always stand up for the protection of human rights, very much including women's rights, and freedom of expression around the world," said spokeswoman Marie-Pier Baril.

On Friday, Canada had expressed concern over the arrests of activists in Saudi Arabia, including prominent women's rights campaigner Samar Badawi.

"We urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and all other peaceful human rights activists," Global Affairs Canada said on its Twitter feed.

Riyadh said that amounted to "a blatant interference in the Kingdom’s domestic affairs, against basic international norms and all international protocols".

"It is quite unfortunate to see the phrase 'immediate release' in the Canadian statement, which is a reprehensible and unacceptable use of language between sovereign states."

The kingdom will suspend educational exchange programmes with Canada and move Saudi scholarship recipients to other countries, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya reported on Monday. Neighbours and allies Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates said they stood with Riyadh, although they did not announce similar measures.

Crown Prince Mohammed, as heir to the throne, is in line to become the first Saudi king from a new generation after a succession of six brothers dating to 1953. He has ambitions to diversify the economy from oil exports and ease some social restrictions. But his reforms include no changes that would liberalise a political system that allows no public dissent.

Amnesty International said the response to Canada showed that it was important Western countries not be intimidated into silence over Riyadh's treatment of dissenters.

“Instead of pursuing human rights reform, the government of Saudi Arabia has chosen to lash out with punitive measures in the face of criticism. States with significant influence in Saudi Arabia - such as the USA, UK and France - have now remained silent for far too long," said Samah Hadid, Amnesty International’s Middle East Director of Campaigns.

Riyadh has a record of responding robustly to Western criticism under Mohammed bin Salman.

In May, German magazine Der Spiegel reported that the crown prince had suspended new government contracts to German firms. Riyadh had earlier recalled its ambassador from Germany for consultations over comments the German foreign minister made about a political crisis in Lebanon. It also recalled its ambassador from Stockholm and stopped issuing business visas to Swedes in 2015 following criticism of its human rights record.

"Saudi Arabia is shooting itself in the foot. If you want to open up your country to the world, you don't start expelling ambassadors and freezing trade with countries such as Canada," said Joost Hiltermann, regional programme director for the International Crisis Group.

"They want to impose and carefully control reforms, because they are deadly afraid of bottom-up change, for example via women activists. But this gets them in trouble with their Western partners."

Saudi-Canadian trade consists largely of Saudi exports of petrochemicals, plastics and other products. In 2014, the Canadian unit of U.S. weapons maker General Dynamics Corp won a contract worth up to $13 billion to build light-armoured vehicles for Saudi Arabia, in what Ottawa said was the largest advanced manufacturing export win in Canadian history.</s>RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and Canada on Monday (Aug 6) showed no signs of backing down in an escalating row over human rights, after Riyadh abruptly cut ties over Ottawa's vigorous calls for the release of activists jailed in the kingdom.

The Saudi government expelled Canada's ambassador, giving him 24 hours to leave the country, and recalled its own envoy to Ottawa, while freezing all new trade over what it slammed as "interference" in its internal affairs.

Ottawa did not give any ground over the shock expulsion of the envoy, Dennis Horak, with Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland saying Canada would continue to defend human rights around the world.



The rupture, which underscores a newly aggressive foreign policy led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, comes after Canada denounced a new crackdown on women and human rights campaigners in the kingdom.

"The kingdom announces that it is recalling its ambassador to Canada for consultation. We consider the Canadian ambassador to the kingdom persona non grata and order him to leave within the next 24 hours," the Saudi foreign ministry tweeted early on Monday.

The ministry also announced "the freezing of all new trade and investment transactions with Canada while retaining its right to take further action".

Later on Monday, the row appeared to escalate as Riyadh said it will relocate thousands of Saudi students studying in Canada to other countries, and state airline Saudia announced it was suspending flights to and from Toronto.

A pro-government Saudi Twitter account provoked outrage when it posted - and then deleted - a 9/11-style digitally altered image showing a plane flying towards the Toronto skyline.

The account later apologised and the image was reposted with the plane removed, but screenshots of the original tweet spread quickly. Saudi Arabia's media ministry said it was investigating the incident.

Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Saudi Arabia "will deal with any interference decisively", dismissing Canada's position as "built on misleading information", in a statement carried by state media.



Last week, Canada said it was "gravely concerned" over the new wave of arrests of rights campaigners, including award-winning gender rights activist Samar Badawi, and called on Riyadh to "immediately release them."



"Canada will always stand up for human rights, in Canada and around the world, and women's rights are human rights," Freeland told an audience in Vancouver.



Samar was arrested along with fellow campaigner Nassima al-Sadah last week, the latest victims of what Human Rights Watch called an "unprecedented government crackdown on the women's rights movement".

Samar's brother, blogger Raif Badawi, was arrested in 2012 and sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in jail for "insulting Islam" in a case that sparked an international outcry.

The latest arrests come weeks after more than a dozen women's rights campaigners were detained and accused of undermining national security and collaborating with enemies of the state. Some have since been released.

Prince Mohammed, heir to the region's most powerful throne, has introduced a string of reforms such as lifting a decades-long ban on women drivers in a bid to overhaul the kingdom's austere image.



But the 32-year-old has simultaneously pursued a hawkish foreign policy - including leading a blockade of neighbouring Qatar and a bombing campaign against Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen - while cracking down on dissent at home.

The United Arab Emirates, a strong regional ally, supported the Saudi response to Canada, with a senior government official calling Ottawa's behavior "unacceptable."

In April, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed his "serious concern" over the continued jailing of Raif Badawi to Saudi King Salman.



Badawi's wife Ensaf Haidar has been granted asylum by Canada, where she is raising their three children.



"It is now time for other governments to join Canada in increasing the pressure on Saudi Arabia to release all prisoners of conscience immediately and unconditionally," said Samah Hadid, Amnesty International's Middle East campaigns director.

But Riyadh's singling out of Canada is aimed at strongly discouraging other critical Western governments from speaking out, observers say.

"Canada is easier to cut ties with than the rest," Bessma Momani, a professor at Canada's University of Waterloo, told AFP.

"There isn't a strong bilateral trade relationship and poking the Trudeau government likely resonates with Saudi's hawkish regional allies. At jeopardy are the tens of thousands of Saudi students in Canada."

Bilateral trade amounts to CAN $3-4 billion (US$2.3-3.1 billion) a year, according to Thomas Juneau, an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa.

But the damage could be more significant if a US$15 billion deal agreed in 2014 for Canada to sell Riyadh light armoured vehicles is scrapped, as thousands of jobs in Canada could be lost, Juneau said.

When asked about the contract, Freeland said the government "looks forward" to hearing from Riyadh about the future of the deal.</s>Relations between Saudi Arabia and Canada have taken a sudden turn for the worse after the Canadian foreign minister called for the release of detained women's rights activists.

The dispute has been seen as a sign to the world that Riyadh will not tolerate criticism of its human rights policies, while it undergoes slow-moving reforms.

The disagreement started when the Canadian foreign minister tweeted:

"Very alarmed to learn that Samar Badawi, Raif Badawi's sister, has been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia," she wrote. "Canada stands together with the Badawi family in this difficult time, and we continue to strongly call for the release of both Raif and Samar Badawi."

In response to the tweet, Saudi Arabia expelled the Canadian ambassador and froze "all new business" with Ottawa. Canada receives 10 percent of its imported crude oil from Saudi Arabia while bilateral trade between the two nations is $3 billion a year.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry also gave Canadian Ambassador Dennis Horak 24 hours to leave the kingdom and said it would recall its ambassador to Canada.

Under the guidance of new crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman, Saudi Arabia has embarked on a series of sweeping reforms – some of them angering the country’s conservative base. Just this year, they allowed women to drive.

But Saudi Arabia has been clear that only it will decide the pace of its own change – and it will not be pressured by other countries.

The Saudi foreign ministry responded in a statement, saying:

It insisted the activists were being detained lawfully and that the Canadian statements represented "blatant interference in the kingdom's domestic affairs" and "a major, unacceptable affront to the kingdom's laws and judicial process."

The dispute also comes at a time when relations between Saudi Arabia and the U.S. are particularly close –- with President Trump making it clear he is rebuilding relations with the kingdom after Obama reached out to their arch enemy Iran.

Other countries, including Germany and Sweden, have also found themselves targeted by the kingdom in recent months over comments by its officials on the Saudi-led war in Yemen.</s>Saudi Arabia has said it is freezing all new trade with Canada and expelling its ambassador over its “interference” in the kingdom’s domestic affairs.

A Saudi foreign ministry statement said it considered Canada’s call last week for the release of detained civil society and women’s rights activists a violation of Saudi sovereignty.

Canada said it was seeking clarification on the Saudi statement.

But foreign ministry spokeswoman Marie-Pier Baril stressed that Canada would “always stand up for the protection of human rights, very much including women’s rights, and freedom of expression around the world”.

“Our government will never hesitate to promote these values and believes that this dialogue is critical to international diplomacy,” she added.

The leading Saudi women’s rights campaigner Manal al-Sharif thanked Canada for “speaking up” and asked when other Western powers would do the same.

Who is being held?

 Last Tuesday, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said at least 15 human rights defenders and women’s rights activists critical of the Saudi government had been arrested or detained arbitrarily since 15 May.

Eight of them are believed to have been released pending “procedural reviews”, but the whereabouts of several others are unknown.

Among those reportedly still being held are Hatoon al-Fassi, a leading voice for women’s participation in civil life; human rights defender Khaled al-Omair; women’s rights activists Loujain al-Hathloul, Eman al-Nafjan, Aziza al-Yousef, Nouf Abdulaziz and Mayaa al-Zahrani; Ms Hathloul’s 80-year-old lawyer, Ibrahim al-Modaimeegh; and the activist Abdulaziz Meshaal.

Several of those detained have been accused of serious crimes, including “suspicious contact with foreign parties”, and could face up to 20 years in prison.

Human rights groups reported that Ms Badawi was also detained last week, along with fellow women’s rights campaigner Nassima al-Sadah.

Ms Badawi was given the US International Women of Courage Award in 2012 and is known for challenging Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship system. She is the sister of the imprisoned blogger Raif Badawi, whose wife Ensaf Haidar lives in Canada and recently became a Canadian citizen.

What did Canada say?

Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland wrote on Twitter on Thursday that she was “very alarmed” to learn that Ms Badawi had been detained.

“Canada stands together with the Badawi family in this difficult time, and we continue to strongly call for the release of both Raif and Samar Badawi.”

The next day, the Canadian foreign ministry called for their “immediate release”.

How did Saudi Arabia react?

 The Saudi foreign ministry statement expressed “disbelief [at]this negative unfounded comment, which was not based [on]any accurate or true information”.

It insisted the activists were being detained lawfully and that the Canadian statements represented “blatant interference in the kingdom’s domestic affairs” and “a major, unacceptable affront to the kingdom’s laws and judicial process”.

The ministry recalled its ambassador to Canada for consultations and declared the Canadian ambassador persona non grata, giving him 24 hours to leave.

Saudi Arabia would also “put on hold all new business and investment transactions with Canada while retaining its right to take further action”, it said. Trade between the two countries was worth $3bn (£2.3bn) in 2016.

The BBC’s Martin Patience in Beirut says the surprise expulsion of the Canadian ambassador highlights the increasingly aggressive – and at times erratic – foreign policy being pursued by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

He has introduced a raft of headline-grabbing reforms, such as lifting the ban on women being allowed to drive. But, our correspondent adds, during the recent crackdown on activists he has also shown that he will not tolerate dissent.
Saudi Arabia withdraws its Ambassador from Canada, and orders the Canadian counterpart to leave the country in 24 hours, after Canada calls for the release of activists who are in detention in the Middle East nation.