Saudi Arabia’s state airline has suspended flights to and from Toronto from Monday, escalating the diplomatic row between the two countries following Canada’s call for the release of detained human rights activists in the kingdom.

The United States on Monday asked the Saudi government for more details on the detention of activists and urged it to respect due process in the first comments by Washington since the dispute between Riyadh and Ottawa erupted.

“We have asked the government of Saudi Arabia for additional information on the detention of several activists,” a State Department official said in a statement, calling both Saudi Arabia and Canada “close allies.”

“We continue to encourage the government of Saudi Arabia to respect due process and to publicise information on the status of legal cases,” the official added.

On Monday, Canada’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, said in her first response to Riyadh expelling the Canadian ambassador and freezing new trade and investment: “Canada will always stand up for human rights in Canada and around the world, and women’s rights are human rights.”



Canada deeply concerned by Saudi Arabia’s expulsion of Canadian ambassador. More information: https://t.co/FCOFR65VbO — Chrystia Freeland (@cafreeland) August 6, 2018

Riyadh recalled its ambassador from Canada on Sunday and gave the Canadian ambassador 24 hours to leave. The Saudi government also banned new trade with Canada, although it was unclear if it would affect existing annual Saudi-Canadian trade of nearly $4bn and a $13bn defence contract.

The moves were a stern rebuke to Canada after the country on Friday expressed concern over the arrests of activists in Saudi Arabia, including prominent women’s rights campaigner Samar Badawi, and called for their release.



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

Saudi Arabia’s 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.

On Monday, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir again criticized Canada’s calls to free arrested civil society activists as a position built on “misleading” information.

The moves, carried on the official Saudi Press Agency, caught diplomats in Riyadh off guard. Both the Saudi and Canadian ambassadors were away on leave at the time.

The kingdom will suspend educational exchange programs with Canada and move Saudi scholarship recipients to other countries, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya reported on Monday.

“It would be a shame for those students if they are deprived of the opportunity to study here,” Freeland told reporters.



Neighbours and allies Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates said they stood with Riyadh, although they did not announce similar measures.



