“We call on the Canadian government to open its embassy in Sana’a,” Mohammed Ali al-Houthi said on his Twitter account on Monday.

Sana’a welcomes the inauguration of the embassy, he wrote, adding that Yemen would be a replacement for a country (Saudi Arabia) that adopts “an offensive stance” against Canada.

Saudi Arabia expelled the Canadian ambassador and recalled its envoy after severing business ties with Ottawa.

“The kingdom of Saudi Arabia... will not accept interference in its internal affairs or imposed diktats from any country,” said the Saudi Foreign Ministry on Monday.

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

It also said that the Canadian ambassador to Riyadh had 24 hours to leave and that it was “freezing of all new commercial and investment transactions” with Ottawa.

The severing of ties was made after Canadian embassy in Riyadh said it was “gravely concerned” over a spike of arrests of human rights campaigners in the kingdom including gender rights activist Samar Badawi.