RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and Canada on Monday showed no signs of backing downin an escalating row over human rights, after Riyadh abruptly cut ties overOttawa’s vigorous calls for the release of activists jailed in the kingdom.

The Saudi government expelled Canada’s ambassador, giving him 24 hours toleave the country, and recalled its own envoy to Ottawa, while freezing allnew 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 wouldcontinue to defend human rights around the world.

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

“The kingdom announces that it is recalling its ambassador to Canada forconsultation. We consider the Canadian ambassador to the kingdom personanon grata and order him to leave within the next 24 hours,” the Saudiforeign ministry tweeted early Monday.The ministry also announced “the freezing of all new trade and investmenttransactions with Canada while retaining its right to take further action”.

Later Monday, the row appeared to escalate as Riyadh said it will relocatethousands of Saudi students studying in Canada to other countries, andstate airline Saudia announced it was suspending flights to and fromToronto.

A pro-government Saudi Twitter account provoked outrage when it posted–andthen deleted–a 9/11-style digitally altered image showing a plane flyingtowards the Toronto skyline.

The account later apologised and the image was re-posted with the planeremoved, but screenshots of the original tweet spread quickly. SaudiArabia’s media ministry said it was investigating the incident.Foreign Minister Adel al Jubeir said Saudi Arabia “will deal with anyinterference decisively”, dismissing Canada’s position as “built onmisleading information”, in a statement carried by state media.

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

Canada doubled down on Monday.

“Canada will always stand up for human rights, in Canada and around theworld, and women’s rights are human rights,” Freeland told an audience inVancouver.

Samar was arrested along with fellow campaigner Nassima al Sadah last week,the latest victims of what Human Rights Watch called an “unprecedentedgovernment crackdown on the women’s rights movement”.

Samar’s brother, blogger Raif Badawi, was arrested in 2012 and sentenced to1,000 lashes and 10 years in jail for “insulting Islam” in a case thatsparked an international outcry.

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

Prince Mohammed, heir to the region’s most powerful throne, has introduceda string of reforms such as lifting a decades-long ban on women drivers ina bid to overhaul the kingdom’s austere image.But the 32-year-old has simultaneously pursued a combative foreignpolicy–including leading a blockade of neighbouring Qatar and a bombingcampaign against Houthis in Yemen–while cracking down on dissent at home.

The United Arab Emirates, a strong regional ally, supported the Saudiresponse to Canada, with a senior government official calling Ottawa’sbehavior ‘unacceptable.’

In April, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed his “seriousconcern” over the continued jailing of Raif Badawi to Saudi King Salman.

Badawi’s wife Ensaf Haidar has been granted asylum by Canada, where she israising their three children.

“It is now time for other governments to join Canada in increasing thepressure on Saudi Arabia to release all prisoners of conscience immediatelyand unconditionally,” said Samah Hadid, Amnesty International’s Middle Eastcampaigns director.

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

“Canada is easier to cut ties with than the rest,” Bessma Momani, aprofessor at Canada’s University of Waterloo, told *AFP.*

“There isn’t a strong bilateral trade relationship and poking the Trudeaugovernment likely resonates with Saudi’s hawkish regional allies. Atjeopardy are the…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 ofOttawa.

But the damage could be more significant if a $15 billion deal agreed in2014 for Canada to sell Riyadh light armoured vehicles is scrapped, asthousands 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. – APP/AFP