Denouncing remarks made by the Canadian foreign minister and her embassy in Riyadh early this week criticizing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for what they called detention of civil society activists in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and demanded their immediate release, a host of countries, organizations and dignitaries across the world continue to express support for the strong response of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, rejecting and denouncing the Canadian calls describing them as blatant interference in the internal affairs of the Kingdom. In statements on the media today, monitored in Riyadh, they stated the right of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to practice its regulations on its territories and deal with its citizens according to its prescribed laws and judiciary. They confirmed that the Canadian behavior runs contrary to international conventions, norms and public relations, giving the Kingdom the right to stand firm against any attempt to breach its sovereignty and independence. The measures taken by the Kingdom in response, namely the recalling of Saudi ambassador from Ottawa, expelling the Canadian ambassador in Riyadh as persona-non-grata, withdrawing Saudi students on scholarships in Canada and transferring them to substitute venues, and suspending investment and trade transactions between the two countries, received support of Canada's acts critics. They include the Foreign ministry of Libya's reconciliation government; Sheikh Abdullatif Daryan, Mufti of Lebanon; Dr. Amjad Shamout, Chairman of the Arab Standing Committee for Human Rights at the Arab League; Habes Al-Fayez, member of Jordan's house of representative; Dr. Hayel Dawood, former minister of endowment of Jordan; and Dr. Mohammed Al-Gatatsha, former parliament member of Jordan. For her part, the Spokesperson of the Russian foreign ministry Maria Zakharova said that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has the sovereign right to take whatever measures as regards human rights. In response to a question, she said Moscow hopes that the Kingdom and Canada would reach agreement to overcome the differences between them. She said "we firmly defend respect of human rights taking into consideration the national characteristics and live traditions since long in this or that country. In this regard, we consider that politicizing human rights as unacceptable".
