Canada to ask UK, UAE to help end Saudi Arabia rift

Canada will ask the UK and UAE to help cool tensions between itself and Saudi Arabia, after a diplomatic dispute broke out between the two countries this week.

Canada was left to rely on the two countries after the US - which Ottawa shares probably the closest relations with - refrained from interfering in the crisis between its two allies.

Sources told Reuters news agency that Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will most likely turn to the UAE for assistance, after Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic and trade ties with Canada. It follows Ottawa's rebuke of Riyadh for the arrest of a number of human rights activists.

Saudi Arabia also called backed its ambassador from Ottawa and ordered Canada's chief envoy out of the country.

In a sign of the escalating situation, Riyadh also ordered Saudi students studying in Canada out of the country.

Canada has remained publically defiant, but privately appears to be turning to its friends for help.

"The key is to work with allies and friends in the region to cool things down, which can happen quickly," a source in the Canadian parliament told the news agency.

The UAE has already taken Saudi Arabia's side in the dispute.

Another source said Canada will be turning to its old ally the UK for help, which has appealed for calm.

The US, in contrast, does not appear willing to help mend ties between its two allies.

"Both sides need to diplomatically resolve this together. We can't do it for them," said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert.

President Donald Trump is said to have an uneasy relationship with the liberal Trudeau, and the two leaders have clashed publically, particularly after the last G7 summit.


Agencies contributed to this story.