Saudi ambassador demands more respect from UK

10/27/2015 4:42:44 AM

(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Rising criticism in the U.K. of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record threatens commercial ties between the countries the Saudi ambassador to London said Monday.

In a newspaper column Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf bin Abdulaziz criticized the way the Gulf state was discussed in Britain and warned his country “will not be lectured to by anyone”.

British politicians and civil rights campaigners have attacked the Kingdom’s human rights record in recent weeks particularly the use of public lashings and executions as punishments.

Prince Mohammed said trade and security ties with Britain meant his country should be treated with more respect.

“If the extensive trade links between the two countries are going to be subordinate to certain political ideologies then this vital commercial exchange is going to be at risk” he wrote in the Daily Telegraph.

“We want this relationship to continue but we will not be lectured to by anyone. Hasty decisions prompted by short-term gains often do more harm than good in the longer term.”

The ambassador was particularly critical of opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn who he said had breached the “mutual respect” between the two countries.

The U.K. government pulled out of a multimillion-pound bid to provide prison services to Saudi Arabia earlier this month after it was criticized by Corbyn although several ministers including Justice Secretary Michael Gove were also reported to be uncomfortable with the deal.

Prince Mohammed said that in addition to a 90 billion pound ($138 billion) investment in the U.K. Saudi Arabia was an “invaluable” intelligence source on counter-terrorism matters.

Saudi intelligence agencies helped thwart an al-Qaeda attempt to blow up a cargo plane over the U.K. in 2010 he wrote.

“The fact is that no nation is more invested in the struggle against extremism than [Saudi Arabia] which remains the primary target of such organizations even more so than Western nations.”

He added: “To further our shared strategic interests in the years ahead as we confront a variety of threats it is crucial that Saudi Arabia be treated with the respect it has unwaveringly afforded the United Kingdom.”

Saudi Arabia’s human rights record has been highlighted in Britain by the case of Karl Andree a 74-year-old British cancer survivor who had faced350 lashes for possessing homemade wine.

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