Bahrain on Monday followed suit after Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador to Canada for consultations and gave the Canadian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia only 24 hours to leave the kingdom.

“The Kingdom of Bahrain affirms its full solidarity with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia…against anyone attempting to undermine its sovereignty,” the Bahraini foreign ministry announced on Twitter.

The conflict escalated earlier today when the Canadian envoy Dennis Horak was declared a persona non-grata and a trade deal with Ottawa was frozen.

The action was a response to the criticism of the human rights situation in the country by Canada. Last week Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said that Ottawa was alarmed by Riyadh’s decision to imprison Samar Badawi, the sister of Saudi liberal opposition activist Raif Badawi and urged the Saudis to release both.

Source: Agencies