Saudi ambassador plays down Egypt conflict

The Saudi ambassador to Egypt played down the recent diplomatic spat between Riyadh and Cairo and blamed “some Egyptian and Arab media” for promoting “the wrong story” surrounding the detention of an Egyptian lawyer and activist accused of smuggling drugs into the kingdom. Ahmed Abdel Aziz al-Qattan told MBC 1’s “Thamina” (Eight) programme, with Dawood al-Shirian, that Saudi Arabia’s decision to “recall and not withdraw” its ambassador to Cairo “was meant to protect Egyptian-Saudi relations.” “If any embassy or consulate staff member was attacked, there would have been problems. Recalling the ambassador was to protect the relations,” ambassador Qattan said, adding that only a “tiny minority” of the Egyptian people wants to damage the ties between the two countries. Qattan said some “Egyptian and Arab media" contributed to the tension by spreading “one viewpoint as if it were a fact.” “We heard about verdicts [against the detained Egyptian] and we do not know what judicial authority issued them. The media were supposed to clarify things and report facts,” Qattan said. Egyptian rights activist and lawyer Ahmed Mohammed al-Gizawi was arrested on arrival at Jeddah airport on April 17 with Saudi authorities saying he was found with more than 20,000 Xanax pills hidden in his luggage. Some Egyptian media forums expressed had cast doubts on the Saudi story, saying Gizawi was arrested following a sentence of one-year in prison and 20 lashes delivered against him in absentia for criticism of the Saudi government. The Egyptian media reports prompted protests in front of the Saudi embassy in Cairo, with some protesters chanting slogans against Saudi Arabia and calling for the “immediate” release of Gizawi. “It is a minority that does not exceed 400 individuals and who was possibly pushed and manipulated by a third party,” Ambassador Qattan said. The director general of customs at the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Mohammed al-Ghamdi, said that after Gizawi stamped his passport he proceeded to the customs check where he was found in possession of “large quantities of drug pills.” Ghamdi added that the suspect confessed, in the presence of his wife, to the possession of drugs.