JEDDAH, 17 September — Attorneys are being appointed to defend Saudi citizens in Canada who in several cities are increasingly being subjected to harassment triggered by the terrorist attacks against America.
However, in a telephone conversation with Arab News, Kingdom’s Ambassador to Canada Muhammad Al-Yahya denied a report that Saudi students in Canada have been interrogated by the police.
“The Saudi Embassy is following the cases of all Saudi students one by one to ensure their welfare,” the ambassador said.
He revealed that the embassy received a police report of a case in which a female medical student was subjected to unspecified ill-treatment.
She reported the matter to the embassy and the case has been registered by the Canadian police. Because of the weekend holiday, the embassy will pursue the matter today.
The ambassador also said that the embassy will pay for the defense of Saudis involved in harassment.
The ambassador pointed out that the present attacks are directed not just against Saudis but to citizens of several Arab and Asian countries following the massive accusations against Arab and Asian residents in the wake of the last Tuesday’s tragic events.
In another development, a Saudi businessman, Hussain Shubokshi, said his father Ali Shubokshi appointed an attorney to sue the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Weston Hotel in Boston for violently interrogating his daughter Hanan.
She was questioned for five hours on Friday because of the resemblance of her name with one that appeared in the FBI list of those accused of being behind the blast.
Hanan, her sister Hanadi, and their husband and fiancee Hossam Asaad and a Muhammad Attar were accompanying Shubokshi on his trip to the United States for a medical checkup.
There are currently over 400 Saudi students pursuing higher education in Canada. Most of them are studying various branches of medicine.
Meanwhile, the Saudi Embassy in Washington said it was not notified of the presence of any Saudi victims in the crashed planes.
According to Ahmad Al-Qattan, director of the ambassador’s office in Washington, the passports of the people on the list released could have been stolen or there could be mistaken identity, as happened a couple of days ago with Amir Bukhari. According to the list he was on board the plane — but in reality he had died years ago.
