JEDDAH, 19 September 2003 — The Shoura Council has called off a scheduled visit of a delegation to Canada in protest against what it sees as a campaign in the Canadian media which also involved some officials, the Saudi Press Agency said yesterday.
Chairman of the Shoura Council Sheikh Saleh ibn Humaid conveyed the council’s protest to Canada’s ambassador in Riyadh during a meeting on Wednesday.
The planned visit to Canada was to have been part of a tour by council members that also includes Hungary and Poland.
The Canadian leg of the tour was canceled to protest against allegations from a Canadian citizen, William Sampson, who was held and convicted here in connection with a series of bombings in Riyadh three years ago.
The Canadian media widely reported Sampson’s contention that he was tortured in Saudi jails.
Sampson, who spent over two and half years in prison, was freed following a royal pardon last month. He was held along with five Britons and a Belgian in connections with a series of bomb blasts in the capital in late 2000 that killed one British national and injured three others.
He was one of three Westerners who appeared on Saudi television and confessed to two of the bombings. The men said they had received orders to carry out the bombings but did not say who gave the orders or why.
Humaid will leave for Hungary and Poland on Sunday at the head of a delegation on a weeklong visit to discuss bilateral cooperation on parliamentary affairs.
