JEDDAH, 1 June — The Canadian government announced yesterday that it was informed of the cancellation of the visit by Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, to Ottawa this month. Duncan Fulton, official spokesman for Prime Minister Jean Chretien said the crown prince will not visit Canada this month and hoped “for a future visit.”
The officials, however, denied any link between the cancellation of his visit and the alleged ill-treatment of Willian Sampson, the Canadian prisoner in Saudi jail who was arrested in connection with a car blast in Riyadh and had confessed his involvement in the crime in Saudi TV.
The Canadian officials referred to the letter sent by the crown prince to Chretien and said “there was no relation between the postponement of the crown prince’s visit and the Sampson’s case.” The Canadian government also distanced itself from reports carried in the Canadian newspapers after the Canadian Embassy in Riyadh appointed a doctor to examine Sampson. The Canadian government said Sampson’s bruises were likely to be the result of a struggle and not torture. The Canadian ambassador in Riyadh who visited him in jail, praised the total cooperation of the Saudi authorities. He also said in a telephone talk with Arab News that there were exaggerations in reports in the Canadian media which said Sampson was ill-treated.
Saudi Ambassador in Canada said Sampson is getting careful medical attention considering his heart condition.
Earlier yesterday, the Al-Riyadh newspaper reported, quoting high-ranking official sources, that Prince Abdullah will cancel his visit to Canada, which was a part of his proposed visit to Syria and some European countries beginning June 5. This is because of meddling by some Canadian officials and newspapers in the security and Shariah procedures in the Kingdom which amounted to an unacceptable interference in the legal operations in the country. Some Canadian newspapers had spread baseless reports about the health condition of Sampson.
