New envoy to head Saudi Mission
A new Ambassador is expected to be appointed to Saudi Arabia shortly
by the External Affairs Ministry, after its Chief of Mission Ahmed Aflal
Jawad was recalled last week, to register the country’s protest over the
beheading of Rizana Rafeek, a 23-year old girl who worked there as a
housekeeper and nanny. She was sentenced to death under Sharia Law for
the death of a four-month-old infant, a crime she was allegedly to have
committed while being a 17-year-old minor.
The External Affairs Ministry sources said the country will not sever
bilateral ties with Saudi Arabia over the incident although it was
dismayed at the way the trial was conducted and the manner in which her
execution was carried out.According to Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign
Employment (SLBFE), over 400,000 Sri Lankan expatriates work and live in
Saudi Arabia at present.
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