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.