RIYADH, March 19 (KUNA) -- The Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary General Abdullatif Al-Zayani summoned the Swedish Ambassador in Riyadh Thursday and handed him a letter of protest about the Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstroem's recent offending statements against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
In a press statement, the GCC General Secretariat said that Al-Zayani in his letter expressed Gulf states' condemnation of Wallstroem's remarks and criticism of the political and judicial systems in the Saudi Kingdom.
He laid it bare that such statements ignore realities on the ground and the huge progress made by the Saudi Kingdom in various domains.
It went to say that the GCC states also denounce the Swedish minister's unacceptable interference in the internal affairs of Saudi Arabia.
It stressed that these remarks violate international laws and diplomatic norms.
Criticizing judicial systems and cultural and social norms for just being different from those prevalent in other countries is inconsistent with the pillars and the rules on which the international community is based. These rules call for respecting different religions and cultural and social diversity of world people, it concluded. (end) ad.ibi