9/11-Style Attack On Canada? Saudi Arabian Group Apologizes For Misleading Tweet

A Saudi Arabian organization issued an apology after facing backlash over an image on Twitter appearing to hint at a 9/11-style attack in Canada. The image in the post purported to show an Air Canada plane heading toward the landmark CN Tower in Toronto.

"As the Arabic saying goes: 'He who interferes with what doesn't concern him finds what doesn't please him,'" reads a caption superimposed over the image. Another text on the image also accused Canada of "sticking one's nose where it doesn't belong."

The Saudi government-linked Twitter account, which has 354,000 followers, came under fire as users pointed out the image seemed to reference the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, when passenger airliners hit the towers of the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. Over 2,700 people were killed in those attacks carried out by 19 hijackers, of which 15 were Saudi citizens.

The tweet also comes at the heels of an ongoing public spat between the governments of Canada and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over human rights. Amid the feud, Saudi Arabia ordered the Canadian ambassador to leave the country and recalled its own ambassador Sunday. The move came after Global Affairs Canada sent a tweet expressing "grave concern" over the recent arrests of civil society and women's rights activists and calling for their "immediate release."

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry responded on Twitter saying, "KSA through its history has not and will not accept any form of interfering in the internal affairs of the Kingdom." Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have publicly backed Saudi Arabia in the dispute as Riyadh announced the suspension of all new trade and investment transactions with Canada.

Defending its tweet amid the ongoing spat between the two nations, Infographic KSA deleted the post and issued an apology saying the image was mistaken as a threat to Canada.

"The aircraft was intended to symbolize the return of the ambassador," read the tweet. "We realize this was not clear and any other meaning was unintentional." The image was later reposted without the plane to Infographic KSA's Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Meanwhile tension between Canada and Saudi Arabia continue to rise as Riyadh said its state airline will suspend all flights to and from Toronto starting next week.