Presidential candidate Khalid Ali has called for the withdrawal and interrogation of Egypt’s ambassador in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), for failing to protect Egyptians who live there.

An Egyptian lawyer, Ahmed Al-Gezawi was allegedly detained and tortured by Saudi authorities which sparked protests by the Saudi embassy in Cairo. The protests resulted to a KSA decision to shut its Egypt embassy and withdraw its ambassador on Saturday.  

Ali argued in a statement to Aswat Masriya that Egypt's ambassador merely repeated the accusation made by the Saudi government, failing to investigate this accusation or hear Gezawi's side of the story.

He indicated that the accusation may have been an attempt to taint the reputation of the Egyptian activist who is known for criticizing the Saudi government and defending Egyptians who are detained in Saudi prisons.

Gezawi passed through Cairo airport smoothly but was stopped at the Saudi airport and accused of drug possession.

Ali criticized KSA's decision to shut down its embassy, accusing it of attempting to escape from dealing with the lawyer's case through creating a diplomatic crisis. He added that such dispute is hard to solve and has escalated the complexity of the situation.

He insisted that the Foreign Ministry should be preoccupied with protecting the dignity of Egyptians worldwide and added that Egyptian authorities still have the same attitude in dealing with citizens with indifference as if unaware that the people have revolted for dignity.

"Instead of clarifying the situation and announcing the latest developments in the lawyer's case, the Egyptian authorities has left us to guess", Ali said.