Cancelled Defense Deal Highlights Spat Between Sweden and Saudi Arabia

Sweden announced on Tuesday it was cancelling a lucrative deal to provide weapons and military equipment to Saudi Arabia in light of the dismal human rights record in the Kingdom. The annoucnemnt was the latest in an escalating diplomatic row between Stockholm and Riyadh.  “The decision on the Saudi agreement had been made some time ago,” the newspaper Dagens Nyheter quoted Prime Minister Stefan Lofven as saying. “What has happened in recent days hasn’t been decisive.”