The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denied the report published by British online newspaper The Independent, claiming that Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Iraq Thamer al-Sabhan had a cousin affiliated with ISIS.
The report further went on saying that after Sabhan’s cousin had died fighting for ISIS, Iraq attempted to expel its first Saudi Arabian ambassador in a quarter of a century.
The ministry also called on media to comply with professional ethics.
Sabhan quickly denied the report, issuing statements Thursday on Twitter in English and Arabic.
“I would like to inform you that this is entirely incorrect,” he said. “I don’t have a cousin whose name is Abdel-Salam Al-Subhan.”
“No member of my family has ever been involved in terrorism”, he added.
Sabhan has asked for The Independent to rectify their article and issue an official apology for running an earlier article stating so.