TORONTO - Two Canadian businessmen caught in the deepening diplomatic spat between Ottawa and the U.A.E. are back home in Toronto.
Darius Mosun and his business partner were stuck at the Abu Dhabi airport for almost 20 hours after confusion over new visa requirements left them unable to enter the Arab country.
The new visa rules were enforced in January, a few months after Canada denied extended landing rights to the U.A.E.'s two major airlines.
The U.A.E also evicted Canada from Camp Mirage, which had been an important staging ground for the military mission in Afghanistan.
Mosun and his colleague were initially able to enter the U.A.E. last week with a visa acquired in Canada, but were stopped when trying to re-enter the country after a side trip to Saudi Arabia.
U.A.E. officials told the pair their visas were only valid for a single entry, even though that rule wasn't written on the document itself.
Mosun, who lost a meeting with an important client due to the visa mix-up, says he hopes the Canadian government will do all it can to protect businesses caught in the diplomatic fray.
The 42-year-old, who runs an architectural fabricator, plans to reach out to officials in Ottawa next week to urge politicians to rebuild their relations with the Arab country.
