A1SaudiArabia.com

JEDDAH – Pakistan is spending $14 billion per annum in the war against terrorism, “and it is not only to make Pakistan peaceful, but to secure world peace,” Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan, the visiting Federal Minister of Pakistan for Population Welfare, said here Thursday.

The minister was speaking at a function held in her honor by Riaz Bukhari, president of the Pakistan Peoples Party in Saudi Arabia. Abdul Salik Khan, Consul General of Pakistan, was the chief guest at the event.

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MADINA – Two hundred of the planned 250 sunshades are already operational in the open plazas outside the Prophets Mosque here, Sheikh Abdulwahid Al-Khatabi, Director of Public Relations at the Prophets Mosque Affairs, has said.

The new sunshades will protect 700,000 worshippers from the sun.

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JEDDAH: With increasing numbers of visitors to Madinah expected in the runup to Ramadan, the Ministry of Haj has prevented buses from entering the central area around the Prophets Mosque to avoid congestion.

The ministry has issued a circular directing all Haj and Umrah companies not to allow their buses from entering the central area. The ministry said all buses will be allowed to park in the car park for land pilgrims on the outskirts of Madinah.

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MADINA – A Pakistani expatriate died here Friday after being hit by a sunstroke while returning from the Prophets Mosque after noon prayer. He was rushed to King Fahd Hospital unconscious and medical diagnosis indicated he had a brain hemorrhage.

Muhammad Usman, the dead mans brother, said: “We came out of the Prophets Mosque after Friday prayer and were walking to our home when my brother stopped walking and said he was feeling a headache. Suddenly he dropped on the ground.”

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MADINA – The General Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques has warned Umrah performers and visitors to the Two Holy Mosques to be careful in selecting a time to pray or carry out their rituals because of the soaring temperatures expected for the two cities.

Abdul Wahid Bin Ali Al-Hattab, Director of Public Relations at the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Prophets Mosque, said the temperature is measured with thermometers. He said the thermometers are linked to screens in the Control Room. The air-conditioning and water cooling system is adjusted accordingly.

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MADINA – The entry of females into the Prophet’s Mosque is strictly organized to protect them from jostling and overcrowding, which can result in fainting and falling, according to a senior official. But some women are protesting at the measures.
Abdul Wahid Ali Hattab, Director of Public Relations and Information Administration at the Deputy Presidency for the Prophet’s Mosque, confirmed that the entry of females into Al-Rawdha Al-Shareefa is organized three times a day, according to nationalities, and without mobile phones and cameras.
The grouping into nationalities is to allow officials to direct females into the mosque in their own languages.
Hattab said the current method has been successful in preventing females from being hurt.
The female guides direct female visitors during their entry and exit from the Rawdha in an organized, streamlined and calm manner.
The guidance continues until all female visitors are able to pray in the Rawdha, said Hattab.
Hattab added that female visitors are not allowed to pass the Dikkat Al-Aghawat (Al-Aghawat Terrace), for their own protection. He said a corridor is created to accommodate large numbers of female visitors coming to the Rawdha. Another corridor is for the return of female visitors to the prayer area allocated for them.
As for the ban on mobile phones and cameras, Hattab said there are safety boxes for personal effects next to the doors. He called on anyone who has a request or proposal to raise it with the General Presidency for the Prophet’s Mosque.
Some women are not happy with these arrangements. Umm Khaled said: “I came from the Eastern Province to pray in the Prophet’s Mosque and visit the Prophet’s grave. But I couldn’t enter the Rawdha until the third day of my visit because I was forced to wait for the turn of the Gulf countries.”
But even on the third day she was not allowed in, she said. “I had no choice but to ask the female inspector to allow me in because I was traveling on the same day. She allowed me in only after a lot of begging.”
Hanan from Egypt also had complaints.
“They prevented me from entering the Prophet’s Mosque because I was carrying a digital camera with me in my handbag. They told me to keep it in a safety box in the courtyard of the Haram.
After I went out to place it in a safety box, I was late for prayer because I had to walk a long distance. I don’t know why they ban mobiles and cameras inside the Prophet’s Mosque.” –
Another woman, Salma Abdul Aziz, said she waited two hours for her turn to come with her group. – Okaz/SG

MADINA – Two Pakistanis have each been sentenced to a year in prison and 400 lashes of the whip for robbing and pickpocketing visitors in the vicinity of the Prophets Mosque in Madina. The General Court in Madina made the ruling after hearing how the two accused targeted foreign visitors at the site and stole jewelry and money in a variety of currencies from their victims. – Okaz/SG

REGIONAL OFFICES – The National Census began its 15-day population count in the early hours of Wednesday, with two of its immediate tasks being the head count in the Makkah and Madina regions.

Census officials were sent out to the Makkah area armed with official forms in Arabic, Turkish, Urdu, Farsi, Chinese, Hausa, French and a variety of other European languages. Over 600 officials tasked with census duties at the Grand Mosque alone.

The Central Zone in Madina saw 400 officials make their way through residential blocks and hotels, with 35 women also involved in the count of female visitors at the Prophets Mosque.

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MADINA – The supervisory body carrying out the population and housing census in Madina has employed 30 qualified women to work on the project.

Nasser Bin Ibrahim Al-Jarba, Supervisor of the General Population and Housing Census in Madina region, said the female enumerators underwent training at Uhud Hospital in Madina.

The women will conduct the census in hospitals, residences, womens homes, female students hostels and at the womens section of the Prophets Mosque.

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MADINA – The Ministry of Defense and Civil Aviation and the Madina Emirate have ordered a private company to remove its construction workers and machinery from a Madina site which may be a protected Islamic heritage site.

The area falls within a military zone close to the Prophets Mosque.

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