RIYADH: Saudi traveler Nasser Al-Qahtani has finally ended a long journey which involved walking to the capitals of all six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
Al-Qahtani’s trip began in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, and saw him walk to Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman in several stages. The last stage of the tour ended at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the GCC in Riyadh.
In a statement reported by the Makkah newspaper, Al-Qahtani said he began to think and prepare for the trip a long time ago. It involved visiting the most prominent and historical GCC sights, and meeting with members of the community to familiarize them with his trip and its goals. His aim was also to promote a culture of walking in Gulf societies.
Al-Qahtani noted that he received a warm welcome, support, and hospitality from official authorities across the GCC states and members of GCC communities.
The trip covered a distance of 1,900 kilometers, allowing Al-Qahtani to visit Gulf capitals over a period of 28.5 days. He traveled an average of 50-80 kilometers per day, visiting historical and heritage tourist sites along the way.
He said he was also honored to meet with ministers in GCC states and Saudi ambassadors across the GCC. He especially thanked Prince Sultan bin Salman, president of Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, for his support of the initiative.
Al-Qahtani said he aimed to encourage unity between members of the GCC. He also promoted the slogan “do not leave an impact,” which aimed to promote awareness about the importance of protecting the environment in general, and tourist sites in particular.
The trips were taken separately, with routes including the Eastern Province to Kuwait, and the Al-Bathaa District Mosque in Riyadh to the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi.
Al-Qahtani said he is currently looking to create a book that documents his journey to the Gulf states.
He is also planning to complete his trip by foot to the Kingdom’s different cities and governorates. He has visited nine different areas in the Kingdom 26 times, including four trips to perform Haj.
He is the process of visiting other areas soon, as well as visiting the Yemeni capital of Sanaa to cover the Arabian Peninsula.
Saudi traveler completes walking tour of Gulf
Saudi traveler completes walking tour of Gulf
Saudi Arabia welcomes ceasefire agreement between Syrian Democratic Forces and Syria state
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has welcomed an agreement between the Syrian state and Syrian Democratic Forces.
In a foreign ministry statement early on Monday, the Kingdom said it had welcomed an deal between Damascus and Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces that was announced by the Syrian government on Sunday.
The agreement entails merging all SDF forces into the defense and interior ministries and means that Kurdish forces will redeploy to east of the Euphrates river.
The 14-point deal would also see the immediate administrative and military handover of Deir Ezzor and Raqqa governorates.
The Syrian state would regain control of all border crossings, oil fields, and gas fields in the region, with protection secured by regular forces to ensure the return of resources to the Syrian government, while considering the special case of Kurdish areas, the state news agency SANA reported.
The ceasefire comes after intense fighting between the SDF and government troops in Aleppo. But SDF troops have now pulled back from there and the Syrian army now controls most areas east of Aleppo.
The Saudi foreign ministry statement also thanked the US for the agreement. Washington is believed to have supported brokering the ceasefire between allies SDF and the Syrian government, who they have also backed diplomatically since the fall of long-time dictator Bashar Assad.
The Syrian state announced on Friday a raft of new directives to recognize Syrian Kurds, including making their language official and bolstering other rights for the minority group.
