JEDDAH: The first group of Qatari pilgrims arrived in Makkah on Saturday where they were received by reception committees from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques’ Guests Program.
In this context, the secretary-general of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Guests’ Program, Abdullah bin Mudlaj Al-Mudlaj, said the program has prepared camps for the Qatari pilgrims at the holy sites. He said reception committees were formed to receive Qatari pilgrims at the Salwa border crossing, booking them into a hotel for one night in preparation for transporting them to Ahsa Airport, and then any destination they want, whether to Makkah, Jeddah, Taif, or Madinah.
For their part, a number of Qatari pilgrims have said though video clips and social media, that services provided to them since their entry through the Salwa crossing and arrival in Makkah were beyond description.
Meanwhile, the first batch of pilgrims from families of martyrs of Egyptian armed forces and police, whom King Salman bin Abdul Aziz ordered to be hosted for Hajj rituals this year 1438, arrived on Sunday at King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah.
The Egyptian pilgrims, whose number stands at 300, came onboard a special plane at the expense of King Salman, and received by the reception committees of the Custodian of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Guests’ Program and were later to be transported to Makkah by special buses prepared for this purpose.
Qatari Hajj pilgrims arrive in Makkah
Qatari Hajj pilgrims arrive in Makkah
Saudi, Pakistan defense chiefs discuss ‘measures needed to halt’ Iranian attacks on Kingdom
RIYADH: Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Pakistan’s Chief of Defense Forces Asim Munir discussed Iran’s attacks on the Kingdom, amid the escalating military conflict in the Middle East.
“We discussed Iranian attacks on the Kingdom and the measures needed to halt them within the framework of our Joint Strategic Defense Agreement,” Prince Khalid wrote on social media early on Saturday.
“We stressed that such actions undermine regional security and stability and expressed hope that the Iranian side will exercise wisdom and avoid miscalculation.”
The US and Israel began a large-scale military campaign against Iran on Feb. 28. Iran has since attacked a number of sites across the Gulf.
Tehran has also attacked US and Israeli military assets as the war as escalated, impacting lives in the peaceful Arabian Gulf peninsula and risked shaking the global economy as Iran continued restricting energy shipping along the Strait of Hormuz.
The Saudi Defense Ministry said a number of drones had been shot down that were targeting the Shayba oil field in the Empty Quarter on Saturday.
A drone attacked the US embassy in Riyadh on Tuesday causing a minor fire, but no one was hurt in the incident.
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a “Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement” in September, pledging that aggression against one country would be treated as an attack on both.
Separately, Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif, the Saudi interior minister, received a call from his Pakistani counterpart Raza Naqvi, who condemned the blatant attacks targeting the Kingdom and affirmed his country’s solidarity in confronting any threats to the Kingdom’s security and stability, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday.
