MADINAH: People resort to different heating devices at home, yet firewood remains a part of the lives of many people during winter.
Arab News visited the firewood and coal market in Madinah and met Owieteq Al-Tarjami, a firewood and coal vendors, who said that the consumption of firewood is on the rise in many parts of the Kingdom such as Riyadh, the Eastern Province and Madinah.
The price of firewood, according to Al-Tarjami, is quite reasonable, ranging from SR40-600 ($11-$160) for a truckload, depending on the type of wood.
Mohammed Al-Awfi, another firewood vendor, complained that firewood is scarce due to the prohibition of logging to conserve the environment. He said that many shipments of firewood have been confiscated by representatives of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture.
Al-Awfi said that the best types of firewood are Sumr, Salam and Ghada. Most of the coal, he added, is imported from Indonesia and some African countries.
The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Nov. 19 that the General Administration for Agricultural Affairs in Madinah confiscated about 55 tons of firewood from the central wood market.
Ibrahim Al-Hujili, the director general of the General Administration for Agricultural Affairs in Madinah, said that such field tours and confiscations by officials aim to control illegal logging and follow earlier warnings from the Ministry of Agriculture to firewood vendors.
Firewood, coal market in Madinah thriving during long winter nights
Firewood, coal market in Madinah thriving during long winter nights
Saudi Arabia welcomes US designation of Sudan’s Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organization
- Kingdom’s FM lauds decision by Secretary of State Marco Rubio
- Prince Faisal bin Farhan says decision bolsters regional security
DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan has welcomed the US government’s decision to designate the Sudan branch of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.
The minister expressed his support for the decision during a phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to a statement issued by the Kingdom’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.
During the call, Prince Farhan said the Kingdom supports Washington’s measures that strengthen regional stability and security.
Rubio issued a press statement on March 9 announcing that the Department of State was “designating the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist and intends to designate the group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, effective March 16, 2026.”
He also claimed, without providing evidence in the statement, that the “Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood uses unrestrained violence against civilians to undermine efforts to resolve the conflict in Sudan and advance its violent Islamist ideology.
“Its fighters, many receiving training and other support from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), have conducted mass executions of civilians.”
He added that the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood’s Al-Baraa bin Malik Brigade was designated in September 2025 “for its role in Sudan’s brutal war.”
