Reuters, 

The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen denied an accusation by Iran that coalition jets targeted the Islamic republic's embassy in Sanaa on Wednesday night, coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri said.

An investigation found that "the allegations are false and that no operations were carried out around the embassy or near to it," a coalition statement said.

Iran said on Thursday that Saudi warplanes had attacked its embassy in Yemen's capital, Sanaa.

Coalition jets carried out heavy strikes in Sanaa on Wednesday night to target missile launchers used by the Houthi militia to fire at Saudi Arabia, Asseri said, adding that the group has used civilian facilities including abandoned embassies.

Asseri said the coalition had requested all countries to supply it with coordinates of the location of their diplomatic missions and that accusations made on the basis of information provided by the Houthis "have no credibility".
  

No war with Iran, says Saudi deputy crown prince

Saudi Arabia's Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said a war between his country and Iran would be the beginning of a catastrophe, and Riyadh will not allow it, British magazine The Economist reported on Thursday.

"It is something that we do not foresee at all, and whoever is pushing towards that is somebody who is not in their right mind," it quoted him as saying in an interview. “It will reflect very strongly on the rest of the world. For sure we will not allow any such thing.”

Salman’s comments were made during a five-hour conversation with The Economist, marking his first on-the-record interview.
 

Gulf leaders decry ‘racist’ rhetoric against Muslims

Reuters, Riyadh 

Gulf Arab leaders condemned “hostile, racist” remarks against Muslims and Syrian refugees in a statement issued on Thursday, days after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called for a ban on the entry of Muslims into the United States.

“The supreme council expressed its deep concern at the increase of hostile, racist and inhumane rhetoric against refugees in general and Muslims in particular,” the Gulf Cooperation Council said, referring to a GCC heads of state meeting in Riyadh.

Gulf Arab states also called for an international reconstruction conference for Yemen after any peace deal to end the country’s civil war.

The call came in a statement by Gulf Cooperation Council leaders at the conclusion of their summit meeting in the Saudi capital Riyadh, which was read out by GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani.

"The council (GCC) members called for an international conference for Yemen reconstruction after the parties reach the aspired political solution," Zayani said in the statement broadcast on Saudi state television.

He said such a programme would be done in accordance with a "practical programme to rehabilitate the Yemeni economy and to ease its merger into the Gulf economies".

Yemeni warring parties are due to gather in Switzerland next week for U.N.-sponsored peace talks to end a civil war that had killed nearly 6,000 people.

The two-day summit in Riyadh brought together Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain. Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz said it was imperative for the GCC states to stand united and work together to fortify themselves against foreign threats at a time when the region is passing through tough times.

King Salman reiterated the keenness of the coalition states to achieve security and stability of Yemen under the leadership of its Yemeni President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi’s government.

“We, the GCC states, will support a peaceful solution so as to enable Yemen overcome the crisis and restore its march toward development,” he said.

At the conclusion of the summit, Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa announced that Manama would host next year's GCC summit.

Saudi Arabia: Assad must resign or be forced from power

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Abdel Al-Jubeir has issued a fresh call for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down through negotiations or else be forcibly removed from power, as Syrian opposition groups held talks in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Jubeir made the statement on Thursday, while Syrian opposition leaders discussed forming a unified front before proposed peace talks with Assad's government in Vienna. 

The Saudi foreign minister said that he hoped the Syrian opposition could come up with a common vision for Syria during the meeting. He urged delegates to prove wrong those who argue that the Syrian opposition is too fragmented to present a unified front at future peace talks.

His comments were echoed by Gulf leaders meeting for the annual Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in the Saudi capital.

The leaders of the GCC - comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - said that they "support a political settlement ... that guarantees the territorial integrity and independence of Syria" as their two-day meeting came to an end on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Syrian opposition figures in Riyadh agreed to set up a body including political and armed factions to lead preparations for the talks with the Syrian government.

They have chosen a new secretary general and a new spokesman, as well as the formation of a supreme commission for negotiation that comprised 23 members.

Monzer Akbik of the Syrian National Coalition, speaking from Dubai where he was in contact with delegates in Saudi Arabia, said the group would include six from the coalition in exile, six from rebel factions, five from a Damascus-based opposition group and eight independent figures.

"They are going to be the decision-makers in terms of the political settlement," Akbik told Reuters news agency, adding that a separate negotiating team of 15 members would also be appointed.

Marwan Kabalan, a Syrian political analyst, told Al Jazeera that the two-day summit in Riyadh was very significant because most of the GCC states were either directly or indirectly involved in the Syrian conflict.

He said that the Syrian opposition "are closer to a united political vision for road map to peace in Syria".

The GCC has endorsed a political solution for the Syria conflict, under an international framework agreed to last month.

The Gulf states said that they back the Vienna agreement, which was made last month and set a January 1 target for peace talks and would see a transitional government set up in six months and elections in 18 months.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Saudi King orders massive $29.3 billion spending

King Salman bin Abdulaziz has ordered a massive $29.3 billion (110 billion Saudi Riyals) spending in a series of decrees issued on Thursday, that include lavish payments of two months bonus salary to all Saudi state employees and a series of subsidies.

Former government employees will receive two months bonus pension, while students, people with special needs and people receiving welfare payments will also benefit from a bonus payment equivalent to two months of their annual income.

The King posted a statement later on Twitter in which he addressed his people saying: “You deserve more and whatever I do will never meet your right. I ask Allah to help me and you for the service of religion and the nations. Don't forget me in your prayers.”

Included in the handouts was $5.3 billion (20 billion riyals) pledged in subsidies for electricity, water, and housing.

King Salman succeeded his brother, the late King Abdullah, who died after a short illness last week.

And in a commitment to the arts, King Salman pledged $267,000 for each art club in the kingdom.

The question of succession in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud has passed away after nearly 10 years as the country's top leader, handing his throne to a 79-year-old brother and raising questions about succession within the oil-rich gulf kingdom.

King Abdullah officially assumed the country's top role in 2005, but has largely been seen as the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia since the mid-1990s. Saudi's status as one of the world's largest oil exporters, as well as its role in regional power struggles, means that King Abdullah's death is being observed closely around the world.

For the ruling al-Saud royal family, King Abdullah's passing also raises the question of a possible generational shift to the throne.

Since the 1953 death of Abdulaziz ibn Saud, Saudi Arabia's modern-state founder, his eldest living son has always been succeeded by the next brother in line - so long as he was able and willing to rule.

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RELATED: Who are Saudi Arabia's new crown princes?

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While King Abdullah's age was believed to be close to 90, the next two designated crown princes, Salman and Muqrin, are themselves already almost 80 and 70 years old respectively.

Since 2011, Saudi Arabia had buried two crown princes and now a king. In October 2011, then Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz al-Saud died at a New York hospital after a string of health issues.

During King Abdullah's reign, he has inspired a greater openness in two particular areas: role of women and freedom of expression. - Christoph Wilcke, former Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch

Less than a year later, Nayef bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, then next in line and believed to be 79 at the time of his death, passed away in the Swiss city of Geneva on June 16, 2012.

The next crown prince, now king, is 79-year-old Salman al-Saud. He has been representing Saudi Arabia at most official events, including the latest Gulf summit in Qatar last month.

Perhaps anticipating the potential questions surrounding the country's succession issue, King Abdullah established the allegiance council in 2006, made up of his brothers and nephews, who decide collectively on succession.

The allegiance council, with King Abdullah's blessing, added an unprecedented position to the line of succession: a deputy crown prince. At a much younger age of 68, Muqrin bin Abdulaziz al-Saud was widely seen as Saudi Arabia’s next king should Salman decide to pass on the title.

Despite the uncertainty, Joseph Kechichian, a columnist for the Gulf News newspaper and a specialist on GCC relations, told Al Jazeera that there are no causes for concern as the system in place is "well-oiled".

"Prince Salman will succeed the monarch and will, in turn, designate Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, as his own heir. Soon thereafter, the allegiance council will confirm these appointments and there will be no succession crisis," Kechichian said. 

Considered as one of the world's few remaining absolute monarchs, King Abdullah was known, in many circles, as a devout and conservative Muslim with strong ties to the country's Bedouin tribes. At the same time, he pushed for greater change in the kingdom.

"During King Abdullah's reign, he has inspired a greater openness in two particular areas: role of women and freedom of expression. And there is [an] outburst of criticism, social criticism and of government policy that happened in Saudi Arabia with the tolerance to some degree of the Saudi government," Christoph Wilcke, former Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch, told Al Jazeera.

King Abdullah paved the way for municipal elections, granting women the right to vote and run for office, and issued them with identification cards - allowing them for the first time to do business without involving a male guardian.

"There is no going back as the kingdom is embarked on epochal changes, which have a pace of their own. Young Saudis, both men and women, are increasingly responsible for their actions and have long-term goals to assume their share of the nation-building burden," Kechichian said.

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RELATED: The regional impacts of Saudi succession

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King Abdullah's record on human rights, however, remained controversial. His critics believe he could have done more - given Saudi Arabia's vast oil wealth - to help the Saudi population, especially the younger generation.

"King Abdullah isn't a reformer but a modernist. There's a difference," Ali Alyami, director of the Centre for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia, told Al Jazeera. "Most human rights activists have been imprisoned during his reign. Yes, he's taken reformist steps, but they're mainly cosmetic in the sense that he has appeased women activists by allowing them to run for office and holding a municipal election. But most of those in elected office have no real political assignments."

In recent years, activists who have demanded change through public petitions ended up in jail. Political parties and public demonstrations are officially banned. Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia began the trial of two Saudi women, Loujain al-Hathloul and and Maysa al-Amoudi. Both were stopped and later arrested for breaking a ban on female driving when they attempted to cross from the United Arab Emirates into Saudi Arabia. They were eventually referred to a specialised court on terrorism charges.

In a previous interview with Al Jazeera, Toby Jones, professor of Middle East history at Rutgers University, said King Abdullah had to show his unyieldingness in order to keep power: "[He] may have allowed debate and some movement on social issues, but the regime benefits by allowing its allies and adversaries to argue over things rather than embrace real change."

The monarch's death is being watched internationally due to the country's role as one of the world's largest oil exporters, but more so regionally, where Saudi Arabia plays a significant role in the US-led coalition air strikes against fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Within minutes of a state television report about his hospitalisation, Saudi Arabia's stocks, which were already down more than 1 percent due to sliding oil prices, dropped 5 percent lower.

Analysts, however, say this is purely coincidence. "There are many hands other than the king invested in keeping Saudi [oil] production at its current levels, and ensuring that security and logistical issues are taken care of. Of all the things that could be affected by a dying monarch, this oddly enough is probably the least affected," Michael Stephens, deputy director of the Royal United Services Institute, (RUSI) Qatar, told Al Jazeera.

Mecca transformation poses risk to heritage

In addition, the potential issue of Saudi Arabia's policies towards ISIL will remain unchanged, analysts say. "On this particular issue the House of Saud stands together because the nature of the threat from ISIL threatens to undermine the legitimacy of the ruling house by destabilising its Islamic roots. There will be no change in the policy," Stephens said.

King Abdullah's naming of his youngest brother Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz as deputy crown prince came with both praise and criticism. This is because Muqrin, the youngest born to the founding King Abdulaziz, has a Yemeni mother.

 Still, Khaled al-Maeena, editor-at-large of the Saudi Gazette, says no one from the Saudi street is really bothered about Prince Muqrin's heritage, as long as the job gets done.

"It doesn't matter to the people what his heritage is. Yes, it’s true, there are those within some circles in Saudi Arabia that don't want him to succeed to the throne, but these are narrow-minded people."

For now, Maeena says that Saudis have to take a step back and reflect on the late King Abdullah's legacy.

"Saudi Arabia is a rumour factory and one has to wait and see regarding the succession. Hundreds and thousands of people, including the youth, were praying for the king's health to recover. That is something I've never seen before with any other GCC leader's death. This is because he listened to the changing needs of a modernising people, and that will remain as his legacy," Maeena said.

Source: Al Jazeera

KSA could face Arab spring-like spark of violence: Saudi Cleric

One of Saudi Arabia's leading clerics has delivered a rare warning to the government that it could face "the spark of violence" if concerns over detainees, poor services and corruption are not addressed.

Any signs of public opposition to the government are closely watched in the world's top oil exporter and there have been increasingly frequent small demonstrations in recent months by the families of people held as suspected Islamist militants.The conservative Islamic kingdom avoided any major unrest among its Sunni Muslim majority during Arab Spring revolts elsewhere after King Abdullah pledged $110 billion in social spending and the powerful clergy backed a ban on protests.

Sheikh Salman al-Awdah, a conservative who was imprisoned from 1994-99 for agitating for political change and has 2.4 million followers on Twitter, expressed his concerns in an open letter on the social media site.

He described a mood of stagnation which he said was caused by a lack of housing, unemployment, poverty, corruption, weak health and education systems, the plight of the detainees and the absence of any prospect of political reform.

"If revolutions are suppressed they turn into armed action, and if they are ignored they expand and spread. The solution is in wise decisions and in being timely to avert any spark of violence," he wrote.

The issue of the detainees has brought some Saudi Islamists and liberals to make common cause against what they see as a punitive approach to state security in Washington's closest Gulf ally.

A week ago two prominent human rights activists were jailed after years of campaigning about the issue.

The Interior Ministry's security spokesman had two days earlier warned that activists were using the internet to rouse up street protests by spreading "false information".

Most demonstrations on the issue of detainees have involved only a few dozen people, but in late February 161 protesters were arrested in Bureidah in the central Qassim Province.

Awdah wrote that Saudis "like people around the world" would not "always be silent about forfeiting all or part" of their rights, before adding "when someone loses hope, you should expect anything from him".

Saudi authorities tolerate little public dissent and the official Wahhabi school of Islam discourages political involvement.

KERRY: WINDOW ON IRAN NOT OPEN 'INDEFINITELY'

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, in Saudi Arabia for talks with Saudi and Gulf Arab officials, said Monday the window of opportunity for a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear problem "cannot by definition remain open indefinitely."

But Kerry, who was meeting in Riyadh with the foreign ministers of Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman as well as the Saudi crown prince and foreign minister, added that "there is time to resolve this issue providing the Iranians are prepared to engage seriously" on proposals to defuse it.

"But talks will not go on for the sake of talks and talks cannot become an instrument for delay that will make the situation more dangerous," he said. Kerry said he and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal "discussed our shared determination to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon."

Saud said that Saudi Arabia "supports the efforts to resolve the crisis diplomatically in order to alleviate all doubts surrounding the program."

"Therefore, we hope that the negotiations will result in putting an end to this problem rather than containing it," he said, "taking into account that the clock is ticking and negotiations cannot go on forever."

In addition to Iran, Kerry, who is on his first overseas trip as secretary of state after succeeding Hillary Rodham Clinton, also held discussions about the situation in violence-torn Syria. He repeated U.S. pressure on Syria's President Bashar Assad to step down, saying that Assad "is destroying his country — and his people in the process — to hold onto power that is not his anymore."

"The United States will continue to work with our friends to empower the Syrian opposition to hopefully be able to bring about a peaceful resolution, but if not, to increase pressure on Assad," he said. The United States last week agreed to increase non-lethal aid to Syrian opposition groups.

Saudi Arabia and several other Gulf states are believed to be involved in shipping weapons to Syrian rebels, who have yet to receive lethal aid from the West. They share deep U.S. concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions and increasing assertiveness in the region.

Saud said that in the talks here Monday, "The Kingdom stressed the importance of enabling the Syrian people to exercise its legitimate right to defend itself against the regime's killing regime."

"Saudi Arabia will do everything within its capacity, and we do believe that what is happening in Syria is a slaughter," he said, "... and we can't bring ourselves to remain quiet. Morally we have a duty."

Kerry also was to meet in Riyadh with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who is visiting the Saudi capital. Kerry's working lunch with Abbas was coming two weeks before the secretary is to accompany President Barack Obama to Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan to explore ways of restarting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Kerry travels next to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar before returning to Washington Wednesday.

Break-through in Saudi Arabia: women allowed in parliament

King Abdullah in Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia issued Friday a historic decree allowing women to be members of the kingdom’s previously all-male Shura Council for the first time.

Soon after his decree which amended two article in the council’s statute introducing a 20 percent quota for women in the country’s 150-member Shura Council, the king fully appointed 30 women to join the consultative assembly.

The assembly, which is appointed by the king, works as the formal advisory body of Saudi Arabia. It can propose draft laws and forward them to the king who can pass or enforce them.

Saudi Arabia is known for its conservative culture where women are not allowed to drive vehicles despite that there is no law banning to them from driving. King Abdullah has introduced cautious economic and social reforms aimed at reconciling Saudi Arabia’s religious traditions with the needs of a modern economy and youthful population.

Thuraya al-Arrayed, an education specialist, who was appointed by the king as a Shura Council member told Al Arabiya that the royal decree “gave confidence to women to take part in important decision making areas in the country.”

“It is an opportunity given to us and I expect this experience to succeed. They are all qualified women,” she said.

“We are here not to represent ourselves but to represent the public, women and men alike.”

“I expect this decision to open doors for qualified women to take part in all fields no just in politics but in all areas,” al-Arrayed said.

Translation of the two amendments to the Saudi Shura Council statute:

First amendment: Article 3

The Shura Council constitutes of 150 members, chosen by the king among scholars, experts and specialists, with women's representation to be no less than 20 percent of the number of members. The rights of members and their obligations and all their affairs are defined by a royal decree.

Second amendment -- Article 22

First, each committee of the specialized committees constitutes of a number of members defined by the council, but should not be less than five. The council chooses these members and names the head of the committee and his deputy among them taking into consideration the committees' need, the specialization of the member and the women's participation in the committees.


Second, the council can form among its members special committees to study a particular subject, and each committee has the right to form among its members a branch committee or more to study a particular subject.

Third, the woman enjoys in her membership at the Shura Council complete membership rights and abides by the obligations, and responsibilities and assumes tasks.

Fourth, in confirmation of what was stated in the preamble of this decree of ours, the woman member commits to the principles of Islamic Shariah without any breach whatsoever and observes proper hijab taking into account especially the following:

1: Reserving a place for the woman to sit, as well as her own gate for entry and exit in the main Council Chamber, and everything related to her affairs to ensure independence from men.

2: Reserving places for women, fully independent from places reserved for men, to include offices for them and for employees with required equipment and services, and space for prayer.

Fifth: This decree of ours is to be delivered to specialized parties for adoption and implementation

Saudi tells U.N. Iran trespassing on its territory

Saudi Arabia has accused Iran of straying onto its territory near oil and gas fields in the Gulf and warned it was looking at how to respond, the Saudi ambassador to the United Nations said.

In a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Saudi authorities said Iranian helicopters flew several times over a gas field at Hasba, Abdullah al-Mualimi was quoted as saying in the daily newspaper Okaz on Monday.

The letter also said two Iranian navy boats intercepted a vessel belonging to state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco.

“I have submitted to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon a letter that details Iran’s breaches of the official conventions and treaties between it and Saudi Arabia,” Okaz quoted Mualimi as saying.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman declined to comment, saying the issue was under the jurisdiction of the Defense Ministry. A Defense Ministry spokesman was not available to comment.

Mualimi was quoted as saying the Saudi government had not requested international intervention but was “studying the appropriate practical steps to deal with the issue”. He said the kingdom reserved the right to respond with appropriate action to protect its territory and oil.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry has sent a letter to the Iranian Foreign Ministry asking that such incidents are not repeated and stressing that the areas where the incidents occurred are Saudi-owned under agreements signed between the two countries in 1968, Mualimi said.

Separated by about 250 km (150 miles) of Gulf waters, Shi’ite Muslim power Iran and Sunni-led Saudi Arabia have often tense relations. Saudi Arabia has accused Iran of fomenting unrest among Shi’ites in its oil-rich Eastern Province, a charge Iran denies.

Blaze kills Saudi Arabia wedding guests

At least 25 people have been killed by electric shock in a wedding in eastern Saudi Arabia, civil defence officials and local media say.

Celebratory gunfire brought down an electric cable at a house in Ain Badr village where the wedding was held on Tuesday night, Abdullah Khashman, an Eastern Province official, said.

Thirty others were injured in the incident near Abqaiq, a centre of the Saudi energy industry.

Some Saudi media reports said the blaze erupted inside a tent, killing at least 23 women and children. The kingdom's conservative codes require genders to be separated at most public events, including weddings.

The media cited civil defence officials as saying that celebratory gunfire brought down a power line that touched off the fire.

However, Reuters news agency quoted Khashman as saying: "At the wedding, the cable fell on a metal door and the 23 people who died were all electrocuted."

The victims were reportedly trying to escape through the door, the only exit from the courtyard, when they were killed.

All those killed were from the same tribe, Khashman said.

Saudi Arabia last month banned the shooting of firearms at weddings, a popular tradition in tribal areas of the country.

Prince Mohammed bin Fahd, Eastern Province's governor, ordered an investigation into the incident, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

In July 1999, 76 people died in a similar incident in the Eastern Province.

Forty-three women and children were killed at a wedding in neighbouring Kuwait in 2009 when a fire engulfed a tent.

The ex-wife of the groom said she started the fire to avenge her former husband's "bad treatment" of her.

Saudi King urges U.N. action against religious insults

Saudi King Abdullah on Saturday demanded a U.N. resolution condemning insults on monotheistic religions after a low-budget film produced in the U.S. sparked deadly protests last month.

“I demand a U.N. resolution that condemns any country or group that insults religions and prophets,” he said during a meeting at his palace with religious figures and heads of hajj delegations in the Mina valley where pilgrims were performing final rituals of hajj.

“It is our duty and that of every Muslim to protect Islam and defend the prophets.”

A low-budget film produced in the U.S., Innocence of Muslims, triggered a wave of deadly anti-American violence last month across the Muslim world targeting US symbols ranging from embassies and schools to fast food chains.

Saudi Arabia had threatened to block YouTube in the kingdom if Google did not respond to a request to deny access to the video footage of the film. YouTube then extended its restrictions on the video to Saudi Arabia.

The king also called on Saturday for the “unity of the Islamic nation (and) rejecting division to face the nation’s enemies” as he urged for dialogue among Muslims.

“Dialogue strengthens moderation and ends reasons of conflict and extremism,” he said.

“The interconfessional dialogue center which we had announced in Mecca does not necessarily mean reaching agreements on the matters of belief, but it aims at reaching solutions to divisions and implementing co-existence among sects,” he added.

The Saudi monarch proposed in August setting up a center for dialogue between Muslim confessions in Riyadh.

Millions of Muslim pilgrims stone devil for second day

Millions of Muslim pilgrims from all over the world, grouped by nationality, stoned the devil in Saudi Arabia's Mina valley on Saturday, as the hajj reached its final stages.

After stoning three walls symbolizing Satan in a rejection of sin and temptation, male pilgrims changed out of the seamless terrycloth robes of pilgrimage and shaved their heads, as a sign of renewal. Women - and those men who prefer not to undergo a complete shave - had a lock of hair clipped.

Pilgrims stoning the Satan at Jamrah. (AFP)

Security forces were heavily deployed in the stoning area and first aid teams remained on high alert around the three adjacent pillars representing Satan.

Men, women and children from 189 countries moved easily from one pillar to the next shouting "Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest)" as they hurled pebbles at the stone walls.

They walked in groups carrying their national flags so no members would get lost in the massive crowds.

As many prayed after and during the stoning, others were taking pictures on their mobile phones of themselves next to the pillars.

The photographing was criticized by members of the security forces who said through loudspeakers: "How are you people stoning Satan and taking pictures with him at the same time?"

Muslim pilgrims throw pebbles at pillars during the devil-stoning ritual in Mina near the holy city of Mecca. (AFP)

Though pilgrims will repeat the stoning ritual for at least two more days, they could now call themselves "hajjis," referring to those who have done the pilgrimage.

Malik Evangelatos, from Ukiah, Calif., said the experience felt "wonderful, satisfying and humbling," according to AP.

Evangelatos, who converted to Islam six years ago, said the simple pilgrim's garment that he had worn the past few days helped him "see the bigger picture in life and go back changed, happy and appreciative." For him, the hajj brought a chance to be truly equal regardless of ethnicity or race.

"It has probably been the highlight of my life outside of getting married and having a baby," he said. "You feel an emotional release. It is something that is not recreated anywhere else in the world."


The ritual, which takes place in the kingdom's usually-deserted Mina valley and comes to life only during the annual hajj pilgrimage, began on Friday with the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday as the faithful began by stoning the largest pillar, Jamrat al-Aqaba.

Mina used to be the most dangerous phase of the hajj and the most problematic for the Saudi authorities, marred by deadly stampedes in the past as well as by fires in tent camps.

In the past few years, however, tents have been fire-proofed and gas canisters and cooking are now banned.

The stoning area has also been expanded to avoid overcrowding.

The Saudi authorities have built a five-level structure around the three stoning sites, allowing for a smooth flow of pilgrims who are only permitted to move in one direction throughout the area to prevent congestion.

The ritual is an emulation of Abraham's stoning of the devil at the three spots where it is said Satan tried to dissuade the biblical patriarch from obeying God's order to sacrifice his son, Ishmael.

According to the authorities, 168,000 police officers and civil defense personnel were mobilized for this year's hajj. For the stoning, they organized specific times of day for groups of pilgrims to perform the ritual.

Over three million registered pilgrims are taking part in the rituals which will be over on Monday. Many pilgrims, however, conclude the pilgrimage on Sunday.

Millions of pilgrims head to Mina as Hajj 2012 officially kicks off

Millions of pilgrims arrived this week in Mecca for Islam’s annual Hajj (pilgrimage), which officially starts on Wednesday. Around four million pilgrims were heading to Mina, where they will spend their night before heading to the Mount of Arafat in the early hours of Thursday.

Many pilgrims began leaving for Mina on Tuesday night after circumambulating the Holy Kaaba, the first house of worship on Earth, built by Adam. Prophet Ibrahim and his son Ismail rebuilt it some 5,000 years ago. Most Hajj rituals are related to Prophet Ibrahim, his wife Hager and his son Prophet Ismail, and thus reflect the unity of humanity.

The Saudi government has given top priority to the security and safety of pilgrims and has deployed thousands of security forces in Mecca, Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah, all cities within a radius of 10 kilometers, to ensure a safe and secure Hajj.

A statement by the Saudi Interior Ministry on Tuesday said that pilgrims were being transported to Mina smoothly without any obstacles, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

Millions of pilgrims will spend their night at Mina before heading to the Mount of Arafat in the early hours of Thursday. (SPA)

The Grand Mosque, the focal point of the Islamic faith, was already teeming with joyful pilgrims at dawn on Monday, wearing the simple white folds of cloth prescribed for Hajj, many of them having slept on the white marble paving outside.

“I feel proud to be here because it’s a visual message that Muslims are united. People speaking in all kind of languages pray to the one God,” said Fahmi Mohammed al-Nemr, 52, from Egypt.

Hajj must be performed at least once in their lifetime by all Muslims capable of making the expensive, difficult journey, a duty that applies equally to Sunni and Shiite Muslims.

Saudi leaders have emphasized it is a strictly religious occasion and they are prepared to deal with any troublemaking.

Last year nearly 3 million pilgrims performed the Hajj, with roughly a third from inside the conservative kingdom. The Saudi authorities said there have so far been 1.7 million arrivals from abroad and about 200,000 from inside Saudi Arabia.

Mecca’s merchants, famed across the Arab world, are already doing a thriving trade as pilgrims stock up on souvenirs such as prayer beads and mats, Qurans, dates, gold and Zamzam water, pumped from a holy well.

“The first time I saw the Kaaba I cried with joy. I prayed for myself and all Muslims,” said Nafisa Rangrez, 36, from Gujarat in India, who had waited five years for a Hajj visa, according to Reuters.

All Muslims must face towards the Kaaba, the huge black cube at the center of the Grand Mosque, five times a day for prayer, making a visit to the sanctuary a powerful experience. Pilgrims must circle it seven times when they arrive in Mecca.

Wednesday is the first official day of the pilgrimage, with Muslims following a set form of rites laid out by the Prophet Mohammed and culminating on Friday with the Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice), a holiday across the Islamic world.

“I would love to live here for the rest of my life. There’s no such place in the entire world. This is a blessed country,” said Ziad Adam, 23, a theology student from Kenya.

“It’s my first time in Mecca for pilgrimage. I can’t wait to pray in Arafat,” 32-year-old Koara Abdul Rahman, a businessman from Burkina Faso, told AFP.

“Right now, I’ve got all the good feelings you can think of,” said an Iranian pilgrim, her voice quivering and tears welling.

Saudi Arabia’s king is formally titled Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the ruling family has long reigned on its guardianship of Islam’s birthplace.

Over the past decade it has spent billions of dollars expanding the Grand Mosque and building new infrastructure to avert the stampedes and tent fires that marred past pilgrimages with hundreds of deaths.

In 2011, Saudi Arabia began the biggest expansion yet of the Grand Mosque, to increase its capacity to 2 million. A new railway will link the holy sites around Mecca.

This year alone, the kingdom spent more than 1.1 billion riyals ($293.3 million) on development projects in the holy sites of Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah, all outside Mecca, according to AFP.

U.N. inaction gives Assad green light, Saudi Deputy FM tells General Assembly

The Saudi Arabian deputy foreign minister said on Friday that Security Council inaction on the Syrian civil war gave the Bashar al-Assad regime “a green light” to attack his own people.

Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah told the U.N. General Assembly on Friday that the al-Assad regime was “in a race against time to accomplish its objectives using the most advanced means of killing and destruction,” according to the Associated Press.

Opposition groups say more than 30,000 people have been killed since the uprising began with street demonstrations 18 months ago. Egypt has sought to engage the Saudis along with Turkey and Iran in finding a path to end the fighting. So far, the Saudis have not participated and Iranian leaders claim they are trying to put together a working group of non-aligned countries.

At least 32 people have been killed across Syria by security force gunfire on Saturday, according to the Local Coordination Committees activist group.

Fighting was reported in a neighborhood in Rif Dimishq, or Damascus countryside, where a public execution of eight people was reported by the Syrian Media Center.

On Friday, opposition fighters unleashed barrages of mortar fire against troops in the city of Aleppo Friday, residents said, as Washington unveiled new funding for humanitarian aid and the civilian opposition.

Residents of neighborhoods previously spared the worst of the two-month-old battle for the northern city of Aleppo, Syria's commercial capital, told AFP news agency the violence was unprecedented.

The Security Council, meanwhile, has been deadlocked, with Russia and China blocking three attempts to pass resolutions that would sanction Syria.

“We regret that this regime continues to believe that it can proceed with its suppressive procedures to control the situation without any due regard to the high humanitarian losses,” Abdullah said.

“The Security Council, which is entrusted with the responsibility of keeping peace and security, has failed so far to take a decision about the Syrian crisis and to stop the bloodshed therein. This matter gave the Syrian regime a green light to proceed with its crimes against the Syrian people, in a race against time, to accomplish its objectives using the most advanced means of killing and destruction.”

Abdullah called on the council to support Syria peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, and said he needs to go beyond the failed six-point plan of his predecessor, Kofi Annan. That plan called for a ceasefire that never happened, and was supposed to end with a political transition.

“We believe that the success of his mission will require implementing a new strategy and a clear plan that aims to achieve a peaceful transition of power” and surpasses the six-point plan which the previous envoy was not able to implement any of them,” Abdullah said.

“Needless to say that the new representative will not be able to move forward unless the Security Council provides him with the necessary support he needs to deal with the Syrian crisis at both political and humanitarian levels,” the Saudi official added.

Saudi shot dead in Shiite village

Masked gunmen on a motorbike shot dead a Saudi man and wounded another in a Shiite village of the kingdom’s Eastern Province, a security official said on Wednesday.

The gunmen opened fire at the two men late Tuesday near Al-Reef roundabout in Awamiya, a village in Qatif district, local police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ziad al-Rukayti said.

Police were investigating the incident, he said, as locals said the attack appeared to be criminally motivated rather than linked to troubles between Shiites and security forces in the region.

The predominantly Sunni kingdom's two-million-strong Shiite minority is mainly concentrated in the sensitive Eastern Province.

A policeman and an armed protester died in clashes earlier this month, the interior ministry said, and two Shiite protesters were killed in July, triggering attacks on government buildings in Qatif.

Organization of Islamic Cooperation suspends Syria’s membership

Foreign ministers at a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) agreed on Monday to suspend the membership of Syrian from the international body, Al Arabiya TV reported on Monday.

“The minister of the Islamic countries argeed to suspend the membership of Syria,” Al Arabiya TV quoted its correspondent in the summit as saying.

The ministers were holding preparatory talks before a two-day OIC summit in Mecca starting on Tuesday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi earlier said his country opposed the a suspension of Syria’s membership in the organization.

“I’m openly against the suspension of the membership of any country, any organization,” Salehi told reporters in Jeddah, seat of the 57-strong OIC of which allies Iran and Syria are members.

“By suspending the membership, this does not mean you are moving towards resolving an issue. By this, you are erasing the issue,” he said of the 17-month Syria conflict,

“Every country, especially OIC countries must join hands to resolve this issue in such a way that will help the peace security and stability in the region,” he added on the eve of an OIC summit in Saudi Arabia.

The secretary general of the OIC, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, has told AFP that war-ravaged Syria will not be represented in the summit.

On Monday, Ihsanoglu told the meeting that he was “sorry Syria has entered a dark tunnel which has no clear end.” adding that this “is the expected outcome of ignoring the demands of the people.”

Syria is “living the horrors of a grinding war from which the OIC has repeatedly warned,” he said.

Tuesday’s summit has been called by Saudi King Abdullah who is pushing to mobilize support for Syrian rebels battling the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Iran is Assad’s key supporter and has repeatedly warned against intervention in the 17-month conflict that has killed more than 21,000 people, according to monitoring groups.

Saudi King invites Iran’s President to Islamic summit in Mecca

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has sent an invitation to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to attend an emergency Islamic summit in Mecca later this month, according to Saudi state news agency (SPA).

SPA reported that the invitation was delivered by the Saudi Ambassador to Iran Mohammed al-Kilabi during a meeting with the Head of the Presidential Office Rahim Mashaie.

The Saudi king has called for “extraordinary Islamic solidarity meeting to ensure ... unity during this delicate time as the Muslim world faces dangers of fragmentation and sedition,” according to the Saudi Gazette .

The crisis in Syria is expected to top the agenda at the meeting that will be held on August 15-16 in the holy city.

A Saudi diplomat told Arab News Sunday that leaders of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have been invited to attend the summit, adding that OIC foreign ministers would meet on August 13 to prepare for the summit.

OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told the newspaper that in addition to the situation in Syria, the plight of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar would figure high on the summit’s agenda.

Saudi Arabia says two killed, including a soldier, in Shiite area

A Saudi soldier was shot dead patrolling an area populated by minority Shi’ite Muslims late on Friday, the Interior Ministry said, and one of the gunmen was killed in the ensuing shoot-out.

“A security patrol was exposed to heavy fire from four armed rioters on motorbikes when pausing at a street intersection in Qatif,” state news agency SPA reported, quoting Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour Turki.

Turki said the gunmen had been arrested after an exchange of fire in which one of them was killed, and said another man suffering a bullet injury had been arrested at the hospital.

He added that the incident, which happened at 11 pm on Friday evening, had led to the death of one soldier, named as Hussein Bawah Ali Zabani, and the wounding of another, named as Saad Miteb Mohammed al-Shammari, whom he said was taken to hospital.

Saudi Shiites mostly live in the Eastern Province, also home to the kingdom’s oil industry, and complain they lack access to government jobs, education and full rights of worship, charges the government denies.

UN removes Saudi dissident from blacklist

The UN Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against al-Qaeda has removed a London-based Saudi dissident from its blacklist. Peter Wittig, the committee chairman and also Germany's UN ambassador, said the committee de-listed Saad Rashed Mohammed al-Faqih and the Movement for Reform in Arabia (Mira), which he leads. Al-Faqih was removed after the committee failed to override a decision by the blacklist's ombudsman to remove him. "The key question the Committee has to consider is whether there is sufficient information to provide a reasonable and credible basis for concluding that an individual, group, undertaking, or entity is associated with al-Qaeda," Wittig said in a statement on Monday. Al-Faqih, according to his website, was a professor of surgery at King Saud University in Riyadh until he was briefly jailed for opposition activities and left in 1993 for Britain. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The professor was jailed for his heavy involvement in the country's reform movement. On his release from prison, he became director of the London office of the Committee for the Defence of Legitimate Rights (CDLR), then the leading Saudi opposition group before forming Mira in 1996. US state department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that while the UK supported delisting al-Faqih, the US opposed it. The UN decision "doesn't change the fact that US sanctions on him have been maintained," she said. "And today's action has no effect on the way we deal with him." The UN blacklisted al-Faqih soon after the US treasury department did in December 2004. The treasury department alleged that al-Faqih had "maintained associations with the al-Qaeda network since the mid-1990s." In December 2009, the Security Council established an independent ombudsman to deal with requests to get off the blacklist, gather information and report to the sanctions committee. A resolution adopted last year strengthened the role of the ombudsman, presently Canadian lawyer Kimberly Prost. If the ombudsman recommends delisting, the resolution says the individual or entity will be taken off the sanctions list in 60 days unless the sanctions committee agrees by consensus to maintain sanctions.