A plan has been completed to link Arafat, Muzdalifa and Mina with the expansion taking place at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, said Dr. Habib Zain Al-Abideen, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Supervisor General of the (...)
The authorities have arrested a number of people involved in running 16 bogus Haj companies, according to Hatim Bin Hassan Qadhi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Haj.
The ministries of interior and Haj were involved in uncovering the fraud. (...)
The government will install 5,000 high-resolution cameras in the holy sites next year to monitor service provision and curb crime, according to Amin Naib, Assistant Deputy Mayor of Makkah for Financial Affairs.
He said it will be similar to the (...)
The government is searching for landlords of buildings that need to make way for the Haramain High Speed Rail Project (HHR), according to Dr. Jabarah Al-Suraisiry, Minister of Transport.
He said that over 90 percent of the buildings that need to be (...)
The huge demand for medicine by pilgrims is forcing Makkah Mayoralty to triple the number of pharmacies in the city.
The move comes after inspections showed that the city's three pharmacies in the central area near the Haram were chronically (...)
The Makkah Mayoralty has completed a study that could see a tube system used next Haj to carry waste from Mina to underground chambers and recycling stations at the holy sites.
Engineer Abdul Salam Mashat, Deputy Mayor of Makkah for Services, said (...)
The government plans to construct new buildings in Mina after Haj which on completion will see the Tent City accommodate three million pilgrims, said Dr. Habeeb Zain Al-Abideen, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and (...)
Hundreds of barbers have been organized to cut the hair of at least two million pilgrims after the stoning at the Jamarat in preparation for Al-Tahallul Al-Asghar. A total of 100 young Saudi barbers from all parts of the Kingdom are also involved in (...)
More than 300 health specialists are providing round-the-clock health care to pilgrims besides working to contain any epidemic outbreak.
The medical teams are working under the Ministry of Health Executive Committee for Preventive Medicine Program (...)
A project is under way to set up a single control room in Makkah to handle all emergency calls from across the Kingdom.
The control room staff will be trained to receive reports in 10 languages, according to sources.
The Makkah operations center (...)
An Egyptian father has tattooed his son's arm with all his personal details to prevent him getting lost during Haj.
Mahmood Awad, the boy's father, said it was an ingenious method to prevent their son from losing the address of their Haj group. Now (...)
A total of 19 helicopters, equipped to fly in all-weather conditions, are being used for surveillance and emergency services this Haj, said Major General Muhammad Bin Eid Al-Harbi, Commander of Civil Defense Aviation.
The copters have already (...)
The foundation of the late Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz (may Allah shower His mercy on him), has donated 200,000 meals to Haj pilgrims at the holy sites.
Muhammad Al-Harthi, spokesman of Al-Siqaya and Al-Rifada Committee in Makkah and the holy (...)
years ago a young Moroccan man, Mahjoub, tied the knot with his sweetheart Habeeba and promised her that as part of her dowry he would take her for Haj.
For five long decades he was unable to do so. This year, he finally fulfilled that (...)
Prince Mansour Bin Mite'b, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs, Tuesday made an inspection tour of the Holy Sites Train and other projects being carried out by his ministry.
He took the Holy Sites Train ride during its first trial-run, and (...)
Prince Mansour Bin Mite'b, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs, is scheduled to witness Tuesday the first trial run of the Holy Sites Train.
The driverless, electronically-controlled train will undergo testing in the presence of the ministry's (...)
As the Haj drew to a close on the fourth day of Eid, many pilgrims were seen happily snapping away at Mina in a bid to record their Haj forever.
With dark fast approaching, all that could be seen was the flashlights of cameras and camera phones. It (...)
A number of citizens who were released from Guantanamo Bay and have returned home are sorry for carrying out terrorist acts in the past.
They have also thanked the State for reuniting them with their families and paying for some of them to go on (...)
Workers miss their families during the Eid days but are happy to serve pilgrims on their holy journey.
A number of male and female medical workers said that they were happy to help pilgrims.
Dr. Ihsan Ma'ajini, Director of Mina Al-Jisr Hospital, (...)
The swine flu pandemic has inflicted huge losses, estimated at SR260 million, on more than 240 domestic Tawafa establishments.
This is the figure released by Saad Jameel Al-Qurshi, Chairman of the Haj and Umrah Committee at the Chamber of Commerce (...)
Any Jeddah resident affected by the floods over the past week can lay complaints with the courts, the Board of Grievances, and Control and Investigation Commission, said Sheikh Saleh Bin Humaid, Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council, (...)
The government will not compensate owners of flood-damaged vehicles, said Minister of Finance Ibrahim Al-Assaf, Saturday.
Starting Saturday, storm relief funds will pay for damage to privately-owned buildings and necessary requirements, the (...)
Health officials have criticized some countries for failing to educate their pilgrims on how to deal with the swine flu pandemic during this year's Haj.
Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeah, the Minister of Health, has confirmed that some Muslim countries did (...)
Undercover cops, particularly women officers, have reduced the rate of crime during this year's Haj.
This is according to Maj. Gen. Khidhir Bin Ayidh Al-Zahrani, Assistant Commander of Haj Security Forces for Security Affairs.
He said the (...)
Pilgrims can follow the rulings of learned scholars from their own countries, over whether to stone at the Jamarat before or after midday on the 12th of Dhul Hijja.
This is the view of Dr. Ali Abass Al-Hakami, member of the Board of Senior Ulema (...)