MAKKAH — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman has issued directives on Thursday to take advantage of the areas that have been completed from the King Abdullah Expansion Project of the Grand Mosque. The King's directive came in the wake of the heavy turnout of Umrah pilgrims and visitors to the holy mosque. The ongoing third and final phase of the mataf (circumambulation area around the Holy Kaaba) expansion is expected to complete before the next Haj. Sheikh Abdurahman Al-Sudais, head of the Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques, said that the presidency will take initiatives to implement the royal directive with immediate effect. Meanwhile, the evacuation of areas in Madinah to make way for the expansion of the Prophet's Mosque had been postponed till after the Haj pilgrimage.
