Madinah suicide bomber disowned by family

July 9, 2016

Tabuk/ Riyadh, Jul 9: Fahd Musallam Hammad Al-Nujaidi Al-Bluwi has renounced his terrorist brother Naer Al-Bluwi, who carried out Monday’s suicide bombing in Madinah, stressing that he strongly rejects the terrorist act perpetrated in the vicinity of the Prophet’s Mosque.

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He said his brother’s actions went against Islamic teachings and that all his family members have disowned Naer and condemned his crime.

Fahd said three years ago, Naer joined the Border Guards, but later quit and was living in Tabuk. He used to visit his parents in the Wajeh Governorate occasionally.

He stayed with them this last Shaaban. On Ramadan 25, he told them on phone he was going to Makkah.

Fahd said his sister had told him that she had seen some clips belonging to terrorists in her brother’s mobile, adding that he immediately reported that to the security agencies.

Feeling broken and frustrated, Naer’s father said no words could express his anger and disgust with what Naer had done. “I disown him.”

He said: “I feel hopeless and saddened by this crime that my son carried out. He does not represent me or my tribe, and all my family supports the country’s efforts to fight terrorism.”

Zaki Hammad Al-Bluwi, Naer’s uncle, said his nephew’s criminal act is far from religion and humanity.

He said Naer was a criminal who slaughtered Muslims in the holy month, against all values and principles, and he and his family stood united against anyone attempting to harm the nation.

Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, Interior Ministry spokesman, said Naer had traveled abroad several times this year. He said the terror acts leave no doubts about their affiliation with terrorist organizations, especially Daesh.

“Enough evidence has been collected against those arrested and it shows that they supported Daesh,” said Al-Turki.

Investigations are under way, he said, stressing that the current security situation requires that people maintain calm and have patience. “The whole truth about the attacks will be revealed, after which the necessary legal procedures will be followed.”

Al-Turki said that preliminary investigations show that some of the 12 arrested Pakistanis have links with Daesh. The material used by the suicide bomber in Jeddah, nitroglycerin, is the same as the chemical used in the Qatif and Madinah bombings, he said.

Chemical expert Hisham Al-Sharqawi said one of its components, glycerin, is sold in drug stores and pharmacies as a moisturizing cream. It was transformed into explosives by the bombers. “This also indicates that the explosive belts came from the same source. The suspects who were arrested are affiliated with Daesh,” he said.

“It is one of the oils that are used as catalysts for explosives. When it is exposed to high temperatures, it explodes instantly,” he explained.

Al-Sharqawi said that some forms of acidic materials can become incendiary formulations, and that the most dangerous compounds within those materials are typically available for everyday use in various forms.

Nitroglycerin has been linked to several terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia, and is a primary material in explosive belts.

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Agencies
July 5,2020

Iraq’s deputy parliament speaker Hassan Karim al-Kaabi on Saturday described the move as provocative and in violation of international law.

Kaabi also called on the Iraqi government to take swift measures to halt such actions.

The Embassy’s move to fire in a residential area in the heart of Baghdad is an unacceptable act and another challenge for the Arab country, adding to the mass of its provocations and illegal actions in Iraq, he noted.

According to Iraqi media, the US tested a patriot missile system inside Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone.

Anti-US sentiments have been running high in Iraq since Washington assassinated top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani and the second-in-command of the Iraqi popular mobilization units, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in January.

Following the attack, Iraqi lawmakers unanimously approved a bill on January 5, demanding the withdrawal of all foreign troops.

Baghdad and Washington are currently in talks over the withdrawal of American troops. Iraqi resistance groups have vowed to take up arms against US forces if Washington fails to comply with the parliamentary order.

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Agencies
June 18,2020

Riyadh, Jun 18: Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khateeb said that Saudi Arabia will resume tourist activities at the end of Shawwal (June 21) after a hiatus of more than three months due to lockdown measures imposed following the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic.

The minister made the remarks during a television interview after chairing the emergency meeting of the Arab Ministerial Council for Tourism on Wednesday. He said that the current indications are positive and that the Kingdom is ready to launch the summer program, which will be a boost for domestic tourism.

“It was revealed in a research study carried out by the Tourism Authority that 80 percent of Saudi citizens want to take advantage of domestic tourism. We will launch the domestic tourism program for the public after having made necessary coordination with the Ministry of Health and the concerned higher authorities,” he said.

Several Arab tourism ministers and officials of the relevant organizations attended the meeting, which discussed the challenges that the region’s tourism sector is facing due to the pandemic. Al-Khateeb pointed out that the Arab Ministerial Council for Tourism, headed by Saudi Arabia, held the virtual session in exceptional circumstances to discuss ways to get out of this pandemic and revitalize the tourism sector.

“Saudi Arabia has initiated a package of financial stimulus activities with a total value of more than $61 billion to protect jobs and businesses and reduce the economic burden of the crisis. The domestic tourism sector has benefited from it as one of the important economic sectors, as it covered 60 percent of salaries of Saudi employees in the private sector for a period of three months,” he added.

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Agencies
January 4,2020

Dubai, Jan 4: Three UAE airlines have made it to lists of the safest carriers in 2020, reinforcing the value these companies provide passengers in the increasingly competitive aviation scene.

Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways and Dubai's Emirates are in the list of the top 20 safest airlines, while Sharjah-based Air Arabia is in the list of the top 10 low-cost carriers, safety and product rating website AirlineRatings.com reported on Thursday.

It named Qantas as the safest airline for 2020 out of the 405 carriers it monitors.

The top 20, in order, are Qantas, Air New Zealand, EVA Air, Etihad Airways, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Alaska Airlines, Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Virgin Australia, Hawaiian Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airlines, TAP Portugal, SAS, Royal Jordanian, Swiss, Finnair, Lufthansa, Aer Lingus and KLM.

"These airlines are clear standouts in the airline industry and are at the forefront of safety," said AirlineRatings.com editor-in-chief Geoffrey Thomas.

"For instance, Australia's Qantas has been recognised by the British Advertising Standards Association in a test case in 2008 as the world's most experienced airline."

"Qantas has been the lead airline in virtually every major operational safety advancement over the past 60 years and has not had a fatality in the pure-jet era," said Thomas.

AirlineRatings.com editors also identified their top 10 safest low-cost airlines; they are, in alphabetical order, Air Arabia, Flybe, Frontier, HK Express, IndiGo, Jetblue, Volaris, Vueling, Westjet and Wizz.

Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at StrategicAero Research in London, says that it isn't a surprise that UAE carriers are on those lists.

"UAE airlines almost always feature in the top rankings for safety because they value the equipment that they fly their passengers on each and every day," he told Khaleej Times on Thursday.

"All airlines do; but for the UAE, where airlines have expanded rapidly in the last couple of decades, it's an amazing feat that they rank so highly while inducting so many new aeroplanes."

There's little benefit to adding luxurious cabins if maintenance, security and safety protocols as well as routine engineering schedules are not adhered to, he stressed.

"And with the UAE itself sporting MRO activities as well as through companies like Strata, which supply components to Airbus and Boeing directly, airlines here have harnessed that tech-change to ensure that their fleets have the highest redundancy and safety checks at every possible chance," Ahmad added. "That translates into passenger confidence - and we can see the brand and loyalty strength across Emirates, flydubai, Air Arabia and Etihad; it's no surprise that each year, they all fly more and more passengers across their network."

In making its selections, AirlineRatings.com editors and its industry advisors take into account numerous critical factors that include: Audits from aviation's governing bodies and lead associations, government audits, airline's crash and serious incident record, fleet age, financial position and pilot training and culture.

"All airlines have incidents every day and many are aircraft or engine manufacture issues instead of airline operational problems. And it is the way the flight crew handles incidents that determines a good airline from an unsafe one. So just lumping all incidents together is very misleading," said Thomas.

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