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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News Network
April 10,2020

Dubai, Apr 10: Saudi Arabia reported 364 new coronavirus cases and three new virus-related deaths, the Ministry of Health announced on Friday.

The total number of confirmed cases in the Kingdom is 3,651, out of which 2,919 are currently active, the ministry added.

Out of the new cases, 90 were recorded in Mecca, 78 in Medina, 69 in Riyadh, and 54 in Jeddah, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, the number of fatalities rose to 47, while th number of recoveries reached 685.

The daily number of confirmed cases in Saudi Arabia has not peaked yet, and has been rapidly accelerating.

Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Health had said earlier this week that four different studies showed that the number of coronavirus cases in the Kingdom could reach between 10,000 to 200,000 within weeks.

The ministry spokesman emphasized the urgent need for citizens and residents to remain at home and maintain social distancing practices to ensure that the virus does not spread further.

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News Network
June 12,2020

Beirut, Jun 12: Angry Lebanese protesters blocked roads across the country with burning tyres, debris and their vehicles, incensed over the local currency's depreciation by more than 25 percent in just two days.

The demonstrations from northern Akkar and Tripoli to central Zouk, the eastern Bekaa Valley, Beirut and southern Tyre and Nabatieh on Thursday were some of the most widespread in months of upheaval over a calamitous economic and financial crisis.

Protesters set ablaze a branch of the Central Bank, vandalised several private banks and clashed with security forces in several areas. At least 41 people were injured in Tripoli alone, according to the Lebanese Red Cross.

"I'm really pissed off, that's all. If politicians think they can burn our hearts like this the fire is going to reach them too," unemployed computer engineer Ali Qassem, 26, told Al Jazeera after pouring fuel onto smouldering tyres on a main Beirut thoroughfare.

Tens of thousands of Lebanese have lost jobs in the past six months and hundreds of businesses have shuttered as a dollar shortage led the Lebanese pound to slide from 1,500 to $1 last summer - where it was pegged for 23 years - to roughly 4,000 for each US dollar last month.

But the slide turned into a freefall between Wednesday and Thursday when the pound plummeted to roughly 5,000 to $1 on black markets, which have become a main source of hard currency. There was widespread speculation the rate hit 6,000 or even 7,000 pounds to the dollar, though most markets stopped trading.

Protesters began amassing on streets across the country before sunset and increased into the thousands across the country as the night fell.

Prime Minister Hassan Diab cancelled all meetings scheduled for Friday to hold an emergency cabinet session at 9:30am and another at 3pm at the presidential palace to be headed by President Michel Aoun.

The pound's collapse is the perhaps the biggest challenge yet for Diab's young cabinet, which gained confidence in February after former prime minister Saad Hariri's government was toppled by an unprecedented October uprising that had the country's economic crisis at its core.

Economy Minister Raoul Nehme told Al Jazeera that there was "disinformation" being circulated about the exchange rate on social media and said he was investigating possible currency manipulation.

"I don't understand how the exchange rate increased by so much in two days," he said.

Many protesters have pitted blame on Central Bank governor Riad Salameh, nominally in charge of  keeping the currency stable. But they have also called on the government to resign.

"If people want reform between dawn and dusk, that's not going to work, and if someone thinks they can do a better job then please come forward," Nehme said.

"But what we can't have is a power vacuum - then the exchange rate won't be 5000, it'll be a catastrophe."

'Everyone paying the price'

When protesters set a large fire in Beirut's Riad al-Solh Square, which lies at the foot of a grand Ottoman-era building that serves as the seat of government, firefighters did not intervene to extinguish it.

It later became clear why: Civil Defence told local news channel LBCI they had run out of diesel to fuel their firetrucks.

Basic imports such as fuel have been hit hard by the currency crisis, making already-weak state services increasingly feeble.

A half-dozen or so police officers with Lebanon's Internal Security Forces observed the scene unfolding in front of them in the square.

"Why do you destroy shops and things and attack us security forces - do you think we're happy? Go and f****** break that wall or go to the politicians' houses," one police officer told Al Jazeera, referring to a large concrete barrier separating protesters from the seat of government.

"In the end we are with you and we want the country to change. Don't you dare think we're happy. My salary is now worth $130," the officer said.

The currency's spectacular fall seems to have pushed many Lebanese to put common interests above their differences.

Large convoys of men on motorbikes from Shia-majority areas of southern Beirut joined the demonstrations on Thursday, though they have clashed with protesters many times before - including at a protest on Saturday.

Some chanted sectarian insults, leading to brief clashes in areas that were formerly front lines during the country's devastating 15-year civil war.

Instead, the motorbike-riding demonstrators on Thursday chanted: "Shia, Sunni, F*ck sectarianism."

"We are Shia, and Sunnis and Christian are our brothers," Hisham Houri, 39, told Al Jazeera, perched on a moped with his fiancee behind him just a few metres from a pile of burning tyres.

The blaze sent thick black smoke into the sky towards an iconic blue-domed mosque and church in downtown Beirut.

"Politicians play on these sectarian issues and sometimes succeed, but in the end, they'll fail because all the people have been hurt," he said. "The dollar isn't just worth 6,000 for Shias or for Sunnis, everyone is paying that price."

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News Network
May 31,2020

Dubai, May 31: As many as 84 beggars have been arrested in Dubai during the Eid Al Fitr holiday, the Dubai Police have said.

The arrests were carried out as part of their anti-begging campaign to prevent begging during the holy month of Ramadan.

Some illegal vendors, too, have been arrested in different areas of the emirate, the police added.

Colonel Ali Salem, Director of the Infiltrators Department at the Criminal Investigations Department of Dubai Police, said that the campaign aims to maintain the safety and security of the society, adding that the campaign was successful and helped reduce the number of beggars across the emirate.

He called on the public to report begging activities to the number 901 or the Dubai Police app.

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