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In Moscow, Saudi deputy crown prince strengthens ties with Russia

[email protected] (Arab News)
May 31, 2017

Moscow, May 31: Russia and Saudi Arabia hailed their growing partnership in oil markets and dialogue on Syria on Tuesday.

Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with President Vladimir Putin one week after the US President Donald Trump's historic visit to Riyadh.Moscow

Putin praised the deputy crown prince, who looks after the Kingdom's defense and energy, as he welcomed him to the Kremlin. It was the second meeting between the two men over the past year.

The deputy crown prince's visit to Russia followed some anxiety in political and diplomatic circles in Moscow since US-Russian ties continue to be strained.

Washington's movements in the strategically important Middle East made Russia keep a close eye on what happened in Riyadh.

“Relations between Saudi Arabia and Russia are seeing one of their best stages at the moment,” the deputy crown prince said.

“The two countries have a lot of points of mutual understanding. As for the points on which we have differences, a clear mechanism exists to overcome them and we are progressing at a quick pace in this respect,” he said.

The deputy crown prince believes his visit to Moscow would help strengthen bilateral relations. “The main thing is that we manage to build a strong foundation as concerns the oil market and prices of energy resources. This offers opportunities for building a strategic future further,” he said.

Russia is seeking to extend its presence in the region. Despite its close ties with Iran, Moscow is interested in building bridges with the Arab Gulf states. The deputy crown prince's visit to Moscow balances the Riyadh Summit, demonstrating that the Kingdom is ready to maintain open dialogue with all countries that are eager to do so.

The prince and Putin discussed stabilizing the world oil market and Syria. Putin's and the deputy crown prince's estimations of bilateral ties are similar.

There are 25 mutually beneficial investment projects totaling $10 billion that are under examination.

Nickolay Soukhov, senior researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies at Russia's Academy of Sciences, said the visit will have a positive impact on bilateral ties.

“The fact that the Saudi deputy crown prince arrived in Moscow one week after the historic summit in Riyadh demonstrates that the Kingdom is eager to keep balance in its foreign policy and to diversify its ties,” Soukhov said.

Anton Mardasov, expert at the Russian Council on Foreign Relations and head of the Middle East conflicts department at the Institute of Innovative Development, said: “Moscow is interested in building partnerships with the Gulf monarchies, and with Saudi Arabia in particular.

It was noticeable even in contacts within the framework of OPEC (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries). Cooperation between the two countries is also needed on Syria. It's likely that Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has come to Russia partly to figure out how serious Moscow is about maintaining safe zones in Syria.”

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News Network
March 6,2020

Riyadh, Mar 6: Saudi Arabia on Thursday emptied Islam's holiest site for sterilisation over fears of the new coronavirus, an unprecedented shutdown state media said will last while the year-round Umrah pilgrimage is suspended.

The kingdom halted the pilgrimage for its own citizens and residents on Wednesday, on top of restrictions announced last week on foreign pilgrims to stop the disease from spreading.

State television relayed images of an empty white-tiled area surrounding the Kaaba -- a large black cube structure inside Mecca's Grand Mosque -- which is usually packed with tens of thousands of pilgrims.

As a "precautionary measure", the area will remain closed as long as the umrah suspension lasts but prayers will be allowed inside the mosque, state-run Saudi Press Agency cited a mosque official as saying.

Additionally, the Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque in the city of Medina will be closed an hour after the evening "Isha" prayer and will reopen an hour before the dawn "Fajr" prayer to allow cleaning and sterilisation, the official added.

A group of cleaners was seen scrubbing and mopping the tiles around the Kaaba, a structure draped in gold-embroidered gold cloth towards which Muslims around the world pray.

A Saudi official told news agency the decision to close the area was "unprecedented".

On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia suspended the umrah for its own citizens and residents over fears of the coronavirus spreading to Islam's holiest cities.

The move came after authorities last week suspended visas for the umrah and barred citizens from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council from entering Mecca and Medina.

Saudi Arabia on Thursday declared three new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of reported infections to five.

The umrah, which refers to the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca that can be undertaken at any time of year, attracts millions of Muslims from across the globe annually.

The decision to suspend the umrah mirrors a precautionary approach across the Gulf to cancel mass gatherings from concerts to sporting events.

It comes ahead of the holy fasting month of Ramadan starting in late April, which is a favoured period for pilgrimage.

It is unclear how the coronavirus will affect the hajj, due to start in late July.

Some 2.5 million faithful travelled to Saudi Arabia from across the world in 2019 to take part in the hajj, which is one of the five pillars of Islam as Muslim obligations are known.

The event is a massive logistical challenge for Saudi authorities, with colossal crowds cramming into relatively small holy sites, making attendees vulnerable to contagion.

Already reeling from slumping oil prices, the kingdom risks losing billions of dollars annually from religious tourism as it tightens access to the sites.

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Agencies
August 8,2020

Beirut, Aug 7: A devastating explosion that destroyed much of Beirut might have been the result of a missile attack or bomb, Lebanese President Michel Aoun said, as the death toll from the blast rose to 154.

More than 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate had been sitting in a port warehouse for six years, but there have been conflicting accounts about why Lebanese authorities decided to empty the shipment of explosive material. The vessel carrying the flammable cargo was heading from Georgia to Mozambique when it stopped in the Lebanese port to load up on iron, according to the ship’s captain.

By Friday, 19 suspects had been arrested and Lebanon’s former director general of customs Chafic Merhy had been questioned by military police.

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News Network
March 24,2020

Mar 24: Saudi Arabia has recorded its first death from the coronavirus in a 51-year-old Afghani resident, Health Ministry spokesman Mohammed Abdelali told a televised news conference on Tuesday.

The man's health deteriorated quickly after reporting to a hospital emergency room in the city of Medina and he died on Monday night, Abdelali said.

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