World on high terror alert ahead of New Year

December 31, 2016

Jeddah, Dec 31: Security measures have been tightened in global capitals ahead of tonight’s New Year celebrations, amid heightened fears after a spate of terror attacks.

alert

Security experts said however the barricades, road closures and deployment of heavily armed police in many cities is more a show of force than an effective means to thwart an attack.

As the world ushers in 2017, security will be particularly tight in European cities, following the Daesh-linked truck attack in Berlin that killed 12 people.

Around 1,700 extra officers, some carrying sub-machine guns, along with armored cars and concrete barriers will be among the anti-terror measures in Berlin, Reuters reported.

“Every measure is being taken to prevent a possible attack,” Berlin police spokesman Thomas Neuendorf told Reuters TV.

Trucks have been banned from the centers of Rome and Naples, some 1,600 extra police will be out in force in Madrid, and extra surveillance cameras have been installed in Cologne in Western Germany, according to reports.

Other major global cities including New York, London and Sydney will also be increasing security measures.

But some cast doubt over the ability of officials to prevent against low-tech but fatal terror incidents such as the truck attack in Nice, France, on July 14, in which 86 people were killed.

Terrorism expert Lee Marsden, a professor at the University of East Anglia in the UK, said public concern was at a high following recent events in Europe.

But he said it was difficult to guard against the kind of terror attacks seen in Nice and Berlin.

“Now they’re just using cars and trucks to create as much mayhem as possible, people are getting understandably concerned about it. It’s very difficult for security forces to try to prevent any of these attacks,” Marsden told Arab News.

“These attacks have really thrown into question the ability of the state to protect its citizens. And therefore to try and reassure them they will have a massive show of force on the street. It doesn’t actually deal with the problem, but it will give people some reassurance no doubt.”

Marsden added, however, that the level of public fear was “out of all proportion” to the actual threat in many places.

“The chances of attacks are very very slight indeed,” he said.

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News Network
March 25,2020

Riyadh, Mar 25: A 46-year-old man died of coronavirus in Saudi Arabia, becoming the Kingdom’s second death, according to a health ministry’s spokesman.

The health ministry recorded 133 new infections, bringing the total to 900.

Of those newly confirmed cases, 18 are associated with recent travel, and were placed in quarantine upon their arrival in the Kingdom, the spokesman said.

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News Network
January 7,2020

Tehran, Jan 7: Iranian state television says 35 people have been killed and 50 others injured in a stampede that erupted at a funeral procession for a general slain in a US airstrike.

The TV says the stampede erupted in Kerman, the hometown of Gen. Qassem Soleimani where the procession was underway on Tuesday.

A procession in Tehran on Monday drew over 1 million people in the Iranian capital, crowding both main thoroughfares and side streets in Tehran.

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Agencies
July 31,2020

Mount Arafat, July 30: Muslim pilgrims converged Thursday on Saudi Arabia's Mount Arafat for the climax of this year's hajj, the smallest in modern times and a sharp contrast to the massive crowds of previous years.

A tight security cordon has been erected all around the foot of the rocky hill outside Mecca, also known as Jabal al-Rahma or Mount of Mercy.

Pilgrims, donning masks and observing social distancing, were brought in buses from neighbouring Mina, state television showed, as Saudi authorities impose measures to prevent a coronavirus outbreak.

They were subject to temperature checks and attended a sermon -- which state media said was translated into 10 languages -- before they set off on the climb to the summit for hours of Koran recitals and prayers to atone for their sins.

The scene was strikingly different to last year's ritual when a sea of pilgrims ascended Mount Arafat, marshalled by tens of thousands of stewards in a bid to prevent any crushes.

After sunset prayers, pilgrims will make their way down Mount Arafat to Muzdalifah, another holy site where they will sleep under the stars to prepare for the final stage of hajj, the symbolic "stoning of the devil".

It takes place on Friday and also marks the beginning of Eid al-Adha, the festival of sacrifice.

The hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam and a must for able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lifetime, is usually one of the world's largest religious gatherings.

But only up to 10,000 people already residing in the kingdom will participate in this year's ritual, compared with 2019's gathering of some 2.5 million from around the world.

"You are not our guests but those of God, the custodian of the two holy mosques (Saudi Arabia's King Salman) and the nation," Hajj Minister Mohammad Benten said in a video released by the media ministry on Wednesday.

Security cordon

A security cordon has been thrown around the holy sites to prevent any security breaches, an interior ministry spokesman said.

Riyadh faced strong criticism in 2015 when some 2,300 worshippers were killed in the deadliest stampede in the gathering's history.

But this year, those risks are greatly reduced by the much smaller crowd.

The pilgrims have all been tested for the virus, and foreign journalists were barred from this year's hajj, usually a huge global media event.

As part of the rites completed over five days in the holy city of Mecca and its surroundings, the pilgrims converged on Mount Arafat after spending the night in Mina.

A district of Mecca, Mina sits in a narrow valley surrounded by rocky mountains, and is transformed each year into a vast encampment for pilgrims.

They began the hajj on Wednesday with their first "tawaf", the circumambulation of the Kaaba, a large structure in Mecca’s Grand Mosque towards which Muslims around the world pray.

The Kaaba is draped in a black cloth embroidered in gold with Koranic verses and known as the kiswa, which is changed each year during the pilgrimage.

Pilgrims were brought inside the mosque in small batches, walking along paths marked on the floor, in sharp contrast to the normal sea of humanity that swirls around the Kaaba during hajj.

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