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Yemen conflict: Saudi coalition declares 48-hour ceasefire

November 19, 2016

Nov 19: The Saudi-led military coalition supporting Yemen's government against the Houthi rebels has declared a 48-hour ceasefire to begin on Saturday.

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The ceasefire will begin at midday (0900 GMT), the Saudi government announced via state media.

The coalition said the truce could be renewed if the Houthis observed it and allowed aid to be delivered to rebel-held areas in the southwest.

More than 10,000 people have died in 20 months of civil war in the country.

There has been no word yet from the Houthis and several previous ceasefires have broken down.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said earlier this week that the coalition and Houthis had agreed on a ceasefire to begin on Thursday.

But the internationally recognised Yemeni government, led by exiled president Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, rejected the move, complaining that it had been being bypassed.

The truce announced by Mr Kerry held in some parts of the country but not others. More than 20 civilians were killed on Friday in the shelling of a busy market in the war-torn city of Taiz.

International medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said one of its staff was also killed, calling it "another heartbreaking example of a hard-working citizen affected by this ongoing conflict".

Taiz has been one of the worst-affected cities in Yemen's conflict, witnessing some of the heaviest and most sustained fighting in the country.

The UN estimates that more than three million people have been displaced from the conflict and 21 million are in need of some form of humanitarian assistance.

Two million people are malnourished nationwide, including 370,000 children who are severely malnourished.

The conflict has also ravaged Yemen's health system. More than half of the health facilities the country are closed or partially functioning, a survey by the World Health Organisation found earlier this month.

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Agencies
January 11,2020

Muscat, Jan 11: Oman's Culture and Heritage Minister, Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, took oath as country's Sultan on Saturday following the demise of Qaboos bin Said al-Said, the country's government confirmed on Saturday.

Sputnik quoted a report by sultanate's Al-Roya newspaper as saying that the new Sultan " affirmed the continuation of the country's modernisation and development in various fields."

The development comes after Qaboos bin Said, who had served as the ruler of Oman since 1970, died Friday at the age of 79.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had condoled Qaboos's demise and remembered him as the "beacon of peace for India and the world". 

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Agencies
June 20,2020

Riyadh, Jun 20: Saudi Arabia will end a nationwide curfew and lift restrictions on businesses from Sunday morning after three months of lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, state news agency SPA quoted a source in the interior ministry as saying on Saturday.

The curfew will be lifted as of 6 AM local time on Sunday. Restrictions will remain, however, for religious pilgrimages, international travel and social gatherings of more than 50 people.

The kingdom introduced stringent measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus in March, including 24-hour curfews on most towns and cities.

In May, it announced a three-phase plan to ease restrictions on movement and travel, culminating in the curfew completely ending on June 21.

The number of coronavirus infections has risen in recent weeks following a relaxation of movement and travel restrictions on May 28.

The kingdom has recorded 154,223 cases of COVID-19 and a total of 1,230 deaths, the highest in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council.

Saudi Arabia plans to limit numbers at the annual haj pilgrimage to prevent a further outbreak of coronavirus cases, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier this month.

Some 2.5 million pilgrims visit the holiest sites of Islam in Mecca and Medina for the week-long haj, a once-in-a-lifetime duty for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it. Saudi Arabia asked Muslims in March to put haj plans on hold and suspended the umrah pilgrimage until further notice.

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Agencies
July 31,2020

Makkah, Jul 31: Organising this year's scaled-down hajj required "double efforts" by Saudi authorities amid the coronavirus pandemic, King Salman said Friday after being discharged from hospital following gall bladder surgery.

Only up to 10,000 people already residing in the kingdom are participating in this year's pilgrimage, compared with 2019's gathering of some 2.5 million from around the world.

"Holding the ritual in the shadow of this pandemic... required reducing the numbers of pilgrims, but it obliged various official agencies to put in double efforts," 84-year-old King Salman said in a speech read out on state television by acting media minister Majid Al-Qasabi.

"The hajj this year was restricted to a very limited number of people from multiple nationalities, ensuring the ritual was completed despite the difficult circumstances," he said.

The speech came on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, the Muslim festival of sacrifice, a day after the king left hospital following a 10-day stay for surgery to remove his gall bladder.

The hajj, which began on Wednesday, is one of the five pillars of Islam and a must for able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lifetime.

Authorities implemented the "highest health precautions" during the rituals, the king said.

Pilgrims, who were all tested for the virus, are required to wear masks and observe social distancing.

For Friday's "stoning of the devil", the last major ritual of the hajj, Saudi authorities offered the pilgrims pebbles that were sanitised to protect against the pandemic.

In a sign that its strict measures were working, the health ministry reported no coronavirus cases in the holy sites on Wednesday or Thursday.

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