Saudi Arabia starts major expansion of Grand Mosque in Mecca
A general view of the Grand Mosque during the Muslim month of Ramadan in the holy city of Mecca August 20, 2011. Saudi Arabia has begun the biggest expansion yet of Islam's holiest site, the Grand Mosque in Mecca, to raise its capacity to 2 million pilgrims/Hassan Ali
Saudi Arabia has begun the biggest expansion yet of Islam’s holiest site, the Grand Mosque in Mecca, to raise its capacity to 2 million pilgrims, the state news agency SPA said. “King Abdullah inaugurated in Mecca (on Friday) the start of the expansion… which is the largest of all previous expansions combined,” SPA said. It did not say how much it will cost to add 400,000 square meters to the mosque’s area or how long the project will take.
Saudi pulls ambassador from Syria, denounces violence
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah demanded an end to the bloodshed in Syria on Monday and recalled his country’s ambassador from Damascus, in a rare case of one of the Arab world’s most powerful leaders intervening against another.
It was the sharpest criticism the oil giant — an absolute monarchy that bans political opposition — has directed against any Arab state since a wave of protests roiled the Middle East and toppled autocrats in Tunisia and Egypt.
Saudi says draft anti-terrorism law being amended
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia has revised an anti-terrorism law and made it less severe than a leaked version that was heavily criticised by human rights groups, a Shura Council spokesman said Saturday.
“The draft that was published is not the final one,” said Mohammed Almohanna, spokesman for the advisory parliament.
Gunman killed near Saudi interior minister’s palace
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) – Saudi security forces killed a gunman early on Saturday after he fired at a checkpoint near the Interior Minister’s palace in Jeddah, the state news agency said.
Police said they were unable to confirm whether the incident was militant-related.
Gunman killed near Saudi prince’s palace: agency
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) – Saudi security forces killed a gunman on Saturday morning after he fired at a checkpoint near the Interior Minister’s palace in Jeddah, the state news agency said.
Police said they were unable to confirm whether the incident was terror related.
Saudi billionaire to build world’s tallest tower
JEDDAH, Aug 2 (Reuters) – Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed
bin Talal unveiled plans on Tuesday to build the world’s
tallest tower in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, signing a 4.6
billion riyal ($1.23 billion) contract with Bin Laden Group.
The proposed tower, which will rise more than 1,000 metres
and take just over five years to complete, is the centrepiece of
the planned Kingdom City development being built outside Jeddah
by Prince Alwaleed’s Kingdom Holding .
Sustaining record SABIC profit will be tough – CEO
RIYADH, July 17 (Reuters) – Saudi Basic Industries Corp
(SABIC) , the world’s biggest petrochemical firm by
market value, said on Sunday that maintaining profitability
would be a tough challenge after posting record profit in the
latest quarter.
The bellwether Middle East conglomerate, which supplies
chemicals, industrial polymers, fertilisers and metals globally,
is in a good position to grow its own business while making
acquisitions when necessary, said Chief Executive Mohamed
al-Mady.
Saudi’s SABB posts 90.6 pct rise in Q2 profit, beats forecast
DUBAI, July 12 (Reuters) – Saudi’s SABB Bank
posted a 90.6 percent rise in its second quarter net profit,
beating analysts forecasts, the bank said in a bourse statement
on Tuesday.
The bank attributed the rise in profit to lower operational
costs during the first half of the year.
Four major Saudi banks post sturdy Q2 profits
DUBAI July 11 (Reuters) – Four major Saudi banks reported
quarterly profits that met or beat analysts estimates on Monday,
in a sign the kingdom’s lenders have begun to rebound from a
punishing bout of a bad loan provisioning.
Al-Rajhi Bank , the country’s biggest Islamic
lender, posted a 3.6 percent rise in second-quarter profit.
Afghanistan seeks foreign donors after IMF talks fail
JEDDAH (Reuters) – Kabul is pursuing talks with international donors for foreign aid after a breakdown in discussions with the IMF left millions of dollars in aid in limbo, Afghanistan’s finance minister said on Tuesday.
Foreign aid is expected to decline sharply in the coming years, especially after the Kabulbank scandal which strained relationships with donors, Omar Zakhilwal told Reuters in an interview in the Saudi port city of Jeddah.
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