Middle East

Makkah, April 9: The Haramain Railway’s main station in Makkah will cost SR3.2 billion, Transport Minister Jabara Al-Seraisry said yesterday after inspecting the progress of work at the station. He said real estate property valued at more than SR600 million have been appropriated for the high-speed railway project linking the two holy cities of Makkah and Madinah via Jeddah. The minister was given

Cairo, April 8 : Egypt's Islamist party has put forward a leading Muslim cleric as its presidential candidate.The Gamaa Islamiya, or Islamic Group, has chosen Safwat Hegazy, a prominent imam who took part in last year's protests that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.Hegazy was banned from entering France last month along with a number of other high-profile Muslim clerics on the grounds that they

Tehran, April 8 : A prominent Iranian politician has said that Tehran has the knowledge and skills to produce nuclear weapons, but will never do so.Gholamreza Mesbahi Moghadam, the Iranian parliamentarian whose views do not represent the government's policy, said that Iran could easily create the highly enriched uranium that is used to build atomic bombs, but stressed that it was not the country's

? Madinah, April 8: The Haj Ministry plans to establish a big pilgrim reception center in Hijrah at the gate of Madinah at a cost of SR60 million, Haj Minister Bandar Al-Hajjar announced here yesterday. Speaking to reporters after an inspection tour of Haj facilities in Madinah, he said the new center is designed to serve more than 7 million Haj and Umrah pilgrims annually. He said Hijrah would

Riyadh, April 8: A special court in Riyadh started a trial of 50 men accused of terror activities in Riyadh yesterday. The defendants included two Syrians and a Yemeni as well as 47 Saudis. Joining an Al-Qaeda terror cell in the Kingdom, plotting to assassinate a prominent leader in the country and some US citizens, and planning to blow up US and British embassies, the Al-Mahya Residential Complex

Beirut, April 8: Syrian troops pounded opposition areas, activists said, killing 74 civilians in an offensive that has sent thousands of refugees surging into Turkey before next week’s UN-backed cease-fire aimed at staunching a year of bloodshed. At least 15 rebels and 17 security force members were also killed, raising the death toll in violence to over 100. Each side has accused the other of

Riyadh, April 7: Prince Sultan bin Salman, president of Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), underscored the significance of further developing tourism infrastructure facilities and services in order to prevent Saudis visiting foreign destinations during their vacation. “The momentum of Saudis leaving for foreign countries having advanced tourist facilities and top standard of

Abu Dhabi, April 7: The Commission tasked with the implementation of the directives of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the naturalisation of children born to Emirati mothers, has submitted a list of children eligible for UAE citizenship when they attain the age of 18. The list containing 930 names will pave way for issuing orders for their naturalisation as per the

Dubai, April 7: In a significant boost to US naval capabilities in the region as tensions with Iran continue over its disputed nuclear programme, a second carrier has joined the USS Abraham Lincoln in the 5th Fleet area of operations. The USS Enterprise, the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and Carrier Strike Group 12 arrived in the region on April 3, officials confirmed to Khaleej

Beirut, April 7: At least 24 Syrians were killed in violence on Friday, opposition activists said, only four days before a troop pullback agreed by President Bashar al-Assad as part of a peace plan proposed by mediator Kofi Annan. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said shelling had killed at least 10 people, including four rebel fighters, in the flashpoint central city of Homs. Two soldiers