New Haram annex opens for pilgrims

July 10, 2013

Makkah, Jul 10: Three floors of the newly constructed annex of the Grand Mosque have been opened to accommodate 400,000 more worshippers this Ramadan.

The opening comes upon directives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, who initiated the new expansion project to increase the mosque’s capacity to more than two million.

Apart from the basement, first and mezzanine floors, the mosque’s northern, southern and western plazas have also been opened for worshippers.

Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf said his ministry implemented the project upon the king’s directives to expand facilities for the millions of pilgrims who come from around the world for Umrah during the holy month.

The king has also ordered the opening of mataf expansion, including the special facility for people of special needs, for pilgrims.

Muhammad bin Nasser Al-Khozaim, deputy chief of the Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques Affairs, confirmed that all floors of the new King Abdullah Haram Expansion Project had been opened for worshippers.

“The entire annex has been provided with a central air-conditioning system and has been decorated with beautiful chandeliers,” he said.

There are telephones for visitors to make inquiries about matters related to Umrah or other religious issues.

Al-Khozaim said the new annex with its plazas would serve more than 1.5 million worshippers during the peak Haj and Umrah seasons.

Zamzam water taps have been installed in open plazas to supply cold water to visitors.

The new annex’s escalators have begun operating to facilitate movement of pilgrims and worshippers to upper floors.

Saudi nationals and expatriates have commended the king’s gesture.

“This is a great humanitarian gesture from King Abdullah, as he knows that more prayer facilities are required at the Grand Mosque during Ramadan to accommodate the millions of worshippers,” Hassan Al-Ahdal, secretary-general of the International Media Organization, told Arab News.

“The opening of the new annex and surrounding plazas will certainly help worshippers perform their prayers with greater comfort.”

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

UN condemns Israeli regime’s ‘organized torture’ against Palestinians

News Network

November 30,2025

The United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) has condemned the Israeli regime for enforcing a policy of “organized torture” against Palestinians.

In a report published on Friday, CAT stated that the occupying regime enforces a deliberate policy of “organized and widespread torture and ill-treatment” against Palestinian abductees, particularly since October 7, 2023, when Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza.

The committee expressed “deep concern over repeated severe beatings, dog attacks, electrocution, water-boarding, use of prolonged stress positions [and] sexual violence” inflicted on Palestinians.

Palestinian prisoners were degraded by “being made to act like animals or being urinated on,” systematically denied medical care, and subjected to excessive restraints, “in some cases resulting in amputation,” the report added.

CAT also condemned the routine application of “unlawful combatants law” to justify the prolonged detention without trial of thousands of Palestinian men, women, and children.

More than 10,000 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently held in Israeli prisons, according to Palestinian and international human rights groups, with 3,474 Palestinians in “administrative detention,” meaning they are imprisoned without trial for indefinite periods.

The report highlighted the “high proportion of children who are currently detained without charge or on remand,” noting that while Israel sets the age of criminal responsibility at 12, even younger children have been abducted.

Children designated as security prisoners face severe restrictions on family contact, may be subjected to solitary confinement, and are denied access to education, in clear violation of international law.

The committee further suggested that Israel’s policies across the Occupied Territories constitute collective torture against the Palestinian population.

“A range of policies adopted by Israel in the course of its continued unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading living conditions for the Palestinian population,” the report said.

On Thursday, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas condemned the systematic killing and torture of Palestinian abductees in Israeli prisons, urging international action to halt these abuses.

Citing human rights data, Hamas stated that 94 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli prisons since the start of Tel Aviv’s genocidal war on Gaza.

“This reflects an organized criminal approach that has turned these prisons into direct killing grounds to eliminate our people,” the resistance movement said.

Hamas called on the international community, the UN, and human rights organizations to immediately pressure Israel to end crimes against prisoners and uphold their rights as guaranteed by all international conventions and norms.

Comments