Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques gives orders to add two courts to Prophet's Mosque in Madinah

Second Deputy Premier Prince Naif patronizes strategic plan of Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice

Deputy Interior Minister warns against narcotics, says lead only to failure

GCC ministerial committee stresses work to remove obstacles impeding council's efforts

Omani FM says committee's work to serve joint interests, aims to attain more achievements

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud gave instructions to expand the Prophet's Mosque in al-Madinah al-Munawarah by adding two eastern and western courts within a plan aimed at accommodating 500,000 more worshippers.

During the first expansion, the mosque’s courtyards were extended to the western side up to Manakha Street, to the east up to Abu Dharr Street and to the north up to Sahaimi Street, which increased the capacity of the mosque to 270,000 worshippers inside and 730,000 in the courtyards.

Three years ago Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah ordered several projects aimed at increasing the capacity and facilities in and around the two holy mosques.

Several billion riyals have already been spent on the projects that include the expansion of Masaa (place for walking between Safa and Marwa); construction of four levels at the Jamarat in Mina; and expansion of the courtyards of the Grand Mosque in Makkah.

The new SR4.7 billion expansion project at the Prophet’s Mosque include 182 huge umbrellas to protect worshippers from sun and rain. The automatic umbrellas will protect approximately 200,000 people. The expansion of the eastern courtyard of the mosque would create an additional capacity for 70,000 worshippers with an underneath parking area for 420 cars and 70 large buses. New toilets and boarding stations will also be built in that area. Three tunnels will also be constructed to connect the mosque with the King Faisal Road 1. The project also includes the construction of new streets and pavements and electrification of the areas around the mosque, the mayor said.

The official added that 586,624 sq. meters of land will be acquired in the area between the King Abdulaziz Road in the south, Airport Road in the north, the Pillars Street in the east and King Faisal Road in the west for the construction of more utilities and beautification of the city.

When completed, the new project would create space for 500,000 in an area of 137,400 sq. meters.

Meanwhile, the security spokesman at the interior ministry said that the vigilance of the security men has foiled an attempt to smuggle big quantities of drugs into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia across land and sea entry points.

He noted that 5,557,864 tablets of Fenethylline, commonly known as 'Captagon' as well as 3 tons, 2 Kilograms and 340 grams of Hashish in addition to 19.51 Kilograms of Heroin were seized and the smugglers were apprehended.

The smugglers and peddlers included 91 Saudis and 75 persons of different nationalities.

The spokesman reiterated that the security men will spare no effort for the protection of the society from the menace of drugs, and that they will determinedly work for nabbing those who try to undermine the society's security.

He pointed out that the criminals will be tried before the courts.

The Riyadh-based Al-Jazeerah highlighted the vigilance of the security men and their success in nabbing the criminals who were trying to smuggle drugs into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

"Despite the fact that the security men had earlier succeeded in foiling such evil attempts, yet the criminals are determined on smuggling drugs for spoiling our youth," said the daily.

It believes that the drugs-gangs are linked with the gangs of terrorism and money-laundering, and said this makes it an inevitable matter to enhance international cooperation for fighting these gangs because it will be difficult for one country to fight it all alone.

Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries held a special meeting to discuss the vision put forward during the 11th consultation summit, held in Riyadh on the fifth of last month, by the State of Qatar and included the activation of cooperation among the GCC's member states.

Prince Saud al-Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs, led Saudi delegation to the meeting which was attended by Prince Miqren bin Abdulaziz, Chief of the General Intelligence.

The meeting was chaired by the Omani Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah who is the Chairman of the current session of the GCC's Ministerial Council.

The Omani official welcomed the delegations participating in the meeting. Then, the meeting turned to a closed-door session.

The GCC foreign ministers concluded their meeting on Monday with deep appreciation for US President Barack Obama’s historic visit to Saudi Arabia and his meeting with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz and the positive results of the meeting.

The Ministerial Council of the GCC also praised the speech of Obama to the Islamic world from Cairo University and said such initiatives would play a vital role in narrowing the gap between the United States and the Islamic world and would also serve the Palestinian cause.

The GCC foreign ministers reiterated support of the member states for the unity of Yemen, the Yemeni government’s calls for dialogue in order to ensure stability and integration of its territories. They also underlined the importance of enhancing security and stability in Yemen to achieve prosperity and wellbeing of its brotherly people.

The council reviewed the latest developments in the march of the GCC with regard different regional and international issues and highlighted the GCC’s economic ties with the different international economies.

The council welcomed Bahrain’s suggestion to host a meeting between the GCC ministers of foreign affairs with ASEAN Group.

As part of the recommendation of the GCC Supreme Council’s 11th consultative meeting held in Riyadh in May 2008, and the authorization given by the 29th session of the GCC Supreme Council meeting held in Muscat in December 2008, to the ministerial council to ratify “monetary union agreement”, the agreement was signed in Riyadh by the parties concerned.

The GCC secretary-general gave a report about the progress of work in the field of economic integration.

The ministers’ statement on Yemen was made through a communiqué of the fourth joint meeting between the AGCC foreign ministers and the Yemeni foreign minister which was held on Monday under the chairmanship of Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs and chairman of the current session of the Ministerial Council HE Yousuf Bin Alawi Bin Abdullah.

The ministers were briefed by the GCC Secretary-General on the progress being made on tracks of cooperation between the AGCC states and Yemen, particularly, in development.

The total current pledged amount by the GCC states and the regional funds stood at $305 billion for 2007-2010 projects.

About $302 billion has been allocated for more than 50 developmental projects which the two sides had agreed upon. Agreements worth more than $105 billion regarding the financing power production projects, roads, ports, airports, construction and rehabilitation a number of hospitals, technical and training institutes, social development fund and public utilities project have also been signed, the report said.

The ministers showed their satisfaction at the progress being made in the fields of cooperation between the two sides, especially, the Supreme Council’s decision made at Muscat Summit in December 2008 allowing Yemen to join four of the GCC organizations.

The ministers called upon the joint technical committee to intensify its efforts to speed up implementation of projects as per scheduled programs, remove any barriers that might hinder their implementation and specifying the Yemeni developmental needs for the fourth developmental Plan for 2011-2015, to ensure comprehensive economic and social development in Yemen, integration of Yemen in the GCC states’ economies, offer specialized training programs for Yemeni manpower, by increasing funding of technical and training programs from the total allocated sums. The GCC Labor and Social Affairs Ministers Council will also study relevant mechanisms to increase participation of Yemen’s manpower in the GCC labor market.