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A6 WORLD NEWS
Monday 25 July 2022
Saudi police arrest man who helped Israeli sneak into Mecca

By ABDULLAH AL-SHIHRI pray five times a day. It is
and AYA BATRAWY also the ultimate destina-
Associated Press tion for the Muslim hajj and
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) smaller umrah pilgrimage.
— Police in Mecca say The reporter and Channel
they have arrested a Saudi 13 responded on Twitter
man who helped an Israeli- after the report aired. The
Jewish reporter sneak into news channel, in both He-
Islam's holiest city, defying brew and Arabic, said Tam-
a rule that only Muslims can ary's report was driven by
enter the area. "journalistic curiosity" and
While Muslims of any na- a desire to witness and see
tionality and background things firsthand. The popular
can enter Mecca, non- Israeli channel apologized
Muslims are not permitted for any anger stoked by his
because a very specific visit, which occurred during
code of conduct and be- President Joe Biden's trip to
havior is required of all the nearby city of Jeddah.
people within its boundar- The Times of Israel quoted
ies, including certain forms an unnamed source fa-
of modesty, ritual cleansing miliar with the matter say-
and prayers. ing Israeli government offi-
The public backlash over Muslim pilgrims pray on a rocky hill known as Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the cials were satisfied with the
television reporter Gil Tam- annual hajj pilgrimage, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Sept. 11, 2016. statements issued by the
ary's visit was immediate on Associated Press channel and its reporter.
social media, with Muslims Police in Mecca said they
and Saudis expressing their they say facilitated the ered his final sermon some is the main gateway to also referred the journal-
anger over his deception entry of the journalist into 1,400 years ago. the city. "The dream came ist's actions to public pros-
and apparent disregard for Mecca in explicit violation He made clear he know- true," he says as they pass ecutors, though the Israeli
the sanctity of the site. of regulations prohibiting ingly had slipped into Mec- through Mecca and make national is no longer in the
It comes as Saudi-Israeli ties the entry of non-Muslims. ca with a driver, saying he their way to Mount Arafat. kingdom.
have been quietly growing The Saudi male national, is speaking in Hebrew qui- After he climbs the mount, The Saudi statement did
amid shared concerns over whose identity was not re- etly so no one can hear he says religious police are not identify the journalist,
arch-enemy Iran. This inci- vealed, was referred to him. He claimed to be the starting to ask questions saying only he was non-
dent is unlikely to dampen prosecution and remains first Israeli Jew ever to enter and want to make sure he Muslim and had U.S. citi-
the relationship. Publicly, under arrest. the city. He did not identify is a Muslim. They decide to zenship, implying he'd en-
the kingdom insists its poli- The veteran reporter for himself as Israeli or Jewish leave. tered the country using his
cy is that full ties can only Channel 13 in Israel filmed to the driver during the re- Mecca is home to Islam's American passport since
happen when Palestinian himself in Mecca for a cordings. holiest shrine, the cube- the kingdom has no formal
statehood and rights are roughly 10-minute-long In the clip that aired, Tam- shaped Kaaba, the meta- ties with Israel.
guaranteed. segment that aired on ary and his Saudi driver phorical house of God lo- Police called on visitors to
The outcry appears to have Monday in which he vis- pass a highway turnoff that cated in the city's Grand respect the country's laws,
prompted Saudi police late ited a key site on the hajj says non-Muslims cannot Mosque. The shrine marks particularly when it comes
Friday to announce the ar- pilgrimage route where the pass, and then pass under the point toward which ob- to Mecca and Islam's holi-
rest of the Saudi man who Prophet Muhammad deliv- a huge Quran replica that servant Muslims worldwide est sites in the kingdom.q

Mediterranean ships find 5 dead, rescue over 1,100 migrants

Some of the survivors had was called to evacuate a In addition, the European
to be plucked from the sea woman in need of medical charity SOS Mediterannee
in the Italian operation Sat- treatment from a migrant said its rescue ship Ocean
urday that was carried out boat in a precarious condi- Viking have saved 87 peo-
120 miles (190 kilometers) tion, the Coast Guard said. ple, including 57 unaccom-
off the coast of Calabria In separate operations, the panied minors, from an
by a Navy mercantile ship, German charity Sea-Watch overcrowded rubber boat
three Coast Guard patrol said it rescued 444 migrants off the Libyan coast. None
boats and a financial po- trying to cross the Mediter- had life jackets, the charity
lice boat. All of those res- ranean on overcrowded, said.
cued were brought to ports rickety smugglers' boats. Migrant arrivals in Italy are
in Calabria and Sicily. The Sea-Watch 3 vessel up by nearly one-quarter
The causes of death for the carried out the five opera- from 2021, with 34,013 re-
five dead were not imme- tions over 24 hours, and corded through Friday.
diately known. said the rescued included While still notably fewer
People sleep on the deck of the Sea-Watch 3 early Sunday July The Coast Guard said it was a pregnant woman and a than the 2015 peak year,
24, 2022. just one in a series of rescues man who had suffered se- the crossings remain dead-
Associated Press in recent days in the Italian vere burns. ly, with 1,234 people re-
search and rescue area of The charity is asking for corded dead or missing
MILAN (AP) — Italian vessels off the Libyan coast, the the central Mediterranean, permission to bring the res- at sea by the U.N. refugee
have recovered five bod- Italian Coast Guard said as desperate people flee- cued people to a safe port, agency this year, 823 of
ies and rescued 674 people Sunday, while European ing poverty or oppression as the rescue ship is unable those in the perilous central
packed on a fishing boat charities reported saving seek a better life in Europe. to accommodate so many Mediterranean.q
adrift in the Mediterranean more than 500 more. In one case, a helicopter people.