Saudi Arabia Suspends Prayers in Holy Mosques of Mecca and Medina

• 03.20.2020, 09:41
•  Near East,  World

AFP

Saudi authorities have stopped worshippers from entering and praying at the two holy mosques in Mecca and Medina in an effort to combat the spread of the coronavirus, The Middle East Eye reports.

In a statement issued late on Thursday, Hani bin Hosni Haider, a spokesman for the General Presidency of Mecca's Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, said worshippers would no longer be allowed to perform their five daily prayers in the overflow area just outside the walls of the two holy mosques.

Authorities had already instituted a ban on worshippers praying near the Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure the world's 1.8 billion Muslims pray towards.

A ban was introduced earlier this month on the Umrah pilgrimage, which seven million Muslims perform every year.