THE Kingdom accords top priority to serve the Two Holy Mosques and the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Naif, deputy premier and minister of interior, has said. The holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, he said, are regarded as the cultural beacons of Muslims the world over. The Crown Prince, who is also chairman of the Supreme Haj Committee, made the remarks on Thursday evening while presiding over the meeting of top officials and commanders to review the implementation of the security plans for receiving hundreds of thousands of Umrah pilgrims and visitors to the Two Holy Mosques during the peak Umrah season in Ramadan. Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Naif said the government of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman is keen on offering the best ever services and facilities for the Haj and Umrah pilgrims and visitors to the holy cities. "The government continues drawing up scientific and field strategies with the participation of all the concerned civilian and military sectors and departments so as to enable the worshipers perform their rituals in ease and comfort. The security personnel are fully geared up to meet any emergency situations," he told the meeting in Makkah. Addressing the meeting, Lt. Gen. Othman Al-Mohrej, director of Public Security, briefed on the salient features of the security plan for the first, second and third 10 days of Ramadan. He commended the experiment of creating three groups of special security forces for quick intervention for crowd control in some designated spots that experience heavy rush during the fasting month. He said that this year the number of these groups have been raised to seven and they have been deployed in all the directions leading to the Grand Mosque and its courtyards. The Crown Prince watched a documentary film on the general security plan for this year's Ramadan and a video presentation about the National Center for Security Operations. The meeting was also attended by Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Saud Bin Naif, advisor to the minister of interior, Sheikh Abdurahman Al-Sudais, head of the Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques, Minister of Haj and Umrah Muhammad Bantan, and several senior civilian and security officials.
