Amid virus, Saudis close Islam’s holiest sites to foreigners
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES » Saudi Arabia on Thursday closed off the holiest sites in Islam to foreign pilgrims over the coronavirus, disrupting travel for thousands of Muslims already headed to the kingdom and potentially affecting plans later this year for millions more ahead of the fasting month of Ramadan and the annual hajj pilgrimage.
The unprecedented move, which wasn’t taken even during the 1918 flu epidemic that killed tens of millions worldwide, showed the growing worry about the virus across the Middle East, which has more than 360 confirmed cases.
The region’s hardesthit nation is Iran, which is Saudi Arabia’s biggest nearby rival, with the death toll reaching at least 26, the largest behind only China, where the epidemic began.
The number of infections in Iran has spiked by over 100 to at least 254, but a World Health Organization official said he believes that figure is “a substantial underestimate of the true number.”
Those Iranians who have fallen ill include Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar, better known as “Sister Mary,” the English-speaking spokeswoman for the students who seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and sparked the 444day hostage crisis, state media reported.
Saudi Arabia barred pilgrims from Mecca, home to the cube-shaped Kaaba that the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims
pray toward five times a day, and also the holy city of Medina. Authorities also suspended entry to travelers holding tourist visas from nations affected by the virus.
“We expect that this will give Saudi Arabia a chance to really strengthen their own disease control measures for the moment,” said Rick Brennan, the WHO’s emergency director for the Eastern Mediterranean.
The kingdom’s Al Saud ruling family stakes its legitimacy in overseeing and protecting the sites, and it appeared to reflect worries about pilgrims spreading the virus.
The outbreak’s epicenter in Iran is the holy city of Qom, where the faithful are drawn to a famous Shiite shrine that has stayed open despite calls by the civilian government for it and other sites to be closed. Authorities have canceled Friday prayers in Qom, Tehran and other cities.
There have been no confirmed cases of the virus in Saudi Arabia, although infected Saudis are under care in neighboring Bahrain.
“We ask God Almighty to spare all humanity from all harm,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement announcing the decision.
By leaving the suspension of travel to the holy sites open-ended, Saudi Arabia has raised the possibility of disruption for Ramadan and the hajj.
The news shocked the world’s Muslims, many of whom save their entire lives for a chance to see the Kaaba and walk along the path of the Prophet Muhammad and visit his tomb in Medina.
Some of them who are already headed to Saudi Arabia heard about the ban as they reached airports in Pakistan, Indonesia and Turkey.