29-03-2024 12:30 AM Jerusalem Timing

Independent: Saudi Royal Family Protects VIPs, Lets Ordinary Pilgrims Die

Independent: Saudi Royal Family Protects VIPs, Lets Ordinary Pilgrims Die

An article posted on the British The Independent newspaper on Monday shed the light upon the corruption that has been lately rocking the Saudi royal family.

Saudi Arabia: Hajj StampedeAn article posted on the British The Independent newspaper on Monday shed the light upon the corruption that has been lately rocking the Saudi royal family, particularly after its brutal aggression on Yemen more than six months ago.

"Why don't they spend some of their oil wealth on making the Hajj safe, rather than wasting it on a cruel and futile war in Yemen?" the author asked.

"Saudi Arabia began its bombing of Yemen at the end of March. The assault continues. Every UN agency has lit the red light of caution – Yemen is a humanitarian catastrophe. Firm numbers of dead and wounded are hard to come by. The UN estimates that over 2100 civilians have been killed. That every Yemeni is in danger of death is clear," the article read.

Moreover, it made an analytical revision of the Saudi-US aggression on Yemen, justifying the absence of UN envoy to the attacked country by the deeply American involvement in the killing.

"In the UN Human Rights Council, the Netherlands called for an official investigation of the bombing in Yemen. But Saudi Arabia, with US backing, has preempted the Dutch resolution. The Saudis want the UN to provide technical assistance to the Yemeni authorities that they back. This is a deft maneuver to block any investigation of Saudi atrocities in Yemen. The US has rearmed Saudi Arabia during the carnage. It is implicated in the civilian deaths. No wonder there will be no UN mission to Yemen," it said.

"While the negotiations in Geneva continued and while Yemen burned, two columns of Hajj pilgrims ran into each other in Mina, Saudi Arabia, on the first day of the Id al-Adha...These columns ran into each other because the police blocked off key roads. These roads are intended to manage congestion," the article added.

However, trying to find an answer for "Why were these roads blocked?, the author said that early indications suggest that the authorities had closed the roads to facilitate VIP pilgrims.

"So much of Mecca, like Saudi Arabia in general, is designed for the VIP and the VVIP," he noted.

The article reiterated the Saudi huge spending on its war on Yemen to kill its citizens at a time it should be responsible for the safety of mass crowds of pilgrims who visited Mecca from across the world countries.

"The Saudis are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on their futile war on Yemen. There is no political endgame and no sign of any military breakthrough. The only thing that has occurred is the further impoverishment of the poorest country in the Arab world. The oil wealth is being squandered on ill-fated military and diplomatic adventures," the report stated.

"Far better perhaps to use that oil wealth on making the Hajj as safe as possible not for the VIPs alone, but for the millions who save money over decades to make this holiest journey to the place toward which they pray," the author concluded.