Pope Francis asks North Korea to invite him to visit

Yahoo – AFP, August 26, 2022 

Pope Francis has asked Pyongyang to invite him to North Korea, saying in a televised interview on Friday that he would not turn down a chance to visit and work for peace. 

A potential papal visit to the isolated, nuclear-armed country was previously floated in 2018 when Seoul's former president Moon Jae-in embarked on a round of diplomacy with Pyongyang's leader Kim Jong Un. 

Moon, who is Catholic, said during a summit that Kim told him the pontiff would be "enthusiastically" welcomed. 

Pope Francis replied at the time that he would be willing to go if he received an official invitation. 

But Pyongyang has largely cut off contact with Seoul following the collapse of a second summit between Kim and then-US president Donald Trump in 2019, which has left talks at a standstill. 

"When they invite me -- that is to say, please invite me -- I won't say no," Pope Francis told South Korea's state broadcaster KBS in an interview that aired Friday. 

"The goal is simply fraternity," he added. 

Ties between North and South Korea have been at a frosty low since Seoul inaugurated a hawkish new president, Yoon Suk-yeol, in May. 

Yoon offered aid to the North in return for denuclearisation, but Kim's regime ridiculed the plan. 

The North blamed South Korea for its May outbreak of Covid-19 and earlier this month threatened to "wipe out" Seoul's authorities in retaliation. 

North Korea has conducted a record number of weapons tests this year, including firing an intercontinental ballistic missile at full range for the first time since 2017. 

'Work for peace'

The pope has repeatedly urged Koreans on the peninsula to "work for peace." 

"You, the Korean people, have suffered from the war," he said. 

Religious freedom is enshrined in the North's constitution, but all religious activity is banned outside of state-sanctioned institutions. 

In the early 20th century, before the division of the peninsula, Pyongyang was a regional missionary hub with scores of churches and a thriving Christian community that earned it the title "Jerusalem of the East". 

But Kim Il Sung, the North's late founding leader and the current ruler's grandfather, viewed Christianity as a threat and eradicated it through executions and labour camps. 

The North's regime has since allowed Catholic organisations to run aid projects, but direct relations with the Vatican are non-existent. 

When Pope Francis visited South Korea in 2014, he held a special mass dedicated to the reunification of the two Koreas.

In Mecca, dreams of a 'green hajj'

Yahoo – AFP, August 1, 2020

This year's dramatically downscaled Hajj pilgrimage has had a much less
adverse effect on the environment than previous years (AFP Photo/STR)

Mecca (Saudi Arabia) (AFP) - A smaller carbon footprint, less waste and more environmentally friendly -- this year's pilgrimage to Mecca, dramatically scaled down due to coronavirus, has opened up the prospect of a "green hajj".

In addition to being a logistical and security headache, one of the planet's largest gatherings, which drew some 2.5 million people last year, also typically poses huge environmental challenges.

The procession of so many worshippers, over a short time and in a limited space, results in an assault on the desert kingdom's delicate environment.

Thousands of vehicles generate substantial air pollution, while the pilgrims leave behind an avalanche of waste, including enormous quantities of plastic water bottles.

This year's hajj, limited to a maximum of 10,000 attendees, was by all accounts literally a breath of fresh air.

But for environmental activist Nouhad Awwad, it's not so much the size of the crowd that determines the impact on the environment but more "our collective behaviour".

"This year's hajj, although taking place at a difficult time globally, can be a source of hope," the Greenpeace campaigner told AFP.

A Muslim worshipper throws pebbles as part of the symbolic al-A'qabah (stoning 

of the devil ritual) at the Jamarat Bridge during the Hajj pilgrimage (AFP Photo)

"It gives an idea of what a green pilgrimage could look like," she added.

The scenes in Mecca since the hajj began on Wednesday are very different from those of past years.

Rather than the vast crowds that move between the sites, casting rubbish as they go and sometimes prone to deadly crushes, the movement of the pilgrims has been limited and orderly.

Even the pebbles they use to symbolically "stone the devil" have been sanitised, as part of elaborate amenity kits provided by authorities that include disinfectant and masks.

"Everything is clean and there are only a few municipal workers collecting the small amounts of garbage," Azim Allah Farha, a pilgrim from Afghanistan who has performed the hajj several times before, said at Mount Arafat, the site of one of the main rituals.

One of those workers, Rahim Fajreddine, recalls the hundreds of tonnes of rubbish -- plastic bags, cans and food plates -- left in past years at the rocky hill outside Mecca where pilgrims pray and repent in the high point of the hajj.

"Large numbers of workers had to be mobilised to remove all the debris they left behind as they passed," he recalled.

Pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba in the Grand mosque in the holy 

Saudi city of Mecca (AFP Photo)

Eco awakening

Until recently, the environment was not a central concern of Saudi Arabia when it came to the hajj.

As "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques", the kingdom was concerned primarily with accommodating as many pilgrims as possible, mindful of the long waiting lists for Muslims, who must complete the hajj at least once in their lifetime if they are able.

Huge extensions have been built in recent decades to increase the capacity of the two mosques and pilgrimage sites.

Saudi Arabia hopes to welcome 30 million pilgrims to the kingdom annually by 2030.

However, by 2018 the local authorities launched a waste separation programme and began to consider recycling. Signs in several languages were posted to encourage the pilgrims to do their bit and dispose of their waste properly.

This year, despite the relatively tiny number of pilgrims, the municipality deployed more than 13,000 cleaners to the holy sites, equipped with hundreds of skips, according to an official statement.

Stark contrast: Muslim pilgrims praying on Mount Arafat, southeast of the holy 

city of Mecca, during the climax of the Hajj pilgrimage this week (top) and during 

the August 2018 pilgrimage (bottom) (AFP Photo/STR, AHMAD AL-RUBAYE)

'This is our future'

Awwad said that although this year's hajj is leaving a small environmental footprint because of the constraints generated by the global pandemic, in the future the same outcome must be achieved by choice.

"By investing in sustainable development and adopting green practises, we can continue to live our traditions and perform our rituals while keeping our skies clear of pollution and our streets free of waste," the activist said.

She imagines "a hajj with its millions of pilgrims in total symbiosis with their environment, in a Mecca powered by solar energy".

In a kingdom that ranks as the world's top energy exporter, and where the shift to renewables is going slower than planned, her vision is unlikely to become a reality any time soon.

"But this is the future we should all be working towards," she insisted.

Tibetan exile govt urges China to reveal whereabouts of Panchen Lama

This isMoney – AFP, 17 May 2020

The whereabouts of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima - the boy recognised as the reincarnation
of the Panchen Lama by the Dalai Lama on May 14, 1995 - have not been known
since he was taken into custody three days later by Chinese authorities aged six

Tibet's parliament-in-exile on Sunday called for Beijing to confirm the "well-being and whereabouts" of the Panchen Lama, the second-most important figure in Tibetan Buddhism's largest school, a quarter of a century after he disappeared.

The whereabouts of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima -- the boy recognised as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama by the Dalai Lama on May 14, 1995 -- have not been known since he was taken into custody three days later by Chinese authorities aged six.

"China must provide verifiable information on the wellbeing and whereabouts of the 11th Panchen Lama," the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, which is based in Dharamsala in the foothills of the Indian Himalaya, said in a statement.

"The disappearance of the Panchen Lama is not only an injustice to one person, but it is an injustice to six million Tibetans and their right to religious freedom."

The US Thursday renewed calls on China -- which has appointed its own Panchen Lama -- to free the Tibetan, who rights activists have called the world's youngest political prisoner.

The Dalai Lama has made India his home since fleeing Tibet in 1959, and resides in Dharamsala in the north of the country.

In February he marked the 80th anniversary of his enthronement as the spiritual leader of Tibet, a position held almost entirely in exile and as a target of constant vilification by the Chinese state.

China's officially atheist government has said it could seek to name a successor to the 84-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader.

In 2015 the official Xinhua news agency quoted an official in Tibet as saying that the Panchen Lama was healthy, enjoying an education and "does not want to be disturbed".

Saudi halts prayers in mosques over coronavirus

Yahoo – AFP, March 17, 2020

Mecca's Grand Mosque, the holiest site in Islam, has been almost empty since
the coronavirus outbreak (AFP Photo)

Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi Arabia on Tuesday suspended prayers inside all its mosques except the holiest two sites in Islam as it steps up efforts to contain the new coronavirus, state media reported.

Mosques will be temporarily shut for the five daily Islamic prayers as well as the weekly Friday prayers, the official Saudi Press Agency said, citing the council of senior scholars -- the kingdom's highest religious body.

It said mosques would continue to issue the ritual call to prayer.

The decision seeks to direct worshippers to pray at home but does not affect prayers in Mecca's Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, it added.

The announcement risks riling fringe hardliners, for whom religion trumps health considerations.

Saudi Arabia has reported 171 coronavirus cases but no deaths so far.

The Arab world's biggest economy has shut down cinemas, malls and restaurants, halted flights and suspended the year-round umrah pilgrimage in a bid to contain the deadly virus.

More than 1,000 cases of the virus have been recorded so far across the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Qatar, which has the GCC's highest toll of 442 cases but no deaths, on Tuesday ordered the indefinite closure of banks and all shops except pharmacies and food retailers.

It has already shuttered mosques, banned the entry of non-citizens and ordered the closure of bars, cinemas and schools while suspending football matches and other sporting events.

Authorities urged people not to leave home without urgent cause and to avoid all gatherings, but stopped short of the blanket lockdowns seen in Kuwait and Saudi.

On Monday, Bahrain's health ministry said a woman had died from the coronavirus, the GCC's first death from the COVID-19 illness.

The government there has said it will pay electricity bills on behalf of individuals and companies for three months starting April.

In Jordan, where 36 cases of coronavirus have been recorded, authorities have asked people "not to leave their homes except in cases of absolute necessity".

Only supermarkets, bakeries and pharmacies remain open, and the army has been deployed to help enforce the measures.

Nepal prepares for mass animal sacrifice despite outcry

Yahoo – AFP, December 2, 2019

An estimated 200,000 animals, ranging from goats to rats, were slaughtered during
the last two-day Gadhimai Festival in 2014 (AFP Photo/PRAKASH MATHEMA)

Bariyarpur (Nepal) (AFP) - Thousands of Hindu devotees gathered in southern Nepal on Monday ahead of a festival believed to be the world's biggest ritual animal slaughter, despite court orders and calls by animal activists to end the event.

The sacrifices, set to begin on Tuesday, take place every five years in Bariyarpur village close to the Indian border, in honour of the Hindu goddess of power.

An estimated 200,000 animals ranging from goats to rats were killed during the last two-day Gadhimai Festival in 2014 and this year's preparations were well underway by Monday night.

Buffaloes were corralled into holding pens as worshippers slept and cooked along the road to the temple.

A mass animal sacrifice takes place every five years in Bariyarpur village in 

Nepal (AFP Photo/PRAKASH MATHEMA)

Among them was Sabu Sahani, 25, who travelled with his family for a day from India's Bihar with a goat offering.

"I am happy to be here. The goddess listened to me. We did not have children, but my wife has now given birth to a daughter," Sahani told AFP.

Unlicensed traders and pilgrims who cross the border between India and Nepal are responsible for supplying most of the animals, with scores seized at crossings by Indian security officials and volunteers.

Many were hopeful the centuries-old tradition would end after the temple authorities announced a ban in 2015 and Nepal's supreme court directed the government to discourage the bloodshed a year later.

Hindu devotees gathered in southern Nepal ahead of a festival believed to be the 

world's biggest ritual animal sacrifice (AFP Photo/PRAKASH MATHEMA)

But animal rights activists say that both government agencies as well as temple committees have failed to implement these rulings.

"The officials have let their personal beliefs rule over the court orders, they did not do enough to discourage the slaughters," animal rights activist Manoj Gautam said.

Local priest Mangal Chaudhary, the tenth generation of his family to serve at the temple, did not comment on whether the temple supports this year's mass sacrifice but said that the numbers in attendance are increasing.

"We will follow our traditions and perform the rituals in the temple. But what the devotees do outside is their own wish," he said.

Legend has it that the first sacrifices in Bariyarpur took place centuries ago when

the Hindu goddess Gadhimai appeared to a prisoner in a dream and asked him 

to establish a temple to her (AFP Photo/PRAKASH MATHEMA)

According to legend, the first sacrifices in Bariyarpur were conducted several centuries ago when the Hindu goddess Gadhimai appeared to a prisoner in a dream and asked him to establish a temple to her.

When he awoke, his shackles had fallen open and he was able to leave the prison and build the temple, where he sacrificed animals in gratitude.

Uighur researchers say China running more camps than known

Yahoo – AFP, Shaun TANDON, November 12, 2019

Two women decorate a grave in a Uighur graveyard on the outskirts of Hotan
in China's northwestern Xinjiang region in May 2019 (AFP Photo/Greg Baker)

Uighur activists said Tuesday they have documented nearly 500 camps and prisons run by China to detain the ethnic group, alleging that China could be holding far more than the commonly cited figure of one million people.

The East Turkistan National Awakening Movement, a Washington-based group that seeks independence for the mostly Muslim region known to China as Xinjiang, gave the geographic coordinates of 182 suspected "concentration camps" where Uighurs are allegedly pressured to renounce their culture.

Researching imagery from Google Earth, the group said it also spotted 209 suspected prisons and 74 suspected labor camps for which it would share details later.

"In large part these have not been previously identified, so we could be talking about far greater numbers" of people detained, said Kyle Olbert, the director of operations for the movement.

"If anything, we are concerned that there may be more facilities that we have not been able to identify," he told a news conference in suburban Washington.

Anders Corr, an analyst who formerly worked in US intelligence and who advised the group, said that around 40 percent of the sites had not been previously reported.

Rights advocates have generally estimated that China is detaining more than one million Uighurs and members of other predominantly Muslim Turkic ethnicities.

But Randall Schriver, the top Pentagon official for Asia, said in May that the figure was "likely closer to three million citizens" -- an extraordinary number in a region of 10 million people.

Olbert said that archive imagery from alleged camp sites showed consistent patterns -- steel and concrete construction over the past four years along with security perimeters.

He said that the group tried to verify the nature of each site with on-the-ground accounts but declined greater detail, citing the need to protect sources.

A Uighur man carries chicken from an underground oven at a restaurant in Hotan

in China's northwest Xinjiang region in May 2019 (AFP Photo/Greg Baker)

'Like boiling a frog'

Activists and witnesses say China is using torture to forcibly integrate Uighurs into the Han majority, including pressuring Muslims to give up tenets of their faith such as praying and abstaining from pork and alcohol.

Olbert described China's policy as "genocide by incarceration," fearing that Uighurs would be held indefinitely.

"It's like boiling a frog. If they were to kill 10,000 people a day, the world might take notice," he said.

"But if they were just to keep everyone imprisoned and let them die off naturally, perhaps the world might not notice. I think that's what China is banking on," he said.

China has justified its policy after first denying the camps, saying that it is providing vocational training and coaxing Muslims away from extremism. Hundreds died in 2009 riots in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi that largely targeted Han Chinese.

The United States has likened China's treatment of Uighurs to Nazi Germany's concentration camps but an increasingly strong Beijing has faced limited criticism outside the West.

China last month secured a statement at the United Nations by nations including Russia, Pakistan and Egypt -- which have all faced criticism of their own records -- that praised Beijing's "remarkable achievements in the field of human rights."

The Uighur activist group said it periodically added data including on the destruction of cemeteries in Xinjiang, which was documented in an investigation last month by AFP using satellite imagery.

The movement said it had unsuccessfully asked the State Department for satellite data in hopes of improving its information sources.

US wants UN to take up Dalai Lama succession: envoy

Yahoo – AFP, Shaun TANDON, November 8, 2019

The Dalai Lama arrives for prayers wishing him a long life at the Tsuglagkhang
temple in McLeod Ganj, India in September 2019 -- the US wants the UN to
look at the issue of who will succeed him (AFP Photo/Lobsang Wangyal)

Washington (AFP) - The United States wants the United Nations to take up the Dalai Lama's succession in an intensifying bid to stop China from trying to handpick his successor, an envoy said after meeting the Tibetan spiritual leader.

Sam Brownback, the US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, said he spoke at length about the succession issue with the 84-year-old Dalai Lama last week in the monk's home-in-exile of Dharamsala, India.

Brownback said he told the Dalai Lama that the United States would seek to build global support for the principle that the choice of the next spiritual chief "belongs to the Tibetan Buddhists and not the Chinese government."

"I would hope that the UN would take the issue up," Brownback told AFP after returning to Washington.

He acknowledged that China, with its veto power on the Security Council, would work strenuously to block any action, but he hoped countries could at least raise their voices at the United Nations.

"I think it's really important to have an early global conversation because this is a global figure with a global impact," he said.

US religious freedom envoy Sam Brownback, seen here at a July 2019 ministerial 

meeting in Washington, is raising pressure over the Dalai Lama's succession (AFP 

Photo/MANDEL NGAN)

"That's the big thing that we're really after now, to stir this before we're right in the middle of it -- if something happens to the Dalai Lama, that there has been this robust discussion globally about it ahead of time," he said.

"My estimation undoubtedly is that the (Chinese) communist party has thought a lot about this. So they've got a plan and I think we have to be equally aggressive with a plan."

The Dalai Lama once traveled incessantly, drawing huge Western audiences with his good-humored lectures on compassion and happiness.

But the Nobel Peace Prize winner has slowed down and earlier this year suffered a chest infection, although he is not known to have serious health issues.

Brownback said he found the Dalai Lama "quite jovial" and that the monk had told him, "'Look, I'm going to live another 15, 20 years; I'm going to outlast the Chinese government.'"

But Beijing has indicated it is waiting out the Dalai Lama, believing his campaign for greater Tibetan autonomy will end with him.

China, which argues that it has brought modernization and development to the Himalayan region, has increasingly hinted that it could name the next Dalai Lama, who would presumably be groomed to support Chinese rule.

Indian police detain Tibetan students as they protest against the visit of 

China's President Xi Jinping in Chennai in October 2019 (AFP Photo/STR)

In 1995, the officially atheist government selected its own Panchen Lama and detained a six-year-old identified for the influential Buddhist position -- whom rights groups called the world's youngest political prisoner.

Seeking 'unfettered' access

Mindful of Beijing's plans, the 14th Dalai Lama has mused about breaking with the centuries-old tradition in which wandering monks look for signs that a young boy is the reincarnation.

He has said that he could pick his own successor, possibly a girl, or even declare himself the final Dalai Lama.

The US Congress has also stepped up efforts, including by mandating visa denials by the end of the year for Chinese officials unless Beijing eases restrictions on US diplomats, journalists and ordinary people seeking to visit Tibet.

Brownback said he would like access to Tibet, "but I want it unfettered."

He said he similarly hoped to visit the western region of Xinjiang, which has drawn intense US scrutiny over the incarceration of some one million Uighurs and other Turkic-speaking Muslims.

"It is part of the same war on faith," Brownback said of Tibet and Xinjiang.

A Tibetan-in-exile carries a photograph of the Dalai Lama during celebrations 

marking the Lunar New Year in Kathmandu in February 2018 (AFP Photo/

PRAKASH MATHEMA)

Fears in Nepal

Brownback also visited Nepal, historically the gateway for Tibetans fleeing to India but which has increasingly clamped down under pressure from its giant northern neighbor.

Brownback said he raised fears for Tibetans with Nepal's foreign minister, Pradeep Gyawali.

But he acknowledged Nepal's difficult situation and said: "I would hate to be very harsh on the Nepalese because they've been so good over so many years to help the Tibetans."

Brownback said that the burden was ultimately with China to allow freedom of movement -- and not to interfere in Tibetan Buddhism.

"A government doesn't own a religion," he said. "A religion runs itself."

"We hope we'll get a number of other communities around the world to express similar positions and concerns."

Pakistan, India sign deal on visa-free corridor for Sikh pilgrims

Yahoo – AFP, October 24, 2019

The Katarpur Corridor deal is a rare example of cooperation between arch-
rivals India and Pakistan (AFP Photo/AAMIR QURESHI)

Islamabad and New Delhi signed an agreement Thursday on a visa-free corridor between the two countries that will allow Sikh pilgrims in India to visit the shrine to their religion's founder, which is in Pakistan.

The Kartarpur Corridor deal -- a rare example of cooperation between the nuclear-armed arch-rivals -- follows months of heightened tensions, mainly over the disputed region of Kashmir.

"Indian pilgrims of all faiths and persons of Indian origin... can use the corridor. The travel will be visa-free," said S.C.L. Das, a joint secretary in the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, at a press conference after the agreement was signed.

"Pilgrims from around the world are also welcome," added Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal.

The deal allows for a secure corridor and bridge between the two countries, leading directly to the grave of Sikhism's founder Guru Nanak, just four kilometres (two miles) from the Indian border.

Pakistan had employed hundreds of labourers to spruce up the shrine, including building a border immigration checkpoint and a bridge, as well as expanding the grounds comprising the shrine itself.

India had long been asking Pakistan for such a corridor, but the project's realisation was prevented by years of diplomatic tensions between the two countries that have fought three wars since the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947.

The corridor is expected to be inaugurated in early November, ahead of the guru's 550th birthday on November 12, which is marked with celebrations by millions of Sikhs around the world.

However Delhi said that it is still contesting Pakistan's bid to charge each pilgrim $20 per visit.

The pair have maintained an uneasy calm since tit-for-tat cross-border air raids across their disputed Kashmir frontier in February sparked fears of wider war, with each side claiming to have shot down a fighter jet from the other side.

Pakistani and Indian soldiers have also continued to fire over the Line of Control -- the de-facto border dividing the Himalayan territory, killing civilians on both sides in recent days.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British colonial rule in 1947.

Both claim the Himalayan territory in full and have fought two wars over it.

The Sikh faith began in the 15th century in the city of Lahore, which is now part of Pakistan, when Guru Nanak began teaching a faith that preached equality between all men.

Iran says 'blue girl' football fan admitted 'mistake'

Yahoo – AFP, 14 September 2019

Iran has come under increasing pressure to lift a ban on women entering
stadidums (AFP Photo/JONATHAN NACKSTRAND)

Tehran (AFP) - An Iranian football fan who set herself ablaze and died after being arrested for trying to enter a stadium had "confessed her mistake" when she was questioned, the judiciary said Saturday.

Sahar Khodayari, dubbed "blue girl" because of the colours of the team she supported, Esteghlal FC, was reportedly detained when she tried to enter a stadium dressed as a man to watch them last year.

She died of her injuries in a Tehran hospital after setting herself on fire outside a court last week.

Her death sparked outrage online, with celebrities and activists using the hashtag #blue_girl to urge the sport's world governing body FIFA to ban Iran from competitions and fans to boycott matches.

Iranian women spectators have been barred from football and other stadiums in the Islamic republic since 1981, despite international pressure to let them attend.

Iran's Vice President for Women and Family Affairs Masoumeh Ebtekar on Tuesday asked the judiciary to investigate her death.

The judiciary said, without naming anyone, that a young woman had been arrested when trying to enter a stadium and faced charges of offending "public chastity and insulting" law enforcement officers.

On Saturday, judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said Khodayari "had clearly confessed her mistake during questioning, accepted it and expressed regret". He did not give further details.

Esmaili, who was quoted by the judiciary's Mizan Online website, said no sentence had been issued against her since there had been no trial to begin with.

The spokesman also dismissed reports she had been told she would be jailed for six months as "fabricated rumours and hearsay".

Esmaili said such reports "stirred public opinion" and provided material for "foreigners and enemies" of Iran.

Despite the boycott calls following her death, Khodayari's father told Mehr news agency that she did not "sacrifice" herself for any cause.

Iran has come under pressure from FIFA to allow women to attend qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup, and was reportedly given a deadline of August 31 to comply.

The sports ministry said last month that women fans would be allowed into the stadium when Team Melli -- as the national team are known -- play their next home qualifier on October 10.

Clerics argue that Iran's ban on women attending sports events is to protect them from the masculine atmosphere and sight of semi-clad men.

Related Article:

Saudi to allow women into stadium for national day

Warily, Saudi shops push boundaries on prayer-time shutdown

Yahoo – AFP, Anuj Chopra, August 27, 2019

Some shops in Riyadh malls are now staying open during prayer times, testing what
could be one of the most sensitive reforms in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia (AFP Photo)

Riyadh (AFP) - With burger patties sizzling over a hot grill, a Saudi eatery did the unthinkable as a muezzin'scall to prayer sent Muslim worshippers scrambling to lower their shutters: it stayed open.

The scene, amid a sweeping reform drive, was a striking contrast to the days when religious police wielded unbridled powers and drove people out of malls and shops to enforce the Islamic world's only mandatory prayer-time shutdown.

Last month Riyadh, keen to stimulate an economy hit by low oil prices, decreed that some businesses can stay open 24 hours a day for an unspecified fee.

But the decision triggered confusion over whether it includes the five daily Islamic prayer times.

Stores in some Riyadh malls saw it as a nod-and-a-wink approach to avert a conservative backlash, testing what could be one of the most sensitive of a string of reforms in the ultra-conservative kingdom.

The burger shop manager showed AFP a text from its Saudi owner, instructing him to stay open: "The (government) decides to allow shops, restaurants and markets to work for 24 hours and the decision includes... prayer times."

It was among a handful of eateries in Riyadh's upscale Kingdom Centre mall openly catering to customers during the sunset Maghrib prayer.

At another leading Riyadh mall, Al-Nakheel, a similar scene played out during the evening Isha prayer.

While many retailers rolled down their shutters, several cafes and restaurants teeming with customers kept their cash registers ringing, while children continued to bounce around in an indoor amusement park.

"Most of the time stores here are (now) open during prayer time," Francis, an Asian coffee shop manager, told AFP.

Two other shop managers said they had paid no government fee to stay open, but were cautiously testing the waters, as officials appeared to be looking the other way.

"Those (workers) who want to pray can pray, those who want to work can work," one of them said, pointing out that many were non-Muslim and had previously been obliged to idle away time.

The other manager, who also requested anonymity due to the issue's sensitivity, said he would still shut shop if confronted by the religious police.

Until three years ago, the religious police elicited widespread fear, chasing men and women out of malls to pray and berating anyone seen mingling with the opposite sex.

But the bearded enforcers of public morality, whose powers have been clipped in recent years, are now largely out of sight.

Retailers could take advantage of "vague government statements to stay open, especially with the relative absence of the religious police that was responsible for enforcing the system," Eman Alhussein, a fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told AFP.

Pillar of Islam

Following the pre-dawn Fajr prayer, shops in the kingdom typically have to close four times daily, with workers often out of action for more than 30 minutes.

But it istoo soon to know the financial impact of easing a restriction that members of the advisory Shura Council say costs the Saudi economy tens of billions of riyals a year.

"The ability to make closing for prayer more optional would increase worker productivity and possibly overall business activity" as the kingdom seeks to boost non-oil revenue and tackle high youth unemployment, said Karen Young from the American Enterprise Institute.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has rolled out a series of reforms over the past two years, including allowing women to drive, reopening cinemas and reining in clerical power as he seeks to project a business-friendly image.

The reaction of arch-conservatives has so far been muted, given his parallel crackdown on dissent.

But in a series of tweets last year, the religious police, officially known as the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, said it was forbidden to keep stores open during prayer, calling it "one of the most important pillars of Islam".

'Testing reactions'

Last month, Saudi state media reported that the kingdom will allow round-the-clock trading -- for what some local media said was a fee of up to 100,000 riyals ($27,000).

But nothing was said about prayer times.

Confusion reigned after Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television first tweeted that the decision included prayers, but quickly deleted it after a government official rejected the claim on air.

Saudi Arabia's media ministry and the mall operators did not respond to requests for comment.

Not all shops are staying open, however. One Turkish eatery said it preferred to close during prayers as the vague government ruling offered "no guarantees" it would not be penalised.

Beyond large malls, shops also appear to be observing the shutdown, even as some operate on the quiet after rolling down their shutters.

"Give it time," said Amer, a Saudi pharmacist in his 40s, buying a coffee and dessert at Al-Nakheel during Isha prayer.

"The government is testing reactions. If there is no (backlash) they might make it official."