ADDIS ABABA: Stay away from Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia has told its citizens. The Saudi government warned its citizens to remain wary of traveling to the East African country in light of what they said were sporadic clashes between Muslims and the police. The foreign ministry told Bikyamasr.com that it was a “precaution” as Saudi citizens are Muslims and “we want to ensure their safety wherever they travel.” Saudi citizens should avoid going to the African country until the tension is eased and the situation is settled, the interior ministry added on Sunday in comments published by Okaz. It cited a letter from Saudi ambassador to Ethiopia as saying the security situation was unpredictable. “In Ramadan, seven Saudis were arrested in different places as they were strolling in the suburbs of the capital or engaged — with good intentions — in charitable activities," Abdul Baqi Ahmad Ajlan, the Saudi ambassador in Addis Ababa, said, quoted by the daily. “The embassy had to exert exceptional efforts to secure their release and repatriate them," he said. The embassy posted warnings at its building in the Ethiopian capital and sent short mobile messages to warn its nationals after it said the number of Saudi tourists had increased dramatically. Applicants for visa “should be warned about attitudes and activities that are seemingly based on good intentions, but are deemed illegal in the African country.” They include giving off donations and supporting charity foundations, he said. “It would be similar to the instructions that the Saudi embassies provide to visa applicants so that visitors or people planning to perform Umrah or Haj [pilgrimage] are fully aware of the Saudi laws. That way, everybody knows for instance that a death sentence awaits anyone guilty of importing or trafficking in drugs," the ambassador said.
