King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia ordered on Tuesday to host 200 of the families of the victims of Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand.
The hosting is part of the Saudi King Guests Program for Hajj and Umrah that is implemented and supervised by the Islamic Affairs Ministry.
Minister of Islamic Affairs and General Supervisor of the Program, Sheikh Abdullatif Al-Sheikh, said in statements to the Saudi Press Agency that the initiative was part of the Kingdom’s counterterrorism efforts.
He said that ministry would follow up the required procedures through the Saudi embassy in New Zealand to finalize their departure to the Kingdom and provide them with all facilities to perform the pilgrimage.
The Saudi king had ordered hosting 1,000 Palestinian pilgrims this year.
The Christchurch mosque shootings were two consecutive terrorist shooting attacks at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, during the Friday prayers on March 15, 2019, which left 51 Muslim worshippers killed.