JEDDAH: The Makkah police on Sunday denied they received any reports about two children from Qatar who were reported lost in the area of the Grand Mosque 40 days ago.
Makkah police Maj. Abdul Mohsen Al-Maiman said neither his department nor the police responsible for the holy site have been notified of missing children.
Media reports say a Qatari citizen told authorities in his country that his son and daughter got lost in the mosque complex.
“The Qatari authorities then took the matter to the Saudi authorities and the issue was referred to investigators,” he said. The spokesman said investigations revealed that there were differences between the Qatari man and his wife after which the man left for his home leaving his wife and children behind.
“This was communicated to the Qatari authorities,” he said. The picture of the two alleged missing children Jasim and Reem were placed on a website which said they were the two Qatari children whose mother lost them in the area around the Haram more than a month ago when she came to perform Umrah. According to the site, the mother searched in vain the area around her residence and was assisted by a number of people who accompanied her on her Umrah trip.
The site said the mother informed the Makkah police that her children were missing.
Arab News asked the man who placed the picture of the two children on the Internet about his relationship with them. He said he “volunteered” to make the Web page after a Qatari lady named Um Mishaal informed him about the incident, gave him her telephone number in Qatar and asked him to report any information about the missing children to her.
On contacting Um Mishaal in Qatar, she told Arab News that she also “volunteered” to look for the two missing Qatari children, adding that the media in Qatar were closely following the issue. She also said the mother suffered a nervous breakdown and the father promised to give a big reward to whoever finds his two missing children.
