Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News, 2014-09-04

Saudi Arabian authorities have denied any plan to move or destroy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) Tomb in Masjid al-Nabawi in Madinah al-Munawwerah, Saudi Arabia and termed news reports being circulated as false, fabricated and misleading.

“There is no question of moving, destroying or making any change in the present status of the Prophet’s (PBUH) Tomb”, a top Saudi official is quoted as saying by the local media.

He also rebuked the reports as misleading, fabricated and totally false.

“This is something which we cannot even dream of doing. The report is baseless”, he said.

Meanwhile a row has erupted after Mowafaq al-Nowaysar, the Deputy Editor in Chief of Saudi Arabia’s “Makkah” Newspaper accused Britain’s The Independent of “theft,” claiming they “robbed” one of their journalists of his efforts.

Al-Nowaysar said The Independent “fell in the trap of misunderstandings after it mistranslated” an Arabic article that was posted in Makkah Newspaper on Aug. 25.

On Monday The Independent reported that the tomb of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in the holy city of Madinah in Saudi Arabia could be “destroyed” and the Prophet (PBUH) remains removed to an anonymous grave.

The article states that there are calls for the Prophet’s tomb to be “isolated,” not destroyed, explained Nowaysar, who also accused The Independent of previously stealing content from his newspaper.

The Independent is claiming the story as an exclusive, and many British news sites carrying the news have credited the paper as breaking the story.

Speaking to Al Arabiya News on Wednesday, Omar al-Mudhwahi, the Saudi journalist who wrote the Makkah newspaper report said: “If they insist on stealing my work, at least they should allow me to provide them with an accurate translation … I would be glad to”.

“I had initially written about the proposal after reading a study by Saudi academic Dr. Ali bin Abdulaziz al-Shabal in a publication published on behalf of the General Presidency of the Two Holy mosques.”

In response to the allegations of “theft,” Deputy Managing Editor at The Independent, Will Gore, told Al Arabiya News on Wednesday they were “not aware of Makkah’s report” a week earlier.

“The information for our article was brought to our attention by the Saudi academic Dr. Irfan al-Alawi, who had read directly the work of Dr. Ali bin Abdulaziz al-Shabal and was concerned by its content. This follows on from previous Independent articles over recent years about the approach of the Saudi authorities to historical sites in Makkah and Madinah,” Gore said.

– Al-Arabiya & agencies

(Twitter: @Faizie143)