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RIYADH, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia will keep making payments to Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) for ongoing work and its review of the company's current jobs after last week's Mecca crane disaster is to ensure it meets safety standards, a senior Saudi official said on Thursday.
On Tuesday, the kingdom's royal court said SBG had been suspended from taking any new contracts, that its existing projects would be reviewed by the Finance Ministry and that its board members and senior executives would be banned from travel.
An initial government investigation into Friday's incident, when a crane toppled into Mecca's Grand Mosque during a dust storm killing 107, found that Saudi Arabia's largest contractor had not secured it in accordance with its instruction manual.
The senior Saudi source said, via an intermediary known to Reuters, that the royal court's ruling does not affect current projects SBG is involved in and the review was to ensure all its projects adhered to safety rules and regulations.
SBG has traditionally been the government's favoured contractor for particularly large or sensitive projects, and has carried out most work on Islam's holiest sites in Mecca and Medina to accommodate more pilgrims for decades.
Friday's disaster, which came days before the annual haj pilgrimage in the city, was embarrassing to the country's ruling Al Saud dynasty because it presents itself as the custodian of Islam's most sacred places.
(Reporting by Arshad Mohammed in Washington; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Mark Potter) ((angus.mcdowall@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: angus.mcdowall.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
On Tuesday, the kingdom's royal court said SBG had been suspended from taking any new contracts, that its existing projects would be reviewed by the Finance Ministry and that its board members and senior executives would be banned from travel.
An initial government investigation into Friday's incident, when a crane toppled into Mecca's Grand Mosque during a dust storm killing 107, found that Saudi Arabia's largest contractor had not secured it in accordance with its instruction manual.
The senior Saudi source said, via an intermediary known to Reuters, that the royal court's ruling does not affect current projects SBG is involved in and the review was to ensure all its projects adhered to safety rules and regulations.
SBG has traditionally been the government's favoured contractor for particularly large or sensitive projects, and has carried out most work on Islam's holiest sites in Mecca and Medina to accommodate more pilgrims for decades.
Friday's disaster, which came days before the annual haj pilgrimage in the city, was embarrassing to the country's ruling Al Saud dynasty because it presents itself as the custodian of Islam's most sacred places.
(Reporting by Arshad Mohammed in Washington; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Mark Potter) ((angus.mcdowall@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: angus.mcdowall.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
