Ryad (AFP)

Masked worshipers flocked to Saudi mosques on Sunday, which have reopened across the kingdom except in the holy city of Mecca after more than two months of closure due to the new coronavirus pandemic.

"I prayed, praised be God, in the neighborhood mosque and it was a great feeling," said a surfer on Twitter.

They also had to perform their ablutions - a ritual of purification - at home, not in mosques.

"The believers rushed to the house of God to perform the duty (of prayer) after the reopening of the mosques," the ministry of Islamic affairs said on Twitter.

The latter put online a video showing numerous faithful masked in a mosque and reaching out to a large bottle of hydro-alcoholic gel after prayer.

The mosques have been ordered to avoid crowds and not to distribute food, drink, incense and twigs of "miswak" used to clean the teeth, the ministry added.

But on social networks, some have complained that some devotees do not strictly follow the rules.

"I swear to God that some people don't care about anything. No face mask. No carpet," testified a surfer.

- Gradual lifting of the curfew -

Saudi Arabia, home to the holiest places in Islam, has closed mosques for more than two months to limit the spread of the virus.

The kingdom, which has announced the highest number of cases of coronavirus in the Gulf, has just emerged from a total and national curfew which had been imposed during Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday marking the end of the month of Ramadan fasting.

Domestic flights also resumed on Sunday with a hundred flights planned according to state media.

The Interior Ministry has said it will begin easing the restrictions gradually, with a nationwide curfew lifted - except in Mecca - between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. (local time) until June 20.

The kingdom must lift the restrictions entirely from June 21.

In Mecca, a major center of infection, the curfew will be lifted between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m. until June 20, before being reduced by five additional hours.

Saudi Arabia has officially registered more than 85,000 new coronavirus cases and 503 deaths.

The kingdom suspended in March the small pilgrimage ("Umrah") to Mecca which is practiced all year round, for fear that the virus will spread in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

The suspension will remain in effect until further notice, the interior ministry said. Authorities have yet to announce whether the hajj, slated for late July, will continue this year, but urged Muslims to temporarily delay preparations for the annual pilgrimage.

Last year, some 2.5 million worshipers from around the world traveled to Arabia to participate in the hajj, a pilgrimage that Muslims are required to make at least once in their lifetime if they can afford it.

The great mosque in Mecca has been almost empty of the faithful since March, and its esplanade surrounding the Kaaba, a cubic structure towards which Muslims turn to pray, has never seen such a reduced influx.

Only mosque employees and security personnel were allowed to perform the five daily prayers there.

© 2020 AFP