More pilgrims expected from Qatar: Haj Minister

A number of Qatari pilgrims have arrived in the holy cities and more will follow, Minister of Haj and Umrah Mohammed Saleh Benten has said.

He did not reveal the exact number of the Qatari pilgrims or how they arrived in the Kingdom but said they would be provided with all the facilities and services that will enable them perform the pilgrimage in ease, peace and comfort.

"We are expecting more pilgrims from Qatar to arrive in the coming days," he told Al-Hayat newspaper on Saturday.

Benten has said Qatari citizens residing in the Kingdom may register for the Haj via the special e-portal established for them by the ministry.

"The pilgrims coming from Qatar may use any air company to arrive in Jeddah for the Haj and we will take good care of them," he said.

Qatar has prevented its citizens from traveling to Saudi Arabia for the Haj and has deleted the special electronic gate established by the Kingdom for them to register for the fifth pillar of Islam.

The ministry has prepared tents for them in Mina, which were supplied with all the facilities and equipment including air-conditioning.

The minister, who inspected the Haj facilities in Madinah including Prince Muhammad Bin Abdulaziz International Airport, said he was impressed by the warm welcome accorded to the pilgrims on arrival.

"Many of the pilgrims to whom I talked expressed their satisfaction over the services being extended to them by the concerned government and private establishments," he said.

The minister joined more than 400,000 pilgrims who performed the Friday prayer at the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah.

Female staff at KAIA

As many as 75 Saudi women are working at King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) in Jeddah to process the passports of the pilgrims.

The female passport staff were rigorously trained to detect any case of forgery and to complete the entry procedures of pilgrims in a matter of seconds only.

The Passport Department (Jawazat) started employing Saudi women at international airports as early as 2014. They will make the fingerprinting for the pilgrims, photograph them and enter all their data in the computer system.

The Jawazat, on the other hand, said as many as 1.22 pilgrims have arrived in the Kingdom until Friday evening from various parts of the world.

It said 1,148,404 pilgrims have arrived by air, 59,448 by land and13,211 by sea.

Commander of the Jawazat Haj forces Brig. Sulaiman Al-Youssif said so far no forgery cases were detected in any of the airports.

He said about a thousand passport officers, privates and supervisors are serving the pilgrims 24 hours a day and are communicating with the pilgrims in English, French, Russian and Urdu.

Youssif said the Jawazat has employed a number of interpreters to facilitate the entry of the pilgrims.

...[ Continue to next page ]  /  Source: saudigazette