Okaz/Saudi Gazette MAKKAH/MADINA — More than 200 Iraqis Umrah pilgrims stranded in the Kingdom gathered Sunday afternoon in Makkah to protest Iraqi Airlines' failure to provide flights for them to go home. Security forces broke up the gathering of Iraqis who were surprised when authorities did not let them to go to King Abdul Aziz International Airport because there were no Iraqi Airlines flights to take them to their homeland, officials said. Security men calmed the Iraqi Umrah performers, who congregated on Al-Aziziya Street, and asked them to disperse so they did not disrupt traffic, officials added. In an effort to resolve the problem, the Ministry of Haj asked the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) to contact the airline and ask it to expedite its flights for Iraqi Umrah performers, Adel Balkhair, assistant undersecretary at the Haj Ministry, told Okaz/Saudi Gazette. “Dr. Fuad Bin Abdulslam Al-Farsy, Minister of Haj, is closely following up this case with the GACA,” he said. The problem was caused by the Iraqi Haj and Umrah Commission, and Iraqi Airlines, he added. There are an estimated 3,000 Iraqi Umrah performers in Makkah who have been unable to go home and some of them have become frustrated, Balkhair said. The Kingdom is a hospitable country with a duty is to serve Umrah performers and pilgrims based on the directives of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, he added. Hatim Qadhi, Undersecretary at the Haj Ministry, said aviation officials are responsible for resolving the matter. “It is the responsibility of the GACA, not the Ministry of Haj, to solve this problem,” he said. “The Iraqi Umrah performers' flights were delayed because of the Iraqi Airlines Company.” Sa'ad Jameel Al-Qurashi, Chairman of the National Committee for Haj at the Makkah Chamber of Commerce said situations of this nature are common. “Similar problems happen every year because some foreign airline companies don't comply with their flight schedules,” he said. “Airlines that commit the same violation more than once should be blacklisted and shouldn't be granted permission to land at Saudi airports.” __
