Muhammad Taleb Al-Ahmadi Okaz /Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — A source at the Syrian embassy in Riyadh refuted claims by Haj committee officials in the country that the Kingdom prevented Syrians from performing Haj this year. “The allegations published in the Syrian media were false and untrue,” said the source. The source said the acting Syrian ambassador had received several cables from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs asking him to name the members responsible for Haj but he intentionally ignored them. The latest of these cables was on Sept. 10, 2012. Dr. Hatem Qadi, the undersecretary for Haj Affairs, said, “The Syrian side is unresponsive. We are still waiting for the assignment of an official committee by the Syrian authorities to meet with his counterpart at the Ministry of Haj to agree on a mechanism to enabling the Syrian pilgrims to perform Haj smoothly.” He said the ministry set the Syrian quota at 22,500 pilgrims as per the quota system for every country. Foreign ministers of Islamic countries had agreed on this system during a meeting they held in Jordan in 1987. Under the agreement the number of the pilgrims is calculated according to the Muslim population of each country, at a rate of one pilgrim for every 1,000 Muslims. Qadi emphasized that the ministry didn't receive any request from a single Syrian residing outside the country whether in Turkey, Jordan or Lebanon for a visa to perform Haj. He said three years ago the ministry had facilitated the arrival of Tunisians residing in Europe and other countries although they were officially banned by the then Tunisian government because of the outbreak of H1N1 influenza. He said the ministry also made arrangements for Muslims living in non-Muslim countries without diplomatic representation to perform Haj. “The closure of the Kingdom's embassy in Syria does not affect the process anyway, but it seems that the current situation in the country dictates their desire to perform or to not perform Haj.” Dr. Bandar Hajjar, Minister of Haj, said last week that all arrangements had been made to receive Syrian pilgrims. Hajjar's comments came after the Syrian state media reported that the Kingdom had barred Syrians from entering the country to perform Haj. “Pilgrims from Syria will be provided with the utmost care upon their arrival in the Kingdom,” Hajjar said.
