Mohamed Issa: “40,000 pilgrims will be Algeria’s Hajj quota in 2016”

The Minister of religious affairs and endowments, Mohamed Issa, has announced a hike in the quota earmarked by the Saudi authorities for Algerian pilgrims to reach 40,000 pilgrims who will be allowed to perform the Hajj pilgrimage to the holy places of Islam in Mecca and Medina in the year 2016.

This will be the final season for the reduced Hajj quota for Algeria which now stands at 28,600 Algerian pilgrims set by the Saudi side.

Mr Mohamed Issa noted that the State would not support the cost of the pilgrimage this year in line with a proposal he raised himself in the event that the cost of the hajj won’t rise, but in the contrary, the Minister explained that the Government will be required to provide the financial difference.

The Algerian authorities have taken a series of measures to make the hajj (pilgrimage) season successful, including biometric passports and the granting of the visa of Hajj in a “record” time, in coordination with the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Algiers, Mohamed Issa said.

The minister gave religious and spiritual recommendations to Algerian Hajjis.

He called, in this context, on Algerian Hajjis to be an “example” for other Hajjis through “good behavior, moderation and the resort to mufti guidance.”

These measures are implemented upon instructions given by Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal.

He asserted that “all measures have been taken to ensure the success of this season,” especially in terms of accommodation, transport and services, and in coordination with the Saudi authorities.

For his part, the Saudi ambassador in Algiers, Ben Mahmoud Hussein Qattane, highlighted the “good coordination” between the Algerian and Saudi authorities, especially regarding the “health measures”.