Saudi Ambassador in Algeria: « Number of Algerian pilgrims to be hiked to 38,000 in 2016 ».

The Ambassador of Saudi Arabia in Algeria, His Excellency, Doctor Sami Abdallah Salah, has denied in an exclusive interview with Echorouk that the number of Algerians bound for the Omra or small pilgrimage to the holy places of Islam in Mecca and Medina during the holy month of fasting of Ramadhan has been curtailed contrary to unconfirmed reports conveyed of late by some local media outlets.

He said that the only change brought to the Omra or small pilgrimage concerned its duration which has been set by the Saudi Authorities to just 15 days during the holy month of Ramadhan.

The Saudi Ambassador noted that the move was designed to cut back by about 20 per cent the number of pilgrims hailing from all Muslim countries in a bid to allow the Saudi Authorities better cope with the huge flows of Hadjis to the holy places of Islam and ensure their safety and their well-being by providing them with upgraded services and amenities during their stay there.

His Excellency Sami Abdallah Salah, who was on Tuesday the distinguished guest of Echorouk’s Forum, further brought into focus the brotherly relations existing between Algeria and Saudi Arabia stressing the two governments’ will to further reinforce them in all sectors of activity.

He suggested in this respect the necessity for the Algerian government to revise the 51/49 per cent legal rule pertaining to foreign investments here in Algeria, saying that such a much-awaited overhauling would speed-up and expand foreign investment opportunities in the country on the basis of the “win-win principle”.

In so doing, the Saudi diplomat expressed Saudi Arabia’s intent on prodding through its various leverage channels advanced countries to engage in a genuine technology transfer to Algeria.

He also announced that according to Saudi prospective data, the number of Algerian pilgrims eager to fulfill the Hadj pilgrimage in the holy places of Islam would be increased to 38 thousand by the year 2016, that is a hike of 2.000 pilgrims compared to the year 2013.

He indicated that a colossal task was being carried out by the Saudi authorities with large-scale construction and renovation works now underway in Mecca and Medina with the aim of expanding and modernizing places of worship, religious sites, hotels, businesses and transport in these two holy cities for the benefit of all the pilgrims notably those hailing from Algeria.

With regard to the curtailment of the duration of the Omra during Ramadhan, the Saudi Ambassador pointed out that the move was aimed at ending the confusion and the anarchical situation triggered by the venal practices of certain travel agencies that lack professionalism and whose only objective is to garner the maximum money to the detriment of bona-fide pilgrims who have been on many occasions woefully left in the lurch in Mecca and Medina by some tour operators as reported by the media.

He affirmed to this effect that despite some current constraints in hotel accommodation, the Saudi Authorities had issued up to the month of June (Chaabane) 2013 a total of 170 thousand visas for pilgrims wishing to accomplish the Omra during the holy month of Ramadhan.

The number of special Ramadhan visas granted this year by the relevant Saudi Authorities is up by 15 per cent compared to 2012, he explained.

He added that the number of pilgrims hailing from Muslim countries who had accomplished the Omra or small pilgrimage in Mecca and Medina had reached 5.4 million over the past year.

Regarding the vexed Syria crisis, the Saudi Ambassador to Algiers told Echorouk’s Forum that the recent “Fatwa” or religious decree issued in Egypt by a group of Sunni religious scholars validating and advocating the Djihad or holy war in Syria didn’t concern Saudi Arabia, stressing that such a decree represented only its authors.

His Excellency, Doctor Sami Abdallah Salah, emphasized that the oppressed Syrian people did not need a “Fatwa” but needed instead the international community’s backing with weapons and ammunition to face up to the horrendous genocidal practices waged by the dictatorial Al Assad regime against a defenseless population whose only fault is to yearn for freedom, democracy, justice, progress and well-being, as he put it.