The Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Echorouk:”The outlay for the 2009 Hadj or Pilgrimage will slump and the international biometric passport will be required for security reasons”

In an exclusive interview with “Echorouk” newspaper, his Excellency, the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia in Algeria, Doctor Samy Abdallah Saleh, dwelt on the preparedness and the conditions of reception and accommodation in Mecca and Medina offered by the relevant Saudi authorities to all pilgrims wishing to visit this year the holy places of Islam as part of the annual Hadj or the Omra (Small pilgrimage). 

• The Saudi Ambassador said that the expenses for the 2009 Hadj or pilgrimage would be curtailed on account of the large availability of newly – built hotels and places of residence in the holy city of Mecca where a large – scale housing reconstruction program was launched a few years ago to ensure the Muslim pilgrims’ accommodation and catering in the most appropriate conditions.
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• The pilgrims will thus be able to choose at will their places of residence in Mecca, according to their financial capacity, he said.
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• The Saudi Ambassador further pointed out that as from this year, all the pilgrims from all the Muslim countries including Algeria should henceforth show an International biometric passport on their arrival in Saudi Arabia for security reasons.
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• He indicated, in this respect, that the Saudi authorities had informed beforehand their Algerian counterparts of such a decision in order to avert any misunderstanding or hassle at Djeddah airport for the pilgrims hailing from Algeria.
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• The international police organization has required the gradual use of the biometric passport in all the countries of the world and its all-out generalization starting from the year 2011, he added.
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• The Saudi Ambassador also evoked the Omra or small pilgrimage this year, saying that since the celebration of the Mawlid Ennabaoui Echarif last March, 45 thousand Algerians had already fulfilled a Omra in the holy places of Islam in good conditions.
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• He added that the number of Algerian pilgrims was expected to increase by reaching around 150 thousand by the end of the upcoming holy month of fasting of Ramadhan.
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