Saudi Gazette report MADINAH – Haj regulations state that pilgrims who do not comply with terms and requirements of the entry visa to Saudi Arabia to perform Haj will not be allowed to enter the Kingdom, Ministry of Haj spokesman Hatim Qadhi said in a statement carried by Saudi Press Agency, Friday. These terms require women below 45 years of age to be accompanied by a male guardian during the pilgrimage, and this is stipulated in a woman's visa or that of her sponsor regardless of nationality. This rule is applied to all women who want to get an entry visa to Saudi Arabia to perform Haj, the spokesman said. The statement came in response to media reports quoting the president of the Nigerian Haj Mission as saying that a group of Nigerian women pilgrims who arrived in the Kingdom to perform Haj was denied entry at the airport and flew back to Nigeria. “The Ministry of Haj confirms the keenness of the government of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, to receive pilgrims from all over the world with the applicable instructions,” the statement said. Nigeria, meanwhile, has suspended flights to Saudi Arabia for the annual Haj pilgrimage. “The airlift operations have been temporary stopped ... It does not make sense to airlift people to be detained on landing. We will resume when all outstanding issues are resolved,” Uba Mana, spokesman of Nigerian National Haj Commission, was quoted as saying by Reuters Friday. But Chairman, Nigerian House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Nnena Elendu-Ukeje, told federal lawmakers Thursday that officials from the ministries of interior and foreign affairs were presently in Saudi Arabia to sort out the matter, Daily Trust newspaper said Friday. Aminu Tambuwal, Nigeria's parliament speaker and the second most powerful Muslim in the government, was expected to arrive here to try to solve the problem. Tambuwal met Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to Nigeria Khalid Abdrabuh in Abuja Wednesday during which the envoy said the matter would be resolved soon, according to Daily Trust. Abdrabuh maintained that Nigerians were not singled out by his country as other female pilgrims from other countries were also screened. But the National Haj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) stated Thursday that it would transport back to Nigeria all the 1,000 female pilgrims from Saudi Arabia. Alhaji Abdullahi Muhammad, the national commissioner, operation, disclosed this in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja. So far 24,886 of the 95,000 Nigerian Muslim pilgrims have been transported to Saudi Arabia for the Haj by the commission.
