JEDDAH – King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, directed Saudi embassies in Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey to expedite the process of issuing Syrian pilgrims with Haj visas. Ali Asiri, Saudi ambassador to Lebanon, said the King urged the embassy to remove any obstacles facing Syrian refugees in getting Haj visas. He added: “We designed a mechanism wherein we issue a Haj visa to any Syrian applicant on the same day.” Moreover, the ambassador added, Saudi Arabian Airlines and the Middle East Airlines have rescheduled their flights to accommodate Syrian pilgrims. Fahd Al-Zaid, Saudi ambassador to Jordan, said he gave directives to all staff to process Haj visas for Syrians as quickly as possible. Abdul Hadi Al-Shafi, Saudi ambassador to Turkey, said the embassy has intensified its efforts to issue Syrian refugees in Turkey with Haj visas. He added: “We process applications filed by Syrians in a matter of half an hour and grant them the visas without any delay.” There are over 100,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey, Al-Shafi noted. The King's directives clearly stated that any Syrian refugee who wishes to perform Haj should be granted a visa. Hatim Qadhi, undersecretary for Haj affairs at the Ministry of Haj, said Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey are not included in the quota set earlier for Lebanese, Jordanian and Turkish pilgrims. He added: “The King's directives don't apply to Syrians who are currently in Syria.” Qadhi noted the first batch of Syrian pilgrims will arrive in the Kingdom on Friday.
