CAIRO — The Ministry of Haj has permitted 85,000 Egyptian pilgrims to obtain pilgrimage visas after they were initially denied visa services because the local companies they were dealing with had committed numerous violations. Head of the Egyptian Tourism Committee Basil Al-Sissi said the ministry had prohibited eight Saudi agencies from dealing with 200 Egyptian tourism companies. He said: “A total of 85,000 Egyptian pilgrims were worried about not being able to go to the Kingdom this year due to the ministry's new decision. However, the ministry permitted the issuance of pilgrim visas for the Egyptian pilgrims.” He added Egypt is thankful for the ministry's reaction. “The ministry should form a committee to receive Egyptian pilgrims as they will have a lot of problems given the unstable condition of their travel and their official documents,” said Al-Sissi. A source from the ministry said the ministry issued another decision stating all paperwork of Egyptian pilgrims shall be transferred and processed by other agencies. The source said the ministry prohibited further cooperation between the specified agencies and companies due to multiple legal violations committed.
