The Ministry of Haj has started an investigation into the case of nearly 800 Pakistani Umrah pilgrims who were left stranded with no return air ticket reservations at King Abdul Aziz International Airport here on Tuesday. As the pilgrims arrived to receive their boarding passes, they were told they had no air ticket reservations. The pilgrims were customers of an Umrah company officially registered with the Ministry of Haj and came here with the help of the company's agent in Pakistan. A spokesman of the company in Jeddah blamed the airline office in Pakistan and the company's agent in Pakistan for issuing forged tickets to their customers. “It was an organized fraud operation between the airline office and the company's agent in Islamabad,” the spokesman said. “They issued the pilgrims with forged return tickets to allow them to obtain an Umrah visa from the Saudi embassy in Islamabad,” he said. “It was actually a one-way ticket which violates the Kingdom's rules for Umrah and Haj visas,” he said. The spokesman said that they have official documents to indict the airline office and their agent in Islamabad, asking for immediate help in getting the stranded pilgrims back home. “All of them have finished their Umrah program, and some of them are now illegally here on expired visas,” he said. If they are not sent back home, the company will incur the expense of their stay here until the issue has been officially resolved,” he added. As the investigation continues, the pilgrims will be sent home soon, an official source, who required anonymity, said. Action will be taken against the airline office that issued them forged tickets, he added.
