The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has placed an annual two-month ban on exhibitions in Makkah and Madina after finding that persons have been buying visit visas on foreign black markets and using them to conduct Haj and Umrah pilgrimages. According to information obtained by Okaz/SG, the ministry has discovered instances of visas granted to attend or take part in international exhibitions in Makkah or Madina making their way on the black market abroad, then purchased by “wealthy persons or businessmen” who use them to “go on the Umrah or Haj pilgrimages and visit the Prophet's Mosque illegally”. Exhibitions in the two cities planned for the Haj season have been obliged to cancel or change their dates or location, with the annual ban on such events set from Shawwal 5 until mid Dhul Hijja, dates which cover the Haj period. The Ministry of Commerce has issued a circular informing of the move to all its offices and to exhibition organizers in the Kingdom, but without giving further explanation. Sources said, however, that the two-month ban on exhibitions, which are granted visas to invite participants and interested persons from abroad, comes into immediate effect this year.
