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RIYADH, 22 December 2005 — British police will have a close look at the security arrangements in Makkah and Madinah during this year’s Haj in order to gain first hand knowledge of the massive operation. The British Embassy announced here on Tuesday that Jawaid Akhtar, an assistant chief constable with West Yorkshire Police (WYP), has been invited to Kingdom by the Saudi Ministry of Interior. “He wants to see first hand how the Saudi police manage over two million pilgrims coming from around the world for the annual pilgrimage to Makkah,” an embassy official said. Speaking to Arab News from London, Akhtar said: “The Saudi authorities have policed this massive annual undertaking with great success.” He added that he was interested to learn about the arrangements made for pilgrims from all parts of the globe. “The Haj brings together people from various backgrounds with different cultures and languages.” In the United Kingdom, he said, there was little experience in handling massive operations of this nature. Akhtar performed Umrah earlier and said he has no intention to perform Haj during this visit since he needs to concentrate on studying the whole chain of operations undertaken by the local police in Makkah and Madinah. He has been in the police since 1982 and currently works in partnership programs with local authorities. He is one of the four WYP’s Assistant Chief Constables who is in charge of criminal justice support and community safety. About 25,000 British Muslims are expected to perform Haj this year. The UK delegation will be led by Lord Patel. A medical clinic for British pilgrims will be based at the Al-Hateem hotel on Ibrahim Al-Khalil Street. It will have separate clinics and waiting areas for male and female pilgrims and will provide medical treatment free of cost to those who need it. Also on Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw met the 2006 British Haj delegation at the Islamic Cultural Center in London. “Performing the Haj is an experience which is both emotionally and physically demanding. It can mean walking for long distances in fierce heat and in large crowds,” he told the pilgrims. According to Straw, of the 25,000 British Muslims who performed the Haj last year, about 4,100 received government help. |
