JEDDAH, 27 January 2003 — Plans are under way to establish a medical tower close to the General Hospital in Mina this year to provide specialized health care to pilgrims during the Haj season, according to Dr. Adnan Al-Bar, health director in the Makkah region.
Speaking to Al-Nadwa newspaper, Al-Bar said the contract to construct a new 400-bed hospital in Daqam Al-Waber had been awarded to a national company. Referring to the Health Ministry’s Haj plan, he said the ministry had doubled the number of ambulance vans to 80 to provide emergency health services to pilgrims. “We have also increased the number of small ambulance vehicles, which were first introduced during the Haj last year.”
Al-Bar said the ministry reconstructed seven health centers each in Mina and Arafat and three in Muzdalifa. “We have also refurbished the operations room at Arafat General Hospital and provided it with advanced medical equipment,” he pointed out.
Taiwanese Haj mission arrives in Jeddah
JEDDAH, 27 January 2003 — A 34-member Taiwanese Haj mission, led by Yaqub Hsu, chairman of Taiwan Kaohsiung Mosque, arrived here yesterday on its way to Makkah. During its stay in the Kingdom, the mission is scheduled to hold meetings with officials in the ministries of Haj and Islamic Affairs, and the Muslim World League (MWL), said a statement by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Riyadh. The mission members will also visit Madinah.
Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian met with the Haj mission on Thursday before its departure for Makkah. President Chen said the meeting signified the importance his administration attaches to the annual pilgrimage as well as its respect for religious freedom and concern for minority groups. He said he took pleasure in meeting the delegation, which represents the 60,000 Muslims in Taiwan.
Iraqi pilgrims arrive at Arar border crossing
JEDDAH, 27 January 2003 — The first group of Iraqi pilgrims arrived in the Kingdom yesterday. The Saudi Press Agency said 78 buses carrying some 1,500 Iraqi pilgrims arrived at the Arar border crossing between Saudi Arabia and Iraq. A number of Iraqi Kurds have canceled their pilgrimage plans, and more are expected to follow suit, over fears a war on Iraq will cut them off from their loved ones, Kurdish officials said yesterday. “Several candidates have renounced their pilgrimage plans,” the Religious Affairs Ministry of the local Kurdish administration in Arbil, northern Iraq, said in a statement.
Chen said the scripture of Islam upholds peace, equality and obedience to Allah. “The religion has helped numerous people achieve peace of mind in a chaotic secular world,” he noted.
Given Taiwan’s open society, Chen said, the number of Muslims had increased steadily on the island. “Despite the geographic distance, Taiwan has also managed to develop close ties with many Muslim countries in the Middle East,” Chen said, emphasizing the contribution of local Muslims to the promotion of religious freedom and cultural exchanges between Taiwan and the Middle East nations.
Chen told the mission that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had ordered the ROC representative office in Saudi Arabia to offer all necessary assistance to the delegation during its stay.
According to Yunus Ma, information officer at Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Riyadh, there are six mosques on the island. In addition to its Muslim population of more than 60,000, some 90,000 people from several Islamic countries are working in Taiwan.
