MINA, 12 February 2003 — The number of pilgrims performing Haj this year reached 1,924,242, according to a statement issued by the General Statistics Department of the Planning Ministry. A record 1,431,012 pilgrims came from abroad and 493,230 from within the Kingdom, it added. The number of Saudis and expatriates who received Haj permits was estimated at 103,813 and 69,316 respectively. (SPA)

New permit system

JEDDAH, 12 February 2003 — Maj. Gen. Abdul Aziz Al-Sajeeni, director general of the Passport Department, disclosed plans to authorize the Tawafa organizations for domestic pilgrims to issue Haj permits in the coming years. “We are now conducting an experiment in this respect in coordination with the Information Center,” Sajeeni told Al-Jazirah. “Once it is found working, the Tawafa organizations will be able to issue the permits next year,” he added. He urged Saudis to cooperate with security agencies to put an end to the problem of overstayers. (AN)

Meals distributed

MINA, 12 February 2003 — More than 200,000 packed meals were distributed among pilgrims at Jamrat yesterday at the expense of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd. The Prince Abdul Aziz ibn Fahd Office for Research & Studies plans to give away four million packets of cold meals and 1.5 million packets of hot meals among the pilgrims, according to Khaled Al-Assaf, its director. The office has already distributed more than 600,000 meals in Arafat and 500,000 in Muzdalifa, he added. (SPA)

Sacrificial meat project

MINA, 12 February 2003 — The Islamic Development Bank has recruited more than 30,000 employees including 28,000 butchers and administrators and 700 veterinary doctors to carry out the sacrificial meat utilization project, according to Dr. Ahmad Mohammed Ali, the bank’s president. He said about 400 religious students have been appointed to make sure that the slaughtering of the animals are done in the proper manner. The slaughtering is carried out at several abattoirs, he said. (AN)

The bank has started distributing sacrificial meat among the poor around the Haram Mosque and the needy in the holy sites as well as among charitable organizations.

Since the project was introduced in 1983, meat of 8.8 million heads of sheep, camels and cows was utilized and distributed among the poor in Islamic countries. (AN)