JEDDAH, 24 December 2006 — Passport officials arrested three Asian and African expatriates in Jeddah yesterday who are suspected of running a network for the forgery and circulation of fake Haj permits.
The officials seized from the suspected forgers’ hideout seals of various government departments and transportation companies and sealed blank letterheads of several private companies. They also found bundles of iqama-renewal stickers and a number of passports of various countries besides civil status cards of Saudi citizens. The Saudi IDs were intended to be sold to people who want to pose as Saudis.
The Passport Department beefed up its search operations after observing the increasing number of fake permits detected at various check points on the highways leading to Makkah. The department constituted a special task force to unearth the racket supplying the forged documents.
Brig. Muhammad Al-Asmari, director of the Passports Department at Makkah, told Arab News that the department is fully geared up to serve both the Saudi and resident pilgrims people who want to go for Haj as per the regulations that stipulate that each pilgrim should carry a Haj permit.
“The department officials are doing everything possible to stop the forgery of Haj documents. The forgers are in fact cheating the Saudis and residents and tempting them to break the Haj regulations aimed at guaranteeing safety and comfort of the legitimate pilgrims,” the official said.
He added that the criminals are exploiting people’s noble sentiments.
The forgers will be handed to police for further investigations.
Haj authorities have not allowed expatriates from other regions of the Kingdom, who do not carry the mandatory Haj permit, to enter Makkah since Dul Qaada 15, or Dec. 5. This ban will continue until the Day of Arafat that falls on Friday.
More than two million pilgrims are expected to attend this year’s Haj while 1.4 million of them will be from foreign countries.
