JEDDAH, 1 September — Around 120,000 Pakistani pilgrims will perform Haj this year, according to a new agreement signed here on Thursday by Haj Minister Iyad Madani and Muhammad Aazam Rathore, Pakistan’s minister of religious affairs.
As a result of this agreement the number of Pakistani pilgrims increases by 10,000 on the last year, said Rathore. Moreover, the agreement covers all services, such as housing, transportation, health, enlightenment and general safety.
Last Monday, Dr. Ali ibn Abdul Rahman Al-Khalaf, chief of the Presidency of Civil Aviation, held talks with Pakistani Minister of Islamic Affairs Dr. Mahmoud Ahmad Ghazi on airlifting Haj and Umrah pilgrims from Pakistan.
Ghazi had also held talks with Haj Minister Madani.
Madani, meanwhile, has inked an agreement with the Sudanese Haj Mission headed by Dr. Kamal Al-Deen Sayed Ahmad, deputy minister of Islamic affairs.
The number of Sudanese pilgrims this year will be 17,000, an increase of 2,000, said Dr. Ahmad.
Madani said agreements were impending with around 50 other Muslim and Arab countries.
