KABUL, 13 February - All Afghan pilgrims wanting to get to Makkah for this year's Haj will arrive in time despite delays in the issuing of visas, a Saudi official said yesterday.
Ajarbou Ali, head of a government delegation specially sent by Riyadh to resolve the issue, said his six-member team was working "without sleeping" to ensure all 15,000 pilgrims got their visas within the next few days. The delegation arrived on Monday after being held up in the Pakistan capital, Islamabad. A special flight by Afghan national airline Ariana eventually brought them to Kabul.
"The government of Saudi Arabia aims to help all the pilgrims. They do not want anyone to miss out on the Haj," Ali said.
Most of the pilgrims were convinced they would never get to Saudi Arabia in time for the pilgrimage. When news of the Saudi delegations' arrival reached them, their despair turned to joy.
Yesterday, an announcement by officials that "at least 700 or 800 of you" will be sent to Saudi Arabia today" was greeted with cheers and applause.
Ghollam Gellani, deputy commercial secretary of Ariana, said on Monday that charter flights were on standby to take off as soon as the visas were issued.
