“This year, we plan to offer better services to our pilgrims,” Sri Lanka's Urban Affairs Minister Abdul Hameed Mohamed Fowzie told Arab News from London. Every year, the Lankan government blacklists operators who didn't come up to the expectations of the Haj Ministry during the previous year's pilgrimage. Fowzie has been appointed minister in charge of Haj affairs for 2011 by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
According to him, there were some 5,800 pilgrims from the country in 2010. This number is expected to increase this year since peace has been restored in Sri Lanka following the end of the civil war.
Fowzie also said that the Lankan government does not impose any restrictions on the number of Haj pilgrims.
“We allow everyone who wishes to perform this lifetime obligation toward Allah,” he said.
The minister thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for providing the best of facilities and services to the pilgrims who come to the holy cities from all over the world.
