RIYADH: The Argentine government has thanked the Kingdom for previously hosting its Umrah pilgrims for free.

“They were part of a group invited by then Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah,” said Ambassador Jaime Sergio Cerda on Thursday.

“The invitation was a gift. All expenses were paid and the pilgrims stayed for about a week in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah,” said the diplomat.

Cerda said the pilgrims were thankful because they would not have been able to afford the trip. The Saudi Embassy in Buenos Aires had made the arrangements with the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, he said.

He said other pilgrims had made their own travel arrangements for Umrah at that time. “I met them when they went to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Saudi capital.” They had expressed their joy at coming for Umrah, he said.

He said more Argentine pilgrims would come to the Kingdom for Umrah if there were direct flights between the two countries. “At present, the travel time between the two countries is 20 to 21 hours. This could be reduced to 18 hours if there’s a direct flight,” he said.

He said there are over 50,000 Muslims in Argentina, which has a population of 40 million people.