King thanks Prince Ahmed for Haj success

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah thanked Interior Minister Prince Ahmed, members of the Supreme Haj Committee, security personnel and participants in the service of pilgrims from the state’s civil and military departments and private bodies on the great success of the Haj this year.
“We appreciate your efforts for the distinguished success of all Haj plans for this year. We thank Allah Almighty for enabling our country to perform its duties toward pilgrims in mobilizing great potentials in the service of pilgrims so that they could perform their Haj rituals easily and comfortably. This is in spite of the pilgrims’ number this year reaching 3,161,573, an increase of 8 percent compared to the last year,” the king said in a message to Prince Ahmed, chairman of the Supreme Haj Committee, the Saudi Press Agency reported this week.
Despite the presence of millions of pilgrims, the Haj this year was completed successfully without accidents or any other calamities. The presence of unaccounted pilgrims, whose number is put at close to 1.4 million, also did not mar the arrangement for a safe and peaceful Haj, although it caused unexpected crowding at a station in Arafat on Oct.26.
Coordinated efforts of the ministries such as the Interior Ministry, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Health apart from the Ministry of Water and Electricity, the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry apart from the Haj Ministry were all striving hard to make the annual religious event a success. Private agencies such as the Tawafa establishments and United Car Syndicate were also contributed largely to the success of Haj.
President of the Two Holy Mosques Affairs Presidency Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais also congratulated the king on the successful completion of the pilgrimage of 2012.
The sheikh also congratulated Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, Prince Ahmed, Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, chairman of the Central Haj Committee, Madinah Gov. Prince Abdul Aziz bin Majed, chairman of the Madinah Haj Committee and Assistant Minister of Interior for Security Affairs Prince Muhammad bin Naif.
Al-Jouf Gov. Prince Fahd bin Badr also congratulated king and crown prince for the completion of the successful Haj. He also sent congratulatory messages o to Prince Ahmed and Prnice Khaled Al-Faisal lauding their efforts.