CAIRO/JEDDAH: The Saudi Embassy in Egypt has dismissed reports appearing in that country’s local media that it had rejected 14,000 requests by Egyptians to perform Umrah.

In a statement reportedly issued on Sunday, the Saudi Embassy also refuted claims that it would this year only allow 4,000 Egyptians to perform Umrah; and that it had refused to deal with certain Egyptian tour companies without giving any reasons.

The embassy stated that it processes up to 5,000 Egyptian passports a day during busy periods. However, some Umrah requests were rejected because of irregularities, including people having differing photographs on application forms and passports.

Other problems include some applying with canceled passports, or with ones having commercial visas. In addition, there were some women under 45 years of age traveling in groups who were rejected because they did not have mahrams (related men to accompany them). In addition, embassy staff could not read the barcodes on some passports.

The embassy stated that it deals with staff from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism in taking passports. The ministry decides on the number of passports it sends to the embassy, which has nothing to do with limiting numbers, it stated.

The embassy stated that Egyptian tourism officials have already apologized about the reports. Journalists should verify their information before publication, the embassy stated.