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RIYADH (AFP) - The government of Saudi Arabia, which is home to the holiest sites of Islam, is to loosen regulations on pilgrims to allow more Muslims to perform the mini-pilgrimage, or Umrah. From September 28th, the government will issue visas lasting one month instead of two weeks and pilgrims will also be able to visit any town in the kingdom rather than just Mecca and Medina. The new rules will also see pilgrimage visas granted to people arriving through Jeddah airport, the city's Red Sea port, as well as at Medina airport. The faithful who wish to perform the Umrah must from now on join a package organized through tourist agencies authorized by the government's pilgrimage ministry. According to an official source, the new rules aim to encourage "religious tourism in the kingdom but conform to the rules guaranteeing the departure of pilgrims once they have performed their rites." The Umrah season lasts for almost eight months a year, the remainder of the time being given over to the annual full pilgrimage, or Hajj, which some two million Muslims attend. Saudi Arabia expelled some 1.5 million foreigners in 1998 and 1999 for overstaying their visas after entering the country for pilgrimage. |
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