Riyadh [Saudi Arabia], July 27 (ANI): Saudi Arabia has suspended issuing visas to pilgrims from the Democratic Republic of the Congo over fears that Ebola could spread during next month's Hajj pilgrimage there.

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday announced the decision in a note cited by Al Jazeera, saying, "The granting of arrivals visas for people entering from DRC has been stopped, to conserve the well-being of pilgrims."

The suspension came after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared that the Ebola outbreak in Congo's eastern North Kivu and Ituri provinces a public health emergency of international concern.

It was not clear how many people's applications had been affected by the move.

About three per cent of Congo's population is Muslim who had planned to take part in the annual hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia next month.

Riyadh's move came despite the World Health Organisation saying at the time of its international emergency declaration that no country should close its borders or place any restrictions on travel or trade because of Ebola and urging governments elsewhere in Africa and around the world not to "panic" in response to the decision.

The epidemic has killed more than 1,700 people - more than two-thirds of those who contracted it - since it emerged last August, according to the Congo's health ministry. It is the second-worst outbreak of its kind on record.

The Kingdom also suspended pilgrimage visas for travellers from Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia - the three worst-affected countries.

Saudi Arabia also suspended visas during West Africa's Ebola outbreak a few years ago in which more than 11,000 people died. (ANI) </s> Saudi Arabia suspends visas to people from Congo over Ebola

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Saudi Arabia has stopped issuing visas to people from Congo while citing the Ebola outbreak there, even as the World Health Organization recommends against travel restrictions.

Some Muslims in Congo had planned to take part in the annual hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia next month. A letter from the Saudi foreign ministry to Congo's embassy in Riyadh, obtained by The Associated Press and dated Wednesday, says the kingdom made the decision to protect pilgrims and others.

The letter refers to the WHO decision this month to declare the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo a global health emergency. More than 1,700 people have died in the year-long outbreak.

Saudi Arabia also suspended visas during West Africa's Ebola outbreak a few years ago.

The decision affects anyone coming from Congo, including non-citizens. </s> Saudi Arabia has banned entry to travellers coming from the Democratic Republic of the Congo over fears Ebola could spread during next month's Hajj pilgrimage.

The decision, announced in a note issued on Wednesday by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, cited last week's move by the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare the Ebola outbreak in DRC's eastern North Kivu and Ituri provinces a public health emergency of international concern.

"The granting of arrivals visas for people entering from DRC has been stopped, to conserve the well-being of pilgrims," the Saudi ministry's note said.

It was not clear how many people's applications had been affected by the move.

About three percent of DRC's population is Muslim, according to a poll by the New York-based Congo Research Group, while people from sub-Saharan Africa make up about 10 percent of the more than two million annual pilgrims to the holy city of Mecca.

WHO plea ignored



Riyadh's move came despite the WHO saying at the time of its international emergency declaration that no country should close its borders or place any restrictions on travel or trade because of Ebola and urging governments elsewhere in Africa and around the world not to "panic" in response to the decision.

The epidemic has killed more than 1,700 people - more than two-thirds of those who contracted it - since it emerged last August, according to the DRC's health ministry. It is the second-worst outbreak of its kind on record.

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Saudi Arabia also partially shuttered its borders to travellers amid fears over Ebola during the world's deadliest ever eruption of the virus, which killed more than 11,300 people as it surged through West Africa during 2014-2016.

The kingdom suspended pilgrimage visas for travellers from Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia - the three worst-affected countries.

For Muslims, the Hajj re-enacts the actions of the Prophet Muhammad in his "farewell pilgrimage" in 632 BCE. It is a central pillar of the Islamic faith meant to cleanse followers of sin and bring them closer to God.

The six-day pilgrimage is obligatory once in a lifetime for all Muslims with the means to afford it. </s> JOHANNESBURG: Saudi Arabia has stopped issuing visas to people from Congo while citing the Ebola outbreak there, even as the World Health Organization recommends against travel restrictions.

Some Muslims in Congo had planned to take part in the annual hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia next month.

ALSO READ: World Bank grants USD 300 million to DR Congo to contain Ebola outbreak

A letter from the Saudi foreign ministry to Congo's embassy in Riyadh, obtained by The Associated Press and dated Wednesday, says the kingdom made the decision to protect pilgrims and others.

The letter refers to the WHO decision this month to declare the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo a global health emergency.

ALSO READ: DR Congo's Ebola spearhead Health Minister Oly Ilunga resigns after he was replaced

More than 1,700 people have died in the year-long outbreak.

Saudi Arabia also suspended visas during West Africa's Ebola outbreak a few years ago.

The decision affects anyone coming from Congo, including non-citizens. </s> Iran said Tuesday it had finally received an official invitation from Saudi Arabia for its pilgrims to attend this year’s hajj, two weeks after Riyadh announced it.

There was no official Iranian delegation at last year’s Hajj pilgrimage after Saudi Arabia severed relations with Iran following the torching of its missions in Tehran and Mashhad by protesters last January.

It was the first time in three decades that Iranian pilgrims had been absent and the culmination of years of worsening relations over the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

The tone is “not that much different from past letters”, hajj affairs representative Ali Ghazi Askar said, adding that Iran would respond in the coming days.

“All matters regarding the hajj — including accommodation, food, medical affairs, transport, pilgrims’ security, banking and consular issues — must immediately be studied and appropriate solutions put forward.”

Negotiations for Iranian pilgrims to join last year’s hajj broke down over the questions of where their visas should be issued and how their security could be assured following the deaths of 464 in a stampede at the 2015 hajj.

The Saudi-owned Al-Hayat newspaper reported on December 30 that Saudi Pilgrimage Minister Mohammed Bentin had opened discussions with more than 80 countries, including Iran, on the arrangements for the 2017 hajj.

There was no immediate word on when or where the discussions might take place. – </s> Iran says it has finally received Saudi hajj invite

TEHRAN: Iran said Tuesday it had finally received an official invitation from Saudi Arabia for its pilgrims to attend this year´s hajj, two weeks after Riyadh announced it.

There was no official Iranian delegation at last year´s pilgrimage to the Muslim holy places after Saudi Arabia severed relations with Iran following the torching of its missions in Tehran and Mashhad by protesters in January last year.

It was the first time in three decades that Iranian pilgrims had been absent and the culmination of years of worsening relations over the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

"The Iranian delegation will travel to Saudi Arabia on February 23... and we hope to get tangible results," hajj affairs representative Ali Ghazi Askar told the Mizan Online news website.

"For the time being, nothing is certain and we will attend the hajj as long as the situation is prepared for us," he said.

"Undoubtedly, there are problems that must be resolved." Negotiations for Iranian pilgrims to join last year´s hajj broke down over the questions of where their visas should be issued and how their security could be ensured following the deaths of 464 Iranians in a stampede at the 2015 hajj.

The tone of the invitation is "not that much different from past letters", Askar said earlier Tuesday. "All matters regarding the hajj -- including accommodation, food, medical affairs, transport, pilgrims´ security, banking and consular issues -- must immediately be studied and appropriate solutions put forward."

The Saudi-owned Al-Hayat newspaper reported on December 30 that Saudi Pilgrimage Minister Mohammed Bentin had opened discussions with more than 80 countries, including Iran, on the arrangements for the 2017 hajj. </s> TEHRAN: Iran said Tuesday it had finally received an official invitation from Saudi Arabia for its pilgrims to attend this year´s hajj, two weeks after Riyadh announced it.

There was no official Iranian delegation at last year´s pilgrimage to the Muslim holy places after Saudi Arabia severed relations with Iran following the torching of its missions in Tehran and Mashhad by protesters in January last year.

It was the first time in three decades that Iranian pilgrims had been absent and the culmination of years of worsening relations over the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

"The Iranian delegation will travel to Saudi Arabia on February 23... and we hope to get tangible results," hajj affairs representative Ali Ghazi Askar told the Mizan Online news website.

"For the time being, nothing is certain and we will attend the hajj as long as the situation is prepared for us," he said.

"Undoubtedly, there are problems that must be resolved." Negotiations for Iranian pilgrims to join last year´s hajj broke down over the questions of where their visas should be issued and how their security could be ensured following the deaths of 464 Iranians in a stampede at the 2015 hajj.

The tone of the invitation is "not that much different from past letters", Askar said earlier Tuesday. "All matters regarding the hajj -- including accommodation, food, medical affairs, transport, pilgrims´ security, banking and consular issues -- must immediately be studied and appropriate solutions put forward."

The Saudi-owned Al-Hayat newspaper reported on December 30 that Saudi Pilgrimage Minister Mohammed Bentin had opened discussions with more than 80 countries, including Iran, on the arrangements for the 2017 hajj.

Iran says it has finally received Saudi hajj invite was posted in World of TheNews International - https://www.thenews.com.pk on January 10, 2017 and was last updated on January 10, 2017. This news story is related to Latest/178131-Iran-says-it-has-finally-received-Saudi-hajj-invite/ - breaking news, latest news, pakistan ne. Permanent link to the news story "Iran says it has finally received Saudi hajj invite" is https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/178131-Iran-says-it-has-finally-received-Saudi-hajj-invite. </s> Four British pilgrims were killed and 12 others injured in Saudi Arabia when their bus collided with a fuel tanker, officials said here. The crash occurred on Saturday near the western Saudi town of Al Khalas while the pilgrims were on their way to the holy city of Mecca. “The royal embassy of Saudi Arabia in London is working with (Britain’s) Foreign Office to issue emergency visas immediately to both the relatives of the four pilgrims who died as well as to families of the 12 British pilgrims who were injured,” the embassy said in a statement yesterday. “The injured have been taken to a hospital in Mecca where everything possible is being done to care for them.” The Saudi ambassador to Britain Mohammed bin Nawaf also tweeted his “sincere sympathies”. The embassy’s statement said 17 British pilgrims were aboard the bus.

The fatalities included a 70-year-old grandmother from Blackburn, in northern England, and an elderly man, a mother and her grown-up son, all from the neighbouring city of Preston, according to media reports in Britain. Ben Wallace, a lawmaker for the area in the UK parliament, wrote on Twitter: “My thoughts are with the family and friends of those that are reported to have been invlolved in an accident in Saudi Arabia.” A local company, Hashim Travel, reportedly organised the tour. Gulfaraz Zaman, its director, told the BBC the accident was “horrendous”. “If you see the remains of the bus, there’s just the metal frame of it that’s left,” he said.

In a brief statement, a spokesman for the British Foreign Office said: “We are supporting the British families of those who have died and those injured following a serious road traffic accident”. A spokesperson for CBHUK (The Council of British Hajjis), a national pilgrim welfare charity, said the British Consulate in Jeddah was providing on-the-ground consular support.

Every year, millions of Muslims flock to Mecca and Medina further south, Islam’s second holiest site, to carry out the annual hajj pilgrimage or the umra. In January 2017, a two-month old baby was among six British nationals killed in a road accident in Saudi Arabia while they were travelling to Medina, according to British officials. In 2015, around 2,300 worshippers performing hajj were crushed to death in a stampede, in the worst disaster ever to strike the annual pilgrimage. </s> Saudia said it would be temporarily stopping inbound and outbound flights to Toronto Pearson International Airport - the only Canadian destination it serves - from August 13. The announcement has prompted concerns among an influx of travellers planning to visit Mecca for the annual Hajj pilgrimage, which begins on August 19. Last year, nearly 2.5 million worshippers descended onto the Islamic holy site, with a similar number expected this year. Saudi Arabia has been informing customers that it has temporarily scrapped penalties and fees on all upcoming direct flights to and from Toronto, adding it is working to find alternative solutions to the problems.

The latest retaliatory move came after Canada’s ministry of foreign affairs raised concerns about the arrest of women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia, including Samar Badawi (pictured main), sister of imprisoned blogger Raif Badawi. Nassima al-Sada, a campaigner for civil and political rights, women’s rights, and the rights of the Shi’a minority in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, has also been arrested Saudi Arabia expelled the Canadian Ambassador Dennis Horak, who was given 24 hours to leave the country. The Middle Eastern nation has also frozen all new trade and investment with Canada, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

The Saudi government said in a statement: "We have put on hold all new business and investment transactions with Canada while retaining its right to take further action." The Saudi Foreign Ministry added: "The Kingdom views the Canadian position as an affront to the Kingdom that requires a sharp response to prevent any party from attempting to meddle with Saudi sovereignty.” In her first public response to the escalating situation with Saudi Arabia, Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said the North American country was "seriously concerned" about the Kingdom’s actions, and is "seeking greater clarity". She added: “Let me be very clear: Canada will always stand up for human rights in Canada and around the world, and women's rights are human rights."
Saudi Arabia suspends visas for Hajj pilgrims arriving from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, amid safety concerns regarding the ongoing Ebola epidemic in Kivu.