Jeddah, August 15: Egypt has imposed partial curbs on pilgrims coming to Saudi Arabia for Umrah during the holy month of Ramadan.
“Until further notice Umrah pilgrims who have not been issued visas and who are under 25 or over the age of 65 will not be allowed to perform Umrah this Ramadan,” Egypt Health Minister Hatim Al Jabali Al Jabali said during a programme aired on Egyptian television on Thursday.
He said that only those pilgrims for whom Umrah visas were issued before Thursday would be allowed to travel to Saudi Arabia.
The minister was commenting on a recent decision of an Egyptian ministerial committee to suspend permission for new Umrah trips for Egyptians as a precaution against the spread of the H1N1 virus in the country.
Egypt’s decision follows moves by Iran and Iraq to suspend Umrah pilgrimage during Ramadan.
A committee studying the spread of the swine flu decided on Wednesday to bar any more Egyptians from going to Saudi Arabia for Umrah.
Egyptian workers carrying valid residency/work permits of Saudi Arabia will, however, be allowed to travel to the kingdom.
“The ministry of health also fears that the interaction between the bird flu virus and swine flu virus might breed a still more dreadful strain of the virus,” Al Jabali said.
He said the number of Egyptian travellers infected with the H1N1 virus returning from the kingdom was higher than the travellers affected by the same disease returning from other countries.
“Out of a total of 80 returning passengers carrying the virus over the past week, 23 per cent were from Saudi Arabia, 17 per cent from Britain and 10 per cent from the United States,” he added.
He said that Egypt is coordinating with the kingdom in the matter of swine flu as an average of more than 4 million people travel between the two countries annually.
–Agencies