JEDDAH: Saudi Minister of Interior Prince Abdul Aziz bin Saud bin Naif conveyed Eid Al-Adha greetings to King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and congratulated them on the success of this year’s Hajj, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
He thanked the king for taking care of the pilgrims and for providing them with all the facilities and services needed. Around 2.5 million pilgrims performed the Hajj this year and all the measures put in place by authorities and agencies were successful, he added.
The minister said: “I congratulate you on the success achieved in this year’s Hajj season, in the implementation of wise directives and ... and preparing all the services and facilities for pilgrims to perform their rituals with ease, comfort, security and tranquility, including the Makkah Route initiative launched three years ago.”
The Hajj season this year was characterized by the successful implementation of all security, preventative, organizational, service and traffic plans.
Pilgrims arrived in Arafat, Nafra, Muzdalifah and Mina in record time according to strict organization and smooth streamlining, up to Jamarat (where pilgrims throw stones) and flocking to the Grand Mosque to perform Tawaf Al-Ifadah (circumambulation) and completion of their Hajj rituals.
The security situation remained stable and there were no incidents disturbing the pilgrimage, Prince Abdul Aziz said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ibrahim Al-Assaf stressed that the Kingdom has harnessed all its capabilities and sectors to serve the guests of Allah and provide all means to facilitate the performance of their rituals with ease and tranquility, sensing the great responsibility toward Muslims in all countries of the world without differentiation or discrimination.
He said that the role of the ministry during the Hajj season integrates with the roles of other sectors of the state under the directives of the leadership to provide everything that reflects the Kingdom’s efforts in the service of visitors of the Two Holy Mosques.
Makkah Gov. Prince Khalid Al-Faisal also thanked King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for supervising the services offered to pilgrims during this year’s Hajj.
Prince Khalid said all Saudis were proud of the efforts made to help pilgrims during their stay in the Kingdom.
The Makkah governor said that more than 350,000 people had worked to provide pilgrims with support and services.
He also said that 35,000 volunteers, in addition to 120,000 security personnel, 30,000 health practitioners and 200,000 workers from other sectors, had contributed to the success of the Hajj season.
Minister of Health Dr. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah said the Hajj health plans for this year were successful and there was nothing that might have negatively affected public health.
He praised the king and the crown prince for supporting the Ministry of Health, its employees and all sectors connected to this year’s Hajj operations.
Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the UK, also congratulated the king and crown prince on a successful Hajj season.
There were 2,489,406 pilgrims at this year’s Hajj, according to the General Authority for Statistics, and 1,855,027 of them came from outside the Kingdom. There were 634,379 domestic pilgrims, of whom 67 percent were non-Saudi.
There were 1,385,234 male pilgrims and 1,104,172 female pilgrims, the authority added.
