RAMALLAH: Palestinian Minister of Awqaf and Religious Affairs Hatem Al-Bakri has signed the Hajj protocol for the 2023 season with the Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, in Makkah.
Al-Bakri conveyed the thanks of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh, and its people to Saudi Arabia, and thanked the Saudi Ministry of Hajj for the “excellent services” it provides to pilgrims.
Al-Bakri told Arab News: “The Hajj season has returned to normal, as was the case before the spread of COVID-19, and all restrictions on pilgrims that were imposed during the epidemic period have been lifted.
“The number of Palestinian pilgrims from the West Bank and Gaza Strip who will perform Hajj this year is 6,600.”
The Saudi minister praised the efforts made by the Palestinian Hajj mission for its region’s pilgrims.
Al-Rabiah said new regulations will be implemented, and stressed the importance of adhering to all laws to ensure the safety of pilgrims from around the world.
Those traveling from the West Bank will get to Saudi Arabia through Jordan, while residents of the Gaza Strip travel through Egypt. Those from Israel will fly to Amman, and then journey on to the Kingdom.
6,600 Palestinians to perform Hajj
https://arab.news/n5cpd
6,600 Palestinians to perform Hajj
- Al-Bakri conveyed the thanks of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh, and its people to Saudi Arabia
Iran, UK foreign ministers in rare direct contact
- A UK government source said Cooper “emphasized the need for a diplomatic solution on Iran’s nuclear program and raised a number of other issues”
TEHRAN: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has spoken by phone with his British counterpart Yvette Cooper, an Iranian foreign ministry statement said on Saturday, in a rare case of direct contact between the two countries.
The ministry said that in Friday’s call the ministers “stressed the need to continue consultations at various levels to strengthen mutual understanding and pursue issues of mutual interest.”
A UK government source said Cooper “emphasized the need for a diplomatic solution on Iran’s nuclear program and raised a number of other issues.”
The source in London said Cooper raised the case of Lindsay and Craig Foreman, a British couple detained in Iran for nearly a year on suspicion of espionage.
The Iranian ministry statement did not mention the case of the two Britons.
It said Araghchi criticized “the irresponsible approach of the three European countries toward the Iranian nuclear issue,” referring to Britain, France and Germany.
The three countries at the end of September initiated the
reinstatement of UN sanctions against Iran because of its nuclear program.
The Foremans, both in their early fifties, were seized in January as they passed through Kerman, in central Iran, while on a round-the-world motorbike trip.
Iran accuses the couple of entering the country pretending to be tourists so as to gather information for foreign intelligence services, an allegation the couple’s family rejects.
Before Friday’s call, the last exchange between the two ministers was in October.
