JEDDAH: The Supreme Haj Committee held a meeting here on Sunday to discuss precautionary measures to be taken to confront a possible swine flu outbreak during the upcoming Haj season.
Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Prince Naif, who presided over the meeting, emphasized the need for all related departments and agencies to double their efforts to protect the guests of God who come for Haj and Umrah.
Prince Naif also called on countries that send Haj and Umrah pilgrims to cooperate by adopting necessary precautions against the disease, providing required vaccinations and meeting health conditions recommended by both Saudi and international organizations.
"Countries should conduct necessary programs to enhance Haj awareness of their pilgrims before their arrival in the Kingdom in order to help them perform their religious rituals in the right manner with safety and tranquility," the prince said.
Saaed Al-Arabi Al-Harithy, secretary-general of the Supreme Haj Committee, said the meeting discussed a number of important topics related to the annual pilgrimage, the largest congregation of Muslims in the world. The discussions focused on the transportation of pilgrims between the holy sites of Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah, housing of pilgrims in the holy sites, control of vehicles entering Makkah and other holy sites during the Haj season and ways of further improving services rendered to pilgrims. The committee members congratulated Prince Naif on the survival of his son, Prince Muhammad, assistant interior minister for security affairs, from an assassination attempt on Thursday.
Prince Naif thanked the members for their good words and prayed that God protects Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Crown Prince Sultan and safeguard the Kingdom's security and stability. "The criminal act only strengthens our resolve to fight the deviant ideology (that promotes terrorism), dry up its financial resources and work to protect the Kingdom and its citizens from its evil," the prince told the meeting.
Those who attended the meeting included Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Prince Muhammad bin Naif, Madinah Gov. Prince Abdul Aziz bin Majed, Haj Minister Fouad Al-Farsy, Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf, Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja, Transport Minister Jabara Al-Seraisry, Economy and Planning Minister Khaled Al-Gosaibi, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Nizar Madani, Communications and Information Technology Minister Mohammed Jameel Mulla and head of the Presidency for the Two Holy Mosques Sheikh Saleh Al-Hosain.
© Arab News 2009
