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29 March 2024

No more '5-star' Haj pilgrimage trips: Saudi police

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By Staff

Companies organising group Haj (pilgrimage)trips to Saudi Arabia will be punished if they use the name “5-star” or “VIP” for such trips, a senior Saudi police officer has said.

Major General Khalid Al Qahtani, chief of road security in the Gulf Kingdom, said many Haj contractors inside and outside Saudi Arabia had used those terms to attract more pilgrims so they can make more money.

“Any Haj contractor using such names as VIP or 5-star for their pilgrimage trips will be punished. Haj is not a tourism trip,” he told the Saudi MBC television channel.

He said a police campaign over the past few days had resulted in the arrest of 35 people for organising “fake” Haj trips.

He added that nearly 44,600 cars had also been seized and more than 98,000 pilgrims coming to Makkah had been turned back because they did not have the required permits.

Muslims from Saudi Arabia and around the world are due to perform the annual Haj rituals in the western town of Makkah on Friday.