Gulf | Saudi Arabia

Saudis accuse Al Jaafari of playing politics

Saudi Arabia criticised Iraqi Prime Minister Ebrahim Al Jaafari on Friday for allegedly exploiting the Haj pilgrimage to Makkah for political gain.

  • AP
  • Published: 00:00 January 8, 2006
  • Gulf News

Makkah: Saudi Arabia criticised Iraqi Prime Minister Ebrahim Al Jaafari on Friday for allegedly exploiting the Haj pilgrimage to Makkah for political gain.

"The kingdom condemns the outgoing Iraqi prime minister for using the Haj as a card to deal with his declining political importance inside his country," said a Ministry of Haj spokesman in a statement carried by official Saudi Press Agency.

The remarks were in response to claims by Al Jaafari on Thursday that Saudi authorities were preventing the entry of Iraqi pilgrims to Makkah, ahead of the Haj. Khalid Al Attiyah, head of the official Iraqi Haj delegation, earlier in the week said some 7,000 Iraqis had been kept out.

"We do not know why they are not allowing them to enter," Al Attiyah, a lawmaker from the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance, said on Tuesday.

Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz said on Wednesday that Iraqi authorities were sending more Iraqis than allowed under a special quota agreed by the Organisation of Islamic Countries.

The latest salvo on Friday singled out the Iraqi prime minister for criticism. Al Jaafari "failed to distribute the documents in a fair and just way among Iraqi pilgrims", the Ministry of Haj spokesman said, accusing the prime minister of choosing the pilgrims on a "regional and even sectarian basis".

Another official at the Ministry of Haj blamed Al Jaafari for failing to hire enough aircraft to transport pilgrims. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media.

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