Qatar demands Riyadh stop using hajj pilgrimage as political tool

Qatar demands Riyadh stop using hajj pilgrimage as political tool

Qatar has called on Saudi Arabia to lift all restrictions on Qatari hajj pilgrims as the row over arrangements for the religious event intensifies.

2 min read
26 August, 2017
Qatar has been accused by a group of Saudi-led states of supporting extremism [Getty]

Qatar has called on Saudi Arabia to lift all restrictions on Qatari hajj pilgrims as the row over arrangements for the religious event intensifies.

Qatar's National Human Rights Committee [NHRC] released a report on Friday, detailing reports of violations against its citizens in the lead-up to the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca that will take place at the beginning of September.

The report called on Riyadh to end the practice of using the site, which is the most revered in Islam, as a tool to exert "political pressure on its opponents".

It also called on Saudi media to stop inciting against Qatari pilgrims and creating an unsafe atmosphere for its citizens travelling to observe the annual pilgrimage.

Qatar has been accused by a group of Saudi-led states of supporting extremism, charges it denies.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt have shut down air, maritime and land links with Qatar, and imposed economic sanctions.

Saudi Arabia - which oversees and manages Islam's two holiest sites in Mecca and Medina - has made travel difficult this year for Qataris wishing to make the pilgrimage, which all Muslims must perform at least once in their lifetimes if they are able to do so.

Riyadh has said that Qatari pilgrims can only fly into the kingdom using Saudi aircraft even at the expense of King Salman - a move Doha has said is "illogical".

Qatar's Foreign Ministry said in a statement this week that "limiting the transfer of Qatari pilgrims to Saudi Arabian Airlines only is unprecedented, illogical, surprising and contravenes the teachings of Islam."

Doha also denied a claim from Saudi Arabian Airlines accusing Qatari authorities of refusing to allow one of its flights to land at Hamad International Airport.

The Qatari Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs said this week that considering the ongoing Gulf diplomatic crisis, it was concerned about the safety of pilgrims travelling from Doha in the next few days.

"Given the current situation, it (the ministry) remains concerned and fearful for Qatari pilgrims and a repeat of the harassment of Qatari citizens in June," read the statement.

Early in June, local media reports claimed Qataris were stopped from entering the Grand Mosque in Mecca.