Iraq's Hajj and Umrah Commission announced today that it will sign a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia on the number of Iraqi pilgrims taking part in the next pilgrimage season and ways of transporting them to Saudi.

The memoradnum is expected to be signed on the 12 of this month.

Saudi Arabia has allowed 33,250 Iraqis to perform the Hajj this year but Iraq wants the number to be increased.

Commission spokesman Najem al-Saadi said that the Iraqi delegation will demand Saudi Arabia to allowing more Iraqis to head to the country for Hajj.

"The head of the Hajj and Umrah Commission will discuss with the Saudi side the opening of an office or consulate in Baghdad or in the Kurdistan region to organize the pilgrimage," said Saadi.

The Hajj, one of the main five pillars of Islam, is a duty of all Muslims who are physically and financially able to perform it once in their lives.

Iraq-Saudi relations stalled throughout the period following the 2003 US-led invasion, similar to what happened after the Second Gulf War in 1990. Relations prospered however during the 1980-1988 Iranian-Iraqi war when Saudi was one of the most influential supporters of Iraq in its war against the Shiite-ruled Iran.







AKnews