Gulf Associations for Rights warns of arresting Qatari pilgrims

CAIRO – 7 September 2017: The Gulf Associations for Rights and Freedoms warns Qatar of arresting and investigating with Qatari pilgrims while returning to Qatar especially after praising Saudi efforts for facilitating Hajj in media statements.

Mohammed Nayef, the media spokesperson of the association, has demanded that Qatar respect the freedom of Qatari pilgrims in practicing Hajj rituals confirming that Qatar has failed to politicize the pilgrimage.

The Arab Quartet tries to protect Qatari citizens from any harm especially in the fields of transport, education, therapy, work and pilgrimage, stressed the association.

Since the outset of Hajj season, Doha has tried to falsely propagate that Saudi Arabia plies rituals of Hajj to achieve political gains by deliberately blocking Qatari nationals from entering the kingdom.

The Director of Customs at Salwa crossing border said the Qatari pilgrims confirmed that the completion of their procedures were smooth and easy, quoting one of the Qatari pilgrims who said, "We arrived quickly and left the kingdom quickly."

With the mediation of Sheikh Abdullah Al-Thani to open the Salwa border crossing for Qatari pilgrims, the Saudi King announced facilitations to the Qatari pilgrimage crisis, as he offered to send planes at his own expense to carry pilgrims from Doha to the Kingdom.

As the newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat stated on Wednesday, the number of Qatari pilgrims increased from last year by 354 pilgrims.