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January 28, 2005 |
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THE OIC LAUDS THE INVITATION OF CROWN PRINCE ABDULLAH TO HOLD AN ISLAMIC SUMMIT TO UNIFY STANCES AND DRAW A FUTURE PLAN AMONG MUSLIM NATIONS. THE SAUDI MINISTRY OF HEALTH CONFIRMS THAT THE HAJJ SEASON IS FREE FROM EPIDEMICS AND CONTAGIOUS DESEASES. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz has sent a reply cable to President George Bush of the United States of America. In the cable, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques thanked President Bush for his congratulations and his noble feelings on the occasion of Eid Al-adha. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques said: "We received with appreciations and thanks your congratulations and the friendly people of the United States on the occasion of Eid Al-adha". He added: "We were pleased of what you mentioned about these blessing days and your apprecations to the care and welcome that the American pilgrims received". King Fahd also said: "We particularly apprecates yout thanks for the Kingdom's support to the exerted efforts to acheive our mutual goals for the security, prosperity and peace in the Middle East". The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques wished the President good health and happiness. Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, has sent a reply cable to President George Bush of the United States of America. In the cable, Crown Prince thanked President Bush for his congratulations and his noble feelings on the occasion of Eid Al-adha. Crown Prince Abdullah said: "We received with appreciations and thanks your congratulations and the friendly people of the United States on the occasion of Eid Al-adha". He also said: "We appreciate your praising for our views, friendship and continues commitment towards achieving our mutual goal to make the Middle East region more prosper". He added: "I stress to you our full appreciations to the exerted sincere efforts of the United States to have peace among the peoples and to develop the love and cordial ties among all humans to enjoy the security, prosperity, progress and success". Crown Prince Abdullah wished the President good health and happiness. On the other hand Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Minister of Interior and Head of Hajj Higher Committee, received the commanders of the security forces who participated in the Hajj season of this year. During the reception, Prince Naif delivered a speech during which he conveyed the appreciations of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, and Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, Aviation and Inspector General, for the performance of the security forces during the Hajj. Prince Naif added: "You successfully did your mission in spite of the historical number of the pilgrims this year, the upset of the security circumstances in the world, around us and in the Kingdom and the weather condition". "In despite of all these big difficulties you were determined to carry out your duties and offering your lives and efforts for this cause", Prince Naif said. He noted: "You proved that the security is a basic matter in our Islamic State which is honored by serving the Two Holy Mosques, pilgrims and visitors of the Prophet's mosque". He added: "It is a hard mission but an honor to carry it out with the best performance". Prince Naif said that "every citizen is proud of you and at the top of all is the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the Crown Prince and the Second Deputy Prime Minister". The Director General of the General Investigation General Mahmoud Ibn Mohammad Bakish also delivered a speech during which he said that the security preparations for Hajj benefited from the lessons of last Hajj seasons. The reception was attended by Prince Ahmad Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy of the Minister of Interior, Prince Mohammad Ibn Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Assistant of the Minister of Interior for the Security Affairs, and a number of senior officials of the Ministry of Interior. The current Haj season has been "successful in all respects," Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed said. Prince Abdul Majeed, who is also president of the Hajj Committee, attributed the success to the joint efforts of all organizations charged with serving the guests of God. In a statement to the press following the descent of pilgrims from Mina to Makkah, marking their last leg of several day moving and settling tour, Prince Abdul Majeed said this year's Hajj is successful, thanks to the efforts extended by the Saudi authorities in the service of pilgrims. "I call this Hajj season a successful season in all respects," he told a press conference here as this year's Hajj wound down yesterday after pilgrims completed their five-day rituals. He said the modifications done on the Jamrat Bridge this year proved very effective in crowd control. The bridge was the scene of stampedes in past years. He also commended the efforts of Saudi security forces in regulating the crowd over the Jamrat Bridge. The prince added that some responsible officials, however, did not organize the crowd over the bridge after the pilgrims stoned the devil and did not go by the plans of the Ministry of Hajj. He said action would be taken to correct the problem. Prince Abdul Majeed said Hajj institutions had played an important role in educating pilgrims on the proper way of performing Hajj before they arrived in the Kingdom. He said, "The rain in Mina did not cause any injuries but it affected some pilgrim camps when water seeped into them". He pointed out that security personnel were in top readiness in case evacuation was needed." Prince Mohammad Ibn Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Assistant of the Minister of Interior for Security Affairs, visited the headquarter of the Ministry of Hajj. During the visit, Prince Mohammad discussed with the Minister of Hajj Eyad Ibn Ameen Madani and senior officials of the Ministry means of developing the services which offered to the pilgrims and the preparations of the Ministry of Hajj for the movement of the pilgrims from Mina to Makkah. Assistant Minister of Culture and Information Prince Turki Ibn Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz hailed the performance of the media representatives participating in the coverage of this year's Hajj on Eid Al Ad'ha. Using state-of-the-art audio-visual and print, the Saudi media did a marvelous job, Prince Turki told the Saudi Press Agency. He said the instructions of the Minister of Culture and Information had their effective impact in the success of Hajj plan this year. On the other hand one day after the call of Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, for Muslim leaders to convene in Makkah to draw a joint view on the current situation in the Islamic world, the Jeddah-based Organization of Islamic Conference expressed welcome of the initiative and vowed to work on convening an extraordinary Islamic summit in Makkah, preceded by a meeting for Islamic intellectuals and thinkers to draw recommendations for the leaders. In a statement issued, the OIC described the initiative as important and timely. The Secretariat General of OIC will immediately start contacts with the host country: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the country holding the rotatory presidency of the Islamic summit and the member states to arrange the meeting, the statement said. The Hajj has so far been safe, said the Health Minister of Saudi Arabia during his surprise visit to Namirah Hospital. This Hajj is free from any epidemics and all our plans are working smoothly so far, Hamad Abdullah Al-Manei told The Saudi Gazette as he paid visit to patients admitted to Namirah Hospital, which is close to the Mount of Mercy (Jabal Al-Rahma). Asked if his contingent of health personnel is prepared to handle any health scare or unfortunate incidents, Al-Manei said, The direction in which things are proceeding, we are confident that every situation will be handled. Al-Manei paid a visit to all patients admitted to the Hospital and inspected their condition first hand. The Health Ministry spokesman also present there said that the patients being brought to hospital had been admitted after they complained for common ailments related to exertion due to hectic Hajj rituals. We have not received any major cases so far, said Dr. Khalid Marghalani, director general for Health Communications and Public Relations. No cases with serious illnesses were brought to our hospitals and health centers throughout the holy places. He added that patients being treated in the hospital suffered from influenza, heart trouble, hypertension, diabetes and exhaustions. So far six pregnant women were admitted to various hospitals in Makkah and Mina and all of them delivered babies normally and without any complications. The Ministry of Health operates 61 hospitals in the holy places including Madina with a total capacity of 63 beds for sunstroke patients, 439 beds for patients with high fever and 302 beds in intensive care units (ICU). There are 305 health centers in all the holy places, including 87 in Mina, Muzdalifah and Arafat. The hospitals and health centers in Muzdalifah and Arafat are opened only for a day, Marghalani said. Our fleet of ambulances and mobile health care units are 135 units out of which 45 are mobile and provide medical services to patients on the spot. The mobile units are manned by 90 doctors and 90 nurses and they operate 24-hours a day, he said. The Health Ministry also maintains a blood bank with 7,800 units of blood bags. Our family of health care personnel who serve pilgrims during different phases of Hajj includes 9,600 doctors and administrators, 600 health institute students, 340 scouts and 981 substitute staff, he said. The minister said during a routine Hajj preparation inspection tour, in which he toured all hospitals in Mina with other senior health officials that there are no epidemics here, he said. He added that hospitals and centers had only reported minor cases so far. Dr Al-Manei lauded efforts and said that his ministry was putting in all possible efforts to ensure a healthy Hajj for all. Mina General Hospital Director Mansour Abu Al-Saud added that there was no fallout from the Tsunami Catastrophe, which hit South Asia earlier this year. We are aware of all the possible epidemics that can come from the Far Eastern pilgrims coming from tsunami-hit countries, he said. We have everything under control. Every pilgrim that comes into this country has to have a full medical. Mina has four main hospitals with a capacity of 813 beds, which are supported by 31 medical centers distributed all over the shrinevalley. Feher Al-Ghalib Al-Shareef, Mina General Hospital Emergency Unit chief, said that although there were no epidemics so far, there had been one case of Chicken Pox nabbed in the bud. Thank God that the case of the pilgrim was in the late recovering stages, it is not serious and not contagious, he said. Mustafa Al-Rahman, a 42 year-old Bangladeshi pilgrim, who came to the emergency unit was suffering from severe stomach pain and weakness. This patient was examined and we made sure that his disease is in the recovering stage and the pain he has is normal for this stage so he has been given proper medication and discharged, Shareef explained. Most of the cases we received so far are patients with chronic illnesses, mostly heart disease, diabetes or hypertension or patients injured in minor accidents. Bags containing a toothbrush, soap, drinking cups, a small bag for Jamarat pebbles and even surgical masks for use at the Holy Sites were distributed by the leaders of the Tawafa organizations. Chief of the South Asia office for Hajj and Tawafa Adnan Kateb called upon pilgrims to ensure cleanliness during Hajj by keeping the surroundings in Makkah and other Holy Sites clean and tidy. Cleanliness in Hajj is very important and is required to ensure a healthy stay, he said. Tawafa organizations work day and night to keep this city free of disease, by highlighting the importance of cleanliness and protection from environmental pollution, said Kateb. Kateb expressed his hope that the bags would help limit the spread of disease amongst pilgrims, as it would help each of the Hajis avoid having to share utensils which is considered highly unhygienic, but even more so during Hajj. Pilgrims have found these health bags useful before and after meals, as well as before doing their prayers. In a day to be remembered by more than 2 million people, the majority of whom who marched to Arafat on the sunrise of last Wednesday, Dhul Hijja 9th, Labayk Allahuma, Labayk, could be heard in every corner of Arafat, where pilgrims of all ages and nationalities gathered to perform Hajj most significant ritual. It was a breathtaking scene watching a column of pilgrims that stretched to Mina almost 8 kilometers back to make their way past the mosque toward the Mount of Mercy. To organize a large gathering of people, for housing them, for feeding them and for meeting their every need year after year, is a monumental task. Here no one can tell a person social or economic status, or his national origin based on the clothes he wears. Faces represent almost every race or nationality. Pacing through the holy site, pilgrims meet Arabs, Indians, Bosnians, Chinese, Spaniards, Africans, Iranians, French, Americans and people from many other nationalities. Contact with people from such diverse races and nationalities during Arafat day engenders in pilgrims a sense of understanding and trust in total strangers, simply because they are all there the same reason. A fleet of 15,000 buses assigned to transport pilgrims between the holy sites, according to statements made by authorities, almost minimal time used to take pilgrims from Arafat to Muzdalifah from hours to minutes. The buses made trips between the holy sites smoothly and non-stop until pilgrims were transported to their allocated tents using special routes exclusively assigned by nationality. Pilgrims performed the noon and afternoon prayers at the Namirah Mosque. The vast plain was covered by what looked like thick fog. Thousands of sprinklers placed atop 10-meter poles and spaced some 15 meters apart sprayed a fine mist of water to cool the air. Millions of containers of chilled water were distributed from refrigerated trucks located all over the site. Sirens blared as hundreds of ambulances picked up pilgrims suffering from exhaustion and transported them back to the three main hospitals as well as the other clinics distributed around Arafat for treatment. The more serious cases were evacuated by helicopters to hospitals. The Mount of Mercy looked peacefully white from a distance as it was covered by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who gathered to ask for God's forgiveness and blessing. Hundreds of cars and stalls were set up to feed the pilgrims for free and for profit. The massive amount of litter that the side streets collected in the precious few hours that pilgrims came to ask for Allah's forgiveness, left municipality workers in the area busy for the next 24 hours. As annual Muslim pilgrimage drew to its close on Sunday, officials of various departments dubbed it an accident-free Hajj and said that all the deaths throughout the Hajj season were due to natural causes. The Interior Ministry spokesperson denied news of any rumors of any accidents in Mina last Saturday. There is nothing to hide, Brigadier Mansoor Al-Turki told The Saudi Gazette. The event was taking place in front of thousands of people they would have known had something happened, he said. And the reported deaths were all due to natural causes except a couple of them who died in road accidents. Al-Turki denied claims that some pilgrims died after being swept away by floods caused by the downpour that battered Mina on Saturday. We had prior information on the advent of rain and we evacuated the pilgrims stationed in dangerous areas before the downpour began, Al-Turki said. We had a plan for emergency situations, he said. Moreover, the number is quite insignificant among 2.5 million pilgrims, Marghalani said. There was nothing abnormal. He said not more than 50 pilgrims were hurt due to some commotion at the Jamarat, but they were all treated on the spot. Those pilgrims who sustained major injuries were transferred to hospitals in Makkah. The figures provided by some Hajj missions also indicate that most of the pilgrims died a natural death. Hajj Consul of the Indian Consulate, Abdul Majeed Padar said The Hajj operation has been very smooth. As more than two million Muslims finished performing Hajj, a good number of them began packing to leave Makkah. Many pilgrims extended thanks to officials and the people of Saudi Arabia for facilities during this year s Hajj. Khader Zenho, a Lebanese judge, highlighted the facilities that had been given to pilgrims, expressing his admiration for this year's Hajj. It was a very successful Hajj and I believe that the Saudi government has done a lot this year, Zenho praised. Many pilgrims who performed Hajj for the first time were excited about the revamping of the Jamarat Bridge. In Ghana, we used to see the Jamarat pillars on TV, but when I saw Jamarat Bridge for the first time, I was surprised at the size of the expansion work, said Mohammed Oheen, a pilgrim from Ghana. The shape has totally changed and the scene, which reflects the care of the Saudi government, he said. It is really, a great job. Amer Al-Masri, a Lebanese pilgrim from Dubai, lauded what he described as the excellence of the facilities at the holy sites. He expressed his thanks to all Saudis for their great hospitality, especially when it came to accommodation, health and security. Health officials are cooperating to provide all pilgrims with whatever medical services they need, Masri said. Security measures are at the best level ever. The job that I most admire was the expansion of accommodation and how the tents spread all over the holy sites in a very beautiful way, Masri said. Many guests inside the tents of the Ministry of Hajj praised the hospitality and the facilities provided by the government. I would like to extend my thanks to all of those who spend days and hours to keep pilgrims safe, especially the policemen, who were on call, said Abdul Razaq Al-Jubran, an Iraqi pilgrim. |
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