​1.37 million foreign pilgrims to perform Haj

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Tuesday 22 Sep 2015 - 13:26 Makkah mean time-9-12-1436 Mina (IINA) - Maj. Gen. Soleiman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Yahya, director general of the general directorate of passports (Jawazat), said a total 1,374,206 foreign pilgrims have arrived for Haj this year. He said 1,325,189 pilgrims have arrived by air, 36,094 by land and 12,923 by sea. Al-Yahya asked pilgrims to be committed to the Kingdom’s rules and regulations during their entire stay in the country and said a total of 4,400 passport officers and privates were rendering services to the pilgrims around the clock. Ten people were caught transporting illegal pilgrims and were together fined an amount of SR240,000 and each one of them imprisoned for 35 days, Al-Yahya said, adding that the three cars they were using were confiscated. Meanwhile, the number of vehicles either seized or sent back while transporting pilgrims without a Haj permit reached 35,990, according to Col. Sami Al-Shuwairekh, commander of the media and awareness wing at the Public Security. Addressing a joint press conference of the commanders of security forces taking part in Haj in Mina on Monday, he said that the concerned security authorities have detected some 12,850 violations as of Sunday, the Saudi Press Agency reported.  HA/IINA