Thousands of Russian Muslims to Go on Pilgrimage to Mecca in Autumn

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - More than 20,000 Muslims from Russia will go on pilgrimage known as the Hajj to Saudi Arabia this autumn.    The 2013 Hajj quota for Russian Muslims will be 20,500 people under a document signed by the Saudi Arabian side, first vice-chairman of the Spiritual Board of Muslims of European Russia (DUMER) Damir Gizatullin said after paying a working trip to Saudi Arabia as part of the Hajj mission.The same quotas were set in 2012. This year the pilgrimage to Muslim holy sites will take place in October, Itar-Tass reported.More than 12,000 Russian pilgrims will arrive in Saudi Arabia by charter and regular flights. The rest will land in the Jordanian city of Aqaba from where buses will take them to the sacred places. For safety reasons, each bus will have two drivers who will work in shifts.  /129