Ahlul Bayt News Agency ; APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Some 6,000 Ethiopian pilgrims will be travelling to Saudi Arabia for the 2010 Hajj, the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Council said here on Tuesday.
The council said that the official registration of the Hajj will commence on Wednesday 15 September throughout Ethiopia.
Accordingly, the Council, under its Umrah Department Directorate, has established committees in Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia for the success of the pilgrimage.
“Execution manuals that help provide proper and swift services to the Muslim community are under implementation. Selection of the Hajj pilgrims would be carried out through all Islamic Affairs Offices,” said the council.
This is the first time that such a large number of pilgrims will travel to Saudi Arabia for the annual Hajj.
Last year, around 5,000 pilgrims performed the Hajj.
The Ethiopian Immigration and Civic Affairs Department and the Saudi Arabia embassy in Addis Ababa will provide the necessary documentation and visas to the pilgrims.
The first batch of the pilgrims will leave Ethiopia in November 2010.
About 30 per cent of Ethiopia 80 million inhabitants are Muslims, and it is also home to the first Mosque to be built in Africa-Al-Negashi.
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