(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Hamas on Friday said Cairo has planned to bar a number of the Hamas leaders from going to the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia through Egypt.
"A senior Egyptian official informed a Hamas official in Gaza about a list of Hamas leaders who are to be banned from travelling, including Salah Bardawil, Sami Abu Zuhri and myself, without explaining why," said Fawzi Barhum, a spokesman for Gaza's Hamas rulers.
Barhum said the decision was politically motivated and unjustified.
Gazans wanting to take part in next month's hajj pilgrimage have to go through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt before travelling on to Mecca and Medina in western Saudi Arabia.
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