{"id":2631,"date":"2014-09-22T11:48:49","date_gmt":"2014-09-22T11:48:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/?p=2631"},"modified":"2014-09-22T11:48:49","modified_gmt":"2014-09-22T11:48:49","slug":"checkpoints-net-24000-illegal-hajis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/checkpoints-net-24000-illegal-hajis\/","title":{"rendered":"Checkpoints net 24,000 illegal Hajis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Hajj\"<\/a>More than 24,000 illegal pilgrims bound for Makkah have been stopped at security checkpoints in Taif and sent back over the past few days.
\n\u201cThis year, checkpoints have been set up early to stop illegal pilgrims from making it into the holy city,\u201d said Brig. Mohammed Al-Waleedi, Taif police chief.
\nPolice have intensified security checks on the roads and routes leading to Makkah amid heightened laws and extensive expansion works.
\nPeople without Haj permits often take rocky routes from Taif to Makkah, hoping to avoid security checkpoints by traveling through mountainous regions.
\nThese pilgrims, many of whom cannot afford to pay for Haj through a licensed establishment, make prior agreements with brokers who have experience in smuggling people in and who know which roads are far away from checkpoints.
\nMany people have, nevertheless, aborted plans to perform Haj this year, saying they have been unable to find brokers, who have reportedly given up on the precarious business in light of the new developments.
\nMeanwhile, the imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah has called upon Muslims to uphold the sanctity of Haj and not use the annual event for raising political slogans or holding political demonstrations.
\n\u201cThere is no place for shouting party slogans or holding sectarian meetings or making political recruitment and mobilization (during the Haj season),\u201d said Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais.
\n\u201cThe faithful who have come from different parts of the world are seeking peace and tranquility in the backdrop of crises and challenges facing the Ummah,\u201d Al-Sudais told worshippers in a sermon.<\/p>\n

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