Swine
Flu: Tunisia Bars Muslims From Annual Pilgrimage
The Tunisian Government has barred its citizens from making
the annual pilgrimage to Mecca for the first time because of a
lack of swine flu vaccines.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs said a batch of H1N1 flu
vaccines would not arrive before mid-October, which will be too
late to ensure candidates for the pilgrimage, or hajj, are
vaccinated.
Saudi Arabia's embassy in Tunis said the Hajj would take place
from around November eighteen. Millions of Muslims, including up
to ten thousand Tunisians, flock to Mecca each year for the
hajj, the fifth pillar of Islam.
Saudi Arabia has urged the elderly and people with chronic
diseases to postpone trips this year. Several Muslim countries
have sought to limit numbers travelling to Mecca but Tunisia is
the first to formally cancel the pilgrimage.
NAN/Qasim/Ahaziah
