Haj quota for 11 provinces full

JAKARTA: The Ministry of Religious Affairs announced on Friday that the haj quota for 11 provinces for next year's haj season had already been filled.

Ministry spokesman Arifin Nurdin said the 11 provinces were Jakarta, West Java, Banten, Yogyakarta, East Java, West Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi, South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Gorontalo and Papua.

"The quota is filled because so many had registered, including those pilgrims whose places were canceled this year," he said.

Nurdin said 162,828 people had registered for next year's pilgrimage, in addition to the 27,223 people who had missed out on their haj this year and had been accorded places on the 2005 pilgrimage. -- Antara