Ministry bars 204 haj pilgrims

JAKARTA: The Ministry of Religious Affairs has prohibited 204 people from performing the haj pilgrimage next year for producing fake documents.

Head of the Central Sulawesi religious affairs office Noor Sulaiman said the pilgrims were residents of South Sulawesi, who registered with his office using fake identity cards because all seats for the upcoming pilgrimage, allocated for their province of origin, were booked.

Sulaiman said the seats would be given to pilgrims on the waiting list, which has surpassed 500 so far.

A total of 205,000 Indonesians will perform the pilgrimage in Mecca in January 2005. -- Antara