More haj pilgrims leave the country

JAKARTA (JP): At least 4,571 haj pilgrims left Medan, Ujung Pandang and Dili for Saudi Arabia yesterday in one of the government's largest haj operations.

They followed a group that left the same airport over the weekend.

West Sumatra sent 3,012 pilgrims and 39 officials and medical personnel. The number of pilgrims rose by 48 percent, Yulifar, spokesman for the local haj committee, told the Antara news agency yesterday.

Haj pilgrims from West Sumatra used Medan's Polonia airport as their embarkation point. The age of the pilgrims, Yulifar said, varied from 10 to 85 years.

Yesterday, Medan also sent some 358 pilgrims from Bengkulu. Spokesman for the Bengkulu haj committee Razie Jachya said the economic development in the province has boosted the number of pilgrims this year.

Last year, he said, Bengkulu dispatched 224 people to the Holy Land.

Meanwhile, some 30 pilgrims from East Timor, wearing traditional clothes, yesterday left Dili for Jakarta from where they will proceed to Mecca.

Some of the East Timorese were winners of family planning awards. Their trip is sponsored by the National Family Planning Board (BKKBN).

In Ujung Pandang, South Sulawesi, 1,201 pilgrims were flown to Mecca yesterday. The figure is a 14-percent increase from last year.

A total of 300 flights will be leaving from Halim Perdanakusuma airport in Jakarta, Polonia airport in Medan, Juanda airport in Surabaya and Hasanuddin Airport in Ujung Pandang within the next four weeks. (prs)