Egypt opens border for pilgrims

2007-12-03 11:03

Gaza City - Egypt opened its border crossing with Gaza on Monday to let in Palestinian pilgrims headed for Saudi Arabia - the first time Palestinians had been allowed to enter Egyptian territory since Hamas militants seized Gaza in June.

At least 700 pilgrims hoped to pass through Egypt on Monday after receiving visas from Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's two holiest sites, Mecca and Medina. One busload crossed through by mid-morning.

Marwan Shurafi, whose mother left for Egypt on Monday, said the pilgrims wore traditional white clothing and chanted in praise of Allah as they crossed into Egypt.

The pilgrimage, or hajj, was an obligation every Muslim was expected to carry out once in a lifetime.

Salah al-Rikib, Hamas' deputy minister for religious affairs, said his government smuggled the passports of 2 200 Gaza pilgrims through a tunnel into Egypt, where the Saudi Arabian consulate issued them visas. He said the passports were then returned to Gaza through a tunnel.

Egypt and Israel all but sealed their borders with Gaza after the Hamas takeover, confining 1.5 million Gazans to the crowded territory.

Israel had allowed small numbers of Gaza residents to leave through its territory for humanitarian reasons, but this was the first time Egypt had agreed to let Gazans pass through its territory since the takeover.

- AP