Local Editor
Yemenis with passports issued in provinces under the governance of the Houthi Ansarullah movement and former President Ali Abdullah were not approved for the Hajj (Muslim Pilgrimage) season this year, local media reported.
According to the Minister of Awqaf and Guidance in the ousted regime, Dr. Ahmed Attia passports issued in those “provinces from the start of 2016 to this date, have not been approved for the next pilgrimage season.”
In 2015, thousands of Yemenis participated in a mass rally to denounce a Saudi decision denying Yemenis permission to travel to Mecca to perform the Hajj pilgrimage.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets in the capital Sanaa, dressed in a white robe traditionally worn during the pilgrimage, to condemn what they said was an unfair decision affecting innocent Yemeni civilians.
Yemen's Houthis took control of the capital Sana’a in 2014 after fugitive and former Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi escaped house arrest and fled to Saudi Arabia.
Last month, the ministry of industry and commerce in the capital issued commodity cards allowing government employees to buy basic food items from two shops in Sana’a after several months of unpaid salaries.
A Saudi-led coalition launched a military campaign in March 2015 in a bid to bring back Hadi to power. However, the aggression only killed thousands of people and displaced hundreds of thousands more.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
