MADINAH, Sept 7 (BERNAMA) -- The first 450 Malaysian haj pilgrims arrived at the Prince Mohamed Abdul Aziz International Airport here at 7 am local time (at around noon Malaysian time) Saturday.
They were met on arrival by Malaysian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Datuk Syed Omar Syed Mohamad Al-Saggaf, Malaysian Consul-General in Saudi Arabia Mohd Khalid Abbasi Abdul Razak, deputy head of the Malaysian haj delegation Tengku Aziz Raja Abdullah and head of Muassasah Adila, Dr. Yusof Ahmad Hawala.
To the Malaysian media, Syed Omar said the Saudi Arabian government had great respect for the Malaysian pilgrims for their good manners and discipline.
"I personally have been granted an audience with King Abdullah (of Saudi Arabia) where he said that the Malaysian pilgrims are well respected here (in the holy land) for their good manners.
"As such, I would like to advise our pilgrims to protect Malaysia's good name and image by adhering to all rules and regulations set by the Saudi Arabian government," he said.
Only 22,320 Malaysian haj pilgrims are allowed to perform their haj pilgrimage this year after the Saudi Arabian government cut the haj quota for foreign pilgrims by 20 per cent due to the ongoing massive expansion of the Holy Sites.
