Sheikh Sultan bin Suhaim, the son of Sheikh Suhaim bin Hamad bin Abdullah al-Thani who was a member of the ruling family of Qatar and served as the country’s first foreign minister, said that Qatar bans its citizens from performing Hajj and Umrah.

On his official Twiter account on Friday, Sheikh Sultan said: “While our older brother rises above political differences and opens its doors and heart to our people to perform Umrah, The Hamad regime insists on banning them from visiting the House of God… All so that their alibi as victims can continue. What a sin you have done in front of God.”

In another tweet, Sheikh Sultan said that the Qatari regime will pay for this act.

“The day will come where the Qatari people will make you pay for this injustice and banning them from performing Umrah and Hajj. Several sins surround your necks but you do not fear God and do not care except for your benefits,” Sheikh Sultan tweeted.

Sheikh Sultan became one of the first to publicly oppose from the current ruling family led by Emir Tamim bin Hamad when several countries decided to sever ties with Qatar over its support and financing of terrorist groups.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Pakistan released a statement on Thursday correcting false reports circulated in local Pakistani media about Qatari nationals being barred from performing Umrah in the kingdom.

In the statement, the embassy said that since the first day of the decision to boycott Qatar, cutting all diplomatic and consular ties, Saudi Arabia ensured that the process of pilgrimage for Umrah and Hajj would be completely facilitated for Qatari nationals in accordance with procedures organized by the relevant authorities.

False Qatari accusations

This comes in response to a statement released by the Qatari embassy in Pakistan accusing the kingdom of not allowing Qataris to perform their rituals at the holy site. The Saudi embassy’s statement added that Qatar has “not been enabling its citizens to perform Hajj and Umrah in order to earn media attention”.

They added that the Qatari statement is a mere continuation of that, and another attempt to wrongfully blame the kingdom.
The Saudi embassy’s statement also falsified some reports by local Pakistani newspapers that mentioned that Qatari nationals were banned from performing their religious rituals in the kingdom.

The statement ensures that the kingdom’s leadership and people welcome anyone who wants to visit the holy site, including Qataris.

The Saudi embassy has since received a number of Qatari pilgrims who had arrived straight from the King Abdul Aziz International Airport, and provided them with all the services needed to facilitate their pilgrimage, as is done with all Muslims around the world.

The statement appealed to local media in Pakistan to properly check their information and its credibility, and not believe mere accusations promoted by Qatari authorities. They added that these accusations are refuted by facts and concrete reality from scenes of Saudi Arabia’s care for pilgrims at the holy site year round.

Source: english.alarabiya.net