Cairo/Damascus/Gaza: Waiting for his turn to be vaccinated against the H1N1 virus at a governmental health care centre in northern Cairo, Ali Hussain, 54, is eager to go to Saudi Arabia to perform Haj.
"I know that dangers are high this year. But probably I won't be able to perform this Islamic duty later," he told Gulf News. "Even if I died there [in Saudi Arabia], it would not be a problem. After all, it is a holy land where the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) is buried."
More than 50,000 Egyptians are expected to go to Saudi Arabia to perform the Haj, say travel operators.
The figure is slightly less than last year when an estimated 70,000 Egyptians went on the pilgrimage.
"Fears about catching the H1N1 flu virus have kept some would-be pilgrims at home," said Mustafa Khedr, an official at a travel company in Cairo.
State-appointed Muslim clerics in this predominantly Muslim country have shied away from ordering the suspension of the Haj for this year over a potential outbreak of H1N1 virus. They said that such a decree should be taken only in emergencies and after coordination with Muslim organisations and health authorities in the Islamic world.
In Syria, the health ministry has imposed restrictions on pilgrims wanting to go to Saudi Arabia this year, to avoid infection with H1N1 virus, preventing those below the age of 12 and those above the age of 65, in addition to those with illnesses that make them vulnerable to it, from making the journey to Makkah.
In Lebanon, tour operators are grumbling because the number of Lebanese heading to Makkah has been slashed down to a quarter of what it was in 2008, thanks to the H1N1 fears. Saudi authorities have strictly observed the Lebanese quota, which is divided equally between Sunni and Shiite and additionally, includes permits for 1,500 Palestinian-Lebanese pilgrims.
In Gaza, unlike the previous couple of years, Fatah and Hamas governments ignored their political differences to find a common ground to make the Haj a success. The number of Palestinian pilgrims leaving through Rafah to Egypt is 4,500. Equal number of pilgrims were named by an independent committee from Gaza and Ramallah.
Fears of H1N1 neither had an impact on the number of victims nor did it have any effect on the number of people wanting to undergo vaccination.
Saeed Al Awad, a travel agent, said, "Swine flu fears have not affected the number of pilgrims going to the Haj."
Tunisia was the only country to announce that its citizens would not be performing Haj this year.
In Morocco, when the first batch of would-be pilgrims were gathered at the airport in Rabat to board their plane, they were told they needed to get the shots.
The mandatory decision was resisted by many who expressed concerns about dangerous side effects, prompting officials to bar them from boarding the flight.
