PESHAWAR, Oct 1: Registration of Afghan refugees intending to perform Haj this year has started here in the Afghan consulate and will continue for a week to complete the quota of 700 Afghan pilgrims to be sent to Saudi Arabia from Pakistan for Haj.

Saudi government this year has allowed only 25,000 pilgrims from Afghanistan, which is less than the past year’s number as 30,000 Afghans directly travelling from Afghanistan and 1,000 Afghan refugees living in Peshawar performed Haj in 2004.

This year, total 1,500 Afghan refugees will go for Haj through Pakistan of which 700 will be from NWFP and the remaining 800 from Quetta and other parts of the country.

The intending Afghan Hajis from refugee camps in Pakistan will be selected through a special draw if their number exceeds from the quota. Each of them will have to pay $1,635.

According to the acting Afghan consulate-general in Peshawar, Ahmad Saeedi, so for the consulate had registered 400 intending Hajis and the remaining would be registered within one week.

Thereafter they would hold the draw if they received more number of applications than the allocated quota.

He said the Afghan government was trying to provide better facilities to Afghan pilgrims in Saudi Arabia to avoid last year’s situation as a majority of Afghan pilgrims faced hardships during Haj in the past year. —-PPI