Religi­ous affair­s minist­er says pilgri­ms’ biomet­ric verifi­cation issue taken up with Saudi Arabia­ISLAMABAD: Religious Affairs Minister Sardar Mohammad Yousaf has accused the United States of putting the world peace at stake by recognising occupied Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Talking about his ministry, Yousaf claimed it was in a shambles when he took over. “Last year Pakistan’s Hajj quota was 189,210 and if agreed by Saudi Arabia, another 27,000 people will get the opportunity to perform Hajj,” said Yousaf. He said if verification was done at designated centres, there would be no need for the time-consuming biometric verification at airports. However, the minister added that like India, Bangladesh and other countries, Pakistan should also be exempted from the biometric verification.

Source: The Express Tribune December 08, 2017 05:37 UTC