RI Requests OIC's Support For Haj Quota Increase

Mecca, Oct 9 (Antara) - Indonesian Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali has urged the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to support the country`s request for an increase in the haj quota. Ali, in a meeting with OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu in Jidda on Tuesday, said Indonesia hopes the Saudi government will increase the haj quota from 211 thousand pilgrims to 240 thousand. An increase in the quota is necessary to shorten the waiting list of Indonesian haj pilgrims - an Indonesian Muslim has to wait up to 15 years before he or she can finally go to Mecca for the haj pilgrimage. "In the meeting, he (the OIC Secretary General) promised to help rectify the quota," noted the minister, who is also the Amirul Hajj (Haj Leader) of Indonesian pilgrims in the 2013 haj pilgrimage season. At present, the quota ratio stands at one person per one thousand Muslims, he said. The decision on haj quota for each country, however, is in the hands of the Saudi government, he added. Indonesia is the world`s largest Muslim nation, with a total population of over 245 million.