DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — For the very first time in over a years, 270 Syrians took a trip on a direct flight early Tuesday from Damascus to Saudi Arabia for the yearly Islamic Hajj trip, the Syrian Transport Ministry stated.
The advancement becomes part of a continuous thaw in relations in between Damascus and Riyadh, which days earlier designated Saudi Arabia’s very first ambassador to war-torn Syria because severing incorporate 2012.
Syria was readmitted to the 22-member Arab League in 2023, after it had actually been suspended from the group for more than a years over President Bashar Assad’s harsh crackdown on anti-government protesters in 2011. A lot of nations in the Arab world have actually because brought back diplomatic ties with Damascus.
A 2nd airplane of pilgrims is set to leave from Damascus to Jeddah late Tuesday, the ministry stated.
1.8 million Muslims from all over the world participated in in 2015’s Hajj trip to the holy city of Capital, making it among the world’s biggest spiritual events. This year, it’s set up to start on the night of June 14.
The Hajj is among the 5 pillars of Islam, and Muslims are needed to undertake it a minimum of when in their lives if they are physically and economically able to do so.
The uprising-turned-civil war in Syria, now in its 14th year has actually eliminated almost half a million individuals and displaced half of the nation’s prewar population of 23 million. The war has actually mainly stayed frozen therefore have the efforts to discover a feasible political option to end it. Hardship is widespread throughout the cutting edge, with help decreasing and a growing variety of nations sounding the alarm on rising migration.
——
Associated Press author Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut added to this report.