RIYADH: Kuwait and Saudi Arabia signed on Monday a hajj agreement allocating some 8,000 pilgrims from Kuwait. The deal for the year 1444 of the Hijri calendar was signed by Kuwait's Justice Minister and Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Abdulaziz Al-Majed, also State Minister for Integrity Promotion, and Saudi Arabia's Minister of Hajj and Umrah Tawfiq Al-Rabiah. It was reached as Majed was attending the 2023 hajj and umrah services conference and exhibition in response to an invitation from the Saudi government. During the event, the minister was briefed on the services provided to pilgrims across various sectors, namely transportation and catering.

Rabiah said on Monday Saudi Arabia will not impose limits on the number of pilgrims for this year's hajj, after three years of restrictions to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. "The number of pilgrims will return to what it was before the pandemic, without any age limit," he told reporters in Riyadh. In 2022, nearly 900,000 pilgrims, including some 780,000 from abroad, were welcomed to Islam's holiest cities of Makkah and Madinah. At that time, they had to be aged under 65, as well as have a vaccination against COVID-19 and present a negative test. - Agencies