Mali Arrests 40 Would-Be Guinean Pilgrims On Ebola Fears

Malian authorities have arrested 40 would-be Muslim pilgrims from Guinea who tried to go on pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia despite a ban by the latter on pilgrims from their country, which has been hard hit by the Ebola virus, a Malian official said Monday.



The 40 Guineans had possessed certificates of residence issued by Malian authorities in hopes of deceiving Malian and Saudi authorities into allowing them into Saudi Arabia, Abdoulaye Diassy, Guinean secretary-general for religious affairs, told Anadolu Agency.



The group will be deported from Mali in coming days, the official said.



Earlier this year, fearing Ebola transmission, Saudi authorities banned Guinean Muslims from performing the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca.



Diassy described the decision as "justified."



"Islam says that if there's an outbreak in a country… that country must be isolated, that is to say, no one should go in or out," he said.



"Therefore, Saudi authorities have decided to suspend pilgrimage visas for [those coming from] the country affected by this fever," he added.



Last year, Saudi authorities granted visas to 7,200 Guinean pilgrims.



According to the latest figures from the World Health Organization, the disease is believed to have killed at least 2,400 people in West Africa – out of 4,784 reported cases – since February.



The tropical fever, which first appeared in 1976 in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, can be transmitted to humans from wild animals.



It also reportedly spreads through contact with the body fluids of infected persons or of those who have died of the disease.



By Mamadou Bah Boussouriou



englishnews@aa.com.tr



www.aa.com.tr/en - Conakry