DOHA, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Qatar strongly criticized Saudi Arabia for imposing restrictions on flights transporting Qatari hajj pilgrims to the kingdom, Qatar's news agency (QNA) reported Tuesday.
"Limiting the transfer of Qatari pilgrims to Saudi Arabian Airlines only is unprecedented, illogical, surprising and contravenes the teachings of Islam," QNA quoted Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Rumaihi, the ministry's information office director, as saying in a statement.
The strong worded statement came as Saudi Arabia said Qatari pilgrims can travel to the kingdom to perform hajj only by taking Saudi Arabian airlines.
"It is usual and customary for pilgrims from any country to be transported by the national air, land and sea travel organizations in that country, in addition to other foreign means of transportation, with the latter taking place as part of the national Hajj mission," Al-Rumaihi noted.
The Qatari official highlighted the need to separate hajj from political differences and to avoid hindering hajj performance by imposing conditions that affect the sovereignty of states or the rights and dignity of their citizens.
Earlier, Doha denied a claim by Saudi Arabian Airlines that Qatari authorities refused to allow one of its flights to land inside the country.
Saudi Arabia, together with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, cut diplomatic ties with Qatar and imposed a full blockade on it in early June, citing Doha's support for terrorism and interfering in the domestic affairs of its neighbors.
But Saudi reopened its land border with Qatar last week to allow access to the kingdom by Qatari hajj pilgrims, despite the blockade.
Saudi has also allocated seven flights of the Saudi national carrier to bring pilgrims from Qatar, whose national carrier Qatar Airways is barred from flying to the kingdom due to the blockade.
