MANILA/DAVAO CITY: Bazer Sulaiman was ready to perform the Hajj in 2020, when coronavirus travel restrictions swept the world, preventing him and millions of other foreign pilgrims from reaching Makkah for two years.

One of Islam’s five main pillars of faith, the Hajj was restricted over pandemic fears to only 1,000 people living in Saudi Arabia in 2020. Last year, the Kingdom limited the pilgrimage to 60,000 domestic participants, compared with the pre-pandemic 2.5 million.

But this year, as it has already lifted most of its COVID-19 curbs, Saudi Arabia will welcome one million pilgrims from abroad — and 3,500 of them will come from the Philippines.

A predominantly Christian country of 110 million people, the Philippines has a Muslim minority comprising about a tenth of its population. Most Filipino Muslims live in the country’s south, in parts of Mindanao, Palawan and the Sulu Archipelago.

“It’s the most important moment of my life. I have been waiting for this,” Sulaiman, a 59-year-old retired policeman, told Arab News.

Embarking on his journey to Makkah and Madinah on Wednesday, the two holiest sites of Islam, Sulaiman will fly more than 8,500 km from Parang, Maguindanao province, in the southern part of Mindanao.

“I want to meet my fellow Muslims from the other side of the planet,” he said. “I want to strengthen my faith.”

This year, the Philippines has been allotted a quota of 4,074 pilgrims, but not all of them will be able to join the Hajj as the transportation industry still has not rebounded from two years of pandemic closures and travel costs are high, Malo B. Manonggiring, who heads the bureau of pilgrimage of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, told Arab News.

“They (the pilgrims) may be ready, but the problem is their financial capability because the cost of doing the Hajj now is $3,390. Before it was less than $3,000,” he said.

“The quota given to us was 4,074, but we are analyzing the situation, which is why we lowered it to 3,500.”

Mike Bantilan, a 58-year-old who is traveling to Makkah from Cotabato City in Maguindanao, has been supported by his family to perform the pilgrimage.

“There were donations from my relatives,” he said. “Because of my excitement and thinking of the memorable journey, there were nights I couldn’t sleep.”

Bantilan has already processed all the documents, and prepared himself physically, as he will travel this week.

“It’s obligatory for all Muslims who can afford to attend the Hajj,” he said. “I am doing this for Allah.”

WASHINGTON: The United States will send another $450 million in military aid to Ukraine, including some additional medium-range rocket systems, to help push back Russian progress in the war, officials announced Thursday. The latest package includes four High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, which will double the number they have now. All four were prepositioned in Europe, and training on those systems has already begun with the Ukrainian troops who will use them, said Marine Corps Lt. Col. Anton Semelroth, a Pentagon spokesman. The first four HIMARS that the US previously sent have already gone to the battlefield in Ukraine and are in the hands of troops there. According to the Pentagon, the aid also includes 18 tactical vehicles that are used to tow howitzers, so the weapons can be moved around the battlefield, as well as 18 coastal and riverine patrol boats, thousands of machine guns, grenade launchers and rounds of ammunition, and some other equipment and spare parts. The new aid comes just a week after the US announced it was sending $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine, and as the Russian military continues to slowly expand its control in the eastern Donbas region. Ukrainian leaders have persistently asked for the more advanced, precision rocket systems in order to better fight back against Russia. The Russian military captured two villages in eastern Ukraine on Thursday and is fighting for control of a key highway in a campaign to cut supply lines and encircle frontline Ukrainian forces, according to British and Ukrainian military officials. Russian forces have been bombarding the city of Sievierodonetsk for weeks with artillery and air raids, and fought the Ukrainian army house-to-house. The HIMARS gives Ukraine the ability to strike Russian forces and weapons from further away, making it less risky for Ukrainian troops. The systems are mounted on trucks, which carry a container with six precision-guided rockets that can travel about 45 miles (70 kilometers). It took about three weeks to train Ukrainian troops on the first four HIMARS, before the systems were moved to the fight. The aid is part of the $40 billion in security and economic assistance passed last month by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden. And it is the 13th package of military weapons and equipment committed to Ukraine since the war began. Overall, since the war started in late February, the US has committed about $6.1 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, including this latest package. The $450 million in equipment and weapons will be from drawdown authority, which means the Defense Department will take it all from its own stocks and ship it to Ukraine.

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s parliament has canceled its remaining sittings for the week to save fuel, officials said on Thursday, with a disastrous economic crisis rapidly depleting the island nation’s already scarce petrol supplies.

A foreign currency shortage has prevented the import of food, oil and medicines, while runaway inflation and regular blackouts have made life miserable for Sri Lanka’s 22 million population.

Parliamentary officials said lawmakers decided to cancel sessions on Thursday and Friday to avoid unnecessary petrol use, days after authorities closed schools and some state offices for the same reason.

Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said a gasoline shipment that was due on Thursday had been delayed and urged motorists to cut down on travel.

“Only limited amounts of petrol will be distributed to pumping stations today and tomorrow,” he told reporters in Colombo, with motorists already waiting in line for days to top up their tanks.

Neighboring India, which has offered several credit lines for Sri Lanka to import essentials, sent a team of experts on Thursday to assess the island’s rapidly deteriorating economic situation.

“Both parties discussed at length the future course of action of the Indian aid program to stabilize and revive the Sri Lankan economy,” Sri Lankan PresidentGotabaya Rajapaksa’s office said in a statement. The Indian High Commission in Colombo said New Delhi had already extended $3.5 billion worth of assistance to address the currency crisis.

A statement by the high commission said New Delhi’s help was guided by a “Neighborhood First” policy.

New Delhi has been concerned about China’s growing economic and political clout in the South Asian nation, which India has traditionally seen as within its sphere of geopolitical influence.

China is one of the top bilateral creditors for Sri Lanka and has several strategically important investments in deep sea ports on the island.

The US and New Delhi have expressed concern over China’s foothold in the ports.

A US Treasury delegation is expected in Sri Lanka next week to assess the economic crisis, officials said, as Colombo seeks international help.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Wednesday that the nation’s economy had reached the point of “complete collapse.”

“We are now facing a far more serious situation beyond the mere shortages of fuel, gas, electricity and food,” Wickremesinghe told lawmakers.

Sri Lanka defaulted on its $51 billion foreign debt in April and is in talks with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout which could take months.

WASHINGTON: The White House said on Thursday that the NATO alliance’s new strategic concept reflects concerns about China, including its economic practices. “Less than a year ago, the defense ministers for the first time in NATO put mention of China in the communique,” said John Kirby, US National Security Council coordinator. “So it’s building on what has been once discussions and deliberations with the allies about the threat that China poses to international security, well beyond just the Indo-Pacific region.” President Joe Biden leaves on Saturday to meet with other G7 leaders in southern Germany before heading to Madrid for a summit where NATO is expected to announce plans to expand its forces in eastern Europe and Washington will lay out steps to strengthen European security.

LONDON: The Committee to Protect Journalists urged the Taliban on Wednesday to immediately release two detained Afghan journalists and investigate the violent assault of another.

“The Taliban must take immediate measures to halt repeated arbitrary detentions and abuse of journalists in Afghanistan,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator.

“The Taliban must immediately release journalists Abdul Hannan Mohammadi and Khan Mohammad Sial, and investigate the assault of Mohammad Ikram Esmati.”

Sial, a broadcast manager for the independent Paiwaston TV station, was detained in early May by Taliban police in Trinkot, and has since been held in the central prison of Uruzgan Province.

According to reports, Taliban members beat Sial and told him to confess that his outlet was funded by foreign entities, and was both morally and financially corrupt. Taliban members also reportedly told Sial that he would be released if he confessed.

In mid-June, Taliban intelligence agents detained Mohammadi, a reporter for Pajhwok news agency in northern Kapisa Province. Mohammadi was on his way to an assignment, but the Taliban agents relocated him to an undisclosed location.

The reason for his detention is not immediately clear.

On the same day in a separate incident, the Taliban stopped Esmati, a former journalist for the independent Kabul News TV station, and questioned him about his work.

According to Esmati, three Taliban members then bundled him in a vehicle, drove him to a remote area, and beat him with guns and fists until he was knocked unconscious.

Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan last August, the Taliban have cracked down on media freedom in the country, prompting watchdogs to voice concerns about the safety of Afghan journalists, reporters and media workers.

According to Reporters without Borders, at least 12 journalists were arbitrarily arrested in Afghanistan in May despite the Taliban announcement of a new system to protect media workers.

In the same month, the Taliban ordered women TV presenters to cover up fully in public, including their faces, ideally with the traditional burqa.

BRUSSELS: European Union leaders on Thursday agreed to grant candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova, in a show of support in the face of Russia’s war. “A historic moment. Today marks a crucial step on your path toward the EU,” Michel wrote on Twitter during a summit in Brussels. “Our future is together.” Ukraine applied to become an EU candidate in a bid to cement its place in Europe just days after Moscow launched its devastating invasion. France’s President Emmanuel Macron said the move sent a “very strong signal” to the Kremlin that the EU backs the pro-Western aspirations of Ukraine. “We owe it to the Ukrainian people who are fighting to defend our values, their sovereignty, their territorial integrity,” he said. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Twitter hailed the EU’s decision “a unique and historic moment in Ukraine-EU relations,” adding that “Ukraine’s future is within the EU.” The decision sets the two ex-Soviet nations at the start of a years-long path toward joining the bloc requiring major reforms and protracted negotiations. The EU has laid out a series of steps for Kyiv to take, including on bolstering the rule-of-law and fighting corruption, before it can progress to the next stage entailing accession talks. Moldova and Georgia, two countries that also have part of their territory occupied by the Kremlin’s forces, handed in applications in Ukraine’s slipstream. EU leaders agreed to offer Georgia a “European perspective” but said it must carry out a raft of steps before it can become a candidate. Georgia reacted by saying it was determined to take steps required to qualify. “We are ready to work with determination over the next months to reach the candidate status,” President Salome Zurabishvili said on Twitter.