Haj pilgrims must police themselves for flu

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia: The Saudi health minister said this weekend that the kingdom will not ban anyone considered high risk for H1N1 flu from performing the haj pilgrimage this year.

Health Minister Abdullah al-Rabeeah says it is the responsibility of individual countries to enforce recommendations that children, the elderly and pregnant women skip the pilgrimage, which starts Nov 25. "Saudi Arabia does not ban anyone because haj is a religious event," he said. "Saudi Arabia has put in place strong recommendations that we hope individual countries will abide by."

Al-Rabeeah says only two cases of H1N1 flu have been reported so far among the half million pilgrims who have already arrived in the kingdom.