Haj Pilgrims Kill Afghan Minister, Witness Says
By REUTERS


Filed at 1:02 a.m. ET

KABUL (Reuters) - The Afghan interim minister for air transport and tourism
was beaten to death by frustrated Haj pilgrims who dragged him off a plane
at Kabul airport, witnesses and an official said Friday.

Abdul Rahman was pulled off Ariana Airlines' only aircraft, which he had
commissioned to take him to New Delhi, and beaten to death inside the
terminal building Thursday, Haj pilgrim Mirza told Reuters.

Saudi officials have said pilgrims coming from abroad must arrive by Sunday
to be able to perform haj.

Mirza said the pilgrims had camped at the airport for two days waiting for a
flight to Mecca. He said they had paid $1,500 for the trip, a fortune for
ordinary Afghans.

``If we cannot fly today someone else will get killed,'' Mirza said.

An official at the ministry confirmed the killing, but declined to give
details. ``Unfortunately (the minister) is no longer with us,'' the official
said.

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the multinational force
helping to maintain security in the capital, is deployed in the military
section of Kabul airport, but Afghan security forces guard the civilian
side.

ISAF officials were not immediately available for comment.

Afghan pilgrims have continued to travel to Mecca throughout more than two
decades of war in their homeland. Despite grinding poverty there has never
been a shortage of applicants.

More than a million Muslims flock to Saudi Arabia every year for the
pilgrimage, which Islamic teachings say should be performed by every
able-bodied adult Muslim who can afford it.


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