Jakarta, April 22 -- Minister of Hajj and Umrah Mochamad Irfan Yusuf emphasized that citizens who insist on traveling to Saudi Arabia without a Hajj visa will not be able to perform the pilgrimage.

"If they do not use a Hajj visa, I am sure that even if they manage to get there (Saudi Arabia), they will not be able to perform the Hajj pilgrimage," Yusuf said at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, here on Wednesday.

The statement was made in response to 13 Indonesian citizens who were prevented by the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections on suspicion of attempting to travel to Saudi Arabia through non-procedural means or without a Hajj visa.

Yusuf stressed that a Hajj visa is the main requirement for pilgrims to officially perform the Hajj in Sa...