Trinidad Police Sorry for Hajj Visas Uproar

Trinidadian police considered the Saudi diplomat a "security risk" over processing hajj visas for locals. (Google) CAIRO – Trinidad and Tobago police have apologized to a Saudi diplomat, who was searched and questioned for processing hajj visas, after their action infuriated local Muslims, Trinidad News reported on Thursday, November 5. "I apologized to Alshabaili for any inconvenience," Police Deputy Commissioner Raymond Craig told a press conference. "I want to say categorically that at no time did the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service attempt or try to embarrass any Muslim individual in our society." Saudi diplomat Fawaz Abdul Rahman Alshubaili arrived in Trinidad and Tobago, an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, Sunday to process hajj visas for locals aspiring to perform the spiritual journey. Considering him as a "security risk", police stormed into the diplomat’s hotel room for search. "Four of five individuals, men, came to his room and told him they were looking for arms and ammunitions, and asked him to remove his shirt to conduct a search," Sheikh Munaf Mohammed, a local Muslim leader, told Agence France-Presse (AFP). "He told them he had a diplomatic passport and showed it to them but he told us it didn't seem to mean much to them." The Saudi diplomat was questioned for several hours before being released. The Foreign Affairs Ministry has reportedly launched an investigation into the incident. Humiliation The leaders of the Muslim community, making up nearly 5.8 percent of the country’s 1.3 million people, regretted the humiliating police treatment to the Saudi diplomat. "He was very embarrassed, ashamed and hurt," noted Mohammed, the Muslim leader. "He said he came to our country to help Trinidadians and make it easier for some 204 Muslims to attend the holy pilgrimage. "This was the treatment he received from government." Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, consists of several ceremonies, which are meant to symbolize the essential concepts of the Islamic faith, and to commemorate the trials of Prophet Abraham and his family. Every able-bodied adult Muslim — who can financially afford the trip — must perform hajj once in their lifetime. Hajj is expected to climax this year on November 26 when the faithful descend the Mount `Arafat. Maulana Abdul Salam, another local Muslim leader, accused the government of double-standards. "If it had been a US or Canadian diplomat he would not have been treated in that manner.