Forty-eight-year-old Noor Mohammad left his home in Ghazni Province in early May. He was stranded in Iran after failing to obtain an Iraqi visa in order to continue his journey overland.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A pilgrim from southeastern Afghanistan who became a social media sensation when he set off on a bicycle journey to Mecca last month has reached Saudi Arabia, Afghan authorities said on Wednesday, after his expedition took a series of unexpected turns, including a sponsored flight.<\/p>\n
Noor Mohammad set out from his home in the village of Layek in the Karabakh district of Ghazni province in early May, planning to cover more than 6,000 kilometers to reach Islam's holy city by July and perform the Hajj.<\/p>\n
As he cycled through Afghanistan, a Taliban scholar offered to help him buy a plane ticket, but the 48-year-old man refused, wanting to do everything possible to fulfill the sacred obligation.<\/p>\n
Little did he know that help would soon be needed when, three weeks later, he got stuck in Iran trying to obtain an Iraqi visa in the border city of Khorramshahr.<\/p>\n
\u00abMy Afghan friends promised to get me an Iraqi visa there,\u00bb Mohammad told Arab News, recounting his subsequent attempts to instead obtain a Kuwaiti visa. Again, to no avail.<\/p>\n
That was when he decided to turn to the scholar.<\/p>\n
\u00abI had no other choice. I contacted Sheikh Hammasi via WhatsApp,\u00bb he said. \u00abHe put me in touch with an Afghan businessman who helped me stay in Iran and return back to Kabul.\u00bb.<\/p>\n
In Kabul, he was immediately accepted into a Hajj training course, where officials took care of his departure. His flight was reportedly facilitated by acting Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, a close aide to Anas Haqqani \u2014 the minister's brother and a senior Taliban leader \u2014 Arab News reported.<\/p>\n
\u00abThe Ministry of Hajj urgently processed my passport,\u00bb Mohammad said just days before his departure to Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
He flew out of Kabul on Tuesday after all his travel documents were processed.<\/p>\n
\u00abHis name was on the first flight after that,\u00bb said Mawlawi Israrulhaq, an official at the Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs. \u00abHe departed for Jeddah, from where he will join other Afghan pilgrims in Mecca.\u00bb.<\/p>\n
Mohammad was preparing for the flight several days after a devastating earthquake in eastern Afghanistan that killed about 1,150 people last week.<\/p>\n
He prayed for the victims and said he would remember them too when he reaches Mecca.<\/p>\n
\u00abAs soon as I reach Mecca, I will pray to Allah to ease the lives of families who have lost loved ones and their homes,\u00bb he added. \u00abI am going to ask him to solve all the problems of Afghans.\u00bb.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Forty-eight-year-old Noor Mohammad left his home in Ghazni Province in early May. He was stranded in Iran after failing to obtain an Iraqi visa in order to continue his journey overland.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1427,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-novosti","category-novosti-strany","category-2","category-16","description-off"],"yoast_head":"\n