Baghdad, Iraq - Around 7,000 Iraqi Muslims hoping to take part in an annual pilgrimage to Mecca were unable to enter Saudi Arabia because
Iraq had exceeded its quota of pilgrims.
"A portion of these pilgrims found themselves blocked at the Saudi airports and an entry point at Arar, on the border in southern Iraq," said Khaled Al-Attiya, an Iraqi official for the pilgrimage known as the hajj.
Iraq has a quota, proportional to its size, of 27,500 pilgrims.
"We are still in contact with the Saudi authorities to try and solve the problem and we hope to reach an agreement soon," said Attiya by telephone from Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
More than 1.1 million Muslims from around the world have already arrived in Saudi Arabia for the annual pilgrimage which begins next week.
The pilgrimage, which has drawn two million Muslims in recent years, officially begins this year on January 8.