How British Muslims make it to Makkah for Hajj

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London Hajj travel agent Hamdy El-Sawy. (AFP)
Updated 09 August 2018
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How British Muslims make it to Makkah for Hajj

  • Even after 37 years, El-Sawy’s services are as much in demand as ever
  • So quickly did his reputation grow that in 1989 the Swedish ambassador to Morocco, a convert to Islam, asked to join El-Sawy’s group

LONDON: With the approach of Hajj, it is all systems go at the El-Sawy travel agency in London.
Passports need to be taken to the Saudi embassy to be stamped with visas and there are myriad phone calls and emails to be made to suppliers in Saudi Arabia. Those going on their first pilgrimage — perhaps even their first long trip anywhere — will need reassurance while others who applied a little too late and missed out on a place will need placating. But from the start, one thing is obvious: You don’t get to be Britain’s oldest-established Hajj and Umrah travel agency without good people skills.
“I have also been very blessed with luck,” said the Egyptian-born travel agency owner Hamdy El-Sawy.
He organized his first Hajj in 1981 for 37 people. They each paid £325 and stayed in university accommodation. Lots has changed since then: This year he will accompany 150 pilgrims who have each paid £6,450 and will be based at the five-star Al-Safwah Royal Orchid Hotel. “It’s the nearest to the Haram [mosque], right next to it,” he said, pointing to a poster.
Sometimes his work involves performing quite extraordinary feats. Three years ago, an 84-year-old British publisher and convert to Islam, contacted El-Sawy a week before the group was due to leave for Hajj.
Although he was without a booking or visa, El-Sawy suggested he come along anyway to the briefing held before every Hajj.
“An official from the Saudi embassy was present. He arranged the gentleman’s visa right away, out of respect for his age. The package that year cost £4,000 but the publisher had only £2,500. By chance I got a call from another client, a well-known neurologist and convert who had been on Hajj with us. I told her the story and without hesitation she said she would cover the difference.”
Back in 1994 a woman arrived at his agency in a chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce at 7pm on a Friday. Pulling a huge wad of banknotes from her handbag, she uttered just one word: “Hajj.”
El-Sawy explained: “It was the day before we were due to leave. The Saudi embassy was closed and all the flights were full, but I couldn’t tell her any of this because the lady was from Senegal and spoke only French.”
But by chance — a phrase that crops up a lot in El-Sawy’s stories — a French-speaking client was in the office at the time. “I asked him to tell the lady ‘come tomorrow’ which, as any Egyptian will tell you, actually means ‘don’t come.’ I was fobbing her off, to be honest. But when I came to work next day, she was there again, this time in a Mercedes.
“I didn’t know what else to do so I told her driver to go to Belgrave Square [location of the Saudi embassy] and drive round it seven times and shout ‘Allahu akbar’ every time they passed the Saudi embassy. At least, she would see it was closed. I sent my office boy with her.”
She did as instructed and while she was there the security guard at the Saudi embassy noticed the circling Mercedes and came out to investigate.
“When he heard the story, he gave my office boy the number of the duty officer at the consulate. The duty officer said to bring the lady’s passport at 5pm. He did, she got her visa and went straight to the airport. But the Saudia flight, the last of the day, was full with 10 people on standby. The lady from Senegal was number 11.
“One seat came free in business class and because she was alone and everyone else ahead of her was in couples or groups, she got it, with 10 minutes to go before the flight left. The cost that year was £1,300. She gave me £2,000 in cash and gave the £700 change to the office boy.”
Another client who spoke little or no English was the Senegalese ambassador to London. In his case, El-Sawy decided to contact a client from Gambia who spoke the same African language as the ambassador and soon all the arrangements were made. On arrival in Jeddah, the ambassador received VIP treatment. “The next time we met was at a meeting of the British-Egyptian Society and he embraced me in front of everyone and said what a wonderful time he’d had.” El-Sawy would no doubt say that he came to the travel business too “by chance.” Born “in the oldest street in Cairo,” he studied commerce and law and came to the UK in 1975 and worked in accountancy, as an Arabic tour guide and translator and even, briefly, as a silver service waiter.
In 1980 he organized a day trip to Brighton on the south coast of England, to welcome the new imam at Regent’s Park mosque (El-Sawy’s local place of worship), and introduce him to his congregation.
People on the coach trip brought snacks and drinks, visited a mosque and played football on the beach and a good time was had by all. Over the next weeks, he organized more days out. On the way back from the fourth of these, to Manchester, someone asked him when he was going to do “the big one.”
And so his career as a Hajj tour operator and travel agent began. On the first pilgrimage in 1981, following another chance encounter, his group were guests of the president of King Abudulaziz University. The following year, they were accommodated at Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah. The third year, a major-general in the Saudi police hosted a group of more than 40 people at his home because El-Sawy had helped him track down a Egyptian doctor in London who had previously treated the policeman’s aged mother.
So quickly did his reputation grow that in 1989 the Swedish ambassador to Morocco, a convert to Islam, asked to join El-Sawy’s group. He didn’t want to be treated as a VIP, as he would have been if he had applied in Rabat.
“That year we stayed in military barracks and he was very happy. That gave me confidence. I realized that high-up people can be humble.”
He has frequently witnessed how the spirit of Hajj brings out the best in people, he said. In 2014, a Bangladeshi couple from London were distraught when they realized they had miscalculated and did not have enough money to pay for their 10-year-old daughter.
“I told the mother to call again. She did and by chance there was a Saudi friend of mine in the office. He heard the story and paid the difference. All he asked in return was that she say a prayer for his father.
“The same year, a woman came in and told me she would pay for two strangers to go on Hajj. I had to choose them. Her conditions were that they should be first-timers, one must be an older woman and the other a man and if possible, a new convert. Thanks to that lady an elderly Moroccan woman I knew from mosque was able to fulfill the desire which she could never afford.” Even after 37 years, El-Sawy’s services are as much in demand as ever. He insists on meeting every client face-to-face and holds a get-together a week before every departure “so people can get to know each other and not feel like they are traveling with strangers.” He shows a video of last year’s briefing, and it is clear he knows everyone’s name, job and where they come from.
“His memory is incredible,” said Mustafa, 27, the younger of his two sons. “Ten minutes on the phone with him and he ends up knowing more about you than you do.”
Now 74 and with his two sons working with him, El-Sawy shows no sign of slowing down. He has mastered new technology, has an iPhoneX and continues to work all hours.
As well as the forthcoming Hajj, he is busy with an ambitious new project — a tour tracing the journey of Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus fleeing to exile in Egypt to escape the clutches of King Herod. “I enjoy serving people,” he said. “The spiritual side of life is important and God has blessed me with a positive outlook. For me, the glass is half full.”


Trump defiant as tariffs send world markets into panic

Updated 10 sec ago
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Trump defiant as tariffs send world markets into panic

  • Trump dismissed the turmoil, insisting, “It’s going to be a booming economy. It’s going to be amazing”
  • “Let Donald Trump run the global economy. He knows what he’s doing,” says commerce chief amid howls of protest even some Republicans

WASHINGTON: Wall Street led a global markets bloodbath Thursday as countries around the world reeled from President Donald Trump’s trade war, while the White House insisted the US economy will emerge victorious.
The S&P 500 dropped 4.8 percent in its biggest loss since 2020. The tech-rich Nasdaq plummeted 6.0 percent and the Dow Jones 4.0 percent.
Shock waves also tore through markets in Asia and Europe in the wake of Trump’s Wednesday announcement, while foreign leaders signaled readiness to negotiate but also threatened counter-tariffs.
Trump slapped 10 percent import duties on all nations and far higher levies on imports from dozens of specific countries — including top trade partners China and the European Union.
Separate tariffs of 25 percent on all foreign-made cars also went into effect and Canada swiftly responded with a similar levy on US imports.
Stellantis — the owner of Jeep, Chrysler and Fiat — paused production at some Canadian and Mexican assembly plants.
Trump dismissed the turmoil, insisting to reporters as he left for a weekend at his Florida golf resorts, that stocks will “boom.”

The 78-year-old president says he wants to make the United States free from reliance on foreign manufacturers, in a massive economic reshaping that he likened to a medical procedure.
“It’s what is expected,” he said of the market reaction. “The patient was very sick. The economy had a lot of problems.”
“It went through an operation. It’s going to be a booming economy. It’s going to be amazing.”

Trump ‘knows what he’s doing’

Amid howls of protest abroad and from even some of Trump’s Republicans, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick urged patience.
“Let Donald Trump run the global economy. He knows what he’s doing,” he said on CNN. “You’ve got to trust Donald Trump in the White House.”
But China demanded that the tariffs be immediately canceled and vowed countermeasures, while France and Germany warned that the EU could hit back at US tech firms.
French President Emmanuel Macron called for suspending investment in the United States until what he called the “brutal” new tariffs had been “clarified.”
The 27-nation EU and other countries also sought to negotiate as they refrained from immediate retaliation.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called for “frank discussion on the substance with the Americans.”
Beijing said it was “maintaining communication” with Washington over trade issues, and EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic planned to speak with US counterparts on Friday.
However, Brazil’s president vowed to take “all appropriate measures.”
Gold — a safe-haven investment — hit a new record price, oil fell and the dollar slumped against other major currencies.
The head of the World Trade Organization, which helps manage global trading, warned the upheaval may lead to contraction of “one percent in global merchandise trade volumes this year.”

’You can’t fight the US’

Trump is brushing off warnings about triggering a global economic slowdown and politically damaging price rises at home.
Republican Senator Mitch McConnell broke ranks with Trump, slamming tariffs as “bad policy.”
“Preserving the long-term prosperity of American industry and workers requires working with our allies, not against them,” he said.
It remains unclear to what extent Trump is using the tariffs shock to engage in negotiations on trade deals — or whether he really intends to try to force all competitors to play by US rules.
He said he would negotiate “as long as they are giving something that is good.”
But earlier, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told CNN that the president made it clear that “this is not a negotiation.”
And Lutnick also struck a hard line, saying, “You can’t really fight with the United States.”
“You’re going to lose. We are the sumo wrestler of this world.”

Trump reserved some of the heaviest blows for what he called “nations that treat us badly.”
That included an additional 34 percent on goods from China — bringing the new added tariff rate there to 54 percent.
The figure for the European Union was 20 percent, and 24 percent on Japan.
For the rest, Trump said he would impose a “baseline” tariff of 10 percent, including on another key ally, Britain, which will come into effect on Saturday while the higher duties will kick in on April 9.
 


South Korea court upholds President Yoon’s impeachment, strips him of office

Updated 14 min 47 sec ago
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South Korea court upholds President Yoon’s impeachment, strips him of office

SEOUL, South Korea: South Korea’s Constitutional Court removed impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol from office on Friday, four months after he threw South Korean politics into turmoil by declaring martial law and sending troops to parliament in an ill-fated effort to break through legislative gridlock.
The unanimous verdict comes more than three months after the opposition-controlled National Assembly voted to impeach Yoon. South Korea must now hold a national election within two months to find a new president. Surveys show Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favorite to become the country’s next president.
At an anti-Yoon rally near the old royal palace that dominates downtown Seoul, People erupted into jubilant tears and dancing when the verdict was announced. Two women wept as they hugged and an old man near them leapt to his feet and screamed with joy.
Yoon’s declaration of martial law and subsequent impeachment plunged the country into political turmoil, with millions taking to the streets to denounce or support him. Many experts say Yoon supporters will likely intensify their rallies in the wake of the court’s decision, prolonging national division.
After abruptly declaring martial law on Dec. 3, Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly. He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Yoon ordered them to drag out lawmakers to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.
Enough lawmakers eventually managed to get in and voted to strike down Yoon’s decree unanimously.
The National Assembly voted to impeach Yoon Dec. 14, accusing him of violating the constitution and other laws by suppressing assembly activities, attempting to detain politicians, and undermining peace across the country.


‘Frightening’: US restaurants, producers face tariff whiplash

Updated 30 min 29 sec ago
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‘Frightening’: US restaurants, producers face tariff whiplash

  • Trump has unveiled a sweeping 10 percent tariff on most US trading partners, set to take effect on Saturday
  • The list covers about 60 partners including the European Union, China, India and Japan

WASHINGTON: From European wines to industrial tools, global tariffs launched by US President Donald Trump this week promise to sweep through the world’s biggest economy, impacting everyone from restaurant owners to industrial manufacturers.
For Brett Gitter, who makes his quality control instruments in China-based factories, Trump’s planned tariff hike on goods from the country marks a further price surge to potentially startling levels for customers.
“I add a surcharge at the bottom of every invoice to cover the expense of the tariff,” he told AFP.
“The bottom of the invoice now is going to say 54 percent,” he added, referring to a new rate hitting Chinese imports starting next Wednesday.
All of this stacks on an existing 25 percent rate Chinese imports already faced before Trump returned to the presidency, he said, although he tried to absorb some of the earlier duties.
“That’s a lot,” he added. “That’s going to alarm people.”
This week, Trump unveiled a sweeping 10 percent tariff on most US trading partners, set to take effect on Saturday.
He declared that foreign trade practices have caused a “national emergency,” imposing levies to boost his country’s position.
Additionally, “worst offenders” that have large trade imbalances with the United States will face even higher rates come April 9.
The list covers about 60 partners including the European Union, China, India and Japan.
Gitter said his customers, who are American manufacturers too, will have to decide if they want to foot the higher bill.
“Other countries that have similar types of product have added tariffs too,” he said.
“Where does my product made in China fit, and how bad does it take a hit compared to other competitors?“

Andrew Fortgang, who runs three restaurants and a wine shop in Oregon, worries about Trump’s additional 20 percent tariff on European Union imports — specifically, wine.
The rate is also taking effect April 9.
“Probably 25 percent of our revenue is from imported wine,” he told AFP, noting that the steep tariff will bite.
For these sales to vanish would be “really frightening,” he said.
Beyond that, “everything from oil, to mustards, cheeses, and meats, they are just not fungible, they are not made here,” Fortgang said. “It’s going to add up.”
While he expects he would be forced to pass on some costs to consumers by hiking menu prices, high inflation after the Covid-19 pandemic have weighed on customers.
“You’ll kind of reach a tipping point,” he said, “on how much you can raise prices.”
US Wine Trade Alliance president Ben Aneff called the plan “a disaster for small businesses.”
“Restaurants really rely on large margins in order to effectively subsidize the rest of their business,” he said, adding that consumers will likely see higher prices.
“We import about $4.5 billion worth of (wine) from the EU and US businesses make almost $25 billion from those imports. There is no plug for that hole,” he told AFP.
Others in the food and beverages sector have already been hit by Trump’s multiple waves of tariffs.
Bill Butcher, a craft brewer in Virginia, earlier saw a shortage of glass bottles for his beers when metals tariffs took effect in March — as industry giants pivoted away from aluminum cans to avoid added costs.
Now, he awaits suppliers’ verdict on how much the incoming tariffs on European goods will add to costs for the grains and hops needed in his brews.
“It’s just a lot of uncertainty and chaos in our supply chain,” he said.

Gitter, whose business is based in New Jersey, has tried “many times” to relocate production to the United States.
“There’s a lack of infrastructure in the US to support what we do,” he said.
The printed circuit boards used in his instruments, for example, require chips made in East Asia.
Will Thomas, whose company transforms coils of steel into metal products, added: “We import from necessity, not desire.”
While he is not hard hit by Trump’s partner-based tariffs this week, earlier 25 percent duties on steel and aluminum imports have eaten away at his profits.
“I’m hoping this is not another nail in the coffin for foreign supply,” Thomas said.
“I would just like the leaders of the countries to be able to sit down and work things out.”
 


Lawyers for a detained Tufts student from Turkiye demand she be returned to Massachusetts

Updated 56 min 29 sec ago
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Lawyers for a detained Tufts student from Turkiye demand she be returned to Massachusetts

  • Rumeysa Ozturk was taken into custody by federal agents in Boston on March 25 and next day and moved to an immigration center in Basile, Louisiana
  • She is among several people with ties to US universities who publicly expressed support for Palestinians during the war in Gaza and who recently had visas revoked

BOSTON: Lawyers for a Tufts University doctoral student from Turkiye who was seized by immigration officials off a street near Boston argued in federal court Thursday that she should be returned to Massachusetts, while the US government insisted it did nothing wrong in moving her to a detention center in Louisiana.
Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, was taken into custody as she walked along a suburban street March 25. After being transported to New Hampshire and then Vermont, she was put on a plane the next day and moved to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement center in Basile, Louisiana.
“She was grabbed by federal agents in front of her home and taken over the course of several hours to Vermont without any way to contact counsel or counsel to contact her and with her location for period 22 hours being undisclosed to the Department of Justice attorneys in this case,” Adriana Lafaille, one of her attorneys, told the court.
Ozturk’s lawyers asked US District Judge Denise Casper to order that she be immediately returned to Massachusetts and released from custody. If Ozturk isn’t returned to Massachusetts, Lafaille added, she should be taken to Vermont.
Mark Sauter, a Justice Department lawyer, argued that ICE had a plan for her transport before she was detained and only moved her to Louisiana because there was no bed space for female immigration detainees in New England.
“There was no attempt to manipulate the jurisdiction,” Sauter told the court.
The US attorneys have argued the case should go before an immigration judge.
Ozturk had been moved to Vermont by the time Casper in Boston had ordered authorities to keep her in Massachusetts, they said.
Ozturk’s lawyers said at the time they filed the petition, they had no way of knowing where she was. They have said her detention violates her constitutional rights, including free speech and due process.
Casper issued no immediate decision on the matter after hearing arguments.
Ozturk is among several people with ties to American universities who attended demonstrations or publicly expressed support for Palestinians during the war in Gaza and who recently had visas revoked or been stopped from entering the US.
She was one of four students who wrote an op-ed in The Tufts Daily last year criticizing the university’s response to student activists’ demands. The student activists were demanding that Tufts “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,” disclose its investments and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.
On Thursday, her lawyer released a letter from Ozturk in which she talked about her research and said she would continue to stand up against injustice.
“I believe the world is a more beautiful and peaceful place when we listen to each other and allow different perspectives to be in the room,” she wrote.
“Efforts to target me because of my op-ed in the Tufts Daily calling for the equal dignity and humanity of all people will not deter me from my commitment to advocate for the rights of youth and children,” she added.
Outside court Thursday, about 50 protesters chanting “Rumeysa Ozturk Now” and ICE Out Of Boston” marched and held up signs like one reading: “No More Abductions.”
Recently, two dozen of Ozturk’s colleagues and Tufts University submitted letters to the court backing that request, describing her as a gentle, compassionate and cherished member of the Tufts community.
Reyyan Bilge, a close friend who collaborated with Ozturk on research, was present in court Thursday and described her as a “wonderful student, a wonderful human being.”
“It’s like a nightmare,” she said. “Who would have thought? She came here to do her job as a student, as an exceptional student ... Out of the blue, she was taken for doing nothing wrong, How would you feel if you were to be either your daughter, or your niece, or like someone that’s close to you?“
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed the termination of Ozturk’s visa last week. The official said investigations found she had engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a US-designated terrorist group, but provided no evidence.
Hamas militants invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and seizing about 250 hostages. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 50,000 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and destroyed much of the enclave.
 


Pentagon watchdog to review Hegseth’s use of Signal app to convey plans for Houthi strike

Updated 04 April 2025
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Pentagon watchdog to review Hegseth’s use of Signal app to convey plans for Houthi strike

  • Hegseth and other members of the Trump administration are required by law to archive their official conversations

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon’s acting inspector general announced Thursday that he would review Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the Signal messaging app to convey plans for a military strike against Houthi militants in Yemen.
The review will also look at other defense officials’ use of the publicly available encrypted app, which is not able to handle classified material and is not part of the Defense Department’s secure communications network.
Hegseth’s use of the app came to light when a journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, was inadvertently added to a Signal text chain by national security adviser Mike Waltz. The chain included Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and others, brought together to discuss March 15 military operations against the Iran-backed Houthis.
“The objective of this evaluation is to determine the extent to which the Secretary of Defense and other DoD personnel complied with DoD policies and procedures for the use of a commercial messaging application for official business,” the acting inspector general, Steven Stebbins, said in a notification letter to Hegseth.
The letter also said his office “will review compliance with classification and records retention requirements.”
Hegseth and other members of the Trump administration are required by law to archive their official conversations, and it is not clear if copies of the discussions were forwarded to an official email so they could be permanently captured for federal records keeping.
The Pentagon referred all questions to the inspector general’s office, citing the ongoing investigation.
President Donald Trump grew frustrated when asked about the review.
“You’re bringing that up again,” Trump scoffed at a reporter. “Don’t bring that up again. Your editors probably — that’s such a wasted story.”
In the chain, Hegseth provided the exact timings of warplane launches and when bombs would drop — before the men and women carrying out those attacks on behalf of the United States were airborne.
The review was launched at the request of Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the committee’s top Democrat.
In congressional hearings, Democratic lawmakers have expressed concern about the use of Signal and pressed military officers on whether they would find it appropriate to use the commercial app to discuss military operations.
Both current and former military officials have said the level of detail Hegseth shared on Signal most likely would have been classified. The Trump administration has insisted no classified information was shared.
Waltz is fighting back against calls for his ouster and, so far, Trump has said he stands by his national security adviser.
On Thursday, Trump fired several members of Waltz’s staff after far-right activist Laura Loomer urged the president to purge staffers she deemed insufficiently loyal to his “Make America Great Again” agenda, several people familiar with the matter said.
In his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday, Trump’s nominee for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, would not say whether the officials should have used a more secure communications system to discuss the attack plans.
“What I will say is we should always preserve the element of surprise,” Caine told senators.