A Bosnian pilgrim who
left last December on pilgrimage to
Mecca on foot said that he has arrived
after passing through seven countries
including Syria. “I arrived in Mecca on
Saturday. I am not tired, these are the
best days of my life,” Senad Hadzic,
47, said when reached by phone on a
Saudi mobile number. He said that he
had covered some 5,700 km in 314
days of walking through Bosnia,
Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Syria and
Jordan to Saudi Arabia, with a
backpack weighing around 20 kg.
He charted his progress on his
Facebook page, where he posted a
picture apparently of an entry/exit
card for foreigners issued by the
Syrian Interior Ministry. “I passed
through Syria in April. I walked some
500 km in 11 days. I went through
Aleppo and Damascus and passed
dozens of check-points held by pro-
government and opposition forces
alike, but I was never detained,” the
Bosnian added.
“At a check-point held by forces the
soldier ordered me to empty my
backpack ... When I showed them the
holy Quran and explained I was
making the pilgrimage on foot, they
let me go,” he said. On his Facebook
page he said God had shown him the
way in dreams, including to go
through Syria instead of Iraq. During
the pilgrimage, Hadzic faced
temperatures ranging from minus 35
Celsius in Bulgaria to plus 44 Celsius in
Jordan and he said God helped him in
this. — AFP
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