French President opens Haj Exhibition in Paris

Paris: French President Francois Hollande and Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah opened a Haj exhibition in Paris last fortnight. King Abdul Aziz Library and the Paris-based Institute of Arab World jointly organized the event, which will run for three months. Faisal bin Muammar, adviser to King Abdullah and supervisor of the library said: “The Paris show reflects the warmth of Saudi-French relations.” He said the exhibition would showcase rare artifacts that have been collected from various international museums and it would give visitors an idea about the history of Haj, the routes followed by pilgrims to reach the holy sites in Makkah in ancient times, the various rituals of Haj and the development witnessed by Makkah during the Saudi era. The first Haj Exhibition was held in London two years ago.