A report in one of Iraq's official weekly newspapers, Al Zawra, says that Iraq will not be be able to fund any individual pilgrimages to Mecca in Saudi Arabia this year.

The Religious Affair Minister, Abdelmunim Ahmad Saleh, is quoted in the paper as saying that the pilgrimages oblige the government to transfer tens of thousands of dollars out of the country, and that it can no longer afford to release the hard currency.

The pilgrimages, or umrah, to Mecca can be made by Muslims at any time of the year.