The United Nations has given the Afghan national airline, Ariana, permission to make ninety round trips to Saudi Arabia during the Haj.

The decision represents an exemption from the UN sanctions which were imposed on Afghanistan last November after the Taleban authorities refused to extradite the Saudi-born dissident, Osama bin Laden. He is accused of ordering bomb attacks on American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The UN sanctions committee agreed that the Ariana flights could operate from Kabul and Kandahar to Jeddah, with refuelling stops at Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.

About twelve-thousand Afghan pilgrims are expected on the flights.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service