Nasheed faces difficulties in obtaining visa to Saudi Arabia

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has run into a stone wall trying to obtain visa to Saudi Arabia to go for Umra.

Nasheed’s spokesperson Mariya Ahmed Didi told Sun Online today that Nasheed is presently in Sri Lanka and efforts are ongoing to obtain Saudi Arabian visa for him to go for Umra and also on a personal visit to Saudi Arabia.

She said that it was difficult to detail the exact the reason why Nasheed was having trouble obtaining the visa, and that Nasheed’s office would issue a statement in this regard later today.

When contacted by Sun Online regarding this matter, an official of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Sri Lanka asked to send a letter to request for this information.

However an official of the embassy who spoke to Haveeru said that Nasheed had not been granted the visa yet and efforts are still ongoing by re-submitting the papers, to obtain the visa for him.

An official of the Maldivian Embassy in Sri Lanka told Sun Online today that Nasheed is facing delays in obtaining the visa because the application was submitted too late. He said that Nasheed would probably be granted the visa, and that once the papers are submitted, it would be arranged by the Royal Palace in Saudi Arabia.

Sun Online has received information to indicate that along with Nasheed, Speaker of Parliament Abdullah Shahid and former Attorney General Ahmed Ali Sawad have also applied for visa to Saudi Arabia.

They first submitted the papers through the Foreign Ministry in the Maldives, but after they were informed that the visa would be processed by the Royal Palace in Saudi Arabia, they went to Sri Lanka and applied for the visa personally.

The Foreign Ministry said that it did not wish to comment on this matter.