Singapore to stop appeals for young Haj-bound women

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore women under the age of 45 will no longer be able to travel alone on the annual haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, the Singapore Straits Times reported on Monday.

Under Saudi Arabian law, haj-bound Muslim women under the age of 45 must be accompanied by a close male relative.

However, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore has over the past few years appealed directly to Saudi Arabian authorities to let unaccompanied women from Singapore attend the religious pilgrimage in Mecca.

The council said it will stop doing so from next year after two years of failed appeals.

"We should respect the laws they (the Saudi Arabian authorities) have laid down," Yaacob Ibrahim, Singapore's Minister for Muslim affairs, told the Straits Times.

Saudi Arabia has conservative laws regarding women, including a prohibition on driving.

Over the past two years, 121 Muslim women in Singapore missed out on the haj after their appeals to Saudi Arabian authorities failed, the Straits Times said.

"It is better to stop the appeals as it avoids complications with people being unable to go," a spokesperson from the Islamic Religious Council told the newspaper.

(Reporting by Melanie Lee)