King Salman to host New Zealand terror victims' families for Haj

200 relatives and survivors from the Christchurch mosque shootings will take part in the Haj pilgrimage.

Aya Al Umari says she feels like her brother will be accompanying her and will constantly be in her prayers when she travels to the holy city of Makkah next month to take part in the annual Haj pilgrimage.
Al Umari is one of 200 relatives and survivors from the Christchurch mosque shootings who are traveling to Saudi Arabia as guests of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi ambassador to New Zealand on Friday said farewell to the pilgrims at the Al Noor mosque, one of two mosques where a gunman killed 51 people in March.
Al Umari's 35-year-old brother Hussein was among those killed.

She says it's an honour that King Salman is sponsoring the trips, a fact reinforced in her visa documents stating she's traveling as a guest of the custodian of the two holy mosques.

• Saudi Arabia