Hassan told Haveeru that his office is facilitating the process of obtaining visa for Nasheed, parliament speaker Abdulla Shahid and former attorney general Ahmed Ali Sawad. A delay in the process was understandable as decisions pertaining to issuing visa through the royal protocol are made directly by the royal palace, he added. “The Saudi government did not deny him visa. As you know, a lot of people travel to Saudi Arabia at this time of the year,” he said. An official from the Saudi embassy in Sri Lanka told Haveeru on Tuesday that Nasheed's visa application was initially rejected prompting him to reapply. However, Hassan said he was not aware that Nasheed had reapplied and was confident that the former president would be granted visa. “The delay is in the visa process. But it’s still done through the royal protocol. We are making arrangements for Nasheed and his entire delegation,” he said. Machchangoalhi-North MP Mariya Ahmed Didi said Tuesday it would take a few days for Nasheed to get visa through the Saudi royal protocol. She confirmed that Nasheed was in Sri Lanka and would depart for pilgrimage as soon as the visa is arranged. She said Nasheed was extremely disappointed by reports that some of his opponents were trying to stymie his pilgrimage. However, president Mohamed Waheed Hassan, who himself departed to Saudi Wednesday morning for pilgrimage, insisted that the government would not stymie Nasheed’s pilgrimage in any way.