Cairo  - Arab health ministers have agreed to allow the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca this year, but banned elderly people and young children in order to limit the spread of the H1N1 swine flu virus, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

In six hours of talks in Cairo on Wednesday, the ministers agreed that people over the age of 65, children under the age of 12 and people with chronic illnesses should not be permitted to travel to Mecca, the state-owned al-Ahram daily reported.

The meeting, organized under the World Health Organization (WHO), whose Eastern Mediterranean regional office is based in the Egyptian capital, was held after eight Kuwaiti pilgrims tested positive after they returned from the Umrah, or "minor pilgrimage," last week.

On Sunday, Egypt announced the first swine flu death in the Middle East. The Health Ministry confirmed that 25-year-old Samah al-Sayid had died the previous day, after returning from the Umrah.

Saudi Minister of Health Abdullah al-Rabeeah said that the total number of pilgrims at the Hajj and Umra will not be restricted by the kingdom, although he expected the number to decline.

"We will not change the percentage of any country. We changed certain rules," he said after the meeting. "It's up to the country to replace applicants, who fall under the restrictions, with other pilgrims."

Saudi authorities estimate that some 3 million Muslims from around the world will descend on Mecca and Medina during the holy month of Ramadan, which begins in August, and during the pilgrimage, or Hajj, season in November.

Earlier this month, Tunisia suspended Umrah because of the virus, and is still considering whether Hajj should be undertaken.

Swine flu has killed more than 700 people worldwide, according to the latest WHO figures.(dpa)