Millions in Makkah for haj

MAKKAH: Around two million Muslims will today begin the annual haj pilgrimage to Makkah amid increased safety measures aimed at preventing stampedes which each year claim scores of lives. The Haj Commission reported that more than 1.6 million people had arrived in the kingdom by Tuesday and more were on their way. Saudis and other Muslims resident in the country are expected to swell the number of the faithful undertaking the haj to some two million - about the same number as last year. The official SPA news agency said Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, who also heads the Haj Supreme Committee, had taken charge of security arrangements and was marshalling security and civil defence forces in the holy city.Nayef warned that security forces would crack down on any attempt to undermine the haj. "We hope nothing will happen" to disrupt the pilgrimage, but "we will act firmly and vigorously" to deal with any risk, he told reporters late Tuesday in Mina near Makkah. "We will not tolerate any activity other than (haj rituals) whatever their nature," the Saudi official added when asked about the risks of sectarian tensions during the pilgrimage. His remarks come against a backdrop of the daily Sunni-Shiite violence in Iraq which has prompted some commentators to express concerns about the risks of a proxy conflict between Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia and Shiite-majority Iran.Since the 1979 Islamic revolution..... read more kuwait times 28/12/2006