Every measure taken for secure Haj

NO PROBLEMS: Saudi Arabia said it has taken all measures to ensure a secure Haj. (Getty Images)

A Saudi minister said Saturday that one of the important priorities for Haj is security of the pilgrims and that the government has done the utmost to ensure there would be no problems.

"Saudi Arabia has mobilised all the needed security and municipality forces for a smooth Haj, so hopefully we will not see any problems," the Saudi interior minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, who heads the Haj supreme committee, told reporters.

Officials on Saturday said that by Friday more than 1.6 million Muslims have arrived in Saudi Arabia for the annual Muslim Haj in Mecca.

Earlier he inspected a parade which involved selected units from the commando, anti-terrorism, anti-riot, bombs removal, sniper, rapid intervention and crowd management units of the Saudi security forces.

Water canon trucks, light armored personnel carriers, emergency rescue helicopters, ambulances and dinghies were also displayed.

"The Iranian president [Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] will perform Haj on an official invitation from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques [King Abdullah]," he responded to a question about a visit by the Ahmadinejad to perform the Haj in Saudi Arabia.

It is the first time a president of the Islamic republic is to attend the annual Muslim pilgrimage.

He added: "There will be no special security measures [regarding his safety] for him."

Asked what the biggest challenge for the Saudi Arabia is during the Haj season he replied: "Though with God's help we will not have any problem, but nonetheless we are ready for any conditions."

"With God's help we were able to finish the third storey of the Jamarat bridge, so there will be less crowd gathering in one place and we hope that the hajis will cooperate with the security men."

The precautions and security measures are to try to prevent a repeat of the high death tolls that have often characterised past pilgrimages, such as last year when 364 people were killed in a stampede at the entrance of the Jamarat Bridge, where Muslims cast stones at a pillar representing Satan.

The stoning ritual has created some of the worst scenes of panic during the Haj, including that in 2004 when 251 pilgrims died, and in 1994 when 270 perished in a stampede.

The official Saudi news agency SPA quoted the Haj central commission as saying that 1.6 million people had by Wednesday already arrived in Saudi Arabia ahead of the celebrations which begin on Monday.

The annual pilgrimage, which attracts hundreds of thousands of Saudi faithful as well as foreign residents in the kingdom, begins on the eighth day of the month of Dhi Al-Haja under the lunar calendar.

The high point of the Haj, when pilgrims converge on Mount Arafat, will take place on Tuesday, and Eid Al-Adha, the Muslim Feast of the Sacrifice marking the end of the pilgrimage, will be celebrated the next day.

All Muslims are required to make the haj to Mecca, in western Saudi Arabia, at least once in their lifetime if they have the means to do so.

Pilgrims sacrifice an animal, usually a sheep, for Eid Al-Adha as part of the rituals.

Nearly 2.4 million people flocked to Saudi Arabia to perform the last Haj, including more than 1.6 million from outside the kingdom.

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