 
 
 
 
 
 
|
|
|
|
17 January 2005
|
Monday
|
06 Zilhaj 1425
|
'Haj safe from attacks, stampede'
MAKKAH, Jan 16: Saudi Arabia says it is ready to host more than two million pilgrims at this year's Haj after tightening security and safety to ensure the annual Muslim rite passes without incident.
The authorities want to thwart possible attacks by Al Qaeda, which has waged a 20-month campaign of violence in the kingdom, political demonstrations by pilgrims from Iran or Libya and crowd stampedes of the kind that killed 250 people last year.
Speaking after a parade of special civil and military defence forces during a tour of the holy sites ahead of the pilgrimage, which begins on Tuesday, Interior Minister Prince Nayef said there was extra security this year.
"We hope nothing will happen to disturb Haj security (and) we are sure that everyone coming here is doing so to perform Haj," he told a news conference. "But security incidents do not declare themselves in advance.
You cannot guess what a criminal can do," he said, adding the kingdom was doing all it could to stop militants using Haj as a staging post for crossing into neighbouring Iraq. "Victory, power, determination and will!" elite anti-terror forces dressed head-to-foot in black chanted as they marched past Prince Nayef on Saturday.
Interior ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki put the total number of police in the wider Makkah region at 50,000, including a record 7,000 special forces to combat militants, demonstrators and disorderly behaviour leading to overcrowding. "Terrorists still have some ability to execute terrorist acts," he said.
STAMPEDE FEARS: Haj Minister Iyad Madani said 1.6 million pilgrims were expected from abroad this year, in addition to half a million from within the kingdom.
But speaking after a banquet in Makkah on Saturday, he said hundreds of thousands more could stream in from the region around Makkah at the Haj climax at Mount Arafat on Wednesday. "There could be up to three million people on that day," he told reporters, adding Saudi Arabia had been unfairly criticized over past stampedes. -Reuters
|
