MENA, Dec 30: More than two million Muslim pilgrims began a symbolic devil-stoning ritual on Saturday, putting to the test new safety measures at a stage of the Haj that has seen tragedy in the past.

Security fears were high during this Haj season because of sectarian strife between Sunnis and Shias in Iraq and elsewhere in the region.

“We have not changed our plans. We have prepared for the worst, but so far things have been very quiet,” said a security officer at Mena outside Makkah, who asked not to be named.

Eidul Azha, the most important day in the Islamic calendar, marks the beginning of the three-day stoning ritual at the Jamarat Bridge when pilgrims symbolically cast out sin.

With such large crowds, Saudi Arabia deploys more than 50,000 security men to try to avoid deadly stampedes, as well as attacks by Islamists opposed to the US-allied Saudi royals.

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, clad in white robes symbolising equality and selflessness, managed to move over the Jamarat Bridge on Saturday without incident.

In the worst Haj tragedy in 16 years, 362 pilgrims were crushed to death in January as crowds surged across the bridge to throw stones at three large walls representing the spot where Satan tempted the biblical patriarch Abraham.

“Circulation has been fluid, people have managed to get on and off the bridge with ease,” said Zohra Qanqum from Morocco.

New construction work allows 250,000 pilgrims to pass over the bridge in safety. For the first time, Saudi authorities have also removed most of the pilgrim squatters who in past years have set up tents at the side of the bridge.

“This is incomparable to previous years. I managed to throw my stones in less than an hour early in the morning,” said Mohammed Abdel-Jabbar from Sudan.

Saudi government-backed clerics have encouraged pilgrims to stone throughout the day, challenging hardliners who insist on the afternoon and thus risk a surge of pilgrims at one time.—Reuters