MINA, Jan 18: Nearly two million Haj pilgrims from across the globe were preparing on Tuesday to spend the night in a city of tents in a valley close to Makkah on the first leg of the annual Haj journey.

Bus convoys ferried the pilgrims from Makkah to the canvas tents for the overnight wait for the climax of the Haj, which will come early on Wednesday when they ascend Mount Arafat.

Camps have been designated in accordance with the home countries of the pilgrims. Thousands of Saudi police regulated traffic, directing bus drivers heading to the camps, set up on just two square kilometres (less than a square mile) of a valley surrounded by arid hills.

Firemen and civil defence teams stood ready to handle any mishap while Red Crescent nurses and volunteers from several Arab countries treated sick pilgrims in makeshift clinics set up inside the tents.

Saudi Arabia has deployed more than 50,000 security men to ward off any trouble during the Haj. After performing the ritual on Mount Arafat, the pilgrims will return to Makkah on Thursday, the first day of Eidul Azha.

Most will sacrifice an animal, generally a sheep, in remembrance of Abraham's readiness to sacrifice his son to God. A total of 28 million dollars has been spent on modernizing the "jamarat" since the pilgrims were trampled or suffocated to death during a crush while performing the stoning ritual last year.

The pillars have been replaced by 25 metre (80 feet) high walls which stones can hit more easily, and the concrete enclosure of the site has been coated with rubber to dampen the shocks. -AFP