More Than 765,000 Pilgrims Have Arrived in Saudi Arabia for Hajj
Up until Tuesday, 719,000 pilgrims arrived by plane, 35,300 by land and 10,800 by sea, according to Major-General Abdul Aziz Sajini, head of the kingdom's passports department, quoted by the official SPA news agency.
Among the arrivals are 5,000 Iraqi pilgrims who crossed the Arar border post in northern Saudi Arabia. Some 17,000 Iraqi pilgrims are expected to perform the Hajj this year, AFP reported.
At least 600,000 more pilgrims are expected to arrive from all over the world before the arrival cutoff date of February 5, six days ahead of the Hajj climax, which is expected to fall this year on February 11.
These will be joined by at least half a million pilgrims from across Saudi Arabia and another 200,000 to 300,000 faithful from Mecca itself.
In the shadow of a possible U.S.-led war on neighboring Iraq, the Saudi cabinet on Monday called for a peaceful Hajj, advising hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to stay away from trouble.
Last year, Saudi authorities deployed tens of thousands of police, soldiers, national guards and special forces for an incident-free pilgrimage attended by some 2.5 million people.
Gatherings, slogans and movements which are not part of the traditional rites of the pilgrimage are totally banned.
All Muslims are required to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime, provided they have the means to do so.
Saudi authorities have stepped up preparations for the pilgrimage.
The Health Ministry has prepared some 21 hospitals and 300 medical centers, with a capacity of 7,000 beds, in Mecca, the surrounding sites and the city of Medina, some 450 km (275 miles) to the north.
An extra 9,500 medical staff including 115 specialists from the United States, Britain and Malaysia have been brought in.
The Saudi Red Crescent Society set up 115 centers with 314 ambulances.
Saudi telecom boosted phone circuits to 40,000 from last year's 35,000 and the mobile network has been expanded for more than 1.5 million lines.