Idul Adha passes peacefully

Idul Adha passes peacefully

DUBAI (Reuter): Huge crowds of Moslem pilgrims slaughtered sheep and cows and symbolically stoned the devil yesterday to mark Idul Adha at the end of the pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.

The rituals were free of trouble, officials said.

At dawn, pilgrims in white robes hurled stones at a pillar symbolizing the devil on the outskirts of the holy city of Mecca, site of a stampede which killed 270 people in 1994.

Saudi television showed a sea of pilgrims jostling for position to stone the pillar to the chants of Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest) in the last ritual of haj, which reached its climax on Saturday at Mount Arafat where Prophet Mohammad gave his last sermon 14 centuries ago.

Witnesses said the pilgrims started afternoon prayers slaughtering sheep, goats and cows to celebrate Idul Adha, which is also marked by some one billion Moslems around the world.

The meat is donated to the poor and charities.

Saudi media quoted officials as saying this year's haj, which in the past had been marred by tragedies, proceeded peacefully as the Moslems from around the world performed their holy duties.

Witnesses said Saudi security forces were deployed in force at haj sites to maintain order. Saudi Arabia has spent more than US$18 billion on expansion plans to avoid congestion during haj.

There was no Saudi reaction to Iranian claims that its pilgrims and others held a rally denouncing the United States and Israel at Mount Arafat on Saturday morning, defying a Saudi ban on political activity during haj.

Iranian television last Saturday showed pictures of hundreds of men and women raising their fists to chants of "Death to America", "Death to Israel" and "America is the enemy of God" in Arabic inside what looked like a large tent.

Saudi Arabia had repeatedly said it would deal harshly with any pilgrims who defy the ban.