Muslim pilgrims reach Saudi Arabia for haj

Muslim pilgrims reach Saudi Arabia for haj

More than 571,000 Muslim pilgrims have arrived in Saudi Arabia for the annual hajj pilgrimage which starts next month, a senior official announced Sunday.

About 557,000 of the pilgrims flew in, while the rest arrived by sea and land until Saturday, Major-General Abdul Aziz Sajini, passports department head, said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency.

The last day for entry into the kingfom is five days before the hajj climax which is expected to fall this year on February 11, depending on lunar sightings.

Sajini gave no breakdown of the pilgrims' nationalities but Indonesia has the largest hajj quota of 200,000 this year, followed by 130,000 from Pakistan, 116,000 Indians, 103,000 Turks, 91,000 Iranians and 88,000 Egyptians.

The governor of Mecca, Prince Abdul Majeed bin Abdul Aziz, was scheduled later Sunday to tour Mecca, Islam's holiest place and site of the Grand Mosque.

Saudi Arabia is gearing up for around 2.5 million pilgrims from inside the kingdom and from abroad, amid a looming U.S. war against neighboring Iraq.

All Muslims are required to make the pilgrimage to Mecca, one of the five pillars of Islam, at least once in their lifetime, if they have the means and physical strength to do so.

Last year's hajj attracted more than two million pilgrims.

Saudi Arabia has pledged that security forces will maintain law and order, particularly in light of the tense situation over Iraq.

Last year, Saudi authorities deployed tens of thousands of police, army, national guards and special forces in the biggest security exercise during the hajj which came a few months after the September 11, 2001 attacks. -- AFP