Over 200,000 Indonesian pilgrims arrive in S. Arabia as start of haj nears

Agencies

Up to 204,873 Indonesian pilgrims have arrived in Saudi Arabia while some 127 pilgrims canceled their pilgrimages for various reasons.

As of Monday the number of Indonesian pilgrims who died in Saudi Arabia reached 91 people.

The Haj Media Center said most of the 91 pilgrims -- 57 men and 34 women -- died in Madinah, Mecca and Jeddah.

Agence-France Presse reported that with security uppermost in their minds after last year's bombings in Riyadh, on Tuesday Saudi authorities put the final touches to plans to ensure the safety of more than two million Muslim faithful.

"Security forces are fully prepared to deal with any emergency or anyone who would attempt to undermine the security of the country or threaten the haj," Gen. Ali bin Ahmad al-Bar was quoted by AFP as saying.

Interior minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz was scheduled on Tuesday to inspect the security arrangements for the pilgrimage, which starts on Friday and climaxes the following day. Police reinforcements have been deployed at the entrances to Mecca and on the roads leading to holy sites in order to direct traffic.

Some 14,200 buses will be used to ferry pilgrims to the holy sites. Others will be traveling by cab or private car.

Up to 1,039 surveillance cameras installed on roads leading to the holy places enable security forces to keep a watch on the pilgrims and if necessary intervene, Tuesday's edition of the daily Al-Watan quoted Gen. Abdul Aziz bin Said as saying.

Saudi authorities have for many years been taking precautions to head off any trouble caused by foreign pilgrims. They have also banned meetings or the raising of banners since 1987, when clashes between security forces and Iranians protesting against Israel and the United States killed 402 people, according to official figures.

But this year's security concerns focus on the threat from within -- extremists from Al-Qaeda blamed for a series of suicide bombings that killed 52 people in Riyadh last May and November.

Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh told Mecca academics Monday night that the Prophet Mohammad "banned the carrying of arms in the holy places."

AFP reported that the pilgrims' efforts are being aided by cool weather this year with temperatures expected to swing between 14 degrees and 32 degrees Celsius on Saturday, the pivotal day of the haj, when the faithful gather at Mount Arafat before dawn and stay there until sunset praying for forgiveness.

Mecca and the nearby holy city of Medina were hit with torrential rains last week causing floods. The cold weather has caught some of the pilgrims coming from warm countries by surprise.

At least 113 pilgrims, mostly from Southeast Asia, have died, many of them from exhaustion, chronic illnesses or road accidents, the Saudi Gazette reported on Sunday.

Many pilgrims were seen wearing masks for fear of contracting bird flu or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed nearly 800 people around the world last year.