PREVIEW-Wary of past disaster, Saudi Arabia braces for haj
Source: Reuters
By Andrew Hammond RIYADH, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Over two million Muslims begin the haj in Saudi Arabia this week, amid fears of sectarian violence and militant attack as well as the stampedes and hotel collapses that have marred the pilgrimage in recent years. A duty for every able-bodied Muslim at least once in a lifetime, the gruelling five-day ritual beginning on Friday is one of the world's biggest displays of mass religious devotion. Pilgrims converge on the Grand Mosque in Mecca and follow a route around the rocky mountains of the ancient city in line with a tradition established by the Prophet Mohammed. Overcrowding is a perennial worry but this time, regional tension between Shi'ites and Sunnis has heightened security concerns while authorities remain on the look-out for al Qaeda-linked militant violence -- a fear in recent years. "We have been prepared to deal with the worst, may God forbid it, including things that can be deadlier than sectarian violence ... stampedes or building collapses," said a senior police officer in Mecca, declining to say if measures were in place to monitor specific religious sects during the pilgrimage. The haj takes place in the shadow of violence between Sunnis and Shi'ites that has taken Iraq to the brink of civil war this year. Sunni-Shi'ite tension is also high in Lebanon, where Shi'ites are leading efforts to bring down a Sunni-led cabinet. Iranian and other pilgrims have used the haj for political protests in the past. Shi'ite Iran is at loggerheads with the West over its nuclear programme and its backing Shi'ite groups in Arab countries, raising the potential for trouble at the haj. "There is enough violence and bloodshed on the news about Muslims. Shame on those who provoke or get involved in more violence against fellow Muslims and spoil the haj for themselves and others,"said Iranian teacher Ahmed Nasifi, in Mecca for haj. STAMPEDES, ATTACK? The interior ministry is expected to deploy over 50,000 men in the Mecca area to combat potential militants, demonstrators and disorderly behaviour that could lead to overcrowding. In 1979, radical Muslims of Saudi Arabia's hard-line Wahhabi form of Sunni Islam managed to seize the Grand Mosque in Mecca in a two-week stand-off that the U.S.-allied absolute monarchy has been determined never to see happen again. Al Qaeda militants, beholden to Saudi-born radical Osama bin Laden and holding dear the memory of the Mecca rebellion, launched a violent campaign to topple the royals in 2003. Saudi Arabia said earlier this month it had detained 136 foreign and Saudi militants, some posing as pilgrims, who were planning a series of suicide bombings and assassinations around the desert country of 24 million people. In January, 362 pilgrims died in overcrowding at the Jamarat Bridge on the last day. That followed the death of 76 people when a hotel collapsed in Mecca before the rites began. The 2005 death toll was the worst since 1990 when 1,426 people were killed in a stampede in a tunnel in Mecca. The authorities say rigorous checks have been put in place in Mecca's hotels to avoid a repeat of the last tragedy. The bridge at Mena has been revamped with a more elaborate bridge involving a four-level system of entrances and exits to three ways where pilgrims symbolically stone Satan. Saudi Arabia usually hosts some 1.5 million pilgrims from abroad, and grants visas to 500,000 inside the kingdom, but the number often swells to 2.5 million as people sneak in illegally. The authorities rule out a major reduction in the number of pilgrims they accept, as the duty is seen as key to the monarchy's legitimacy among the world's Muslims. (Additional reporting by Souheil Karam)
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