MAKKAH, 3 January 2007 — Interior Minister Prince Naif thanked all government sectors which worked hard to guarantee the comfort, security and safety of the pilgrims this season.

“I am fully confident that all security men at the moment feel relief, satisfaction and confidence that they have performed their duty in the best way they could. There is nothing that could give one more comfort than drawing up careful plans and implementing them to bring the Haj to a successful conclusion,” Prince Naif, who is also the chairman of the Supreme Committee for Haj, said Monday night.

Pilgrim after pilgrim that Arab News team talked to at the end of Haj praised the Saudi authorities for the excellent arrangements.

“It is for no small reason that God has blessed them with all His bounty,” said Shaukat Ali from Delhi. “Their services are unimaginable. We keep hearing people the world over talking ill of them. But we want to tell Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah that you are the real leaders of the Ummah. Your services to the pilgrims cannot be described in words. May God bless them till eternity.”

“The massive infrastructure is mind-boggling,” said Suad Barakat, a pilgrim from Alexandria, Egypt. “And what is important for everybody to know is that this government doesn’t take a penny from us. Whatever money the pilgrim spends basically it is on air fare and for the accommodation in Makkah, Madinah and Mina.”

Suad’s husband Galal Muhammad Khalafallah said he was pleasantly surprised by the high number of pilgrims who stayed back in Mina for the fourth day of stoning.

“Earlier pilgrims would rush on the third day. Part of the problem that led to tragedies in the past was this mass of people wanting to leave on the third day of stoning. It would be ideal if a substantial number stayed back for the fourth day in Mina,” he said, adding that this time even the pilgrim establishments were encouraging pilgrims to stay back. “Earlier they would just rush people into doing the stoning on the third day leading to all kinds of problems.”

Makkah yesterday was packed with pilgrims who were pouring from Mina to perform circumambulation (Tawaf-e-Ifada and Tawaf Al-Wida). But once the circumambulation was done, pilgrims greeted and hugged each other in excitement and celebration.

— Input by Siraj Wahab, Syed Faisal Ali, Samir Al-Saadi, Galal Fakkar and Zainy Abbas