MINA, 28 January 2004 — Saudi Arabia is fully prepared for Haj, the largest annual gathering of Muslims, Interior Minister and Chairman of the Supreme Haj Committee Prince Naif announced here yesterday. Prince Naif reiterated the government’s resolve to provide the best possible services to the guests of God to help them perform their religious duties in peace and security.
“We are honored to serve the guests of God,” Prince Naif said and urged all officials involved in the Haj operations to provide the pilgrims with the best possible services.
Prince Naif said he expected a peaceful Haj this year. “We hope nothing will happen to disrupt the Haj. But if anything happens, we are fully prepared to confront it firmly and forcefully,” he told a news conference in Mina near Makkah.
The interior minister, who had earlier inspected the forces in charge of Haj security, including riot and anti-terror units, said these forces were “determined to confront any attempt to undermine security.”
Prince Naif said there was no plan to reduce the number of foreign Haj pilgrims. “We welcome all pilgrims,” he said and said that 41,000 Iraqis had come for Haj this year. He said Saudi Arabia would continue to introduce political and economic reforms based on Shariah.
He commended the efforts of the Haj Ministry, the tawafa organizations and other agencies to improve the services to pilgrims and urged them to treat all pilgrims equally. “We must create a good impression among pilgrims through our dedicated services,” the prince said.
More than two million pilgrims, including 1.3 million from abroad, are expected to perform Haj this year. The five-day ritual begins Friday. Saudi authorities have deployed additional security and military forces in Makkah and the surrounding areas to ensure the safety of pilgrims.
The minister said the Kingdom’s security forces were capable of rooting out terrorism. “There are no camps in the Kingdom to train terrorists. They are trained outside the Kingdom,” he added.
He said police had arrested three of the 24 wanted terror suspects. “A search is on for the rest,” he added. Asked whether investigators found any foreign hand in the explosions that took place in the Kingdom last year, Prince Naif said: “We don’t accuse anybody without proof.”
Police reinforcements have been deployed at the entrances to Makkah and on the roads leading to the holy sites in order to facilitate traffic. Some 14,200 buses, with a total seating capacity of 673,000, will be used to transport pilgrims to the holy sites, said Salah ibn Muhammad Saqr, head of the Haj Transport Commission. Up to 1,039 surveillance cameras have been installed on roads leading to the holy places to enable security forces to observe pilgrims and intervene if necessary, said Lt. Gen. Abdul Aziz ibn Saeed, commander of the command and control center.
Prince Naif, accompanied by the governor of Makkah and the ministers of Haj, information, health, transport, trade, finance and planning, inspected the Haj arrangements in Makkah, Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifa.
Health Minister Hamad Al-Manie said that he doubted that bird flu could arrive in the Kingdom through pilgrims coming from affected areas. “The Health Ministry has installed thermal cameras at all entry points to detect infected pilgrims,” he said.
