ABU DHABI Ñ The Haj pilgrimage to Mecca formally ended on late Sunday as hundreds of thousands left the
pilgrimage site for the airport for flights abroad.
Despite Saudi warnings, Iran continued its
demonstrations against Israel and the United States during the Haj.
Thousands of Iranian pilgrims condemned the West in an unauthorized
demonstration against the United States and Israel on Friday, the Iranian
news agency IRNA reported. The report was confirmed by Saudi officials.
This was the second unauthorized Iranian political demonstration in as
many days. Saudi security forces did not intervene.
Saudi officials have not publicly responded to the Iranian
demonstrations. Gulf sources who are monitoring the Haj said the Saudi
regime appears to have quietly agreed to tolerate the Iranian protests as
long as
they are limited to the compound of pilgrims from that country.
"So far, we have been successful in implementing the security plan,"
Gen.
Saleh Ibn Taha Al Khosaifan, a senior Interior Ministry official, said.
More than 90,000 police and troops have been patrolling Mecca to
maintain order over 2.5 million pilgrims. The security forces closely
monitored the last stage of the Haj pilgrimage, in which Muslims threw
stones at a pillar in a ritual to symbolize the stoning of the devil. In
previous years, the ceremony was marred by violence and stampedes by the
pilgrims.
"This year's Haj operation was successful by all standards," Saudi
Interior Minister Prince Nayef said.
