Saudi police nab militants as pilgrims complete haj

By Jonathan Wright

MECCA, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Saudi security forces arrested suspected al Qaeda militants planning attacks during the haj pilgrimage, a Saudi-owned television said on Friday as Muslim pilgrims performed the last rituals in Mecca.

Dubai-based Al Arabiya television quoted an unnamed security official as saying the suspects aimed to cause "security confusion" during the annual pilgrimage, in which more than 2 million Muslims were taking part.

The suspects were arrested in various cities in the kingdom days before the start of the pilgrimage on Monday, the official was quoted as telling the station. The report did not say how many were being held.

One of the world's biggest displays of mass religious devotion, the haj has been marred in previous years by fires, hotel collapses, clashes between police and protesters and deadly stampedes caused by overcrowding.

But as pilgrims drew to the end of their five-day mission on Friday amid strict police controls to avoid crowding, no incidents had been reported this year.

A security source told Reuters attacks had not been planned in the holy city of Mecca or in other haj sites.

Pilgrims held a mass farewell visit to the Kaaba, an ancient stone shrine which all Muslims face during their daily prayers.

Most of the pilgrims earlier performed their third stoning of walls representing the devil and left the Mina area for nearby Mecca. Those unable to leave by sunset were staying a third night in the area.

The ritual passed without incident at the Jamarat, an accident spot during earlier pilgrimages, with its three stone "pillars" now converted into long elliptical walls which can handle a much higher turnover of pilgrims.

Since some 362 people were killed in January 2006 in a crush at the Jamarat -- the worst haj accident in 16 years -- Saudi authorities have completed more than half of a massive infrastructure project which will cost more than $1 billion.

Pilgrims can now throw stones on three levels and a fourth is under construction.

WARY OF ATTACKS

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter and home to Islam's holiest sites, has been wary of any militant actions. Al Qaeda-linked militants launched a campaign to destabilize the U.S.-allied monarchy in 2003, and Saudi militants opposed to the royal family seized control of Mecca's Grand Mosque in 1979.

On Friday, police imposed a strict one-way system to curb crowding and insisted that people leave their bags outside.

When pilgrims had thrown their seven pebbles, many shouting: "In the name of God, God is great", police urged them not to linger on the other side. But the traffic was diminishing as the evening approached and the chances of an accident looked slight.