Brasília – Over two million Muslims from various countries are headed for Mecca, Saudi Arabia this Wednesday to begin the annual pilgrimage. The ritual starts at a time when the Middle East is experiencing an intense crisis. Syria has been at civil war for 19 months, and in Lebanon a car bomb killed eight people and wounded more than 70 last week.
Muslim authorities inform that instability does not affect the pilgrimage. The rites begin today and end tomorrow (25th) at Mount Arafat, near Mecca.
The event is considered the world’s largest concentration of people, and forces Saudi authorities to set up a special security operation. The Interior minister, Ahmad Ben Abdel Aziz, guaranteed that this year’s pilgrimage will not be affected by regional instability.
In the last few days, over 1.6 million foreign pilgrims arrived at the Muslim holy city. In Saudi Arabia there are approximately 750,000 Muslims. The pilgrimage, known as Hajj, is mandatory to all Muslims. They must participate at least once in their lifetimes.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
