The leader of Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement has lashed out at Saudi Arabia for mishandling of the Hajj rituals, saying restrictions imposed on Muslims for this year’s Hajj are reminiscent of Israel’s repeated desecration of the al-Aqsa Mosque.
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A large number of Muslims attended the Eid prayers, where special prayers were offered for the unity among the Muslim Ummah and peace in the world.
The comments came after this year’s Hajj pilgrimage began in Saudi Arabia on Saturday without the presence of pilgrims from Iran.
Although Riyadh stuck with a stampede death toll of 769, reports from foreign officials in more than 30 countries gave a tally nearly three times higher – at least 2,297.
During the Hajj, devoted Muslims perform a series of religious rituals, including walking counterclockwise around the Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure at the center of the Grand Mosque of Mecca, which Muslims believe is the spot where the Prophet Abraham built his first temple to God.
The day spent on Mount Arafat is the pinnacle of the five-day hajj pilgrimage, which all able-bodied Muslims are required to perform at least once.
They are spending the most important day of the annual Haj in prayer and reading from the Koran. Pilgrims have told AFP they feel safe and noticed organizational improvements.
Authorities aim to give bracelets to each of the 1.3 million faithful from overseas, who are joined by more than 100,000 Muslims residing in Saudi Arabia.
King Salman was in Mina on Monday, the first day of the Eid al-Adha feast, to oversee implementation of the plan to avoid potentially deadly congestion.
Government facilities have been moved out of Mina to free up space, and roads in the jamarat area expanded, Saudi newspapers reported.
“Saudi Arabia, which manages the hajj, investigated how that could have happened, but it’s not released results, which has infuriated Iran, which lost hundreds of citizens”.
Iranian authorities – who assert that more than 4,500 people died during last year’s disaster, according to The New York Times – announced in May that Saudi Arabia had made insufficient progress in addressing safety concerns.
He proposed that any such inquiry into the incident be conducted by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, adding Saudi Arabia has to pay compensation to the victims, should it be found guilty of negligence in managing the pilgrimage.
“The Saudis organise everything for us. We are truly at ease here”, Youssef al-Mehri, 24, from Oman said with a prayer rug slung over his shoulder.
Helicopters have been monitoring the flow of pilgrims, while police have been directing them on the ground to make sure there are no bottlenecks.
Masses of Iranian Shi’ites have instead converged on the holy Iraqi city of Karbala for an alternative pilgrimage.
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Saudi Arabia has launched a Persian-language satellite television channel covering the annual Muslim Hajj pilgrimage amid an escalating spat with its regional rival Iran.
