Saudi tightens hajj security by blocking infiltration of militants

Saudi Arabia will cooperate with the National Coalition for Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces to prevent the entry of militants as pilgrims during upcoming hajj, Okaz local newspaper reported on Wednesday.

General Secretary of the coalition, Abdul Ilah Fahad, told the newspaper during his visit to Jeddah that Saudi Arabia allocated a quota of 15,000 pilgrims for the upcoming season and there will be high coordination with Saudi Arabia to ensure that all of them are civilians who will come for the religious rituals.

He highlighted that the names of Syrian pilgrims are checked carefully and their fingerprints are taken before sending the pre-final list to Saudi Arabia for approval.

The coordination is part of many steps Saudi Arabia takes to ensure secure and safe hajj season, as a terrorist attack at holy sites could lead to catastrophic results, because of the huge number of worshipers from all over the world.

Throughout the season, the country implements tight security plan to ensure the safety of pilgrims.

The last hajj season attracted more than 1.8 million pilgrims, while the number is expected to double this year because Saudi Arabia brought back the old quotas for countries after the end of expansion of the grand mosque in Mecca.

Meanwhile, Okaz highlighted on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia has arrested terrorists from 40 countries in relations to terrorist cases occurred in recent years.

According to the Interior Ministry, there are 5080 arrestees convicted or charged with terror crimes, in which Saudis represent the majority with 4254 individuals.

The reset are from Arab, European and Asian countries, along with 3 Americans. Endit