Hajj News

It's that time of year again.  The Hajj has started and people are flooding in to Saudi Arabia.  The Kingdom is trying to control the huge number of pilgrims, but illegal ones are also getting in.  The Saudi's are going more high-tech, by creating a light rail system to aid pilgrims.  It's not yet fully operational, but should be for next year.  The first part is called the Mecca Metro.  Really.  More rail info.

The president of Sudan has said he is going on Hajj this year.  He is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, but some African and Middle Eastern countries have refused to arrest him.  Since this is the Hajj, I expect Saudi Arabia to not arrest him as well.

The Saudis have also been preparing for attacks by al-Qa'eda.  According to Yahoo!:

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula responded with an Internet statement Sunday saying it would never target pilgrims and accusing the Saudis of spreading lies.

Hajj photo gallery on ArabNews.com