Muslims celebrate haj

Many arrived before dawn, some on foot, others on buses and thousands on top of any vehicle they could find. The haj retraces the path of Islam's Prophet Mohammad 14 centuries ago after he removed pagan idols from Mecca, his birthplace, years after he started calling people to the new faith. There are now almost 1.7 billion Muslims people around the globe. So far, Saudi authorities have reported none of the problems or disasters which have marred the haj in previous years - such as fires, hotel collapses, police clashes with protesters and deadly stampedes caused by overcrowding.

Reuters | December 7, 2008

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