Saudi launches Farsi-language hajj TV amid dispute with Iran

Muslim pilgrims gather on Mount Arafat during the annual hajj pilgrimage, outside the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia September 11, 2016. This day “is the one time during the hajj when roughly all pilgrims are in the same place at the same time”, the wire service adds, and the pilgrims hail from more than 160 countries.

Egyptian pilgrim Mahmoud Awny said the feeling of being in Arafat is “indescribable”.

At midday prayers, hundreds of thousands prostrated themselves, men and women side-by-side, in wide alleys that run between prefabricated pilgrim lodgings. Okaz newspaper cited health reasons but Sheikh still attended the sermon given in his place by Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais, imam of Makkah’s Grand Mosque. “I’m here closer to God”.

The pilgrims will spend the day on the mountain and move by sunset to the rocky plain of Muzdalifa, where they will gather pebbles to stone columns symbolizing the devil at another location called Jamarat on Monday, which marks the first day of Eid al-Adha (feast of sacrifice).

From a distance, the hill appeared snowy white from the two-piece white garment, ihram, worn by male pilgrims.

Trucks loaded with bottled water were stationed throughout, and pilgrims doused themselves. Empty bottles and leftover meals littered the ground as ambulances patrolled.

The increased surveillance is part of the government’s response to a stampede that killed more than 2,400 participants previous year in the Hajj, an annual Muslim rite, according to an unofficial count cited by BBC News.

In one of the deadliest disasters to befall the annual Muslim rite in decades, the crush killed almost 800 pilgrims, according to Riyadh, though counts by countries of repatriated bodies showed over 2,000 people may have died, more than 400 of them Iranians. Authorities announced an investigation into the tragedy but no results have ever been released, although a number of safety measures have been taken.

Among the safety measures taken is the distribution of a bracelet that stores pilgrims’ personal data.

Pilgrims told AFP they feel safe and have noticed organisational improvements.

On Sunday, helicopters monitored the crowd flow from the skies, while on the ground, police directed pedestrians and made sure there were no bottlenecks.

Minister of information and culture Adel Al Turaifi said the 24-hour satellite channel would cover Haj rituals and prayers from the Grand Mosque.

It targets “Persian-language speakers, whose number is estimated at 130 million all over the world”, he said.

Iran a year ago reported the largest number of stampede victims, at 464, and its 64,000 pilgrims are excluded for the first time in decades after the regional rivals failed to agree on security and logistics.

Saudi Arabia has said that 1.85 million pilgrims, a lot of them from outside Saudi Arabia, have arrived for the annual pilgrimage, which capable Muslims, who can afford the journey, must perform at least once, marking the spiritual peak of their lives.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia has launched a Farsi-language satellite television channel broadcasting the hajj as Iranians abstain from the pilgrimage amid a dispute between the two regional rivals.

The channel is also being broadcast by radio to Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan, as well as through mobile phone applications and the Internet.