King Fahd calls on pilgrims to fight terrorism, Saudi Arabia denies new shoves

The Saudi authorities denied on Monday evening shoving to have taken place in Mona near Mecca, noting that the persons who died had collapsed and were admitted to hospitals due to Fatigue, rather than shoving, as alleged by certain sources.

The spokesman for the Saudi ministry of health, Khaled al-Murghlani, said that "no shoving" (took place), and added that statements made to journalists " after the death of 251 pilgrims in the same site were misunderstood." Also on Monday, the Saudi authorities announced the death of 7 wounded of the pilgrims and thereby making the total number of dead pilgrims 251 in the trampling incident.

A statement issued by the Saudi official News Agency said that among the dead were 54 Indonesians, 36 Pakistani, 13 Egyptians, 11 Turks, 11 Indians, 10 Algerians, 10 from Bangladesh, and others whose nationalities were not known.

On Monday evening Saudi Arabia stressed it had formed a high ranking committee to develop the holy sites while the Saudi Mufti, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah, said that senior men of religion will be meeting on Thursday to discuss means of avoiding such catastrophes.

Saudi Arabia used the occasion of al-Haj season to urge Muslims to fight terrorism and work for the welfare of humanity.

The Saudi King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz and crown prince Abdullah said in a message of peace sent to almost 2 million pilgrims that terrorism is a corruption in the earth and a fight against God, his prophet and the Muslims.

The message explained that the "terrorist acts" which took place recently in Saudi Arabia are considered "urgent and exceptional" situations that do not reflect the general situation in the kingdom which is known for its calm and security stability.

The King and the crown prince stressed the "Kingdom's commitment in all its relations and ties to the rules of the Islamic jurisprudence which governs the country's internal and external policies," according to the message.