Muslim pilgrims head to Mena on first day of haj

MECCA, Saudi Arabia, Dec 28 (Reuters) Some 2 million Muslims began streaming out of Mecca today, the first day of a haj pilgrimage where Saudi authorities are on alert to prevent deadly overcrowding as well as sectarian violence.

Moving in cars, vans and on foot, a mass of white-robed pilgrims poured into a tented city in the valley of Mena at the start of the gruelling five-day ritual, a duty for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to make the trip.

In one of the world's biggest displays of mass religious devotion, pilgrims converge on the Grand Mosque in Mecca and follow a route around the rocky mountains of the ancient city in line with a tradition established by the Prophet Mohammad.

With such large crowds, Saudi Arabia normally deploys more than 50,000 security men to try to avoid deadly stampedes and attacks by Islamists fighting the US-allied Saudi royals.

The authorities say they will crack down hard on Muslims who try to sneak into Mecca without official permits -- a phenomenon that can swell numbers by some 500,000 to more than 2.5 million.

In January, 362 pilgrims were crushed to death due to overcrowding at the Jamarat Bridge during the last haj season.

The toll was the worst on the bridge for 16 years and followed the death of 76 people in a hotel collapse in Mecca.

Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef has said improvements introduced this year would prevent overcrowding at the bridge, which from Saturday will witness the symbolic stoning of the devil, the most incident-prone of the haj's rituals.

''We hope that this year's haj will not witness any incidents,'' Prince Nayef said this week.

Saudi Arabia has allocated 1.1 billion dollars to expand the Jamarat Bridge into a multi-storey structure. The first phase, completed in time for this week's haj, allows up to 250,000 pilgrims to move across the bridge each hour.

Saturday, Sunday and Monday -- the last three days of the haj -- will be the key days when the new arrangements will be put to the test. Eid al-Adha, or Feast of Sacrifice, falls on Saturday.

Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh, the top Saudi religious official, issued a plea today for pilgrims to avoid heading to the Jamarat Bridge at the same time.

The haj takes place in the shadow of violence between Sunnis and Shi'ites that has taken Iraq to the brink of civil war this year. Sunni-Shi'ite tension is also high in Lebanon, where Shi'ites are leading efforts to bring down a Sunni-led cabinet.

Iranian and other pilgrims have used the haj for political protests in the past. Shi'ite Iran is at loggerheads with the West over its nuclear programme and its backing Shi'ite groups in Arab countries, raising the potential for haj trouble.

REUTERS SP RK2245