[NYTr] Iran's Pres to Mecca, Medina for Hajj as Guest of Saudi King

Mon Dec 17 15:00:52 EST 2007

Prensa Latina, Havana
http://www.plenglish.com

Iranian President to Visit Mecca

Tehran, Dec 17 (Prensa Latina) President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad plans to
visit Saudi Arabia on Monday for the annual pilgrimage to the Muslims
cities of Mecca and Medina, the first such visit by a head of State of
the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Ahmadinejad's trip responds to an invitation by Saudi King Abdullah,
after the Iranian president had told a news conference last Tuesday
that he wanted to do the Muslim pilgrimage or "Hajj" this year if the
Saudi monarch invited him.

Local media quoted Ahmadinejad's press aide, Ali Akbar Javanfekr, who
has already arrived in Saudi Arab and confirmed that the king has
invited the Iranian president to take part in the procession to Mecca
and Medina.

It is the first time in the history of relations between Tehran and
Riyadh that a Saudi king invites an Iranian statesman for that
celebration, Javanfekr said, referring to that transcendental event for
bilateral and regional political ties.

Saudi Arabia said that the climax of "Hajj", when the pilgrimage
converges in Mount Arafat, near Mecca, might take place on December 18,
while Eid al-Adha, which closes the ritual, will be held the next day.

Ahmadinejad was also the first Iranian president to attend the annual
summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council, held in Qatar in early December.

Local political analysts told Prensa Latina that Ahmadinejad's brief
visit is part of a government strategy to foster and strengthen
relations with neighboring Arab countries.

hr jg ucl PL-13

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AFP via Google - Dec 17, 2007
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jPOTnv7LJRyqSj0wtMV3dOk14aoQ

Ahmadinejad leaves Iran to perform hajj

TEHRAN (AFP) — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday left Tehran for
Saudi Arabia to perform the hajj, the first Iranian leader to take part
in the annual Muslim pilgrimage in the history of the Islamic republic.

An AFP photographer present at the airport reported that Ahmadinejad
kissed the Koran and read verses from the holy Muslim book before
departing.

The website of state television said that Ahmadinejad's plane took off
for the western Saudi city of Jeddah at around 08:30 am (0500 GMT).

"On this journey, as well as carrying out the holy hajj pilgrimage, I
will have meetings with officials," he told state television before
departing without elaborating.

"I will also meet with the great Muslim community who are present at
the pilgrimage," he added.

Ahmadinejad is attending the hajj at the invitation of Saudi King
Abdullah -- a highly symbolic move as the pilgrimage has in the past
caused major diplomatic strains between the two regional heavyweights.

His pilgrimage to Islam's holiest sites in Mecca and Medina, located in
western Saudi Arabia, will be Ahmadinejad's third visit to the kingdom
since taking office.

He visited Mecca in December 2005 for an Organisation of the Islamic
Conference (OIC) summit but outside of the hajj season. It is not clear
whether he performed the hajj privately before becoming president.

Saudi Arabia has announced that the high point of the hajj when
pilgrims converge on Mount Arafat near Mecca would take place on
Tuesday, and Eid al-Adha marking the end of the pilgrimage would be
celebrated the next day.

Relations have on occasion been rocky between Shiite majority Iran and
Sunni majority Saudi Arabia, which also has a substantial Shiite
community in its oil-rich Eastern Province.

Relations reached an all-time low in July 1987 when 402 people, mostly
Iranians, were killed in clashes between Iranians and Saudi security
forces during the hajj.

Riyadh was also at the time backing Saddam Hussein's Iraq in its
1980-1988 war against Iran.

Iran's late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
subsequently accused the kingdom of being a lackey of the United States
that was unable to look after holy sites.

But the two countries have tried to give an impression of unity in
recent years, vowing to work together to end the political crisis in
Lebanon and bring stability to Iraq.

It has not always been easy going -- ahead of this year's hajj, Iran
has been urging Saudi Arabia to crack down on religious extremism
following reports of anti-Shiite sermons and pamphlets in the kingdom.

Last month, Ahmadinejad publicly rebuked King Abdullah for the
kingdom's participation in a US-hosted meeting aimed at finding peace
between Israel and the Palestinians.

But he also became the first president of the Islamic republic to
attend the end-of-year annual summit of Gulf Arab leaders that was held
in Qatar earlier in December.

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CNN - Dec 17, 2007
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/12/17/ahmadinejad.hajj/

Iranian leader attends Hajj ritual

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad landed in
the Saudi Arabian city of Medina for the first stop in the Hajj, the
annual Muslim pilgrimage, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

President Ahmadinejad said in a news conference last Tuesday that he
had been invited by Saudi King Abdullah to attend the Hajj.

While Ahmadinejad has visited Saudi Arabia twice as Iran's president
for meetings, he will be Iran's first leader to take part in the Hajj
pilgrimage, according to Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran's state
news agency.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and several other high-ranking
Iranian officials are on the trip with the president, IRNA said.

Muslims are required to perform the Hajj in Saudi Arabia at least once
if they are able-bodied and if they can afford it.

According to tradition, the ritual begins in Mecca, the birthplace of
Islam and the Prophet Mohammed, and is a spiritual journey that
cleanses the soul and wipes away sins.