Iraq Pilgrims in Saudi Thank God for Saddam's Fall

Reuters ^ | 01/25/04 | Andrew Hammond

[Pikamax]

Iraq Pilgrims in Saudi Thank God for Saddam's Fall 39 minutes ago Add World - Reuters to My Yahoo!

By Andrew Hammond

JEDDAH (Reuters) - Joyful Iraqi pilgrims arriving in Saudi Arabia on Sunday said they would thank God for ending the rule of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) in prayers during haj pilgrimage but other Arabs were thinking of the U.S. occupation.

"I hope God will give Iraq (news - web sites) strength and make it strong and united after all these years of pain, sickness and war," said Thabet Karim Jassem of Baghdad, part of 300 Iraqis who arrived at a haj terminal in the port city of Jeddah, near Mecca.

Jassem was among thousands of Iraqis that had been stranded on the Kuwait-Iraq border last week over visa problems.

More than 32,000 Iraqis were chosen by lottery to perform the haj this year, the first pilgrimage for post-Saddam Iraq.

"We remained nine days at the border, it was a very miserable time for thousands," said Bakkar Rasoul, a Kurdish eye doctor from Suleimaniya. "But I am really happy that we are free and God helped us to visit Mecca."

"I and many people are thankful toward the United States because they were able to release us and we will definitely never forget. I don't think any Muslim can forget this," he said, standing by Kurdish and Iraqi flags beside the Iraqi pilgrims.

Last year's U.S.-led invasion of Iraq to oust Saddam Hussein turned Saudi Arabia's northern neighbor into a magnet for Islamist militants who are also targeting Saudi rule in the birthplace of Islam.

Diplomats say the Saudi government is worried the haj could be the target of attack -- undermining a pillar of the ruling family's authority -- or that militants could exploit the huge influx to infiltrate the kingdom from abroad.

This year's haj is the first since a series of suicide bombings in the capital Riyadh blamed on Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s al Qaeda network and which killed more than 50 people.

Speaking to pan-Arab television Al Arabiya on Sunday, Defense Minister Prince Sultan warned "anyone who thinks of harming Muslims" and that pilgrims were the "guests of God."

Most of the 1.2 million pilgrims expected from abroad have already arrived at the huge tented haj terminal, airport official Mahmoud Hassouba said. Around 60,000 arrive daily.

The rest of the two million pilgrims expected to perform haj this year will be residents of the kingdom.

The airport was a sea of thousands of Muslims from all over the world in white robes, sign of a state of ritual purity known as "ihram." The main rites of the five-day pilgrimage begin on Friday.

Haj, first undertaken by the Prophet Mohammad 14 centuries ago, is an obligation for every able-bodied Muslim.

[JoeSchem]

Kind of unusual, coming from the mouth of Reuters.

[anniegetyourgun]

But Howard Deanie-Weenie says that Iraqis are worse off since the fall of Saddam.

[Graymatter]

Thanking God is an excellent start but I hope they put in a good word for George W. Bush.

[Graymatter]

Not to mention (d'oh!) the American soldier.

[cake_crumb]

Except for this weird statement, which has no bearing on the rest of the article :

"...but other Arabs were thinking of the U.S. occupation."

[cake_crumb]

It's rooters. Even if every single Iraqi pilgrim danced their way to Mecca holding "I Love George Bush" and "I support Coalition Troops" signs, rooters might be forced to write a story on it. But you can bet any such story would short, bitter, and heavily reliant on all three Palestinians who constitute their idea of the "Arab Street"