Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal on Sunday rejected the idea of sharing the administration of the annual Hajj pilgrimage with other Muslim nations, saying Riyadh considers it "a matter of sovereignty" and a "privilege." The senior member of the Saudi royal family spoke to The Associated Press as his country faces mounting criticism in the wake of last month's disastrous crush of pilgrims outside the holy city of Makkah, which killed over 1,400 people, according to an AP count, making it the deadliest annual pilgrimage on record.
Saudi Arabia's regional rival Iran, which lost the largest number of pilgrims, has accused the kingdom of mismanagement and called for an independent body to oversee the Hajj. The royal Al Saud family, which governs Saudi Arabia and for which the country is named after, derives enormous prestige and legitimacy from being the caretakers of the Hajj and Islam's holiest sites in Makkah and Madina. King Salman, in line with past Saudi monarchs, holds the title of "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques".
Oversight of these holy places and the hajj "is a matter of sovereignty and privilege and service," Prince Turki said. "The kingdom over the years, having gotten over the awful times when pilgrims couldn't guarantee their travels to the Hajj in the old days and all the other factors of disease and crowds and housing and so on, we'll not give up that privilege or that distinction of being the servants of the two holy places," he said. "The people of Makkah are the ones who know best the territory of Makkah and you can't take that away from the people of Makkah."
Turki is the most senior Saudi royal to comment publicly on the Iranian criticism. He is currently chairman of the Riyadh-based King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, named after his late father. The prince served for more than two decades as head of intelligence in the kingdom, and has held ambassador posts in Britain, Ireland and the US. His brother, Prince Khalid al-Faisal is currently the governor of Makkah. Turki spoke to the AP in an interview Sunday on the sidelines of an event in Abu Dhabi organised by the Beirut Institute think tank.
At least 1,480 pilgrims died when large crowds converged down a narrow street on September 24 in the area of Mina, just outside Makkah. The death toll is based on an AP count from official statements from 19 nations whose citizens died in the incident. The death toll given by Saudi Arabia's Health Ministry is 769. Health and security officials have not immediately responded to AP requests for clarification. Iran's death toll of 465 is the highest announced by any country thus far. Egypt's Foreign Ministry on Sunday said the death toll among Egyptians climbed from 165 to 177, with 64 still missing.
As thousands of pilgrims headed down narrow streets in Mina, they converged on another large crowd, causing people to trip over one another, fall and suffocate in a chaotic crush that lasted for more than an hour, according to survivors. The street where the crush took place is surrounded by iron gates, behind which are tents for pilgrims. This year, the Hajj drew around 2 million people from more than 180 countries to Islam's holiest site in Makkah.
Within hours of the stampede, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had accused Saudi Arabia of "mismanagement." Iran's President Hassan Rouhani suggested "ineptitude" on the part of Saudi authorities. Scores of Iranians protested against the kingdom outside the Saudi Embassy in Tehran, and Iranian lawmakers and clerics called on the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation to manage the Hajj. Iran's state prosecutor has vowed to "pursue the trial of Al Saud" through international courts for the deaths in this year's hajj.
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