Millions march for Haj

Makkah: Nearly three million Muslims from around the world marched through a desert valley outside Makkah on Thursday to Mina to prepare for the Haj climax on Friday when the faithful move to Mount Arafat amid heavy security.

The Haj has so far been accidents free with more than 30,000 police and other security forces fanning out around the holy sites to help smooth traffic around ritual sites that have been plagued with deadly stampedes.

"Everything is proceeding according to plan," Saudi interior ministry spokesman General Mansour Al Turki said.

Draped in the seamless white robes, ihram, pilgrims walked or boarded buses to Mina, five kilometers east of Makkah, to begin tracing the journey made by the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) more than 1,400 years ago.

Al Turki said the final number of pilgrims would not be known until today when spend the day on Mount Arafat. This year's Haj takes place amid increasing worries across the Islamic world.