DUBAI — Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's two holiest shrines, warned Sunday it will not tolerate any political or anti-U.S. rallies during the annual Muslim haj pilgrimage.
"We will not hesitate to encounter anything that might disturb the security of haj with all our power," Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz said in remarks reported by the state-run media.
"Even if there were slogans (raised) in support of the kingdom itself they would be stopped. Muslims come here for pilgrimage and no one will be allowed to do anything beyond that," the prince said.
More than a million Muslims flock to the kingdom every year for the pilgrimage, which has often witnessed anti-U.S. rallies, mainly by Iranian pilgrims. The police have not stopped Iranian demonstrations in recent years although rallies are banned.
In 1987, 402 people, mostly Iranians, died in clashes with Saudi security forces at an Iranian-led rally in Mecca. Iran then boycotted the haj for three years.
Many Muslims have been angered by the backlash in the United States and other Western countries against Muslims and Arabs after the Sept. 11 attacks on U.S. cities.