looking Arab pilgrims were able to reach Arafat without a Haj permit. However, sneaking past the alert security personnel was nearly a “death trip,” they claimed. Rida Sulaiman, 33, told Al-Hayat newspaper they started the trip from Yalamlam, the Miqat for inhabitants of the south. On their way they met a smuggler transporting illegal pilgrims into the holy sites for SR350 each. “We arrived near Al-Shoaibah checkpoint – 80 km from Makkah – where the driver took a dirt route around the checkpoint before coming back on to the expressway. As we arrived near the second checkpoint, Al-Ka'kiyah, the driver did the same thing, turning into a dirt route toward Taif called Al-Khawajah Road, where the troubles began.” “Moments after we took that road,” he continued, “we saw a car positioned atop a mountain, apparently some secret military vehicle monitoring the road for illegal pilgrims. We then saw a Mujahideen vehicle moving toward us slowly. They shouted at us to stop the car, but our driver ignored them and pressed on the gas. It made us fear for our lives.” The other pilgrim, Muhammad Basyouni, 37, continued the story by saying “the warnings and calls increased, while the driver went faster on the dirt road amid screaming by some passengers. The driver finally decided not to go any further and parked out of the Mujahideen's sight, and asked us to get out of the car. Fearing for our lives, we got out, and the two of us decided to walk toward the main road. Others decided to wait at the spot until dawn. From the main road we hitchhiked a ride with a Saudi who told us that there was one last checkpoint before Makkah. “We arrived there and found the traffic at a standstill. A traffic officer asked for the Haj permits but the driver was able to convince him that we would not have passed other checkpoints without the permits.” Basyouni said the officer later relented and allowed them entry into the holy city. “We could not believe we were finally in Makkah,” he said. __
