Special security plans will be implemented to ensure the safety and comfort of pilgrims in Makkah during the month of Ramadan, which begins on Sunday or Monday depending on the sighting of the moon, the Jeddah-based Arab News reported today. “More than 6, 700 security personnel would be helping the local police at different locations in Makkah particularly at peak hours, " Lt. Gen. Saeed Al-Qahtani, director of public safety said at a press conference at the Public Security Training City in Makkah yesterday. The plans, which got the approval of Interior Minister Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz, include a ban on traffic on roads surrounding the Holy Mosque shortly before and after prayers, transporting pilgrims in buses from parking areas at city's entry points to the Haram and assigning security tasks to patrol teams. “We intend to ask pilgrims to park their vehicles outside the city at special locations and then go on to the Haram by public transport buses, " the security official said. He added that policemen would supervise the operations at the bus stops so that pilgrims are taken to the Holy Mosque without delay or difficulty, he added.
