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Saudi Gazette report

MADINAH — Over 100 doors in the Prophet's Mosque have been opened for the pilgrims, according to the Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques.

The presidency said the doors will remain open 24 hours a day.

"There are 12 electric and 24 ordinary staircases in the mosque for the visitors to use," it added.

Ali Al-Obaid, undersecretary of the Presidency for the Affairs of the Prophet's Mosque, said the mosque has been well prepared for the pilgrims to offer their prayers in ease, peace and comfort.

He said the mosque has been furnished with 16,000 carpets and supplied with 250 umbrellas with water sprinkles to freshen the air.

Al-Obaid said about 300 ton of Zamzam water is daily brought to the mosque from Makkah to fill more than 15,000 containers.

"There are 385 water taps with sufficient number of disposable cups, 2,000 wheel chairs for the sick and aged pilgrims and people of special needs and 11,000 taps for ablution," he said.

Meanwhile, the first batch of the 32,000 pilgrims from Iraq arrived at Jadidat Arar border post on Monday and were received by the Emir of the Northern Borders Province, Prince Faisal Bin Khaled, who gave each one of them a copy of the Holy Qura'n and other religious literature.

A 280-bed makeshift hospital has been set up for the Iraqi pilgrims who were later grouped to Madinah to pay homage to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and pray at his mosque.

Some 450 Kurdish pilgrims who arrived within the Iraqi batch arrived in Makkah on Monday evening and were warmly welcomed by the concerned government and private officials.

On the other hand, the first batch of pilgrims from Yemen are expected to arrive in the Kingdom Wednesday.

Yemeni Minister of Endowments, Ahmed Al-Attiyah, said as many as 24,255 pilgrims will come from all regions in Yemen for the Haj.

Deputy Emir of Makkah, Prince Abdullah Bin Bandar, will next Wednesday open a special symposium on the quality and safety of the food to be provided to the pilgrims.

The symposium will be organized by the Makkah municipality which has invited all the concerned government and private bodies to participate.