Saudi Gazette Report

MINA — Minister of Interior and Chairman of the Supreme Hajj Committee Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif emphasized that the security authorities in Hajj had monitored and taken all matters seriously to eliminate any act or transgression that may disturb the peace of Hajj well before the start of the Hajj pilgrimage. “Coordination between the security authorities had contributed to the success of the pilgrims’ movement to Mina easily and smoothly,” he said while speaking to members of the Hajj Security Committee and the security and military commanders of the sectors participating in the Hajj mission in Mina.

The minister directed them to strengthen all efforts to continue facilitating the pilgrims perform their rituals during the remaining days of Hajj until they return to their homeland in a safe and secure way. Prince Abdulaziz underscored Saudi Arabia’s pride in serving the guests of God, in light of the utmost keenness of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman in serving the pilgrims and their directives to make every effort to enable them to perform their rituals in ease and comfort.

The minister lauded the efforts made by members of the security and military authorities participating in the Hajj mission, with high professionalism and complete readiness to eliminate any transgression that would disturb the peace of Hajj. He also referred to the integration and coordination between the security authorities in the ministry and the military authorities, which contributed, thanks to God, to the success of the pilgrims’ arrival to the Holy Sites.

On his part, Director of Public Security and Chairman of the Hajj Security Committee Lt. Gen. Mohammed Al-Bassami gave a briefing on the results achieved by the Hajj security forces during the phases of the security plans that were implemented. He stressed the readiness of all security and military agencies participating in this year’s Hajj to implement the remaining phases of the security plans to ensure the security and safety of pilgrims.

Prince Abdulaziz also reviewed the progress of work at the command and control center of Hajj security forces at the Public Security headquarters in Mina. During his visit to the center’s operations room, he followed the procedures for implementing Hajj security plans, the operations of transporting pilgrims to the Holy Sites, and their movement to Arafat. The minister listened to a detailed explanation from Al-Bassami, about the stages of implementing Hajj security plans to maintain security and safety of the guests of God and the facilitation of their movement at the Holy Sites.

Prince Abdulaziz was briefed on the most prominent technologies and the latest applications of artificial intelligence, which were developed in cooperation between Public Security and the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) to support the security and organizational tasks of the Hajj Security Forces in Makkah and the Holy Sites, and to provide the necessary data and information to serve the guests of God and facilitate the performance of their rituals easily and smoothly.

Prince Abdulaziz inaugurated the development of the command and control center for Hajj security, which was supported by the latest technologies in accordance with the highest international standards to contribute to raising the quality of work performance at the center.

During the visit, the minister was accompanied by Deputy Minister of Interior Dr. Nasser Al-Daoud, Assistant Minister of Interior for Operations Affairs Lt. Gen. Saeed Al-Qahtani, and several other senior officials.