The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Makkah

Nearly two million Muslim faithful set off Monday from Makkah to the valley of Mina as the annual hajj pilgrimage got underway in Saudi Arabia amid tight security.

The pilgrims, wearing white robes, walked or boarded buses to Mina, five kilometres (three miles) east of the holy city of Makkah, to begin tracing the journey made by the Prophet Mohammed (sm) more than 1,400 years ago.

Pilgrims will spend the day in prayers and meditation in Mina, sleeping at night in tents before heading further south to Mount Arafat.

The hajj climaxes on Tuesday, when the faithful will spend the day praying and asking God's forgiveness at the summit.

Among this year's pilgrims is Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the first President of the Islamic Republic to take part in the event.

"If I made a mistake or in one of my speeches or said something that was not in line with the interest of the nation and has hurt the nation or I was not able to defend its rights, then I ask people to forgive me," Ahmadinejad said late Sunday before his departure, Iranian state media reported.

He will join other pilgrims in carrying out a series of sacred rituals, which includes walking counter-clockwise seven times around the Kaaba.

Ahmadinejad's presence is seen as helping to ease the sometimes rocky relations between largely-Shiite Iran and Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia.

The pilgrimage, which ends on Friday, is one of the five pillars of Islam and is an obligation for all able-bodied Muslims at least once during their lives if they can afford it.