THE HAJJ

On September 29 Dhu al Hijja, the month of the pilgrimage, begins. The Hajjis have been steadily growing in numbers in Jeddah over the last few weeks. Some locals have been predicting more than one million foreign pilgrims this year. Latest official figures indicate a 35% increase in pilgrim arrivals so ar. There were just under 813,000 last year down from the 1979/1399 four year peak of 862,500.