Three Palestinians from the administered territories died in Friday’s violent riots in Mecca, Islam’s holiest city, according to reports in East Jerusalem.
The three had travelled to Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, for the Haj, the annual pilgrimage made by Moslems around the world. Two of the victims reportedly lived in Bethlehem and Kalkilya and a third in Gaza. A fourth victim from Nazareth also died in the riots, according to reports.
An estimated 400 to 600 pilgrims died in the clashes between Iranian demonstrators and Saudi security forces. Saudi officials had banned demonstrations but the Iranians, reportedly under orders from their leader Ayatollah Khomeini, began demonstrating outside a holy site despite the ban. When the security forces tried to break up the demonstration, violence erupted.
About 8,000 pilgrims from Israel and the territories will return home early next week. Israeli Arabs received greetings from relatives in Saudi Arabia to signal they were unharmed. The Israeli Arabs, travelling with the Jordanian delegation to Mecca, were far from the scene of the riots, according to reports.
The Moslem Qadis (religious judges) in Israel condemned the riots.
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