Mecca (Saudi Arabia) (AFP) – More than 1.5 million pilgrims have arrived in Saudi Arabia for the start of the annual hajj pilgrimage. Worshippers head to the Masjid al-Haram Great Mosque in Mecca to perform Tawaf Al Qudum, the arrival circumambulation around the Kaaba, marking the beginning of the pilgrimage rites. The start of the hajj comes as US President Donald Trump continues to send mixed signals over a possible agreement to extend an uneasy ceasefire with Iran, after conflict in the Middle East which included Iranian strikes on Saudi Arabia.
