Pilgrims begin to assemble on Mount Arafat

ARAFAT: More than two million Muslim pilgrims began Monday to assemble on Mount Arafat and in its surrounding plain on the peak day of the Hajj, the world's largest annual pilgrimage.
By 5:00 am (0200 GMT) tens of thousands of pilgrims had already set off from their camps in the valley of Mina, some 10 kilometres (six miles) northwest of Arafat. Many performed their dawn prayers in Namira mosque or on the road.
Most of the remaining pilgrims are to be shuttled by buses by noon.