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Fourteen people were crushed to death here Tuesday, a Saudi official said, as some two million Muslims performed the final ritual of their annual pilgrimage with a symbolic stoning of Satan.

"Fourteen pilgrims died and others were lightly injured following a huge crowd rush in Mina," said General Abdul Aziz bin Mohammed bin Said, commander of security forces in Mecca, in a report on the official SPA news agency.

"The stampede took place while pilgrims returning to their camps at 10:30 am (0730 GMT) met pilgrims coming the other way, some pilgrims falling in the dense crowd," he said.

The dead included six women and nationals from Pakistan, India, Egypt, Iran and Yemen.

Until Tuesday, the pilgrimage -- or hajj -- had been performed without major incident, despite the movement of huge numbers of people.

This year's hajj took place under extra-tight security at a time of rising tension in the region brought on by mounting US threats to invade and occupy Iraq, a predominantly Islamic country and Saudi Arabia's northern neighbor.

Pilgrims interviewed over the past three days voiced strong solidarity with the Iraqi people as they prayed for peace and vented anger at the United States, which has vowed to attack Baghdad, oust President Saddam Hussein and rid Iraq of the banned weapons Washington says it is concealing.

The three-day stoning ritual, which also marks the first day of Eid al-Adha, or Feast of the Sacrifice and the last stage of the hajj, has been a flashpoint for stampedes in past years.

Last year's pilgrimage passed off without major incident, but 35 pilgrims died in a stampede the previous year.

In 1998, 118 pilgrims were killed and more than 180 injured, while a similar crowd crush in 1994 claimed 270 lives.

During the "Stoning of Satan," pilgrims hurl seven stones every day for three days at each of the three 18-meter (58-foot) high concrete pillars that symbolize the deveil.

The pillars stand only 155 meters (yards) apart and are mobbed as more pilgrims try to approach the structures.

"These days there are many devils to stone. But I'd stone (US President George W.) Bush only if he decides to wage war on Iraq," said Salim Abdullah, 45, from Yemen, adding that he prayed for peace in the region.

"It's these devils who are plotting against Islam and Muslims that I wish to stone," said Akbar Ali, 33, from Pakistan.

According to tradition, the stoning ritual takes place at the site where Satan appeared to Prophet Abraham, to his son Prophet Ishmael, and to Abraham's wife Hagar.

Abraham and his family each threw seven stones at Satan, and Muslims must re-enact the exploit to complete the hajj. Tuesday's Feast of the Sacrifice recalls Abraham's readiness to sacrifice Ishmael to demonstrate his obedience to God.

Pilgrims began their journey of faith early Sunday, dressed in a seamless white cloth or Ihram, moving on foot or in vehicles from Mecca to the nearby Mina Valley.

On Monday they ascended Mount Arafat, a sacred hill, for the culmination of the hajj climax before returning to Mina to stone the devil.

Helicopters have been constantly hovering overhead to monitor the crowds, aided by more than 1,000 hi-tech cameras, all connected to a control room run by top security authorities.

After the stoning, pilgrims offer a sacrificial meal, normally by slaughtering a sheep.

At present, most of the sacrifices are slaughtered at a number of state-of-the-art abattoirs run by the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the meat is sent to poor countries. This year IDB expects to handle 600,000 animals.

The faithful were to return later Tuesday to Mecca's Grand Mosque, Islam's holiest shrine, to circle the Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure revered by Muslims as the house of God, seven times.

They will also walk the 500 meters (yards) between Safa and Marwa seven times to commemorate Hagar's run between the hillocks in search of water before they take off Ihram and don normal dress.

According to the latest official figures some 1.431 million pilgrims have come from outside Saudi Arabia and around 600,000 from various parts of the kingdom. They have been joined by some 200,000 Mecca residents.

The health ministry reported having treated one Ethiopian woman diagnosed with AIDS and three meningitis cases, as well as around 100 cases of heat exhaustion.

Newspapers also reported Tuesday that an Egyptian pilgrim had given birth to a baby girl while standing on Mount Arafat. She named her Rahma after Jabal al-Rahma, the mountain of mercy. 

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