More than two and a half million Muslim pilgrims began moving to tents on Mount Arafat east of the holy city of Mecca at the weekend to perform rituals that mark the climax of the annual Hajj.

Amid tight security, worshippers from all over the world, dressed mostly in white, spent Sunday praying, meditating and asking for forgiveness on or near Arafat, where the Prophet Mohammed gave his last sermon to pilgrims in 632.