A Saudi security official holds back pilgrims at Mena, outside Mecca. (Reuters)

Mena (Saudi Arabia), Feb. 2 (Reuters): Saudi Arabia, battling Islamic militancy, wrapped up the Haj pilgrimage today by urging Muslims to fight terror and work for the good of mankind.

As King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah delivered a message of a peaceful Islam to two million pilgrims, police blared warnings via megaphones and helicopters hovered in the sky to try to avert a fresh disaster after the death toll from a stampede yesterday rose by seven to 251 pilgrims.

Health ministry spokesman Khaled al-Mirghalani said six bodies were found long after the stampede and one person in critical condition died. He did not give their nationalities.

“Terrorism is corruption on earth and seeks aggression, destruction and fighting God, his Prophet and Muslims. God abhors anarchists and forbids aggression and has laid down the most severe punishment for aggressors,” the Saudi leaders said.

“Such acts must be confronted and their falseness exposed so they do not sway the ignorant. They are results of sick minds and deviant ideologies alien to Islam’s laws and principles,” they said.

This year’s Haj was overshadowed by fears of a possible attack by Osama bin Laden’s al Qaida group, blamed for a series of suicide attacks in the kingdom last year and for the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US. Thousands of security forces were deployed in and around Mecca to maintain security and control the mass of pilgrims.

Most pilgrims were largely unperturbed by yesterday’s stampede, and thousands stoned a pillar representing the devil, the site where pilgrims were crushed to death at the climax of the Haj.

“I am not frightened, but you have to be careful,” said Indian pilgrim Mohammed Seif, who complained that some pilgrims were still aggressively pushing their way to the pillars.

“You can stone any time, you don’t have to do it all at once.”