The Siege of Mecca
Witness History
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 20 November 2017
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 1979 Islamic militants seized control of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the holiest site in Islam. Hundreds were killed as Saudi security forces battled for two weeks to retake the shrine. The militants were ultra-conservative Sunni Muslims who believed that the Mahdi, the prophesied Redeemer, had emerged and was a member of their group. The BBC's Eli Melki spoke to eyewitnesses who were inside the Grand Mosque during the siege. Photo: Fighting at the Grand Mosque in Mecca after militants seized control of the shrine, November 1979 (AFP/Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 1:10.6 | with me, Ellie Melky. |
| 1:12.2 | And today, one of the most dramatic and untold stories in |
| 1:15.9 | Saudi Arabia's history when in 1979 hundreds were killed when a Salafist |
| 1:20.5 | group took control of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the holiest site in Islam. |
| 1:27.0 | The 20th of November 1979, its symbolic date, the turn of a new century, the year 1400 in the Islamic calendar, |
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