*RIYADH: Two Israelis went on trial in Saudi Arabia on Monday for allegedlyplotting an attack during the Hajj pilgrimage, according to the chargesheet and local media reports.*

The charge sheet, a copy of which AFP obtained from a source who attendedthe first hearing, said the two suspects had travelled to the kingdom whichis home to Islam’s holiest site on passports of an Arab country.

The two men were charged with spying for the Israeli intelligence agencyMossad and of planning “a terrorist act for the Hajj season”, which thisyear falls in August, while one of them was also accused of contacts withthe Islamic State jihadist group.

The Saudi dailies Okaz and Al-Riyadh said the trial opened in the capital’sspecial anti-terrorism court, without specifying when the men had beenarrested.

Saudi Arabia and Israel have no formal diplomatic relations.

The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, and all able-bodied Muslimsare required to perform it once in their lifetime. The Hajj is seen as achance to wipe clean past sins and start fresh.