Moslems worldwide celebrate Idul Fitri<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (Agencies): An Idul Fitri festive mood prevailed in
\nmost predominantly Moslem countries and territories across the
\nglobe, even in troubled spots like Sarajevo, Chechnya, Palestine
\nand Somalia, although tensions remained.<\/p>\n
In some countries, the occasion was used by leaders to convey
\npolitical gestures for peace with their opponents. The leaders of
\nEgypt and Bahrain as well as Palestine leader Yasser Arafat
\ngranted pardon to prisoners, including political prisoners.<\/p>\n
Most Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt,
\nLebanon, Syria, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Iran
\nand Iraq marked Idul Fitri, the end of the holy fasting month of
\nRamadhan, on Thursday. Other places celebrated the day on Friday.
\nSoutheast Asian countries, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Oman, Tunisia
\nBosnia-Herzegovina and Chechnya celebrated it on Friday.<\/p>\n
In Sarajevo, Moslems in Bosnia marked the day under siege for
\nthe fourth straight year.<\/p>\n
Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, Prime Minister Haris
\nSilajdzic and federation vice president Ejup Ganic attended
\nprayers for Bajram -- as Idul Fitri is known there -- at the Bey
\nMosque, the largest in the capital, in the old bazaar.<\/p>\n
\"Our situation remains difficult, but thank God things are
\nbetter now than they were for the last Bajram,\" Mustafa Ceric,
\nthe Bosnian Moslem religious leader told several hundred
\nworshipers, many of them gathered in the courtyard of the mosque
\nin the shadow of a war-damaged minaret.<\/p>\n
\"With God's help and that of our defenders, we have managed to
\nprevent our physical extermination,\" he said.<\/p>\n
More than half of the capital's 350,000 inhabitants are
\nMoslem, though many do not observe religious practices.<\/p>\n
Tension in the western Chechnyan city of Samashki dissipated
\non Friday as most of the local people celebrated Idul Fitri.
\nHowever a truce offer by Russian commanders was greeted with
\nskepticism.<\/p>\n
In Kabul, embattled residents took advantage of a rare lull in
\nfighting to mark Idul Fitri.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the last day of the fasting month of Ramadhan,
\njostling shoppers could hardly move in the Pul Bagha-i-Omoumi
\nmarket, jammed solid with traders bellowing praise of their wares
\nto people buying treats for the feast.<\/p>\n
A week ago, the same street was nearly lifeless. The bazaar
\nwas deserted by all but the hardiest traders two years ago when
\nrockets began dropping on the area.<\/p>\n
In Gaza, nearly one million Palestinians celebrated the
\nholiday free of Israeli occupation for the first time, but they
\nfound find times harder than ever.<\/p>\n
Shops and open-air markets in Gaza City teem with parents out
\nto make their children happy for the feast. Stores are full of
\nclothes, cheap plastic toys and sweets. But few can afford them.<\/p>\n
In Bahrain, the end of Ramadhan saw the resumption of violent
\nprotests for political reforms.<\/p>\n
Anti-riot police on Friday fired live and rubber bullets as
\nwell as tear gas on the second consecutive day of clashes in
\nShiite Moslem areas of Bahrain.<\/p>\n
Protesters demanding political reform and the release of
\nprisoners set up barricades and stoned security forces in
\nvillages on the island of Sitra, the Islamic Front for the
\nLiberation of Bahrain said.<\/p>\n
The first demonstrations in the Sunni-led Gulf Arab
\narchipelago since Jan. 27 erupted on Thursday during celebrations
\nto end the Moslem fasting month of Ramadhan.<\/p>\n
The incident came after the Emir of Bahrain, Sheikh Issa Ben
\nSalman al-Khalifa, in an Idul Fitri gesture, pardoned 100 people
\nimplicated in earlier clashes.<\/p>\n
World peace<\/p>\n
In Dhaka, mass Idul Fitri prayers were used to call for an end
\nto the political bickering between the government and the
\nopposition and for world peace and unity in the Islamic world.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia called for creating a \"stable
\ndemocratic and developed society in light of the essence\" of the
\nholiday.<\/p>\n
However, her arch-rival Sheikh Hasina Wajed, chief of the main
\nopposition Awami League, said the festivities had come at a time
\nwhen many people \"are smarting in the grip of hunger and poverty\"
\nbecause of food shortages.<\/p>\n
There were also speeches with political connotations.<\/p>\n
In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia crown prince, whose country is home to
\nIslam's holiest shrines in Mecca, condemned extremists in the
\nregion for exploiting Islam for their political aims.<\/p>\n
\"It is regrettable to hear Islam being accused of encouraging
\nterrorism and extremism,\" said Prince Abdallah ibn Abdel Aziz.<\/p>\n
\"Islam is opposed to extremism ... and those who do harm to
\nit.\"<\/p>\n
In Tehran, Iran's leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for
\nMoslems to \"unite against the growing plots of the enemies of
\nIslam, with the United States at their head.\"<\/p>\n
\"Iran holds out a hand of friendship to all Moslem peoples,
\nnot out of weakness or need but in the name of the unity,\" he
\ntold tens of thousands at an open-air ceremony of prayers. \"We
\nregret to see that Islamic countries are today trying to
\nstrengthen the pseudo-state of Israel,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak ordered the release of 83
\n\"repentant\" Moslem fundamentalists and visited El-Nour mosque, a
\nsite which was once a stronghold of Islamic activists but opened
\nlast week as the country's largest mosque.<\/p>\n
In Gaza, PLO chief Yasser Arafat ordered the release of a
\nnumber of convicts for the Idul Fitri holiday.<\/p>\n
Rejoicing<\/p>\n
U.S. President Bill Clinton sent his Idul Fitri wishes to
\nMoslems in the United States and worldwide.<\/p>\n
\"At the close of a month of fasting and sacrifice, Idul Fitri
\nis an occasion for rejoicing,\" Clinton said in a videotaped
\nmessage. \"Moslems here and elsewhere are gathered to share their
\njoy, and to remember the less fortunate.\"<\/p>\n
\"Moslem values of personal commitment to faith and service to
\nsociety are also universal values,\" Clinton said. \"They know no
\nbarrier of nationality or race or religion. They are the values
\nwe all share.\"<\/p>\n
\"To all those who follow the faith of Islam ... I extend my
\nbest wishes with the greeting that Moslems exchange around the
\nworld on this occasion: may peace be with you and may God grant
\nyou health and prosperity now and in the year ahead.\"<\/p>",
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