AFP - 9/20/2009
Muslims worldwide on Sunday celebrated Eid al-Fitr marking the end of Ramadan, but authorities urged caution as large gatherings and returning Mecca pilgrims fuelled fears of swine flu spreading.
In Cairo, where two people have died from the A(H1N1) flu virus and nearly 900 cases have been reported, preachers suggested that worshippers perform the traditional Eid dawn prayer at home rather than in crowded mosques.
"We ought to cancel Eid prayers... there should be a national campaign to keep crowded places clean and ensure they are safe for people," Suad Saleh, head of Islamic Jurisprudence at Al-Azhar University, told the English-language Egyptian Gazette.
Cairo airport authorities have reinforced swine flu testing measures as the end of Ramadan means the return of thousands of pilgrims from Saudi Arabia.
Fear of the virus spreading in the crowded conditions during the pilgrimage is shared by many other countries who are considering cancelling the annual Hajj pilgrimage this year.
Jordanians have been urged to refrain from kissing each other in a bid to combat the contagious disease.
"People should not kiss at social events and gatherings. Instead, they should just shake hands," the Amman government's fatwa (religious edict) department said in a statement ahead of Eid when families and friends gather in large groups.
In Saudi Arabia, fireworks were planned on Sunday night around Riyadh, a skydiving performance was expected and the Prince Faisal sports stadium was hosting a parade and motorcycle races.
However many Saudis were also expected to stream into neighbouring Dubai and Bahrain for Eid. Both locations are popular for those seeking a break from the ultra-conservative kingdom's restrictions on movies, music and alcohol.
In Jakarta, thousands of people queued for hours outside the presidential palace to pay their respects to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, state news agency Antara reported.
Indonesian officials fearful of swine flu spreading set up thermal scanners at the open house event, which is part of a custom that sees people throughout the country ask for forgiveness from others for slights and offences.
In Morocco and Algeria, residents made the most of a long-weekend to head back to their villages or tourist resorts.
In Lebanon, fireworks broke out in parts of Beirut where patisserie windows were stocked with Maamul, a semolina-based pastry stuffed with nuts or dates.
In Muslim-majority Senegal, families donned their best for the feast known there as "koriteh," tucking into the traditional dish of millet cereal and curdled milk.
The start of Eid is traditionally determined by the sighting of the new moon, often dividing rival Islamic countries and sects over the exact date.
In Iraq, Shiites loyal to Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani, the nation's top Shiite cleric, continued to fast on Sunday, observing nationally televised and locally delivered messages that the new moon had not yet been observed.
However followers of Shiite anti-US cleric Moqtada al-Sadr ended the holy month of Ramadan early on Sunday. Iraq's minority Sunnis ended Ramadan on Saturday.
In neighbouring Iran, politics dominated the prayer with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blasting arch-foe Israel, Western powers and foreign media networks in a sermon, saying that a "Zionist cancer" was gnawing into the lives of Islamic nations.
In Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai extended an olive branch to Taliban militants trying to overthrow his Western-backed government.
"On this auspicious day once again I ask all those Afghan brothers who are unhappy or are in others' hands to stop fighting, destroying their own land and killing their own people," he said.
Pakistani families uprooted by conflict with the Taliban face a miserable Eid, with no cash to splash on celebrations and longing to return to homes they fear no longer exist.
The United Nations said about two million Pakistanis were displaced because of fighting between the army and Taliban militants, which the United States branded an existential threat to the nuclear-armed country.
Meanwhile, residents of Indian Kashmir jammed markets in defiance of a rise in militant violence to stock up for Eid, which will be held on Monday or Tuesday in the region where Islamic militants have fought against New Delhi's rule for 20 years.
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