CAIRO, Egypt — Most of the Middle East this weekend marks the start of the feast marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, with crisis, violence, fear and isolation all casting a pall over one of the happiest dates on the Islamic calendar.
Most of Iraq’s Shiites, along with those in Iran, celebrated Eid on Saturday.
In Lebanon, Sunni Muslims and Shiites who follow Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah started marking Eid on Friday. Others who follow Sheik Abdul Amir Qabalan, deputy president of the Higher Shiite Muslim Council, began marking the feast Saturday.
In the Middle East, Eid began Friday for Iraq’s Sunnis, in Jordan and Libya, the Palestinian territories, Yemen, the Gulf states, Sudan, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia.
In Jordan, thousands of people left the capital Amman to the country’s southern resort of Aqaba on the Red Sea, leaving the capital almost deserted. A soon as Jordan TV announced the end of Ramadan late Thursday, people began their celebration with fireworks until the late hours of the evening. Children around the country were wearing new clothes, bought specially for Eid.
It was different just across the border in Baghdad.
In the Iraqi capital’s Azamiyah neighborhood, where the country’s most revered Sunni shrine is located, families and children found themselves with no place to go as two social clubs and a park were occupied by Iraqi security forces and U.S. troops.
Instead, a modest playground was set up on abandoned land to enable the children to spend their time.
“My real Eid will be the day that occupation forces get out of our country,” said Ahmed Ghazal, a 50-year-old mason in the neighborhood of Khadhra.
But others were optimistic enough to brave fears of attacks and security hassles to meet with their relatives, saying the security situation has improved. “I feel that this Eid is much better than the previous one and that I will visit my relatives in Amariyah,” said Khalid Ibrahim, a 45-year-old governmental employee.
“I find I have nothing to fear from as I feel things are getting better remarkably,” added Ibrahim, a father of three.
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