THE Muslim holy month of Ramadan will start on Friday in Libya, the official Jana news agency reported. The government had based its decision on the lunar calendar, Jana said on Wednesday. Ramadan is the ninth month in Islam’s lunar calendar when Muslims believe God revealed the holy Koran to the Prophet Mohammad. The holiday will start in Libya on Friday, when the crescent of the new moon is expected to be sighted. Ramadan is a month of fasting and abstinence from dawn to dusk, and of prayer and charity, but also of family gatherings and feasting after the sun slips below the horizon. – AFP