Muslims in the Arab world began marking Ramadan on Friday, a holy month of giving and prayer, clouded by relentless violence across Iraq and the deadliest Israeli raid against the Gaza Strip.
Libya and Nigeria took the lead by kicking off the holiest month in the Muslim calendar on Thursday. The rest of the Middle East and Africa followed on Friday while a few Muslim countries in Asia were due to begin the month-long festival on Saturday.
Violence again flared in Iraq, after almost 50 people were killed in Baghdad on the first day of Ramadan last year.
United States warplanes again pounded the western rebel enclave of Fallujah on Friday, killing at least five people in the latest of a string of strikes against suspected hideouts of Iraq’s most wanted man Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, while a car bombing in Baghdad injured at least 10.
In east Jerusalem, hundreds of Israeli police reinforcements were being deployed to prevent any outbreak of violence during Friday prayers at the holy city’s Al Aqsa mosque.
”The police presence is designed to ensure that prayers take place in a calm manner,” said national police spokesperson Gil Kleiman.
Kleiman said more than 150 000 Muslims were expected to attend prayers at the mosque, which lies in the heart of the Old City.
There have been no specific alerts about possible outbreaks of violence at the start of the Muslim holy month, the spokesperson added.
Israeli authorities on Thursday decided not to restrict access to the mosque, despite initial safety fears over ongoing repair work.
The mosque compound, which is called al-Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) by Muslims, shelters the Dome of the Rock (Omar Mosque) and the al-Aqsa Mosque.
The site is also revered by Jews as it was once the site of the Jewish temple, the holiest shrine in Judaism, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.
There were also more dead Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as the Israeli military pressed on with its ”Days of Penitence” raid against wanted militants which has already left 127 Palestinians dead since its launch on September 28.
The sweep was the largest and deadliest military operation in the Palestinian territories since the start of the intifada more than four years ago. – Sapa-AFP