Kabul, Nov 25: President Hamid Karzai celebrated Eid al-Fitr, the festival marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, today by saying he hopes Afghanistan will one day be freed from terrorism and poverty. Karzai also used his brief speech after prayers in the mosque at the presidential palace with former king Mohammad Zaher Shah, cabinet ministers, military officials and other invited guests to call for unity, prosperity and stability among Muslims around the world.
Throughout the ceremony, during which Karzai inspected an honour guard outside the palace, he was surrounded by heavily armed American bodyguards, as he always must be during public events.
"I pray to the almighty that Afghanistan will escape from anger, poverty, natural disasters and terrorism, and eventually become a united country," he said.
Eid, which marks the end of the month-long, dawn-to-dusk fast of Ramadan, is the holiest period of the Islamic year.
In Muslim Afghanistan, the government, businesses and markets closed across the country as people returned to their home villages in their finest dress to celebrate with their relatives and friends and to renew their faith.
During the festival, condolences are given for anyone who had died during the year, and efforts are made among the living to resolve any hostilities that have developed between them.
Bureau Report