Thousands of Muslims living in the Middle East have attended dawnprayers on the first day of Eid el-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. The celebrations this year come amid signs of Grief and apprehension over the situation in the territories and Iraq. Israeli security forces were on high alert as thousands entered Jerusalem's old city to attend prayers at the Haram el-Sharif compound, known to Jews as Temple Mount.

Later many worshippers prayed and lay wreaths on graves at the cemetery in Jerusalem's Mount of Olives overlooking the Haram el-Sharif compound.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat worshipped in his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where he is confined by an Israeli army blockade.

In the Jenin refugee camp, at least 2,000 Palestinian men and women gathered to pray among the ruins of buildings destroyed by the Israeli army during an incursion and fierce gunbattles last April that left over 50 Palestinians and some 23 Israeli soldiers dead.

There too, following the early morning prayers, families gathered at the local cemetery to visit the graves of their loved ones.
In the Egyptian capital, Cairo, about 100,000 Muslims heading toCairo's Mostafa Mahmoud Mosque to pray.

The timing of Eid, the feast day that marks the climax of the holy month of Ramadan, differs across regions according to the sighting of the new moon.

Saudi Arabia, the cradle of Islam, began celebrating on Thursday (December 5) along with several other countries in the Middle East, while many Asian nations, where the majority of the world's 1.2 billion Muslims live, wait until Friday (December 6) to mark the end of a month of fasting and restraint from worldly pleasures.

In Iraq, Saddam Hussein has said Iraq should give the United Nations weapons inspectors a chance to show the country has no banned weapons.

It was the Iraqi leader's first public comment on the UN-mandated inspections since inspectors arrived in the country - and a sharp contrast to more belligerent statements made by his vice-president on Wednesday.

His comments came in a speech carried by Iraqi television marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

An Iraqi official said on Wednesday that there would be a two-day pause in inspections in honour of Eid al-Fitr, the festival celebrating the end of the holy month.

PHOTO CAPTION

Thousands of Muslims living in the Middle East have attended dawn prayers on the first day of Eid el-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. The celebrations this year come amid signs of Grief and apprehension over the situation in the territories and Iraq.