Some 3 million Muslims offered prayers seeking global peace and harmony at one of the world's biggest religious congregations, police and organizers said Sunday. The prayers capped a three-day Islamic gathering on the sandy banks of the River Turag outside Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka. «We estimate at least 3 million people are at the prayers,» local police official Kaium Biswas told The Associated Press. President Iajuddin Ahmed, the country's interim leader Fakhruddin Ahmed and two former Prime Ministers _ Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina _ joined the prayers on the final day of the gathering. The annual World Congregation of Muslims, or «Bishwa Ijtema,» has been held each year since 1966 on the banks of the River Turag in Tongi, just north of the capital, Dhaka. The gathering shuns politics and focuses on reviving the tenets of Islam and promoting peace and harmony. Participants discuss the holy Quran, pray, and listen to sermons by Islamic scholars from around the world.
