Fourteen Arab countries have announced that they will celebrate the Muslim Eid al-Fitr feast today, according to dpa. The festivities, heralding the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, will be celebrated by Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Yemen, Tunisia and the Sunni community in Iraq, it was announced Saturday. The legal moon sighting panels in the respective Arab countries decided that Saturday was the last day of the month of Ramadan and Sunday would be the first day of the lunar month of Shawal. The decision to celebrate Eid al-Fitr on Sunday by Arab counties was apparently based on an announcement by the Saudi higher court stating that it had an evidence that the crescent of Shawal was sighted by several persons in the Saudi kingdom.
