Muslims mark Aidil Adha in the shadow of unrest

THE world's Muslims yesterday marked the Aidil Adha feast which caps the Haj pilgrimage to Mekah overshadowed by the Arab Spring and deadly attacks in Africa and Central Asia.

This year the feast coincides with the turmoil of the democracy protests that swept the Arab world and led to the ouster of the autocratic leaders of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

Aidil Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, honours Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael on the order of God, who according to Islamic tradition provided a lamb in the boy's place.

It was being observed amid fears and tears in Nigeria, two days after attacks claimed by rebels killed at least 150 people in the northeastern city of Damaturu.

Thousands gathered for prayers to mark the feast at an open ground in Damaturu patrolled by dozens of armed police following Friday's gun and bomb attacks, among the deadliest ever carried out by the Boko Haram sect.

"It's a season of mourning and celebration at the same time," said Damaturu resident Aisami Bundi.

"People are struggling to strike a balance between the merriment of the season and the losses the city has incurred from the attacks, especially the large number of people that have been killed," he said.

In Libya, people were struggling to find the funds to mark the feast due to skyrocketing prices in the wake of an eight-month rebellion that ended with the killing of dictator Muammar Gaddafi last month.

In Syria, devotees emerged from prayers yesterday morning to rally against President Bashar al-Assad's regime despite a protest crackdown the UN says has killed at least 3,000 people since March.

And the security forces shot dead at least another 10 civilians, most of them in the restive central city of Homs, according to human rights activists.

The latest bloodshed came as Syrian state radio reported Assad himself attended Al-Nur mosque in the northern town of Raqqa for morning prayers to mark the Muslim holy day.

In Yemen, where protesters have been calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh's ouster since January, dissident general Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar said his forces foiled a regime plot to blow up a car as he prayed in Sanaa.

In Gaza City, Ismail Haniya, head of the Hamas government, addressed worshippers at the Palestine Mosque, and hailed the feast as the "Eid of Freedom" for the Arab world. "On this blessed day, we call our Eid the Eid of Freedom," he said. "It is the Eid of Freedom for Egypt and Tunisia and Libya and all the peoples who triumphed over tyranny.

Haniya said the feast was also an "Eid of Victory," hailing a landmark prisoner swap deal that saw the movement free captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in return for 1,027 jailed Palestinians.

A first group of 477 prisoners was released as Shalit went home, with the second group of 550 to be freed within two months.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, a suicide bomber killed seven people, mostly civilians, as they returned from Eid prayers at a mosque in the northern city of Baghlan.

And in Iraq, four bombs exploded in Baghdad's Shorjah market, killing at least one person and wounding eight, security officials said.

AFP