ISLAMABAD, 24 October 2006 — Pakistan will celebrate Eid Al-Fitr tomorrow, according to an announcement by chairman of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Mufti Munibur Rehman.
The committee met yesterday to decide on the sighting of Shawwal moon and announced that Eid would be celebrated on Wednesday, Oct. 25, as the moon had not been sighted anywhere yesterday. The observatory stations of the Meteorological Department located at Karachi, Gilgit, Gwadar, Sialkot, Panjgoor, Muzaffarabad and many other parts of the country did not confirm sighting of the moon, he added. Other members of the committee, who attended the meeting included Mufti Muhammad Rafique Hassani, Maulana Shabbir Ahmed Azhari, Maulana Shabbir Ahmed Kakakheil, Mian Naeemur Rehman, Maulana Abdul Khabeer Azad, Allama Mulazim Hussain and M.M. Qureshi.
The committee chairman also appealed to President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to extend Eid holidays for one day to facilitate the government employees who have gone to their native towns to celebrate Eid. Responding to the appeal, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz announced Thursday as a public holiday.
