Maliki congratulates Iraqis over Eidul-Fitr, urges unity

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Sunday congratulated the Iraqi people and the Muslim umma (nation) over Eidul-Fitr, the three-day holiday that caps the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, expressing hope the Iraqi people become united. “I congratulate our honorable Iraqi people and Muslim umma over the blessed Eidul-Fitr and I seize the opportunity to pray to God Almighty to accept your fasting and worshipping during Ramadan,” Maliki said in a congratulatory cable as received by Iraqi News. “I would also wish on these sacred occasion that God bestow amity, tolerance and unity on the Iraqis and protect the nation’s sovereignty and gains in a stable and secure Iraq,” Maliki said. On Saturday (Sept. 20), Iraqi President Jalal Talabani congratulated the Iraqi people over Eidul-Fitr holiday, according to a presidential release. “The Iraqi people’s patience and steadfastness in the face of crimes by terrorists and criminals and those who conspire against their unity and democratic experiment are something that is worthy of praise and greeting,” read the release as received by Aswat al-Iraq. On Sunday (Sept. 19), the office of top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said Monday will be the first day of Eidul-Fitr. The information was also confirmed by the offices of senior Shiite clerics Ayatollahs Mohammed Saeed al-Hakim and Mohammed al-Yaaqubi. Earlier on Saturday, Sheikh Ahmed Abdulghafour al-Samarraie, the head of the Sunni Endowment board, had announced during a press conference that Sunday was to be the first day of Eidul-Fitr. The Iraqi premier said in his cable, “While we receive the happy days of Eidul-Fitr, we should not forget with great pain the martyrs of Iraq. I offer anew heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims, particularly those who were slain in the August 19 deadly bombing attacks and also the hundreds of wounded persons on the black Bloody Wednesday”. Maliki pledged to “track down the Baathist and takfirist culprits of this hideous crime”. AmR (S) 1