MUSLIMS around the world yesterday observed the start of the fasting month of Ramadan, traditionally a time of abstinence by day and shorter working hours.
During Ramadan, observing Muslims should not eat, drink or smoke in daylight hours. Sensual pleasures such as sex and listening to music are also banned during the day.
In Saudi Arabia, the Interiors Ministry warned non-Muslims to respect the holy month. It said foreigners eating, drinking or smoking in public during daylight hours would risk deportation and the cancellation of their work contracts.
In Kabul, residents saw in their first Ramadan under the rule of the Islamic Taliban. The religious police have warned fast-breakers they will be punished. Traffic on the pot-holed streets of the capital of Afghanistan was dramatically reduced, with only a few old taxis venturing out, while many shops had their shutters rolled down.
Women, who have been warned by the Taliban to stay at home unless it becomes vital for them to go out, were almost totally absent from city streets.
The Taliban seized Kabul in September, imposing their strict brand of Islamic law on the once relatively liberal capital. They banned women from working, outlawed girls from schools, shut women's bath houses and ordered females not to go out unless covered head-to-toe by a veil.
In Jerusalem, a Muslim cleric called on 80,000 people gathered at the Al Aqsa mosque to pray for the "liberation of Jerusalem".
In a militant sermon, Sheikh Ahmad Bitawi denounced a shooting spree by an Israeli soldier in Hebron and condemned Israeli policies "in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon". He called for Muslims to seek "the liberation of Jerusalem" from Israeli rule. Israel deployed 3,000 policemen backed up by helicopters around the Al Aqsa mosque - Islam's third-holiest shrine - but worshippers dispersed without incident.
Libya marked the start of Ramadan by freeing a number of prisoners.
The start of Ramadan usually depends on when the crescent of the new moon is sighted in each country. In Iran, dominated by Shin Islam, Ramadan is set to start today after the new moon was sighted last night.