Muslim Holiday Begins in Most of Mideast

Residents visit the graves of their relatives in a cemetery in Baghdad, Iraq,Friday, Oct. 12, 2007, during the celebrations for Eid al-Fitr marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed ) (Khalid Mohammed - AP)

It was completely different just across the border in Baghdad.

In the Iraqi capital's Azamiyah neighborhood, where the country's most revered Sunni shrine is located, families and children found themselves with no place to go as two social clubs and a park were occupied by Iraqi security forces and U.S. troops.

Instead, a modest playground was set up in an abandoned piece of land to enable the children to spend their time.

"My real Eid will be the day that occupation forces get out of our country," said Ahmed Ghazal, a 50-year-old mason in the western neighborhood of Khadhra.

The father of four added that "I'm not in the mood to celebrate as two of my sons have been missing since last year, when they were snatched at an Iraqi army checkpoint."

Fears of attack kept most of Baghdad's Sunnis indoors, away from traditional visits to family and friends and strolls in the city streets and parks.

"We are telephoning our relatives and friends to wish them a happy holiday," said Jamal Salman, a 42-year-old Sunni governmental employee at the oil ministry from the Shiite-dominated eastern neighborhood of Baladiyat.

"There is no indication of Eid in our neighborhood among the Sunni families," Salman added. "We are waiting for tomorrow to join Shiites."

But others were optimistic enough to brave fears of attacks and security hassles to meet with their relatives in different Baghdad neighborhoods, saying the security situation has improved.

"I feel that this Eid is much better than the previous one and that I will visit my relatives in Amariyah," said Khalid Ibrahim, a 45-year-old governmental employee in Azamiyah.

"I find I have nothing to fear from as I feel things are getting better remarkably," added Ibrahim, a father of three.

In orbit above the Earth, a Soyuz craft carrying a Muslim astronaut from Malaysia docked at the international space station after a two-day trip from Russia's launch facility in Kazakhstan. Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor traveled to the outpost with Peggy Whitson of Beaconsfield, Iowa, and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko.

Sheikh Muszaphar took vacuum-packed Malaysian food, including skewered chicken, banana rolls, fermented soybean cakes and ginger jelly, to mark Eid in space.

He told reporters on Tuesday that his trip will be an inspiration for his southeast Asian nation as well as to other Muslims all over the world.

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Associated Press correspondents Sinan Salaheddin in Baghdad, Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Ibrahim Barzak in Gaza City, Shafika Mattar in Amman, and Maggie Michael in Cairo contributed to this report.