Muslims celebrate Eid in Libya, Moscow, Athens and Nairobi

Muslims around the world flocked to mosques to celebrate the four day festival of Eid al-Adha, which began on Friday. Eid al-Adha celebrates the end of the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.     

The festival also remembers the prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son when God ordered him to.     

In Libya, residents of the capital Tripoli gathered for prayers at Martyr Square, known as Green Square during Moammar Gadhafi's rule. Libyans marked the Eid holiday a few days after they celebrated the first anniversary of the capture and killing of former dictator Gadhafi.      

"This Eid is blessed, of course, ... We feel the taste of freedom and good Libyan customs and (we celebrate) those traditions that have been prevailed before, and thank God that these habits have returned," said Mohamed Ali, a Tripoli resident.     

The celebrations come as Libya grapples with the legacy of Gadhafi's four decades of rule.    

Russian Muslims also attended prayers outside a mosque in Moscow to celebrate the first day of the Islamic festival on Friday. The holiday is known to Russian and Central Asian Muslims as Kurban Bairam.     

Worshippers packed the street outside the mosque, which was under construction, for a prayer ceremony led by the head of the Council of Muftis of Russia, Ravil Gainutdin. Police set up security metal barriers around the mosque for security reasons.   

In Greece, several hundred Muslims gathered for Eid prayers in Athens' Hellenic Islamic Centre. Following Eid prayers the Imam discussed the current situation faced by many of the country's Muslim migrants, focusing on the increased racist attacks on migrants.     

Rights groups have recently warned that they have been registering increasingly violent racist attacks on migrants in Greece, and said a culture of impunity for the attackers is exacerbating the problem. Many attackers are suspected of being tied to the extremist right-wing Golden Dawn party, according to rights groups. The group, which denies it has neo-Nazi beliefs, has had a meteoric rise in popularity during Greece's financial crisis.  

In Kenya, Muslims gathered at Kilimani Primary school in Nairobi for early morning prayers. 

The ceremony is the one of the biggest events in the Muslim calendar. Traditionally, Muslims sacrifice an animal at Eid and share the meat with their families, neighbours, and people less fortunate than themselves.  


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APTN