`Eid Al-Fitr, the feast that marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, starts Monday, October 23, in Gulf countries, the United States and some European countries.

In Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, the Supreme Judicial Council said the crescent of the new hijri month of Shawwal was not sighted on Saturday, October 21.

Abdullah Al-Ghodiri, member of the Moon Sighting Committee in the capital Riyadh, said no body has verified the birth of the new crescent in the heights.

Thus, Sunday, October 22, is the last day of the holy fasting month and `Eid celebrations will start Monday.

Following suit, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Yemen announced that Sunday is the last day of the dawn-to-dusk fast and Monday is the firs day of Shawwal.

Iraqi Sunnis will also celebrate the first day of `Eid on Monday.

Palestinian Mufti Mohammad Ahmad Hussein further announced Saturday that Sunday is the last day of Ramadan, during which adult Muslims, save the infirm, elderly and those traveling abstain from drinking, eating and having sex from dawn to dusk.

In Africa, Libya and Sudan became the first countries to announce that `Eid will fall on Monday.

Other Arab and Muslim countries, including Egypt, Algeria, Somalia, Syria, Jordan, Tunisia as well as Malaysia will seek to sight the new moon later on Sunday.

Professor Ahmed Ismail Khalifa of the Cairo-based Al-Azhar University said last week that astronomical calculations showed that the new crescent could not be seen on Sunday, October 22, because it would go down in most Egyptian cities before sunset.

`Eid Al-Fitr is one of the two most important Islamic celebrations, together with `Eid Al-Adha, or "Feast of Sacrifice."

After special prayers to mark the day, festivities and merriment start with visits to the homes of friends and relatives.

Traditionally, everyone wears new clothes for `Eid, and the children look forward to gifts and the traditional `ediya (cash).

USA, Europe

The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) announced that Monday is the first day of `Eid.

"According to the scientific criteria for determining the Islamic lunar dates adopted by the Fiqh Council of North America, the last day of Ramadan 1427 will be Sunday, October 22, and `Eid Al-Fitr this year will be on Monday, October 23, 2006," it said on an online statement.

The European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR) also said that Sunday is the last day of Ramadan.

"It will be difficult to sight the moon crescent of Shawwal on Sunday night in most of Muslim and western countries though it could be sighted in some countries like South Africa. If the crescent was spotted in country on Sunday, then Monday would be the first day of `Eid Al-Fitr," the Dublin-based council said in a statement.

Accordingly, Muslim scholars in Swede, Austria and Ukraine announced Monday as the first day of `Eid.

The Scandinavian Waqf and the Muslim League in Denmark agreed to follow Saudi Arabia in celebrating `Eid on Monday.

Muslim leaders in Norway and Czech Republic also announced that Monday is the first day of `Eid.

The Islamic Center in Milan said Muslims in Italy will celebrate `Eid on Monday.

Muslims in Germany France, Belgium, Kosovo, Russia, Macedonia and Albania sight the new moon later on Sunday.

Moon sighting has always been a controversial issue among Muslim countries, and even scholars seem at odds over the issue.

One group says that Muslims everywhere should abide by the lunar calendar of Saudi Arabia.

A second, however, believes that the authority in charge of ascertaining the sighting of the moon in a given country (such as Egypt's Dar al-Iftaa [House of Fatwa]) announces the sighting of the new moon, then Muslims in the country should all abide by this.

Eid Al-Fitr is a festival that comes at the end of Ramadan, a month-long observance highlighted by fasting each day, and prayer. More than a billion Muslims around the world will observe `Eid al-Fitr, which is to begin Monday.

Palestinians Brace for Grim 'Eid'

As the fasting month of Ramadan draws to an end and people look ahead to the `Eid Al-Fitr holiday that follows, there is little thought of feasting in the occupied Palestinian territories, except to look back fondly to `Eids gone past.

In Gaza City's Firas market the stalls are laden with gift items and toys, fireworks and new clothes, cooking utensils and fish, as people crowd around, looking, touching and walking on.

Amid the din of shopkeepers hawking their wares over loudspeakers, Abdulkarim says "people are coming, but they're not buying ... They don't have any money."

"I only get paid 1,500 shekels (360 dollars, 280 euros) and I have a family of 10," says this member of the Palestinian presidential guard who has come to the market with his two children.

"This year, there will be no presents."

Abdulkarim is one of the 170,000 civil servants in the Palestinian territories who have not been properly paid after the West punished the Palestinians for their democratic choice of Hamas in the last parliamentary elections.

The United States and European Union cut off vital financial aid to the Palestinians.

The crisis, which spreads across the economy, is compounded by Israel's freezing of millions of dollars a month in customs revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinians.

It is not just a shortage of cash that promises to put a damper on one of the two major holidays in the Muslim calendar.

The territories are also plagued by a wave of deadly internecine fighting, pitting Hamas partisans against those of the former ruling party Fatah.

At the same time, scores of people have been killed in a four-month campaign seen by the Palestinians as a bid to topple their government.

No Joy

Eid marks the end of Ramadan, a month in which the devout take no food or drink from dawn to dusk.

After special prayers to mark the day, festivities and merriment traditionally start with visits to the homes of friends and relatives.

Traditionally, everyone wears new clothes for `Eid, and the children look forward to gifts and the traditional `ediya (cash).

But it won't be a joyful Eid for Umm Iyad, 37, whose husband is out of work and who has a family of 10.

"The feast costs a lot, and I don't have enough money," she says. "I feel sad when my children come to me every day and ask me to buy some new clothes. But the money I have is just enough to feed them."

Her seven-year-old daughter Aida is philosophical about it.

"I would like to have new clothes like other children, but I think that I will wear for the feast the clothes some neighbours gave to my mother."

Umm Iyad tries to put a brave face on it.

"The only thing we can do is rely on God and hope things will be better tomorrow. But I'm not very optimistic for the future."

At a nearby stall of colorful toys, Hassam Kalussa, 35, picks out a plastic car for two shekels, that he will give to one of his children.

"I have to buy toys for the children," he says. "In past years, I would give them something like 100 shekels worth of gifts. This year it won't be even 40," says the employee of a telecoms firm.

"We hope that each year Eid will be a better one. But today, the joy has gone. This might be the most difficult holiday we've had in many years."