21 January 2005	Friday	10 Zilhaj 1425

ISLAMABAD, Jan 20: The federal capital administration will continue the ban on holding of Eid prayers in the open places for security reasons, an official told Dawn on Thursday.

Magistrate Farasat Ali Khan said the decision was jointly taken by local Ulema, police and officials of the Islamabad capital territory administration in a special meeting.

He said the Ulema expressed their reservation that open places, which had been proposed for the Eid prayers, had become vulnerable to any possible attack by terrorists who had been targeting places of worship in the country for the last a couple of years.

The official said in view of the demand of the Ulema, the administration on the occasion of Eidul Fitr had banned the holding of Eid prayers in open places. The restriction was imposed for the first time in the city this year.

The Ulema have passed on the local administration's order to the people through special announcements in the mosques. During the meeting with the Ulema of various sects, shortage of police force for deployment at the worship places was also discussed, the magistrate said.

He expressed the hope that the ban on holding of Eid prayers in the open would help the law-enforcement agencies strengthen security in the capital. "The police personnel who were deployed in the open places for the security of worshippers would be assigned other security duties," he said.