RIYADH: Eidul Fitr will be celebrated in most Gulf states and Yemen on Wednesday as the moon was not sighted on Monday night, religious authorities there announced.

The official news agencies of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Yemen all quoted religious authorities as saying that since they had not received any eyewitness account of moon sighting on Monday, Eid will be celebrated on Wednesday.

In Pakistan, although most experts are confident that the moon will be sighted on Tuesday, there is hardly any precedent of Eid being celebrated the same day as in the Middle East.

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2016