Egypt's Muslims celebrate the Eid al-Fitr

CAIRO - Egypt's Muslims celebrated Sunday the Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of fasting month of Ramadan, and prayed for a better future of their state under the new leadership of Mohamed Morsi.

Men and women attend Eid al-Fitr prayers outside of a packed mosque in Cairo, Aug 19, 2012. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. [Photo/Agencies]

Hundreds of thousands of Muslims all over the country flocked to mosques early Sunday before sunrise to perform the Eid prayers and then listen to the imam's preach.

This is the first Eid al-Fitr after President Morsi came into power.

"O' Allah, we are pleading to you to help our new leader obtain all the welfare for our lovely Egypt," worshippers in al-Kawthar Mosque in Maadi district of Cairo said.

"We should all pray for Morsi as he shoulders the responsibility of governing the country in a very critical time and then judge his performance one year later," Sherif Fareed, a 34-year-old lawyer, told Xinhua, refuting the calls for a one-million-man demonstration scheduled on Aug 24 against the Muslim Brotherhood.

"We need stability, without which the president can achieve nothing," Fareed said.

Morsi, from the Freedom and Justice Party of Muslim Brotherhood, was sworn in as Egyptian president on June 30 before the Supreme Constitutional Court.

The president has been working hard to fulfill his promise to solve five problems affecting people's daily life within the first 100 days of his presidency, namely poor security, rubbish dumping, fuel shortage, low-quality subsidized bread and traffic jams.

Egyptians have been experiencing hard living conditions since the fall of ex-president Hosni Mubarak in February 2011, as a large number of workers were unemployed due to sliding investment and stagnant tourism.

Although the Egyptian people still need time to feel the improvement of their life conditions, optimism dominates the atmosphere on the first Eid al-Fitr during Morsi's presidency.

"I don't support the Muslim Brotherhood with which Morsi was affiliated, but I pray for Morsi to succeed in his presidency because it concerns the country's interests," said 54-year-old Hanaa Ahmed.

Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi (3rd R) takes part in Eid al-Fitr prayer with Vice-President Mahmoud Mekky (front L) and members of the government at the historical mosque of Amr Ibn al-Ass in old Cairo Aug 19, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]