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Bush Courts Muslims with Ramadan Dinner, Messages
Last Updated: November 07, 2002 01:19 AM ET
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Thirteen months after the U.S.-led military campaign began in Afghanistan and on the eve of a U.N. vote on a tough resolution to disarm Iraq, President Bush is planning to mark the Muslim holy month of Ramadan with Islamic leaders at the White House.
Diplomats and community leaders have been invited to the State Dining Room on Thursday evening to share the traditional Iftaar meal, which ends each day of fasting.
The event is just one of several ways in which the Bush administration will mark Ramadan in an effort to reach out to Muslims in America and throughout the world.
A senior administration official said Bush planned to send individual messages to leaders of predominantly Islamic countries and Secretary of State Colin Powell would hold his own Iftaar dinner at the State Department later this month. More than 30 U.S. diplomatic and consular posts worldwide were holding Ramadan activities.
In addition, the Treasury Department and Islamic charities in the United States were developing "a voluntary set of best-practice guidelines" to prevent the use of funds for criminal and terrorist activities, the official said.
Bush has already sent his best wishes for "a blessed time" to one billion Muslims around the world preparing to celebrate Ramadan, calling their religion "a peace-loving faith."
The president, who frequently stresses that the war on terrorism launched after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States is not aimed at Muslims in general but only those who have "hijacked a great religion," thanked Muslim nations for their support.
Last year, Ramadan fell in the midst of the U.S. effort to destroy Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda organization who were blamed for the attacks, and to oust the Taliban, the Islamic extremists who hosted them in Afghanistan.
This year, it comes as Bush is trying to win the support of allies for disarming Iraq, by force if necessary.
The United States on Wednesday circulated a new proposed resolution in the United Nations Security Council that would give Iraq a "final opportunity" to meet demands to give up its chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs. Washington hopes to bring the issue to a vote on Friday.
Ramadan is the month of fasting when devout Muslims refrain from all food, drink or sex during daylight hours and focus on devotion and good works.
The start and end of the month for most Islamic countries depends on the sighting of the new moon by the naked eye. It is the ninth and holiest month of the Islamic lunar calendar.
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The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. - Rev 22:17
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