Oct 23, 2006, 5:02 GMT
Cotabato City, Philippines - Filipino Muslims fired their guns in the air in the southern Philippines as they celebrated the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan on Monday.
Muslim also exploded firecrackers as they marked the start of a three-day celebration of Eid al-Fitr in Cotabato City, 960 kilometres south of Manila.
A series of gunfire was heard throughout the city at dawn, a traditional practice of Muslims at the end of Ramadan.
Senior Inspector Samson Obatay, city police spokesman, said that so far, no injuries were reported from the revelry.
'We have not yet monitored casualties as a result of the firing of guns,' he said. 'We hope nobody was hurt.'
Later in the morning, some 40,000 Muslims gathered at a sports oval in an elementary school and outside the municipal hall in Cotabato City for prayers.
'Our main message is unity for all so that we can achieve genuine peace and development in the troubled south,' Abdulcadir Abdullah, a Muslim cleric, said.
'The second message is for all Muslims to forgive their brothers and sisters who sinned against them,' he added. 'Lastly, we pray that peace will reign in (the southern region of) Mindanao.'
Mindanao, home to the Philippines' Muslim minority, has been wracked by a decades-old Muslim insurgency that has left many provinces impoverished, underdeveloped and strife-torn.
Muslim separatist rebels and the government have been holding peace talks in a bid to end the violence, but the negotiations recently stalled due to disagreements over ancestral land rights.
Elsewhere in the Philippines, Muslims gathered in their communities for prayers, and later shared food with families, relatives and neighbours as part of the Eid al-Fitr celebrations.
The government has also declared Tuesday a national holiday in celebration of Eid al-Fitr.
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